In D&D originally, "Common" was supposed to be "whatever was common to the party's local region/country." But holy cow, did everyone I knew basically use it as a universal tongue. "Read Languages" was a wasted spell choice for us!
We played the Game so wrong. Despite trying to learn Quenya from a dictionary when I was a kid, it wasn't until I was an adult that I stumbled upon the fun of rpg language barriers playing with a DM who was also a linguistics grad student. (And no, I never encountered the notorious "Breeark" as a player - and never rolled it on the rumor table as a DM -- in my youth.)
I think TSR would have done well to do what you are doing here: provide a structure and system for "Common" rather than keeping it vague enough that it could be so easily ignored. I especially love that you have essentially blended the tangible utility of a written dead language with the flexibility of an open spoken one.
In D&D originally, "Common" was supposed to be "whatever was common to the party's local region/country." But holy cow, did everyone I knew basically use it as a universal tongue. "Read Languages" was a wasted spell choice for us!
ReplyDeleteWe played the Game so wrong. Despite trying to learn Quenya from a dictionary when I was a kid, it wasn't until I was an adult that I stumbled upon the fun of rpg language barriers playing with a DM who was also a linguistics grad student. (And no, I never encountered the notorious "Breeark" as a player - and never rolled it on the rumor table as a DM -- in my youth.)
I think TSR would have done well to do what you are doing here: provide a structure and system for "Common" rather than keeping it vague enough that it could be so easily ignored. I especially love that you have essentially blended the tangible utility of a written dead language with the flexibility of an open spoken one.