What's to be done about the languages problem?

[Mortavius]

You're probably thinking of the Renier who took up residence in the House on Griffon Hill, only to quickly flee his estate afterward.

That's Jacques Renier, and that's what I mentioned, which is what Dark Angel was asking about, but he confused it with Claude and Falkovnia.

[Dark Angel]

You're probably thinking of the Renier who took up residence in the House on Griffon Hill, only to quickly flee his estate afterward.

That's Jacques Renier, and that's what I mentioned, which is what Dark Angel was asking about, but he confused it with Claude and Falkovnia.

Mortavius is correct about my error, I tend to confuse the 'little' things (especially if I don't do my 'pre-group going there research').

[Mortavius]

Don't feel bad Dark Angel; I only knew that because I'm re-reading Gaz 3 right now. Otherwise, I doubt I'd remember that a Renier built the House.

[Terminusvitae]

Chipping in my minor opinion, I've tried to split the difference in my current Ravenloft campaign and have rolled the clusters into single languages, such as Akiri being the language across all the Amber Wastes and Sanguine being used in the Frozen Reaches. Sourange uses a creole of Mordentish, and so forth, with the end result being that there are fewer individual languages, but the players will still have the occasional problem communicating with the natives if it's a language no one in the party speaks.

[High Priest Mikhal]

I tend to go with the default as presented in the RDMG: no changes to language. This is both to preserve the feeling of isolation in new, unknown territory (travelers to foreign countries who don't know the local language know that feeling) and because it encourages interesting RP when the characters (not the players) feel the frustration. Certain languages in the Core are often so widespread that they help. Balok is spoken in many domains in the central Core, Mordentish in several western domains, Vaasi in Hazlan, Valachan, and Nova Vaasa as well as any place where the Church of the Lawgiver holds sway, and Darkonian is known both because of the Claiming and the sheer economic might of Darkon. Racial languages are left intact, so if you can find the humanoid population and speak the language you can find local translators. This last one also enforces a certain degree of xenophobia that is part and parcel of many Gothic horror stories. "If you can speak our language, you're on of us. If not, you're one of them."

I'll skip the obvious solutions of magic and magic items. Those should be readily apparent.

[Terminusvitae]

I actually removed the racial languages entirely from my campaign. It's actually working out fairly well so far, as IMC, only Outlanders actually have a racial tongue; as natives of the demiplane, regardless of their race, are tied to their homes in more than just literal, physical ways, the elves/dwarves/so forth of Darkon know only Darkonese by default.

[Dark Angel]

I thought about doing that too (Sithicus would still have its own and Darkon would be more unified which also fits), but decided against it to allow outsiders the chance of speaking some language of the Core. I kind of made a compromise with Halflings speaking a racial version of thieves cant with the bulk comprising of linguistics from other local languages.

[ewancummins]

As I see it:

Ravenloft's lack of a Common Tongue fits my vision of a world of pocketbook principalities and petty republics nestled among dark forests, icy mountains, and fogbound seas.
Travel and long range trade certainly do go on, but many people don't stray far from home.
Well-educated aristocrats, scholars, travelling merchants, etc. may speak foreign languages, but most ordinary people are fluent only in the local dialect.


I always tell the players what the default language for the starting area of play will be, so that they can all choose it and thus be able to speak with one another and with most NPCs.

But if an adventure involves foreign travel, or dealing with strangers from distant parts, the language barrier can be a big plus. Isolation, misunderstandings, xenophobia...

[High Priest Mikhal]

It doesn't even have to be all that, Ewan. Up until the middle of the Twentieth-Century it wasn't at all uncommon for people to never travel more than a few miles from their homes. In some places where travel is hard, even in the States, it's still the norm for people never to move far away, fostering isolation and xenophobia. Even with a common language there are, as you said, dialects and general misunderstandings just making things worse. In watching Cryptid: The Swamp Thing I got a feeling how accent, local culture, and appearance could make people who may live only a few miles apart virtual strangers. Swamp culture vs. town culture made folks pretty wary of one another and more than a little xenophobic even though they all spoke English and were from the same part of Louisiana.

The same can be said over the simplest things like fry sauce. If you don't know what that is, Utahans know you're from out of town (it's a mix of mayo [ ] and ketchup).

[Zilfer]

It doesn't even have to be all that, Ewan. Up until the middle of the Twentieth-Century it wasn't at all uncommon for people to never travel more than a few miles from their homes. In some places where travel is hard, even in the States, it's still the norm for people never to move far away, fostering isolation and xenophobia. Even with a common language there are, as you said, dialects and general misunderstandings just making things worse. In watching Cryptid: The Swamp Thing I got a feeling how accent, local culture, and appearance could make people who may live only a few miles apart virtual strangers. Swamp culture vs. town culture made folks pretty wary of one another and more than a little xenophobic even though they all spoke English and were from the same part of Louisiana.

The same can be said over the simplest things like fry sauce. If you don't know what that is, Utahans know you're from out of town (it's a mix of mayo [ ] and ketchup).

^Bleh Fry sauce. XD Just Ketchup please. XD

Anyways yeah I myself haven't really moved more than 20-30 miles around. I've been out of my state maybe once or twice and one of those times was on business.... so most of my life has been lived in one area.

[HuManBing]

Whereas at age two, I was refused entry at an international border because they suspected I might have been a Communist spy...

[Zilfer]

Whereas at age two, I was refused entry at an international border because they suspected I might have been a Communist spy...

YIKES!

[High Priest Mikhal]

Whereas at age two, I was refused entry at an international border because they suspected I might have been a Communist spy...

If we're talking Bad Ol' America, I'd believe it. This country seems to have a need to be hysterical over something or it can't be happy. Reds under the bed, terrorists in the closet, diseases in the mail, global climate change, the Mayan Calendar, Y2K, the sheeple here need to feel like they're the center of something--good or baa......d.

[HuManBing]

Taiwan, actually. I was travelling on my mother's passport, a U.S. passport, and the Taiwanese border guards refused to let me enter without my own passport. Something about mainland China and Commies.

My father had to call his father to pull a few strings. Not too long thereafter, the border guards got an irate phone call from somebody in the ministry, asking them exactly which one of them seriously suspected a two-year-old of intent to commit espionage.

[ewancummins]

Taiwan, actually. I was travelling on my mother's passport, a U.S. passport, and the Taiwanese border guards refused to let me enter without my own passport. Something about mainland China and Commies.

My father had to call his father to pull a few strings. Not too long thereafter, the border guards got an irate phone call from somebody in the ministry, asking them exactly which one of them seriously suspected a two-year-old of intent to commit espionage.

Ha!

Bad Old America?


Naw, just humanity, bro, humanity.