[TC 2E] Languages

[wyrdhamster]

How many Languages character can know? Beside the Polyglot Edge in Adventure or Aether - what is rule basis?

If nothing official - Would Intellect or Intellect + Humanities be good maximum for characters?

I ask as I plan Adventure and Assassins mini-chronicle, with a lot of travels on PCs front.

[Florin]

I usually go with whatever their background is. Did the grow up in Germany and then work in Spain for 15 years? Well, they'll speak German, English, and Spanish, at the very least.

[Mateus Luz]

I would limit it to what Paths seams right. It could also have a limit to fluency equal to Intellect only, but it would be the limit not the number you do have fluency.

If you want you may let them use “non-fluent” by testing Intellect + Humanities or Culture or any related skill.

Let’s say, you trained a lot of martial arts. You probably know the basic for Japanese, or you studied a lot of diplomacy, you probably know French, etc.

Also similar languages can grant enhancements, Portuguese for Spanish would grant +2 and for Italian +1.

But honestly, you can say the guy talks a dialect and you can’t understand even being the same language (do you talk to Scottish people often?). So the number is irrelevant, probably better just say the guy talks a language only one of the characters understand or you need to find an interpreter to allow communication.

[glamourweaver]

I use the higher if Intellect + Humanities (reflecting education) or Intellect + Culture (reflecting emersion) for how many languages a character can potentially speak without a special Gift or Mega-Edge, etc. Any given language must be justified by the character’s Paths, and they will not necessarily speak the maximum if they aren’t justified by Paths.

[Firanai]

I use the higher if Intellect + Humanities (reflecting education) or Intellect + Culture (reflecting immersion) for how many languages a character can speak without a special Gift or Mega-Edge, etc. Any given language must be justified by the character’s Paths, and they will not necessarily speak the maximum if they aren’t justified by Paths.

I also use this approach, I believe it's the one that makes more sense.

[Shepherdboi]

Characters are assumed to be exceptional people, so give them as many languages as seems appropriate without going full munchkin. Most educational systems require students to take a second language, so pick something commonly taught in high schools (usually Spanish or French). Give your character a deaf or foreign born relative to justify sign language or another language. Did your parents move to a foreign country as part of a job and take you with them? You know that language. Are you an international mercenary? You may know one or two extra languages. Have you taken a Humanities specialty in linguistics? You probably know several languages.

[Jefepato]

I posted a topic about this a while back: http://forum.theonyxpath.com/forum/m...language-rules

There are apparently no standard rules for how many languages a character can know aside from "whatever makes sense for your character," which I would be fine with if not for the fact that there are actual Edges and Gifts and other abilities in several TC games that cost points for being better at languages (and they're not particularly consistent with each other).

If I were GMing, I'd probably just go with the Intellect+Humanities limit for PCs who haven't spent points on language stuff (although I agree that Intellect+Culture also makes sense). Within reason based on Paths, of course, but I wouldn't argue too much if the justification seemed thin -- it's not really a game balance issue.

[No One of Consequence]

Some random stuff:


A brief look at some hyperpolyglots.

Fluency vs Proficiency.

[Firanai]

Some random stuff:


A brief look at some hyperpolyglots.

Fluency vs Proficiency.

Thanks, this is very insightful. Especially about the distinction between fluency vs proficiency. I consider that the culture skill reflects fluidity, while humanities reflects proficiency. Also, this ties to something that I also wanted to point out and that is knowing a lot of languages doesn't necessarily mean that you're very good at speaking and understanding them, quantity is not the same as quality. How good is your character would depend mostly on their background, then I would make him roll intellect + humanities or culture.
To be fair, this would only come into play in specific circumstances, for example if a character wants to pass as a citizen from another nation, can you speak the language without any accent whatsoever? Can you copy the subtleties, the quirks, the slang? Ultimately, just use whatever works best for you and don't agonize over it.

[No One of Consequence]

There is also written vs verbal. I can actually recognize and guess the meaning of a number of Spanish and French written words simply because they are derived from the same Latin origins of their English equivalents, but I can't pronounce them properly nor pick them up very easily when my cousin and his Columbian wife speak Spanish to each other. Likewise, I can recognize a handful of Japanese words and phrases by ear from watching so much undubbed anime, but I can't make heads or tails of the Japanese written language(s).


I also remember when my cousin and his wife moved back to the US ten years ago, I got her a book explaining a number of common if illogical English idioms/phrases and what they meant.

[wyrdhamster]

Reading articles I think...

Hyperpolyglots would clearly in TC have Polyglot Edge - and probably high Intelect and Humanities or Culture. Sum of I+H or I+C would be languages you could know as your mother tongue - rest would be so-so 'communicative level' ( like B1 or B2 in English). If you want to make professional Polyglot, beside the titular Edge - get Humanities/Culture Sepcialization in particular language you study-study.

[TwoDSix]

A big reason Trinity 2e would avoid giving standard rules is because the worth of languages varies from era to era (and group to group). In Aether and Adventure not knowing a language might be a real issue, but in Aeon most characters probably have a reliable automatic translation program on their phone (or equivalent). It's possible, although highly unlikely, that an Aeon game might not have the PCs share a language (more likely they all speak English and/or Mandarin). If you really want your Aeon character to speak sixty three languages I won't stop you in my games.

Although yes, when all else is equal default to the character's paths to determine what's reasonable.

[wyrdhamster]

but in Aeon most characters probably have a reliable automatic translation program on their phone (or equivalent).

Side topic - in Aeon era people do not have implanted devices, like GLASS chip in Anima? 😲 I assumed that GLASS like tech or universal translators in heads from Star Trek were standard in Aeon.
( Still do not have Aeon and Aberrant cores, waiting for 10th Anniversary discounts - basic my settings knowledge from forum posts.)

[TwoDSix]

Side topic - in Aeon era people do not have implanted devices, like GLASS chip in Anima? 😲 I assumed that GLASS like tech or universal translators in heads from Star Trek were standard in Aeon.
( Still do not have Aeon and Aberrant cores, waiting for 10th Anniversary discounts - basic my settings knowledge from forum posts.)

I don't have Anima, but implanted devices aren't the norm.in Aeon. Most people carry around what would be a Star Wars holophone, because the continuum allows the games to focus on aesthetics first, consistency second. Aeon is closer to classic space opera than cyberpunk, so it gets minicomps rather than GLASS.

[Mateus Luz]

Glass was never super popular. It was a thing in Anima, very local and kind of forced by the government.

During Nova Era the Novas created many wonders of technology, including brain interface computers, and they were kind of common, until sometime at the start of Aberrant War one or more novas start controling those equipments and so the people using it. Most people that have them were killed or taken by the Novas when they left Earth, mostly because they could be controlled too.

Then some time after, the FSA government tried to turn themselves in the ultimate tech place, and created what we see in Anima. Most people out of Cascade don’t have Glass, it was given to all citizens there, as a big experiment, that ultimately fail. After that the governments made it illegal to have memory altering computers.

Aeon was created in the 90s to be the ultimate scifi setting, with all possible scifi genres, and most genres don’t have brain implants, so no implants, except if you are Nihonjin (because Japan was turned into the cyberpunk genre node).