By Arthur Collins

 

Character languages	Class secondary language	Fluency	-	-
Dragon #66	-	-	-	Dragon magazine

THIEF: ’Ere now! Wot’s ’at?
FIGHTER: Oh, no! It’s that illusionist
again, with about three zillion goblins!
PALADIN: Whist, father! Pray for us!
Montjoie-St. Denis!
THIEF: ’S dark as a bloomin’ coal scuttle
in ’ere — ’ow about a light spell,
parson?
CLERIC: Oremus. Salve, Domine! Soli
te gloria. Fiat lux. Amen!
ILLUSIONIST: Me genoito! En de nux!
FIGHTER: Hey! who turned out the
lights?
ELF: Fear not! Aure entuluva!
BARD: Eala, aethelingas!
HENCHMAN: Doon wi’ th’ Sassenachs!
THIEF: Them ain’t Saxons, ye barmy
bilgebrain! These ’ere be goblins, can’t
you ’ear?
GOBLINS: Gobble, gobble.
CLERIC: “Gobble, gobble?”
MAGIC-USER: Oy, veh!

Now, that’s what AD&D™ or D&D®
playing sessions ought to sound like
(sort of). But of course, they don’t. Accents
and characteristic speech patterns
add a lot to role playing. But we can’t all
be linguists — least of all the poor DM,
who must play hundreds of speaking
creatures.

Nevertheless, language differences
can add a lot to a game, especially in
terms of the challenge of communicating
with people (and monsters) who
speak other tongues and dialects. But a
set of rules to facilitate this could easily
become either overly technical or just
plain cumbersome in use. The intent of
this article is to suggest a set of procedures
that work well while avoiding the
above-mentioned pitfalls.

To begin with, every DM needs to understand
the linguistic situation in his
campaign milieu. What human languages
and dialects are there? What is the
“common” tongue and how widely is it
spoken? What demi-human tongues are
in evidence? For my campaign, I defined
these relationships. “Common” speech
evolved in the manner described by the
accompanying chart.

In the chart, asterisks denote extinct
languages; dotted lines, distant descent;
solid lines, immediate descent; arrows,
patterns of heavy influence or borrowing,
whether of vocabulary or grammar;
and wavy lines, dialects. Putting the
“Common Tongue” in parentheses de-
notes that it exists only in its four dialects.
A speaker of the Common Tongue
speaks one of these dialects, not something
called “Common.”

By setting out the relatedness of certain
languages, you engage in saying
why your cultural milieu is as it is. Why
do the people in A speak X, while those in
B speak Y? Settle these facts to your
satisfaction while setting up your campaign,
and then you are ready to introduce
the following concepts.

Character languages
Every player character has a primary
language in which he is 100% fluent, this
being his birth tongue.

In addition, he may have one or more
secondary languages, due to cultural
conditions, such as growing up in a
border area where cultures mix, or from
being a demi-human growing up in a society
that employs several languages.

In addition, certain character classes
have tongues which they employ in the
pursuit of their profession.

Also, all player characters use alignment
tongues to one degree or another,
either as a language of devotion or
theology or as a jargon of those who
grow up among like-minded persons.

And, the player character will have a
degree of fluency in languages/dialects
closely related to his primary language
or other languages in which he is fluent.
For example, a student learning Old English
already knows English, and if he also
knows another Germanic language, then
his task of deciphering Old English becomes
immeasurably easier.

Class secondary languages
Clerics: In my campaign, most good
human clerics speak Kirkish as a language
of devotion and spell-casting. But
in any case, all clerics of character races
use a special tongue for spell casting.
Half-orcs use the Black Speech, while
half-elves use Grey Elven. Clerics not
belonging to the predominant religion
adhere to others which also use special
tongues.

Druids: Members of this class speak
Druidic, which in my campaign is called
Old High Kehlic. All their spells are cast
in this language.

Paladins: They may or may not have a
special language as a language of devotion,
but will certainly acquire one when
of high enough level to employ spells.

Rangers: There is no tongue associated
with rangers, but in my campaign
many of them speak Old Common, which
is a tongue now used only by isolated
hill-folk. It is for them a language of lore.
Of course, they will acquire a smattering
of spell-casting tongues when they reach
a high enough level to cast spells.

Magic-users: The “True Speech.”

Illusionists: Phantasmaic.

Thieves: Thieves’ cant.

Monks: There is no particularly monkish
language in the rules, but in order to
justify their cultural presence in my
Northern European-type milieu, I have
them know some Quiltien, an Oriental
tongue spoken by their masters and
therefore revered as a language of
instruction.

Bards: Old High Kehlic, which they
use as a language of lore and spellcasting.

Fighters and assassins: Members of
these classes do not start out with any
class-related secondary languages.

Fluency
1) All characters are 100% fluent in
their primary language(s).

2) Player characters begin proficiency
in alignment tongues at 2% times their
intelligence ability score, and progress
thereafter according to the following
formula, to a maximum of 75%:
    .5% x (intelligence + wisdom)
    per level gained beyond 1st

To progress beyond 75% fluency in an
alignment tongue, special study is required
as described below. As an example
of how to apply the above rules and
formula, consider a 5th-level neutral evil
player character with an intelligence of 8
and a wisdom of 10. To start with, his
fluency in his alignment tongue is 2% x 8,
or 16%. To take his second through fifth
levels into account, use the above formula:
.5% x 18 x 4 = 36%. Adding his initial
fluency of 16% and his progress toward
mastery through five levels of adventuring,
he is now 52% fluent (16 + 36) in the
language of Neutral Evil. Once he attains
75%, he cannot improve fluency any
more unless he gets his theological act
together and does some serious studying
(see below).

3) Player characters begin proficiency
in class-related secondary languages at
5% times their intelligence, and progress
thereafter at the rate of 3% per level to a
maximum of 75%. To progress in fluency
thereafter, special study is required, as
described below. Why does this formula
differ from the formula for alignmentlanguage
fluency? Because alignment
tongues are rarely worked at, but you
use a class-related secondary language
every day. Therefore, you advance in it
more quickly as you rise in level. As an
example, consider a <3rd-level cleric> with
an intelligence of 12. He is 66% fluent in
his spell-casting tongue (5% x 12, plus
3% for each additional level = 66%).

4) A PC may begin with
certain secondary languages, because
of having grown up around them or because
of his or her racial background.
For these, percentile dice are rolled, and
numbers above 90% are ignored. To
progress in fluency thereafter, special
study is required, as described below.
For example, an elf has a lot of language
potential, as described in the Players
Handbook. Applying this method of language
fluency, we have a high elf who
begins his career with the following
smattering of tongues he picked up in
his childhood and adolescence:

High elven, 100% fluent; grey elven,
58% (23% + 25% +10%; see sections 8 & 9
below); gnomish, 77%; halfling, 7%; goblin,
4%; hobgoblin, 48%; orcish, 34%;
gnoll, 16%; Common, 62%.

As the player of this character, asking
yourself why he knows what languages
he does, and how well he knows them,
will help you flesh out the character, by
considering the background of his upbringing.
The above figures show that
this character has had considerable experience
with gnomes, orcs, and hobgoblins
(or at least with speakers of
those languages), but not with halflings
and goblins. Why?

5) Acquiring new languages:
5a) A player character may endeavor
to learn as many new languages as his
intelligence or race permits. In addition,
bards, druids, and assassins gain the
ability to learn new languages. Bards
and druids begin their proficiency in
their new tongues at 5% times their intelligence,
and to progress thereafter must
study as described below. Assassins begin
at 1% times their intelligence, but for
them, book-study will gain them increase
of proficiency as described below, which
it will not for bards and druids. Note that
fluency for assassins learning alignment
or class tongues can only be gained by
close association with speakers of that
tongue (see below). DM’s note: Having
an assassin “brush up” his Lawful Good
by masquerading as a paladin or cleric in
a holy institution is a dangerous and exciting
way to have to learn the fine points
of the patois.

5b) All characters endeavoring to learn
a new language (other than a secondary
language, class-related language, alignment
tongue, or bardic/druidic language
acquisitions), have the option of doing
book-study alone or in a class in order to
grasp the basics of the language. Studying
alone will gain an increase in fluency
of 1% times the character’s intelligence
per six months of study, to a maximum of
30% by study. Studying under a tutor (or
in a class) will double the rate of acquisition
(1% x intelligence per 3 months of
study), again to a maximum gain of 30%
by study. Study can be undertaken at
any time, but cannot increase fluency
beyond 75%. To gain fluency beyond
this point is beyond book-learning; only
experience will do.

5c) The main way of acquiring new
languages or increasing fluency in ones
a player character already knows is by
living in close association with speakers
of that language and employing that
tongue daily. Fluency in acquiring languages
through close association comes
at a rate of 1% times the learner’s intelligence
per month until the speaker is 60%
fluent, whereupon the gain is 5% per
month of close association until a maximum
of 90% is reached. Note that “close
association” assumes daily use of the
tongue being acquired, to the exclusion
of most other speech. Living in an enclave
speaking Language A among a
community of speakers of Language B
will not help toward acquiring the latter.
How many American soldiers in Europe
or elsewhere make the effort to really
learn the local language?

6) Languages acquired via spells are at
100% fluency for the spell’s duration.
Note, however, that the language acquired
will be of the textbook variety
(flawless and non-idiomatic), and not
necessarily of the dialect or style among
which you find yourself, unless this is so
specified and the spell allows it. Spells
and devices to understand languages
operate at 100% fluency — but many of
these are merely unconscious translators,
and do not confer any real understanding
of the language upon the user.
The spell Read Magick differs from the
ability to read the “True Speech” employed
by magic-users only by raising
fluency to 100% for the spell’s duration.

A thief’s Read Languages ability applies
only to languages unknown to the
thief, or in which he is not as fluent as his
Read Languages ability. In any case, no
knowledge of the language is bestowed
permanently. The thief is just hazarding
a guess as to what the script says.

7) Fluency scores and ratings are assigned
for each character and each language
known by that character according
to the list below. 
(Note that PC do not know their scores,
only their ratings.)

A fluency of 100% (00) is only possible
for a primary language (birth tongue); a
fluency score of 91-99% indicates a Second
Language (different from a secondary
language); 76-90% is Very Fluent;
61-75% is Fluent; 41-60% is Conversant;
21-40% indicates the character is acquainted
with the language; a score of
01-20% means the character can recognize
the language when it is seen or
spoken.

8) One’s degree of fluency also helps
in getting along in dialects, and in learning
new languages related to one already
known (see table below). The column
on the left applies to one’s fluency
rating in a known language, while the
columns to the right refer to the bonus
one has in getting along in another language
encountered.

Language encountered is:

Fluency rating is:	Parent or sister of tongue	Dialect of same	Related Language
Primary	+25%	+44%	+16%
Secondary	+20%	+36%	+12%
Very Fluent	+15%	+24%	+8%
Fluent	+10%	+16%	+4%
Conversational	+5%	+8%	+2%

These bonuses apply in the following
situations:

a) The degree to which you will understand
a speaker of an otherwise unknown
tongue.

b) The initial bonus given in acquiring
a new language. After 2 months of
either book-learning or learning by close
association, this bonus is automatically
added onto a character’s fluency score.
Note, however, that simply knowing another
language cannot at any time increase
fluency in a language beyond
75%. Beyond this, only personal effort
and study will work.

9) The “Common Tongue,” or secondary
language of most elves and many
sylvan creatures, is High Elvish. Elves
have a 10% bonus in all elvish secondary
languages; 30% of all high elves know
Grey Elven as a secondary language,
and 30% know Wood Elven. The 10% bonus
also applies to elvish languages and
dialects in situations such as 8) above.

asking yourself why he
knows what languages he
does, and how well he knows
them, will help you flesh
out the character . . .

10) All of the foregoing matters because
being understood or being correct
in the use of language is very important
in the conduct of the game. For instance:

a) For spell casters, spell casting (at
least for player characters) is always
done in a specialty tongue, never in
“Common.” Therefore, if you blow your
spell, it could be because you haven’t
mastered your spell-casting language.

The first time you use a new spell, you
must roll d% to see if you get it right. If a
player character rolls his fluency score
correctly 4 times out of his first 7 attempts,
he need no longer roll; he has
mastered the inflections and vocabulary.
If he blows it more than 3 times in the first
7 attempts, he must roll every time he
uses that spell until he gets it right 3
times in a row, or until he rises a level, at
which time he needs to only succeed
once, and the disability disappears.

"Getting it right" means rolling your
fluency score or less with d%. (Note: The
DM does the rolling; see 7) above.) Penalties
for not “getting it right” are as
follows:

Missing the d% roll by 1-10% indicates
a minor blooper; the spell gets off, but
not perfectly. The character knows he
has blown it. With luck, the spell will
work out more or less as intended.

Missing by 11-20% is a significant
blooper; the spell fizzles and is useless,
just as if it had not been attempted.

Missing by 21% or more is a major
blooper; the spell backfires.

b) A bard attempting to charm while
using a secondary tongue must roll his
fluency score or less every time he attempts
the charm. If he blows it, the difference
is subtracted from his charm
percentage. Example: A 5th-level bard is
attempting to charm another person in
that person’s language. The bard’s charm
percentage is 30%, and his fluency score
in his target’s tongue is 73% (a rating of
Fluent). The DM rolls an 81, so the bard
must roll 22 or less for his charm attempt
to be successful (81-73 = 8; 30-8 = 22).
The bard rolls a 29 (Just made it — or so
he thinks!), and gets the surprise of his
life when the uncharmed beggar goes
for his throat.

c) Misreading a potion label, a map, or
a scroll can lead to interesting situations.

d) Dithering/dickering, etc., with speakers
of another language can lead to interesting
results. (A friend of mine tried
to order a meal in Ecuador and ordered a
waitress instead.) Every time the player
character attempts to get a major point
across, d% are rolled. If this score is less
than his fluency score, the difference is
subtracted from the reaction score of the
other party, which makes an immediate
reaction check. Thus, if you were 80%
fluent in language X and the DM rolls an
89, a reaction check is taken at -9%. Note
that for this purpose, charisma as a factor
in determining reaction is eliminated;
you having looked very stupid in blundering
like you did.

Verstehst du? Then you are ready to
add malaprops and Freudian slips to the
other challenges of playing an AD&D or
D&D adventure. And may it spice up
your game. Remember: Communication
is at the heart of role-playing.