Linguistics

Description

Ability Score Used:	Intelligence
Usable Untrained?	No
Armor Check Penalty Applies?	No

You are skilled at working with language, in both its spoken and written forms. You can speak multiple languages, and can decipher nearly any tongue given enough time. Your skill in writing allows you to detect forgeries as well.

Check

• Secret Rolls:In all cases, Linguistics checks are made secretly by the GM, so that you can't tell whether the conclusion you draw is true or false.

• Decipher Written text or other communicative artifact: You can decipher writing in an unfamiliar language or a message written in an incomplete or archaic form. The base DC is 15 for the simplest messages, 20 for standard texts, and 30 or higher for intricate, exotic, or very old writing. If the check succeeds, you understand the general content of a piece of writing about one page long (or the equivalent). If the check fails by less than 5, you avoid drawing a false conclusion about the text. If the check fails by more than 5, you think you have deciphered or understood it, but you draw some incorrect conclusion, such as opposite meaning (attack versus defend, for example), or wrong timescale (hours instead of days), wrong gender (she instead of he), wrong location (inside instead of outside, etc. Success means that you do not draw a false conclusion; failure means that you might.

• Comprehend a conversation in a language you don't know.: You may also attempt to comprehend spoken languages in tongues you do not know. The base DC is 20 for short statements with context or speech where the speaker is deliberately speaking slowly. The DC is 25 for normal conversations with context, but with no attempt at helping the listener understand. The DC is 35 or more if the language is at all difficult to hear (such as heard through a door, or when the speaker is also chewing food, or the language uses a non-audio method such as scent or expression or direct mental exchanges). If the check fails by less than 5, you avoid drawing a false conclusion about the exchange. If the check fails by more than 5, you think you have deciphered or understood it, but you draw some incorrect conclusion, such as opposite meaning (attack versus defend, for example), or wrong timescale (hours instead of days), wrong gender (she instead of he), wrong location (inside instead of outside), etc. Success means that you do not draw a false conclusion; failure means that you might.

Successful checks to comprehend a conversation can be used as a starting point for learning the unknown language, if GM's wish to use the optional 'learning a new language' rules below.

Uses

At low levels, listening in on enemy conversations in a language you don't know and interpreting the written notes of orcs and Giants isn't terribly difficult to a trained linguist. Most such rolls gain the "familiar territory" and even "homeland" modifiers. That +15 for languages close to home makes such checks trivially easy, and communication is an open book. However, when you encounter a truly alien language, such as the terrible Ackakakl, spoken by Fire Elemental nobility and used nowhere in the Prime Material, those difficulty numbers skyrocket. It takes a truly dedicated and adventurous scholar to even attempt to comprehend a language written in the pattern of a dancing flame.

Even more difficult is trying to detect a forgery written in Ackakakl. Was that little flame dancing in that lantern really ignited by the Lord of Heat, or is it a fake from his sister, the Mistress of Flame?

Most difficult of all is actually learning to speak in Ackakakl, to make the sibilant hisses of combustion, the subtle crackles of fuel consumption, even the whooshing roars and snaps and pops of Fire itself.

And compared to the truly alien languages out there? Even Ackakakl is pretty easy, all things considered. At least it still uses sound....

Modifiers

• A language spoken in familiar territory -5 to the DC.
• A language spoken in your homeland -10 to the DC.
• Inside a city or otherwise cosmopolitan location: -5 to the DC
• A language from an unusual or rare culture: A matriarchy, perfect pacifists, within the Unterwelt, etc. +5 to the DC
• A language from a very unusual or unique culture: Personality cult Empire, non-humanoid society, magical post-scarcity society (wishes),etc. +10 to the DC
• A language from an utterly alien culture: Hive mind, fractal thinkers, higher-dimensional beings, deities, devils, demons, artificial language(scent, light, mental constructs, etc.), +10 to the DC
• An unusual or rare language: Sign language, tonal language, glottal stops galore, tooth-clacks, etc. +5 to the DC
• A language spoken on a different but similar plane of existence: The Ether, the Plane of Shadow, The First World, etc. +5 to the DC
• A language spoken on a different but non-hostile plane of existence: The Plane of Air, Elysium, The Silver Fields, etc. +15 to the DC
• A language spoken on a wildly different plane of Existence: The Azure Sea, The Plane of Earth, the Plane of Water, etc. +20 to the DC
• A language spoken on a wildly different and hostile plane of existence: The Plane of Fire, the Nine Hells, the Abyss, etc +25 to the DC
• A language spoken in Very Bad Places: The Sunward Reaches, The Infinite Well, Temperest, Hellcore, Lavarna, etc. +30 to the DC
• A language spoken at The Edge of Reality: Apocolyptica, The Outer Dark, The Fount of Reality, The Nascent Seed, etc. +35 to the DC

Most of the above penalties and benefits may stack. For example, to decipher an Understanding Mote of the Solarian Waspines is modified by the fact that they are all hive minds (+15) speaking an artificial language of mental glyphs (+10), in a Very Bad Place (+30) for a base modifier of +55 to decipher the Mote. To decipher a normal message between Waspines encoded on a Mote has a base DC of 20, so with modifers, requires a 75 Linguistics check to correctly interpret, and any result below a 70 gives the wrong information. You might want to hit a library and get some help with that one....

Action

Varies. Deciphering a page of ordinary text in an unknown language takes 5 minutes (50 consecutive rounds). This only provides a cursory understanding of the page's information, and is not a comprehensive translation.

Detecting a forgery using Linguistics takes 1 round of examination per page.

Try Again

Yes.

Special

You must be trained to use this skill, but you can always attempt to read archaic and strange forms of your own racial bonus languages. In addition, you can also always attempt to detect a forgery.

Detecting Forgeries

You may use Linguistics to determine if a written message, or other communicative artifact, was actually composed by a known individual.

• To detect a forgery, you must have seen an example of a known good text, or, have an actual sample of a known good text to use as a foundation from which to work. If you do not have such knowledge, you cannot even attempt to roll.

• The GM makes a roll of the Spycraft skill used to generate the forgery. Note that most monsters have a base level of skill in all skills, and that can be used as the basis for the spycraft roll if there is no other information to generate a DC. The CR of the creator of the forgery is the base used to generate this Spycraft roll.

• The linguist takes all modifiers for deciphering a language he does not know (see above) as negative modifiers to his roll to detect a forgery. In general, detecting a forgery in a language you don't know can become VERY difficult to impossible, very quickly.

• If the player is attempting to detect a forgery in a language he already knows well, then detecting a Forgery becomes an opposed check, the PC's Linguistics check against the Spycraft check of the creator.

• All Detect Forgery rolls are finally modified by the extra values in the table below.

Additional Modifiers to Detect Forgeries

Condition	Linguistics Check Modifier
Type of document unknown to reader	-2
Type of document somewhat known to reader	+0
Type of document well known to reader	+2
Handwriting not known to reader	-2
Handwriting somewhat known to reader	+0
Handwriting intimately known to reader	+2
Reader only casually reviews the document	-2
Document contradicts orders or knowledge	+2

Learn a New Language

Whenever you put a rank into this skill, you learn to speak and read a new language. Note that this is per rank put into Linguistics, not your total skill bonus.

• For a listing of available languages, see the languages section of this page.

Learning A New Language (Optional Rule)

The Linguistics skill allows characters to learn a new language for each rank they place in the skill. Some GM's may want to keep this simple and assume the character has acquired some means of studying the new language and is doing that in their spare time. Other GM's may wish to add a little more realism into the learning process. After all, while you may have a rank in a skill granting you the mental space to learn a new language, you may not have had enough exposure to pick up that language without some effort first.

It's up to the GM whether characters can just learn one or more of the encountered languages when they level up. Perhaps there is a great library where tomes containing lexicons of bizarre and diverse tongues can be perused and studied. Maybe a college teaches classes on how to speak High Draconic. Or maybe the players just need to run into these things and piece it together from scraps of conversation they overhear through closed doors.

Making A Check To Learn A New Language

GM's should allow a linguistics check for each significant exposure to a new language, even if the character rolling the check doesn't have any available language "slots" at the time. The DC for this check is as follows:

Degree of exposure to new language	Linguistics Check DC
Character is in an immersive environment	151
The language being studied is commonly spoken but is not the only language being spoken	20
The language being studied is only observed from a single source (one conversation, one letter, one book, etc.)	25
The language being studied is observed from a source which is, itself, not fluent in the language	30

¹ - An immersive environment is one in which the language in question is the only one spoken by the locals, and basic interactions can only be performed in that language. For each full day of exposure to a language an immersive environment, the DC of the check decreases by 2 until the check is made, at which point it resets to 15. In this way, even characters without ranks in Linguistics can eventually pick up a language in a place they are forced to use it to interact. The DM may rule that this bonus can reach a maximum size, depending upon the alienness of the place and people speaking the language.

Modifiers

• A language spoken in familiar territory -5 to the DC.
• A language spoken in your homeland -10 to the DC.
• Inside a city or otherwise cosmopolitan location: -5 to the DC
• Unusual or rare culture: A matriarchy, perfect pacifists, within the Unterwelt, etc. +10 to the DC
• Very unusual or unique culture: Personality cult Empire, non-humanoid society, magical post-scarcity society (wishes), +15 to the DC
• Utterly alien culture: Hive mind, fractal thinkers, higher-dimensional beings, deities, devils, demons, artificial language(scent, light, mental constructs, etc.), +20 to the DC
• Unusual or rare language: Sign language, tonal language, glottal stops galore, the Unterwelt, etc. +10 to the DC
• A language spoken on a different but similar plane of existence: The Ether, the Plane of Shadow, The First World, etc. +10 to the DC
• A language spoken on a different but non-hostile plane of existence: The Plane of Air, Elysium, The Silver Fields, etc. +20 to the DC
• A language spoken on a wildly different plane of Existence: The Azure Sea, The Plane of Earth, the Plane of Water, etc. +25 to the DC
• A language spoken on a wildly different and hostile plane of existence: The Plane of Fire, the Nine Hells, the Abyss, etc +30 to the DC
• A language spoken in Very Bad Places: The Sunward Reaches, The Infinite Well, Temperest, Hellcore, Lavarna, etc. +35 to the DC
• A language spoken at The Edge of Reality: Apocolyptica, The Outer Dark, The Fount of Reality, The Nascent Seed, etc. +40 to the DC

Most of the above penalties and benefits may stack. For example, the Solarian Waspines are all hive minds (+15) speaking an artificial language of mental glyphs (+20), in a Very Bad Place (+35) for a base modifier of +70 to learn their language. Atropals and Sphinxes are even worse than that! Good luck!

Situational penalties and bonuses can also apply to this check, such as the speaker deliberately trying to teach the character the language (generally a +2 to +10 bonus, depending on how skilled the teacher is at teaching), or the speaker deliberately trying to be obscure or hide their meaning (e.g. "do you have the package?") which can impose anything from a -2 to a -10 penalty. A completely nonsense source of the language (such as a code) may not even allow a check at all.

Pidgin

After two successful rolls (and usually a minimum of two days of study), the character can speak the language at the Pidgin level, meaning they communicate at approximately the same degree a toddler communicates -- no full sentences, no conjugation or subject/verb agreement, frequent mispronunciations or incorrect word usage, etc. Only basic ideas can be conveyed, and technical conversations or topics requiring skill or training are impossible. Even regular conversations are painful affairs to observe, with each sentence taking around a minute to successfully convey. At the pidgin level, bluff, diplomacy and sense motive checks are made at -10 penalties when attempted in the new language.

Novice

After a 5 successful rolls, the character can speak the language at a novice level. This includes a vocabulary of around 1000 words, and the ability to address more advanced topics, albeit with frequent mistakes (using the wrong word, etc.). Understanding comes easier than expression at this level. This is a fully functional degree of familiarity, though it is obvious to everyone that the character is not a native speaker. Technical topics are still very difficult affairs, and take much longer to discuss with a novice speaker as synonyms are sought and gestures replace jargon. At the novice level, bluff, diplomacy and sense motive checks are made at a -4 penalty when attempted in the new language. This is the highest degree of familiarity with a language that someone without the Linguistics skill can achieve.

Fluent

After 10 successful rolls, the character is considered fluent in the language. This includes a vocabulary of around 2000 words, as well as knowledge of technical words related to skills the character has training in. Characters may also know some technical jargon from areas they aren't trained in, if they specifically study that area, though unless they also spend skill ranks on the topic being studied, experts of that topic will likely identify them as imposters or wannabes. Fluent speakers suffer no penalties on bluff, diplomacy and sense motive checks with other speakers of the language, though native speakers will be able to tell that fluent speakers are not native, due to accents and other minutia being slightly off. You must have at least 1 rank in linguistics for each language you wish to learn at the 'fluent' level.

Native

A minimum of 10 ranks in the Linguistics skill is required before a character can speak a language other than their native tongue at a 'native' fluency. For every 2 ranks beyond 10, one additional language can be so mastered, assuming the character also has exposure and time to study each new language. Considerable time and study is required to achieve proper mimicry of local dialects, learn the many euphemisms and achieve believable nuance with the language. GM's are encouraged to make this process reasonably achievable, since the PC's are heroes and therefore achieve great things much easier than normal folks. A general guideline is 2 weeks of further study after the fluent level is achieved before the language can be spoken at the 'native' level. Linguists with more than one 'native' language gain a +4 bonus to sense motive checks when interacting with someone in that language, because the linguist has spent so much time studying nuance.

• For a listing of available languages, see the Languages page.

Epic Skill Uses

Note: All uses below require a minimum of 21 Ranks in the skill to use.

Detect Forgery Without Comparative Basis (References)

(DC of forgery +30)

It is normally impossible to detect a Forgery if you don't have a sample of known good text to work from. If you have 21 or more ranks in Linguistics, you are so good the normal rules are no longer applicable to you. You may attempt to 'cold read' a text or other communicative artifact, at the cost of a heavy +30 penalty to the Difficulty. This is a trick you mostly want to try on nice, vanilla languages you know intimately well and grew up with.

Speak a language you don't even know

It is possible to decipher a conversation in a language you don't understand, if very difficult in the truly alien languages. If you have 21 or more ranks in Linguistics, you can try an even more ambitious feat, namely, walking up to a pack of Ordinate Arch-Fiends and striking up a conversation in Exaction, a language you've never even heard before. The base DC is 25 for short statements with context or speech where the speaker is deliberately speaking slowly. The DC is 30 for normal conversations with context, but with no attempt at helping the listener understand. The DC is 35 or more if the conversation is at all difficult to hear (such as heard through a door, or conducted under a lavafall or other noisy environment, or when the speaker is also chewing food, or the language uses a non-audio method such as scent or expression or direct mental exchanges). This roll is then modified by all modifiers to understand a conversation in the table below. You better hope the GM allows you that 'familiar territory' and 'cosmopolitan location' bonus, because you're going to need it!

If you make the roll, you are assumed to be able to work your way through one brief conversation at the Novice level. (See above). This also counts as one success to learn the language. If you fail the roll by 5 or less, you still manage to speak to them, but it's at the pidgin level. If you fail the roll by more than five, you still manage to speak to them...but you do not say what you think you're saying. This usually leads to a fight, so approach with caution!

Modifiers

• A language spoken in familiar territory -5 to the DC.
• A language spoken in your homeland -10 to the DC.
• Inside a city or otherwise cosmopolitan location: -5 to the DC
• A language from an unusual or rare culture: A matriarchy, perfect pacifists, within the Unterwelt, etc. +5 to the DC
• A language from a very unusual or unique culture: Personality cult Empire, non-humanoid society, magical post-scarcity society (wishes),etc. +10 to the DC
• A language from an utterly alien culture: Hive mind, fractal thinkers, higher-dimensional beings, deities, devils, demons, artificial language(scent, light, mental constructs, etc.), +10 to the DC
• An unusual or rare language: Sign language, tonal language, glottal stops galore, tooth-clacks, etc. +5 to the DC
• A language spoken on a different but similar plane of existence: The Ether, the Plane of Shadow, The First World, etc. +5 to the DC
• A language spoken on a different but non-hostile plane of existence: The Plane of Air, Elysium, The Silver Fields, etc. +15 to the DC
• A language spoken on a wildly different plane of Existence: The Azure Sea, The Plane of Earth, the Plane of Water, etc. +20 to the DC
• A language spoken on a wildly different and hostile plane of existence: The Plane of Fire, the Nine Hells, the Abyss, etc +25 to the DC
• A language spoken in Very Bad Places: The Sunward Reaches, The Infinite Well, Temperest, Hellcore, Lavarna, etc. +30 to the DC
• A language spoken at The Edge of Reality: Apocolyptica, The Outer Dark, The Fount of Reality, The Nascent Seed, etc. +35 to the DC