OOC Chatter II

[onlyme]

Well, it is on the way he ran off to. He could circle back and meet up.

[Zhym]

Arriving to save the day might go a long way to making amends.

[Spearmint]

watching the action from a distance all I can cryptically say is "that salvation is in your own hands".

[Zhym]

Where are loot distribution discussions supposed to go?

[Marullus]

I don't separate them like Keehnelf did. I let them be at the end of the relevant expedition thread.

[Zhym]

Okay. You said you were going to close the Kobold Tower thread, but I guess you meant after distributing Rhybek's stuff.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Well, it is on the way he ran off to. He could circle back and meet up.

I don't know that Marullus would allow for such a coincidental run in. If he would, Bremen would totally be up for it. Bear in mind he is carrying mundane weaponry now, so he wouldn't actually be any help other than drawing off their attacks (and then dying, himself).

Hmmm... Let's just skip that scenario. Good luck!

[Marullus]

Most monsters have at least a 20% probability of speaking their own language and the common tongue.

Have we just gotten unlucky there?

Thanks, I hadn't noted that rule. I have been giving you far greater than 20% odds, actually. Since Charm spells require an INT score, I actually roll up that stat for most people you start talking to, with higher INT getting Common and/or multiple languages. Or, if Charm spells aren't in play, I assume there's at least one smart leader in any large group. This was a 3-man scout patrol, nobody in it is that smart.

I want languages to matter - players have developed their characters with language choices, and I try to make sure that they come into play as a benefit to that character (and thus a detriment to those that don't.)

[Zhym]

How high of an INT do you require for a monster to speak common?

I wouldn't have tied monsters speaking common to intelligence, personally. I think it's more a question of whether the monsters in question have exposure to the common-speaking world. A society of goblins would be about as likely to know common as would a society of dwarves or elves—or at least be able to communicate in broken Common. In LOTR, wasn't even the most lowly grunt orc able to speak some of the language of men?

As a penalty for those who don't choose to know a language, it seems harsh to me. Many PCs don't have the option of taking any extra languages (although I forget if you have house rules against that), and it seems like it incentivizes metagaming and penalizes choosing languages for role play. If I'd chosen Pendleton's languages out of purely utilitarian motives, I'd probably have had him know goblin, kobold, and orc to maximize his ability to converse. But my character concept was different, so I had him know Elf, Dwarf, and Dragon—all languages that fit the character concept but are almost useless in the game, since every elf, dwarf, and dragon in the game also speak common. Shame on me for choosing role play over metagaming?

[Alethan]

In LOTR, wasn't even the most lowly grunt orc able to speak some of the language of men?

Yeah, OK, but that was a fictional story! Hello!

LOL

[Zhym]

Yeah, OK, but that was a fictional story! Hello!

What, and these are true-life tales?

Hi yourself.

[Alethan]

Yeah, OK, but that was a fictional story! Hello!

What, and these are true-life tales?

Hi yourself.

That was a joke...

[Zhym]

Sorry. Y'know, it didn't sound like you.

[Alethan]

Sorry. Y'know, it didn't sound like you.

Sarcasm doesn't sound like me??

I wear sarcasm like a fuzzy polar bear coat at the south pole in January.

[Zhym]

It was more the "LOL" that didn't sound like you. Sarcasm I expect. Terse, semi-literate sarcasm, not so much.

[onlyme]

Sorry. Y'know, it didn't sound like you.

Sarcasm doesn't sound like me??

I wear sarcasm like a fuzzy polar bear coat at the south pole in January.

Or irony, being that is summertime...

[Marullus]

I wouldn't have tied monsters speaking common to intelligence, personally. I think it's more a question of whether the monsters in question have exposure to the common-speaking world. A society of goblins would be about as likely to know common as would a society of dwarves or elves—or at least be able to communicate in broken Common. In LOTR, wasn't even the most lowly grunt orc able to speak some of the language of men?

This is actually where your argument works against you because of this specific game concept. You are Men's first return to the Northlands. "Common" is the common tongue of the Southlands, which has never been spoken here, ever. The previous Men (the horselords and the pre-cataclysm) both have their own languages which are different from your Common. The vast, vast majority of "societies" here have zero chance of speaking your common tongue.

I've adjusted a few things for this:

• All humans get a free bonus language in house rules, so you have more exposure to others. (Everyone gets to make choices.)
• Clarifying that Alignment Languages have some degree of effectiveness, allowing rudimentary communication with most creatures in the game (especially if the party has multiple alignments).
• The goblins along the mountains (and potentially other creatures) have been crossing that border for some time, leading them to have greater proficiency in Common than when you go further north (as higher level characters).
• Establishing that new languages can be learned through study - this has already been done with the captured Morlock teaching recruitable NPCs their tongue. PCs can do this too, and it helps move the clock forward. (At some point you may be among another society for 30 days and you'll get the INT roll)
• Now that the mountains are known to be open, I'm allowing that other NPC groups from the southlands are sneaking in outside of Gaul (see the Order of Monoc which Foxy discovered to the west). They all speak Common and propagate Common into other societies if they move through ahead of you.

Sometimes, someone won't speak your language. Otherwise, we just scrap the idea of languages entirely and just let the game roll with a "lingua franca." (Perhaps your TARDIS has a universal translator, or you have a babblefish in your ear.)

For Zhym specifically, taking Dwarf was a practical choice. You already know that a dwarven civilization also flourished here, and so have that. We talked about if you wanted to take either of the dead languages as an arriving scholar, but you chose Comprehend Languages which really handles both of those languages well (since they don't need to be spoken, really). Choosing Elf and Dragon was reasonably pragmatic but incredibly flavorful, and prompted me as the GM to create greater opportunity for you to meaningfully speak them. (It just won't be in the Goblin Hole.) Others took Goblin. This is just their time to shine a bit more.

[Zhym]

Does the INT language limit apply to learning new languages? Pendleton started with 3 languages, which is the number allowed by his INT and your free bonus language rule. Could he still learn another language if he spent a month hanging with a goblin tutor?

And I can't remember: have we had any trouble conversing with the dwarven clans that were also all alone up here?

[Marullus]

No, there's no maximum cap on languages. INT just defines starting languages. (and likelihood of passing each test, which is an INT check.)

Also, no problem with the dwarves - narratively, they came from the south(east) hills northward under the banner of the legendary King Jarkul. That's how they maintain common lineage with the Blackhelm dwarves of I'did'dum and it means that the language is common as simply "dwarf."

[DavetheLost]

Happy Christmas to all!