Rogue Shadows
2013-01-23, 12:07 PM
Some skills are kind of useless. Speak Languages is one of them. What with how easy it is to acquire magic items that will let you speak any language, coupled with the vast majority of people you encounter speaking Common...yeah. Even in Pathfinder, which rolled Decipher Script and Forgery into the skill, did not make it particularly interesting.
So basically, here's the change I want to suggest, a minor thing taken from the Spycraft game. In addition to Pathfinder's Linguistics Skill (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/skills/linguistics.html), append and edit the following:
Learn a Language: For every two skill points you invest in this skill, you know an additional language and are able to speak, read, and write it fluently.
In addition, adventurers tend to travel to a large number of locales and meet with many different peoples. Learning other languages, even obscure ones, is a necessity. Whenever you come across another language (spoken or written) that you don't already know and haven't encountered in play before, make a Linguistics check to see if you know it. The check DC varies according to how obscure or rare the language is:
{table=head]Rarity|Check DC|Examples
Common|
15|Common, Goblin, Halfling, Orc
Uncommon|
20|Dwarven, Giant, Gnoll, Gnome
Rare|
25|Draconic, Elven, Sylvan, Undercommon
Obscure|
35|Abyssal, Aquan, Auran, Celestial, Ignan, Infernal, Terran
Secret|
50|Druidic[/table]
The Dungeon Master may rule that certain languages are "forgotten" - no one speaks them anymore, and so it is impossible for you to have learned it. However, you may be able to eventually piece it together with a successful decipher script check. Additionally, the table above assumes a typical adventuring party on the surface of the world. In an Underdark campaign, for example, the DM may rule that Undercommon is a "common" language, while Halfling and Gnoll are "obscure."
If the check succeeds, write the language down on your character sheet. The language is not new to you - it is assumed that you learned the language over the course of your adventures, and it just hadn't come up before now.
If the check fails, you are unfamiliar with the language. The only way to learn to speak the language is by putting ranks in this skill and selecting it (see above).
Normally, when you speak another language, you speak it with a notable accent. You can rid yourself of the accent by selecting the language a second time instead of gaining a new language, or if you beat the Linguistics check by 10 or more.
Untrained: Normally you cannot use Linguistics untrained. However, you can always attempt to detect a forgery, read strange or obscure versions of languages you know, and make checks to see if you already know a given language.
Yes, Druidic is on there, because no language spoken by that many people is going to believably stay as secret as core D&D suggests. I can believe that druids attempt to kill all druids who teach others Druidic, as well as the unlucky soul who learned it - but I can't believe that they always succeed, or even know about such attempts. Still, that's why it's DC 50.
Anyway. It's not much, but I think that it improves Speak Languages at least a little, and makes it a little flavorful. Conan the Barbarian didn't waste skill points learning to speak Vendhyan or Afghuli, but he could still speak them
Obviously this works better if you're in a campaign setting with many languages, such as the Forgotten Realms.
So basically, here's the change I want to suggest, a minor thing taken from the Spycraft game. In addition to Pathfinder's Linguistics Skill (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/skills/linguistics.html), append and edit the following:
Learn a Language: For every two skill points you invest in this skill, you know an additional language and are able to speak, read, and write it fluently.
In addition, adventurers tend to travel to a large number of locales and meet with many different peoples. Learning other languages, even obscure ones, is a necessity. Whenever you come across another language (spoken or written) that you don't already know and haven't encountered in play before, make a Linguistics check to see if you know it. The check DC varies according to how obscure or rare the language is:
{table=head]Rarity|Check DC|Examples
Common|
15|Common, Goblin, Halfling, Orc
Uncommon|
20|Dwarven, Giant, Gnoll, Gnome
Rare|
25|Draconic, Elven, Sylvan, Undercommon
Obscure|
35|Abyssal, Aquan, Auran, Celestial, Ignan, Infernal, Terran
Secret|
50|Druidic[/table]
The Dungeon Master may rule that certain languages are "forgotten" - no one speaks them anymore, and so it is impossible for you to have learned it. However, you may be able to eventually piece it together with a successful decipher script check. Additionally, the table above assumes a typical adventuring party on the surface of the world. In an Underdark campaign, for example, the DM may rule that Undercommon is a "common" language, while Halfling and Gnoll are "obscure."
If the check succeeds, write the language down on your character sheet. The language is not new to you - it is assumed that you learned the language over the course of your adventures, and it just hadn't come up before now.
If the check fails, you are unfamiliar with the language. The only way to learn to speak the language is by putting ranks in this skill and selecting it (see above).
Normally, when you speak another language, you speak it with a notable accent. You can rid yourself of the accent by selecting the language a second time instead of gaining a new language, or if you beat the Linguistics check by 10 or more.
Untrained: Normally you cannot use Linguistics untrained. However, you can always attempt to detect a forgery, read strange or obscure versions of languages you know, and make checks to see if you already know a given language.
Yes, Druidic is on there, because no language spoken by that many people is going to believably stay as secret as core D&D suggests. I can believe that druids attempt to kill all druids who teach others Druidic, as well as the unlucky soul who learned it - but I can't believe that they always succeed, or even know about such attempts. Still, that's why it's DC 50.
Anyway. It's not much, but I think that it improves Speak Languages at least a little, and makes it a little flavorful. Conan the Barbarian didn't waste skill points learning to speak Vendhyan or Afghuli, but he could still speak them
Obviously this works better if you're in a campaign setting with many languages, such as the Forgotten Realms.