One aspect of roleplaying games that often goes overlooked is language and communication. Even when multiple different languages are in play, understanding those languages tends to be a binary thing. A character is either perfectly fluent or finds it to be total gibberish, with nothing in between and easily able to switch from one to the other instantaneously. This binary approach is simple to adjudicate, but is not particularly intuitive or interesting. With nothing riding on your understanding of a language except the ability to interact with NPCs, there isn't a lot of incentive to make it more interesting either.
Realm of Runes approaches language from a more integrated and holistic standpoint. No matter what ancestry your character is, what background you come from, or what class you pursue, there is reason and utility for knowing and learning many different languages. There is also more than one binary step to understanding language, and you are rewarded for improving fluency in an organic and intuitive way. Language does not vie strongly for your limited character resources, though. While there are feats that will improve your fluency with one or more languages at a time, these are designed to be mainly quality-of-life improvements or get-fluent-quick options. Characters can study languages in Downtime and improve their fluency organically without ever having to spend a single feat to do so.
SPOKEN, SIGNED & WRITTEN LANGUAGE
Every language in Realm of Runes has two versions: a spoken version and a signed version. These are each treated as a different language for the purposes of usage and fluency, but remain closely related nevertheless. Regardless of whether you understand the spoken or signed version of a language, the written form is the same. If you understand both the spoken and signed versions, you get to use whichever fluency is better (if different) when determining how well you read and write. Sign language as an equal option is maintained throughout Realm of Runes, and it is perfectly possible to make a character that only uses it. Even typically spoken effects, such as Verbal Casting spell components, are designed with the possibility of sign language use. For example, if you only know sign language, you can freely replace Verbal Casting with Somatic Casting instead. This has the advantage of being quiet, but the drawback of being Intricate.
LINGUAL TRAIT
Beyond just the ability for characters to talk to each other, the primary way that language influences options in Realm of Runes is through the lingual trait. If an effect has this trait, then its effectiveness hinges on language in two similar ways. First is how that language is used. Any lingual effect in Realm of Runes can be used with spoken language or sign language at the user's discretion (assuming they know both spoken and signed languages).
Spoken language must be heard to be understood, gaining the auditory trait. Creatures that can't hear are always immune to effects with the auditory trait. Sign language must be seen to be understood, gaining the visual trait. Creatures that can't see are always immune to effects with the visual trait. Since you choose the language, and whether it is spoken or signed, you can pick your language and type tactically to include or exclude targets from your lingual effects. Besides the language used, the effectiveness of the lingual trait is also influenced by fluency, both yours and the target's. There are 5 steps of fluency: Foreign, Broken, Conversant, Fluent and Academic.
FOREIGN
A foreign language is not understood at all. You cannot use lingual effects in a foreign language, and any attempts to do so result in nothing but gibberish to those that actually understand it. If another creature tries to use a lingual effect on you in a foreign language, nothing happens because you don't understand it. This can be a benefit or a hindrance depending on the context, as there are many helpful effects that are lingual and a similar quantity of harmful effects, too. All characters start off treating every language as foreign and improve from there through options selected during character creation, or through study during play.
BROKEN
Broken fluency with a language is enough to muddle through a conversation, but with poor grammar and syntax. It is still some understanding, however, which means it's possible to use and understand lingual effects with broken language. It isn't easy, though. You take a -2 circumstance penalty to lingual checks and DCs against creatures that are more fluent than you, and your poor understanding of the language requires that you pass a DC 6 flat check each time you use a lingual effect or the attempt fails. This is the same difficulty as if you were trying to do something auditory while deafened, or do something visual while blinded.
If another creature attempts to use a lingual effect on you in a language that you only have broken proficiency with, there's a greater chance of success if they're more fluent than you. If that's the case, then the DC of the flat check to understand a lingual effect in a broken language is reduced to 3. This reduction makes understanding a broken language easier than speaking one. So if your goal is to know just enough to get by and be involved in conversations, broken fluency can be sufficient. It's also the easiest to come by during play, so if you're feeling left out after traveling because everything is happening in a foreign language, you can get to this level of functional understanding fairly quickly.
CONVERSANT
Conversant fluency is good enough to carry a casual conversation, but important conventions and nuances may be beyond your grasp. Much like how it's easier to understand a language than speak it with broken fluency, the only times you have to worry about a meaning getting lost in translation when you're conversant is when you're the one doing the talking. If you are conversant in a language, you always fully understand lingual effects when used by others, but must attempt a DC 3 flat check when you try to use them yourself. This works out to a 10% chance of failure, which is small enough to not worry about all the time, but just large enough that there's always a chance you might accidentally get things mixed up.
All ancestries in Realm of Runes grant conversant fluency with at least one language during character creation, and there are many other ways to pick up this level of fluency directly during play. The Society skill's Multilingual feat, for example, gives you two increases to your proficiency with one language, or one increase to your proficiency with two. Other options can even apply conversant fluency to more bizarre areas. The Gnomish ancestry feat Animal Speaker makes you conversant in the natural sounds of animal and insects. Certain magic, like the spell comprehend language, can also simply grant a target conversant fluency with any language on the fly, even if temporarily.
FLUENT
Fluent is the fluency for native speakers, or for those that have practiced well enough to act as if they are native speakers. There are no restrictions placed on a language or lingual effect if you are fluent with it. You understand perfectly, and can use it perfectly. The only potential chance of failure comes from another's lack of understanding, such as if the one you're speaking to has only broken fluency.
All ancestries in Realm of Runes start off fluent in at least one language, in addition to the language that starts off conversant. Other options can bring you to fluent more directly. All Druids, for example, are fluent in the spoken and signed versions of Druidic as part of their initiation. Certain magic, like the tongues spell, can also make a target fluent with one or more languages on the fly, even if temporarily.
ACADEMIC FLUENCY
Academic fluency is an exceptional grasp of a language beyond even that of native speakers, and is better than the default assumption of fluent. If you invest in a language enough to reach academic fluency, you are rewarded with a +1 un-typed bonus to lingual checks and DCs if using that language against a creature less fluent than you. If you use a lot of lingual spells, or just like to bamboozle others with clever wordplay using Deception, academic fluency can help you be even better at doing so than most.
No options in Realm of Runes grant academic fluency as a default, but it can still be obtained even during character creation if you want it. In addition to the fluent and conversant languages that each ancestry lets you choose, they all also provide an additional benefit for smart characters of that ancestry. If you have the best Intelligence that ancestry can offer (+1 for most ancestries, or +0 for Orcs) you get to either improve one language by two steps or increase two languages by one step each. These boosts can add new languages, or can be used to take languages you're already good at and make them exceptional.
Language and fluency are integrated into all aspects of Realm of Runes in such a way that it doesn't feel pointless, but also doesn't require much of a character's focus. With many lingual effects available, interfacing with language needs to be just complex enough to be interesting and rewarding to those who care, but without requiring burdensome levels of attention either. Whether you love it or hate it, there are plenty of effects that aren't lingual, too, so it never has to consume more of your focus than you choose. Next time we'll resume our exploration of classes with the class that is the undisputed king of interfacing with skills, the Rogue.
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