Nestor
Junior Member
Posts: 95
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Post by Nestor on Nov 1, 2013 18:47:03 GMT -5
The Languages pro for Academics allows the character to know an additional number of languages equal to the Academics rank. You can also select the pro multiple times.
Does each extra pro provide another multiple of languages? In other words, would a character with Academics 6d and two Language pros know 12 additional languages?
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rune
New Member
Posts: 19
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Post by rune on Nov 1, 2013 21:34:46 GMT -5
From the reading of it, yes 6D of Academics and +2D Languages would be 12 additional languages.
I would say that you might want to make this an incremental bonus instead of a linear one. For 3D you can speak every language. Even if you put some sort of in character limitation on it (only languages studied), it is a way to speak to everyone for 3D. If you are investing 2D in bonus languages from Academics, it might be worthwhile to go with Academics Die for first rank + 2x Academics Die for second rank.
Obviously it is what fits for the character. This is just a thought that I had based on a character that I run for. She is a God and took Universal Translator in Hero System to be able to speak to anyone. She is academic and liked the image of knowing lots of languages. We ended up with the way that she is with the logic that gods are able to learn languages of mortals very easily, specifically the languages of their worshipers (or potential worshipers like humans).
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Nestor
Junior Member
Posts: 95
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Post by Nestor on Nov 1, 2013 21:57:19 GMT -5
So what you're suggesting is that buying 3d in Languages gives you the equivalent of Universal Translator? (I'm well-versed in Hero, having played it since 1st Edition.)
I could see that.
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rune
New Member
Posts: 19
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Post by rune on Nov 1, 2013 22:32:05 GMT -5
Super Translation 3D is on page 51. That is what I was referencing.
I just figure that if you spend 2D on Languages, might be worth getting a little more bang for the buck.
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Nestor
Junior Member
Posts: 95
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Post by Nestor on Nov 2, 2013 7:21:05 GMT -5
Ah, got it. I missed that when skimming through the list of Perks. I see your point. It does become a point of style. Is the character simply a polyglot or a true Translator? Thanks for the assist!
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Post by LakeSide Len on Nov 2, 2013 10:33:53 GMT -5
Hi,
First, every time you select the Languages pro, you learn an extra number of languages equal to your Academics rank (and yes, if you raise your Academics rank after the fact, you get the extra languages). As rune noted, Academics of 6 and Languagesx2 = 12 extra Languages. If you later raise your Academics to 7, that's 2 extra languages.
Second, as to the way it works: we went back and forth on languages, and for a while thought about just hand-waving the whole topic. At the end of the day, we decided that Super Translation needed to be there, and needed to be cheap: it's cute, but that's about it. I've never seen languages come up in a supers game except as background fluff. Like some of the other abilities, it's more of a style power. So we wanted it to be cheap. Well, when you can speak everything for 3d, it becomes tricky to figure out what to do with languages at 1d and 2d. Thus we can up with the Academics benchmark. My two cents on this one is that you can house rule it to taste without really affecting anything thing else.
Oh, and as for the god, I would say Super Translation with a -1d limited or requirement con (it doesn't really matter what you call it, it means that the ability requires a few days of exposure/study). In fact, one of the game's 2 titular heroes, Paragon, has the following ability:
"Super Translation (Limited: John is a polyglot who picks up languages within days)."
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