Language

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Languages on the Mainland have slightly different mechanics than the languages of standard D&D.

Languages in the World

In standard D&D, the carryover model from earlier editions has been that every race forms a nationality with its own language, and that binding them all is a pidgin tongue (Common above ground, Underdark below ground, Infernal in the Lower Planes, etc). On the Mainland, this obviously does not apply, as the various races and nationalities have all had some pretty intimate interactions. The general mechanic is that, on the Mainland, Ubrekti serves as a sort of Latin analog, the time-honored tongue of the peoples' old masters in which all educated discourse and codification of laws occurs (supported very heavily by the fact that Alexandrian practice is conducted almost entirely in Ubrekti). Adventurers generally fit into the "educated populace paradigm, and will thus for one reason or another have that as a starting language. In addition, most of the Nations of the mainland will have developed their own tongue, in which the day-to-day is conducted. In more Nationalistic countries (like Odessa), almost everyone can be expected to speak the National tongue (like Odessan), but in countries where National identity is a little more fluid (like Fresia), this expectation is less certain. For countries like Gildenhome and Sidhe-Praxen, racial mixing is low enough that the National language is, in fact, named after the races (Dwarven and Sidhe, respectively). Gnomish and Halfling are both special cases--Gnomish exists because the Gnomes are fiercely determined to keep it going (comparable to pockets of the German-flavored Hebrew creole tongue Yiddish existing in Europe, but with longer lifetimes and memories keeping the language a bit less adulterated), and Halfling has become extinct for precisely the opposite reason.

Servitors are treated similarly, except that so few people are interested in the cultures that their regional structures aren't particularly well-known to the Goodly races (nor to this wiki). The Lizardfolk, too, maintain regional variants of their old tongue Ssel'it thanks to their relative isolation, but it is quite possible that the variants of Ssel'it spoken on different sides of the continent are different enough to be incomprehensible to one another.

Certain exotic languages also have their own treatments. Notably, Sylvan exists as a sort of Druid mirror-language to Ubrekti, but with ties to natural phenomena that influence the language in strange ways.

Also, Ulan, as an area, has not had the unifying influence of Alexandrianism that the rest of the Mainland has experienced. While it is noted as a single geographic region on the map and in peoples' minds, it is in reality a vast patchwork of small kingdoms and tribes, each with their own (sometimes completely unrelated, even to other adjacent cultures) languages and dialects. The odds of any single character being able to converse fluently with any person in even a small subsection of the Ulan without magical or local assistance are so vanishingly small as to be regarded completely ridiculous.

Mechanics

Starting Languages

Each player character of a non-Servitor race (except Lizard Men) starts with Ubrekti and the language of her homeland, plus a number of bonus languages equal to Intelligence modifier (which languages can be chosen is determined by background and GM fiat). Those characters who originate in Ubrekt begin play with Ubrekti and Hakni.

SRD Language Equivalents

Ubrekti serves as a stand-in for Common; it is spoken among people of any amount of learning on the Mainland, but is not completely universal by any stretch, and very likely may not be understood by commoner, or more isolated, people. The existence of demihuman languages is an artifact of racial Nationalism rather than any special treatment of the rules.

Speechbub.png Comment

We can even think about renaming "Gnomish" and "Dwarven" to fit this. "Sidhe" already fits.

--Slitherrr 11:49, 30 November 2010 (EST)

Learning Language

Whenever a new language is learned, a teacher of the language must somehow be procured, and some amount of storyline-appropriate time must past before the language is actually learned. Learning a language learns it both in spoken and written form, if applicable (some languages have no alphabet, and some languages are no longer spoken), unless the character is a Barbarian, in which case only spoken variants are learned (assuming the Barbarian has not acquired literacy from some source).

In Pathfinder: Whenever a point in Linguistics is taken, that opens up a new Linguistics slot. After that slot is opened, a character can make a Linguistics check every time he participates (listening or speaking) in a conversation in that language, at DC 40. The number of conversations participated in in that language acts as a bonus to this roll. If the character succeeds, he learns the language. Also, if you have a dedicated teacher or lesson book and 20 days of offtime, you can learn up to 1 + Int bonus languages that do not count against the normal total (see here)

Related Languages

Some languages are related closely enough that speakers of one can understand speakers of another. If communication is attempted, an Intelligence check is rolled against the DC determined by the table below.

DCs for Intelligence check for understanding related language
Dialects Closely Related Related Distantly Related Not Related
Simple Message - 5 10 20 30
Complex Message 5 10 20 40 60

Reference

The SRD reference (the Linguistics skill page) is [www.d20pfsrd.com/skills/linguistics].

Refer to the List of Languages for details on specific languages, and a list of available languages.