The Symbolic Language of Dark Provinces: HEXACO Dimensions

 

HEXACO Traits
♦	Honesty-Humility
	Sincerity | Fairness Greed Avoidance | Modesty
♥	Emotionality
	Fearfulness | Anxiety Dependence | Sentimentality
★	Xtraversion
	Self-Esteem | Boldness Sociability | Liveliness
♣	Agreeableness
	Forgiveness | Gentleness Flexibility | Patience
⯂	Conscientiousness
	Organization | Diligence Perfectionism | Prudence
✦	Openness
	Attunement | Inquisitiveness Creativity | Unconventionality

Every roleplaying game system develops its own symbolic language.  If you look at most modern RPG character sheets, you will see such things as swords representing combat ability, shields representing armor or defense ratings, backpacks represent carrying capacity, coins representing wealth, and hearts representing hit points.  Even character stats themselves are reduced to two or three letter acronyms representing the entire word.  This symbolic language provides shortcuts to manage game activities and quickly locate regularly-used elements.

The symbology of those RPGs revolve around abilities and possessions... about what you can do.  In Dark Provinces, its symbology revolves around who you are, and how you relate to the larger world.  Using the HEXACO model of personality, Dark Provinces has assigned symbols and colors that relate to the essential nature of those personality characteristics.

For Honesty-Humility, we use the yellow diamond symbol.  Yellow represents gold, prosperity and rewards, while the diamond symbol represents something of value.  This makes the symbol and color appropriate for Honesty-Humility, since this concerns how individuals respond to status, privilege, power and temptation.

For Emotionality, we use the pink heart symbol, the universal symbol for connection.  Emotionality is concerned with attachment, vulnerability, empathy, compassion and concern for others.  We use pink rather than red, since red suggests aggression, passion or conflict, while pink symbolizes nurturing, tenderness and warmth.

For Xtraversion, we use the brown five-pointed star, since the star is an ideal representation of confidence, enthusiasm, presence and sociability.  Brown is connected to market places, roads, and gathering places, symbolizing purposeful social connection and community building.

For Agreeableness, we use the green tree symbol.  This feels organic and interconnected, and feels naturally aligned to cooperation, compromise and relationship maintenance.

For Conscientiousness, we have used the grey inverted pentagon symbol to represent planning, discipline, reliability and responsibility.  The inverted pentagon suggests structure, while grey is the color of stone foundations, discipline and permanence.  Grey does not draw attention to itself,  just like conscientious people.

For Openness, we use the purple four-pointed star.  Openness is about curiosity, imagination, creativity and discovery, and the four-pointed star suggests insight, navigation and revelation.  Stars have guided travelers to unknown destinations, and purple complements this by being associated with mystery, wonder and the pursuit of hidden truths.

In future posts, we will explore the other symbols employed in Dark Provinces.  Together, these symbols create a language for understanding who your characters are, who they are becoming, and the social, relational, and ethical consequences of their actions.