Can a character who can physically speak but has no known languages still cast spells with verbal components?
"Feral orcs without additional languages due to high Intelligence scores or ranks in Linguistics can only communicate with grunts and gestures." That seems too fun to resist, but I might have to if my scarred witch doctor otherwise has to memorize most of her spells Silent Spell'd.
Verbal (V): A verbal component is a spoken incantation. To provide a verbal component, you must be able to speak in a strong voice. A silence spell or a gag spoils the incantation (and thus the spell). A spellcaster who has been deafened has a 20% chance of spoiling any spell with a verbal component that he tries to cast
It could be argued that without knowing a language, you don't have to appropriate context to learn incantations for spells. I personally see no reason why a Scarred Witch Doctor's creepy Fetish Mask couldn't teach him how to cast spells using a certain sequence of grunts. I really can't imagine an Orc specific magic system using complex flowery faux-latin while casting spells. Considering that Witches get their spells from entities they likely don't know, it's not like they fully understand why saying something a certain way causes things to taste purple or rips a whole into another dimension. They often don't comprehend how magic works to the same degree as a Wizard who spends decades studying tomes of knowledge or Clerics who have to learn the proper sacred prayers and rituals to invoke their deity.
It seems thematically appropriate for the class, certainly. The grunts would basically function as the orc's language anyways, whether it's something that other people can comprehend or not. Consider it a secret language like Drow sign language or Druidic.
Thanks, folks! I thought it seemed reasonable, but I figured I'd check that I wasn't missing something.
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Don't forget silent spell feat.