Languages

Bonus Languages
Intelligence Bonus Languages
1-6 Illiterate*
7-10 0
11-14 1
15-18 2
19-22 3
23-26 4
27-30 5
Etc. Etc.
*A creature of intelligence of 6 or less is considered to be Illiterate and while it may speak a variety of languages, it cannot read or write any language.

Your race typically determines the languages that you know, usually granting the Common language and one other language spoken by that race. You also gain Bonus languages based on your intelligence score (as determined by the table to the right). Literate creatures are able to speak, read and write in the languages they know.

If after you Character has been created you increase your Intelligence through other means (i.e. Magic), you do not learn new languages immediately but at the discretion of the GM you may learn more languages over time up to the maximum granted by your Intelligence.

Below are a list of the languages available to characters at the start of their career.

Standard Languages

Common Origins
According to old Elvish lore, when humans first appeared in the world, they couldn't speak and had no language. Most of the other races looked at the short-lived humans with disdain, but as a folk centered around community, the halflings felt differently. They took a bold first step towards the first humans and spoke to them a simple greeting. Having their first hint of language, the humans responded joyously in kind with the same greeting. Enthusiastically the halflings rambled on, sharing their language with the humans, who absorbed the language and made it their own. After this first conversation was complete, a particularly gruff dwarf who had observed the transaction confronted the halfings. He told the them that since their language has been diminished by sharing it with the humans that they had to rename it. The crafty halflings were unphased, and stated that it not only needed a new name, but that it should be shared by all races, and so they simply called it 'Common' and with that gesture it became the most powerful language in the world.

Standard Languages are very common throughout the world and are spoken by many creatures, in many places.

  • Common: The language of Humans, Halflings, and a secondary language for many races. Most creatures living in or near civilized areas will speak common.
  • Dwarven: The language of Dwarves
  • Elven: The language of Elves.
  • Giant: The language of Giants and Ogres.
  • Gnoll: The language of Gnolls.
  • Gnomish: The language of Gnomes.
  • Goblin: The language of Goblins, Hobgoblins, and Bugbears.
  • Orcish: The language of Orcs.

Uncommon Languages

Uncommon languages are spoken rarely and in only certain places. They are not usually known by adventurers, and may not be picked as a character's starting language unless specifically granted by a race or class, or with the GM's permission.

  • Draconic: The language of Dragons.
  • Sylvan: The language of Fae.
  • Undercommon: The language of Drow, Duergar, Deep Gnomes, and other creatures that live deep below the world's surface.

Extra-Planar Languages

Extra-Planar languages are spoken by strange creatures from other planes. They may not be picked as a character's starting language unless specifically granted by a race or class, or with the GM's permission.

  • Celestial: The language of Angels
  • Hellspeech: The language of Demons, Devils, Daemons, and other creatures from the planes of the Underworld.
  • Primal: The esoteric language of elemental beings.

†Primal cannot be verbally communicated by most creatures, and may only be learned for the purposes of understanding the noises and motions created by these creatures and for written communication. You cannot verbally communicate in these languages.

As languages vary dependent on ancestry and geographic local, the above list is only a guideline. Many GMs may create campaign specific languages or limit the languages available to your character.

Language Dialects

Most languages contain a number of different spoken dialects. While communication usually isn't a problem for someone that understands the base language, it can create interesting accents and idiosyncrasies. At the GM's option, certain creatures may speak dialects that are widely different than the base language, and may only be partially understood.