Post/Author/DateTime	Post
coastiemike 06-17-06, 04:23 AM	Ok, I have reviewed the Language section in the FRCS several times. What I need help with is a better way to incorporate the different regional language dialects into my game (Chondathan, Iluskan, etc...). I guess my reasoning for doing this is that most of my players (I currently have 17 split into 3 groups) have taken at least one, and most have take 2-3, different regional languages. I don't want players to feel they wasted slots or skill points in taken a language dialect that never gets used in the game. I also think it would add a deeper "feel" (for lack of a better word) into the game. How do you other DMs utilize these 80+ different dialects mentioned in the FRCS? I am open to any and all suggestions. Thanks ahead of time for any thoughts.
Gray Richardson 06-17-06, 04:08 PM	Well, one thing you could do is have all NPC's speak their native tongue. They might not know common, or speak it only if asked and then only brokenly. You could give minuses to gather information checks, diplomacy checks, even to charm spells or anything else that requires you to speak the same language as the target NPC. Or you could give bonuses to such checks if the player makes the effort to speak to the NPC in his native toungue. After all, it is much easier to pick up on the subtleties, implications, connotations, double-entendres, and nuances of communication if you speak a language natively. Books, street signs, letters and other written materials would be written in the person's native tongue. So a person who didn't speak Amnish might get lost or have a hard time finding places if he can't read the signs in Athkatla. If he got a letter from Calimport, he would need someone who knows Calimshite to translate it. Written clues would require the player to know the appropriate language. Just treat Common as a second language that most people speak but don't use in their day-to-day experience. After all, it is a trading tongue. More of a pidgin language, really. Sort of a mish-mash of Chondathan and Calimshite, with lots of other words from all over mixed in. Nobles in particular might find Common to be rather vulgar and beneath them and might refuse to speak in it. Some religious types might refuse to learn common on religious grounds (not that immoral language! It's the devil's tongue!) Barbarians would not necessarily know common. Rural folk and Farmers might not know or have the need to know common. I think I particularly like the idea of giving bonuses to checks that require language. Its sort of a subtle, positive reinforcement method of encouraging native language use.
Bloodtide_the_Red 06-20-06, 12:42 AM	For more flavor, just change the way you use English, per language used by a character. Such as: Alzhedo-Nothing in this language is 'just' an person, place or thing. All things need, at least three descriptive words. It's a true steel sword of woe and waste, or a robe of the finest woven silk or a horse that runs with the wind at it's back. This also is use for actions, they don't throw a dagger, they hurl the dagger through the air cutting through the sky. In trade, they quite outright lie about things. Chondathan-is noted for the way it combines words. A sword used by a castle guard is a 'guardsword' or 'castlesword'. They typicaly give a name to any item, if needed. Illuskan-is full of nautical words. They say 'port' for left, for example. They also use descriptive words, though typical only one or two per item. Thier descriptions are normal quite simple, a blade of dark doom. They often name weapons and important items. BT