|
Posted in the PFS section, because this is for a PFS character, and we have to stick to RAW. I wasn't sure if there was some place more appropriate for it.
This is going to sound silly, but can I assume that my PC can teach my allies a few words in a foreign language before the adventure starts? Two or three words should be easily remembered by any PC, though it might take longer to make sure those with single digit intelligence scores actually remember properly.
I have an oracle with the tongues curse who can only speak and understand Infernal during combat. I can just imagine a group where he's the only healer, or if the only other healer has gone unconscious, and nobody else can tell him they need healing. Of course, he might notice on his own, but he's a front line fighter (Battle Oracle), so he might just be too busy to look around at the state of his allies. I do try to role play his lack of coordination with allies who don't speak Infernal, rather than metagaming.
When introducing himself, he always warns allies that this communication problem will occur during battle. I think it only makes sense that he'd also tell them, "If you need to get my attention for healing during combat, yell <Infernal word for healing>." Luckily, he's cursed to speak Infernal instead of Abyssal, since I doubt if Abyssal even has a word for healing. He might also want to teach them two or three other Infernal words to coordinate actions in combat. ie "flank", "target" (to coordinate everyone focusing fire on one guy), "retreat", etc, though some of those might work just as well as hand signals.
Couldn't they just yell your name to get your attention?
One or two simple words doesn't sound too insane to me. I know its supposed to be a detriment, but its a weak one to begin with. It still doesn't help for language based spells on foes, which is where it stings far more. A group could still all pre coordinate and all have infernal(and its not the least known language.)
What one or two words did you want to teach? Something along the lines of "Help"?
Unrelated, I thought outsider languages were supposed to be weird and somewhat alien. Is that a thing?
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
@ MrSin, I would say that if you had a GM you regular play with, and you wanted to coordinate something like that, that's up to the GM.
But I would really warn you against taking your group to a convention and springing this on a GM who has never seen it. Not fair to that GM.
|
|
I guess proper nouns are usually the same in any language, so you could even have a code. "OK, I only speak Infernal, but the archdevil names are of course from Infernal originally, so yell 'Asmodeus' if you need healing, 'Mephistopheles' and I'll go on the offensive, and 'Mammon' if you think we need to run." It's a pretty lame work-around, but it seems to work.
But I would really warn you against taking your group to a convention and springing this on a GM who has never seen it. Not fair to that GM.
Erm, taking what to the GM? That someone or some people in the party knows infernal and the guy with tongues happens to speak it? At worst the GM won't know about the language dependent gig, but I've always thought that was easy to space. Its not 'springing' anything that isn't already going to happen now and then.
|
|
Who said anything about a coordinated group or planning anything in advance? This is something to use with any random players and GM I happen to play this character with.
I already have to explain my oracle's curse to the table every time I play this character. The role play of linguistic confusion sometimes ends up being fun. And I have played with another PC who speaks Infernal in the past, so she was able to translate for me to coordinate battle activities with the rest of the group.
All I'm suggesting is that after the mission briefing, my character might take 5 minutes during the walk from Drandle Dreng's office to the Blackros Museum to teach a couple of Infernal words to the other Pathfinders he was assigned to work with that day. Something along the lines of "Since I can only speak Infernal during a fight, if you need to get my attention for healing, yell <Infernal word for Cure> over and over", and "If we need to run away, yell <Infernal word for retreat> to get my attention, so I don't get left behind."
All I'm suggesting is that after the mission briefing, my character might take 5 minutes during the walk from Drandle Dreng's office to the Blackros Museum to teach a couple of Infernal words to the other Pathfinders he was assigned to work with that day. Something along the lines of "Since I can only speak Infernal during a fight, if you need to get my attention for healing, yell <Infernal word for Cure> over and over", and "If we need to run away, yell <Infernal word for retreat> to get my attention, so I don't get left behind."
Carry around a little note of some sort with the character with this stuff written down as a roleplaying prop? Makes it easier to remember for yourself and adds flavor.
This is going to sound silly, but can I assume that my PC can teach my allies a few words in a foreign language before the adventure starts? Two or three words should be easily remembered by any PC, though it might take longer to make sure those with single digit intelligence scores actually remember properly.
PFS is its own universe, but I wouldn't consider this to be any sillier than the signals football teams use. If the quarterback can say "Green-80. Green-80, Hut!" and expect the fullback to understand where to run, I don't see any reason for the wizard not to be able to say the same thing to the oracle.
I'd argue, in fact, that the signals don't even need to be infernal words. Just as I could say that "Red" means "charge" and "Green" means "hold the line" and "Blue" means "cure me," I could just as easily say that "arglebargle" (Infernal for "sandwich") means "hold the line."
The key thing is to have a well-defined set of signals. The GM would also be within his rights to have some sort of Int check or something so that the barbarian can remember which damn color to shout if he needs healing.
|
|
This is going to sound silly, but can I assume that my PC can teach my allies a few words in a foreign language before the adventure starts? Two or three words should be easily remembered by any PC, though it might take longer to make sure those with single digit intelligence scores actually remember properly.
PFS is its own universe, but I wouldn't consider this to be any sillier than the signals football teams use. If the quarterback can say "Green-80. Green-80, Hut!" and expect the fullback to understand where to run, I don't see any reason for the wizard not to be able to say the same thing to the oracle.
I prefer to think that football players have all taken a rank in Linguistics (<name of team here> Playbook)
|
PFS is its own universe, but I wouldn't consider this to be any sillier than the signals football teams use. If the quarterback can say "Green-80. Green-80, Hut!" and expect the fullback to understand where to run, I don't see any reason for the wizard not to be able to say the same thing to the oracle.
Said team gets weeks and weeks (or months) practice to learn said code. Many scenerio's start now, with an hour to walk somewhere.
That said, why doesn't PFS have a language of its own? Or a code of its own?
|
PFS is its own universe, but I wouldn't consider this to be any sillier than the signals football teams use. If the quarterback can say "Green-80. Green-80, Hut!" and expect the fullback to understand where to run, I don't see any reason for the wizard not to be able to say the same thing to the oracle.
Said team gets weeks and weeks (or months) practice to learn said code. Many scenerio's start now, with an hour to walk somewhere.
That said, why doesn't PFS have a language of its own? Or a code of its own?
There's nothing stopping players from taking a rank in Linguistics to acquire that.
|
if some of the linemen on my HS football team can get those plays strait, that Barbarian is going to have an easy time...
That took 6 weeks minimum of 2 hour practices a day for 5 days a week. So this would probably work if you start off in Absalom and have a nice trip over the ice cap to tien, but if the adventure is "Hi, here's your party, run this artifact over to the museum, what could possibly go wrong..." there's probably no way for some of the group to learn it.
|
|
There's nothing stopping players from taking a rank in Linguistics to acquire that.
You can only get languages that are on an approved resources list. You can pick an obscure one (like Jistika) , but I don't think you can make one up (what would we call it? Pathfinderese? Murderhobo? Archeologist cant ?)
Another solution might be for the oracle to learn the language they're babbling in and pick up a scroll of share language, which will let another party member at least understand you for an entire day.
|
I've thought of having my character publish a book thru the PFS - Title "Don't Harm Us - A Guide for Enchanters" using PFS headquarters rescources to produce a book with that phrase translated indexed by monster/ethnic for use in Command and Hypnosis spells. AND I would want my character to get royalties.
|
|
if some of the linemen on my HS football team can get those plays strait, that Barbarian is going to have an easy time...That took 6 weeks minimum of 2 hour practices a day for 5 days a week. So this would probably work if you start off in Absalom and have a nice trip over the ice cap to tien, but if the adventure is "Hi, here's your party, run this artifact over to the museum, what could possibly go wrong..." there's probably no way for some of the group to learn it.
And if we were talking about dozens of signals like a football team uses, I'd agree with you.
But we're talking less words than the number of fellow Pathfinders' names that they learned at the mission briefing. Two words. Maybe three or four, tops. And as mentioned above, they don't even have to be the correct words. If the Infernal word for "heal" is too difficult to say, I could pick an easier Infernal word to teach people (probably "blood" - that seems like a word that would be simple and commonplace in Infernal), and that would be our code word for somebody needing healing.
I do like the suggestion of picking up scrolls of Share Language. I could get 5 of them for 2 prestige points, and each one would last a whole day. That one might even be worth considering as a known spell, once I have more level 2 spells available.
I'd just hate for my character to be so busy putting his sword in bad guys that he doesn't notice that the only member of his party that speaks Infernal is on the ground bleeding to death, while everyone else is trying to shout for him to come heal them in a language he doesn't understand.
|
What you are trying to do is circumvent the game mechanics to gain an advantage over the rules. Sorry. Nope. Even teaching folks "a few words" of infernal should require them to make a Linguistics check to make sure they pronounced the word well enough for you to understand them.
The curse is there to balance an advantage your character wouldn't otherwise have. Deal with it. Usually there is enough meta-gaming during combat that it won't really be a problem for you anyhow.