(after counting)
My homebrew has 71 languages listed in the house rules documents. It would be 74 if I allowed three of the core rules languages (which are used in the core rules by creatures that don't exist at all in my homebrew): Gnoll, Halfling, and Sylvan are out.
I split Common up into regional variants, based mostly on the continent of origin; each of the six inhabited continents has its own Common that's different from all the others. Then there's the island-nation of Nikkon (which also has its own Common), and the Hollow World (which also has its own Common). And we mustn't forget the Ancient language spoken by the civilization of the now-vanished Golden Age, which was a universal language closer to the core-rules concept of Common, or Aquacommon- which is the Common language of the dwellers in the Underwave (i.e. the seas). Even though it isn't listed in the house rules, in game we've assumed the existence of a "Planarcommon" which is spoken as a trade language on the Outer Planes, and in planar metropolises such as Sigil.
Each race has its own language too, pretty much, though subraces often speak the same language as the "main" race (differences like Dark Elvish vs. Elvish do create some language barriers). And then there are the 13 secret or dead languages- languages spoken by so few people that special rules are used to learn them. Examples include the two versions of Druidic (one for the main world, one for the Hollow World), the Silent Tongue of Drow hand signals, the secret racial language of the slave race called Coelopterans, and the dead language of the long-extinct Ice Elves.
I've considered implementing a "ranks" system for language fluency, but so far haven't bothered- and frankly, with my games in the setting now both being Epic-level there's very little reason to do so. Still, it does make Polyglot a much more attractive feat choice once you hit Epic, and the party Bard in my first Epic game made it her first Epic feat choice.
My homebrew has 71 languages listed in the house rules documents. It would be 74 if I allowed three of the core rules languages (which are used in the core rules by creatures that don't exist at all in my homebrew): Gnoll, Halfling, and Sylvan are out.
I split Common up into regional variants, based mostly on the continent of origin; each of the six inhabited continents has its own Common that's different from all the others. Then there's the island-nation of Nikkon (which also has its own Common), and the Hollow World (which also has its own Common). And we mustn't forget the Ancient language spoken by the civilization of the now-vanished Golden Age, which was a universal language closer to the core-rules concept of Common, or Aquacommon- which is the Common language of the dwellers in the Underwave (i.e. the seas). Even though it isn't listed in the house rules, in game we've assumed the existence of a "Planarcommon" which is spoken as a trade language on the Outer Planes, and in planar metropolises such as Sigil.
Each race has its own language too, pretty much, though subraces often speak the same language as the "main" race (differences like Dark Elvish vs. Elvish do create some language barriers). And then there are the 13 secret or dead languages- languages spoken by so few people that special rules are used to learn them. Examples include the two versions of Druidic (one for the main world, one for the Hollow World), the Silent Tongue of Drow hand signals, the secret racial language of the slave race called Coelopterans, and the dead language of the long-extinct Ice Elves.
I've considered implementing a "ranks" system for language fluency, but so far haven't bothered- and frankly, with my games in the setting now both being Epic-level there's very little reason to do so. Still, it does make Polyglot a much more attractive feat choice once you hit Epic, and the party Bard in my first Epic game made it her first Epic feat choice.
