New Power - Unaffected by the Curse of Babel

[zcthu3]

Hi all,

One of my players wants his character to develop a Power that will allow them to speak and understand any and every spoken language, although not the ability to read said languages. He has argued that this should be similar to the Scholarship Stunt: Linguist which gives you 4 additional languages including reading and writing, which costs -1 Refresh.

Our game is about to take a way jaunt into other Earths with many different languages and I think this would be overpowered for -1 Refresh. On the other hand this may be an initial hesitance on my part. What are the thoughts of the board?

Help appreciated.

[luminos]

As a power, I could see that as a -1.  If language is super-important for the campaign, you could argue for -2. 

All powers require an appropriate aspect to have, so either he has a custom template that this power is an option for (high concept aspect) or he has an aspect for it.  Either way, I wouldn't put too much of a fight into it.  Well, with one exception.  If someone else in the party has already gone for the linguist stunt, I'd make it -2 just so that the linguist character isn't too trivialized by it.

[zcthu3]

Thanks for that. I think part of my worry was that we do already have a character with the Lingust stunt, and that I don't quite see where this player's reasoning for his character having this power comes from (it doesn't appear to particuarly relate to his High Concept (Exiled Dragon Blooded Scion).

[Mal_Luck]

Heroes, however flawed in post-season 1, had a similar power: Omnilingualism (just suggesting a shorter name than "Unaffected by the Curse of Bable"). Cypher, a Mutant in the Marvel universe also had a similar power: "Semi-telepathic and semi-clairvoyant omnilingualism (Intuitively translates any languages he comes into contact with, including written, spoken, computer, or body language)."

Week or two back I planned to use this power because of Toot's comment about

(click to show/hide)

speaking Russian

in Changes. -1 or -2 seems right.

[zcthu3]

Thanks for the shorter name; the previous one wasn't mine and is a bit of a mouthful.

[Becq]

In a normal game, I see languages as being more of a plot device than anything else.  The omnilingualism power wrecks that plot device, removing a tool from the GMs repetoire.  You as a GM need to decide whether that is a problem for your campaign.  If it is, then simply don't allow it, or allow it only through an appropriate aspect (Amazingly adept at languages) accompanied by purchases of the Linguist stunt as new language slots are needed.  If it isn't, then just assign a reasonable cost to it and make it a formal power in your campaign.  Obviously, -1 corresponds to no more than +4 languages, so maybe -2 would be a better fit to understand all 'mundane' languages.  Maybe -3 would be more appropriate to understand obscure/dead/alien languages as well.  Note also that a Wizard or even a Channeler with the right specialty could probably duplicate the effect with a spell -- the omnilingual character pays about the same, but gets the effect of the spell all the time in lieu of the flexibility a spellcaster would have.  If you do this, you can allow the existing Linguist to upgrade his stunt to the full power, should he wish to.

[WillH]

I think everyone is missing the point here. The player is sending a pretty clear message that he is not interested in exploring any complications related to not knowing a language. The GM should make sure the player won't have too and let him know he won't have to waste any refresh on this.

[Attercap]

The fact that the player's power would only relate to spoken word and not written still leaves most linguist puzzles open and separates it from the ability of a linguist. Usually when one is dealing with language puzzles, it's because things are written in an archaic language. Really, this would be "Verbal Omnilingualism" and in the context of a globe-hopping or culture-rich game, it'd come in handy but it certainly isn't a game breaker nor would it hinder a true linguist from being able to shine. I'd say it's about a -1 Refresh power. Though I'd be curious as the the source behind this power and would say that it has to be defined within a Phase if not an Aspect outright.

[Edit]

I skipped the part about the game being very much about alternate languages. If context of the spoken word also gets translated, then I'd put it at a -2 refresh. But you can still have a lot of fun with a -1 version of that same power--after all cockney rhyming slang is certainly English, but that doesn't mean it actually makes sense to an outsider.

[Falar]

Just wanted to throw a $0.02 in here - if you have it as a power, remember that they lose 2 refresh off the top for it being a power rather than a stunt, so it should be inherently more powerful than the stunt version.

[blues.soldier]

Just something quick that struck me-- the Curse of Babel is a biblical story wherein the Almighty punishes mankind's pride by fracturing language forever. If a character was really, truly unaffected by that curse, that means that they literally have slipped an effect that God Himself put on the entire human race. that begs the question WHO is powerful enough to do that...not to mention what they want in return for the favor. Also-- the White God and His followers will likely be mighty interested in a character who managed to avoid the milennia-old wrath of the Almighty.

And if a mortal can manage it, I'm betting there are more than a few of the Fallen who might be interested in doing the same thing-- even if they have to dissect the PC to figure out how to replicate the effect. Just ask Loki and Bartleby in Dogma...

[zcthu3]

The character in question wasn't pure mortal, they were a dragon-blooded scion. As it is, doesn't actually matter as the player has now decided to play a Red Court Infected.

Thanks for all the input.

[Drashna]

Blues, I'd disagree.  The curse of babel was specifically that each person suddenly spoke a different language and only understood their own.  (depends on the translation though). It was meant specifically to split/fracture mankind to prevent the ambition of a unified nation.   

That being said, I'd say that the "ability" to understand and speak all languages (even just living) would be a -2 power.  Maybe an intrinsic understanding of language, maybe subconsciously pulling the knowledge from those around them, or akin to how the Archive knows things. 

As for toot knowing Russian, that would be explained the same way Angels know things... they just do. Specifically, the lore around angels is that they "ate" from the tree of life gaining immortality. Because of it, they can only know what they "need to know", things that are relevant to them. Like your name. Ever notice how holy beings always know your name, your feelings, and the like? Because it's relevant to their job. But they know *nothing* outside of that. Ask them the color of the sky, or the name of your reclusive neighbor, no idea.  And even if you tell them, they won't remember unless it is important.  The same thing would likely be true for any immortal being, such as Toot.  He needed to know Russian at that moment, so he did.  As for the other fae.... well, as far as I can tell, all fae know of others of their kind.