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View Full Version : [3.5 D&D] Reading is hard, for some reason.



VoodooPaladin
2014-01-15, 04:59 PM
The Polyglot system was created so that a world with no Common or Trader's Tongue and rare literacy could actually have rules to back that claim up. It was posted here so that I wouldn't stick rules text into a worldbuilding thread. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=324865)


Under Polyglot rules, all characters have a single "inherent language," which is the one they start with. Characters with an Int bonus of +0 or higher gain an extra, free bonus language. This is in addition to other languages gained from high Int bonus. At least one bonus language is nearly always determined by societal upbringing or cultural heritage, whereas a character's inherent language is always the one spoken within the society in which they were raised.

The inherent language always includes its literate portion, if any. Other bonus languages are not so perfect: a character only gains half his Int bonus in bonus written languages (dubbed literacies) known, rounded up. Thus, a character with +0 Int only knows 2 languages, and is only literate with his inherent language. A character with +5 Int would have seven languages known, but only four literacies, one of which is always with his inherent language.

Instead of the Speak Language skill, Polyglot allows a character to temporarily learn new languages by spending at least one hour each day for a month either studying the language or attempting to communicate in that language with an actual speaker, requiring roughly one month, at which point it may either be kept as a spoken language for (2d6+Int modifier) weeks or may gain it as a permanent bonus language. The character may only have a number of languages known up to their Int modifier +2, so if new ones are learned beyond that, they must replace one of the previous languages known. The "inherent language" cannot be replaced in this way; some things are never willingly forgotten.

Literacies must be learned separately from languages. This requires the same amount of study or practice as learning a language does, unless you know its associated language, in which case the learning time is halved. Just like with languages, you can keep the knowledge for free for (2d6+Int modifier) weeks, but at the end you must decide to replace one of your bonus literacies with it or not.



Polyglot could use refinement (more solid conditions for how you can and can't learn languages; what happens when learning a language is interrupted?) but it seems like a good enough place to start.