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Message: <blockquote data-quote="BookTenTiger" data-source="post: 8442325" data-attributes="member: 6685541">Here's a little sketch of how languages could work in a custom campaign region...Let's say we have an area with a central mountain range dividing a western dry coast and an eastern forest coast. The main cultures are a dwarven Rome-like empire that has established a number of mining and trading city-states, a western nomadic culture, and an eastern forest / coastal culture. There are also outside cultures to the north and south of the map.Starting Languages: Your character knows Common and one other starting language, plus a bonus language for each point of Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma bonus.There would be three main language groups:Corrian (language of the dwarven empire)Westongue (language of the western cultures)Greenspeech (language of the eastern cultures)Each language group has a few dialects. When a character is first interacting with someone who speaks a different dialect, they may make a DC 15 Wisdom (Insight) check. If they succeed, they may communicate as if speaking Common (see below). If they succeed at a DC 20 Wisdom (Insight) check, they may communicate as if proficient in the same language.CorrianOld CorrianOriginal language of the dwarven empire, brought to this region.Language of History: For millennia, the dwarves have used Old Corrian to record their history, and the language has adapted to aid in the memorization of facts. Characters proficient in Old Corrian gain advantage on Intelligence (History) checks about the dwarven empire or cultures connected to it.Related Dialects: JadishJadishCenturies ago, the dwarven empire conquered a gnomish region; since then a hybrid of dwarven and gnomish words has spawned its own dialect.Language of Trade: The Jadish language has been traditionally used for trade between the dwarves and gnomes. A character who is proficient in Jadish, when purchasing goods from a merchant who is also proficient in Jadish, gains advantage on any ability checks made to haggle or negotiate a price.Related Dialects: Old CorrianWestongueWispryteA dialect of the nomads of the high steppes.A Word for Every Animal: The nomads of the high steppes are expert trackers, and have developed a language rich in vocabulary about animal prints and signs. A character proficient in Wispryte gains advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks when tracking a beast.Related Dialects: Shuddryn, QuitchShuddrynA dialect spoken in the deep caves beneath the western badlands.Silent Signs: The shuddryn dialect is composed half of spoken language, and half of hand signs. Two beings proficient in shuddryn may communicate entirely through hand gestures, as long as they are within sight.Related Dialects: Wispryte, QuitchQuitchA dialect of Westongue spoken by the mining villages of the Salt Towers.Culinary Vocabulary: The Quitch dialect contains many words for cooking techniques unknown in other cultures. Characters proficient in Quitch gain advantage when using Cook's Utensils.Related Dialects: Wispryte, ShuddrynGreenspeechWoodspeechA dialect spoken in the Verdant Woods of the eastern slopes.Forest Experts: The people of the Verdant Woods must be able to tell the subtle differences between animals and plants that can be harvested, and those that must be avoided due to poisons or other dangers. Characters proficient in Woodspeech gain advantage on Intelligence (Nature) checks made to identify plants, animals, or natural phenomena throughout the Verdant Woods.Related Dialects: Tidespeech, ShorespeechTidespeechA dialect spoken by fishing villages on the islands off the eastern coast.Weather Words: The people of the eastern isles are expert fishers and boatwrights. Their language contains many words to help describe and predict the weather. Characters proficient in Tidespeech gain advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks made to identify and predict the weather.Related Dialects: Woodspeech, ShorespeechShorespeechA dialect spoken by villages along the eastern coast.Language of Cordiality: The coastal villages on the eastern shore have traditionally helped trade between their neighbors in the forested slopes and those who live on the isles. A character who is proficient in Shorespeech may use a Charisma (History) check to gather information in a village, town, or city.Related Dialects: Woodspeech, TidespeechCommonCommonCommon is a pidgin language made up of bits of all spoken dialects.Incomplete Vocabulary: When speaking Common, a character suffers disadvantage on all Charisma checks that require speech.Other LanguagesCelestialSpoken by celestial outsiders.Language of Healing: When a character proficient in Celestial casts a spell that heals hit points, they may add 1 to the total amount of hit points healed.FiendishSpoken by devils and demons.Language of Lies: A character proficient in Fiendish may use Intelligence instead of Charisma when making a Charisma (Deception) check.SylvanSpoken by the fey.Language of Magic: A character proficient in Sylvan gains advantage on Intelligence (Arcana) checks made to identify spells.DovorianThe dovorian language is spoken by a large empire of orcs to the south of the region.War Speech: A character speaking Dovorian may make a Charisma (Intimidate) check even against those they do not share a language with.KekokoThe kekoko language is spoken by a wide array of lizardfolk, tortles, and other reptillians who live in the vast swamps north of the region.Like a Drum: The kekoko language contains words that can be spoken incredibly loudly; those proficient in Kekoko may use the language to communicate at double the range spoken words would normally travel.</blockquote>

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