I understand that having the players not understanding a language could hold a group up from fully communicating, and I am not for making things harder for no reason, but realistically speaking (for a fictional universe), everyone can't know all languages.

I haven't really found a place in the books where it talks about languages, and I think it is more for a narrative reason. Han understood Chewie, but Leah didn't (at least not for a while). Luke understood R2, but most other folks didn't (and Luke actually didn't for a while). It was 3PO's main function, as a translator droid.

I just want to make things a little more realistic for a game I have coming up, I was thinking about having all the characters understand a number of languages equal to their Intellect.

So for an average person, this would be Basic, and the language of their race (under most circumstances). They would need some kind of translation device or droid to handle more than that. I could understand adding another language if it makes sense in their background, (like Anakin understanding Huttese because he was a slave child under the Hutts).

Otherwise, when the players take the Krayt Fang in the Beginner set for EotE, they would automatically understand what all the Trandossian meant, when they go to Ryloth, they get the information with no issues.

I feel this would also really emphasize the difference when someone is speaking Basic, versus speaking Ryl or Shirwook.

I know I might be flying solo on this thought, but please let me know what you think, or if you do something similar, I just want to add a layer of realistic conversation to my game.

**this may be a topic already, if so, I have looked and wasn't able to find it, so any assistance in this matter would be greatly appreciated, thanks!**

I think there's a box about languages in the Species section of character creation. There is one in F&D, at least. It does bring out that every PC should be able to communicate with each other, at least.

Some options: a droid PC can have some translation software the compensates for most encounters. One wookiee in The Old Republic carried around a protocol droid head that allowed him to communicate. I think there are some pieces of gear specifically for this, in Enter the Unknown, I believe.

If you want more realism, I created this house rule, but it really hasn't been important during play. It would require a list of known languages on a character sheet. I suppose it only handles understanding a language, not being able to speak it (R2D2 and Chewie understood Basic but couldn't speak it since neither had the vocal ability for Basic).

Basic and Native are automatically given. Grant 1 bonus Language per point of Intellect over 2, but only during character generation. Then, each skill point in Knowledge (education) also grants a bonus language, even after character generation.

If the group is already together wouldn't it make sense they understand each other because they've been together long enough to have learnt the others languages?

For my games, every PCs knows the language of every other PCs species. They also know any languages pertinent to their backstory. so for instance, if they worked for a Hutt for a couple of years, that character can speak Hutteese. For anything else, I will allow it with a destiny point and a well-reasoned argument.

Thanks for the ideas and replies!

Sturn, Kaosoe, I was thinking of doing something similar. Thanks for the advice!

Copperbell, I would agree in part, if the group starting off were like our heroes toward the end of EpV or VI, it would make sense that they could understand each other, but the campaign I have coming up starts them more at the beginning of IV, with some in the group having known each other, and the others just meeting them for the first time. Luke doesn't understand Chewie for a long while, and still requires translation, and he even requires a translation screen to understand R2. Han understands and can speak with Chewie because they have had adventures prior and have known each other for a while, but that just isn't the case with everyone. So in the case of what Sturn was saying, as starting characters, I would say that Chewbacca (at the beginning of the game) understood Shirwook and Basic, Han understood those languages too (though he also knows Huttese (his convo with Greedo and Jabba)), Luke understood Basic (and maybe Huttese it makes sense where he was raised), Leah understood a bunch of languages (she comes from a higher class world, is the daughter of a senator, and is known as a senator herself) but she doesn't understand Shirwook or Binary.

It is really a small matter, I know, I just want don't want to go out of my way and say that all the players understand all the languages, as they will be encountering different cultures, and I want them to have to think through some stuff, maybe go and get something so they can understand other people outside their little group.

They can communicate effectively with their party, that's sort of a given.

Outside of that I'd give them any language that makes sense for them to know. Most characters will probably have Basic, Huttese, and Bocci as they are common trade languages. I don't really see much point in tracking languages because they will know what they need to and they won't know what they need to not know. If you want them to be confused and have trouble communicating with some obscure culture give them a Xenology/Education check to recognize the language. If they pass, then they are in Tijuana with a semester of undergrad Spanish they took a few years ago. If they fail, they don't even have that much.

Valid points, thanks!

I say that every PC understands every other PC, and past that, that's what protocol droids and skill checks are for

Knowledge:Xenology fits the bill for me. Everybody knows Basic, and their own races language (I usually give humans a choice since their standard language -is- basic). So everybody starts with 2, and then as you add ranks in Know:Xeno, you can pick up more languages, and make checks to understand an unfamiliar language.

I handle it as a McGuffin. It's a story problem when I need it to be, and it's something to be ignored when I don't want to deal with it. It's what translator droids are for.

If I intend for it to be a problem there will be some manner available for the PCs to address it, I wouldn't make them waste a DP on a story element I add to a session, and by the same token I don't want to have to be dealing with 'who speaks what' every session either.

If they want to be good industrious PCs and buy/acquire a protocol droid all the better I think.

I give my players Native plus 2 additional languages of Choice +1 language per int over 2

For me, language is not a problem … until such time as there is a story reason why language should be a problem.

And protocol droids might or might not be part of the solution … or the problem.

Reinforcing some of what has been said players can speak to players, however specialized languages like binary will require said talent.

When my players are speaking to an npc who they don't speak the same language I will either add setback dice or upgrade the roll.

Finally if the needed language is something like Rakatan I will use it as an adventure McGuffin.

Salcor

I have run a number of games in which characters had a limited number of languages known (Stargate, Star Wars, Babylon 5 and others) and found for the most part that it just created a stumbling block which got in the way of the story. As a result I largely agree with salcor, you can speak any language that a PC species speaks but if a language is rare or unknown then that becomes a plot in and of itself.

Well, if you go by the movies....languages mostly were only there for flavor. Han understood Greedo, everybody understood Jabba, etc. I think it is best to say everybody understands everybody else, unless it makes sense to the story (such as with the Ewoks). Maybe a human can normally understand a Rodian, but maybe sometimes, when it serves your plot Rodians speak in "street talk" and most non-Rodians cannot understand it (full of idioms, metaphors,etc).

For my games, this is a level of unneeded complexity for something will never come up.

Umm, everybody did not understand jabba, That is why he used a translator... I.E. C-3PO

Babel Fish!

Again, I don't use it as anything other than a McGuffin, but, it seems to me language was kind of regional. Characters from the Rim, and who moved around alot, seemed to be the ones who understood each other more or less at will. Maybe your Inner Core types might just use Basic and droids exclusively.

I just think in the Legends 20,000+ years of hyperdrive and whisking hither and yon across the galaxy, species are probably pretty multi-lingual as a routine. Most PCs are the traveling types so it seems like they would just be exposed their whole lives to all manner of languages and just pick it up. When you land on a planet of Ewoks, insert the McGuffin, otherwise these are races that have interacted with one another routinely for 20,000 years.

Current estimates are we only domesticated the pig 15,000 years ago, so everyone being able to speak each other's languages in Star Wars isn't particularly far fetched for me.

Curios, 2P51

That last statement isn't clear to me.

What does domesticating the pig 15,000 years ago have to do with languages.

In our current World state, English appears to be becoming the international language, (I.E. Basic) But Still, the majority of most populations only speak their native language. (Not counting Japan and China)

I am even familiar with many World travelers and military personal who have spent time station in other countries, and the majority of them still require a translator (of some kind whether it be an actual translator or a book or phone app) when speaking to the general populace.

Language isn't about how Long populaces have interacted (Consider how long Countries like India and so forth were ruled by the English). It's about what you are Raised hearing and what you put effort into learning. yourself. Immersion being found to be the most effective way to learn a Language. Teaching in school doesn't do it effectively unless the student has some means of Speaking it everyday in the general life. Without some one else to immerse themselves into the language with, most tend to struggle with language.

Now I point to Jabba as an Example. No where have I read that Hutts are unable to learn to speak Basic (Though Jabbas vice certainly seemed to have the vocal capacity to do so), So my Understanding is that, though Jabba May be able to understand it spoken to him, he never really learned to speak it himself. (Or Many hutts refuse to Demean themselves by speaking a lesser lifeforms Language.) So he uses a Translator, Because, Though many of the people he interacts with may Live and interact in Hutt Space, few ever have the immersion or desire to learn Hutteese. It is Easier for them to learn what is most commonly spoken where they live. On Tatoine, that was Basic.

Now Rodians are another example. Rodians Have a Difficulty in speaking basic and few choose to try, just speaking their own native language. Now It may be, that as a smuggler, Han Choose to put himself out to learn a variety of languages as he was interacting with such, But Rodians are hardly prolific enough throughout the Galaxy to warrant that everyone would have learned Rodeese, people generally are just not that Immersed and interacting enough to learn it. The General Populace doesn't have motivation to learn that many languages.

We learn easily what we grow up hearing spoken the most around us. People, generally speaking, are not motivated to learn anything more. Look at Americans in Particular. We have a Fairly Large population of Spanish speakers in our country. But most people, (Like myself, even though I did take a Spanish class in High school) who grow up with people speaking Spanish near me, Never really learn it. Sure, I can speak a Greeting, ask for a cab, ask for food. But that is as far as I get. I f they speak anything beyond that to me, I am lost. And I have dealt with Spanish speakers in my Jobs for over 25 years. I have even had some try to teach me more. It never really stuck.

Note, I was a Truck driver for 13 Years and Dealt with Spanish speakers on a daily basis. I was also a Pawn broker and a Pharmacy technician for 7 years in an area with a large amount of Spanish speakers, I also worked in the restaurants for 5-6 years, working along side Spanish speakers, Many who could barely speak English themselves, in the Kitchens,(as either a dish washer prep cook or Line cook). In many ways, I had the opportunity to be immersed, you might even say I was Immersed at times, But I never really learned Spanish.

With a Good understanding of how language works and develops, you would realize that even in a galaxy like Star Wars..... There is no such thing and everyone becoming Universal translators. (Note that even in Star Wars with Hyper drives, there are still a very Large percentage of the Galaxy unexplored and/or not as immersed in Galactic contact.

There are a few worlds Along the hyper lanes where everyone might speak basic, Like Correlia and Coruscant. But outside of those, and outside of Basic itself, other native languages would be more commonly the norm and more frequently used on their planets. Some Rube who decides to leave his home and go start exploring, is not likely to just Understand every language out there, not is the majority of everyone they encounter going to understand their native language, especially if it isn't English... I mean Basic.

Basic itself, Like English in the USA today, would have become, more and more, an amalgamation of the Strongest, most common languages used. US English Is heavily influenced and changing by Spanish, German and Russian. Oddly enough, though Asian cultures have been in america For nearly as long as this country has existed as a Nation, has had little effect on the core language as compared to the Euro languages.

Some try to call american English a Simplified version of Native English, but that just isn't true. The truth is, our two nations languages, though still mostly the same in the core, are quite different today than they were 200 years ago. We even have quite a few of the same words that mean different things.

I had this discussion, with some one else recently, about Stargate SG1. Though I love both the Movie and the TV series, It was one of my Biggest Pet Peeves about the TV series.

The Movie did it right, not having the people there understand English, and having Daniel Jackson Learn their language as he had a Basis for being able to learn it quickly and understand it.

The TV series Sort of Started out that way, the First natives they ran into on Chulac didn't understand English, but the Show quickly abandoned this. Suddenly, Not just Apohphis, But even the his Jaffa, Understood English, which they had no right to have even ever encountered.

English itself was a Derivative language that evolved from the mixing of several other languages over centuries. over a Millennium After all Goa'uld had been killed or driven from earth and earth had it's stargate Buried.

Goa'Uld hadn't ever had a chance to take anyone who spoke English from earth to make colonies of Humans. They were even taken from earth Prior to the advent of Christianity.

Yet, they Spoke and understood a derivative language, one the developed under very unique influences, perfectly and immediately without any "McGuffin" explanation. This was a Very Big Pet peeve f mine for the Show. They even ignored their own Basic History for the shows premis by encountering cultures that were based on Earth Cultures that only came about AFTER the Goa'uld were kicked from earth, such as Christianity.

They Also had Goa'uld found Buried and trapped on Earth in their Sarcophagi, Prior to the Goa'uld being kicked from earth, Immediately Understood a language that didn't even Come close to existing before they were buried.

Now in One case, it could easily be explained, as the Goa'uld possessed an earth based Human. They would have taken the knowledge of the language from the hosts mind. But that didn't justify all Other Go'auld and all other Cultures they encountered Understanding English with no basis for it existing in their spheres of influence.

At least in shows like Farscape, Star trek and the like, Thy had some sort of 'Translator' McGuffin that excused the problem. (By the Way, Star trek was influenced by nearly as many species as Star Wars seems to be, and yet Gene Roddenberry understood Language enough (Have created several whole languages himself) to know such a thing would be necessary, Yet Lucas, who did not Understand Language evolution, though he had Specific Droids for "Translation", Very rarely used them. If Such language barriers were so very rare, Why would such droids be so common in their Culture? Such droids would Only be common among those who travel frequently into the farthest reaches or int the uncharted territories, If understanding of all languages were so common in the republic and Empire. Yet, 3PO droids were fairly common, Especially on Core worlds. So Broad Language Understanding must not be as Common as the Hand wavers would Like to make it out to be.

I choose to have Translator Droids being common in the culture make sense... So My players do not understand every language they encounter. For the most part, As long as they understand basic, This is not a problem often while on Planets that are considered Core Hyperlane and import, export worlds that have become Conglomerate Populations of Many species. But for species that Can't physically speak Basic, If they are not talking to some one who understands their native language... They will need some sort of translator, As Jabba appears to have needed, as Hutteese is not universally understood like basic is.

It means it's been 15,000 years since we domesticated the pig and these races in Star Wars have been interacting with each other 5,000 years longer than that, so pretty sure they would've figured out each other's languages. We've had the internet 25ish years? They've had hyperdrive 20,000 years, their level of integration is considerably beyond ours.

Valid points all, I really appreciate the thoughts, I will seriously consider how I do things in this regard : )

Umm, everybody did not understand jabba, That is why he used a translator... I.E. C-3PO

See I always took that as just part of the plan to get everyone into the palace. Han definitely understands Huttese. I think the implication is that Lando does as well. Both of those make sense given the characters. Luke seems to understand Jabba well enough without translation. The only character I can recall who appears to need translation is Leia and even with her it there is room for debate. Huttese is a really common language

Umm, everybody did not understand jabba, That is why he used a translator... I.E. C-3PO

See I always took that as just part of the plan to get everyone into the palace. Han definitely understands Huttese. I think the implication is that Lando does as well. Both of those make sense given the characters. Luke seems to understand Jabba well enough without translation. The only character I can recall who appears to need translation is Leia and even with her it there is room for debate. Huttese is a really common language

For those specific characters, Fair points, But when C-3PO was being processed, the Overseer droid did say Jabba Needed a new Protocol droid as he had the last one had displeased him.

Uncle Owen Himself was Looking for a Droid who could speak/Translate certain languages...

The Point is.. there was a Practical Need for Droid that could translate... This Fact is a Huge point in opposition to the "Galactic integration" of languages. The existance of droids Desgned to aid in Translation defies he premise that The Majority of the 'known galaxy' was Fluent in Dozens if not thousands of languages.

They were familiar with the few languages they interacted with regularly.

Umm, everybody did not understand jabba, That is why he used a translator... I.E. C-3PO

See I always took that as just part of the plan to get everyone into the palace. Han definitely understands Huttese. I think the implication is that Lando does as well. Both of those make sense given the characters. Luke seems to understand Jabba well enough without translation. The only character I can recall who appears to need translation is Leia and even with her it there is room for debate. Huttese is a really common language

For those specific characters, Fair points, But when C-3PO was being processed, the Overseer droid did say Jabba Needed a new Protocol droid as he had the last one had displeased him.

Uncle Owen Himself was Looking for a Droid who could speak/Translate certain languages...

The Point is.. there was a Practical Need for Droid that could translate... This Fact is a Huge point in opposition to the "Galactic integration" of languages. The existance of droids Desgned to aid in Translation defies he premise that The Majority of the 'known galaxy' was Fluent in Dozens if not thousands of languages.

They were familiar with the few languages they interacted with regularly.

All excellent points. I speak a smattering of a couple of languages. I used to travel to Quebec fairly regularlly so I picked up how to navigate in French and I have been in logistics/warehouse management for almost a decade so I have learned some spanish. I won't be writting great poetry or teaching any classes but if you dropped me in a French/Spanish speaking country I could make my way to the closest airport.

However the issue comes from this being a game. I want my smugglers and explorers to be moving and interacting. Cutting deals for the best equipment and bribes. What I don't want is something like the following.

The Trandoshan slaver says.... Wait who speaks Trandoshan? Oh none of you speak the language I suppose we need to find a protocal droid eveyone make me a roll.

I find assuming my PCs either speak the languge or have access to the ability to translate moves things along for me. Sure finding an ancient ship with warnings or directions in a dead language would be a lot of fun. However running the check of who speaks what for every NPC is a headache.

A lot of time when realism conflicts with narrative for me it is realism that takes a back seat. Your millage may vary.