Ibebuda Uenelubba Schlangkallo! Kimmelfizzittane!

[DrNilesCrane]

I hold up a language card (says "Speaking DRACONIC") if it's something at least one of the characters in the party can understand: players are pretty good at not using what they hear if they can't understand it. If no one understands, I usually just say so or make the noise the adults make in the Charlie Brown cartoons ("waaa waaa, waa wa waaa waaaa").


Great thread title, btw.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Ah. Oh. I feel better now.

 

[Ferret]

Previously I just described whatthey could get from the creature, tone, facial expresion, but in the future I'll try and do like Cintra. Sounds like a good idea.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Cintra, eh? Hmmm.

 

[drnuncheon]

Often I'll say "so-and-so says something in a language you don't understand", or be more descriptive about how they're saying it (shouts, growls, hisses, whatever).

For things that I'm sure are going to happen, though, I'll often prepare the quote in the other language beforehand, even if it's one the players speak, just to catch the flavor of the moment. I try to make sure that the meaning is clear from context, or what I go on to say in English.

J

 

[Maldur]

Me and the DM were bilingual ( english and dutch), the other two players could only speak english with only a few words dutch.

I plaed the guide and translator for the party, while they travelled through a country that only spoke dutch. It was hilarious (esp as I was mistranslating them all the time)

 

[shilsen]

If it's a language nobody in the party knows, I switch to one of the real-world languages I know which my group doesn't. It really helps to be Indian and playing with a group where everyone else is American. So I've used Bengali, Hindi, and bits of other languages.

If part of the party understands it and part doesn't, I just say it at the table, counting on the players' ability to not act on what their characters don't know. We've even had characters translating what I said to the others and garbling it somewhat or not sharing some piece of information, and getting dirty looks from the other players, who then have their PCs act only on what they know.