Read, Write and how they interact with Ancient Language / Foreign Language.

[Thor]

@LukeS

Well, yes, that’s true; I was thinking of ‘Europe.’ Interestingly, official Imperial pronouncements–things published on stone–were published only in Latin in the West, but they were still published in Latin in the East, with Greek translations. Latin was still the “official” language; the Theodosian code, for instance, which was written and compiled in Constantinople, was still a Latin–and only Latin–text. But you’re right, you don’t have the same extreme diglossia in the East.

Totally. Latin was the official administrative language (although most people in the Roman empire, except for those in the remaining Italian lands, no longer spoke Latin), but Greek was the primary language of the Church until the Roman pope severed his vassalage to the Roman emperor as part of the Great Schism.

[Benoit_Poulin]

Thanks for all the insights!

@LukeS

Anyway, in games where language is important, I think I’d require separate Read and Write skills for each language. There is a problem with that, though: I think there’s a baseline skill aspect to reading and writing which applies to any (alphabetical) language. We all had to learn that letters represent sounds, for instance, and now that we know that we simply learn new alphabets when we learn new languages and so forth. Reading the vernacular would probably be easier for someone who understands the basic mechanics of reading, though, because you sound it out and it’s words you know. Reading and writing Latin involves knowing another language, the language of God which doesn’t change.

… ouch, this feels like a little too intense-without-fun-for-me (but I am no philologist!)…

… anyway there is-still-something-that-bugs-me-that-I-cannot-put-the-finger-on, but it might just be because it is rooted in implicit behavior of 20+ years of “classic”, gm-is-the-only-god kind of gaming… we’ll see how things go as they grow… But yeah, I suppose a Read/Write/Speak as separate skills for every languauge are required if the game implies that kind of things…

[Larkin_Starr]

@Benoit_Poulin

Thanks for all the insights!

… ouch, this feels like a little too intense-without-fun-for-me (but I am no philologist!)…

… anyway there is-still-something-that-bugs-me-that-I-cannot-put-the-finger-on, but it might just be because it is rooted in implicit behavior of 20+ years of “classic”, gm-is-the-only-god kind of gaming… we’ll see how things go as they grow… But yeah, I suppose a Read/Write/Speak as separate skills for every languauge are required if the game implies that kind of things…

Please Note: The skills for Ancient Languages and Foreign Languages are each written in the plural sense. Each skill reads like it is meant to handle any type of language the user runs across. Yes, to become fluent in a new language in game you may well have to go through the learning process aquirering tests for read and write as well as the particular foreign language. But having paid out the resource points in character burning and perhaps even working himself up to his current level of near mastery in Ancient Languages (he has made this become a part of his character). Ancient Languages is an academic skill, some kind of literacy is inferred, while Foreign Languages is a social skill, and therefore literacy is not implied. I would suggest that the social skill of Foreign Languages would follow your home tongue in regards to read and write, with the modifiers listed for Foreign Languages. Ancient Languages should use their own skill for read/write/speak as modified by the rules for Foreign Languages, which Ancient Languages refers you to. Happy Gaming!