D&D 5E Language from Mantle of Whispers?

[plisnithus8]

During that hour, you gain access to allinformation that the creature would freely sharewith a casual acquaintance. Information includesgeneral details on its background and personallife, but does not include secrets. Theinformation is enough that you can pass yourselfoff as the creature by drawing on its memories.
Do you think that this means that the UA Bard: College of Whispers has memory of the language of a creature that she is impersonating?
If the creature only speaks a language that the bard does not, how could she pass herself off as the creature?



If she does gain knoeledge of its language, might there be other features this memory might grant her?

 

[Gardens & Goblins]

Well, it is playtest material. There's nothing in the ability description that says they do gain the languages of the target. Though it does open the door to lots of long, worn out discussions about the nature of knowledge, understanding and comprehension.

If I was the DM, would I let the Bard gain the target's languages? Probably not. A literal reading suggests they do not, simply gain information, '..all information the creature would freely share with a casual acquaintance.'

That's it. It then goes on to describe how such information can be used to pass the character off as the creature. In this context, I read 'can' as describing possibility. In other words, there is no guarantee and the text is simply elaborating on the nature of the information 'freely given to a casual acquaintance' and how it could be used.

Granted, the ability is unique and yes, as UA material there's going to be holes and things that need testing.

On the plus side - they're a Bard. They get Comprehend Languages. Maybe I'm being tight? Perhaps some might see it as a 'taxing' of the player, requiring them to spend a 1st level spell slot to impersonate anyone they wish. For me at least, that seems aok.

[sblock]Looking at a similar spell/ability, we have Detect Thoughts, which features the line:

If the creature you choose has an Intelligence of 3 or lower or doesn’t speak any language, the creature is unaffected.

This suggests that an understanding of language is required for successful mind reading/memory reading. However, we're talking about magical people in a fantasy game, so there doesn't have to be an underlying logic. Both the Bard ability and the spell could work in totally different ways - or function under the same set of principals. [/sblock]

 

[plisnithus8]

I lean toward her not gaining language, but the fact that the knowledge is lost in an hour would prevent the collection of languages as she goes.

And depenfing on how memory might work in the game, it kind of seems pointless to have memories of events and conversations that she cannot comprehend.
Could one argue that she gains memory of learning to speak a new language?

 

[Gardens & Goblins]

Could one argue that she gains memory of learning to speak a new language?

Sure. And folks could argue against it. There seems to be more supporting they don't but nothing is set in stone and it's playtest material.

Might even be worth testing it during play and seeing how it goes!