The Pathfinder Society Organized Play team recently introduced the Core Campaign, an additional way to participate in Pathfinder Society that makes it more approachable while also opening up hundreds of new ways to play for credit.
As with any new initiative, there are many features that we consider and address before the announcement, and there are often nuances and corner cases that the public points out after the grand unveiling. I am going to address one of the latter now, but if you have other questions about the Core Campaign and how it works, I recommend checking out the Core Campaign messageboard.
Languages play a major role in our adventures, and while the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook describes many of the basic languages that could appear in any campaign setting, it does not list any of the languages specific to Golarion. That means the Shoanti cannot speak Shoanti, PCs traveling to Tian Xia are unable to learn the continent's common tongue, and nobody exploring ruins in Varisia can learn to read Thassilonian. That's an omission on our end, and we're including a list of key languages in a future version of the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play, one of the legal resources for the Core Campaign. In the meantime, this blog serves as a legal stand-in resource. Also note that page 8 of the Guide notes that human characters also gain their ethnic language for free (this is also true in the Core Campaign); in order to be extra clear as to who gets what, I have included a parenthetical note next to some languages clarifying which human ethnicity (if any) gains that language for free.
The following 19 languages are legal choices in the Pathfinder Society Core Campaign:
Now that Hayato can legally speak Tien, he can avoid unfortunate misunderstandings like this.
Illustration by Rayph BeisnerModern Human Languages
- Hallit (Kellid)
- Kelish (Kelishite)
- Osiriani (Garundi)
- Polyglot (Mwangi)
- Shadowtongue
- Shoanti (Shoanti)
- Skald (Ulfen)
- Tien (Tian)
- Varisian (Varisian)
- Vudrani (Vundrani)
Ancient Languages
- Ancient Osiriani
- Azlanti
- Cyclops
- Jistka
- Tekritanin
- Thassilonian
Other Languages
- Necril
- Orvian
There are still other languages out there like Minkaian, Senzar, Treant, and Tengu, but this list should provide PCs with a broad range of language choices that facilitate playing and enjoying all that the organized play campaigns have to offer.
John Compton
Developer