Languages in Ravenloft

[Rebel Mage]

So, I'm slowly reading more and more Ravenloft things in between all the other things I do (and expanding my Ravenloft collection; I've recently found very cheap copies of the two Gazetteers I still needed!), and I'm left wondering something: How do people handle the different languages? There doesn't seem to be a Common. In my game, I just handwave that, because my player characters are originally from Toril/FR, so having that language barrier with everyone would just be a constant inconvenience that would get old really quickly.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

They learn other languages or hire a translator.

[IanFordam]

I've run three short Ravenloft campaigns. In the first, the characters were not only native to Ravenloft, they were native to Darkon, so languages were already accounted for. In the second, I had a mix of native and non-native characters. Because the campaign started months after the non-natives had been drawn in by the Mists, they all had learned enough Liffen to get by. (This is also the campaign for which I created tears of translation to help with other languages.) As for the third campaign, only one character was native, so I had the Vistana who recruited the party cast a bit of magic to let the non-natives speak Balok for the duration of the adventure. The idea was that they were learning the language for real as the magic diminished.

In general, though, even in my homebrew worlds I tend to have multiple widespread languages in place of a single Common. My players are used to leaving language slots free so that they can eventually learn what they need as they adventure.

[Rebel Mage]

I've run three short Ravenloft campaigns. In the first, the characters were not only native to Ravenloft, they were native to Darkon, so languages were already accounted for. In the second, I had a mix of native and non-native characters. Because the campaign started months after the non-natives had been drawn in by the Mists, they all had learned enough Liffen to get by. (This is also the campaign for which I created tears of translation to help with other languages.) As for the third campaign, only one character was native, so I had the Vistana who recruited the party cast a bit of magic to let the non-natives speak Balok for the duration of the adventure. The idea was that they were learning the language for real as the magic diminished.

In general, though, even in my homebrew worlds I tend to have multiple widespread languages in place of a single Common. My players are used to leaving language slots free so that they can eventually learn what they need as they adventure.

Tears of Translation? What's that? That sounds fun. (Love some alliteration, too. )

[IanFordam]

Tears of Translation? What's that? That sounds fun. (Love some alliteration, too. )

From Quoth the Raven Issue 30, p.124:

Tears of Translation

The so-called tears of translation are a magical potion which eases communication for the user. Drops placed in both ears allow the user to comprehend languages which she hears. Drops placed in both eyes allow the user to comprehend languages which she reads. (A drop in a single ear or eye has no effect.) A single drop upon the tongue allows the user to speak any single language which her audience comprehends, as the tongues spell. Note that a drop upon the tongue does not allow any comprehension, rendering it generally useless unless used in conjunction with two drops in the ears.

A single vial ordinarily contains 5d4 drops. Its effects last for 3d4x10 minutes per application.

Tears of translation were originally produced in Rokushima Táiyoo. However, once trade was established with that land, such a useful potion immediately caught widespread attention. In some cases vials of the tears have been sold; in other cases,
reverse-engineered. In yet other cases, they were simply imitated, although these knock-off tears often have shorter durations or, worse yet, garble their translations.

[Mistmaster]

So, I'm slowly reading more and more Ravenloft things in between all the other things I do (and expanding my Ravenloft collection; I've recently found very cheap copies of the two Gazetteers I still needed!), and I'm left wondering something: How do people handle the different languages? There doesn't seem to be a Common. In my game, I just handwave that, because my player characters are originally from Toril/FR, so having that language barrier with everyone would just be a constant inconvenience that would get old really quickly.

In Canon Ravenloft, no Common, in the Mistworld that is Baloki.