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<blockquote data-quote="Whizbang Dustyboots" data-source="post: 8741966" data-attributes="member: 11760">First off, I'll be adding a halfling bard named &quot;Rolkien&quot; into my games at the first opportunity, so thank you for that, [USER=7031770]@Ondath[/USER].Second, I disagree with your premise, but I have no way of knowing which of us, if either of us, use languages more &quot;typically&quot; in D&amp;D. I will say that while I've used it as a gate to hide a clue behind (overhearing someone on the street, reading hieroglyphics in a tomb), it's also used in my games as a secret communication channel (my gnome illusionist in 3E had a familiar that spoke Gnomish, so she could communicate only with a select group of people, allowing her to pass on secret communications to the PCs all at once with less chance of being overheard by random strangers) and as background color.These feel like typical uses to me, but I also grew up with a dad who worked all over the world and who speaks multiple languages and my wife speaks another language, so all of this stuff is just part of how I view the world.Instead of dumping languages, I think there might need to be specific discussions in the 2024 DMG that might say &quot;hey, if you don't want to deal with languages in your game, don't. Make your primary area one where 99% of the NPCs all speak the same language and you can bring in others if you think of an interesting use for them.&quot; (This also goes against the idea of automatically giving people a free language with their background, so if this worldbuilding advice is used, it should probably also say that a language is worth a tool proficiency and the DM should feel free to give those out instead -- and D&amp;D Beyond should have that as a coded-in choice.)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Whizbang Dustyboots, post: 8741966, member: 11760"] First off, I'll be adding a halfling bard named "Rolkien" into my games at the first opportunity, so thank you for that, [USER=7031770]@Ondath[/USER]. Second, I disagree with your premise, but I have no way of knowing which of us, if either of us, use languages more "typically" in D&D. I will say that while I've used it as a gate to hide a clue behind (overhearing someone on the street, reading hieroglyphics in a tomb), it's also used in my games as a secret communication channel (my gnome illusionist in 3E had a familiar that spoke Gnomish, so she could communicate only with a select group of people, allowing her to pass on secret communications to the PCs all at once with less chance of being overheard by random strangers) and as background color. These feel like typical uses [I]to me[/I], but I also grew up with a dad who worked all over the world and who speaks multiple languages and my wife speaks another language, so all of this stuff is just part of how I view the world. Instead of dumping languages, I think there might need to be specific discussions in the 2024 DMG that might say "hey, if you don't want to deal with languages in your game, don't. Make your primary area one where 99% of the NPCs all speak the same language and you can bring in others if you think of an interesting use for them." (This also goes against the idea of automatically giving people a free language with their background, so if this worldbuilding advice is used, it should probably also say that a language is worth a tool proficiency and the DM should feel free to give those out instead -- and D&D Beyond should have that as a coded-in choice.) [/QUOTE]

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