Jacob Lewis
Ye Olde GM
I was going to vote for Uncommon or Rare, but then I realized this was a different topic.
Common
I would say that “Common” is the trade language for a given world. So it will have borrowed words from all the various cultures that have touched that setting.
But because the settings are mostly isolated, drift will occur. This means even the Elvish of one setting will not be the same as the Elvish of another. Similar, yes, but not the same.
OTOH, planar or alignment languages would be virtually unchanged.
This means “Common” will vary, but every form of it will have some points of familiarity,
But because the settings are mostly isolated, drift will occur. This means even the Elvish of one setting will not be the same as the Elvish of another. Similar, yes, but not the same.
OTOH, planar or alignment languages would be virtually unchanged.
This means “Common” will vary, but every form of it will have some points of familiarity,
Voadam
Legend
In my campaign I go with mostly the base core D&D languages.
In my homebrew mashup Alexandros the Great conquered most of the world and so now Common is very common to explain Common.
For my world the ancient Egyptians were elves, and a successor Greek Cleopatra type contemporary fantasy Egypt is human, but knowing modern elvish you can read hieroglyphics.
For the Ancient Mesopotamian type former kingdoms a lot is written in Celestial when they had rulers that were part divine like Gilgamesh.
This keeps some linguistic distinctions but the list is also manageable and ancient language experts still have linguistic usefulness in the not dead aspects of the language. Elves are part of my modern game and the difference between ancient and modern elvish will be like the difference in regional dialects, a PC can speak and read both and recognize the difference.
A merchant or widely traveled PC does not need to know English, French, Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, Italian, Arabic, German, Dutch, Norwegian, Gaelic, Welsh, Turkic and so on.
In my homebrew mashup Alexandros the Great conquered most of the world and so now Common is very common to explain Common.
For my world the ancient Egyptians were elves, and a successor Greek Cleopatra type contemporary fantasy Egypt is human, but knowing modern elvish you can read hieroglyphics.
For the Ancient Mesopotamian type former kingdoms a lot is written in Celestial when they had rulers that were part divine like Gilgamesh.
This keeps some linguistic distinctions but the list is also manageable and ancient language experts still have linguistic usefulness in the not dead aspects of the language. Elves are part of my modern game and the difference between ancient and modern elvish will be like the difference in regional dialects, a PC can speak and read both and recognize the difference.
A merchant or widely traveled PC does not need to know English, French, Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, Italian, Arabic, German, Dutch, Norwegian, Gaelic, Welsh, Turkic and so on.
There is no should, only what you decide in your universe. Does it add any value to complicate things?
el-remmen
Moderator Emeritus
"Common" isn't even the same in every place in my world, let alone across worlds. When the PCs travel abroad I will usually describe the style of common (if spoken at all) as inflected strangely and with local borrow words - these minor barriers of communication allow for common exchange of ideas, etc. . . but can also lead to (for example) disadvantage on a persuasion check if the ask involves potential for misunderstanding and detailed negotiations.
Edit to add: I also don't assume all the PCs are literate.
Edit to add: I also don't assume all the PCs are literate.
delericho
Legend
My default is "Common" is just whatever language is spoken and, unless there's a very good reason, everyone speaks it. Other languages basically don't come up.
For the occasional (very rare) adventure where I want language to be an issue, the PCs will just need to deal with an inability to communicate. But once they spend any significant time in the region (that is, when they get some downtime), they're assumed to learn the language which is thereafter called "Common".
Realistically, that's a nonsense, of course. But this is an area where I've concluded that realism is over-rated.
For the occasional (very rare) adventure where I want language to be an issue, the PCs will just need to deal with an inability to communicate. But once they spend any significant time in the region (that is, when they get some downtime), they're assumed to learn the language which is thereafter called "Common".
Realistically, that's a nonsense, of course. But this is an area where I've concluded that realism is over-rated.
Lanefan
Victoria Rules
Several species-specific languages - standard Elvish (as opposed to any of the many dialects), standard Dwarvish, Hobgoblin, and a couple of others - are pretty much the same across all worlds largely because the associated deities gently keep them that way.
Some quasi-universal Human languages - Greek, Norse, Celtic, some others - work similarly, and for the same reason. Other more local languages might only exist in a very small region of one world.
Common, on the other hand, is somewhat world-specific. Yes it's comprised of borrowings from the other languages, but exactly what it borrows from who tends to be different world by world; thus someone from world A might understand one or two words in ten of the Common spoken by someone from world B but be more or less able to converse in Common with someone from world C.
Language barriers are very much a thing in my game. Nobody ever has Common as their native tongue (i.e. what they grew up speaking), and there's no baked-in requirement that players choose Common as one of their PC's languages; thus situations where two or more members of the same party don't share any languages arise on a fairly regular basis. Needless to say, perhaps, magic items that provide translation are quite sought-after.
Edit to add: as with @el-remmen , characters are not assumed to be literate in my game unless they are arcane casters (who by default have to be literate in something in order to write in and read from their spellbooks!). Even arcanists are only automatically literate in their native tongue; for al other languages and for any language known by a non-caster, literacy in each language known that has a written form* is determined by random roll based on class and intelligence.
* - a great many "monster" languages don't have a written form as the entire species is essentially illiterate or, in the case of some, physically incapable of writing.
Some quasi-universal Human languages - Greek, Norse, Celtic, some others - work similarly, and for the same reason. Other more local languages might only exist in a very small region of one world.
Common, on the other hand, is somewhat world-specific. Yes it's comprised of borrowings from the other languages, but exactly what it borrows from who tends to be different world by world; thus someone from world A might understand one or two words in ten of the Common spoken by someone from world B but be more or less able to converse in Common with someone from world C.
Language barriers are very much a thing in my game. Nobody ever has Common as their native tongue (i.e. what they grew up speaking), and there's no baked-in requirement that players choose Common as one of their PC's languages; thus situations where two or more members of the same party don't share any languages arise on a fairly regular basis. Needless to say, perhaps, magic items that provide translation are quite sought-after.
Edit to add: as with @el-remmen , characters are not assumed to be literate in my game unless they are arcane casters (who by default have to be literate in something in order to write in and read from their spellbooks!). Even arcanists are only automatically literate in their native tongue; for al other languages and for any language known by a non-caster, literacy in each language known that has a written form* is determined by random roll based on class and intelligence.
* - a great many "monster" languages don't have a written form as the entire species is essentially illiterate or, in the case of some, physically incapable of writing.
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I run Greyhawk, and my interpretation is Greyhawk Common is the official language of the Great Kingdom, derived from Old High Oeridian with Suloise and Flannae loan words. (Since Greyhawk is the or setting, I assume the Lake Geneva crew meant something like that, and the concept may not fit as well in other settings with less of a common history for most of the area.)Language barriers are very much a thing in my game. Nobody ever has Common as their native tongue (i.e. what they grew up speaking), and there's no baked-in requirement that players choose Common as one of their PC's languages; thus situations where two or more members of the same party don't share any languages arise on a fairly regular basis. Needless to say, perhaps, magic items that provide translation are quite sought-after.
Like French pre-20th century or English now, it’s also a language of higher educatio, introduced to Keoland and from there to the upper classes of the Sheldomar Valley. That + former GK actually covers everywhere that speaks Common.
I have two PC humans whose native tongue isn’t Common.
The reason for my original post is that a PC whose player is on hiatus got Dismissaled to Forgotten Realms. He’s a Monk with Int 18 (random rolling 1e origin in 1996 for this character!) and speaks many language. I think he’ll be able to get by with Elvish, but won’t understand Sword Coast‘s Common.
Ath-kethin
Elder Thing
Common is specific to a setting in my view, and/but I find it weird to just call it "Common." In Zakhara, for example, the Common or trade tongue is the Midani language.
Which may or may not be distinct from the Common spoken in Faerûn, at a given table's preference, but giving the language an actual name makes it easier to distinguish them if you want.
I have no issue with Elven being basically the same from world to world, or at least coming from the same roots, though.
Really the question is, how much of a pain in the butt do you want to make communication in your campaign? Even in areas of the (real) world that speak the same language, it can be hard for some people to understand the words of someone from a different region. Years ago my spouse and I traveled through parts of the southern US, and while I had no problem understanding and talking to people there, my spouse (who is Hungarian) didn't even recognize what they were speaking as English.
Does that sound like a fun thing to have in your campaign? Then go to town; there's no wrong way to play. Languages in TTRPGs are stylized and streamlined to make play easier, and in general I roll with that. I focus my games on other things, but if your group loves the nitty-gritty of communication issues, have a party.
Which may or may not be distinct from the Common spoken in Faerûn, at a given table's preference, but giving the language an actual name makes it easier to distinguish them if you want.
I have no issue with Elven being basically the same from world to world, or at least coming from the same roots, though.
Really the question is, how much of a pain in the butt do you want to make communication in your campaign? Even in areas of the (real) world that speak the same language, it can be hard for some people to understand the words of someone from a different region. Years ago my spouse and I traveled through parts of the southern US, and while I had no problem understanding and talking to people there, my spouse (who is Hungarian) didn't even recognize what they were speaking as English.
Does that sound like a fun thing to have in your campaign? Then go to town; there's no wrong way to play. Languages in TTRPGs are stylized and streamlined to make play easier, and in general I roll with that. I focus my games on other things, but if your group loves the nitty-gritty of communication issues, have a party.
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