_____________________________________________________________ Language Skills 26 January 1997 Revision MA Lloyd _____________________________________________________________ Language skills in GURPS frequently fail reality checks. There are several reasons, but the main one is that language use simply does not fit the skill system very well. There are two major uses of language: to communicate, and an artistic medium or a tool to do something else. Communication lacks a clear success/failure dichotomy - many tasks are either automatic or impossible, and well before you reach native fluency it is nearly impossible to actually fail completely. It works better as an advantage than a skill, and is covered below under Fluency. Using language as a tool often has clearly defined successes and failures, but the skill involved is rarely language competence. These activities are best covered by separate skills, discussed under Task Skills below. _____________________________________________________________ Fluency _____________________________________________________________ Fluency measures your ability to communicate in a language. Each language is a separate variable cost advantage, but learned and recorded like a skill and given a numerical value for ease of comparison. No rolls are made for normal communication. Occasionally conditions may merit a sense roll (to hear someone over a loud background for example) or an IQ check (to understand critical instructions issued only once), and it is possible to contrive situations where a contest of fluency might be reasonable (to see who can rephrase a sentence in the most obscure way without changing the basic meaning), but generally anything within the competence of the least skilled participant gets through. The levels and costs of language fluency are: * language 4 (0.5 pt) Equivalent to a 0+ score on the Foreign Service Institute proficiency scale. You recognize the language when you hear it, understand important commands (Stop!), know a few useful phrases (How much does it cost?, Do you speak Esperanto?), and can follow simple replies (Five credits, No.). You cannot respond to questions more complex than What is your name? * language 6 (1 pt) FSI 1. You could survive in the language. If your listeners are patient, and speak slowly and simply, you can get directions, find the time or date, order a meal, rent a hotel room, buy groceries or a train ticket, and answer basic questions such as: What is your job, birthday, nationality, marital status, current address, reason for being in our country...? * language 8 (2 pt) FSI 2. You can use the language for everyday purposes. You understand clear conversation with only an occasional need to ask for a definition. You can usually make yourself understood, though your speech is hesitant and heavily accented, your grammar is poor, and you often need to resort to circumlocutions. If you are literate, you can read simple prose intended for a general audience. * language 10 (4 pt) FSI 3. Practical fluency. You have no trouble understanding clear conversation, and can follow technical material with a little effort (assuming you could follow it in your native language!). You can use the language for most things you can do in your native language without special preparation - carry on conversation, study skills, grovel properly, insult someone, propose marriage.... Your accent is obvious but not particularly thick, and your grammatical errors are never bad enough to prevent understanding and only rarely embarrassing. If you are literate, you can read newspapers, novels and similar material with understanding. Poetry, slang or other nonstandard usage can still give you trouble. * language 12 (8 pt) FSI 4+. In casual speech you have a slight accent, and make an occasional mistake, but you can pass for a native in short, formal situations like a checkpoint questioning. You understand poetry, literature and other artistic uses of the language, and can follow current slang, colloquialisms and cultural references. * language 14 (12 pt) FSI 5. You have a second native language. You automatically think in the language when using it regularly, can use it to do mental arithmetic and regularly dream in it. _____________________________________________________________ Dialects, Accents and Native Speech _____________________________________________________________ Normal characters get one native language at 14 at no cost (see the Dysphasia disadvantage for exceptions). Children raised in a multilingual environment can acquire several native languages simultaneously, but still pay for the extra ones - consider it an Unusual Background cost. Since bilinguals often learn further languages easily, a level of Language Talent is realistic and may lower the total cost. A dialect is a particular way of speaking a language, a set of minor variations that distinguishes the speech of certain regions, age cadres, social classes, educational levels, or even sexes. It is used here in the technical sense, not the derogatory colloquial one. Everyone speaks in some dialect. To identify the origin of an accent or dialect roll against Linguistics, Voices or Grammar[language]. The dialect you normally use must be specified when buying the language. For natives this is the dialect of their native town and social group. For non-natives it is usually a prestige dialect (e.g. that of the royal court or government controlled media) or that of the merchants of the major city. When you speak the language you use that dialect unless you make an effort to adopt a specific dialect or foreign accent using the Voices skill. There are two major parts of a dialect, accent and lexicon. An accent is a pattern of pronunciation; non-fluent speakers have to worry about two accents, the one they want to use, and the interfering one from their native language. Both can be detected. Lexicon is the vocabulary used. Differences in lexicon define most dialects labeled slangs, argots, jargons or cants. A slang or argot is usually a lower class dialect, a jargon is a professional vocabulary and a cant was originally a religious jargon, though its now a synonym for slang. _____________________________________________________________ Learning Languages _____________________________________________________________ Languages are purchased much like mental skills. Like mental skills, they take twice as long to learn without a teacher, four times as long if you are learning without any feedback at all (say from a text). Some things that do *not* affect learning include IQ, Eidetic Memory, and Linguistics skill. Objectively, all languages are about equally difficult. Learners disagree because some are more similar to languages they already know than others. Other than languages that actually have defaults, most of difference appears in the early stages of learning a language with major features not found in your native language. If the GM wishes, he can require twice as much study to pick up the first point in such languages. Examples for English speakers would include languages with extensive case and tense structures (Navajo), tones (Chinese), lots of unfamiliar sounds (Khoisan) or an entirely different medium (ASL). Of course actual alien languages may really be harder to learn. One of the best ways to learn a language is to depend on it. Immersion in a native speech community and using the language for your daily needs counts as 0.5 points of study per month up to fluency 10. You can acquire a language from scratch this way, as long as some of the locals are willing to help. This is not the same as the classroom technique called immersion, which is actually less effective than traditional instruction. _____________________________________________________________ Defaults _____________________________________________________________ Knowledge of one language may allow some understanding of related languages. Only languages that are closely related have defaults; dialects default to each other at -0 to -4; distinct languages of the same family (in the narrow sense, not the same phylum) default at -4 to -10. The distinction is academic. In many places you can travel without ever encountering neighboring villages with significantly different dialects, yet need several languages for the trip, a phenomenon called a dialect cline. The classic example is the Romance cline, the path Lisbon-La Coruna-Madrid-Barcelona-Toulouse-Paris-Geneva-Genoa- Naples cuts through 5 to 9 languages without crossing a sharp boundary, though that is less true since the spread of national education in the dialect of the capitals. The Bantu languages and the so called dialects of China also have this property. See the associated language family inventory for a listing of the approximately 340 language families of Earth within which defaults are reasonable. Note: the defaults given in many worldbooks are often too low by a factor of 2, probably because native proficiency was set at 10 by the skill equals IQ rule. Pure defaults only allow understanding; to reply, you must speak the language you know, and hope the listeners can understand using their defaults, which they may not be able to do if you are more fluent than they are. You can buy up a language from your default skill; once you actually have points in the language your fluency does apply to tasks other than understanding. _____________________________________________________________ Split language skills _____________________________________________________________ In addition to defaults, several other situations can result it a difference between your ability to speak and understand a language. In such cases, record both, listing speaking ability before comprehension; for example English-8/12 indicates a thick accent and considerable difficulty speaking, but near native understanding of English. Some typical situations resulting in split skills include: * if you learn a language without audio input (a better speaker, or a lot of tapes), your speaking ability is limited to 8. * if you can sense but not produce a language, you may learn to understand it normally, but have a speaking skill of 0. Examples includes spoken languages for Mute characters, or a sign language you can't reproduce because of a disability or different racial anatomy. * if you can produce but not properly sense a language, you can learn to speak it at up to skill 8. The most common example is a deaf character learning to speak aloud. Comprehension skill could be 0, but in a modern society it would likely be normal but usable only through Literacy or Lip Reading. * if you can produce a language only with mechanical aid, you can buy it normally, but your speaking skill cannot exceed 8. This applies mostly to simulating alien languages with simple devices -- mouth clickers, musical instruments, waving mechanical tentacles. With sufficient technological assistance skill becomes irrelevant. * if you cannot sense a language without equipment, you can buy it normally, but your ability to understand it depends on having that specific kind of equipment, and a maximum skill may be imposed by the sensitivity of the equipment. Again this is for simple gear -- frequency shifters, IR goggles to see otherwise invisible patterns, radio sets. Translation software eliminates the need for skill altogether. If the condition responsible for the split skill goes away, the lower skill can be bought up to the higher one at half cost. Yes it does cost more to learn with a handicap and catch up later. _____________________________________________________________ Special Languages Types _____________________________________________________________ Liturgical Language -- a language learned for religious purposes. A little skill allows you to hold religious discussions! To use a language learned this way for daily survival requires skill 8 rather than 6. Pidgins -- a simplified trade or contact language. Pidgins cannot be learned above skill 8; the more complex vocabulary does not exist! Many pidgins are based on one of the languages they bridge, but defaults are not guaranteed. A creole is a fully developed language that evolved when a pidgin acquired native speakers, there are no special rules. It may or may not default to one of the parents of the pidgin, but at least at first will default to the pidgin itself are at -0. _____________________________________________________________ Non-lingual Languages _____________________________________________________________ Historically most languages have been spoken (the word language has the same root as the word tongue), but a language is not required to use sound. Any symbolic communications system of the same complexity is a language, and uses the same rules. Truly unfamiliar types may require an IQ roll to recognize as communication attempts (GM's call, but if you know a sign language, another is not an unfamiliar type). This works both ways; a species that communicates by telepathy or changes in color of the facial skin must make an IQ roll to realize those disgusting noises the humans are making are a language. Sign Languages Sign languages use systems of gestures rather than systems of sounds. Just as sound meanings are arbitrary in spoken language, gesture meaning is arbitrary in a sign; the idea of universal signs is a myth. Sign language is poorly documented, the first linguistic studies appeared in 1960, and a good deal of nonsense continues to circulate. A sign language is at least as fast a spoken language, and can convey ideas just as complex; poetry has been written in ASL. Few sign languages are based on spoken languages, and many have unique grammatical features. It is no more possible to do 1:1 translation from ASL to English than from French to English. The main exceptions are 1:1 systems invented by educators who feel a different grammar is an incorrect grammar. These are usually called something like Signed, Visual, or Manually Coded Fubarian, and often really are slow, limited and inexpressive, at least until the signers throw out the useless parts of Fubarian grammar and creolize them into something different. Do not confuse sign languages with finger spelling. Some sign languages use a finger spelling system for proper nouns, but it is not a major part of the language. Finger spellings are actually literacies, and are used to spell a *spoken* language, sign language words don't have spellings! Sign languages do have one drawback over spoken languages, the hand shapes are not visible at long ranges, or in the dark, or from behind. Sign languages fall into of several categories. * Auxiliary languages, used when speech is unavailable. Use the rules for pidgins. Examples include silent military codes (the ninja Kuji-kuri is the oldest known), systems used during periods of ritual silence (Monastic sign, or those used by women in mourning in some Australian cultures) and systems used where speech does not carry (SCUBA hand-signs or Pacific coast sawmill sign pidgins.) * Limited sign systems invented by deaf-mutes to communicate with their relatives. Treat these as pidgins as well. * Fully developed sign languages, primarily 'national' sign languages. Treat these like any other language. Whistled Speech Whistled speech is usually found in cultures living in broken terrain, often among livestock herders. It can be clearly understood at much longer ranges than ordinary speech, 3 km in wooded areas, 10 km in narrow rocky valleys. The best known examples are the whistled dialect of Spanish used on the Canary Islands and that of Cuskoy Turkey, but there are examples. Most whistled speech is produced by a simple change in articulation. The Whistled Speech advantage (4 points.) allows the character to speak any non-tonal language in whistled form and be understood by anyone else with this advantage (of course both must also share a language fluency to communicate anything but nonsense syllables). A few languages use different methods of encoding, and all tonal languages MUST do so, since the tone already carries information. These are separate 4 point advantages, with a prerequisite of [base language]-10 or higher. The best known is Whistled Mazateco, of Oaxaca. Musical Languages Whistled speech cannot be recorded in musical notation or played on musical instruments, the intervals and frequencies used are too variable, but it is possible to build a language around the chromatic scale. The 19th century artificial language Solresol used the standard note names (do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti) as phonemes, and could be spoken, or the equivalent notes whistled, sung or played. With only 7 sounds it was slow (most words are long) and somewhat dull, but it does prove the principle. Tactile Languages There are a few systems used by people who are both blind and deaf which qualify as languages. Most resemble sign languages, but the hand shapes are made in physical contact with the other participant. The best documented is the American system called Tadoma. _____________________________________________________________ Bibliography _____________________________________________________________ General sources William Bright. International Encyclopedia of Linguistics. 4 vol. Oxford University Press, 1992. ISBN 0-19-505196-3 David Crystal. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language. Cambridge University Press, 1987. ISBN 0-521-26483-3 Bernard Comrie The World's Major Languages. Oxford University Press, 1987. ISBN 0-19-506511-5. Detailed coverage of widespread languages, with useful bibliographies Kenneth Katzner. The Languages of the World 3rd Ed. Routledge, 1995. ISBN 0-415-11807-3 An inexpensive source of sample scripts and recent population estimates. On fluency ratings and acquisition Eugene H Casad. Windows on Bilingualism. Summer Institute of Linguistics, 1992. ISBN 0-88312-809-8 Hector Hammerley. Fluency and Accuracy. Multilingual Matters, 1991. ISBN 1-85359-115-7 _____________________________________________________________ Advantages _____________________________________________________________ Communications Channel varies A racial advantage allowing communications with other members of the race. The base cost is 10 points for a 2 yard range, 200 word per minute channel, modified by the effectiveness of the method. Modifiers: Touch only range -20% per 2 fold increase in range of range +20% per 10 fold decrease in speed -25% per 10 fold increase in speed +25% Severely limited topics (only emotions, only hunting coordination &c.) -50% Real time sharing of senses or thoughts +100% Can only communicate with one individual at a time -50% Private (immune to eavesdropping, or encrypted) +100% Undetectable (only participants know it is taking place) +150% This replaces several advantages such as Radio Speech, Subsonic Speech, Ultrasonic Speech and Secret Communications. Total up all the communications methods available to the race, and subtract 14 points to normalize for the human ones (voice/hearing at 64 yards and sign/vision at 8 yards). Cultural Adaptability CI p23. Includes the 5 pt Language Talent advantage rather than 2 levels of Language Talent. Gift of Tongues +40 You can speak and understand any language you encounter at fluency 12. You do not automatically know what languages someone will understand though, if you speak first you still need to guess. This is a super advantage, but also handy for modeling universal translators. Special Enhancement: You can also read any language + 100% Special Enhancement: You can automatically use any dialect or accent +25% Special Limitation: Only for understanding -50% Special Limitation: Only one race -0% to -20% Special Limitation: Single Shot Fickle same costs as Fickle You roll the first time you encounter a language to see if the Gift will work on it and record the result. You never roll again. Note: unlike Fickle you do *not* get one guaranteed success every 24 hours. This is handy for limited but undefined database translators. Language Talent +5/+15 You learn languages easily. The 5 point version doubles the value of any points you spend learning a language, the 15 point version quadruples it. This applies only the language fluency and literacy, not to language task skills! Musical Ability +2/+5 You have a natural talent for music and musical instruments. At the 2 point level, any points put into Singing or musical instrument skills are doubled. At the 5 point level they are quadrupled. Musical ability does not add to Bardic Lore to remember songs, or to languages that use musical features, but it does apply to any Unusual Backgrounds needed to learn a musical language. Semi-Literacy Drop. Use Literacy 8 instead. Voice +10 Your voice is particularly attractive. Voice gives you a +2 on any reaction roll made by someone who hears you speak, a permanent +2 to Singing skill and a +2 to performance or influence skills (Bard, Diplomacy, Performance, Politics, Rhetoric, Sex Appeal...) if you use them in speech. _____________________________________________________________ Disadvantages _____________________________________________________________ Bestial CI p101 Many language tasks are social skills, and consequently off limits if you have this disadvantage. Cleft Lip [substitute Speech Impediment, often but not universally accompanied by below Average appearance.] Deafness -20 You cannot hear. You can learn languages normally, but for any audible language your speaking skill is limited to 8, and your comprehension is restricted to written material and Lip Reading. Deafness is fairly common in older humans, and pre-lingual deafness occurs in 1 person in 1500. [Drop bonuses/penalties to languages or sign languages. Drop the suggestion about ear plugs. Confusing the players with the characters can be entertaining for a time, but in the long run is not a good idea] Disturbing Voice [CI p81 Use Speech Impediment instead] Dyslexia -5/-10 If you have severe dyslexia you cannot buy any literacy, or do anything else requiring symbol manipulation - perform most computer tasks, cast standard spells or, learn skills like Mathematics or Heraldry, or even some forms of Appreciate Beauty. If total illiteracy is not the norm in your culture, you must take it as a disadvantage as well. Mild Dyslexia is fairly common and much less severe. You suffer a -4 on any task involving reading or symbol manipulation. This includes literacy and consequently imposes a maximum literacy of 10. [Drop the learn at 1/4 speed without a teacher. Use the standard rules, but note that Illiterate characters (not just Dyslexic ones!) cannot learn from books, and most academic skills *can not* be learned without a teacher or text] Dysphasia -15/-40 You have severe language difficulties. At the mild level, you do not have an automatic native language, are limited to fluency or literacy 8 in any language you do purchase, and can not attempt language task skills, as you are unable to understand how they work. You may not learn skills from texts, and may only learn from a teacher if the skill requires little linguistic interaction (GM's call, physical skills are usually OK, academic or magical ones are out of the question). At the severe level you have no grasp of language at all. You may not have any language or language task skills, or learn any skills from a teacher. The GM should forbid the player from saying anything except what his character is doing, and may overrule actions based on something someone else said. Dysphasia can result from brain damage, psychological trauma, or from lack of human social contact during childhood (the classic case is 'raised by wolves', but it has shown up in some very severe child abuse cases). Realistically severe dysphasia can be bought down to mild, but not bought off after age 8. If dysphasia is acquired in play, the PCs language performance drops to 8 or 0, and he can't use his language task skills, but they are be recovered if the dysphasia is cured. Hard of Hearing -2/level You have trouble hearing. Each level of Hard of Hearing gives you a -1 on Hearing rolls. You may not take 10 or more levels, buy Deafness instead. You can learn and use audible languages normally, just at shorter conversation distances. Each -2 is functionally equivalent to halving the range at which you can hear something. Mute -10/-15 You cannot use the standard communications method of the campaign. Usually this is voice, but if the major mode of communications is a sign language, being unable to speak is a quirk at best. You may learn languages normally for understanding, and can use alternate communications channels like writing (if you are literate) or sign languages. The cost is -10 if you can usually still communicate, -15 if alternatives like writing or sign languages are rare, or you can't use them either. If the other characters do not share an alternate language with you, the GM may restrict your communications with them in time critical situations, or forbid it entirely if they also lack a common literacy. [Drop the +3 to Gesture or Sign. Drop recommendations about leaving the room to discuss player actions unless this is done to ALL the players - a mute character's actions are no less obvious than anyone else's, and it unfairly allows the Mute player less chance to influence events. Note the reduced cost, compare Major Vow: Silence] Non-Iconographic [CI p92 Drop, use Dyslexia instead. As written this is a milder form of Dyslexia worth more points] Presentient [CI p.103. The language limitations are wrong! Spoken languages are just as valid as sign languages if you have the vocal apparatus, and conversely sign languages are just as hard as spoken languages. Use: Presentient -25 This is a racial disadvantage only. Presentients can not learn IQ based skills other than Easy ones, and even then not above IQ level. They have the -15 point version of Dysphasia and are unable to acquire phonetic literacies] Speech Impediment -10 You have difficulty speaking clearly, or simply an unpleasant voice. You suffer a -2 reaction when conversation is called for, can not get certain jobs like translator or newscaster, and have a -2 to social and language task skills if you use them in speech. This disadvantage can represent a variety of problems - stuttering, cleft lip, vocal cord damage, an artificial voice, or just a high squeaky rasping monotonous voice. Stuttering [use Speech Impediment] _____________________________________________________________ Task Skills _____________________________________________________________ There are many skills which use language, but while fluency is necessary, it isn't the major factor. Such skills are acquired normally, but can only be used in languages known at fluency 8 or better. There is a -4 penalty for using a language known at fluency 8, a -2 penalty for fluency 10. If a skill is to produce a reaction from a target, he must also have fluency 8 or better in the language used. The penalties also apply to using the skills in writing. In phonetic scripts only fluency imposes penalties. In a logographic script only literacy. In mixed scripts, or logographic scripts with enough of a phonetic character to impose a fluency limit both must be greater than 10 to avoid the penalties. In addition to the skills listed below, this modifier applies to the Administration, Detect Lies, Directing, Enthrallment, Fnord, Fortune-telling, Hedgewise, Hypnotism, Intelligence Analysis, Law, Leadership, Merchant, Performance (of a spoken work), Politics (as an influence skill), Psychology, Research, Streetwise and Teaching skills. _____________________________________________________________ Skill Descriptions _____________________________________________________________ Acting. This skill is not affected by language fluency. It isn't necessary to speak English to play an Englishman, as long as the role does not require you to speak or understand unrehearsed English. Bard (IQ/Ave) IQ-5 This is the skill used for general speaking, storytelling, oratory and sermonizing. It is also the skill used to tell jokes, think up puns and invent wordplay. A successful skill roll lets you influence, impress or entertain an audience. Charisma and Voice add to most uses of Bard. Bardic Lore[type] (IQ/Hard) IQ-6 A collection of poems songs stories histories sagas and/or myths, memorized word for word. The prototypical [type] is the oral literature of a particular culture, but it can also be used for the repertoire of a musician or actor. A skill roll allows you to recite one word perfect, a failure indicates a flaw, omission or garbling. A separate Bard or Singing roll is needed to make the performance entertaining. The average listener is concerned with that second roll, and is unlikely to notice if you fail the Lore roll, but another bard is likely to care about accuracy over style Bardic Lore only measures how much material you have memorized. Other skills such as Poetry or Composition are required to compose new material, Literature is needed to critique it sensibly. Calligraphy[script] (DX/Ave) DX-5 Artist-2 other Calligraphy-2 Prerequisite: Literacy The art of decorative handwriting. Normally anyone literate in a script can scrawl something. Calligraphy is primarily an artistic skill, though it is required to write a pictographic script. You may specialize in a particular style (e.g. Court Hand, Carolingian Minuscule). Formal documents often require Calligraphy, and in many cultures a nicely laid out calligraphic document is more persuasive. Calligraphy takes about 30 minutes per page. Composition (IQ/Ave) IQ-5 Rhetoric-3 Literature-5 The art of arranging language in a clear and entertaining manner. A success makes the intended points in an interesting way. A failure says most of what you wanted to get across, but the audience will have to work at it; generally they won't bother if it isn't important. A critical failure says something you did not mean, or convinces the audience you are an idiot. Substantial modifiers may apply for available time. Composition alone is enough to produce works of fiction - stories, novels, dramatic scripts and so on. Composing exposition also requires knowledge of the subject (Physics to write popular science articles, History[military] to write war games &c). If you have the subject skill at less than 12, you compose at -2. If you lack it entirely you can still compose at -2 if you can make a Research roll on the topic. Persuasive writing uses Rhetoric. Telling the story aloud uses Bard Debate use Rhetoric, or Logic for formal debates Diplomacy (IQ/Hard) IQ-6 Diplomacy is the art of negotiation and of getting along with others. A skill roll can substitute for any non-combat reaction roll. Unlike other influence skills, a failed roll gives you a normal reaction roll, not an automatic Bad reaction. A successful roll will discover the true position of another negotiator, or hint at the best negotiating approach. Note some deals are too complex to negotiate with Diplomacy alone, Politics, Finance, Strategy or some other skill at 12+ is required to understand them well enough to negotiate them. Enigmas (IQ/Hard) IQ-6 The study of riddles and word puzzles of all sorts, from Zen koans to crossword puzzles, anagrams to mystery novels. Simple logic puzzles may also be solved using Enigmas, but complicated mathematics or mathematical logic puzzles require Mathematics skill. While contests of Enigmas are common in literature, Enigmas skill should not be allowed to short-circuit adventures. The solutions to individual enigmas may be *clues* to the overarching mystery in an adventure, but Enigmas only solves the small formal puzzles, not the entire mystery! Fast Talk (IQ/Ave) IQ-5 Acting-5 The art of convincing your listeners to make a snap decision in your favor. Fast Talk can convince others to do things against their better judgment, but not to do anything they firmly believe is wrong. It *can* distract them long enough to make it too late to take positive action. You may substitute a Fast Talk roll for any reaction roll to get a Good reaction (failure gives a Bad reaction). Charisma and Voice modify Fast Talk rolls if it is used in speech. Fast Talk is short term; if the subject spends a few minutes thinking he comes to his senses. To persuade someone permanently, use Rhetoric. There is an important exception, some people would rather look like idiots than admit to making an error, and may act on a decision even if they know it was wrong. Fast Talk works best when the subject wont think about the decision before acting on it; so it wont close a major purchase, where the sucker is certain to worry about the details, but it might sell Flavorless Potato Chips, since few people think deeply about such purchases. Fast Talk is also used to compose advertising, PR talks, political speeches and other inspiring but low content appeals. To influence the reactions of most of a mass audience roll against the lower of the Bard of the orator and the Fast Talk of the speech writer. [Drop the +2 if allowed to talk and make the skill rolls] Gesture [Drop this skill. Realistically gestures are highly cultural and easily misunderstood. Use IQ rolls for the observers (not the gesturers) to convey a really simple idea via gesture. Conversion: use Hobby/Charades, or Gesture! if the campaign is sufficiently cinematic] Grammar[language] (IQ/Ave) Language-6 Knowledge of the vocabulary, sounds, sentence structure and formal rules of a language. Grammar checks can be used to recognize an obscure word, catch a grammatical error, think of synonyms, or tell the origin of a word. This is also the skill used to edit manuscripts for style and grammar (not content). Grammar is not a language task skill, there is no penalty for low fluency. High skill does not imply any ability to use the language well; it may just mean you sound like a heavily rehearsed thesaurus reading. Interrogation. This skill is not dependent on language, except you won't learn anything if you can't understand what the victim is saying. Interviewing (IQ/Hard) IQ-6 Psychology-4 The ability to gain information from conversation or casual discussion. Use Interrogation for rigorous questioning sessions. A successful roll will tell you how the subject reacts to a topic - he is tense or lying about it, finds it dull, has no special interest or guilty knowledge about it, and so on. Winning a contest of Interviewing vs. IQ, Acting or Fast Talk will tell you what part of the topic is involved. Extracting information from casual conversation requires about 5 minutes per question. A more personal question, or a wary approach to hide your interest, requires 15 minutes per attempt. A successful roll reveals any information the subject would tell a friend, a failure by 5 or more indicates you were deceived in some way. You may also use this skill to phrase questions to helpful subjects to bring out details they might otherwise omit. Make a skill roll to obtain all the useful details of story or description. Empathy gives a +4 bonus. If the subject is of a different species there is a penalty of -2 or more. Journalism use Composition and Interviewing. Language Lore (IQ/Average) IQ-5, Linguistics-2 You are familiar with a great many languages, and know many trivial details about their distribution, history, grammatical structures, unusual features and so on. You can identify a common language or dialect from a short sample of speech or writing by making a skill roll, and can place an obscure one by at least region and language family the same way. Linguistics (IQ/Hard) IQ-6 The study of the common principles of language, the process of language change, and ways of describing languages. Uses include recording a language accurately, writing language learning materials, writing natural language software, and proving the relationship between languages. With proper records of several related languages you can reconstruct the ancestral language and the pattern of descent. Technically linguistics does not require knowledge of any non-native languages, but realistically it is probably impossible to acquire without picking up 2 or 3 languages to at least the half-point level. [Linguistics *does not* aid in learning languages. Characters with the Linguistics skill from the Basic Set should substitute this skill if the character concept uses it as a science. Buy Language Talent if it was purchased to minimax language skills] Lip Reading (IQ/Ave) no default The ability to interpret a known language by watching the lips of a human speaker. You must see the speaker's face (he can always foil you by covering his mouth). Range, darkness, cover or other vision penalties apply to the skill roll, and prevent its use at all if they total -4 or more. Less than half of speech is visible on the lips. A skill roll reveals only the general nature of a conversation. To get the exact words of a specific sentence, or any specific name, requires an additional skill roll. Literature[language] (IQ/Hard) Language-6 The study of the belle-lettres, the body of prose, poetry and other work celebrated for their excellence, either of technical style or aesthetic appeal depending on the school of literary criticism. It includes knowledge of motifs, symbolic and stylistic elements, and subjective expressive factors. Literary Lore[specialization] (IQ/Ave) Special You are familiar with the major works of "literature" in your specialty. You know the characters and plots, and can identify common quotations and allusions. Like most language task skills, knowledge of the language of the works is required (unless translations are available). Specializations include a time period (medieval literature), region (American literature), literary form (poetry, drama), medium (film, VR software), author (Shakespeare, Twain), genre (chivalric romances, science fiction), or specific body of work (Bible criticism, European manuscript chronicles). Type of information specializations (quotations, publication histories) can also be allowed. Many specializations overlap, the GM may set defaults between them. The special default is to [(language) belle lettres] from Literature[language]-0, or IQ-6 in your native language. Logic (IQ/Hard) IQ-6 Philosophy-2 Law-4 any Science-4 The application of sound reasoning to practical problems, semantics and the construction of arguments. This is classical logic, informal and inductive methods (deriving plausible general principles from specific events) are at least as important as deductive logic. Modern logic (symbolic logic, set theory, Boolean algebra) is covered by the Mathematics skill. Mimicry (HT/Hard) IQ-6, HT-6 The ability to mimic sounds. You can reproduce familiar bird calls, animal sounds, or human voices, limited to the volumes possible for your vocal apparatus. In the case of voices you can produce the general sound of voices, or parrot a specific phrase. To actually speak in someone else's voice requires the Voices skill and appropriate fluency. Anyone casually familiar with the sound can be fooled on a simple success. Those intimately familiar with it get a contest of IQ or Naturalist to notice something odd about it. Animals use the rule of 12 in this contest if the sound is important to them. If successfully fooled they usually either approach to investigate or flee, depending on what the sound was. [Drop the distinction between bird calls and animal sounds and the Voice bonus] Oral Literature [Drop. Bardic Lore covers knowing a lot of oral literature. Standard literature skill is used to analyze works.] Oratory Use Bard to deliver speeches, Fast Talk or Rhetoric to write them. Phonetics Use Linguistics for the science; Grammar, Voices and Teaching for a speech therapist. Picture Writing use Literacy and Calligraphy instead. Poetry (IQ/Ave) IQ-5 Language-5 The ability to compose poetry and lyrics (hymns, flower-songs...) in any familiar style. Buy Literature or Literary Lore[poetry] to learn the styles of other cultures or eras. A success is a good poem, but a critical success is needed for enduring artistic value. Short poems such as Haiku can be composed in seconds at -4, or normal skill in a few minutes. Longer poems will require longer to polish. Apply up to +/-4 for the amount of time available to work on the poem. In some cultures speaking in verse has special status, it may be more honorable, or more likely to get a hearing, or required of certain personages or on ceremonial occasions. A Poetry roll each minute allows this to be done credibly. This skill is not used to recite poems (use Bard) or to recall them (use Bardic Lore[poetry]) In many cultures skilled poets gain a reaction bonus, buy this as a separate Reputation. Punning [The prerequisite is Fluency 12 or better.] Rhetoric (IQ/Ave) IQ-5 The art of persuasion. Rhetoric falls between Fast Talk and Logic, appealing both to the emotions and to reason. Unlike Fast Talk, those convinced by Rhetoric will not later feel cheated; they may decide your arguments are wrong, but will not think them deceptive. On the other hand rhetoric is less flexible than Fast Talk and takes more time. You need at least some facts to build an argument, and several minutes to deliver it. Like Fast Talk, Rhetoric will not persuade someone to injure his own interests or violate his ethics unless it furthers a goal he finds more important. Rhetoric is the primary skill of informal debaters, communications majors, and the better speech writers and advertisers. In a jury trial it may substitute for Law, in parliamentary debate for Politics. Sign Language [Treat sign languages exactly like any other language. If a character has an undefined skill 'Sign Language' give him the points in the most common specific one in the campaign] Singing. This is not a language task skill. Fluency influences the Bardic Lore roll needed to get the words *right*, not your ability to sing the ones you are using attractively. Skaldic Lore Alternate name for Bardic Lore. Speed Reading [CO p17 Buy a better level of Literacy instead.] Speed Reading[orthography] (IQ/Average) no default Prerequisite: Fluency and Literacy 12+ Speed reading is the art of selectively skimming a text; it must be learned separately for each orthography (language and script combination). You must make a Speed reading roll to get the general idea of a text, and for *each* significant detail you want to remember later. Each doubling of your reading speed gives you -2 to the skill roll (base reading speed is about 1 page per minute). A critical failure means you are certain of a detail, but wrong. Storytelling use Bard to tell stories, Composition to create them. Telegraphy [BS p55. Drop knowledge of Morse code. This is just an alternate name for Electronic Operation [Telegraph]. Any communications system requires an Operation skill to use the equipment, but it is not a language task skill. Composing or understanding a signal may require a separate Literacy (e.g. Morse is a phonetic literacy, the large flag code books are logographic literacies if they are actually memorized) but often does not. Translation. There is no specific translation skill, but you must be fairly fluent in both languages to do a credible job. Alternating translation, or translating text, requires a fluency of 10 in both languages, simultaneous running translation requires skills of 12. Ventriloquism (IQ/Ave) no default The ability to make you voice seem to come from elsewhere. It is an illusion, a successful roll fools your audience, not the physics of sound! It can't change the general direction of your voice (i.e. you can't throw your voice behind someone facing you). Modifiers include range (-3 per yard to the desired source) and the plausibility of the apparent source (+/-3). Voices (IQ/Ave) IQ-5 Acting-3 Performance-3 You can change the sound of your voice. You can make your voice unrecognizable or imitate specific tones of voice, dialects or foreign accents on a simple skill roll. You can also try to imitate an individual voice. People casually familiar it can be fooled by a simple success (e.g. imitating the voice of a famous screen star as a party trick), but people who know the voice well get a contest of IQ vs. Voices to resist (e.g. trying to convince said screen star's current lover over the phone). Early TL7 voice recognition systems can only be fooled by a critical success, TL8+ systems cannot be fooled by this skill at all. You can only imitate voices if you know what they sound like. Voices training includes exposure to a wide range of languages and accents (with the side benefit that you can identify a language or accent with a Voices roll) but if you have never heard someone speak you cannot try to imitate their voice. In situations where a slip could be critical, a roll may be required every minute to maintain a false voice. Writing Depending on the character concept substitute Composition, Rhetoric or Grammar[language]. As it appears in GURPS China, substitute Rhetoric and Calligraphy[Hanzi]. _____________________________________________________________ Cinematic Language Skills _____________________________________________________________ In cinematic settings language differences are often ignored, everyone speaks English at all times, though it is sometimes accented or broken. Even in fiction where the issue is not simply glossed over people pick up languages very fast (everyone has Language Talent) and most languages are useful over substantially wider areas or longer time spans than in reality. The most realistic way to simulate this is to ignore default penalties. Effectively the skills become the language families; you learn Romance! rather than French and Italian and Latin and.... Less realistic but fairly common is to use ethnic rather than linguistic groups. Usually these are larger and less related to real language families the further they are from Western Europe. Thus you may need skills as narrow as Arabic! or Slavic! or Turkish! to speak to these neighbors of Western Europe, but the groups widen quickly to American Indian! or Black African! and shift to species (Elvish!, Martian!) or broader (Humanoid!, Galactic!) by the time one leaves the mundane world. Another common approach is to allow gestures to be unrealistically useful. The justification is usually some gibberish about the universal meaning of gestures or, especially popular in the last century, the instinctive gesture language of prehistoric (proto)humans. It often shows up in 19th century adventure novels 'by signs I informed the natives that I was searching for an English traveler who had passed through two years ago' and older UFO contactee stories. Use: Gesture! (IQ/Easy) IQ-4 The cinematic ability to communicate with anybody or anything using gestures. It allows quite detailed communications, assume you can communicate as if it were a language skill - i.e., gesture 10 allows you to hold complicated conversations easily. Depending on the justification for the existence of this skill there may be a penalty if the gesturers are of a different species. And finally at any cinematic level many scholarly characters can understand a bit of just about every language encountered. Use: Languages! (IQ/Hard) no default The cinematic ability to understand just enough of a language to drive the plot (`hmm... the writing on this map appears to be in the language of an obscure Rhode Island tribe extinct since 1690... says something about a curse on the treasure...) or to convey some vital idea (Loudly, to horde of natives charging in from stage left: `Wait! Ooogha wooga walla walla!' Sotto voce to companions: `I have just explained to the headhunter chief we violated the sacred grove because of a curse put on us by his enemies'). It does not allow you to carry on extensive conversations or interpret everything you hear, just enough to get the key points.