At character creation, the players have the option of choosing some languages. I use the Mongoose 1st edition rules for my game and it’s set in the mostly-recognizable Imperium, so that gives me some direction. I come down like this:
- All players speak Anglic ( the Imperial “common” language ).
- Does the character’s homeworld have its own languge? If I know for a fact they do ( Vland ) or it doesn’t seem like they’d speak Anglic ( Terra ), or there’s enough people and history for a language to develop ( Te-Zlodh ), or it’s some race’s defined homeworld, then it has its own languages. The character from there can speak that language, too. If it seems like they speak Anglic there, oh well. It’s a “lost slot.”
- If the character is a non-human, I let them speak that race’s language. ( and isn’t that a quaint idea, that other races are monolinguistic? )
- Then we look at EDU/INT, and give them additional languages equal to the bonus for whichever is higher.
- If a character chooses the Language skill, it works just as it’s supposed to.
I know this could be a bunch of languages, but the idea of a starting character speaking a bunch of languages at the start of a game doesn’t bother me. I feel like humans by default are very able to learn multiple languages, and it’s just growing up in the good ol’ USA that makes people think polyglottery is some kind of fierce talent. Also, I feel like at both higher and lower tech levels it’s easier to learn multiple languages.
Another key point is that in stellar cultures – language translators are ubiquitous so language and translation becomes more of a characterization and plot thing, and less a skill optimization thing. Anyone can pick up a translator and understand and maybe speak Oynprith. But in a situation where a character actually knows the language and can speak it, I’ll craft the in-game situation to mostly reward that in-game rarity. It could also be a detriment – if the patron learns one of the characters actually speaks the language of one of his enemies, how does that change things?
So, which languages?
My games are set in Deneb sector, usually in the Marches or the Reach. I feel like large population, high-importance worlds ( thank you, TravellerMap! ) that have their own language also probably spread that with their influence, so for the Marches I came up with this list for the players to choose from:
Anglic – I have them choose an “accent”: Standard ( whatever this is ), Service ( kinda like the southern-ish drawl a lot of Army people pick up, regardless of where they’re from or where they serve ), Riftian, Darrian, Sword Worlder, Core, Rim
Regular Vilani – clearly an influential world and language
High Vilani – like Latin for us; the language of science
Moran – I say spoken on Mora
Reginan – I say spoken on Regina
Rhylanoran – I say spoken on Rhylanor
Sagamaal – Sworldworld “common” ( I feel like this is a Solomani offshoot, evolved enough on its own to be considered a unique language )
Te-Zlodh – spoken by the Darrians
Trader Cant – I made this up, as I loved the idea in Blade Runner and The Expanse of having a lower-class version of Anglic; a kind of pidgin spoken by belters, free traders, and assorted riffraff
Marine Battle Language – Lifted straight from Marc Miller’s novel Agent of the Imperium. A silent, subtle gesture combat/intelligence language
Terran – #becauseTerra
Zdetl – spoken by the Zhodani
Oynprith – racial common language of the Dryone
Trokh – racial common language of the Aslan
Gvegh – racial common language of the Vargr