Other Languages

M

Mendacity

Newbie
I am a fluent Spanish speaker, and English speaker. I just started LARPing last summer, and am now thinking about expanding my character, giving him more depth, or possible creating a new one. Given that, I was wondering about the role of other languages in the game. I am thinking about a traveling scribe/author/scholar character. Could I use my spanish in that context, and is that normal? Also, as an aside, does spanish have something to do with the Gypsies?
 
My gypsy character uses a great many different languages tied in with her speech. I roleplay it as her having grown up around people who speak any number of different languages so that it just became the norm to use a variety of foreign words mixed with common speech.

The foreign language policy is that you can do it and others who know that language can either roleplay that they don't or roleplay that the do accordingly. At least, that's what I've been told.

~Jesse
 
Also, what shall I call Spanish if I speak it? What is english called - "the common tongue" or something?
 
English is called "common". You can call Spanish the language of whatever people you want to be from. Or make it an ancestral language. There is a thread already on the boards in the "Races" section if you want to look it up.

~Jesse
 
I've been in places where spanish was a dialect of romani, but that's not true everywhere.
Just be prepared for other people to know the language as well, so don't make it secretive or anything.
 
Thanks, I checked out that other thread - maybe a moderator should move this thread over there if it would be more appropriate in that section. I was debating where to put it. Ok, another question, what if someone is already speaking Spanish, and calling it something different, and it has a different significance for them. Then I come along, talking the same language and messing them up. Should we just RP not understanding one another? The issue is, I'm excited about Spanish and want to really work it into my character somehow, basically just find any old way to speak it.

-Tim
 
I ran into this my first game with French. Marcena knows French because I know French. Another girl was speaking French, she was a barbarian who called it the language of her tribe. Marce learned it from her mother. Her mother learned it from either living with one or from books. It's a nonissue that they both happen to know the language.
 
as i understand it, there's no real rules for foreign languages. if you can speak 'em, power to you, and feel free to converse at length, but there is no "official" racial language. most campaigns nod toward French as Elven, German as Dwarvish, and Japanese as Dark Elf, but it's more for flavour - if you can't speak these languages one isn't considered lesser or uneducated. if you want to run with Spanish as Romani, go for it, it'll be swank. if you're speaking Romani-Spanish and someone else is speaking Goblin-Spanish (or whatever) you can just play that the Mists have evolved the language along different lines; the Mists are, basically, the explanation for any incongruities

i've always thought it's really swank bringing in other languages. anything to expand the world, to create a more dynamic game is a benefit.
 
Mobius said:
as i understand it, there's no real rules for foreign languages. if you can speak 'em, power to you, and feel free to converse at length, but there is no "official" racial language. most campaigns nod toward French as Elven, German as Dwarvish, and Japanese as Dark Elf, but it's more for flavour - if you can't speak these languages one isn't considered lesser or uneducated. if you want to run with Spanish as Romani, go for it, it'll be swank. if you're speaking Romani-Spanish and someone else is speaking Goblin-Spanish (or whatever) you can just play that the Mists have evolved the language along different lines; the Mists are, basically, the explanation for any incongruities

i've always thought it's really swank bringing in other languages. anything to expand the world, to create a more dynamic game is a benefit.
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John,

The only rule about languages is this - is another language is used for a tagged item - regardless of the language it's written in, anyone can use it that would normally be able to use it. Language cannot restrict use of tagged items. This comes into play with spell and alchemy books. This was previously discussed on the boards.

Rob
 
There used to be a system by which certain races had "racial languages" and they would hold up a hand sign to show that what they were saying was in that racial language. You could only speak it if you were that race.

Due to the confusion this system ended up causing they decided that if you want to speak a different language then you need to learn it and actually speak it. If someone else goes through the trouble of learning it and can understand what you are saying, then they can choose to have their character understand it as well.

You wanna speak German in game? Learn German out of game and then speak it.
 
meltedwing said:
There used to be a system by which certain races had "racial languages" and they would hold up a hand sign to show that what they were saying was in that racial language. You could only speak it if you were that race.
Click to expand...
None of the rulebooks from 91 to present indicate that. You sure it was NERO?
 
I remember being told about this, and I believe it was a carry-over from another game that people just kinda did for a while.
 
i know the L with thumb and index is a hand-jive from WoD that you're speaking another language, never saw that in NERO. odd.
 
Crossing your index and middle finger was the sign for speaking "gypsy". Holding your hand up like a tiger claw being flexed was the sign for the Sarr language. I don't remember too many of the others, but it was really common in old Nero Intl. At least the chapters I played in, which were all west coast chapters.
 
Mobius said:
as i understand it, there's no real rules for foreign languages. if you can speak 'em, power to you, and feel free to converse at length, but there is no "official" racial language. most campaigns nod toward French as Elven, German as Dwarvish, and Japanese as Dark Elf, but it's more for flavour - if you can't speak these languages one isn't considered lesser or uneducated. if you want to run with Spanish as Romani, go for it, it'll be swank. if you're speaking Romani-Spanish and someone else is speaking Goblin-Spanish (or whatever) you can just play that the Mists have evolved the language along different lines; the Mists are, basically, the explanation for any incongruities

i've always thought it's really swank bringing in other languages. anything to expand the world, to create a more dynamic game is a benefit.
Click to expand...

Stoneskull has it right. If you can speak it, you can speak it. And if somebody else understands you, then good for them. You can't say "oh, well that's not really Spanish, it's romani"... just like you can't say that what you just said in English was really some other language and the passerby didn't really understand what you just said. (this is explicitly stated in the rulebook).

French as Elven??? That's the first time I've ever heard that. Elves DO have a language (thank you Tolkien) though it's not complete. It's enough for some basic phrases though that you can lean to speak with your other elfy friends. There are also a few forms of written elvish. Biata also have a standard written language throughout the Alliance, though to my knowledge nobody has attempted to create a spoken version.

As far as basing our races on real world languages, that varies greatly from chapter to chapter. NJ's dark elves use German. I believe the sand elves there use Farsi. MWEs in some chapters are based on Greek culture, so one could theoretically learn Greek for their language. If your race pack isn't distinctly based on a real world culture, ask your plot team if there has already been a language established for that culture.
 
Ezri said:
French as Elven??? That's the first time I've ever heard that. Elves DO have a language (thank you Tolkien) though it's not complete. It's enough for some basic phrases though that you can lean to speak with your other elfy friends. There are also a few forms of written elvish. Biata also have a standard written language throughout the Alliance, though to my knowledge nobody has attempted to create a spoken version.
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In Ohio French is the language of our Elf race packet as well.
Also we created a spoken version of Biata. Its far from complete but enough to express most day-to-day comments.
 
Ezri said:
Biata also have a standard written language throughout the Alliance, though to my knowledge nobody has attempted to create a spoken version.
Click to expand...

Yep, the biata written language is in the national race packet so all chapters should be using that. We even have a font that can be downloaded!

Biata however have been so ingrained with humans that they no longer speak their original language and just use the written one for private biata conversations as a way to preserve their culture and help keep some things secret.

All this was explained in detail in "Arch Enemies". :D ;)
 
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