D&D 5E How to Handle Characters That Can't Speak Language of Friendly Humanoids

[silentbob1]

Guys,

I will be running isle of Dread and my players will not be able to speak the language of the native tribes. How should I handle this in terms of game mechanics?

 

[iserith]

Whenever the players describe wanting to communicate with the native tribes people, you take into account that they may not be able to express themselves fully, decide if that means what they're trying to do has an uncertain outcome, and if it does, ask for an ability check. You might say in some cases, such as conveying basic things, there's no check - the natives understand. In other cases, such as conveying very complex things, there might also be no check - the natives do not understand. It's the cases in the middle where you might call for an ability check that lines up with the approach the players stated. Advantage or disadvantage may apply.

If the PCs are able to spend 250 days of downtime with the tribe and spend 250 gp, they can learn the language. Otherwise, communication might require some magic or, as above, some careful thought and perhaps some luck.

 

[Oofta]

Personally I just assume everybody speaks common - at least well enough to communicate. There's also the NPC or magical interpreter. The local shaman gives the PCs a small shell that when put in their ear lets them understand and speak the language. Of course there are spells and more powerful devices, this would be specific to the language of the locals and be considered a "common" magical item.

If you have an NPC interpreter you have to decide if they're always honest or have a hidden agenda.

 

[Draegn]

You could role play it out. Make hand signs, draw pictures, point at objects in the game. Or as I did with the party which lacked a single character who could speak Elvish after telling them in session zero there would be many elves, speak in Welsh.

 

[Michael Silverbane]

Have the characters talk slower and louder. That always seems to work.

 

[ArchfiendBobbie]

Miming, gestures, drawing pictures and maps, setting someone on fire, pantomime, over-exaggerated acting...

There are lots of ways to communicate with people who don't share a language, depending on what you're trying to say. If all else fails, remember: while not everyone may understand Common, everyone is fluent in Knife.

 

[Swarmkeeper]

I am picturing a fun session where the players and natives end up using gestures, body language, sounds, magical effects, and/or drawing in the sand or on rocks, to try to communicate.

I might handle this with a simple Intelligence roll to successfully transmit a message to the natives and to successfully receive a response back.

Apply some kind of success/failure table to the result. For example:
20+ = message is interpreted perfectly
16-19 = Message is mostly understood, with some minor component missing
11-15 = Message is somewhat understood but also somewhat vague
6-10 = Message is extremely vague with some definite misinterpretation
<5 = message is interpreted opposite of intent (or interpreted as a threat, insult, whatever)

Bust out those improv skills - you are going to need them if any roll is less than perfect!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Have the characters talk slower and louder. That always seems to work.

It’s the way we Americans have been communicating with foreigners for a long time.

 

[iamntbatman]

Our homebrew campaign world doesn't have common. The closest analogue is Old Ambroxian, which is the common language of the collapsed eastern empire from which all the players hail. They're playing in The Cauldron, a sort of frontier area to the west, inhabited by a mix of Ambroxian settlers who fled during the fall of the empire, and several groups of other humans (native and otherwise) who speak completely different languages. More cosmopolitan folk such as traders or mercenaries from those groups might know some Ambroxian, but many do not. We've also got some other homebrew languages for different civilizations of other races.

To make up for this, we have a homebrew rule: in addition to the languages granted by things like race and background, you can also "pick up" a language on a basic/conversational level after being exposed to it for a while, limited to your intelligence modifier.

 

[silentbob1]

I am picturing a fun session where the players and natives end up using gestures, body language, sounds, magical effects, and/or drawing in the sand or on rocks, to try to communicate.

I might handle this with a simple Intelligence roll to successfully transmit a message to the natives and to successfully receive a response back.

Apply some kind of success/failure table to the result. For example:
20+ = message is interpreted perfectly
16-19 = Message is mostly understood, with some minor component missing
11-15 = Message is somewhat understood but also somewhat vague
6-10 = Message is extremely vague with some definite misinterpretation
<5 = message is interpreted opposite of intent (or interpreted as a threat, insult, whatever)

Bust out those improv skills - you are going to need them if any roll is less than perfect!

How about using Insight to determine if the communication is understood?

Insight. Your Wisdom (Insight) check decides whether you can determine the true intentions of a creature, such as when searching out a lie or predicting someone's next move. Doing so involves gleaning clues from body language, speech habits, and changes in mannerisms.