Linguistics (Apath)

Unofficial rules compendium

Additional Uses

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 World of Greyhawk campaigns. Spoken in the central and south-west Flaness, it is the universal second language of the Flaness and spoken by most people to one degree or another. Common is a mix of Oerdian, Suel, and Flan, with Baklunish loan words and grammatical influences.

Oerdian

The language of the recently dominant human people, now spoken mostly in the feudal areas of the central and eastern Flaness.

• • Aerdi: The original dialect of the Aerdy, the main tribe who settled the Great Kingdom, especially the southern and central parts. Aerdi is sometimes refereed to as "high oerdian" and was the court language of the Great Kingdom.
  • Ferral: An old Oeridian tribal language spoken only by officials of the Iron League. Ferral is used for military command and identification purposes and is not a living language. Many fear that infiltration by agents of the Scarlet Brotherhood has compromised this code-tongue.
  • Keolandish: This widespread dialect of Old High Oeridian has local admixtures. It is spoken in and around Keoland.
  • Nyrondese: This High Oeridian dialect of Common is spoken in rural areas of Nyrond. It is the primary language of peasants, shopkeepers, and other common folk who distrust outsiders. Learned folk speak Common as well.
  • Velondi: A dialect of Oerdian, originally spoken by the Vollar tribe of Oerdians, it is still spoken in Veluna and western Furyondy.

Suel

The language of the ancient Suel civilization and their few surviving modern descendants. An important historical and magical language. The main concentration of modern speakers is in the Tilvan penisula in the north-east and the Drawmidj Ocean region.

• • Amedi: Only Suel natives of the Amedio Jungle speak this corrupt form of Ancient Suloise. Its few written symbols are Suloise alphabet characters.
  • Cold Tongue: a dialect of Suel spoken by the Suel barbarians of the north-east. It is usually written using Dwarven runes.
  • Lendorian: This obscure dialect of Suloise (influenced by Common and full of nautical terms) was spoken in the Lendore Isles by humans before they were deported by elves in 583 CY. Only human refugees know it now. It has no relation to the Cold Tongue and is not written.

Flan

The language of the original natives of the Flanaess, spoken as a secret language by peasants and tribespeople everywhere. Only a few remote lands, mostly in central northern Flanaess, still have Flan as a first language.

• • Druidic: The druids' tongue of the Flanaess shares roots with Flan, but it is specialized and static, focusing only on the natural world and agriculture.

Baklunish

Spoken by the civilized successor states of the Baklunish Empire in the north-west of the Flaness.

Rhopan

Unrelated to any other human language, Rhenne speak Rhopan, as does some natives of the Shadowfell.

Languages Outside the Flanaess

• Chakji: Spoken by arctic peoples.
• Nipponese: Spoken in Nippon, a land of anthropomorphic animals to the west of the Pearl Sea.
• Olman: Olman slaves taken by the Sea Princes or Scarlet Brotherhood speak this strange tongue, as their masters hated it. Its huge, complex "alphabet" is really a vast set of pictographs. It is heard most often in the western Sea Princes' lands and in the Amedio Jungle.
• Osirian_ The language of ancient Erypt, a land dominated by the dead and by the ruins of a glorious past.
• Tuov: The trade tongue of Hepmonaland and the tribal language of the Tuov peoples.
• 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 south and west of the Amedio jungle.