Author Topic: Lexica and Dialects  (Read 1879 times)

Offline Bauglir

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Lexica and Dialects
« on: August 29, 2012, 05:18:21 PM »
Lexica

Lexica are divided into six dialects, each dealing with a different aspect of the universe. Each has a few special rules governing its lexica.

Each lexicon will be presented in the following format:

(click to show/hide)

Dialect of the Coursing Blood
Utterances from the Dialect of the Coursing Blood are tuned into the fundamental resonance of Life, one of the three fundamental concepts in coherent truespeech. This means that they are simply unable to affect nonliving creatures or objects – every utterance from this dialect targets some number of living creatures or objects. For instance, you could target a goblin rogue, your warforged ally, or even a tree. You could not target an animated skeleton, a golem, or a rock.
The harmonics of Life are, when spoken in the True Tongue, dampened by the speech necessary to describe Thought. When you are freed of the necessity of including the contaminating terms, you can speak with unavoidable precision. Mindless targets are therefore easy to describe reliably, allowing you to reroll a Truespeech check made as part of an utterance from this dialect that targets such a target. You decide whether or not to reroll before you are told by the DM whether or not you succeed, and you must accept the result of the second roll, even if it's lower than the first.

Lexica Within This Dialect
(click to show/hide)

Dialect of the Manifest Ideal
Utterances from the Dialect of the Manifest Ideal are composed of thoughts and concepts that allow you to speak into being the contents of your mind. Every utterance from this lexicon creates its own target. The target line, therefore, describes what the utterance brings into being, rather than legal targets for the utterance. You can choose where the target is produced, or center its area (depending on the utterance you speak) within the normal range of an utterance of its length, but the utterance fails entirely if you attempt to position it in such a way that the target would occupy an illegal space (if it occupies spaces), or if its area can't extend into a legal space (if it has an area). If the target would fall, the strange physical laws that govern it cause it to fall at a speed of 60 ft per round and take no falling damage upon contact with the ground. It also deals no falling damage. All utterances within a lexicon will have a similar type of target - for instance, if one utterance targets an area, so too will all the others. Since an utterance from this dialect creates its own target, which in effect is always "the thing created by this utterance", every use of a given utterance counts toward the Law of Resistance, regardless of the specific use to which it is put.

Lexica Within This Dialect
(click to show/hide)


Dialect of the Perfected Tool
Utterances from the Dialect of the Perfected Tool are designed to tap into the ubiquitous vibrations of Substance, one of the three fundamental concepts in coherent truespeech. This means that they aren't able to affect targets that lack physical form and, thus, Substance. Every utterance from this dialect targets some number of corporeal creatures or objects. For instance, you could target an ally's sword, an animated skeleton, or even a tree. You could not target a ghost, a cloudkill spell effect, or a mundane fire.
The finely tuned speech characteristic of Substance is muddled by the ever-changing nature of Life. When you are freed of the necessity of including distracting concepts, you can speak with unavoidable precision. Non-living targets are thus free of ambiguity, allowing you to reroll a Truespeech check made as part of an utterance from this dialect that targets such a target. You decide whether or not to reroll before you are told by the DM whether or not you succeed, and you must accept the result of the second roll, even if it's lower than the first.

Lexica Within This Dialect
(click to show/hide)

Dialect of the Transcendent Mind
Utterances from the Dialect of the Transcendent Mind are perfect summaries of the nature of the soul and, ultimately, Thought, one of the three fundamental concepts in coherent truespeech. This means they aren't able to affect creatures that lack Thought to be manipulated and shaped. Every utterance from this dialect targets some number of creatures or objects with an Intelligence score, referred to as intelligent creatures and objects. For instance, you could target a sentient ally, a ghost, or even a treant. You could not target an animated skeleton, a mindless ooze, or a length of rope.
The soft and flowing tones of abstract Thought are harshened by the introduction of the practicalities of Substance. When you are freed of the necessity of accomodating such antithetical concepts, you can speak with unavoidable precision. Incorporeal targets are particularly well-described by this dialect, allowing you to reroll a Truespeech check made as part of an utterance from this dialect that targets such a target. You decide whether or not to reroll before you are told by the DM whether or not you succeed, and you must accept the result of the second roll, even if it's lower than the first.

Lexica Within This Dialect
(click to show/hide)

Dialect of the Undrawn Map
Utterances from the Dialect of the Undrawn Map always target an area. When you first learn a lexicon from this dialect, you also choose a favored terrain, whose characteristic descriptors you've studied in particular. Because of your familiarity with the forms of truespeech relevant to this type of terrain, you can reroll a Truespeech check made as part of an utterance from this dialect that targets an area of favored terrain. You decide whether or not to reroll before you are told by the DM whether or not you succeed, and you must accept the result of the second roll, even if it's lower than the first. Whether a given area fits into your favored terrain ultimately falls to your DM to decide, but it's usually pretty obvious. You can target a bubble of seawater, a shifting desert, or even the surface of the World-Tree Yggdrasil.
Sometimes an area might fit into more than one category; it counts as each category into which it fits, but you only reroll the check once (even if you have multiple favored terrains). For instance, an area that might be thought of as chapparal would be considered both a Desert and a Grassland, while a wetland would be considered Aquatic and might also be a Forest or a Grassland (but probably not both).
Your available choices are:

(click to show/hide)

Lexica Within This Dialect
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Dialect of the Unshaped Matter
Utterances from the Dialect of the Unshaped Matter, unlike utterances from other dialects, can change the type of target they possess based on the length of the utterance being used, even within a single lexicon. Since you make decisions such as the utterance's target after you make the check, it's important to keep track of what the utterance you actually speak is able to target, since you may need to change your mind on the fly.

Lexica Within This Dialect
(click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: October 17, 2012, 05:32:52 PM by Bauglir »