Language[]
At the beginning of his career, a barbarian knows only one language: the language of his homeland. He can only speak this language; it has no written form. His homeland language may be conventional or unique, as determined by the DM.
A conventional homeland language is similar to the languages spoken in the outworld. Although it may not translate precisely-a barbarian calls a tree by a different name, and he has no words at all for outworlder inventions such as glass and steel-barbarians who speak a conventional tongue have few significant problems communicating with outworlders
A unique homeland language has no parallel in the outworld. Most outworlders find it incomprehensible, a string of animal-like grunts, snorts, or barks. To make matters more confusing, some barbarians augment their speech with chest thumps, whistles, gurgles, tongue clicks, and hums. The language may lack important outworld concepts, such as large numbers (as in a language that calls more than three objects simply "many"). It might describe states of mind an outworlder can hardly grasp.
Barbarian Hand Gestures from The Complete Barbarian's Handbook - Page 31
Unique Languages (Optional)[]
Unique languages pose obvious communication problems that the DM may address in several ways:
- Let the barbarian struggle with language problems until he's able to learn a new tongue (see below). He'll have to rely on good fortune and his companions' benevolence to keep him out of trouble. The player may have to cover his ears or leave the room when his companions are engaged in a discussion or the DM speaks for an NPC.
- Encourage the barbarian and members of his party to take the sign language proficiency at the earliest opportunity (see Ch 4 (CBarbH)|Chapter 4]]).
- Allow the barbarian and other characters to exchange simple messages with hand gestures, facial expressions, and sound effects. The barbarian may be the sender of the message and the other character the recipient, or vice versa. If a 2d20 roll is less than or equal to the sum of the Intelligence scores of the sender and the recipient, the message has been successfully communicated. If the roll exceeds the Intelligence score sum, the message is garbled or misunderstood. (Example: A barbarian with an Intelligence of 12 attempts to tell a companion with an Intelligence of 14 that a dangerous animal lurks in the weeds ahead. The barbarian thumps his chest, points to the weeds, and makes a few ominous grunts. The sum of their Intelligence scorn is 26; the 2d20 roll is 21. The companion correctly interprets the barbarian's message and avoids the weeds.)
A sender can only attempt to communicate a particular message once. If the attempt fails, he may attempt to communicate with a different recipient or try a different message. Additionally:
- Only simple phrases may be communicated Acceptable phrases include "Stay here; I'll be right back," "This meat will make you sick," and "That man is evil." Examples of unacceptable phrases: "My father taught me that seasoned pine wood from the Black Forest makes the best arrow shafts" and "The wound will heal in four days if we apply greenwillow herbs." A DM who isn't sum if a particular phrase is appropriate may impose a penalty of 2 to 10 (the chance of success can't be less than 5). In the example above, the barbarian might want to be more specific and identify the danpus animal as a tiger. The DM imposes a penalty of 4, requiring a 22 or less on the 2d20 roll for success.
- If the sender is trying to communicate with more than one recipient at the same time, use the recipient with the highest Intelligence score to determine the chance of success.
- The recipient must pay strict attention to the sender, or the message has no chance of being successfully interpreted. The sender and recipient must also be able to see each other.
- Extremely simple messages that can be communicated with a nod or an unambiguous gesture are understood automatically; no die roll is required. Examples include "yes," "no," and "come." The barbarian may also teach his companions to understand simple signs, such as those on page 31; once learned, these don't require rolls.
- A sender may attempt to communicate a particular message with this method or with the sign language proficiency, but not both.
Extra Languages[]
A barbarian's Intelligence score indicates the number of languages he can learn beyond his native tongue (see Table 4 in Chapter 1 of the Player's Handbook.) A barbarian learns languages through exposure and repetition; if he hears a language spoken on a regular basis, he begins to mimic the words and eventually learns their meaning. Because his language habits aren't so rigid, a younger barbarian tends to learn languages more quickly than an older barbarian.
As a rule of thumb, assume that a barbarian can master the basics of a new language in the time it takes for him to attain two levels of experience. That is, a 1st-level barbarian can learn the fundamentals of a new language by the time he reaches 3rd level. This assumes that the barbarian is constantly exposed to the language and that he has access to a fluent companion with the patience to answer questions. The DM may increase or decrease the time required as necessary.
With continuing practice the barbarian can eventually attain complete fluency in the new language, but he will always retain a characteristic accent. In general, assume that fluency develops from the basics in the time needed to attain four more experience levels, assuming the barbarian gets constant practice speaking the language.
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