Am I reading things correctly that you no longer get a language known per modifier of intelligence? I guess the only confusion is that I haven't found the rule, but I haven't seen anything that says you don't - so I'm afraid I've missed it somewhere. If I'm reading things correctly then my level 1 human wizard would get:
Common plus one language for being a human
2 languages for being a sage
And that's it. 4 total. In previous versions he would have also gained 4 for an 18 intelligence. Is there a feat to know more if someone wanted the flavor? (I don't have the book with me).
I have to be honest, while it takes away a bit from this particular character and I think that an intelligent character should get some type of bonus to proficiencies or languages - I think it's a good move for the game. It took away a bit of mystique when my characters knew 8 or 9 languages 
Vulash wrote:
So then why just a cleric? I'm ok with them trimming back languages known, but I'm not okay with a cleric with a 10-12 intelligence knowing more than the wizard with more intelligence than most other humans in the world. I'm not saying all wizards or characters with high intelligence should know multiple languages, but it should be more common amongst wizard sages than clerics, or at least as common.
Vulash wrote:
Most wizards probably put more of their research time into learning to cast the comprehend languages or tongues spells rather than learn new languages.
Comprehend languages is a ritual spell itself, meaning any wizard who has written the spell in his or her spellbook could access that magic any time they want to spend 10 minutes doing so- no spell slots required.
2Chlorobutanal wrote:
To be clear I'm not trying to gain additional languages. As I said I think having characters that knew 8-9 languages was just a bit silly and took away from the mystery of the game.
My issue is that priests with a potentially much lower intelligence are the masters of language now. I think the arguments of wizards not wanting to learn languages is weak. In both examples the character has a sage background. There is plenty of lore of the wizard learning as much as he can just to know things - not just spells. That fits most visions of a wizard in fantasy culture.
I don't ha;ve an issue with a priest dedicated to knowledge knowing languages. I hope I'm not giving that impression. I just don't see why he should have an advantage. If nothing else, the diviner should also have languages as a bonus.
As far as "comprehend languages" - again that is a weak argument. Most people now can google any translation they need, but knowing multiple languages is still considered a very worthwhile skill, and many academics know multiple languages.
I would just like to see intelligence have some benefit outside of one classes spell casting. Being a genius should count for something as far as learning skills or languages, and especially for a character with a sage background dedicated to knowledge. As of now, a character with 5 intelligence could pick a human with a sage background and speak just as many languages and know just as many skills.
Intelligence is the save versus almost every illusion spell. There are also several skills tied to Intelligence. Intelligence has benefits outside of spellcasting.
Intelligence also governs many skill checks such as Investigation and Arcana.
Languages are now the domain of training (feats and class features) rather than natural ability, which makes sense to me: even a genius wouldn't necessarily be able to speak 3 languages unless he or she spent the time to learn them. In fact, in personal experience, I have found learning another language to require a lot more time in study and practice than learning most academic subjects, many of which came naturally to me without much study.
Additionally, any character can learn new languages during downtime using the "training" rules.
Vulash wrote:
Vulash wrote:
Thoughts_My_Aim wrote:
Kalani wrote:
Vulash wrote:
Vulash wrote:
Simple solution. Grant wizards the Linguistics feat as a class feature.
Your problem is not that an Intelligent person (of any class) is lacking in linguistics...it is that the wizard, a class known for its persuit of arcane knowledge is lacking. My solution fixes that. If you think it's too powerful, grant a similar thematic benefit to other classes, or ask the player to reduce the number of starting spells (written in their spellbook) by 1 or 2.
Alternately, you can always grant all wizards knowledge of Draconic, which has been traditionally viewed as the language of magic itself, and seems to be an oversight that they are not knowledgable in this language in 5E.
Kalani wrote:
Nothing says devotion to knowledge quite like a multiclass wizard/cleric. A thought.
You can learn languages through the course of the game. See the section on downtime for the costs.
Vulash wrote:
I can't really argue with divine inspiration haha. I'll yield.
Also, I did not see the section on learning them throughout the course of the game. I'll check that out as that sounds like what I would have argued for.
Thanks everyone for the positive discussion.
Don't forget that when you talk about people knowing a large number of languages, often you are actually talking about a large number of distinct dialects of a moderate number of languages. 3.5 and beyond DnD has taken this approach and there are generally only a dozen or so languages total in the world, the rest of the variations are considered dialects of these fundamental languages. A character with high intelligence who has 7 language skills speaks every language in the world and probably a few spoken on other worlds as well...