Polyglot

[Lucius]

The Universal Translator talent costs 20 pts.

Buying it up to a roll of <=14 (about a 90% chance) then limiting it to "Only languages the character could reasonably know" (- 1) costs 11 pts.

 

I was thinking that somewhere between 10 and 20 one could set a point at which, if a character spends that much on languages (including Linguist) then rather than spending points for each individual language, they can be assumed to speak any language they can justify with their background.

 

Perhaps it would still cost something extra to speak any given language "like a native."

 

 

Lucius Alexander

 

the palindromedary knows English backwards and forwards

[GhostDancer]

What if the character fails the roll for a language s/he has already spoken? I don't like the Activation Limitation. As a GM, if I approved this, and the character fails the roll, I'd say, "You KNOW this. It's right on the tip of your tongue. You get another roll on your next Phase, if you like."

[IndianaJoe3]

At some point, a Language VPP would be easier to deal with.

[Lucius]

At some point' date=' a Language VPP would be easier to deal with.[/quote']

 

Like this?

 

Variable Power Pool (Languages), 12 base + 12 control cost, Powers Can Be Changed As A Half-Phase Action (+1/2), No Skill Roll Required (+1) (27 Active Points); Limited Power Languages Only (-2), Limited Power Only languages the character could reasonably know (-1/2)

 

Costs 16 pts, 17 if I disallow the "only languages the character could reasonably know" Limitation.

 

 

Did you mean "easier to deal with than Universal Translator" or "easier to deal with than making the character buy a dozen languages"?

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Easier to deal with than a palindromedary?

[Lucius]

Well now that's interesting. Apparently if I quote one person, it won't let me quote anyone else?

 

To answer the "what if" question: I said "They can be assumed to speak any language they can justify" etc. There is no "what if they fail the roll" because they're not required to make a roll.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary requires a baker to make a roll

 

[IndianaJoe3]

At some point' date=' a Language VPP would be easier to deal with.[/quote']

 

Like this?

 

Variable Power Pool (Languages), 12 base + 12 control cost, Powers Can Be Changed As A Half-Phase Action (+1/2), No Skill Roll Required (+1) (27 Active Points); Limited Power Languages Only (-2), Limited Power Only languages the character could reasonably know (-1/2)

 

Costs 16 pts, 17 if I disallow the "only languages the character could reasonably know" Limitation.

 

 

Did you mean "easier to deal with than Universal Translator" or "easier to deal with than making the character buy a dozen languages"?

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Easier to deal with than a palindromedary?

You don't get the described problem with Universal Translator (missing the roll the second time). It's also cheaper than buying half a dozen or so languages, most of which won't show up in play. It's especially good for protocol droids and other characters who would know a lot of languages.

[Vondy]

Shelley had a similar Talent for her Regency Hero games. You paid 10 points for your character to be able to use any languages their background could reasonably justify. You can find her Regency Hero page.

You could also leverage the toolkitting option for combination skill rules from 6E.

[Ninja-Bear]

This conversation is all greek to me!

[psyber624]

A lot would depend on your definition of "Only languages the player could reasonably know". At -1 that should be a fairly strict requirement and therefore only MAJOR languages and those associated with other skills would qualify in my book. Another interpretation of that would be a true "linguist" that has studied all the languages he can get his hands on and so only obscure tongues, Alien languages, and made up "code" type languages would be forbidden. That interpretation is barely worth -1/4 (assuming you don't deal with a lot of aliens in your game). So I would definitely want a better definition of that limitation in any of my games.

 

Also Universal Translator is by no means the same as buying the Language itself. You can only communicate in the crudest of ways and there are a number of other limitations as well.

[Lucius]

 

Also Universal Translator is by no means the same as buying the Language itself. You can only communicate in the crudest of ways and there are a number of other limitations as well.

 

Also Universal Translator is by no means the same as buying the Language itself. You can only communicate in the crudest of ways and there are a number of other limitations as well.

 

Which would seem to highlight the need for something that IS the same as buying the language itself - but also argues against making it cheap, since unmodified Universal Translator is 20 pts.

 

Polyglot: Universal Translator 14-, Fully Invisible (+1), Time Limit (1 Hour; +1 1/4) (75 Active Points); Limited Power Only for languages the character has a chance of having learned (-1) Real Cost: 37

Only have to make the roll every hour, and Fully Invisible means no one can tell the difference between you and a native speaker.

 

At a cost of 37, that's a lot more expensive than the Variable Power Pool...

 

​As far as a better definition of the Limitation, what I had in mind was that the player would still need a list of all known Languages - I'm just not sure it should be necessary to pay full price for them when there are, say, a dozen.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

palindromedaryglot

[Lucius]

This conversation is all greek to me!

 

Now, there's an interesting curse.

 

It's All Greek to You: Universal Translator 11-/15-, Uncontrolled (+1/2), Usable As Attack (Defense is: Already speaking Greek; +1 1/4) (55 Active Points); Only to translate everything into Greek (-3), Costs Endurance (Only Costs END to Activate; -1/4) Real Cost: 13

 

Everything the victim hears, sounds like Greek to the victim, and everything the victim says, sounds like Greek to others.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary reports that in Greece, when something isn't making sense they say "it sounds like Turkish."

 

[Killer Shrike]

Autodidactism, an extension of the Cramming rules, has some relevance to this.

[psyber624]

The fact that something could be bought cheaper by using VPP isn't really an argument that it is overpriced in my opinion. VPP is far too cheap for what it does and shouldn't really be used as a guideline. I am also not really sure why you applied those two advantages to your build to get the 37 point cost, they aren't really needed. I would also highly disagree with what you said fully invisible would do in that situation. (Honestly it wouldn't do anything, Universal Translator is built with Detect which is a Sensory power meaning its already fully invisible according to RAW)

 

I can agree that for many campaigns the cost for languages can be more expensive than what you get for the points, but that can be said for most campaigns. The same can be said for many other collections of skills (Scientists, Scholars, etc) that you might want to include on a character sheet without expecting them to actually be useful. I don't think that Universal Translator is the best way to build something like that tho.

 

I will agree however with your original idea that at some point you could allow them to speak anything they want to. Unless you plan to have your players routinely travel to exotic locales its not like doing that would have ANY effect on your game, and, as the GM, you would have total control over what effect it would have as well so no objections here

[Lucius]

The fact that something could be bought cheaper by using VPP isn't really an argument that it is overpriced in my opinion. VPP is far too cheap for what it does and shouldn't really be used as a guideline.

 

You certainly have a point.

 

I am also not really sure why you applied those two advantages to your build to get the 37 point cost, they aren't really needed.

 

The Time Limit Advantage was to get around the requirement to be constantly making rolls. That could be handwaved instead, especially if the roll is bought up to whatever level is considered appropriate.

 

I would also highly disagree with what you said fully invisible would do in that situation. (Honestly it wouldn't do anything, Universal Translator is built with Detect which is a Sensory power meaning its already fully invisible according to RAW)

 

Then feel free to rename it to whatever name you would consider appropriate for that Advantage.

 

I can agree that for many campaigns the cost for languages can be more expensive than what you get for the points, but that can be said for most campaigns. The same can be said for many other collections of skills (Scientists, Scholars, etc) that you might want to include on a character sheet without expecting them to actually be useful. I don't think that Universal Translator is the best way to build something like that tho.

 

I will agree however with your original idea that at some point you could allow them to speak anything they want to. Unless you plan to have your players routinely travel to exotic locales its not like doing that would have ANY effect on your game, and, as the GM, you would have total control over what effect it would have as well so no objections here

 

As it happens, I'm running a Turakian Age game, and that setting is realistic in at least one way, there are numerous languages and dialects. In fact, no two of the player characters share a native language in common!

 

Lucius Alexander

 

I should have fed it to a palindromedary

[JasonPacker]

For your own situation, Lucius, does Turakian Age provide a Language Table akin to the one on 6E1 80 for the languages presented in those rules? Between that, and Linguist, it might just be cheaper to put a few points into the Mother Tongues and a single point at best in each of the others and see what that winds up costing you.

[Ockham's Spoon]

In my games, Universal Translator is usually used as a plot device so that the PCs can talk with NPCs. I generally only require a roll for one of two reasons. First, if the character is trying to understand a truly alien language or cipher. The second is in the case of delicate diplomatic conversation where the wrong word could be insulting. Otherwise, for the sake of convenience, I just declare it to work, no roll required. If the language is unusual, I might "translate" in broken English, but more for flavor than content.

 

My rationale is that if you buy Linguist and 17 points of languages, you can cover a lot of ground linguistically, especially if you use the related languages chart. Also, 20 points is a lot to spend for a single noncombat ability, so I sort of feel the player should be rewarded for dedicating that many points for something that is mostly a convenience for the GM.

[Christopher]

In my games, Universal Translator is usually used as a plot device so that the PCs can talk with NPCs. I generally only require a roll for one of two reasons. First, if the character is trying to understand a truly alien language or cipher. The second is in the case of delicate diplomatic conversation where the wrong word could be insulting. Otherwise, for the sake of convenience, I just declare it to work, no roll required. If the language is unusual, I might "translate" in broken English, but more for flavor than content.

 

My rationale is that if you buy Linguist and 17 points of languages, you can cover a lot of ground linguistically, especially if you use the related languages chart. Also, 20 points is a lot to spend for a single noncombat ability, so I sort of feel the player should be rewarded for dedicating that many points for something that is mostly a convenience for the GM.

I agree to that: There is the rule of "What not to Spend Points on". There is the Rule "A Limitation/Complication that isn't a problem isn't worth any points".

 

I recently shortened it too: "If it doesn't affect the game regulary, just keep it out of the Sheet's Math already".

The UT would be a good example for something that could be free or reduced cost in Superheroes. Similary I don't think PS:Florist has any significance to Superheroing so I would consider to allow it for free (in addition to the normal Everyman Skills). If the player somehow (you know how they are) manages to find applications for his "Floral Skills" in a regular fashion, he can always stop using it or start paying for it retroactively next time EP are handed out.

 

As it happens' date=' I'm running a Turakian Age game, and that setting is realistic in at least one way, there are numerous languages and dialects. In fact, no two of the player characters share a native language in common![/quote']

Not the number of Mother languages are important, but how much "Language" affects the actuall gameplay. Not having the one Character who speak the language in earshoot can be a Campaign breaker if they should overhear the "Plot Important Conversation". As Ockham says: Wide language ability is more a thing of Plot- and GM-Convenience, then an actuall Power/Ability.

And if it isn't an Power/Ability, it should not cost any points.