Languages
For each language taken Reading & Writing skills must be paid for separately than Speaking a language. A character does not need to know how to speak a language to be able to read it. Ancient languages are handled in the same way, except that you must normally need to be able to read the language first before being able to speak it.
A character starts with speaking their native language for free. However to converse with other races they must spend a slot on the language of choice for that race. This means that almost all demi-human player characters will need to spend a slot on W Comm to speak with the other members of the party.
For all human languages there is a Group and dialect of that group must be picked. It is possible that a character can understand some of a related language. When trying to determine if a character can understand a foreign language or dialect without the skill for that language determine how many removes away from a Known language the foreign language is. Each remove counts as a 10% reduction in comprehension for that language.
- Language Comprehension
| 100 | Perfect fluency. No hesitation or confusions based on understanding the language. |
| 90 | Slight Hesitation, occasional awkward pronunciations, but very little confusion of meaning. Speaker has a slight accent. |
| 80 | Noticeable hesitations, and sometimes misuses a word. Accent allows listener to place origin of speaker. |
| 50 | Conversations are simple and often require roundabout phrases to get the point across. Accent can create difficulties in understanding words. Pantomime is useful. |
| 30 | Basic concepts can be communicated, although pantomime is needed. Conversations tend to be childlike. |
| 10 | Speech is limited to a few useful phrases or words (I am hungry, How much does it cost, What is it) Answer is likely not to be understood. Big broad gestures, pointing and pantomime are essential. |
This is a list of all the human language groups available in the campaign. The non-human languages are listed by Language Group.
Ancient Languages
- Roman (Latin) - found in Terraguard and surrounding areasEgyptian - found in Manetho and surrounding areas§Imaskari - found in The Endless Waste Ψ§Shou Chiang - found in Shou Lung and surrounding areas§Midani - found in Zakhara
§ These languages are the original root tongues of their modern descendants. Knowledge of any of them is considered 5 removes from it’s modern form.
Ψ These languages have no original written form and are only recorded by scholars afterwards, or spoken in areas totally cut off from the rest of society.
Modern Languages
W COMM (Yanawe) - spoken from Terraguard to the Island Kingdoms
- Terraguardian
- Keldourian
- Small Kingdoms
- Trade Route
- Everreach
- Northern Wastes
C COMM (Celtic, Devic, Imaskari) - spoken throughout the Central Area, The Endless Waste, and Manetho
A COMM (Midani) - spoken in all of Zakhara
- Free Cities
- Pearl Cities
- Pantheist League
- Cities of the Heart
- East Zakhara
E COMM (Shou Ciang, Amaese, Tabotan, Kozakuran, Wa, Han) - spoken in all of the Oriental Lands
RIM (Kapirimtiya) - spoken only south of the desert in Kapirimtiya
MAZ (Maztica) - spoken only in Maztica
