Re: [BNW] Languages (was Weak Powers)

["Patrick Legg" <plegg@lineone.net>]

> One other potential problem, which I touched on earlier, is the fact that
> anyone can potentially understand _any_ language.  As long as you forfeit
a
> success, you can try and understand _any_ language you're exposed to.
> Swahili?  No problem.  Chinese?  Sure, I'll take a helping.  Eskimo?
> Gotcha!
>
> That's at least one of my problems with Translator (although it's not
unique
> to BNW - anyone remember the Language skill in Torg...?  :) ).  It points
> out the general silliness of language rules in the game.  You can make an
> unskilled roll to understand _any_ simple conversation in _any_ language.
> I'm unskilled in Russian, Chinese, Swahili, Japanese, and Eskimo...but my
> odds of understanding someone speaking a conversation in any of those is a
> _lot_ less than someone in BNW rolling a 10+ on 2-4 d6.  In fact, my odds
> are...well, 0%.  ;)
>
> Don't know about you, but all the players I've had tend to notice this
kind
> of thing.  So much for a "realistic" game.

But that's like saying that any blind man can hit a playing card in Tokyo by
shooting a bow from London. If you roll high enough then its entirely
possible within the rules. Which is where the guide comes in, showing
players what the limits of the world are.