Languages help?

[DaKiwiMonsta]

Hello there,
I have a bit of a habit of creating new characters for 5e. This happens usually regularly for me, and I've almost put the finishing touches to a new character who is a Goliath Paladin with the Acolyte background. The idea for Tolomir (that's his name) is that he has been heavily influenced by this religion and is a devout follower of his god. But then later in whatever story he ends up in, he realises that his belief is false, etc. and starts to question his own morals. Long story short, he multiclasses to monk. Unfortunately, I now have a dilemna.

Tolomir knows two extra languages that I get to choose. But even with his story planned out in my head, I cannot decide on any languages that would necessarily fit with the character? A friend of mine suggested Celestial but perhaps that would be too Cleric-ee? Any suggestions are welcome but if you could provide some form of argument for choosing that language then I'd appreciate it.

I haven't decided on a god yet, I'll be picking that in due course (it will most likely be from forgotten realms pantheon). I'm planning on uploading this character to Mythweavers so if any of you would like to see the sheet then I'll include the link in this post.

[kaoskonfety]

Generally I have the opposite problem - once you've crossed off your base languages and the 1-3 local race languages and whatever the local hostile faction(s) speak and you've got something left?

My go-to's are Draconic (often treated like Latin as the 'old scholars tongue'), Sylvan which is spoken by alot of the intelligent wilderness creatures you may run into opening up RP options, Primordial for the self taught wizards or earth/fire/water/air shaman types - 4 Elements monks would work well too, and Undercommon for 'that language spoken by several vast civilizations we are outnumber badly by' in settings with an Underdark.

I tend to stay away from the outer planer languages unless the character has has specific interactions with them or is trained to do so (most warlocks, the more lore focused clerics, conjurer wizards, sunglasses wearing vengeance paladins that are on a literal mission from god)

[Ninja_Prawn]

Even if he's super devoted to his deity, this character must have other interests. Not everything has to tie into class and background! Maybe he really likes Elvish poetry, or fell in love with a cute half-orc and learned the Orc language to impress them?

[Wilko]

Depends, if this is a religion from another culture or if he has spent time in another one he would have picked up that language, ie "I learned about GODNAME from this passing elf so I studied elven to help me learn more"

He should already know giant, which is written in dwarvish script, it's not the same thing but it may have made it easier for him to learn dwarvish, also they are another mountain loving race so it makes sense that he would have met some.

If he's a paladin, particularly if you plan on taking the oath of vengeance and he has a particular enemy then treat it like the rangers favoured enemy, take the language of those he hates, all the better to hunt then with.

[Joe the Rat]

I always suggest not picking languages until you have a game for the character - the story and setting (and world) will give you ideas.

You have Giant, which is one of my recommended go-to's. There are a few Giant-types that only speak Giant. My players, who are masters of all civilized and written, were reduced to charades to communicate with trolls and hill giants.

Dwarven is highly versatile. It's a good trade language, and you can find dwarf-speakers above and below ground. If undercommon makes no narrative sense, Dwarven is a good alternate.

I like Goblin, but I use goblin for my "humanoid common" - most savage races have at least one goblin-speaker.

I'll second Draconic - a fair number of creatures speak it (including dragons), and it's occasionally used as a "fancypants scholar" language.

[Regitnui]

Draconic - Generally a Latin-ish 'scholars' language'. Lets you read spell tomes and ancient texts.

I'd also advocate any other racial language. It's better to exhaust those before heading for the extraplanar languages.

[Falcon X]

All depends on the game.

Exotic Languages: Are highly specialized. Don't give someone Infernal unless they directly consort with devils or are the type of mage or cleric who read those books. Primordial, Celestial, Abyssal, and the other exotic languages are the same way.

Normal Languages: This is where you should choose by default. If his tribe has associated with Dwarves, give him dwarvish. If they are near goblins, give him goblin. It's pretty straight-forward.