Read/Write Language (None)

Trained Only

The Read/Write Language skill doesn't work like a standard skill.

A character automatically knows how to read and write his or her native language; the character does not need ranks to do so.

Each additional language costs 1 rank. When a character adds a rank to Read/Write Language, he or she chooses a new language that the character can read and write.

A character never makes Read/Write Language checks. A character either knows how to read and write a specific language or doesn't.

To be able to speak a language that the character can read and write, he or she must take the Speak Language skill for the appropriate language.

A character can choose any language, modern or ancient. (See below for suggestions.) The GM might determine that a character can't learn a specific language due to the circumstances of the campaign.

Language Groups

There are thousands of languages to choose from when a character buys ranks in Speak Language or Read/Write Language. A few are listed here, sorted into their general language groups.

A language's group doesn't matter when a character is buying ranks in Speak Language or Read/Write Language. Language groups are provided because they pertain to the Smart hero's Linguist talent.

This list is by no means exhaustive-there are many more language groups, and most groups contain more languages than those listed here.

Algic: Algonkin, Arapaho, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Shawnee.

Armenian: Armenian.

Athabascan: Apache, Chipewyan, Navaho.

Attic: Ancient Greek*, Greek.

Baltic: Latvian, Lithuanian.

Celtic: Gaelic (Irish), Gaelic (Scots), Welsh.

Chinese: Cantonese, Mandarin.

Finno-Lappic: Estonian, Finnish, Lapp.

Germanic: Afrikaans, Danish, Dutch, English, Flemish, German, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish, Yiddish.

Hamo-Semitic: Coptic*, Middle Egyptian*.

Indic: Hindi, Punjabi, Sanskrit*, Urdu.

Iranian: Farsi, Pashto.

Japanese: Japanese.

Korean: Korean.

Romance: French, Italian, Latin*, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish.

Semitic: Akkadian (aka Babylonian)*, Ancient Hebrew*, Arabic, Aramaic*, Hebrew.

Slavic: Belorussian, Bulgarian, Czech, Polish, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Slovak, Ukrainian.

Tibeto-Burman: Burmese, Sherpa, Tibetan.

Turkic: Azerbaijani, Turkish, Uzbek.

Ugric: Hungarian (aka Magyar).

*This is an ancient language. In the modern world it is spoken only by scholars, or in some cases by small populations in isolated corners of the world.