Hi,
I apologize for my bad english in advance, it has gotten rusty over the last 12 years...
My question is concerning the languages learned and the bonus if Linguistics is a class skill.
Does the class skill bonus (+3) counts towards the learnable languages, or is it "just" the INT-Mod and the spent ranks in that skill, that tell me how many languages my Charakter can learn?
Thanks for your help and best regards,
Nadir
You get your automatic language (your mother tongue), your bonus languages (ones based on your Int modifier) and then one language per rank in Linguistics. The +3 class bonus only applies to Linguistics skill rolls.
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What Arakhor said is the RAW or at least my understanding. Though now that this topic made me think about it. i might instead just give those with this as a class skill 3 bonus languages. Since we don't use a common tongue in our games so knowing more languages is a huge plus and pretty much required.
The +3 are not ranks in anything, but a bonus you gain.
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Bumping this; since it came up when I was choosing skills.
I can see both sides; I've checked out several other Linguistics threads, looking for the answer, and some believe languages are too easy to learn, some don't like the fact they can't buy multiple skill ranks at level 1.
Is it the intent of the designers that being a class skill only gives you a bonus to Forgery, and other uses of the skill, but not any extra languages?
To clarify:
The "ranks" you have in a skill is only one part of your whole modifier to that skill.
You have "ranks" (the skill points you spend each level), "ability score modifier" (STR, DEX, CON, INT, WIS, or CHA modifier), "class skill modifier" (+3 or not), and other "miscellaneous modifiers" (e.g. armor check penalties or the elven racial modifier on Perception checks, and many, many more - but those all count as "miscellaneous modifiers").
All of this added together is your total modifier that you add to the d20.
But it is important to note that the only one part of that total modifier, "ranks", is what the game is talking about every time you see the word "ranks" in the rules.
So, per RAW, you gain one extra language for every "rank" in linguistics. This specifically references "rank", not the total modifier, so it specifically means 1 new language for every skill point you spend in this skill.
Side note: this is always true everywhere, so for example, you need 5 "ranks" in Stealth to become a Shadowdancer, so you must actually spend 5 skill points on the skill to qualify. And so on, everywhere the rules refer to "ranks".
Bumping this; since it came up when I was choosing skills.
I can see both sides; I've checked out several other Linguistics threads, looking for the answer, and some believe languages are too easy to learn, some don't like the fact they can't buy multiple skill ranks at level 1.
Is it the intent of the designers that being a class skill only gives you a bonus to Forgery, and other uses of the skill, but not any extra languages?
I cannot speak to their intent, but that is certainly the way they wrote the rules.
Saying that "I should be able to learn more than one language when I'm level 1 because that represents growing up in a place where I studied lots of languages" is exactly like saying "I should have more than one rank in Climb because I grew up in forrested mountains and spent my youth climbing things every day" or "I should have more than one rank in Spellcraft because my daddy was a wizard and he always talked about spells and magic all the time."
Yes, any of that is valid to say, and more power to you if you can get your DM to agree to making a houserule for you, but the simple fact is, nobody can have more than one rank in anything at level 1. Including Linguistics.
Obviously, if your PC is unusually smart (has an INT score higher than 11) then he gets bonus languages anyway - this is done to represet those really smart people who learn extra languages while they are young. For everyone else, studying languages is just as tedious as studying history or studying engineering or studying medicine - and we can't start with more than one rank in those skills either.
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Saying that "I should be able to learn more than one language when I'm level 1 because that represents growing up in a place where I studied lots of languages" is exactly like saying "I should have more than one rank in Climb because I grew up in forrested mountains and spent my youth climbing things every day" or "I should have more than one rank in Spellcraft because my daddy was a wizard and he always talked about spells and magic all the time."
Yes, any of that is valid to say, and more power to you if you can get your DM to agree to making a houserule for you, but the simple fact is, nobody can have more than one rank in anything at level 1. Including Linguistics.
Obviously, if your PC is unusually smart (has an INT score higher than 11) then he gets bonus languages anyway - this is done to represet those really smart people who learn extra languages while they are young. For everyone else, studying languages is just as tedious as studying history or studying engineering or studying medicine - and we can't start with more than one rank in those skills either.
IMHO, gaining additional benefits (such as more languages known, or a better spellcraft or climb check result) due to RP and backstory, is (almost by definition) a trait.
TL,DNR version: the terrasque is right (as usual)