DM Q&A: Language: about languages

[guest]

Actually, a couple related questions.

1)Are additional languages based on your INT score or the INT modifier?
2)We all get common, but does your racial/regional language count as an addditonal language and do you get both?
3)In regard to rangers and druids. Is there a language token for animals, or is it all about animal empathy? Ive heard differing answers regarding this one.

Thanks for your time and a great server.

[DM Justicar - Creator of FRC]

guest said:

Actually, a couple related questions.

1)Are additional languages based on your INT score or the INT modifier?
2)We all get common, but does your racial/regional language count as an additional language and do you get both?
3)In regard to rangers and druids. Is there a language token for animals, or is it all about animal empathy? Ive heard differing answers regarding this one.

Thanks for your time and a great server.

I'll just answer these as best I can in order:

1) We don't currently have an automated system, but we follow the PhB and if you request to a DM politely and don't ask for something that would be just amazingly outside of your character profile (IE, a paladin who wants to speak draconic without backing his story up) we will try and give you what should be alloted to you. Eventually, this will probably be scripted.

2)We try and award regional languages as a bonus and I think we decided that it was just that, a bonus language, but I could be wrong.

3) We have both sylvan and animal available. I think we need to review which is proper and necessary, but at last call I believe sylvan was the preferred language. As we begin to flesh the module out, languages will become a little more important, along with as many skills as we can incorporate.

I hope that helps.

Cheers!

[heimdall]

I do try to watch for newer characters and 'hook them up' as quick as I can. Racial (if applicable) and regional languages are given as a bonus and then any other remaining languages are based off your 'starting' INT modifier - I.E. - INT 10 = 0 / INT 12-13 = 1 / INT 14-15 = 2 / etc etc...

This may be based more off the old 2nd edition simply because NwN didn't give us the ability to allocate skill points towards "Knowledge: Languages" - but it works.

[Munroe]

There is an "Animal" language token. I don't think it should exist, but it does. Druids should get Druidic but it currently does not exist. Druids can still RP knowing Druidic, however, since they should all know it. Rangers should not know Druidic.

Nobody should get "Animal" so I usually don't mess with it. By the Monster Manual 3.5 definition of the Animal Type, animals (unless otherwise noted in the creature entry) have an INT of less than 3. They likely aren't much for conversation. Tressym, according to FRCS, is a tiny animal with an INT of 12, but it is also noted that they have their own language and don't speak human languages. By 3.5e rules, I believe they would be of Type Magical Beast instead of Type Animal.

Thieves Cant should NOT be free to all who have the rogue class. Unfortunately, the script builds it in. This may be true of Animal for druids and rangers too.

For those druids who would RP knowing Druidic (all first level druids should know Druidic), remember that teaching it to non-druids is forbidden. Druidic has its own alphabet.

[vercingettorix]

I have a language question as well, and I figured I would post it here rather then start a new thread as it is related...if that is incorrect I am sorry. My question is simple, can you simply request reasonable languages without having to go through RP'ing the learning process? I had asked about this some time ago and was told that if you asked at character creation you could get all additional languages, but if you waited till later you would have to rp it out. Has this changed? I ask because initially I didnt realize this at I was already like 6th level before it occured to me...now he's lvl 10. If its too late I'll understand. Thanks!

[DM Valkyrie]

For a question like this, I would rather take on a case by case basis.

For reasonable languages, or languages that are very common and standard, (elven, dwarven, etc) I would see no problem with delaying getting them, especially if part of the reason was you were still in the early stages of fleshing out your PC's background. Even association with someone who has said "I'll teach you" could warrant granting the extra language so long as it falls within the character's allotment as per thier INT score modifier.

[Theo]

What if someone has a high Lore score, though? You can't buy languages with skill points in NWN, but if you had high Lore, I'd imagine you'd learn a language through your studies and so on.

[Munroe]

Lore is too general. It represents Knowledge (EVERYTHING) in NWN as it is.

Because it represents so much, that devalues it in general. It's like going to the encyclopaedia instead of a book on the topic. The encyclopaedia is going to cover more topics but not as in-depth.

[Theo]

Yeah, and it causes some problems. What if I just want my character to have learned a lot about just gnomish history or something? I'm also irritated that I can't have Perform without any actual bard levels. Why can't I practice playing a flute or singing without fitting into everything else that comes with being a bard, such as the alignment restrictions?

In the end, though, a clever player can find ways around it.

[Munroe]

Just hope that in NWN2, they follow the 3.5e rule where any class can take any skill cross-class (unless it is a class skill for them, of course).

Anyway, on topic, Lore is too general a skill. Any languages learned beyond the starting languages should have a lengthy RP involving their study. As Speak Language is only a class skill for a bard, bards can likely pick-up languages slightly better than everyone else, but it still takes forever to learn a language.

Even with the Speak Language skill in D&D, a person taking that skill doesn't automatically know the language, the rank merely represents the time the character spent learning the language prior to taking the rank in Speak Language.

[shimmerxxx]

I've got a language question too, hope it's okay to add it to this thread.

Here's the question:

One of my characters is trying to learn Dwarvern as her best friend in her back story is a dwarf. Ultimately, she will fail as she only has 9 int, however even someone of below average intelligence can pick up a few words of a language.

I've been using *says "hello I am Tameris" in bad dwarvern* to get by this, but as I don't have a language token I cant understand any of the replies, even "hello" said back to me in Dwarvern.

In this case would it be possible for me to have a language token on the basis that I would use it IC to understand simple words (and on the basis that it would be removed if I abused it)?

As someone who is trying to learn a foreign language themselves I don't think I'll have any trouble RPing limited understanding of a language!

No problems if the answer is no to the language token, I just ask as it would make RP a little easier for me.

Thanks

[DM Richard (Retired)]

With Int 9 and not being a Dwarf you are out of luck. You don't know dwarven. Having only been taught a few phrases (that you poorly learned) you wouldn't understand replies very well.

I will log in later today to give you 2 or 3 phrases in "bad Dwarven".

I have one already. List your 1 to 2 other phrases here that you need translated.

1. "hello I am Tameris"
2.
3.