What words does the party need?

[Laserlight]

We've had a couple of NPC warriors attached to our party. The warriors don't speak our language, we don't speak theirs, and our NPC linguist isn't coming on this expedition. The linguist can, however, translate a few words for us. We know almost nothing about the area we're headed to--we don't even know whether anyone lives there, much less whether they're friendly or not--so the vocabulary needs to be pretty general.

TLDR: What few words would you pick to get translated?

Our list--spoilered so you can come up with your own list without being influenced by ours:

Run Help Protect Fight Come Take Left Right Many Few
"That One" (to designate what I'm talking about)
"No" (a negative to attach to a verb, such as "no-fight" or "no-run")

[ArcturusV]

Honestly signing, gestures, etc, means you don't need a lot of utility communication.

I'd probably go with Danger, Stop, Enemy, Trap.

And some similar words. Ones which you might need shouted as a warning. Anything more detailed like calling for a rest, or even just "Attack" can be done more so through gestures and body language than needing words.

[Chilingsworth]

What classes do you have in the party?

[BowStreetRunner]

I would start with everything covered under Handle Animal (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/handleAnimal.htm) (Attack, Come, Defend, Down, Fetch, Guard, Heel, Perform, Seek, Stay, Track, Work).

[Chilingsworth]

I would start with everything covered under Handle Animal (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/handleAnimal.htm) (Attack, Come, Defend, Down, Fetch, Guard, Heel, Perform, Seek, Stay, Track, Work).

Well, if they're actually members of the warrior class, they're probably little better than pets, anyways. :smalltongue:

[Laserlight]

Honestly, signing, gestures, etc, means you don't need a lot of utility communication.

These are people from an entirely different culture, so one can't assume gestures will be quickly understood.


What classes do you have in the party?

I expect the warriors are barbarians. Doesn't really matter what classes we have in the party; spellcasting is not a solution in this context.

[Slipperychicken]

Why not get another translator?


Have the linguist translate some phrases like "What do you call this?" and "How do you say this?". Write it down, and you and the warriors can teach each other more words and phrases. Actually, try to write down the whole list in-character so you guys have a "cheat sheet" to communicate with. Also get some writing equipment (and colors if you can get them) if you don't have it already, so you can make crude diagrams and illustrations to better communicate concepts.

"foe"

"friend"

"food"

"water"

"danger"

"need"

"dead"

"alive"

"sick"

EDIT: If you can nab a Pearl of Speech (only 600gp, MIC) for either language, you have a new translator. Try to give it to someone trustworthy and LG.

[Chilingsworth]

I expect the warriors are barbarians. Doesn't really matter what classes we have in the party; spellcasting is not a solution in this context.

It matters because depending on what your party is capable of, you might want to have different words prioritized.

Also, this is DnD- spellcasting is a solution in every context.:smalltongue:

[ArcturusV]

The cultural thing isn't AS big a rift as you might guess. You can ask any soldier who's been deployed far from home and they'll tell you that you can get a lot accomplished with basic gestures and body language. Sometimes people play up minor particulars like how the Japanese will point towards their nose to indicate "Me" and Europeans/Westerners will point to their heart instead. But it's generally nothing so fatal or that can't be figured out give or take a minute.

Similarly for a lot of battle orders. You don't need to tell them to "attack". Seeing you draw weapons, prepare for battle, pointing and marking out targets as you plan an ambush, etc, should easily get the message across. Retreat? Similarly, when you all start backing away and preparing to cut and run, they'll pick up on that.

Of course I'm presuming Barbarian doesn't mean something like 3 int. Well, even 3 int should pick up on that.

Mostly I'd want words where THEY need to talk to me and relay something important like if my character was foraging for food and before I eat the Barbarian can call out "DANGER!" so I stop, then smack the food out of my hand before I injest the local variety of poisoned mushrooms or something.

[Laserlight]

Why not get another translator?

We're on a ship far from civilization, and have a deadline.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Slipperychicken
Have the linguist translate some phrases like "What do you call this?" and "How do you say this?".

I'm the DM for this campaign, and this is probably the single best idea that didn't occur to any of us during the game yesterday. :smalltongue:


Originally Posted by Slipperychicken
If you can nab a Pearl of Speech.... Try to give it to someone trustworthy and LG.

Alas, the only person on the ship who fits that description is the linguist, who isn't around at the moment.




Originally Posted by ArcturusV
The cultural thing isn't AS big a rift as you might guess.

I can't speak to military deployment, but I've spent a lot of time in remote wilderness with people who didn't speak my language, and whose own language I was just beginning to learn. Cultural issues really can be a major factor--and what complicates things is you're not always sure which issues are how much of a factor.

[Slipperychicken]

Alas, the only person on the ship who fits that description is the linguist, who isn't around at the moment.


Handing it to whoever functions as a leader seems like the best idea. Or the party face, unless he's the CN rogue-type who will sell his grandma for a dollar. If there are neither of those, whoever seems least interested in crushing the group on his path to power.

Actually, you could do pretty well passing it around like a native-American peace-pipe. It's much harder to deceive people when they can just talk it out in a few minutes. Or if you have the cash, equipping as many PCs as you can afford (and sharing them) will effectively eliminate the language barrier.

[Laserlight]

I'm the DM for this campaign, and this is probably the single best idea that didn't occur to any of us during the game yesterday. :smalltongue:

Actually, the concept I wish I'd thought of yesterday was "Thanks"/"Well done".

[Laserlight]

Handing it to whoever functions as a leader seems like the best idea. Or the party face, unless he's the CN rogue-type who will sell his grandma for a dollar.

Since the CN Rogue is also the Party Leader and the Face...but we don't have a Pearl anyway.

As for the notion that I'd sell my own grandmother, I am appalled that you would suggest such a thing. I make a lot more money by leasing her.