RPGaDay 2025 29: Connect
“Common” as a shared language in fantasy games has always felt like an odd compromise to me. On the one hand, it’s odd to have a singular language that everybody speaks to communicate with everybody else. On top of that, where is “common” from? What giant empire gathered such power that everybody uses that language as a baseline? There’s not even a real analogue of a language like that on earth. Sure, English may have the most total speakers (though Mandarin Chinese has the most first-language speakers) but by no means could we argue that every human being on earth is fully fluent in English as a shared language. On the other hand, at what point do you draw the arbitrary line of having separate languages? Will each species have its own language? Each kingdom? Each province? At some point, you also just want people to connect so they can get to the interesting bits.
Nevertheless, to help me think outside the box, today’s d8 table is for different means of trying to communicate without using a spoken language.
| d8 | Medium of communication |
|---|---|
| 1 | Using pantomime and gestures. |
| 2 | Through tonality in song. |
| 3 | Drawing pictures in sand. |
| 4 | Pointing and holding the other persons hand. |
| 5 | Using objects to try and get the right associations. |
| 6 | Communicating via colored flags. |
| 7 | Performing a small play demonstrating the meaning. |
| 8 | Showing what they intend to happen in the hopes people catch on. |
Hey, I didn’t say it’d be effective communication!
Look forward to more RPGaDAY posts throughout the month!
