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Dragon #1	Best of Dragon Vol. I	D&D	1st Edition AD&D	Dragon magazine

The Rules lay down that each species has its own language,
except for humans, most of whom can speak “common” (as can
20% of the non-humans . . . as an extra tongue). In addition, each
alignment has its own language, known to all its members and
recognizable as such by all non-members. Creatures may speak
several languages, either by virtue of their natural intelligence or
by magic. Thus an elf with an Intelligence of 18 speaks six native
languages (Orc, Hobgoblin, Gnoll, Elf, Common and his alignment)
plus eight acquired ones (one for each intelligence point
over 10), while a human with an Intelligence of 3 can speak only
Common and his alignment language — and probably has a low
vocabulary in both.

Magic is useful in extending one’s language ability. A Cleric
can acquire the ability to speak the language of any animal, and a
first level spell has been proposed that would allow a third level
Thief or any Magic-User taking it to speak any language in which
he had found an inscription that he could read. (The Thief has an
80% ability to read languages; the Magic-User would have to
carry the “Read Languages” spell in order to succeed.)

Extra languages may also be acquired as a divine or magical
favor. There’s one San Francisco area mule who now speaks
Japanese as a favor from a Monkey God, so that he could communicate
with his 9 Intelligence, Japanese-speaking master. And
one of my own dumb Clerics was given the ability to speak Were
St. Bernard as a gift from a rather eccentric Wizard. (He hasn’t
found anyone else who speaks it yet, let alone Were St. Bernard,
but he’s still looking.)

So much for what the Rules provide for. What are the implications
of all this for D & D play?
 

To begin with, let us take up the question of alignment
languages. Some groups have allowed characters to take an alien
alignment language as a tongue learned by virtue of high intelligence.
I myself feel that the world-view of each alignment is so
different from the others that speaking an alien alignment would
be impossible to do perfectly and difficult to do well. In my
dungeons, Lawfuls or Chaotics have only a 30% chance of understanding
anything in the opposing tongue and a 60% chance
of understanding anything in Neutral. They can speak the opposing
tongue 40% understandably and Neutral 70%. Neutrals
have a 60% chance of understanding either Law or Chaos and a
70% chance of speaking it understandably.

How far does language ability go? One can talk to animals.
One can talk to plants. Can one talk to bugs (insects smaller than
a grasshopper, say)? Can one talk to bacteria? Stones? I have encountered
one character who took “Wall” as a language and attempted
to interrogate dungeon walls as to what lay behind them.
In my dungeon, the walls drunkenly replied, “I don’t know; I’m
plastered.” I feel that anything for which a command
potion/ring/staff/wand/rod does not exist should not be able to
carry on a conversation.

To what extent are there meta-languages, the non-human
equivalent of “common? ” Can a Mule understand a Horse? Can
a Unicorn? I use an Equine tongue, 70% understandable and
speakable by Horses, 70% by Mules (to whom it sounds very
aristocratic), 50% by Unicorns. Similarly there is Auld Wormish
spoken by 50% of all middle-aged or older dragons who are up to
speaking any language, and the Great Tongue, spoken by 50% of
all giants well enough established in the community to have a lair
to live in. I also play that Lyranthropes have an 80% chance of understanding
Common (though they cannot speak it in were-form)
and a 40% chance of understanding the language of the species
they resemble in were-form (though they cannot speak it in
human form). Thus there is a 40% chance a Were-wolf would
speak Wolf, and if he does so, a 70% chance he would also speak
Canine.

Can one change a language taken as an IQ ability fringe
benefit? Many groups rule not; some, however, allow an individual
to learn one new language and forget one old acquired
one each time he goes up a level. This seems reasonable. A first
level character has more need to speak Goblin than Red Dragon;
a seventh level one, the reverse.

Languages can sometimes be used for other reasons than
communication. I once encountered a fighter who had taken
Balrog as a language . . . for the purpose of swearing in it when
annoyed. I also met two characters who used to exchange what
appeared to be snide comments on the rest of the party in
Minotaur, a language none of the rest of us spoke.

The usual use of language, though, is to communicate. This
is an especially vital skill to the spellcaster. A potion or device of
commanding apparently carries the language ability to speak to
the class of entities to be put under control, but the standard
spells do not. Little use can be made of a Charmed or Held enemy
if there’s no way to give him orders or interrogate him save
through sign language.

And mute phantasmal beings are always
less convincing than vocal ones. The ability to speak to the party’s
mule or to a character’s own mount may also be a valuable one at
times. It’s far easier to calm such an animal if you speak its
language. Learning “Mule” can be a far cheaper way of inspiring
a pack animal not to run away the first time it meets undead,
than having to spend 250 GP for training it or 150 GP for buying
barding for it, so it won’t feel so vulnerable.

Finally let us look at the Common tongue. As mentioned
before, the Rules lay down “most humans and some (20%) other
creatures and monsters” know it. I doubt if they speak it with the
same accent or even quite the same grammar or vocabulary. West
coast fans play that most humans also have some other language
of their own, the one of their particular native culture. It may be a
current tongue such as Japanese or French or English. It may be
a sub-species like Neanderthal or Merman. It may be a tongue
from legend or from some fantasy or science-fiction work, such as
Atlantean or Lankhmarian or Gorian. It may be a tongue from
some geographical source like High Martian or Swampish or
Shastan. Such people also speak Common, of course.

Still, dungeon-dwelling humans are apt to think in their personal
tongues rather than in Common (an important point for
would-be telepathic eavesdroppers to keep in mind). And such
personal tongues can be used to make your human character
more individualized, always a good thing to strive for.

Sometimes such a language characterization can pay off too.
I was once in a party that encountered a formidable group of
Morlochs. We resigned ourselves to a battle that would surely kill
off most of us. But our leader, a Caveman Cleric of great
Charisma, found to her delight that she could communicate with
the Morlochs in Cavish. It turned out they were 60% mutually
comprehensible. Enough for her to learn they were Neutrals,
trekking down to a lower level of the dungeon and willing to leave
us alone if we paid them a tribute of all the wine we were carrying.
We paid them with delight and then went off to loot creatures we
were more on a par with.

Alarums & Excursions is highly recommended for D&D’ers
everywhere. Ed.