Languages are classified as familiar, standard, or unfamiliar based on a character’s existing language proficiencies and the setting. Familiar languages are closely related to one a character knows, while unfamiliar languages have very little in common with any languages a character knows. Any language that does not meet either of these qualifications is considered standard. A language’s classification influences how difficult it is to learn, and a single language can be classified differently for different characters at the same time.

The Narrator decides which languages have which classification, but the following table of relationships is appropriate for many settings and may either be used wholesale or as a starting point for a setting-specific language tree.

Only the entries listed in the Languages sidebar of Chapter 2: Origins in Adventurer’s Guide have been included in this table. Other languages in Level Up you may wish to incorporate into your system include Boggard, Druidic, Giant Eagle, Giant Elk, Giant Owl, Jabber, Minotaur, Mycelial, Shahuagin, Scorpionfolk, Troglodyte, Winter Wolf, Worg, and Yeti. While some of these languages may be closely related to each other, without an appropriate feature or background, it is likely that they are unfamiliar to most adventurers. There is also the Khalkos language, but as it is scent-based, it is considered unfamiliar to all non-Khalkoi and is nearly impossible to learn without intensive study with a fluent speaker.

Table: Language Relationships

Reclassifying Languages

When a character reaches the fluent rank in a language, that language and any other languages it is related to are reclassified as familiar. When this happens, a character retains their language rank in any related languages, but their language bonuses and points for those languages are adjusted to match their current rank in the familiar classification according to the Levels of Language Proficiency Table.

Learning Languages

During character creation, choose any number (but at least one) of the languages from your culture for your character to be fluent in. In the case of each you do not choose to be fluent in and each time a feature grants a language proficiency, you may instead receive either 10 or 4d4 language points and invest them into as many languages as desired. If a feature names a specific language, like Celestial from the aasimar Planetouched gift, you should first consult your Narrator before exchanging it for language points.

The number of language points you invest in a given language determines both your language rank and your language bonus (see Language Checks below). Points invested in a language in excess of what is required for a given rank have no effect until you can invest enough additional points to reach the next rank. Note that all characters are at least beginners in any familiar languages, as the rank has a 0 point requirement.

Note: While this article mostly references “speaking” in terms of communication, learning a language is assumed to allow a creature to also read, write, and sign at the same level of proficiency. Those wishing for a more technical approach should consult Further Granularity under Additional Options below.

Training

You can also gain language points by training during downtime. To gain 1 language point, you must study for a number of days equal to 25 – twice your Intelligence modifier (minimum 1). Doing so means paying 2 gold and 5 silver per day of study for a tutor. The Narrator may also rule that an ally fluent in the language is able teach you for a negotiated (or perhaps no) fee. The Narrator can also give out language points as adventuring rewards to characters who extensively practice their skills in an appropriate region.

Table: Levels of Language Proficiency

A character using these advanced rules can have one of five language ranks for any given language: non-proficient, beginning, intermediate, advanced, and fluent. See Learning Languages below for details on how to determine your language rank. Whenever a character attempts to use a language, players and Narrators can refer to the following descriptions of language ranks to guide roleplay.

Non-Proficient

Creatures without a given language proficiency do not speak the language, although they may still use a language to a limited extent. Trained animals, for instance, can comprehend a few words, and characters may learn basic phrases like “Thank you”, “Where is the privy?”, or “Excuse me, do you speak [language]?” through cultural osmosis or a brief crash course.

Beginner

Beginner speakers use short and simple present tense phrases about very common subjects. They have a limited vocabulary, make frequent mistakes, and often have heavy accents, which makes it almost impossible for them to blend in with native speakers. Although they struggle to comprehend those who don’t speak slowly or simplify their language, they can still manage to meet their basic needs in a foreign environment.

Intermediate

Intermediate speakers can use longer phrases and are comfortable with different tenses. They can speak about a wider range of subjects than beginners but still usually know only generic, common words. Although their mistakes and accents are still noticeable, they may receive compliments on their language skills from native speakers. They usually understand others well enough to get their general meaning, although they may miss significant details and be overwhelmed by particularly fast speakers or highly informal or technical speech.

Advanced

Advanced speakers can usually pass as fluent speakers, except when they encounter jargon, slang, or unfamiliar idioms. They may still have an accent, but they can hide it with effort, and their errors are usually subtle and infrequent. Advanced speakers are comfortable enough to start playing with how they express themselves, but they sometimes misjudge how well they can do so and occasionally fail to pick up on puns and nuances that would be obvious to native speakers.

Fluent

Those who are fluent in a language are either native speakers or not meaningfully distinct from native speakers.

There are three main factions in Shalehold, two of which are specialized organizations detailed here.

Notable Organization: Fisherfolk

Made up of some of the founding merchant families of Shalehold, the Fisherfolk have a strong grasp on any shipping or transportation via the river.

Structure: Oligarchy of two representatives from each of the five founding families, led by an annually elected leader.

Symbol: A fish caught in a net on a blue field

Base of Operations: Grade 4 House, a building of understated opulence called The Kelpie Lodge.

Beliefs: The old order (and its power structure) should be maintained.

Goals: Preserve the prosperity and influence of the five families.

While the name reveals their humble origins, the families of the Fisherfolk have become the economic leaders of Shalehold. However, no matter how much wealth lines their pockets, the five families and their client families can’t break the glass ceiling of social status to be truly accepted by the nobility. This has led to some quietly paying off lawmakers at best, and others planning an eventual bloody revolt at worst.

Notable Organization: The Knotmakers

Officially this group is known as the Honorable Guild of Shalehold Ropemakers, but the legitimate business has long ago given way to criminal enterprise.

Structure: Authoritarian. Multiple smaller gangs led by a single boss

Symbol: A rope tied into a complex knot on a black field

Base of Operations: Grade 3 Guildhouse, ostensibly for Honorable Guild of Shalehold Ropemakers, located in the labyrinthine slum known as The Knot.

The Knotmakers have no united beliefs or goals beyond survival and personal gain. Currently led by Mariam “Shark Tooth” White, the one-time guild has something in common with its parent organization: they put a great deal of emphasis on membership. While there are some boroughs far from the docks that are outside their reach, every criminal working in Knotmaker territory pays a portion of their haul to the Knotmakers or (if they’re lucky) lives to regret it. Previous leadership exempted children under 12 from this rule, leading to ringleaders recruiting young urchins to their numbers in droves. Shark Tooth White is planning a crackdown on such activities, including a sure-to-be unpopular “tax” on a group for each child they have as a member.

Gul, Knotmaker Rumormonger

At 16, Gul is the oldest of his dockside crew, but one of the youngest full members of the Knotmakers (use stats for a cutthroat , with a dagger in place of a shortsword). His lank brown hair, oversized clothes, and a fine layer of dirt make him appear sick and emaciated, but he is healthy and possessed of wiry strength and the reflexes of a striking snake.

While he’s still quick enough to pickpockets or cut a purse, Gul spends most of his time in the pose of a beggar boy down by the docks listening to comings and goings and selling on rumors. He is extremely protective of his crew, and more than one angry merchant has felt the nick of his blade, and a few guards who were too liberal with the lash have been found under the docks with a single knife wound.

Idilia, Baroness of Riva

Like many aristocrats of far-flung provinces, Baroness Idilia (use stats for a noble ) claims descent from a glorious line of royalty, which she has reinforced by becoming a prolific patroness of the arts. Statues, paintings, and more immortalize ancestors of a lineage at least half fabricated. What is not an illusion, however, is her family’s influence on Shalehold. Her household troops have robust numbers, and the ships that patrol Shalehold’s harbor and surrounding waters are paid for from her own substantial coffers, keeping both the Fisherfolk and the Knotmakers, the two other factions in the city, ostensibly in check.

Clamoring around Idilia are her many courtiers, seeking the scraps of her fortune and favors. While she may seem like a vain, empty-headed old gossip, the baroness’s social prowess is razor sharp, and she uses her many parties and salons to gather and pass on information of all kinds. The jockeying for favor and position have only increased in recent years, as the now middle-aged Idilia has had several consorts, but no named heir.

Thandor, Darn, and Karrel Goldbeard, Illicit Traders

Even within a crime-riddled and lawless city, you find merchants who ply their trade in honesty, never cheating or stealing. The Goldbeards are not that kind of merchant. Shaving coins, adding a thumb to the scale, and passing stolen and counterfeit goods are all in a day’s work for these tall, blonde-haired, and charming dwarf brothers..

Thandor (use stats for pugilist variant: hill dwarf wrestler) entered the city over a decade ago, and shortly after his arrival had a questionable windfall. He immediately sent for his two younger brothers, Darn and Karrel (use stats for thug ), who joined his new venture in attempting to fleece every resident and visitor of Shalehold they could. Despite a rocky start and some initial conflict with the Knotmakers, the three now work independently under a special dispensation.

Their store and yard sit on the edge of the knot but they rarely interact with its residents. From that slumped building they sell anything they can get their hands on with little concern for the niceties of legal ownership. There is a saying among the locals, “If you sell to the Goldbeards it probably wasn’t yours; if you buy from them it probably wasn’t theirs; and either way you should check your purse before you leave.”

One of the most dramatic examples of technological progress is the introduction of cyberware, which allows living creatures to replace parts of themselves with artificial components or implant devices which grant them new abilities into their bodies.

Prosthetics

The most common and simplest form of cyberware are prosthetics. It is the default assumption that any world with FTL travel will have also developed sophisticated prosthetics, though the specifics of those can vary. A character that has suffered the loss of a limb, organ, or other body part can receive a fully-functional replacement for 1,000 credits, though in some settings this type of medical care may be fully or partially-covered by a character’s government benefits or insurance plan. In other settings, this service may be significantly more expensive, costing 5, 10, or even 100 times as much, making these prosthetics the realm of the wealthy or well-connected and consigning the poor to non-technological options.

Prosthetics function just like the body part they emulate (though they may look different). The prosthetic may be plastic, or metal; vat-grown clones from creature’s own stem cells are fully indistinguishable from the original.

Enhancement Implants

Implants provide new or enhanced capabilities to a creature. The cost listed for enhancement implants includes the cost of having them surgically implanted. As long as the implant procedure is done with the proper equipment, there is no chance of rejection or failure; however, creatures need time to adjust to the presence of the implants. Therefore, a character may only have a number of enhancement implants equal to or less than proficiency bonus. If more are added, the newest implants simply do nothing until the implanted character’s proficiency bonus rises enough to accommodate them, with the oldest inactive implant always coming online first.

Despite the advantages they provide, enhancement implants have drawbacks as well — they require some level of external networking to function, which makes them vulnerable to various attacks such as hacking and EMPs. The DC to hack an implant is 8 + the creature’s Intelligence modifier + its proficiency bonus.