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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Saeviomagy" data-source="post: 7012756" data-attributes="member: 5890">Well, an ape with tongues cast on it definitely understands a language. There's no requirements at all there, and an ape is as smart as some PCs.The only issue here is whether it can speak. I personally think the PHB description of the beast type is ridiculously simplistic to the point of uselessness, as if the author had one specific animal (A domesticated cow as imagined by someone who has never actually seen one up close, perhaps?) in mind when he wrote it and didn't take into account anything else. I'm hard pressed to think of a wild animal that doesn't communicate or have societal structure.Do apes communicate verbally with one another? Certainly. Does that qualify as 'speaking'? Up to the DM. I'd lean towards yes. Who cares if a 3rd level spell can replicate a 1st level one?To the OP: you could also try polymorphing the ape into a giant owl, then using detect thoughts for two-way communications. Giant owls are CR 1/4 and understand common, which also makes them legal targets for detect thoughts.Finally once you have 5th level spells, telepathic bond explicitly lets you communicate with anything int 2 or higher.</blockquote>