The World of Layonara
The Layonara Community => Roleplaying => Topic started by: omicron on April 27, 2007, 12:49:43 AM
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:\\ Are the languages truly defined? If so, where would I go to figure them out?
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In Layonara we have language ears. They are items in your invetory. If you have the ear you will hear ((see the text in English)) when ever someone is speaking with that ear.
If you want to speak with an ear, you click on the ear in your invetory. Then you type in your talk field:
/dm [What you say here.]
You will then speak dwarf or halfling or elf or what ever, but anyone that has that ear will understand you.
Druids get animal ear, but if you want an ear that normaly would not come with your race, you must explain why your character knows that language in your character bio before your character is approved, and you have to have an INT of +1 for every additional ear you receive.
You can also learn a language in game by getting a character to teach you.
AeonBlues
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Keep in mind, however, your INT modifier determines how many languages you can learn. You can learn up to five.
Your base ear at startup does not count towards this (i.e. rogues start with Thieves' Cant, rangers with Animal, elves with Elven, dwarves with Dwarven, etc)
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*Lyle grumbles to himself* Yes'm, but jus' try an' find anuthah character who can an' will teach ye te speak Draconic...
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So, if I am to learn a language that I don't already have an ear for, I have to figure how to decipher a person's language as it would appear to me with out the ear for that language?
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No, not at all.
You just roleplay it being taught.
It's not decipherable ... Least not any way easily.
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Actually, it is fairly easily decipherable, if you're a fast typist. ;) Nevertheless, deciphering it does not in any way mean your character knows the language, and would be horrible metagaming if your character employed any knowledge gained thereby.
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Not all of the languages are so easily decipherable. The ones I designed are not, anyway. *shifty*
But then, most of those aren't likely to be learned anyway, so not a huge deal.
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I find using this faster /o L (works with small letter to) blah blah blah
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The two main ways to gain a language ear is...
Find a teacher and have them "teach" it to you (i.e. alphabet, vocabulary, accent, etc) and keep a character development thread (CDT) on how you're doing in lessons and such.
Or when you're submitting a character you can write in their biography a reason they learned a language. (i.e. a human raised in an elven community for whatever reason)
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Yeah, deciphering how the language is made up really has nothing to do with it, because how it is done mechanically is not how it is done roleplaying-wise, you know?
Several languages are just letter(s)-for-letter replacements mechanically, which means it's pretty easy to get to the point where you can just read them as you would a second language, providing you see them used enough. (Elven is a good example.) But can you imagine trying to justify that in roleplay?
"Oh I see, so the X just replaces the T, clearly this ancient and beautiful language that has evolved over countless centuries to be much more deep and complex than the common tongue is really just the common tongue with the letters mixed up!"
Wouldn't make a whole lot of sense ;) So you need no understanding of the 'code,' just some PCs who are willing to put some time into the roleplaying of teaching you.
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just out of curiosity, what languages are there in the game? the only ones ive stumbled across so far were:
elven
dwarven
gnome
halfling
wemic
brownie
infernal
underwater
drow
draconic
thieves cant
sign language
did i miss any?
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You missed the animal ear rangers and druids get and I believe there is celestial, though you can't start with it from what I understand.
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animal ear, how could i forget!! *slaps self*
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Also Abyssal...
And then there are a couple very special languages that hold basically a zero chance of being learned.
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Languages available are:
Available Ears: Elven, Halfling, Dwarven, Dark Elf, Gnomish, Thieves' Cant, Wemic, Animal, Brownie, Underwater, Sign Language, Orc, Goblin, Abyssal, Celestial, Infernal, Draconic and Florane (T'oleflor)
Some of these will not be granted on submission due to their rarity (eg. Draconic, Florane), and other uncommon ones need an extensive explanation of how the character came to learn the language (Infernal, Abyssal, Celestial).
Races receive their specific ear on creation. Dark elves receive both the elf and Dark Elf ear. Sea Elves get the elf and underwater ear. Druids and rangers start with the animal ear, while rogues start with the ability to use thieves cant. Half elves will be able to understand the elven language but the biography and intelligence must support the ability to speak it.
These default ears do not count against your bonus languages.
Languages may also be learned in game from other players. They cannot be leaned from familiars or NPCs, and after creation, your character journal must reflect the learning of the language to have it approved. Approval after initial creation involves submitting a request and a link to your character journal as well as the support testimony of your tutors.
http://www.layonara.com/character-submissions/114377-guidelines-characters-submissions-prestige-classes-other-information.html
For the record, extra-planar ears are no longer being granted upon submission (ie they must be learned in game), and I believe the same for animal unless you have it automatically as a druid, ranger, or cleric with the animal domain.
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I do have a quick question. My ranger/rogue has a +2 Int modifier and has thieve's cant and animal ears. Does that count against my total languages that I can learn?
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The languages you get for racial or class reasons do not count against your total. Languages granted at creation due to support in your bio and languages learned through RP do, however, count against this total.
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so what are these languages that have almost no chance of being learned? *grins*
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I quoted the whole list...it's only missing one language, Shadow, which is one of those that can't be learned. Likewise Draconic and Florane are pretty close to impossible, the latter moreso.
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Florane is one, mostly because nobody speaks it. It's the language of the T'oleflor. Though I suppose if you find one, you can ask for language instruction. ;)
Shadow (not listed above) is another, because for those few who do speak it, it was given as a plot quest reward, and it is currently unlikely that anyone else, outside of some potential plot-level events, will be able to learn it.
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so could a shadow dancer (or whatever class) learn shadow from someone else who speaks it? or maybe arrange a cdq on the shadow plane or something?
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I don't believe so. And with the new planes and all that I doubt there is a "Plane of Shadows," but still, even with equivalent, it would have to be a VERY special case as those who have it learned it under extreme circumstances, and not because they wanted to, but rather because the shadows wanted to be understood. If that makes any sense.
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It makes sense if you've heard the story ;)
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so could a shadow dancer (or whatever class) learn shadow from someone else who speaks it? or maybe arrange a cdq on the shadow plane or something?
Short answer: No.
Long answer: *points up to what they said*
Less obscure answer: Those who do speak it aren't really qualified to teach it...they just...know it.
Adminsitrative answer: Leanthar gave it as a quest reward and that was it's sole intended purpose in the hands of PCs.