Are the languages from the forgotten realms player's handbook (Damaran, Netherese, ect...) in addition to the ones in the player's handbook, or are they the only languages in a forgotten realms game? In other words, can I pick draconic if I am playing in a forgotten realms game?
Secondly, what languages would be a good choice to pick in Impiltur or Tantras?
I'm creating a Deva Invoker of Torm. It's my first time playing in forgotten realms, any advice would be much apreciated.
in impiltur
infernal
Are the languages from the forgotten realms player's handbook (Damaran, Netherese, ect...) in addition to the ones in the player's handbook, or are they the only languages in a forgotten realms game? In other words, can I pick draconic if I am playing in a forgotten realms game?
Secondly, what languages would be a good choice to pick in Impiltur or Tantras?
I'm creating a Deva Invoker of Torm. It's my first time playing in forgotten realms, any advice would be much apreciated.
Yes the Languages from the Player's Handbook apply to the Realms as well. Most of the languages from the Realms book are human reginal languages. Chondathan is pretty much the Realms equivalent of English and its the root of Common, so the way i see it if you know Common then you could communicate with people that know Chondathan, of course everyone knows common so i guess thats a moot point.
Damaran is the human language most predominate in Impiltur, as well in Tantras.
in impiltur
infernal
Infernal is not a legal choice....unless that is different in FR?
Yes the Languages from the Player's Handbook apply to the Realms as well. Most of the languages from the Realms book are human reginal languages. Chondathan is pretty much the Realms equivalent of English and its the root of Common, so the way i see it if you know Common then you could communicate with people that know Chondathan, of course everyone knows common so i guess thats a moot point.
Damaran is the human language most predominate in Impiltur, as well in Tantras.
So basicly if I know common I don't need chondathan. Ok, well as a Deva I get two choices, so I picked Damaran. Still trying to decide on one other, which would you suggest?
abyssal : demons
supernal:angels, demons,deities
take your pick,
hey wai the deva, does it get a starting language?? and if so what was it?
Well Chondathan could still be a valid choice. Its only the root of common so you might have some language barriers depending on how your DM plays it. Im a stickler for languages myself. The way i see it if your speaking Common to some one who knows Chondathan, you would sound like "Me Tarzan, You Jane", where as when they spoke to you, you would only understand half of what they say, but thats just how i see it. A racial language like Elven or Dwarven could always be good to. Or giant or goblinoid would be good if you want to hurl insults and orcs or goblins that they would understand.
hey wai the deva, does it get a starting language?? and if so what was it?
The Deva gets common and the choice of 2 others. But i dont think you can pick Abysal or Supernal at 1st level. But Draconic and Primordial are a go.
abyssal : demons
supernal:angels, demons,deities
take your pick,
hey wai the deva, does it get a starting language?? and if so what was it?
You're not supposed to be able to take Supernal (or abyssal) at level 1 actually. I find that Primordial and draconic come up fairly often that they are worth having.
In my own FR campaign, it wasn't clear to me that everyone should know common. So, I had my players take their regional language in lieu of common whenever that language wasn't automatic anyways. This has been interesting, but a little too limiting. So, I made up the following rule:
When a character without the Linguist feat attains a new level, he/she may attempt to learn a language that he/she has had significant exposure to. Roll a d20. If the result is less than or equal to the character's intelligence, then the character learns the new language. Otherwise, the character may make this attempt again upon attaining the next level.
Only one language may be learned in this way. If a character who has learned a language through this procedure later obtains the Linguist feat, then this language counts as one of the three languages learned.
An alternative might be to allow any character to gain the linguist feat, but to make the number of languages learned depend on the character's intelligence. Or, you could just have everyone know Common as many groups do.
Yeah, common is more like a trade tongue so it would make sesne that not everyone would know it. I could see havin languages as like a skill as well, the better you are in a certain language the better you would be at communicating, bluff, intimidate, and the like with beings who spoke that language. Thats one of the things i dont like about D&D. Its like poof you suddenly can read and write languages at a proficient level.
Are the languages from the forgotten realms player's handbook (Damaran, Netherese, ect...) in addition to the ones in the player's handbook, or are they the only languages in a forgotten realms game? In other words, can I pick draconic if I am playing in a forgotten realms game?
All Core languages are present in FR unless specifically stated otherwise.
Secondly, what languages would be a good choice to pick in Impiltur or Tantras?
Impiltur - Damaran , Chondathan, Dwarven, Goblin
Tantras - Chondathan, Elven, Goblin, Giant, Draconic
I'm creating a Deva Invoker of Torm. It's my first time playing in forgotten realms, any advice would be much apreciated.
Well, the first thing you should do is convince your DM to restore Helm.
abyssal : demons
supernal:angels, demons,deities
take your pick,
hey wai the deva, does it get a starting language?? and if so what was it?
You're not supposed to be able to take Supernal (or abyssal) at level 1 actually. I find that Primordial and draconic come up fairly often that they are worth having.
I find that hard to believe that a Deva wouldnt know Supernal....
Yes at first level lets all know the one language that lets you speak and understand all other languages. Why have languages in the first place?
EDIT:2700th Post yet again!
Yes at first level lets all know the one language that lets you speak and understand all other languages. Why have languages in the first place?
EDIT:2700th Post yet again!
hands Delta a cigar.
I WILL cath up with you, or at least break 2000 posts
Well, I am not in a big hurry. Post all you want.
Well, I am not in a big hurry. Post all you want.
well I have to have something to post
Secondly, what languages would be a good choice to pick in Impiltur or Tantras?
Damaran (my tiefling - a Nar - has that, and actually had some use for it too).
Not infernal (aka supernal), that is for devils. Demons speak abyssal. Speaking abyssal is likely to draw unwanted attention in Impiltur. But you can't take those at 1st level anyway.
Note that Supermal does not let you speak and understand everyone else. My tiefling speaks it (due to her book imp familiar), and I am pretty sure she doesn't understand other languagues.
Gomez
Definite yes to Damaran.
As for your second choice:
- It could simply be a throwback to one of your former lives and thus be pretty much anything you happen to fancy.
- If you want something less random, you might consider a throwback--waaay back--to FR deva origins among the ancient Egyptian-like Mulan peoples. The Mulan were brought to FR as slaves by the ancient Imaskari, and their deities and angels came with them. As you may know, FR devas are those very angels incarnated into mortal forms, or descendants of those divine bloodlines, or some variation thereof. To tie into this storyline, you might choose Untheric, the southern human tongue. (The south is where the nations of Mulhorand and Unther, formed by freed Mulan, used to be before they vanished during the Spellplague.) Or as a twist on this, you might instead choose Deep Speech, which is what the present day Imaskari speak, in which case your character would recall the language of his peoples' captors.
- If you want something tied to your character's current lifetime and locale, you might choose Chondathan since it is the predominant language just to the west. Perhaps more interestingly, you might choose Dwarven for Impiltur as "small pockets of shield dwarves" are said to live there. Or for Tantras, Draconic might fit if your character does any arcane studying into the dead magic zone that was created when Torm died & came back in the city long ago.
Hope you find a language that fits! 
Let us know what you decide.
I find that hard to believe that a Deva wouldnt know Supernal....
Its the whole being mortal thing. Theyve totally forgotten it, just like the memories of their past lives.
they still count as immortal, and thus should know it
But are they truely immortal? Can devas die of old age?
But are they truely immortal? Can devas die of old age?
Nope, but they can choose to end their current existence and then reincarnate.
Currently, there are two ways for a deva to learn Supernal. If they have an Int of 13+, they can take the Linguist feat; otherwise, you can take the deva paragon feat Remebered Mother Tongue at 11th level.
Well in that case maybe they should have supernal at 1st level. I mean really whats game breaking about that?
I believe they're going to tie Supernal into a True-Namer class, like in the 3.x Tome of Magic. So giving 1st level characters access to Supernal might have game balancing issues once they do that. As it is now I don't see an issue with Supernal at 1st level.
I expect the issue was simply that they felt it improper to give PCs a language of extraplanar creatures, possibly in order to make them more alien.
I just don't think they wanted to give 1st level players the ability to effectively speak any and all languages without any costs, though they kind of did that with the kalashtar, which has telepathy 5 (still restricted by range though).
the deva came out afterward of the phb1, and if they did it for the K race from eberwrong then we can do it for the Deva
Eberwrong lol! I love it!
glad to hear it
-Languages spoken by the Humans of Abeir-Toril:
Excellent post from the Master of the Obvious himself! That is the most comprehensive listing of Realms languages i have ever seen. I consider myself pretty well versed in Realmslore but theres quite a few on there ive never heard of. Id love to see an expanded version, giving a little detail about the language, where its most widely used, what alphabet it uses, etc.
Awesome list man, just awesome!
what... was that the most high divine wizard in all of faerun and beyond, the MAster of the Obvious posted here??
I thought He left.......
what... was that the most high divine wizard in all of faerun and beyond, the MAster of the Obvious posted here??
I thought He left.......
The Lord works in mysterious ways.
to shay
Netherese isn't dead though (not any more).
Netherese isn't dead though (not any more).
Quite right. Id love to see like a language tree showing how the various languages are connected. Im guessing Thorass is derived from Netherese? And im guessing Lantanesse is now a dead language as well?
no Lantan's rest uses it. well assuming there are any life forms there that speak
well the dialect has probably changed considerably, it probably sounds more like "gurble gurble" now.
no Lantan's rest uses it. well assuming there are any life forms there that speak
The gnomes had scuba gear. They predicted a tidal wave of epic proportions long ago. They also have submarines. *cue Hunt for Red October parody*
yep. problely has.
I half to wonder though, if they new it was comming ahead of time to vacate into refugee status on the mainland..
They all teleported to Eberron.
They all teleported to Eberron.
Hmmm... heresy, is it? Alrighty then. *prepares lynching fire* Would you be so kind as to refuse to recant? The crowd wants a show.
They all teleported to Eberron.
Eberwrong
Hmmm... heresy, is it? Alrighty then. *prepares lynching fire* Would you be so kind as to refuse to recant? The crowd wants a show.
Oh jeeze, Lynched again? I need to learn to keep my mouth shut.
Im just saying that with the low tech level of 4e realms (i mean we had firearms in 2e so i figure 100 years later we should have some submachine guns but nooo) I think those Gnomes would be happier in Eberron. The Artificer class totally has Lantanese Gnomes all over it. And where did they pick that up from in Eberrron? From time traveling artificer Gnomes from Lanatan of course!
So is that a good enough answer? or am i still lookin at a lynching?
would it help if i went over to the Eberwrong boards and started up some Sh*t?
So is that a good enough answer? or am i still lookin at a lynching?
Well, I'm inclined to say no, since Eberron still walks away with FR gnomes, but... *asks the crowd for their opinion*... it'll do fine.
would it help if i went over to the Eberwrong boards and started up some Sh*t?
Nah. As entertaining as such chaos would be.....
Thank the gods!
I wouldnt mind getting lynched by those Eberronians, or whatever theyre called. Besides theyd have to catch me first!
thats uberwrongians....
It Ebberyawn...
that and ebersux
I like Ebberon. Its a good setting. I like reading Keith's posts. Forgotten Realms are better IMNSHO.
I'm sure it is, I like the changelings.
however the 4e campiagn stuff for it , iirc didnt have the not eberron section it like the realms had the not the forgotten realms section does.
I just dont like things that have everybody has a political angle.
So is Lantanese a variant of Gnome? or wait Gnomish aint a language any more is it? What the hell do Gnomes speak now?
no for humans liived there too
So is Lantanese a variant of Gnome? or wait Gnomish aint a language any more is it? What the hell do Gnomes speak now?
Elven, at least in Core. However, gnome will still exist in FR (like any languague). It may be easiest to cast gnome as a sub-version of elven though ('elven' being the general name givent o the fey languagues).
Gomez
Elven, at least in Core. However, gnome will still exist in FR (like any languague). It may be easiest to cast gnome as a sub-version of elven though ('elven' being the general name givent o the fey languagues).
Gomez
Gnomes speak Elven in Core? Why am I suddenly reminded of the British imposing their language on India when they still called the shots? Poor Gnomes, forced to bend the knee to the egomaniacal Elves. Their culture's being absorbed and warped by the Elves.
Well they got rid of Sylvan as a language, so i guess Elven is the new Sylvan. Im sure the Gnomes have their own dialect. Amd yes there was Humans on Lantan, but i still think there was more Gnomes, so maybe Lantanese is a mix of Elven (Gnome Dialect) and Human (maybe Chondathan)?
Elven, at least in Core. However, gnome will still exist in FR (like any languague). It may be easiest to cast gnome as a sub-version of elven though ('elven' being the general name givent o the fey languagues).
Gomez
Gnomes speak Elven in Core? Why am I suddenly reminded of the British imposing their language on India when they still called the shots? Poor Gnomes, forced to bend the knee to the egomaniacal Elves. Their culture's being absorbed and warped by the Elves.
And as a tradeoff, the gnomes lose all knowledge of firearms? And send the Realms back into a sort of "Dark Ages"?
Well it was those Lantanese Gnomes specifically that had the fire arms. So yeah with the Spellplaugue the Realms got sent back to the Dark Ages. Id like to think that theres still pockets of Gondsmen making Firearms and what not as well. Artificers still fit in the FR setting IMO. I think they lowered the tech level in the Realms to make Eberron more unique. This as me wondering too about technology in the Realms. In previous editions it was stated that technology didnt work in the Realms, so if the Milenium Falcon got sucked through a worm hole and it ended up in Realmspace, it would cease functioning, Hans blaster wouldnt work, and Lukes lightsaber wouldnt ignite. I always considered that to be part of the Weave, and with the Weave now gone would laser guns work in the Realms now? That might be a question for ED.
the mage tech in both were to different deals anyway.
the mage tech in both were to different deals anyway.
QFT
But back to languages, what about Damaran? what would be the real world equivelent? I was thinkin something like Gemanic? Any one else have any ideas?
the mage tech in both were to different deals anyway.
QFT
But back to languages, what about Damaran? what would be the real world equivelent? I was thinkin something like Gemanic? Any one else have any ideas?
Polish is closer, I believe. A lot of the Damaran names are actually Polish names. Case in point: Pavel, which is the Polish equivalent of Paul.
Ahhhh Polish, ok i can see that, but i always thought Pavel was more of a Russian name? Of course im getting that from Star Trek, which probably isnt the best source for such things. But still Russian and Polish are somewhat similiar arent they?
Ahhhh Polish, ok i can see that, but i always thought Pavel was more of a Russian name? Of course im getting that from Star Trek, which probably isnt the best source for such things. But still Russian and Polish are somewhat similiar arent they?
Yes, Polish and Russian are both part of the Slavic language group, among many others but that is beside the point. So yes I suppose Damarran would have a Slavic sound to it, but this is the Forgotten Realms, not everything has to have a "real world" equivalent.
Yes, Polish and Russian are both part of the Slavic language group, among many others but that is beside the point. So yes I suppose Damarran would have a Slavic sound to it, but this is the Forgotten Realms, not everything has to have a "real world" equivalent.
Well i could see the human languages in the Realms having similar languages in our world. Im not saying Damaran would translate directly into Russian or Polish or whatever, but it would have a similar sound to it. Obviously i dont see a real world equivalent for fantasy languages like Elven and Dwarven.
Well actually no i take that back, I could see Elven being similar to Gaelic and Dwarven sounding alot like Norse, or what ever language the Vikings spoke.
Yes, Polish and Russian are both part of the Slavic language group, among many others but that is beside the point. So yes I suppose Damarran would have a Slavic sound to it, but this is the Forgotten Realms, not everything has to have a "real world" equivalent.
Well i could see the human languages in the Realms having similar languages in our world. Im not saying Damaran would translate directly into Russian or Polish or whatever, but it would have a similar sound to it. Obviously i dont see a real world equivalent for fantasy languages like Elven and Dwarven.
Well actually no i take that back, I could see Elven being similar to Gaelic and Dwarven sounding alot like Norse, or what ever language the Vikings spoke.
The Vikings spoke Old Norse, the root of modern Scandinavian languages. It is also closely related to Dutch and German. I suppose perhaps Dwarven could sound similar, but if you come up with real world equivalents for everything, that takes some of the fantasy element away, IMO.
Would Pig Latin be High Orc?
Would Pig Latin be High Orc?
I for one am goin to start using that!
Eah-yay!
Im not sure if this would fall under languages, but, anyone remember Southern Magic? It used, I believe, the Thoth Script. The Thayans, Mulhorandi, Untheric, and I think Halruua? all used this type of magic. So Im guessing that theyve done away with this? With Mulhorand gone, and magic essentially rewritten, would there even be a Thoth Script now? Or are Thayans now using "standard" magic now? Well I guess they fazed the whole Southern magic thing out by 3e, and Im not sure if theres any reference to it in any 2e stuff either? So does anybody know anything more about the Thoth Script? or any ideas or speculation?
Well since I don't think it was used in 3e, I'd say that it was phazed out in practice around 1372 Dale Reckoning, and the "standard" magic startedbecoming more and more popular as time went on, also with Thoth being blasted out of Realmspace with the rest of Mulhorand, I would say its use would dwindle even further. By 1479 DR I would Imagine Thay's Red Wizards would be using the "standard" magic, since magic was entirely rewritten with the whole Metatext thing.
with Thoth being blasted out of Realmspace with the rest of Mulhorand
Abeir is still in Realmspace, just like Torils Feywild and Shadowfell are still part of Realmspace, but actually that has me wondering now, does Abeir have its own seperate Shadowfell and Feywild or does it share Torils?
*duh-duh den DUH*
It would be interesting if Torils paralel world Abeir HAS NO FEYWILD OR SHADOWFELL AT ALL!
*duh-duh den DUH*
You might be on to something. Im curious how that would work out. Abeir as been a complete mystery all this time, so if both words shared the same Shadowfell you could easily travel back and forth between the 2 via the shadow plane, but this does not seem to be the case. Might be a question for the designers or for Ed himself, I have a feeling its all steeped in NDAs.
It would be interesting if Torils paralel world Abeir HAS NO FEYWILD OR SHADOWFELL AT ALL!
*duh-duh den DUH*
You might be on to something. Im curious how that would work out. Abeir as been a complete mystery all this time, so if both words shared the same Shadowfell you could easily travel back and forth between the 2 via the shadow plane, but this does not seem to be the case. Might be a question for the designers or for Ed himself, I have a feeling its all steeped in NDAs.
As I understand it, Toril has (at least) 3 planes that "mirror" it. I think of them has Reflected Planes, you have the Feywild and the Shadowfell AND Abeir, which does not exist in Realmspace. That's like saying that the Shadowfell or the Feywild or the Elemental Chaos, or another plane exists in Realmspace. They are their own plane separate from Realmspace. So no I don't think Abeir would have a Shadowfell or Feywild. That would be like saying that the Feywild had its own Shadowfell, and it doesn't....
or does it?
DUDUDUDUDUUUUUUMMMMMMMMM
Abeir as a floating world ruined by the unchecked forces of the elements actually makes good sense for a world ruled over by the primordial titans. This makes both draconic, (demonic) tiefling and (abyssal) genasi influences more logical aswell.
We are getting way off topic here, we should be discussing this in the planes thread.