GURPS splits languages into 2, 3-point advantage levels. Broken, Accented, and Fluent in Writing and Speaking.
For DF Felltower, I've considered cutting down the levels. I've mulled over two options:
Option 1:
1 point Broken, either written or spoken
2 points Fluent, either written or spoken
Or
Option 2:
1 point Broken written and spoken
2 points Accented written and spoken
3 points Fluent written and spoken
Option 1 basically cuts out Accented and cuts the cost of languages by 1/3. A mere 2 points will get you spoken fluency or written fluency.
Option 2 keeps the costs identical, but folds written into spoken ability. This would be unchanged for a spoken-only language, or a written-only language. It's very rare - I can't think of any examples yet - for people to take illiteracy in their native language in DF Felltower. It's more common for people to take spoken-only for other languages. Gift of Letters and Gift of Tongues are a replacement for serious investment in languages.
I haven't decided if I'll do this, but it's been rattling around my head for a while now to make languages more useful and likely purchases.
Your game is waaay more DF than mine, so for you... you need to ask yourself "How much value am I getting out of the very occasional 1- or -2 (or more likely - nothing because they cast Gift of X) due to a PC not being Fluent in a language?"
ReplyDeleteFor Felltower, I'd actually drop it to a binary Fluent/No Language and make being completely Fluent (and Literate, all in one) in a language a 1 point Social Advantage. If you want to keep a limit on how many languages the PCs pick up, make them Perks so they impact the Perk Limit.
I think that's an excellent idea. It does cripple one really fun thing about languages - when people with Broken try to communicate to NPCs in that language and confusion ensues. If it wasn't for how funny that's been, I'd back your idea in a heartbeat . . . but I just prefer None/Broken/Fluent to retain the comedy factor.
DeleteWell then you're getting value out of it. I also keep them, but I tend towards lumping Literacy and Spoken fluency together to make languages slightly less expensive a prospect, but I also have somewhere upwards of fifty languages in my sandbox region, ten of which tend to be useful... and I'm trying to avoid having all the caster just solve the problem with Gift of Tongues/Letters.
DeleteYou all run a 'West Marches" style game (rotating PCs), so the caster who has the "language solution" spells might not be there every session. Inversely, I always have the same PCs showing up since I run a more 'traditional' party campaign so once a PC caster decides to get Gift of Tongues/Letters, that's about it for languages being an issue.
You also can give discounts for related languages. For example, maybe Molotovian is closely related to Common, so if you know Common as native you get Molotovian as accented for free and can buy it as native for 2 points.
ReplyDeleteThat's not a bad idea, but creating the relationships is going to be a bit of work. Not much, but enough that I'll need to do it and then refer to it when people languages. It's simpler to just make a flat adjustment. In another campaign, though, I think that would be a good way to go.
Delete