Today, I’d like to say a few words about a translation I’m quite proud of, because it’s my small contribution to the bountiful world of indie role-playing games (RPGs). But before telling you all about it, a quick word about context.
If you’re roughly my age (almost forty, God how time flies), you probably remember a time when this hobby was reviled and the object of media scares that were as justified as they were rational (i.e. not at all). But today, geek culture has become cool (and is a huge market) and thus playing role-playing games, which you could describe as telling more or less structured collaborative stories around a table (or over the internet), is no longer taboo. Spearheading this new-found popularity is a household name owned by financial mammoth Hasbro, Dungeons & Dragons, which has become synonymous with role-playing games for many (thanks to that Stranger Things episode amongst other things).
However, equating Dungeons & Dragons and role-playing games is a bit like saying the Marvel Cinematic Universe has become synonymous with cinema as a whole. It is a very popular version of it (with its pros and cons), but it is not the only one. Just like not all films include superheroes, very costly special effects and loads of in-jokes, not all role-playing games include a game master, way-too-many-sided dice, or a fantasy universe. There is a huge variety of RPG worlds (from the very realistic to the very weird), there are the ones with very complex rules or the ones with very minimal rulesets, and there are also ones in which narration is led by one person and others in which everyone co-creates the narration. In a word, as I said above, it is bountiful, and very exciting.
And now I tell you about my latest translation: Night of the Hogmen (La Nuit des Porcs-Vivants in French). Created by Marsh Davies and Jim Rossignol, this short scenario lets you play travellers who, during a dark and stormy night in the north of 18th-century England, have a coach accident and have to flee a horde of porcine monsters. Where have these monsters come from, you ask? Some say they’re the result of a magical cataclysm that hit the area a few years before and created a zone in which mysterious and unnatural things happen. If you would like to know more, you should play TEETH, their first full game, released in 2023, the grotesquely fun and horrific atmosphere of which could be described as Jane Austen’s STALKER by way of The Witcher.
A very alluring proposal, then, but one that was only available in English, which, as I’m sure you’ll agree, was a bit of a shame. I thus took hold of my finest quill my fantastic keyboard and, with the help of its creators, I translated the introductory scenario of this unique universe: my translation is available over on their page.
Even if you’ve never played a role-playing game, this short booklet contains everything you need to spend a delicious night with fellow lovers of horrific stories. If you enjoy the setting and you’re fluent in English (which you probably are, since you’re reading this), I once again heartily recommend diving headfirst into TEETH. And if you want more and happen not to be insensitive to the call of the open sea, their next project, GOLD TEETH, transports this grotesque and occult spirit in… the Caribbean! Which results, if they’re to be believed, in “Monty Python’s Master and Commander as depicted by Hyeronimus Bosch”. How to resist? Well, don’t… go and back their project on Kickstarter…
As for me, it would seem I have a few grotesque pages left to translate. Farewell, then! Here’s hoping I’m still myself next time…