naddpod patreon

D&D Court: Squishy Bears, Fishy Crits, and Uncommon Common

🕑 Added 2025-12-05 03:35:06 +0000 UTC

Comments

Dr. Eggman

Woah woah woah lower your volume I do agree with you somewhat that I liked the language barrier idea more than the ruling, but what gets me is that the players were interested in learning about the local culture but had no way of doing that. I do think that the dm should've had an alternative way to communicate just enough for the players to be able to adequately explore the world. Something like some townsfolk speaking broken common or having some common words used here and there (similar to how Japanese uses some English words) or maybe something visual like diagrams or posters about the festivities. Even with a lot of what you mentioned a translation app will aleviate a lot of the major communication roadblocks, at least for travelers. I could definitely imagine a translation spell with limitations that would mimic your phone battery dying or not having service even though it works sometimes to translate well in general. There would still be issues but they'd still be able to understand something if they spent time/resources trying to figure it out. Essentially, I don't mind the language barrier but I don't think there needs to be a language impenetrable fortress

Nathaniel F

Gotta comment on the language barrier DM. Usually pretty onboard with the rulings, but I think there’s several great reasons to do this that can be very fun if the players aren’t sticks. Are language barriers a life experience the DM deals with, or knows somebody who does? Regardless, It’s a very real experience many people have - through spoken language, deafness, muteness, etc - and bringing that to the table can provide an enriching experience. Sure players didn’t sign up for it, but why does the challenge, which is seen in plenty of media, have to be such a bad thing? Because they maybe missed a few things and had to navigate and roleplay more? Maybe it wasn’t for the players, but it doesn’t have to mean the DM is being some try-hard. So, yeah, lower the volume judges. 💚