Re: Languages

From: Andrew Dawson <asmpd_at_...>
Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2001 23:07:00 -0500

At 10:55 PM 01/29/2001 +0000, tim_at_... wrote:
>I assume that everyone has "Speak own language" at 6 (since that is
>the default for anything not written down...), but never needs to roll
>it to hold every day conversations. Your score in a foreign language
>will be higher, but you will have to roll it more often, since you may
>make mistakes.

Take the implied ability to modify the keywords to match your own interpretation (RiG p. 41, last paragraph before Keywords heading and others) and add "Native Language" to all Cultural Keywords, giving the heroes a decent score of 13.

>So, A simple roll against your skill - this is probably appropriate
>for every day conversation - Buying food & Drink, Renting Lodgings etc

In my games, this sort of thing would probably fall under the category of "things no self-respecting hero would fail at" (RiG p. 125) and require no roll if the hero has any ability in the language.

I would only worry about language if it's important to the story. For instance, language ability level caps a hero's Speak With Authority and similar abilities. (It definitely hampers Oscar Wilde's ability to dazzle trolls. :-)

Thanks,
Andy