DM Q&A: Language Tokens (How they Work)

[Muse]

I have been fielding a lot of questions lately, in the game, about how language tokens work. I would like to remind everyone that this post exists here:

frc.proboards.com/thread/26387/change-expansion-means-bonus-language

Sept 30, 2016 23:27:39 GMT -5 Munroe said:

Characters on FRC begin play speaking Common, their automatic regional language(s) (based on selected starting region), their racial language (humans do not have a racial language), and any languages they select as bonus languages due to high Intelligence score.  Druids also gain druidic as an automatic class language. 

The means to gain bonus languages at character creation is by having an Intelligence bonus, gaining one language slot per point of Intelligence modifier.  Bonus languages may be selected at character creation to fill all of these language slots or the slots may be kept open to study languages over time in-character.  A mix of some selected bonus languages and some open language slots is possible. 

As characters advance on FRC they can elect to take their Intelligence ability score up as they advance in level.  This Intelligence ability score increase can increase their Intelligence bonus.  Permanent Intelligence increases (from Intelligence ability increases on level-up or feats that provide increased Intelligence ability score) that grant an increased Intelligence modifier also grant additional bonus language slots.  These slots become available but are not immediately populated by languages.  Any language gained after character creation is gained through RP of learning the language.

---

In addition to the above mentioned method of gaining bonus language slots from Intelligence, an additional method is being added for gaining bonus language slots after character creation.  The second method of gaining language slots is slightly more complicated.  It uses a value referred to here as the Speak Language Value.  It is based on a character's Lore modifier, but with additions and subtractions. 

Modified Lore Value (Speak Language Value) for determining additional bonus language slots:

Permanent Lore bonus (including feats, racial abilities, and class abilities)
ADD any Red Dragon Disciple levels
SUBTRACT any positive Intelligence modifier

(Speak Language Value = total permanent Lore mod + RDD level - positive INT mod)

Each multiple of 10 in the Speak Language Value grants a bonus language slot.

Language slots gained by this method may be used as additional bonus language slots to study languages in-character and learn them through roleplay.  This method does not grant additional bonus language slots at character creation, nor do these bonus language slots automatically mean the character gains bonus languages.  The languages themselves must be gained through roleplay; these potential additional language slots only open up the opportunity for language-learning roleplay to result in the gaining of languages. 

This method of gaining bonus language slots is in addition to bonus language slots gained from high Intelligence modifier.

---

---

Explanation for the Speak Language Value method:

This method obviously benefits bards, Harper scouts, and red dragon disciples the most because they can more easily gain bonus language slots and in fact gain them as part of their class progress, but it also allows other characters an alternate means to gain additional language slots besides Intelligence score increases.  All feats that grant a bonus to Lore are included in the calculation as well, so this method of gaining bonus language slots increases the value of those skill-boosting feats.  (Epic Skill Focus: Lore now grants a bonus language slot by itself.)  Dwarves have a small racial bonus to Lore so can potentially gain bonus language slots at slightly lower level than other races. 

Bard, Harper scout, and dragon disciple have Speak Language as a class skill in D&D that causes languages to cost half as many skill points to learn and raises the cap on how many languages they can know through the Speak Language skill.  In Neverwinter Nights the bard and Harper scout classes gain a class level bonus to Lore.  Adding the number of red dragon disciple levels to the Lore value grants red dragon disciples the same effective class bonus to Lore for purposes of this calculation.  

Positive Intelligence modifier is subtracted from the Lore value because positive Intelligence modifier is already used to grant additional bonus language slots, and at a much higher rate per Intelligence bonus.  Negative Intelligence modifier is not subtracted from the Lore value because negative Intelligence modifier does not reduce bonus language slots below 0.

[malclave]

One thing I've been wondering about (since a few of my characters have gained enough Lore or Int to gain slots) is regarding:

The languages themselves must be gained through roleplay; these potential additional language slots only open up the opportunity for language-learning roleplay to result in the gaining of languages.

Are there rough guidelines for this? As in, do additional languages need to be learned from another PC, or can other teachers suffice? For example, a wizard character of mine has always taken a pseudodragon familiar... can the familiar teach her Draconic? Or can my character with access to Lesser Planar Ally learn Celestial from that source (at least the phrase 'better duck, I'm about to Lightning Bolt you again')?

[Munroe]

Feb 27, 2018 18:26:31 GMT -5 malclave said:

One thing I've been wondering about (since a few of my characters have gained enough Lore or Int to gain slots) is regarding:

The languages themselves must be gained through roleplay; these potential additional language slots only open up the opportunity for language-learning roleplay to result in the gaining of languages.

Are there rough guidelines for this? As in, do additional languages need to be learned from another PC, or can other teachers suffice? For example, a wizard character of mine has always taken a pseudodragon familiar... can the familiar teach her Draconic? Or can my character with access to Lesser Planar Ally learn Celestial from that source (at least the phrase 'better duck, I'm about to Lightning Bolt you again')?

The main thing we look for is evidence of ongoing roleplay to learn a language. The easiest way to provide this evidence is to send logs of language-learning RP. I usually track language-learning and welcome such logs to be PMed to me, preferably from the player doing the instruction (so I can see the translations). While it is preferable that people RP with each other to learn languages, learning a language from an NPC makes as much sense in-character. Regardless of the source of the training, the language learning should be roleplayed in-game and multiple sessions of language learning are expected before fluency can be gained. Learning a language via roleplay is not a minor task.

Regarding the familiar, pseudodragons don't actually speak at all. In addition to making some noises that sound kind of like a house cat, they're telepathic; they can communicate telepathically with any creature within 60 feet that speaks Common or Sylvan. They don't even have the ability to communicate telepathically with Draconic speakers.

Fairie dragons, on the other hand, do speak Draconic and Sylvan, and, furthermore, can converse with any animal. Some also learn Common, Elven, or Gnome.

Given that the instruction is meant to be roleplayed, the shorter duration of the planar spells means that learning languages from such creatures might take longer. Also, I don't know why you'd need to learn individual phrases in Celestial, but if you're just learning an individual phrase that doesn't require the RP it would take to gain a widget. (But without the widget, people with the widget won't know what you're saying.) Angels can speak with any creature that has a language with their tongues ability so I'm not sure you'd have reason to learn any short phrases in Celestial for combat use. (The tongues ability doesn't grant them the ability to read other languages though.)