gizmomathboy wrote:

English

I had the same thought for modern times.  I had always thought of the common tongue as a patchwork of commonalities among varied peoples that was used in cosmopolitan settings for trade and such.  

Was it assumed that the human language in settings was the common tongue and the demihumans learned it out of necessity?  

In a setting like hyperborea a common tongue doesn't make as much sense unless you make Hellenic the common with its many dialects.

Just my thoughts.


 

Naw.  Common everywhere.  Once everyone speaks the same language, everyone knows what one another actually thinks of each other.  That's when it hits the fan!

Not a fan of the “common” concept for reasons others have stated, though I have always used one because I’m lazy. I think in my next game I’ll have a crude “trade tongue” of very basic words/gestures used for buying, selling and haggling standard adventuring equipment and common goods, but anything more complex, like interviewing people to gather information, would require a shared language or at least related dialects (which AS&SH is already set up to accommodate pretty well).

Ar'Pharazon wrote:

This is interesting. What would you do if the party wants a diverse group of races? Make everyone know the same language?
 

My group is four players of four different races.  They all know Hellenic, although different dialects.  So I like to think that the party is all communicating in different dialects, and that explains why the're never on the same page.

My 2 pence worth:

In the real world there really isn't a "common" tongue. English is widespread due to the influence of the far-flung British Empire of the 16th to 19th centuries, but I wouldn't go so far as to say "common". Before that I would think Latin and Greek.

As touched upon above, "wealth" is the common language, driven by trade between expanding power bases. I see the Common Tongue as a language that evolved through trade and the general use by conquering empires. The corollary in AS&SH would be old Hellenic with heavily borrowed vocabularies and grammars from Hyperborean and other languages... just like it is in the book. Also, as mentioned in the book, and as it is in the real world, it is not spoken everywhere.

Common can be justified by a strong regional power imprinting a lingua franca through trade over a period of centuries or even millennia. Most settlements within a few hundred miles of Khromarium will have at least one person who speaks halting Common because even savages want things like liquor and metal tools.

At the end of the day, I doubt much player enjoyment will be had by adding linguistic verisimilitude. Common is one of those gaming and linguistic conventions that everyone accepts because it's better than the alternative.

Last edited by Brock Savage (12/05/2017 10:30 pm)

under_score wrote:

I'm not sure I agree with this.  I keep feeling like there's something more to do with it in a purely gaming sense to derive some value from this sort of thing.

Heh sorry about that, I meant to say Common is a gaming and literary convention that everyone accepts. 
A good example would be Lord of the Rings. Tolkien was a professor who invented languages but damn near everyone in Middle-Earth spoke Westron because it was better for the story. Star Trek has Universal Translators and language issues only crop up when it makes for interesting situations. Robert E. Howard didn't use Common but Conan picked up many languages in his travels and was able to speak the local tongue in all of the stories because Howard was a good writer.

I guess my question would be, what's the goal of adding linguistic realism to a roleplaying game? If the goal is to ensure that knowing multiple languages is interesting or rewarding, there are easier ways to get the same results. If the goal is for players to pantomime to get their point across to strangers, I guarantee it will be fun exactly one time. If the goal is an old-school DM screw job because the players don’t know this or that language, then it becomes a "language tax" because players aren't stupid and will cover their bases if it happens more than once. 

That being said, using forgotten, strange, and alien languages to highlight the "weird tales" aspect of Hyperborea, now that's cool. 

Last edited by Brock Savage (12/06/2017 3:45 am)

jcstephens wrote:

Koine Greek would probably be the closest historical equivalent:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koine_Greek

 

Thanks.  That was an interesting read.
 

Chainsaw wrote:

Not a fan of the “common” concept for reasons others have stated, though I have always used one because I’m lazy. I think in my next game I’ll have a crude “trade tongue” of very basic words/gestures used for buying, selling and haggling standard adventuring equipment and common goods, but anything more complex, like interviewing people to gather information, would require a shared language or at least related dialects (which AS&SH is already set up to accommodate pretty well).

I should be so lazy.....
I was thinking that those within a day of a major trade city would know a "trade" language which was very basic. 
Players could chose to know this 'trade" language (eliminating party language barriers)
Within a week of a major trade town there would be a couple folks within the settlement that would know the trade language.
The effect of this is that only in the wilds would there potentially be a language barrier giving a challenge to players at that point.
Still working this out to add atmosphere without detracting from the fun.