[Hawkmoon] Languages

[voidstate]

I noticed something strange this evening while reading The Jewel in the Skull (it's - gulp! - almost 20 years since I last read the books so I figured I'd see what else they held besides dimly-remembered snippets anout giant flamingoes and beast-mask wearing mad Granbritanians).

So far Hawkmoon, a German, has been in Brit... Granbritannia, France and somewhere near (I'm assuming) Bulgaria, and he's never once encountered a language barrier. Yet, the Hawkmoon rulebook has each nation speaking it's own language and makes learning other languages pretty expensive in terms of skill points - 50% is required for a decent understanding.

Am I right in suspecting that the language thing was imported wholesale from Runequest without anyone picking up on the fact that following the Tragic Millenium, Europe seems to all speak the same tongue, presumably Esperanto or Kilingon or something?

If so, it's a shame as it makes travelling the continent much less a sweeping epic journey and more a linguistic minefield. It's much harder to find adventure when you have no idea what anyone is saying...

voidstate

 

[Mage]

Granted it is stupid, but if your the gm, take the language rule out.

 

[Facedanser]

I reckon its an Esperanto/ English hybrid language. Maybe with a dash of Russian thrown in........

Who cares??

Maybe everyone in the TM was infected with some wierd translator virus or summit???

 

[Mage]

Or you could take the high road like Star Trek. Everyone speaks english. Just accept it, hope nobody notices, dont question it, and the universe wont implode...

 

[Blackyinkin]

Hi All,

When we play the Straw Dogs campaign, we use Esperan, to communicate, but we always, ALWAYS! Use terrible accents when we talk, sadly I slip into Mummerset nearly ever time, no matter what nation I play. If you look up some 7th Sea website they used to have really funky accent guides and sample local words to make your dodgy accents feel more authentic.

Simon

 

[voidstate]

If you look up some 7th Sea website they used to have really funky accent guides and sample local words to make your dodgy accents feel more authentic.

Got a link? I Googled but couldn't find anything...

 

[Astromancer]

I'd make either French or German the language of trade and diplomacy. However, there seems to have be references to Latin in both the novels and the Choasium game. A form of Neo-Latin, with modified rules to make clear basic comunication (How much for a meal and a room? Where did the soldiers go? ect..) much easier, 25% works as well as fifty, but fine diplomactic speach requier the same skill as other tongues, would fit the Baroque/Rocco/Fin-de-Sicle Decadent Planetary Romance style of the setting.

 

[weasel_fierce]

I'd use some sort of bastardized French. I figure its just an oversight

 

[Lord High Munchkin]

Dear All,

It all depends how far in the future you want to place the events in 'Hawkmoon'.

Most spoken languages tend to historically last 400-700 years before the mutate into some (closely related, but unintelligible) new language.

Even after about 250 years, and allowing for modern communications, pronunciation and grammar start to diverge markedly - as can be see seen in several "real-life" languages.

I use a devolved and combined version of the French/English languages I call "Mongolfian" as the standard spoken tongue in my 'Hawkmoon' games.

Regards