I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone, there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
The only language with a specifically 'good' alignment would be Celestial, i.e. the language spoken by angels, divas, aasimar, and other Forces For Good In The Cosmos.
All the 'normal' languages are just spoken by regular mortals - the 'best'/most common languages to get change drastically from setting to setting.
Alignment languages went out thirty years ago. I’d talk to my DM about language recommendations. In the wilderness outside my main city, Goblin and Dwarven will be heard far more often than Orcish, but every DMs world is different.
The language most good-aligned creatures you're likely to encounter speak is almost certainly Common. Anything beyond that is going to depend on the setting and the location you're in.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
So language, somewhat like alignment, only really matters if the DM wants to make it or a thing or players prompt to make it a thing (for example, if I had in my game a character who really put resources into making a character as something of a linguists, they're going to have places to shine).
That said, it depends on your DM's game world. Common is obvious. Elvish could be a "good" language, but if you want like the forresty forces of good, you might want Sylvan too. Celestial is the language of angels and beings in the league, so to speak. Undercommon is the common of the Underdark.
In my world, Common gets you by on most of the "Mainland." There's some enclaves from other places that have a different sort of common, but members of those enclaves interacting with the games "known world" tend to know common. Elves and Dwarves appreciate the use of their languages in their ancestral enclaves, but most of their populations have integrated with the common speaking culture. Halflings have always spoken common as far as they remember. Gnomes find non Gnomes making an effort amusing. Goblinoids and Orcs and the like have a mix of people integrated with Common speakers but like Elves and Dwarves have ancestral enclaves or groups who prefer to speak their own language. All these sorts of languages in my game can be picked up pretty readily in any cosmopolitan environment. Undercommon works the same, but for the Underdark.
If you want to know the "deep history" of the world, Draconic and Giant are necessary, and if you want to get a sense of the world's place in the multiverse, Celestial, Abyssal, Primordial and Infernal are literally key to some archaeology. All these languages unless you have a "natural speaker" teaching you requires academic or library time to figure out.
Deep Speech has a place too in the game world, but a player has to really come up with a reason for being familiar with it (Deep One Warlock Patrons would be sufficient, Arcane classes sure, otherwise you'll need to find the right books and a good tutor who can teach you how to understand Deep Speech without losing your mind).
But that's just my game world, but I think it's pretty typical for D&D worlds at least insofar as how language is used in games where language matters to a degree.
It’s a bit of a can of worms, really. With D&D developers going away from the various races having alignment tendencies, it’s, by RAW, not really possible to say anymore — orcs and goblins are as likely to be good as elves and halflings. Or maybe it is possible today, but that’s the general direction things seem to be going. (Not saying this as a judgement, or trying to start that discussion, just seems to be the way the trend lines are pointing.)
But all that really matters is what your DM is doing in your campaign. They might have different race/alignment trends than the FR official (if you are even playing in FR), or they might not have any at all.
Tl;dr ask your DM how things are in this campaign.
What languages do most creatures speak by alignment? I'm looking for a language that most good creatures speak, specifically neutral good.
By alignment, Celestial. No language has a higher percentage of good speakers of it. But that's a really weird way to pick languages, imho.
When I'm picking languages, this is generally my priority order:
Common
Undercommon
Infernal + Abyssal, if possible. Cults are like 90% those two languages, and the party wizard, who generally isn't me, probably knows Draconic, which is another 5% of cults.
Yeah, you can generally assume an arcane caster probably knows Draconic, so it can come up. I've never personally had Giant come up outside of Giant-centric campaigns.
Latin. Any properly educated person will speak Greek too. Barbarians speak Gaelic, German, and English. Technically, anyone who doesn't speak Greek is a Barbarian.
What languages do most creatures speak by alignment? I'm looking for a language that most good creatures speak, specifically neutral good.
By alignment, Celestial. No language has a higher percentage of good speakers of it. But that's a really weird way to pick languages, imho.
When I'm picking languages, this is generally my priority order:
Common
Undercommon
Infernal + Abyssal, if possible. Cults are like 90% those two languages, and the party wizard, who generally isn't me, probably knows Draconic, which is another 5% of cults.
I'm trying to create a character that's primarily defined by a neutral good alignment, that includes his languages. But I'm still keeping the common language.
Latin. Any properly educated person will speak Greek too. Barbarians speak Gaelic, German, and English. Technically, anyone who doesn't speak Greek is a Barbarian.
What languages do most creatures speak by alignment? I'm looking for a language that most good creatures speak, specifically neutral good.
By alignment, Celestial. No language has a higher percentage of good speakers of it. But that's a really weird way to pick languages, imho.
When I'm picking languages, this is generally my priority order:
Common
Undercommon
Infernal + Abyssal, if possible. Cults are like 90% those two languages, and the party wizard, who generally isn't me, probably knows Draconic, which is another 5% of cults.
I'm trying to create a character that's primarily defined by a neutral good alignment, that includes his languages. But I'm still keeping the common language.
Not trying to beat down your idea but ... why? I mean common sure, Celestial is probably the only commonly recognized outer plane "team good guy language", so sure. But while able to speak the language of your allies in a game that often revolves around conflict is wise, but almost all the "good guys" tend to speak common already. So a more valuable skillset in times of conflict is to speak the languages of those you come into conflict with. I mean, if you see your character as primarily an ambassador of "the forces of good" I guess the concept makes sense, otherwise, I think you're robbing the PC of some potential utility.
Now there are fanatics sorts who won't sully their tongues with the languages of their enemies, I guess you could play that angle too.
What languages do most creatures speak by alignment? I'm looking for a language that most good creatures speak, specifically neutral good.
By alignment, Celestial. No language has a higher percentage of good speakers of it. But that's a really weird way to pick languages, imho.
When I'm picking languages, this is generally my priority order:
Common
Undercommon
Infernal + Abyssal, if possible. Cults are like 90% those two languages, and the party wizard, who generally isn't me, probably knows Draconic, which is another 5% of cults.
I'm trying to create a character that's primarily defined by a neutral good alignment, that includes his languages. But I'm still keeping the common language.
Not trying to beat down your idea but ... why? I mean common sure, Celestial is probably the only commonly recognized outer plane "team good guy language", so sure. But while able to speak the language of your allies in a game that often revolves around conflict is wise, but almost all the "good guys" tend to speak common already. So a more valuable skillset in times of conflict is to speak the languages of those you come into conflict with. I mean, if you see your character as primarily an ambassador of "the forces of good" I guess the concept makes sense, otherwise, I think you're robbing the PC of some potential utility.
Now there are fanatics sorts who won't sully their tongues with the languages of their enemies, I guess you could play that angle too.
I didn't want to add a language like infernal, because I think it's mostly used for talking to demons and I don't want to talk to demons because I think their more likely to say something horrible or malicious or manipulate and lie out of their teeth than anything else. Bottom line, I think talking to demons would be a bad idea, especially for a character that wants to live a good life.
What languages do most creatures speak by alignment? I'm looking for a language that most good creatures speak, specifically neutral good.
Neutral Good would probably be Elven.
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone, there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
- Litany Against Fear, Frank Herbert
The only language with a specifically 'good' alignment would be Celestial, i.e. the language spoken by angels, divas, aasimar, and other Forces For Good In The Cosmos.
All the 'normal' languages are just spoken by regular mortals - the 'best'/most common languages to get change drastically from setting to setting.
Please do not contact or message me.
Alignment languages went out thirty years ago. I’d talk to my DM about language recommendations. In the wilderness outside my main city, Goblin and Dwarven will be heard far more often than Orcish, but every DMs world is different.
The language most good-aligned creatures you're likely to encounter speak is almost certainly Common. Anything beyond that is going to depend on the setting and the location you're in.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
So language, somewhat like alignment, only really matters if the DM wants to make it or a thing or players prompt to make it a thing (for example, if I had in my game a character who really put resources into making a character as something of a linguists, they're going to have places to shine).
That said, it depends on your DM's game world. Common is obvious. Elvish could be a "good" language, but if you want like the forresty forces of good, you might want Sylvan too. Celestial is the language of angels and beings in the league, so to speak. Undercommon is the common of the Underdark.
In my world, Common gets you by on most of the "Mainland." There's some enclaves from other places that have a different sort of common, but members of those enclaves interacting with the games "known world" tend to know common. Elves and Dwarves appreciate the use of their languages in their ancestral enclaves, but most of their populations have integrated with the common speaking culture. Halflings have always spoken common as far as they remember. Gnomes find non Gnomes making an effort amusing. Goblinoids and Orcs and the like have a mix of people integrated with Common speakers but like Elves and Dwarves have ancestral enclaves or groups who prefer to speak their own language. All these sorts of languages in my game can be picked up pretty readily in any cosmopolitan environment. Undercommon works the same, but for the Underdark.
If you want to know the "deep history" of the world, Draconic and Giant are necessary, and if you want to get a sense of the world's place in the multiverse, Celestial, Abyssal, Primordial and Infernal are literally key to some archaeology. All these languages unless you have a "natural speaker" teaching you requires academic or library time to figure out.
Deep Speech has a place too in the game world, but a player has to really come up with a reason for being familiar with it (Deep One Warlock Patrons would be sufficient, Arcane classes sure, otherwise you'll need to find the right books and a good tutor who can teach you how to understand Deep Speech without losing your mind).
But that's just my game world, but I think it's pretty typical for D&D worlds at least insofar as how language is used in games where language matters to a degree.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
It’s a bit of a can of worms, really. With D&D developers going away from the various races having alignment tendencies, it’s, by RAW, not really possible to say anymore — orcs and goblins are as likely to be good as elves and halflings. Or maybe it is possible today, but that’s the general direction things seem to be going. (Not saying this as a judgement, or trying to start that discussion, just seems to be the way the trend lines are pointing.)
But all that really matters is what your DM is doing in your campaign. They might have different race/alignment trends than the FR official (if you are even playing in FR), or they might not have any at all.
Tl;dr ask your DM how things are in this campaign.
By alignment, Celestial. No language has a higher percentage of good speakers of it. But that's a really weird way to pick languages, imho.
When I'm picking languages, this is generally my priority order:
Common
Undercommon
Infernal + Abyssal, if possible. Cults are like 90% those two languages, and the party wizard, who generally isn't me, probably knows Draconic, which is another 5% of cults.
Just basics giant is one of the most widespread, draconic is up there too for just sheer amount of stuff that speaks it.
Yeah, you can generally assume an arcane caster probably knows Draconic, so it can come up. I've never personally had Giant come up outside of Giant-centric campaigns.
Latin. Any properly educated person will speak Greek too. Barbarians speak Gaelic, German, and English. Technically, anyone who doesn't speak Greek is a Barbarian.
<Insert clever signature here>
I'm trying to create a character that's primarily defined by a neutral good alignment, that includes his languages. But I'm still keeping the common language.
Where is this coming from? PS I don't speak Greek
Not trying to beat down your idea but ... why? I mean common sure, Celestial is probably the only commonly recognized outer plane "team good guy language", so sure. But while able to speak the language of your allies in a game that often revolves around conflict is wise, but almost all the "good guys" tend to speak common already. So a more valuable skillset in times of conflict is to speak the languages of those you come into conflict with. I mean, if you see your character as primarily an ambassador of "the forces of good" I guess the concept makes sense, otherwise, I think you're robbing the PC of some potential utility.
Now there are fanatics sorts who won't sully their tongues with the languages of their enemies, I guess you could play that angle too.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
I didn't want to add a language like infernal, because I think it's mostly used for talking to demons and I don't want to talk to demons because I think their more likely to say something horrible or malicious or manipulate and lie out of their teeth than anything else. Bottom line, I think talking to demons would be a bad idea, especially for a character that wants to live a good life.
It sounds cooler if you say you don't want to sully your tongue with their language.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
My character isn't a fanatic or an elitist, their just wise enough to know talking to an evil character won't yield the results they want.
Shutting yourself off from people based on a preconception is the opposite of wisdom.
Moreover, there’s a reason for the phrase, know your enemy. And you can learn a lot about a culture by understanding it’s language.
Sometimes its a good idea to know the language of your enemies, but just don't let them know it.
Thanks, but I think the risk outweighs the reward when it's out the mouth of a demon or devil 0u0