A Common problem.

[Sunseeker]

I always found it odd that as the largest single species and generally with the greatest numbers of kingdoms, humans all speak "common". Okay, there are modules and specific settings in which different groups of humans speak different languages, but these are sill few in number. I find it further odd that all near-human species miraculously know how to speak this language in addition to their native language. I realize this is a simplicity of game issue but I always felt it made humans feel less...like a real species and more like a generic "game" thing.

Elves know elven and common, half-orcs know orcish and common...but humans only know common...

What I would like to see in 5e is for every intelligent species to get a "native" language. Some could be slight variants, High Elven, Drow Elven, ect... but they would be distinct enough as to impair communication(as if you were speaking American English to someone who spoke Middle English, but not enough as to make communication impossible.

Common could be retained as a trade language, which all players could choose to know for free, while each species would have a native language. It wouldn't have to be hugely setting specific, it could just be as generic as wood elves speaking "wood elven" and Eladrin speaking "Sylvan", dragonborn speaking low-draconic, tieflings getting some kind of low-abyssal, ect...

It would be a minor flavor issue to give each race the feeling like it's got it's own unique language, as well as humans who could move away from their position as "the generic race guy".

 

[Elf Witch]

I always found it odd that as the largest single species and generally with the greatest numbers of kingdoms, humans all speak "common". Okay, there are modules and specific settings in which different groups of humans speak different languages, but these are sill few in number. I find it further odd that all near-human species miraculously know how to speak this language in addition to their native language. I realize this is a simplicity of game issue but I always felt it made humans feel less...like a real species and more like a generic "game" thing.

Elves know elven and common, half-orcs know orcish and common...but humans only know common...

What I would like to see in 5e is for every intelligent species to get a "native" language. Some could be slight variants, High Elven, Drow Elven, ect... but they would be distinct enough as to impair communication(as if you were speaking American English to someone who spoke Middle English, but not enough as to make communication impossible.

Common could be retained as a trade language, which all players could choose to know for free, while each species would have a native language. It wouldn't have to be hugely setting specific, it could just be as generic as wood elves speaking "wood elven" and Eladrin speaking "Sylvan", dragonborn speaking low-draconic, tieflings getting some kind of low-abyssal, ect...

It would be a minor flavor issue to give each race the feeling like it's got it's own unique language, as well as humans who could move away from their position as "the generic race guy".

This has always been one of my biggest complaints about DnD the fact everyone speaks common. I really enjoyed the way Kingdoms of Kalamar handled language.

You get your region for free, Then other languages you buy with special language points and I do believe that you are limited to how many languages by your intelligence modifier.

There is no common there is how ever a merchant tongue used in the bigger cities by the merchants. As an adventurer it helps to speak a little of this.

It is more of a challenge when you travel to smaller out of the way areas. It makes the spell tongues and comprehend language more important.

 

[Savage Wombat]

In a couple of games, I've had an ancient empire that ruled most of the known world, and whose language became the lingua franca for the area. Since the capitol of that empire was the city of Kham (or Kam, or Qam) the empire, and thus the language, became known as Khaman.

 

[trancejeremy]

It's like on TV (or Hollywood movies), where everyone speaks English most of the time. Even say, on Stargate SG-1, they've go to a new world, the natives would speak English.

Beyond that, in LOTR, all the orcs, goblins, even trolls spoke English. Heck, the trolls had English names in The Hobbit.

Common might not be (overly) realistic, but unless you want to play a game more about trying to communicate with each other than adventuring, it's a good thing to have.

Especially since I don't think anyone wants to put in the effort to develop several truly unique languages, which are not based on anything on Earth. Probably the closest thing to that is Tekumel...and while it's brilliant, it's never gained more than a cult following.

Ultimately though, this is something that should depend on the setting, not the rules. And quite frankly, it's not something that should be relevant in most campaigns, unless you do a lot of world traveling. It makes sense that everyone on in a given region would know the most popular language and call it common.

It's not like we haven't had something like that in the real world. We even have a fancy term for it, rather than calling it "common". Lingua Franca

Lingua franca - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

D'oh, beaten on the Lingua Franca comment. But as you see, in a region, the most popular language (or from the most powerful country) becomes the language used to communicate with others. Is it a world wide language, as somewhat implied by D&D's use of "Common"? No, but it's very close...

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

In addition to the concept of a lingua franca, there is at least one regional example where it was actually called "Common": Koine (or Koine Greek). "Koine" is the ancient Greek word literally translated as "common." So it's plausible, at least if a setting supports it. And while some language barriers can be fun, many groups don't find lots of them to be fun. For groups that do, you can make a setting with many different languages. For groups that don't, adopting the slight fiction of having "Common" spoken in a wider area than Koine was (although Koine was spoken across a very wide area, relatively speaking) simplifies things tremendously.

 

[Sunseeker]

It's like on TV (or Hollywood movies), where everyone speaks English most of the time. Even say, on Stargate SG-1, they've go to a new world, the natives would speak English.

This pissed me off to no end about Stargate. Uncharted worlds? Alien races? No problem, everyone speaks English here! I think the number of worlds in which people couldn't communicate can be counted on one hand. At least in other sci-fi shows they had the hand-waive of "universal translator", which even then had a few times it didn't work.

Common might not be (overly) realistic, but unless you want to play a game more about trying to communicate with each other than adventuring, it's a good thing to have.

I agree, which is why I would see it maintained as a trade language, sort of like how in Waterworld there was a "universal language"(which I forget what it was comprised of), but what bothers me about it is how it makes the largest and perhaps the most diverse species so generic.

Especially since I don't think anyone wants to put in the effort to develop several truly unique languages, which are not based on anything on Earth. Probably the closest thing to that is Tekumel...and while it's brilliant, it's never gained more than a cult following.

I'm not suggesting they get actual languages, just that each species gets it's own language, humans included.

Ultimately though, this is something that should depend on the setting, not the rules. And quite frankly, it's not something that should be relevant in most campaigns, unless you do a lot of world traveling. It makes sense that everyone on in a given region would know the most popular language and call it common.

Again, mostly it's to pull humans up out of the "generic D&D race" spot. I'd be happy and fine with "Common" being a trade language and just giving each race it's own special tongue(even if it's just a name of a language). Settings can still be specific on what each race, culture, or nation speak.

It's not like we haven't had something like that in the real world. We even have a fancy term for it, rather than calling it "common". Lingua Franca

D'oh, beaten on the Lingua Franca comment. But as you see, in a region, the most popular language (or from the most powerful country) becomes the language used to communicate with others. Is it a world wide language, as somewhat implied by D&D's use of "Common"? No, but it's very close...

True, but even then it's still a specific language(French/English/Greek/ect... depending on your period), not "common". It just feels like an excuse to make humans even more generic. They don't even get their own language they just speak "common".

 

[tuxgeo]

< . . . snip . . . >
What I would like to see in 5e is for every intelligent species to get a "native" language. Some could be slight variants, High Elven, Drow Elven, ect... but they would be distinct enough as to impair communication(as if you were speaking American English to someone who spoke Middle English, but not enough as to make communication impossible.

Common could be retained as a trade language, which all players could choose to know for free, while each species would have a native language. It wouldn't have to be hugely setting specific, it could just be as generic as wood elves speaking "wood elven" and Eladrin speaking "Sylvan", dragonborn speaking low-draconic, tieflings getting some kind of low-abyssal, ect...

A few slight deviations:
Use Pidgin as a trade language.
Use Common as the wide-spread language of the old, almost world-spanning empire, still retained and studied by the highly learned.
"Sylvan" means of the woods, so the wood-elves would speak that. The Eladrin would speak something more formal. ("Adrinal," or something. "Evenal?")
Tieflings had been human, so let them speak something degenerate but recognizable.
Let the Dragonborn speak Scottish so the Dwarves no longer have to. ("Free the Dwarven language from its stymies and haggis!")

 

[Sunseeker]

A few slight deviations:
Use Pidgin as a trade language.
Use Common as the wide-spread language of the old, almost world-spanning empire, still retained and studied by the highly learned.
"Sylvan" means of the woods, so the wood-elves would speak that. The Eladrin would speak something more formal. ("Adrinal," or something. "Evenal?")
Tieflings had been human, so let them speak something degenerate but recognizable.
Let the Dragonborn speak Scottish so the Dwarves no longer have to. ("Free the Dwarven language from its stymies and haggis!")

Sure, it doesn't matter so much to what it's called so long as:
A: Humans get a language all to themselves.
B: each language is given enough flavorful background as to distinguish it.
IE: Sylvan is very soft and song-like, like the sound of wind through trees and water in a stream. Dragon-scottish is gutteral slurred and always makes Dragonborn sound angry and drunk. Eladrin is flowery and formal, speaking to even the lowliest commoner requires more words than addressing a human king, an insult to your mother could be a sweet poem. Tieflings speak Yorkish which has a lot of swearing and is reminiscent of my visit to The Bronx.

 

[Mattachine]

Of course, many campaigns really stay in one region or kingdom, and different languages don't matter as much.

heh

 

[BobTheNob]

Never really bothered me. I always thought of language issues as a very occasional plot injection, and over-using language just tended to create frustration. To me, having a common language is just another bit of "grease" in the proverbial engine to keep things ticking over, and Im happy with that.