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<blockquote data-quote="fuindordm" data-source="post: 7013138" data-attributes="member: 5435">I'd say the rule of cool applies here.&nbsp; Is the player who controls Mongo interested in exploring this development? Will letting the spell work result in more fun for the group?&nbsp; Then let it work, and accept the side effects of the decision on your setting, which is that the apes of your world are smart enough to have at least a rudimentary language of their own in the wild.&nbsp; Or just say that long association with a human has exposed Mongo to enough complex communication that the spell works normally.Or say it doesn't work, and downgrade poor Mongo to just a pawn in the game of life.Without wanting to start a cognitive science flame war, I think that IRL it is pretty clear that &quot;intelligence&quot; is really just a large collection of skills, and that different brains have different aptitudes in these skills. Self-awareness is just one skill, a capacity for abstract language is another.&nbsp; And in the continuum of braininess, several animal species are within spitting distance of humans, even if they are not high on the self-awareness or abstract language scales: dolphins (who blow us out of the water--forgive the pun--on the 3D visualization mental skill), apes, elephants (brilliant community managers), and certain species of parrot come to mind. I've even read research that prairie dogs can communicate specific information on the number, type, and even size of creatures intruding into their territory.Have fun with your game!&nbsp; It sounds like your players are.Ben</blockquote>

[QUOTE="fuindordm, post: 7013138, member: 5435"] I'd say the rule of cool applies here. Is the player who controls Mongo interested in exploring this development? Will letting the spell work result in more fun for the group? Then let it work, and accept the side effects of the decision on your setting, which is that the apes of your world are smart enough to have at least a rudimentary language of their own in the wild. Or just say that long association with a human has exposed Mongo to enough complex communication that the spell works normally. Or say it doesn't work, and downgrade poor Mongo to just a pawn in the game of life. Without wanting to start a cognitive science flame war, I think that IRL it is pretty clear that "intelligence" is really just a large collection of skills, and that different brains have different aptitudes in these skills. Self-awareness is just one skill, a capacity for abstract language is another. And in the continuum of braininess, several animal species are within spitting distance of humans, even if they are not high on the self-awareness or abstract language scales: dolphins (who blow us out of the water--forgive the pun--on the 3D visualization mental skill), apes, elephants (brilliant community managers), and certain species of parrot come to mind. I've even read research that prairie dogs can communicate specific information on the number, type, and even size of creatures intruding into their territory. Have fun with your game! It sounds like your players are. Ben [/QUOTE]

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