If you’re trained in this skill, you are skilled at working with language, in both its spoken and written forms. You can speak multiple languages, and can decipher nearly any tongue given enough time. Your skill in writing allows you to create and detect forgeries as well.
If you’re untrained in this skill, you can still attempt to read archaic and strange forms of your own racial bonus languages, and can attempt to detect a forgery.
| Linguistics task | Requires | Time | Retry | DC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Decipher writing | — | 1 minute per page | 20 or more | |
| Create forgery | — | 1 to 1d4 minutes per page | opposed by Linguistics | |
| Detect forgery | — | 1 round per page | opposed by Linguistics | |
| Automatic writing, once per week | occult skill unlock | 1 hour | Next week | 20 or 30 |
Learn a Language: Whenever you put a rank into this skill, you learn to speak and read a new language. Common languages (and their typical speakers) include the following.
Decipher Writing: You can decipher writing in an unfamiliar language or a message written in an incomplete or archaic form. Deciphering a page of ordinary text takes 1 minute (10 consecutive rounds). The base DC is 20 for the simplest messages, 25 for standard texts, and 30 or higher for intricate, exotic, or very old writing. If the check succeeds, you understand the general content of a piece of writing about one page long (or the equivalent). If the check fails, make a DC 5 Wisdom check to see if you avoid drawing a false conclusion about the text. (Success means that you do not draw a false conclusion; failure means that you do.)
Both the Linguistics check and (if necessary) the Wisdom check are made secretly by the GM, so that you can’t tell whether the conclusion you draw is true or false.
| Condition | Check Modifier |
|---|---|
| Type of document unknown to reader | –2 |
| Type of document somewhat known to reader | +0 |
| Type of document well known to reader | +2 |
| Handwriting not known to reader | –2 |
| Handwriting somewhat known to reader | +0 |
| Handwriting intimately known to reader | +2 |
| Reader only casually reviews the document | –2 |
| Document contradicts orders or knowledge | +2 |
Create or Detect Forgeries: Forgery requires writing materials appropriate to the document being forged. To forge a document on which the handwriting is not specific to a person, you need only to have seen a similar document before, and you gain a +8 bonus on your check. To forge a signature, you need an autograph of that person to copy, and you gain a +4 bonus on the check. To forge a longer document written in the hand of some particular person, a large sample of that person’s handwriting is needed.
Creating a forgery can take anywhere from 1 minute to 1d4 minutes per page. Detecting a forgery using Linguistics takes 1 round of examination per page.
The Linguistics check is made secretly, so that you’re not sure how good your forgery is. As with Disguise, you don’t make a check until someone examines the work. Your Linguistics check is opposed by the Linguistics check of the person who examines the document to verify its authenticity.
The examiner gains modifiers if any of the conditions are listed on the table.
Automatic Writing: You must be trained in Linguistics and be capable of casting psychic spells or who have the Psychic Sensitivity feat to use this functionality of the skill. Once per week, you can spend 1 hour posing questions while your hand unconsciously scribbles messages of varying legibility and accuracy. At the end of this hour, you attempt a DC 20 Linguistics check to decipher the meanings of these messages. You can’t take 10 on this check. If successful, you gain information as though you had used augury. If you have 10 or more ranks in Linguistics, you can attempt a DC 30 check to instead gain information as though you had used divination. The chance of successfully producing coherent or meaningful writing from any of these effects equals 60% plus 5% for every 1 by which your check result exceeds the DC (to a maximum of 90%). You must choose which DC you’ll try to meet before attempting the check. The GM rolls the check and d% roll secretly, so that you can’t tell whether the messages are accurate.
If you have the Signature Skill feat, the rogue’s edge ability, or another ability that grants you the skill unlocks for this skill, you gain access to the following abilities when you have sufficient ranks.
5 Ranks: You can use Linguistics instead of Sense Motive to intercept and interpret secret messages (as the Bluff skill). You gain a +1 insight bonus on Perception and Disable Device checks to detect or disarm written magical traps. This bonus increases by 1 for every 5 ranks beyond 5 you possess in Linguistics.
10 Ranks: If you succeed at a Linguistics check by at least 10 when examining writing, you can learn the precise meaning rather than general content, and you never draw false conclusions on a failed check. A successful DC 30 Linguistics check reveals the general meaning of speech, a successful DC 35 check reveals 1d4 pieces of specific information, and a successful DC 40 check reveals exact meaning.
15 Ranks: You can decipher magical writings (as read magic) by succeeding at a Linguistics check (DC = 25 + caster level). If you identify a written magical trap in this way, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus on Disable Device checks to disarm it.
20 Ranks: You can attempt to decipher magical or nonmagical text at a rate of one page per round. If you instead spend 1 minute per page, roll twice and take the better result.
The text on this page is Open Game Content, and is licensed for public use under the terms of the Open Game License v1.0a.
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SECTION 15