Linguistics (Apath)

Unofficial rules compendium

This skill has a number of additional uses.

Code

You write and decode text messages. To code or decode a message takes one minute per page of text (the standard time for decipher script) assuming you know the code. To try to create or decipher a code takes an hour of work. It is common to take 20 on all these tasks. The following modifiers apply to decoding a message.

Not that spells that translate languages will not translate codes.

When creating a code, you decide how complex a code you want by setting a base DC for later coding and decoding attempts. A high DC makes the code hard to use and to create, but also more secure. The DC to create or break a code is ten higher than this. Standard codes have a DC from 25 to 40. Codes are commonly made to use some other text, such as a work of literature, and any attempt to use the code without a written version of this text becomes more difficult.

Coding examples	Linguistics modifier
You do not understand the language the code is in, nor do you have a translator or dictionary	-10
You do not understand the language the code is in, but have a translator or dictionary	-5
You do not know which language the code is in	-5
The code is built around a text you do not have access to	-5
You have a key to the code	+10

If the decoding roll fails by ten or less, you realize what language the code is written in and what text it is based on. Creating or breaking a code takes one week per attempt, and you can make no more attempts to break a code than you have pages of encoded text. Decoding a coded message takes 10 minutes per page.

Maps & Deirection

You are adept at reading maps and deciphering odd rutters and codes that give directions. Use the normal difficulty of deciphering script.

Written Riddles

You can apply your knowledge of symbols and logic to a written riddle. If you hear a riddle spoken, you must write it down to decipher it. This is generally an opposed Linguistics vs. Bluff roll, and the base time is one minute.

Human Languages in Greyhawk

The following languages are spoken by different human cultures of Tthe World of Greyhawk:

• Common: The trade tongue of the Flaness and the standard language of most campaigns. Common is a mix of Oerdian, Suel, Flan, and Baklunish.
• Oerdian: The language of the dominant human people, now spoken mostly in rural and feudal areas.
• Suel: The language of the ancient Suel civilization and their few surviving modern descendants. An important historical and magical language. The main concentration of speakers is in the Tilvan penisula in the north-east and the Drawmidj Ocean region.
• Flan: The language of the original natives of the Flaness, spoken as a secret language by peasants and tribespeople everywhere.
• Baklunish: Spoken by the civlized successor states of the Baklunish Empire in the north-west of the Flaness.
• Rhenne: Unrelated to any other known language, Rhenne is spoken in she shadowfell and among the Rhenne nomads.
• Chakji: Spoken by arctic peoples.
• Nipponese: Spoken in Nippon, a land of anthropomorphic animals to the west of the Pearl Sea.
• Ordai: Spoken by the Paynims, nomads to the far west and north-west.
• Osirian_ The language of ancient Erypt, a land dominated by the dead and by the ruins of a glorious past.
• Tuov: The trade tounge of Heptomaland, and the tribal language of the Tuov peoples.
• Ulagha: Spoken by the Uli, a godless and cruel horse-people in the north-west of the Flaness.
• Wrang: Spoken by the conquered people of the Nippon territories.
• Qudran: Spoken in the desert lands on the far side of the mountains of the Nippon Territories.
• Zindian: Spoken in Zindria, the civilized jungle nation soith and west of the Amedio jungles.