Morse Code, etc.

[Blackjack]

Say a character wants to learn Morse code, semaphore (sp?), sign language, etc, with language he already knows. Do these count as separate languages or could you use an adder like you would with Literacy?

Thanks.
Jeff

[Steve Long]

Here's an excerpt from The Ultimate Skill, a work in progress:


Humans have invented many different ways to communicate other than speaking and writing. Some of these include Braille (which allows blind people to read), various forms of sign language (which allow deaf people to “talk”), semaphore, and Morse Code (for use with telegraphs).

Characters who want to know one of these “languages” simply have to pay 1 Character Point for an appropriate form of Literacy (such as Literacy (Braille) or Literacy (American Sign Language)). They can then use that Literacy with any Languages they know that use the same alphabet for which he learned the Literacy. For example, suppose a character has English as his native Language, and can also speak French and Finnish. He learns American Sign Language, which uses the Latin alphabet. He can use ASL to “sign” words in any of his three Languages, since they all use the Latin alphabet. But he couldn’t use ASL to sign words in Russian or Greek, even if he knew them, because they use different alphabets (he might be able to use ASL to sign Russian or Greek words phonetically, however). But he could spend another point to learn a form of sign language compatible with Russian and its Cyrillic alphabet, if he wanted to.

Some sign languages, such as the one used by the Plains Indians in the nineteenth century, don’t work like this — they’re actual gesture-based languages used as a form of communication by two people who don’t share a common spoken language. These sign languages are bought as normal Languages, not as a form of Literacy.