D&D (2024) Who has sign language?

[doctorbadwolf]

I saw a DM handle this by requiring the caster to have +1 free hands. That is to say, spells with a V component needed one free hand instead, and spells with an S and V component needed 2 free hands OR a spell focus and a free hand. It was still a net benefit for the silent spellcaster, but messed with him a little.

That sounds workable, but I’d probably just say the Spellcasting must still make noise, and that part of learning a spell is essentially designing your own version of the process of casting, so maybe a silent character has to clap or snap in specific sequence, or can wordlessly shout and hum, or whatever.

 

[Lakesidefantasy]

Presumably it works like any other language in terms of availability, since it’s taken as a language.

I don't think it's taken as a language any more than writing, reading, or speaking a language is. However, I think it would be cool if Sign were a standard Language that could be chosen.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I saw a DM handle this by requiring the caster to have +1 free hands. That is to say, spells with a V component needed one free hand instead, and spells with an S and V component needed 2 free hands OR a spell focus and a free hand. It was still a net benefit for the silent spellcaster, but messed with him a little.

That's pretty good.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

it would be cool if Sign were a standard Language that could be chosen.

It is. Page 37 of the 2024 PHB.

 

[touc]

I like it to fit in any of my settings. In Dragonlance, mercenaries over the centuries had adopted their own sign language, but without standardized schools (or folks willing to develop a sign language) you don't see it commonly elsewhere.

 

[HaroldTheHobbit]

Didn’t the Thieves Cant in AD&D include sign components?

 

[Stormonu]

Wouldn't each language have its own sign language? It would be easier to just have an universal one like 'common', but makes sense that dwarves and elves would develop their own styles.

Even more so, there's likely to be regional dialects just as with spoken or written languages. Also, I'd like to mention that there's a good chance some trade professions, cults/religions, courtiers or even assassin/thieves guilds that are likely to have some form of a (simple) sign language that can be used to discretely signal like-minded individuals where speaking out loud might be problematic. One example that comes to mind is the Bene Gesserit from Dune - and I think the royal court also had their own form in that series as well. Heck, even the likes of baseball and other sports use various signals to secretly communicate and that's an abbreviated form of sign language.

Are there any monsters in the Monster Manual noted as using sign language? That's the real question for me.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Even more so, there's likely to be regional dialects just as with spoken or written languages.

Yep. In our world, American Sign Language isn't even the only sign language used in the US and isn't what's used in deaf communities around the world necessarily. (Some of it carries over, though, thanks to the power of the US's cultural footprint.)

 

[Lakesidefantasy]

It is. Page 37 of the 2024 PHB.

It is? Well, I'm confused now. Why would it be a standard language when a Player Character can read, write, and sign any language? Am I completely off base here?

 

[Azzy]

Wouldn't each language have its own sign language?

Not necessarily. Plains Indian Sign Language developed as a way for several nations with different spoken languages to communicate.