The subject line may be truncated, so it's possibly a good idea to include your question to your message as well.
However, I managed to find out the last bit from the tab's tooltip, so...
Languages based on Intelligence never made it to 5th edition as far as I know. You get them from your race and background, and there's a way to learn more in game via downtime (Player's Handbook page 187).
You can always bring them back with a house rule. :-) I don't know WotC's reasons for changing it, except perhaps to make choosing a background important?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Orcs are savage raiders and pillagers with stooped postures, low foreheads, and piggish faces with prominent lower canines that resemble tusks." MM p245 (original printing) You don't OWN your books on DDB: WotC can change them any time. What do you think will happen when OneD&D comes out?
Automatically knowing extra languages because of your Intelligence score stopped a long time ago.
It was not a thing when using the (fairly popular, in my experience) optional rule of non-weapon proficiencies in the AD&D era; you had to spend your NWPs on gaining the extra languages.
It was then not a thing when using the default rules of the game in 3rd edition; you had to spend skill points to learn new languages.
I'll admit I can't remember how a character picked up languages in 4th edition, so if there was a return to the 'back in the day' style of gaining languages I can see why someone might be surprised to find 5th edition only providing them by race, background, occasionally class, and feat (plus optional rule to spend time and money learning them).
In 4th Edition you only got languages from your race. Learning more required taking the Linguist feat. I at least in the first PHB. They later introduced backgrounds and themes that could give you more. But Intelligence was never a factor.
Automatically knowing extra languages because of your Intelligence score stopped a long time ago.
It was not a thing when using the (fairly popular, in my experience) optional rule of non-weapon proficiencies in the AD&D era; you had to spend your NWPs on gaining the extra languages.
It was then not a thing when using the default rules of the game in 3rd edition; you had to spend skill points to learn new languages.
I'll admit I can't remember how a character picked up languages in 4th edition, so if there was a return to the 'back in the day' style of gaining languages I can see why someone might be surprised to find 5th edition only providing them by race, background, occasionally class, and feat (plus optional rule to spend time and money learning them).
I just started playing again this past March. The last time I played before March was around 1987...lol.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
(Edited, thanks Onyx) When did languages known, based on intelligence score go away...thanks!
The subject line may be truncated, so it's possibly a good idea to include your question to your message as well.
However, I managed to find out the last bit from the tab's tooltip, so...
Languages based on Intelligence never made it to 5th edition as far as I know. You get them from your race and background, and there's a way to learn more in game via downtime (Player's Handbook page 187).
You can always bring them back with a house rule. :-) I don't know WotC's reasons for changing it, except perhaps to make choosing a background important?
"Orcs are savage raiders and pillagers with stooped postures, low foreheads, and piggish faces with prominent lower canines that resemble tusks." MM p245 (original printing)
You don't OWN your books on DDB: WotC can change them any time. What do you think will happen when OneD&D comes out?
Intelligence got the short end of the stick this edition.
Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in awhile.
Automatically knowing extra languages because of your Intelligence score stopped a long time ago.
It was not a thing when using the (fairly popular, in my experience) optional rule of non-weapon proficiencies in the AD&D era; you had to spend your NWPs on gaining the extra languages.
It was then not a thing when using the default rules of the game in 3rd edition; you had to spend skill points to learn new languages.
I'll admit I can't remember how a character picked up languages in 4th edition, so if there was a return to the 'back in the day' style of gaining languages I can see why someone might be surprised to find 5th edition only providing them by race, background, occasionally class, and feat (plus optional rule to spend time and money learning them).
In 4th Edition you only got languages from your race. Learning more required taking the Linguist feat. I at least in the first PHB. They later introduced backgrounds and themes that could give you more. But Intelligence was never a factor.