Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Where Do They Get Their Literacy?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Jhaelen" data-source="post: 7738590" data-attributes="member: 46713"><p>Well, I think the main reason why most RPGs assume the characters are literate, is because the players are. It keeps things simple. Likewise, the issue of having a multitude of different languages and dialects in a setting is often circumvented by introducing a 'lingua franca'. Realism is sacrificed for playability reasons.</p><p></p><p>As with almost every article in this series I cannot help but point to Ars Magica's treatment of languages and literacy:</p><p></p><p>For the Magi, literacy is a given, it's part of their apprenticeship. They have to be fluent in reading, writing, and speaking Latin in order to learn and cast spells. They may benefit from learning to read other languages in order to make use of a wider choice of books, but they rarely bother to learn speaking foreign languages, since they tend to delegate the task of dealing with 'mundane' people to more socially apt companions.</p><p></p><p>For the companions it depends a lot on their background and profession: If they come from a higher social standing or have a clerical background, they are likely to have enjoyed a formal education and are thus literate. If their profession requires them to travel a lot, they will likely have picked up a few foreign languages and dialects spoken in the lands they've visited.</p><p></p><p>For the turb and covenfolk, only the truly exceptional are likely to be literate and know more than their mother tongue. The long-time leaders among them will likely know a smattering of Latin in order to understand the Magi's orders better, but that's about it.</p><p></p><p>So, in Ars Magica campaigns, literacy and foreign languages play a role but thanks to the troupe-style gameplay, it's rarely critical to stories since there's a large pool of player characters available that can cover almost every scenario. And ff there's really a need, Magi will simply hire translators or interpreters (or, as a kind of last resort, rely on magical means to communicate).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jhaelen, post: 7738590, member: 46713"] Well, I think the main reason why most RPGs assume the characters are literate, is because the players are. It keeps things simple. Likewise, the issue of having a multitude of different languages and dialects in a setting is often circumvented by introducing a 'lingua franca'. Realism is sacrificed for playability reasons. As with almost every article in this series I cannot help but point to Ars Magica's treatment of languages and literacy: For the Magi, literacy is a given, it's part of their apprenticeship. They have to be fluent in reading, writing, and speaking Latin in order to learn and cast spells. They may benefit from learning to read other languages in order to make use of a wider choice of books, but they rarely bother to learn speaking foreign languages, since they tend to delegate the task of dealing with 'mundane' people to more socially apt companions. For the companions it depends a lot on their background and profession: If they come from a higher social standing or have a clerical background, they are likely to have enjoyed a formal education and are thus literate. If their profession requires them to travel a lot, they will likely have picked up a few foreign languages and dialects spoken in the lands they've visited. For the turb and covenfolk, only the truly exceptional are likely to be literate and know more than their mother tongue. The long-time leaders among them will likely know a smattering of Latin in order to understand the Magi's orders better, but that's about it. So, in Ars Magica campaigns, literacy and foreign languages play a role but thanks to the troupe-style gameplay, it's rarely critical to stories since there's a large pool of player characters available that can cover almost every scenario. And ff there's really a need, Magi will simply hire translators or interpreters (or, as a kind of last resort, rely on magical means to communicate). [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Where Do They Get Their Literacy?
Top