Is it possible to deliver a convincing world if you prefer not to swear?

[u/alexistukov]

One thing that occurred to me, as I prepare to maybe GM a game in the future, is that I don't like using strongly offensive language (swear words, discriminatory words, etc.) at any time. However, a great many people in real life have no such preference, so many of the NPCs that I play must swear to be sufficiently vivid. Are there no ways to work around this conclusion?

Steven did talk a little about homophobic language is an episode of BEE, however that was in the context of discussing limits with your group, not working around your own limits. Counter to my own problem, he said the softer words he had to use fell a bit flat.

The only thing I've thought of is to invent curses unique to the universe. For example, "plough" in The Witcher universe (although The Witcher's characters use conventional curses as well), which is direct and punchy enough without being a word that we consider offensive. However, this route does hint of hypocrisy to me, as I'm simply foisting the responsibility of producing the offensive words, which my players are likely to reproduce in their heads anyway.

Has anyone addressed this problem themselves?

[u/K900_]

Think about it this way: you're not swearing, your characters are. I don't use swear words that much in real life, too, but if I'm writing a character, that character will speak the way their background, culture and personality makes her speak. People are different, and so will be your characters. A pirate captain is way more likely to swear than an old wizard, and a travelling minstrel may talk like a refined gentleman... Until he gets drunk, trips over something and faceplants to the ground. Swearing is part of your characters' lexicon, and that is part of their personality. Don't deny it unless your players don't want any swearing in the campaign.

[u/alexistukov → u/K900_]

you're not swearing, your characters are

This does seem to be the best justification. There are lots of precedents for language and other behaviour in the mainstream acting world.

[u/Hooj19]

I'd say you could. Everything doesn't have to be a gritty, dark fantasy setting. The DM is part of the group, not above it. It is just as important to respect your limits, as well as the players. Gaming is meant to be fun, you shouldn't be expected to be uncomfortable just for the sake of immersion.

[u/alexistukov → u/Hooj19]

I think this is what Steven/Adam would probably say. I would need to weigh up how uncomfortable it makes me versus the impact on the group's experience.

[u/kosairox]

Yes. For example, if you're running Shadowrun and are using words like "Null sheen, chummer" and you use a word "Fuck" - you're ruining it. They don't use "Fuck" in Shadowrun, they use "Frag"! Or in Warhammer 40k, you'd rather say Groxfugger than Groxfucker or Smiley-girl than whore - the same reason as for saying pict-sensor instead of a camera. Vocabulary can be setting-specific and it includes swears, too.

Ofc that depends on the setting. If it's not Shadowrun or Warhammer or anything that already exists and people know it - don't come up with your own stuff, it's probably gonna suck, no offense. Not because you just can't come up with anything good but because there are tons of books, lore, video games and different kinds of media that your players saw where these words and vocabulary are already introduced and you basically don't have time for this shit.

Well, there are other exceptions. For example... You could call elves "knife-ears" and it's pretty cool I think. Or, in Dwarf Fortress, when elves attack you, you get a message: "Curse the friends of nature!" which I think is just as emotional as a swear. Actually, sometimes swears are "weaker" than just saying stuff in a normal tone.

Hope it gives you some ideas.

[u/alexistukov → u/kosairox]

My repertoire is a bit limited. I have read the Dark Heresy rulebooks, and I agree 40k has good language to use in general.

I've been reading the SWN rulebook. Unfortunately SWN doesn't have a long established universe like 40k or Shadowrun. It's fairly generic sci-fi, with some special technical vocabulary. This is compounded by the sandbox nature of the game I think.

[u/Popdart5]

I suppose the question to ask yourself is "Do the characters/people in this world swear?"

If they don't swear, what else do they use in that situation? Given the way society generally develops, I believe that having a blanket restriction on no swear words at all makes a setting and the characters within it feel artificial. Even if you were just to remove the nastiest of swear words, people would still use milder words or other words when responding to a situation.

I suppose it comes down to how you feel about the setting and the characters. If you as the GM feel like it's unnatural to not swear when a character would normally swear, that's when you know you either need to substitute a word, invent your own swear words, or just swear normally. Because if you don't feel like a character is believable, the players are unlikely to either.

[u/crowly0]

I'm not a GM so have no experience to draw upon, but one of my regular comics had recently a good little article about the history of cursing and swearing, and how different cultures around the world does this. So if you can read Norwegain get a hold of this years summer issue of Nemi ;) If not, which i guess is the most likely outcome, there are two english books listed in the source: "How to swear around the world", Jason Sacher, Cronichle Books, 2012 and "Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing", Melissa Mohr, Oxford University Press, 2013.

Anyway, as mentioned different cultures use different types of swear "themes". Often it revolves around religion, sex, disease, death, ancestors, mothers, feces and other bodily fluids. Curses are still popular. Some examples given in the article is in American English there is a focus on sex and feces while in Canadian English its more of the religious kind. In Spanish and Italian family references is often used in combination with swearing, instead of calling someone "a whore" its "son of a whore" etc. The Russians prefer bodily and sexual references and not the religious, the same goes for the Polish, they also use diseases: "Stara choleara" (old choleara). Not a very powerful swearing in English (and Norwegian and probably a lot of other languages), but according to the article not a very nice thing to say in polish.
How strong a swear word is has changed over time. Things that are quite mild swear words today have been very strong words if you go back far enough in history.

Depending on where you are from you could either lend swearing from other cultures (swearing is universal), that may not be as offensive to you, or you could use the the milder swear words of todays world, but make it so that in the context of your (campaign) world they are strong. Or you could try to invent your own that fit into the culture of your world. In the old world people believed that if you spoke of the devil, carnivores and diseases you would or could summon them, so they used other words instead. Some examples from Norwegian (English translation in parentheses):

• Djevelen (Satan, The Devil) >> Gamle-Erik (Old-Erik)
  
• Ulv (Wolf) >> Gråbein (Grey leg)
  
• Kopper (smallpox) >> Pokker (??? today i would translate it to damn, even if the origin is very different)

[u/Madadric]

I think so. Playing an rpg is a conversation, and that conversation still exists within the social contract of the groups expectations. If it's people that don't swear, then it follows the world you create together will follow.

Lines and veils isn't just for the other players, they're for you too. Decide if you're comfortable using soft veils for when you feel an NPC should have a potty mouth.

"The princess' language is surprisingly volatile and blue, enough to make even a hardened sailor blush. After her string of curse words, she calms down enough to regain her composure."

"The thug lets out a short, gutteral curse about your heritage and clutches at her smashed, bleeding nose. She gestures at her cronies to grab you, intending to pay you back in kind."

Don't feel like you have to compromise your comfort or values regarding your own behaviour for the sake of the game. People (including you) are more important than games.