From owner-dq@dq.sf.org.nz Mon May 10 20:48:18 1999 Received: (from bin@localhost) by mail.sf.org.nz (8.8.6/NZSFI-19980830) id UAA07510; Mon, 10 May 1999 20:48:18 +1200 Received: from smtp2.ihug.co.nz (tk2.ihug.co.nz [203.29.160.14]) by mail.sf.org.nz (8.8.6/NZSFI-19980830) with ESMTP id UAA07507 for ; Mon, 10 May 1999 20:48:16 +1200 Received: from [206.18.111.223] (p223-tnt1.akl.ihug.co.nz [206.18.111.223]) by smtp2.ihug.co.nz (8.8.8/8.8.8) with SMTP id UAA01559; Mon, 10 May 1999 20:37:01 +1200 Message-Id: <199905100837.UAA01559@smtp2.ihug.co.nz> X-Sender: flamis@pop.ihug.co.nz (Unverified) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Date: Mon, 10 May 1999 20:36:26 +1300 Subject: Re: Languages From: flamis@pop.ihug.co.nz (Jacqui Smith) To: dq@dq.sf.org.nz Sender: owner-dq@dq.sf.org.nz Errors-To: owner-dq@dq.sf.org.nz X-Loop: dq@dq.sf.org.nz X-Requests: To unsubscribe from this list, or change your subscription address, send a message to dq-request@dq.sf.org.nz. Reply-To: dq@dq.sf.org.nz > Jacqui asked: >> What about fully magical speaking of such languages? Is this confered by >> the Bardic communication spell? > >The latest working draft (Clump1) *does* specifically state [quote] > >If you do have the physiological or magical ability to speak such >languages, you may rank them without penalty. > >although Rosemary's point is also valid as a generalisation of what the >default position should be for any skill. I'm afraid I was actually getting at another question. The concept of certain languages being unable to be spoken by humans has only just been formally proposed to be added to the game. It therefore wasn't considered when the Bardic College was designed. So it's debatable as to whether the "Comprehend Languages" spell confers the ability to actually speak such languages. Perhaps a rank-related ability? Say Rank 10 and above? At which point you would be able to cast the spell easily enough to be able to actually rank these languages. Another point is that a person may be able to understand a language they physically cannot speak. So a Bard who had ranked the spell high enough could learn Dragon, and then would be able to understand the language, but not speak it until the spell was cast. Does that make sense? Finally, what about languages which have components which cannot be sensed by humans? Perhaps sounds outside the normally audible frequency range? Jacqui -- see unsubscribe instructions in message headers --