Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 8745964" data-attributes="member: 29398">Agreed.And you're on the right track with some suggested improvements.First off, I'll say I really don't mind species-spanning languages for a lot of monsters.&nbsp; Just for the sake of sheer simplicity I'm happy to have all Frost Giants just speak Frost Giant.&nbsp; That said, Frost Giant in my game is a different language from Stone Giant, Hill Giant, Fire Giant, Storm Giant (this one being the only Giant tongue that has a written form), and three or four other Giant languages.&nbsp; The same holds true for other monsters - Centaurs have their own language, as do Unicorns, Bugbears, and about 50 other monsters.I can also live with near-species-spanning languages for Dwarves and each Elvish sub-type, though local dialects do exist here and there.&nbsp; I chalk this up to a combination of divine influence and a small but persistent amount of long-distance and-or world-hoppign travel.But Humans should have dozens of languages.&nbsp; Orcs should also have a lot, almost one per community.&nbsp; And at the very least each creature capable of coherent speech should have its own language - batching all the woodland creatures into &quot;Fey&quot; isn't any fun at all.As for the outsiders' languages, again there should be more.&nbsp; I've never worried much about demonic or devilish language specifics, if only because on the extremely few occasions anyone bothers to speak to one it either already knows something a PC speaks or there's lots of Comprehend Language and Tongues involved.Mind Flayers have their own (sort of) language, even though 99% of their communication is psionic.&nbsp; Gith have their own.&nbsp; And so on.&nbsp; Divine beings have their own language but as most are capable of speaking any mortal language they want to, you'll never hear them use their own.Alignment languages are gone, as are Thieves' and Assassins' cants.&nbsp; I've never had Druidic as its own thing.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Lanefan, post: 8745964, member: 29398"] Agreed. And you're on the right track with some suggested improvements. First off, I'll say I really don't mind species-spanning languages for a lot of monsters. Just for the sake of sheer simplicity I'm happy to have all Frost Giants just speak Frost Giant. That said, Frost Giant in my game is a different language from Stone Giant, Hill Giant, Fire Giant, Storm Giant (this one being the only Giant tongue that has a written form), and three or four other Giant languages. The same holds true for other monsters - Centaurs have their own language, as do Unicorns, Bugbears, and about 50 other monsters. I can also live with near-species-spanning languages for Dwarves and each Elvish sub-type, though local dialects do exist here and there. I chalk this up to a combination of divine influence and a small but persistent amount of long-distance and-or world-hoppign travel. But Humans should have dozens of languages. Orcs should also have a lot, almost one per community. And at the very least each creature capable of coherent speech should have its own language - batching all the woodland creatures into "Fey" isn't any fun at all. As for the outsiders' languages, again there should be more. I've never worried much about demonic or devilish language specifics, if only because on the extremely few occasions anyone bothers to speak to one it either already knows something a PC speaks or there's lots of [I]Comprehend Language[/I] and [I]Tongues[/I] involved. Mind Flayers have their own (sort of) language, even though 99% of their communication is psionic. Gith have their own. And so on. Divine beings have their own language but as most are capable of speaking any mortal language they want to, you'll never hear them use their own. Alignment languages are gone, as are Thieves' and Assassins' cants. I've never had Druidic as its own thing. [/QUOTE]

Verification