Speak with Monsters: The Languages of AD&D and the Adventurous Linguist

Language is a hot topic in D&D. You can refer back to my post from early last year, which also serves as a sort of bibliography of the many talking points surrounding the subject. I do think I came up with a rather clever solution to many of the perceived issues with languages in D&D, but it depends on both a more modern, skill-based system as well as a relatively "tight" list of just a few thematic languages, some of which are connected by common scripts.

A tight list of just a few thematic languages is not, however, what you find in AD&D. Let's take a look.

What first got me started on this subject was the random language determination table in the section of the DMG on non-player characters:

There are a lot of languages in AD&D! This is not 5e, where brownies, centaurs, and dryads all speak Sylvan, bugbears, goblins, and hobgoblins all speak Goblin, and dragons, kobolds, and lizard folk all speak Draconic. Tons of monsters - even individual dragon, giant, and naga types - have their own unique languages.

And the random language determination table doesn't even tell the whole story. There is, of course, the "common tongue", spoken by humans and others "in close contact with people":

Then there are the nine alignment languages:

I have a lot to say about alignment languages, but it's such a juicy topic that I'd rather save it for its own post.

Finally, there are the languages tied to classes, namely the language of druids and the Thieves' Cant:

Except that still isn't all of the languages! Entry 86-00 on the random language determination table has the following footnote:

What's this? Unlisted creature languages? Like what?

Well, if you happen to go looking for information about the secret language of druids, you will learn that druids learn the languages of woodland creatures beginning at 3rd level and every level thereafter:

Most of these appear on the random language determination table, but not treantish, so we can add that as another language (faun does not appear either - you have to either check the Monster Manual or use your knowledge of folklore to figure out that faun is just another name for satyr, whose language is already on the random language determination table).

Let's look at the Monster Manual to see which otherwise unlisted creatures have their own languages:

• Beholders
• Blink dogs (They "have a fairly complex language consisting of barks, yaps, whines, and growls.")
• Djinn (Efreet, on the other hand, do not have their own language, but can communicate with any intelligent creature using limited telepathy.)
• Dragon turtles
• Giant eagles
• Giant lynxes
• Giant owls
• Harpies
• Hippocampi
• Ice toads
• Invisible stalkers
• Ixitxachitl (Their Monster Manual entry makes no mention of a language, but sahuagin can apparently speak it.)
• Ki-rin
• Locathah (Their Monster Manual entry makes no mention of a language, but 50% of mermen and all tritons speak it.)
• Lycanthropes (each type has its own language)
• Mermen
• Mimics
• Mind flayers (who also speak "several other weird tongues - purportedly those of terrible races of things which dwell in regions of the subterranean world far deeper than mankind has ever witnessed")
• Otyughs
• Perytons
• Sahuagin
• Sphinxes
• Triton
• Umber hulks
• Unicorns
• Winter wolves
• Worgs

There is also the matter of mundane plants and animals. Spells like speak with animals and speak with plants suggest that communication with these creatures is possible only via magic. However, couatl can speak "most serpent and avian languages". Dryads can speak with plants. Wood elves speak the languages of "certain woods animals". Gnomes can speak with burrowing mammals. Hobgoblins can speak the "rudimentary tongue" of carnivorous apes. Weretigers can speak with cats. 

These are not phrased as magical or spell-like abilities. The dryad's ability to speak with plants is not italicized as if it were the same as the spell. While many of these are magical monsters, the hobgoblin's ability to speak to carnivorous apes does not strike me as magical, but rather as a consequence of the mutual relationship between the two. 

Do all animals and plants in the AD&D world speak their own languages? Do you need to be one of these creature types to talk to them, or else use magic, or are these languages anyone can learn? Do giant eagles, lynxes, and owls speak regular-sized eagle, lynx, and owl? Can you enlist a sage who speaks bird?

These unlisted creature languages raise additional questions. Are those included in the random language determination table simply those which are most common? Does that suggest something about the utility of speaking those languages in the setting? 

Demihuman, humanoid, and fairy creature languages (those of creatures which people might reasonably interact with somewhat frequently) all make sense for a linguist NPC to know. Many of the unlisted creatures are oddballs or those found in the depths of a dungeon or the ocean, suggesting little opportunity to learn their tongues, but plenty of strange and rare creatures find their way onto the main table anyway. I'm not sure how much rhyme or reason there is.

What's with all these languages, anyway? Doesn't a big list of languages simply exacerbate D&D's oft-discoursed language issue?

And yes, it does. But there are ways to get around it. I was surprised to find that demihuman player characters speak a lot of languages. See here:

What surprised me is that, if my interpretation is correct, all player characters of these races know how to speak all of these languages by default. Before I read the text closely, my ideas about starting languages for player characters were certainly informed by 2e, in which the languages listed were simply the initial languages the player could choose for their character to know at the beginning of play (depending on the number of languages they could learn, as determined by Intelligence). 1e is much more generous when it comes to initial known languages.

Half-orc characters can speak three languages, dwarf characters can speak seven, gnomes and halflings can speak eight, and, as usual, elves and half-elves reign supreme - they can speak nine languages. Clearly, demihumans are the diplomats of adventuring parties! Humans, by comparison, are totally uncultured brutes. 

One interesting thing to point out is that demihumans speak the languages of both demihumans and humanoids. Elves speak gnome, halfling, and the language of mankind, but also goblin, hobgoblin, orcish, and gnoll - languages of "Evil" races with which they are typically at odds. Gnomes hate kobolds and goblins enough to add +1 to hit when engaging them in combat, but also speak their language. This could be merely so they can hurl insults during battle, but in that case, surely only a few crude words are needed, not fluency.

On the other hand, goblins and kobolds do not speak gnome. Elves can speak the language of gnolls and hobgoblins, but gnolls and hobgoblins don't speak the language of elves. Dwarves speak orcish, but orcs don't speak dwarvish. That's not to say that the humanoids are not themselves linguists - gnolls speak troll and "often (60%)" orcish and/or hobgoblin, goblins speak kobold, orcish, and hobgoblin, hobgoblins speak goblin, orcish, and carnivorous ape, kobolds "usually (75%)" speak goblin and orcish, and the majority of orcs speak goblin, hobgoblin, and ogre.

This design choice makes sense if you assume the point of view of a bioessentialist colonialist - the "civilized" demihumans are more intelligent and have a greater capacity for linguistics than the "monstrous" humanoids. According to the Monster Manual, all demihumans are very intelligent or highly intelligent, and all humanoids are of low to average intelligence. I'm obviously not the first to point out that this is problematic.

You could also interpret it through the lens of alignment. The demihuman races are Good, and it is Good to try to understand your neighbors' perspective and attempt to communicate with them - for example, to negotiate peace or establish trade. The humanoid races are Evil, so they may be more likely to learn the languages only of their prospective allies (or the enemies of their enemies), so as to better plot against their foes. That might not work for you either, depending on your feelings about prescribing morality to entire races of people, but I do prefer it to the former explanation. It feels more like mythic fantasy than fantasy racism.

Moving on from...all that, let's assume a hypothetical scenario in which the player characters' party consists of at least one character from each of the demihuman races. Here is that same random language determination table, with the languages in which the party is able to communicate highlighted:

That's a good chunk of the most frequently spoken languages checked off the list!

Let's push the unlikely hypothetical scenario a bit further and assume that a human or half-elf in the group is a druid. As previously mentioned, druids learn the language of a woodland creature at 3rd level, then learn another every level thereafter. A 13th level archdruid can eventually add the following languages to the party's repertoire:

Then there is, of course, the opportunity for player characters to learn additional languages. This is determined by Intelligence:

There are additional limits imposed (and bonus languages granted) by race. Dwarves, gnomes, and half-orcs can learn at most two additional languages, regardless of Intelligence. Half-elves and halflings can learn an additional language for each point of Intelligence above 16 (i.e., 2 additional languages at Intelligence 18, so 9 additional languages total), while elves can learn an additional language for each point of Intelligence above 15 (3 additional languages at Intelligence 18 for a total of 10 additional languages).

To learn a new language, the player character must spend time with someone (broadly speaking - it can be any creature) that speaks the language:

This is then taken to its logical conclusion - capture monsters and force them to teach you their language!:

Maybe something to do with your subdued dragon before you auction it off? Perhaps you can force your giant beaver slaves to teach you the language of water-dwelling mammals?

It might make sense while traveling with a party of adventurers - each of which knows their own assortment of languages - to pick up some of what they know. However, you're better off learning languages which are unknown to the rest of the party, thus expanding the linguistic capabilities of the party as a whole. D&D is, after all, a team sport (something that Redditors who spend their time comparing the damage output of different 5e builds - and laboriously bemoaning the inequity - could stand to learn).

Still, even if you have a party of 18 Intelligence demihumans with a pet druid and thief, it seems unlikely that one party could ever learn every one of these hyper-specific languages. 

"Isn't that what alignment languages are for?" you might ask, and the answer is NO! Alignment languages are a totally different thing! There's some baggage there. Again, a topic for another time.

There are yet a handful of solutions to the language problem remaining. At 1st-level, magic-users can cast comprehend languages (rangers can do it at 9th level, and illusionists can do it at 14th level):

I did not realize the caster has to touch the creature which is speaking. Better not to try this with the angry manticore! This also does not impart the ability to speak the creature's language, so communication is more or less one way. Useful for determining intent and acquiring information, at least.

Also at 1st level, druids can speak with animals (clerics and monks can do it at 3rd level, rangers can do it at 8th level, and paladins can do it at 11th level):

Note that this also functions almost like a charm spell. It prevents animals from attacking and allows the caster to be on amicable terms with them. Are giant animals "basically normal, non-fantastic creatures"? What about carnivorous apes? Dinosaurs?

At 5th level, magic-users can cast tongues (clerics can do it at 7th level, and paladins can do it at 15th level):

This unlocks communication with all speaking creatures, but only briefly, and in a small area - a 60-yard circle outdoors and a 60-foot circle indoors. 60 feet is within striking distance in a dungeon environment, and 180 feet in the wilderness is not all that much when speaking to a band of 150 orcs or a gang of teenaged dragons. The spell only lasts 10 minutes, so whatever you have to say, say it quick.

At 6th level, druids can speak with plants (clerics can do it at 7th level, monks at 8th level, and paladins at 15th level):

Like speak with animals, it's almost like a pseudo-charm spell, as it sounds like the caster can basically command the plants as well.

At 11th level, clerics can speak with monsters:

This is similar to tongues, but it can affect more monsters at a time (but only one type of monster per casting of the spell), and will last a bit longer (just one minute longer at 11th level, but up to twice as long at 20th level).

Interestingly, while clerics get the most spells which allow them to talk to things, it is the magic-user who, at 16th level, might make the effects of a comprehend languages or tongues spell permanent (upon themselves only) using permanency (at the cost of 1 point of Constitution per effect):

Thus, with a permanent tongues spell cast upon themselves, the magic-user can become the party's foremost diplomat. Hopefully, they have a high Charisma.

Consider also the value of a telepathic psionic:

Or the rare bard, who picks up an additional 15 languages (without needing to study them) throughout their career:

(This in addition to having several levels of druid and the bonus languages which come with them, since bards in 1e are weird.)

There are magic items to consider as well, such as the helm of comprehending languages and reading magic:

Or you could luck out with an exceptionally intelligent magic sword:

If my calculations are correct, .000176% of magic swords can speak their alignment language plus 10 additional languages. That would be a very useful sword indeed!

So yeah. There are a lot of languages in AD&D - so many in fact that they cannot all fit on the big table which lists all the languages an NPC might speak. The people who reside in the AD&D world, however - from the most intelligent elf to the most dimwitted gnoll - are linguists. Everyone speaks at least two languages, every demihuman and many humanoids speak several, and even a human player character of below average intelligence can pick up a new one, given access and time - from something as commonplace as halfling to the strange language of mind flayers. Any NPC who has reason to know an additional language has a 1% chance of speaking the obscure tongue of the lammasu. 

At the same time, the sheer number of languages poses a considerable challenge. Even the most fluent of player character parties cannot hope to speak the language of every creature they meet. For this, there are spells and magic items, but even these are limited. Spells require forethought and preparation, allow for only brief conversations, and put the caster within arms reach of potential enemies. Magic items are few and far between, and talking swords rarer still. 

It is a far cry from modern versions of the game, where two characters in the same adventuring party might begin at 1st level each speaking the language of demons, and where the tongues spell lasts a full hour and has a range as long as the volume of the speaker's voice. AD&D expects player characters to sacrifice precious spell slots in case they will want to speak to some odd creature encountered by chance, enlist sages to tutor them in linguistics, and capture monsters to learn their languages. It is costly and sometimes dangerous to speak with monsters.

Is it good game design? Is it fun? One criticism of languages in D&D is that players may have no idea which languages are most useful to know until the campaign has started and they've already made their selections. Because the number of languages known is often limited, and languages can't simply be forgotten to make way for new ones, this cannot be remedied. The proliferation of specific languages for every type of monster only exacerbates this issue.

The more important criticism of languages in D&D is one of player agency. If a monster speaks a language the player characters do not know, and they do not have the right spell prepared or the right magic item, they cannot hope to speak to it. If they can't hope to speak to it, they can't negotiate with it. They can't learn anything from it. If they're lucky, they can ignore it. If they're not, they can only fight it. They don't have a choice.

As my previous post on the subject hopefully made clear, I'm in favor of a simultaneously more lenient but restrained approach. I don't much like the one hundred specific languages of AD&D and its hyperintelligent elves who can speak nineteen of them, but I also don't particularly care for modern D&D's handful of languages which can be spoken trivially easily by even the party's dumbest character, given the right proficiencies. 

I like a D&D world where everything talks - even the plants and animals - and does so in its own bespoke language. I also like adventurous linguists. I don't want them to be perfectly fluent in six languages, but I do think it's reasonable that adventurers would know the occasional word here or there which would allow them to more or less get by in conversations with a variety of odd creatures. They would probably know the mind flayer word for "brains" and the sphinx word for "riddle".

Let the player characters have a few languages they're comfortable in, and the chance to pick up a word or two in those they're not. Give them the choice to at least try to talk to whatever, even if they don't "know" its language, and the choice to invest more in those languages which seem particularly important.

And remember that if they are able to talk to that creature, dealing with it should still always be expensive and irritating.