As part of a long-term project idea, I've come up with a chart for giving the chances of misunderstanding when two people are conversing in different dialects of the same language, based on their Intelligence.
Literate speakers of a language (those with on Intelligence of 9 or above) will be able to understand another literate speaker of the same language using a different dialect (e.g., regional dialects of Common, or different versions of Elvish, etc.). However, characters with a lower Intelligence that are speaking in or listening to a dialect of the language other than their own have a chance to misunderstand or be misunderstood (respectively), based on the intelligence of the person to whom they are speaking (due to thickness of accent, reliance on slang, and lack of vocabulary).
I just give differences in dialect or language or language family corresponding penalties to the reaction roll(though I do use the expanded table from the 83 menzter basic set which allows for negotiation)
ReplyDelete