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Hey, just a quick question, I'm sure this is pretty simple, but I did try to search and couldn't find the answer.
When a region has languages listed, are those automatic languages that the character gets in addition to languages granted by race?
For example, Shackles has Common and Polyglot listed. Tiefling has Common and Infernal listed. Does a Shackles Tiefling start with all three, Common, Polyglot and Infernal? (Plus the optional ones selected with Int and Linguistics).
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Characters don't get for free the languages listed as common in their home region. Human ethnicities each get an additional ethnic language, instead of (and equivalent to) the free racial languages that non-human characters get. edit: Each human ethnicity lists favoured regions, but these don't have any rule implication either - a human character can come from a region that's not listed as common for his ethnicity.
In PFS, any character can learn human regional languages as well as the choices offered as written by her race with the extra languages granted by high INT.
While I believe that the RAW and that doesn't make sense, the intent is definitely not that you gain all languages mentioned as common in your region (some of which are not even Human languages in many cases), those are just that: languages COMMONLY spoken in the region (at least enough so to note the fact) but not necessarily UNIVERSALLY spoken (although sometimes that may be the case). E.g. in Varisia, Shoanti is a listed regional language, but the vast majority of residents in the Chelish-settled areas do not know it, nor even Varisian (if more common in all likelyhood). I believe the RAW and what applies in PFS is what Starglim said.
In home games, as a general rule I don't grant any bonus languages beyond gained by INT, class features, linguistics, what I do is allow substitution by another language (e.g. Osirioni) for 'Common', this other language depending on how and where you were brought up (it doesn't necessarily need to correspond to the listed common regional languages, although it does 99.9% of the time). 'Common' (or Taldane, etc) is not meant to be truly universal in the world, and regional trade-languages may well have priority over it, as well as the local language. NPCs like traders and the like will usually know one or more trade languages, but common peasant folk may not, and PCs aren't especially in a different boat from them (apart from the way they built their character allows).
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@Starglim:
So a Shoanti orphan being brought up in Ossirion by Ossirian adoptive parents who don't speak Shoanti does not get Ossirian but Shoanti as an automatic starting language?
If the player or GM decides that he counts as ethnically Shoanti, he gains Common and Shoanti as languages. With that background this choice wouldn't make a lot of sense. The rules don't define (and rightly not) exactly what qualifies a human character to count as one ethnicity or another.
If the player or GM decides that he counts as ethnically Shoanti, he gains Common and Shoanti as languages. With that background this choice wouldn't make a lot of sense. The rules don't define (and rightly not) exactly what qualifies a human character to count as one ethnicity or another.@Starglim:
So a Shoanti orphan being brought up in Ossirion by Ossirian adoptive parents who don't speak Shoanti does not get Ossirian but Shoanti as an automatic starting language?
Exactly, such a character should probably select Osirioni ethnicity to best model their character with the matching mechanics. There isn't really a 'race' mechanic distinct from ethnicity, or anything that says there is any such correlation between the two. If you want your character to know both languages, you should put a rank into it.
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There should be a rule that lets a character get their regional language instead of Common as a starting language. They can still buy Common if they have bonus languages. Many of the Irissen NPCs in Reign of Winter don't know Common, only Skald and/or Giant.
The rules for ethnic languages in the ISWG are only for PCs and specify that NPCs sometimes speak only their ethnic language. Irrisen is a bit different again, with all the ice trolls, talking wolves and White Witches that the common folk have to watch out for.
I have to admit that my definition of the word "ethnicity" may have been a bit too narrow(-minded). I simply wouldn't have thought of having a Shoanti with Ossirian ethnicity.
Sure. But however they were born, being raised in Osirion pretty much gives them equal access to Osirioni culture as the 'natives'. And likewise, they are functionally estranged from a mature understanding of Shoanti culture as any other Osirioni. If they wanted to go back to Varisia and get in touch with Shoanti culture, they would pretty much be starting as foreigners, even if there may be understanding and friendliness if the family ties are recognized. I've know several people adopted from a foreign country, it was dead clear which country's culture I would peg them as belonging to (not the birth country). (EDIT: Heck, I moved away from Japan where I was born when I was only 2, pretty much the same thing, even though I've put some effort into retaining the connection, language- and other-wise. Even people who move away from Japan when they are older children often end up unable to be considered fully fluent in the written language, and thus they may be estranged from full Japanese identity/society)
I'm sure one can try to image '50/50' splits or something to blur the issue, but that will create a conflict with any rule you can imagine. If you don't get it for free in your build, just spend the Linguistics rank or a bonus INT language, and don't stress about the mechanical means you used to gain the language having some broader implication for your characters' roleplaying, it doesn't really, not all linguistics rank/ INT bonus languages need to have the same roleplaying connotation even disregarding this sort of issue.
BTW: a cool alt-racial feature for Aasimar is "Truespeaker" (ARG). It lets them learn 2 languages for 1 linguistics rank (and +2 to Sense Motive and Linguistics, in place of the normal Skilled benefit). Great for low skill/low INT characters whom you want to have a bit more ethno-culturally nuanced or worldly background. I didn't really think much of that option... until I made a character for whom that was exactly very useful (to avoid needing to boost INT in starting point buy, while still fulfilling the character concept re: fitting into multilinguistic society in southern Tian Xia). And you can consider yourself of whatever human ethnicity you were raised as/appear as (and so will everybody else if you take Scion of Humanity).
No worries, I think you'll just enjoy this way better :-)
Honestly, I don't think Paizo does the best job of making it clear in their setting material,
with the amazingly small number of official ethnicities and languages, it is seemingly presented as equivalent to human 'race'.
But you can also consider things like the Chelaxians who believe themself 'pure' Azlanti.
That MAY even be so 'racially' for some of them, but they are fully Chelaxian by ethnicity, not Azlanti.