To those who can afford it, sure. But are all your PCs noble, or of high station?But your games are not D&D standard. And that's fine, I'm not saying that your games have to be. But your rules on language are neither RAW nor RAI and thus are not typical for D&D games.
Eberron actually has public education, for instance. There is, or at least was, lots of private education throughout Ravenloft. The Realms has a god of writing and I'm sure his clerics teach literacy.
Have you ever heard someone read Chaucer (who wrote in the late 1300s) in the original? I have, and I couldn't understand a word that was being said even though in theory it's the same language I speak today.I don't think I am. Language does evolve over time... in the real world, where people have short lifespans, literacy was uncommon to very rare, and transportation, and thus the spread of language, was highly limited. But in D&D world, people don't have short lifespans, literacy is very common, and transportation includes teleportation, magical communication, and flying mounts.
Sure, there's a huge amount of difference between modern English and, say, Old English--but Old English was spoken about 1,500 years ago.
Different communities would still drift, though; and while the settings tend to be somewhat static I also see D&D worlds as being at least as old as the "multiple tens or hundreds of thousands of years" as ours, if not considerably older.In a D&D world, there are going to be creatures that are still alive after 1,500 years. That's only a handful of elf generations (and if you use the idea that elves reincarnate and remember their past lives, then even that doesn't matter). That's one generation of lich or vampire. s, relatively few deal with the multuple tens or hundreds of thousands of years that the real world had to deal with.
With humans, in the real world, it seems to be that the first small language developed at point X in Africa and then people spread out, developing their individual languages as they went. If, as I mentioned, the gods created (modern) humans fully-formed and plunked them down all over the place knowing the same fully-developed language, then the changes afterwards are going to be much smaller.
Plus, let's face it--nearly all D&D settings are static. New technologies and philosophies just don't take over. There's no reason language would also change that much.
Got it. I just see there being fairly few languages as too much of a contrivance.For the record, I'm not saying that D&D games should only have one or a very few languages. I'm saying that it's not actually illogical for such a setting to have few languages.
I see no reason to assume that only high-born people can read in a fantasy world, or that people couldn't teach their children, or that priests would consider teaching people to read as part of their clerical duties.To those who can afford it, sure. But are all your PCs noble, or of high station?
Again, you're comparing the real world to a fantasy world, and ignoring all the differences there would be between them.Have you ever heard someone read Chaucer (who wrote in the late 1300s) in the original? I have, and I couldn't understand a word that was being said even though in theory it's the same language I speak today.
It depends on how prevailing the fantasy is in your fantasy world.Again, you're comparing the real world to a fantasy world, and ignoring all the differences there would be between them.
Yeah, it's rough. I read it as part of my Medieval English Literature minor in college.Have you ever heard someone read Chaucer (who wrote in the late 1300s) in the original? I have, and I couldn't understand a word that was being said even though in theory it's the same language I speak today.
Emphasis mine. What would it look like to make languages "closer to reality" using game mechanics? I'm asking sincerely. As someone who has lived and worked in other countries for a good chunk of my life, I love making language meaningful in my games, but I tend to get lazy and resort to the everyone speaks common, or at least that certain groups of educated NPCs do. Where I have make strong efforts to make language meaningful it was almost entirely role-play based, more than roll play. At most I might give advantage or bonus to certain skill checks. I find this especially satisfying at higher levels where mere understanding is less of an issue because of magic. Just because magic gives you the ability to understand or communicate in a language doesn't mean (in my games) that you are clued into all the subtle cultural contexts and that can be reflected in charisma checks, for example.Make languages in the game more detailed, closer to reality, and add in something like your social mechanic too.
I'd say take a page from GURPS and have different levels of of fluency. GURPS has three levels, broken, fluent, and native (I believe; it's been a while), in both written and spoken versions.Emphasis mine. What would it look like to make languages "closer to reality" using game mechanics? I'm asking sincerely. As someone who has lived and worked in other countries for a good chunk of my life, I love making language meaningful in my games, but I tend to get lazy and resort to the everyone speaks common, or at least that certain groups of educated NPCs do. Where I have make strong efforts to make language meaningful it was almost entirely role-play based, more than roll play. At most I might give advantage or bonus to certain skill checks. I find this especially satisfying at higher levels where mere understanding is less of an issue because of magic. Just because magic gives you the ability to understand or communicate in a language doesn't mean (in my games) that you are clued into all the subtle cultural contexts and that can be reflected in charisma checks, for example.
But trying to create verisimilitude by mechanically representing dialects, language families, different language within a shared culture, etc. seems it would get unwieldy if you try to model it with bonuses, tables, and other mechanical tools.
I think you're giving too much credit to said priests (and wizards, etc.) for beneficially affecting the daily lives of the masses. Further, what would the masses read? Most D&D settings don't have the printing press, and spells of photocopying are homebrew only (the only spell I've ever had any of my PCs research and design was in fact for just this).I see no reason to assume that only high-born people can read in a fantasy world, or that people couldn't teach their children, or that priests would consider teaching people to read as part of their clerical duties.
It's a world where priests can bless crops and heal major injuries, therefore automatically making harvests and lives better, therefore allowing people to break away from the lives of pure drudgery that existed in the real world, and thus gives them more time in which to educate themselves.
Of course I'm ignoring the differences, largely because in this case I posit there really wouldn't be any of much significance. Dialects can and do develop within a subculture on Earth within just a few years, as a means of group identification and differentiating themselves from the rest, and either catch on and become part of the mainstream language or fade away. Why would a game world be any different?Again, you're comparing the real world to a fantasy world, and ignoring all the differences there would be between them.
The other thing to toss in here is that not every spoken language has or historically had a written form.I'd say take a page from GURPS and have different levels of of fluency. GURPS has three levels, broken, fluent, and native (I believe; it's been a while), in both written and spoken versions.
For D&D, maybe just two levels (broken and fluent). Instead of saying each PC knows X number of languages, give them a certain number of points. Spend 1 point for broken spoken, 2 for fluent spoken. Ditto for written. Maybe base it on their Int mod, with a few extra points based on class or background or whatever.
Real-world history and even most fantasy fiction would suggest that the magical class would primarily focus on benefiting their peers and themselves.I think you're giving too much credit to said priests (and wizards, etc.) for beneficially affecting the daily lives of the masses.
My DM had a faster version of the printing press introduced in our campaign and it was a great moment. The existing guilds and power structures freaked out, as many of them realized it would have economic, social and political implications.Further, what would the masses read? Most D&D settings don't have the printing press, and spells of photocopying are homebrew only (the only spell I've ever had any of my PCs research and design was in fact for just this).
They're my priests and clerics, which means that they're exactly as beneficial or harmful as I want them to be.I think you're giving too much credit to said priests (and wizards, etc.) for beneficially affecting the daily lives of the masses. Further, what would the masses read? Most D&D settings don't have the printing press, and spells of photocopying are homebrew only (the only spell I've ever had any of my PCs research and design was in fact for just this).
You're talking about vocabulary here, but that's different from a full language.Of course I'm ignoring the differences, largely because in this case I posit there really wouldn't be any of much significance. Dialects can and do develop within a subculture on Earth within just a few years, as a means of group identification and differentiating themselves from the rest, and either catch on and become part of the mainstream language or fade away. Why would a game world be any different?
That's true, but also fairly unimportant in a fantasy setting.The other thing to toss in here is that not every spoken language has or historically had a written form.