Linguistics and languages
Why the errata: The rules presented in the 3rd edition Player's Guide, and repeated in Dark Ages Vampire, are somewhat unclear. They state that with each dot of linguistics, the character has learned a certain number of "additional languages." There is no indication whether these "additional languages" are a cumulative total or add individually to the character's total number of languages.
On Wednesday, August 3, 2011, we decided to clear up this confusion, and five of us voted unanimously to go with the more conservative interpretation.
Thus, The TOTAL number of languages known by a character follow the following chart:
Linguistics Score: / Number of Languages
0: / 1 (native language)
1: / 2 (native language + 1 learned language)
2: / 3 (native language + 2 learned languages)
3: / 5 (native language + 4 learned languages)
4: / 9 (native language + 8 learned languages)
5: / 17 (native language + 16 learned languages)
Dead Languages: These languages must be "living languages" - I.E. languages the character can learn, at least in part, by speaking with others who speak the language. It does not apply to dead languages that have no native speakers (though in a world with immortal beings, these rules could be bent. Ancient Akkadian, for instance, can be learned as a living language if one spends enough time in Enoch among those who speak it). Dead Languages must be bought as individual skills. When comparing a character's fluency with that of native speakers, the average native can be assumed to have a score equal to or (if educated) one point better than his intelligence score.
1: The character has rudimentary understanding of the dead language, and with a great deal of effort can translate the written form into a language he knows.
2: The character can read the written language, and infer the meaning of most rare words from context, but will have trouble with difficult or unusual concepts. He will probably recognize the language if he hears it, but must succeed in a perception + ancient language roll to grasp the meaning. When speaking the language, his grammar and accent are atrocious.
3: The character can read most examples of the written language, and speak with and understand most "mainstream" native speakers. Obscure dialects and rare accents will still be nearly incomprehensible.
4: The character speaks and understands the language as well or better than most natives.
5: Are you sure you weren't a 6th century skald???
Additional Languages: There are a very few mortals who have learned more than the allowed 17 languages. Thus, the rules for "dead languages" can also apply to learning additional languages. Thus, if a person has mastered 20 languages, he has a 5 linguistics, and has bought as additional skills three more languages.
(suggestion: Rather than buying a single living language this way, it might be reasonable to buy a tight group of related languages, such as Spanish, Portuguese and Italian.)
