Dear IT guys at my work,

I realize that you're probably just "following orders" or whatever, but every time you upgrade the website blocking software or disable certain functions on my computer I end up wasting a lot of time figuring out how to bypass it so that I can post on my blog and look at Zak S's site.

It's starting to cut into my productivity.

It really becomes exponential at some point when you think about all the time you've spent blocking my access to the web, and all the time I've spent worming my way through the cracks.  Imagine all that we could have accomplished for the company if we hadn't wasted that time and energy.  I realize that we can never really join forces, but can't we at least stop this arms race?  Couldn't you just turn a blind eye so long as I'm getting my work done and continuing to find ways to make the business more efficient? 

Thanks for listening, and have a lovely day.

Sincerely,
The Spoiled Brat

A second look at Table 2: Hit Dice

Overall, I like how this table turned out.  The +30,+40,+50 cost progression feels right somehow. 

 

Table 2: Hit Dice
d3 - +0%
d4 - +30%
d6 - +70%
d8 - +120%
d10 - +180%
d12 - +250%

I see that I did make an obvious mistake.  The number of sides on those dice are changing by 2 each step.  So, the step before d4 should actually be d2 - +0%.  If your cheapo class doesn't want to pay for hit points then you don't roll a die, you flip a damn coin.  I like that.  I'll go back and correct the original post. I'll even add another step below that, d0 - (-20%).  Then any DM with an interest can get the costs for the odd dice by finding the mid point between the steps.  Like this.

d1 - (-10%)

d3 - 15%

d5 - 50%

d7 - 95%

d9 - 150%

d11 - 215%

I'm not sure what kind of madman builds a class with d11 for hit dice, but I'm here to facilitate not to judge.

Crabaugh's hit dice table had the costs doubling for each higher die, which some of you will like better I'm sure.  I changed it mainly because I wanted the step between d4 and d6 to cost more.  Also, I know I'm going to use a d12 at some point for a Cyclops or giantish class, and I thought that the cost doubling method made the cost for d12 too high.

I suppose I might like Crabaugh's costs better if I allowed my players to reroll 1s or start their 1st level characters with max hit points.  There is an argument to be made that d10 and d12 hit dice should cost more than I have listed, but if that big hulking class still has a possibility of starting first level with 1hp then I think these costs are fine.

A second look at customized classes, Table 1: Base XP

The plan seemed simple enough.  Take Crabaugh's system and tweak it "just a little" so that it would spit out the xp tables in the B/X books if you plug in the seven existing classes.  I said, "I'll just reverse engineer the classes into their base components.  It can't be that hard". 

That was weeks ago.  

The brick wall that I kept running into was the unified base xp table.  I really wanted it to work, but the Thieves and Elves conspired against it.  Once I made the decision to let go of the unified table, everything fell into place rather quickly.

It was easy to see that the arcane magic used by Elves and MUs was costing them.  Their offensive spells cost them more than the helpful prayers of clerics.  In addition to that the versatility of spellbooks, sharing spells, and the potential to keep a library full of magical options seemed to put them up into a whole new tax bracket.

The thieves and clerics confused me though.  Their xp tables were obviously playing by different rules, but it took me long time to see what those two classes had in common.  Eventually I stumbled across a discussion online about how thieves were assumed to belong to a guild and required to fork over 10% of their gold, just like clerics donating to their churches.  I don't remember ever using that rule in play.  I wish I had my old B/X books so that I could verify it.  Labyrinth Lord seems to agree though, so I labeled their base xp as "10% tithers" and moved on.  It makes sense to me.  They pay their dues and in exchange they get some training from their peers.  It's also interesting to note that if they broke away from these organizations and kept their gold, thieves would need 1600xp for level 2 and clerics would have the same xp requirements as fighters.  I like that.

Clerics and thieves are also responsible for the Level 10+ section.  Thieves have lower xp requirements than clerics every step of the way until after name level.  At that point clerics need 100k per level and thieves need 120k... what the hell?  And don't even get me started about the dwarves.  I gave up, truncated the tables at level 9, and decided to just blame the rest on hit points.

... and that's where this three headed monster came from.

Table 1: Base XP

 10% Tithers    Standard     Base XP     Spellbook Users
0 ------------ 0 --------- Level 1 --------------- 0
300 -------- 400 ------- Level 2 ------------ 500
600 -------- 800 ------- Level 3 ---------- 1000
1200 ------ 1600 ------ Level 4 ---------- 2000
2400 ------ 3200 ------ Level 5 ---------- 4000
5000 ------ 6400 ------ Level 6 ---------- 8000
10000 ---- 12800 ----- Level 7 --------- 16000
20000 ---- 24000 ----- Level 8 --------- 25000
40000 ---- 48000 ----- Level 9 --------- 50000
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Level 10+
Add a flat amount to the total based upon hp gained
10% Tithers      Standard                 Spellbook Users
+100,000 --- +100,000 --- +1 hp/level --- +150,000
+120,000 --- +120,000 --- +2 hp/level --- +200,000
+130,000 --- +130,000 --- +3 hp/level --- +250,000

 

 Like many of the tables in this class building system, I don't really like it but it seems to work.  If I can find a way to simplify or improve it I'll go back and update the original post.

Customized Classes for B/X

Based in part on Paul Crabaugh's excellent "Customized Classes" from Dragon #109, but altered and reworked so that xp values for the seven canonical classes remain unchanged.

Basically you just start with 100%, then add all the percentages for the skills, abilities, and equipment you want the class to have access to.  That's your multiplier for the appropriate base xp chart (the first table), those results are your customized xp table.

Table 1: Base XP

10% Tithers    Standard     Base XP     Spellbook Users
0 ------------ 0 --------- Level 1 --------------- 0
300 -------- 400 ------- Level 2 ------------ 500
600 -------- 800 ------- Level 3 ---------- 1000
1200 ------ 1600 ------ Level 4 ---------- 2000
2400 ------ 3200 ------ Level 5 ---------- 4000
5000 ------ 6400 ------ Level 6 ---------- 8000
10000 ---- 12800 ----- Level 7 --------- 16000
20000 ---- 24000 ----- Level 8 --------- 25000
40000 ---- 48000 ----- Level 9 --------- 50000
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Level 10+
Add a flat amount to the total based upon hp gained
10% Tithers      Standard                 Spellbook Users
+100,000 --- +100,000 --- +1 hp/level --- +150,000
+120,000 --- +120,000 --- +2 hp/level --- +200,000
+130,000 --- +130,000 --- +3 hp/level --- +250,000


Table 2: Hit Dice
d0 - (-20%)
d2 - +0%
d4 - +30%
d6 - +70%
d8 - +120%
d10 - +180%
d12 - +250%


 Table 3: Hit Progression and Hit Points after level 9
Normal Man - +0% (+1hp after L9)
Magic User - +15% (+1hp after L9)
Cleric/Thief - +30% (+1hp after L9)
Fighter types- +70% (+2hp after L9)

Bonus Hp after L9
(in addition to the standard amount listed above, will also raise xp for L10+)
Bonus +1hp - +0%


Table 4: Level Limit
(Level limits grant access to Table 10: Beyond Human Abilities)
7 - +0%
8 - +5%
9 - +10%
10 - +15%
11 - +20%
12 - +25%


Table 5: Saves
Normal Man - +0%
Magic User +10%
Thief - +10%
Cleric - +25%
Fighter - +30%
Elf - +35%
Dwarf/Halfling - +55%


Table 6: Armor
None - +0%
Padded or Leather - +5%
Studded Leather - +5%
Scale or Hide - +5%
Chain - +10%
Banded or Splint - +10%
Plate - +15%
Shield (wood or metal) - +10%
------------------------
Any - +60%
Stealthy armor only (padded, leather, studded) - +10%


Table 7: Weapons
~Very Light Weapons~

+0% - Fist/Finger (brass knuckles, war fan, spiked gauntlet, bagh nakh)
+0% - Thrown Blunt (boomerang, stick, stone, flask)
+0% - Thrown Sharp (dart, throwing knife, shuriken)
+0% - Point & Shoot (blowgun, slingshot, wand)

~Ranged Weapons~

+5% - Crossbows
+5% - Short Bows
+5% - Long Bows 
+5% - Thrown Poles (spear, javelin, trident) 

~One-Handed Weapons~

+5% - Blades (dagger, kukri, sickle)
+5% - Short Swords
+5% - Blunt (club, hammer, mace)
+5% - Flexible (flail, sling, whip, spiked chain, bola, net, nunchaku)
+10% - Choppers (hand axe, light pick, kama, spiked mace)
+10% - Long Swords (long sword, scimitar, bastard sword)

~Two-Handed Weapons~

+5% - Quarterstaff
+10% - Heavy Weapons (heavy version of any used one-handed weapon)
+15% - Pole Arms (pike, glaive, morning star, lance)

----------------------------------------------------------------
+90% - Any Weapon

Table 8: Magic Items
Weapons - +10%
Armor - +5%
Potions - +5%
Rings - +5%
Misc. Magic Items - +5%
Staves&Rods - +0% (but these often have class restrictions)
Protection Scrolls - +0%
Cleric Scrolls - +10%
Magic User Scrolls - +20%
Wands - +10%

  

Table 9: Extras
Common and Native Languages - +0%
Bonus Language - 5%

Student of Linguistics - +20%
(Read Languages 80% at L4 & Arcane Scroll use 10% failure at L9)
Open Locks - +10%
Remove Traps - +10%
Pick Pockets - +10%
Move Silently - +10%
Climb Sheer Surfaces - +10%
Hide in Shadows - +10%
Hear Noise - +10%
Backstab - +10%

Turn Undead - +30%

Armored M-U Spellcasting
None - +0%
Padded or Leather - +5%
Studded Leather - +5%
Scale or Hide - +5%
Chain - +10%
Banded or Splint - +10%
Plate - +10%
Shield (wood or metal) - +10%
-----------------------------
All - +55%


Magic Research at L9 - +25%
(create spells, scrolls, and magical items) 

Custom Abilities
Special Ability (once per day) - +10% per spell level equivalent
Special Ability (multiple per day) - +15 to 25% per spell level equivalent
Special Ability (constant) - +30% per spell level equivalent


Table 10:Beyond Human Abilities
(These abilities require Table 4: Level Limit)

Halfling abilities - 55%
90% Hide in Wilderness (+15%)
Hide 1-2 on d6 in cavern/dungeon (+10%)
AC -2 when attacked by large creatures (+15%)
+1 initiative when alone or with other halflings (+5%)
+1 missile attacks (+10%)

Dwarf abilities - 35%
Infravision 60’ (+15%)
5 languages: Common, Dwarvish, Goblin, Gnome, Kobald (+10%)
Stone Sense: 2 in 6 for detecting masonry traps, false walls,
hidden construction, or sloped passages (+10%)

Elf abilities - 50%
Infravision 60’ (+15%)
5 languages: Common, Elvish, Gnoll, Hobgoblin, Orc (+10%)
2 in 6 for detect hidden and secret doors (+10%)
Connection to Nature: Immune to ghoul paralysis (+15%)

Custom Abilities
Innate Magical Ability (once per day) - +10% per spell level
Innate Magical Ability (multiple per day) - +15 to 25% per spell level
Innate Magical Ability (constant) - +30% per spell level 

Physiology 

Infravision 60’ - +15%
Functional Wings (slow) - +50%
Aquatic Breathing/Movement (slow) - +25%
Shapeshift at will, one form only - +50% per HD
Regeneration - +100% per hp per turn, not fire/acid
Parasitic Host Control (restricted use, painful removal) - +50%
Extended Lifespan (native, common, and 3 bonus languages) - +10% 

Table 11: Spell Progression

Cleric Spell Table - +120%
Magic User Spell Table - +250%

The spell progression values above give results in line with B/X.

Since different people use different charts, I’ll leave it to you to break the spell progression tables down into their component parts and costs if you want to build custom spell progression tables for new classes.  If it was me, I prefer having Clerics get no spell at first level and peak with 7th level spells, Magic-Users peak with 9th level spells.  So, I’d break it up like this.

Custom Spell Progression
Level at which you gain first spell
Level    Cost
 1    70%
 2    50%
 3    35%
 4    25%
 5    20%
 6    15%
 7    10%
8     5%
9    0%

MU spells cost +20% per max spell level attainable
Cleric spells cost +10% per max spell level attainable


Guidelines for Building Custom Spell Progression Tables
Once you begin to learn spellcasting, gain 1 spell each time you level
After learning your second 3rd level spell, gain 2 spells each time you level
After learning your second 6th level spell, gain 3 spells each time you level
After learning your second 9th level spell, gain 4 spells each time you level

The number of spells per spell level must be within 1 of adjacent spell levels
(ignore zeroes)

Only gain a new spell level after learning 2 spells of the previous spell level

------------------------------------------------------

Fighter
100 Base
120 Hit Dice: d8
70   Hit Progression: Fighter (+2hp after L9)
30   Fighter saves
60   Armor: Any
90   Weapons: Any
30   Magic: no wands, no divine scrolls, no arcane scrolls
 
Standard Base Experience X Fighter Class 500%
0 ----------- Level 1 ------------ 0
400 -------- Level 2 ------  2000
800 -------- Level 3 ------  4000
1600 ------ Level 4 ------   8000
3200 ------ Level 5 -----  16000
6400 ------ Level 6 -----  32000
12800 ----- Level 7 -----  64000
24000 ----- Level 8 ---- 120000
48000 ----- Level 9 ---- 240000
________ Level 10+ ________
2hp/Level = +120,000 each
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Level 20 @ 1,560,000

 ------------------------------------------------------


Thief
100 Base
30   Hit Dice: d4
30   Hit Progression: Cleric/Thief (+1hp after L9)
0     Bonus +1hp after L9
10   Thief saves
10   Armor: Padded, Leather, Studded
90   Weapons: Any
30   Magic: no wands, no divine scrolls, no arcane scrolls
80   Thieving Abilities: all 8 at L1
20   Student of Linguistics (Read Languages 80% at L4 and, L9 arcane scroll use 10% fail)
 
Tithe to Guild Base Experience X Thief Class 400%
0 ----------- Level 1 ------------- 0
300 -------- Level 2 -------  1200
600 -------- Level 3 -------  2400
1200 ------ Level 4 -------- 4800
2400 ------ Level 5 -------- 9600
5000 ------ Level 6 ------  20000
10000 ---- Level 7 ------- 40000
20000 ---- Level 8 ------- 80000
40000 ---- Level 9 ------ 160000
________ Level 10+ ________
2hp/Level = +120,000 each
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Level 20 @ 1,480,000     

------------------------------------------------------

Cleric
100 Base
70   Hit Dice: d6
30   Hit Progression: Cleric/Thief (+1hp after L9)
25   Cleric saves
60   Armor: Any
25   Weapons: Thrown Blunt, Blunt, Flexible, Quarterstaff, Heavy Weapons
40   Magic: no wands, no arcane scrolls
30   Turn Undead
120 Spells: Cleric Spell Progression at Lv2

Tithe to Church Base Experience X Cleric Class 500%
0 -----------Level 1 ------------- 0
300 --------Level 2 -------  1500
600 --------Level 3 -------  3000
1200 ------ Level 4 -------  6000
2400 ------ Level 5 -----  12000
5000 ------ Level 6 -----  25000
10000 -----Level 7 -----  50000
20000 -----Level 8 ----- 100000
40000 -----Level 9 ----  200000
________ Level 10+ ________
1hp/Level = +100,000 each
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Level 20 @ 1,300,000         

------------------------------------------------------


Magic User
100 Base
30   Hit Dice: d4
15   Hit Progression: MU (+1 hp after L9)
10    MU saves
0     Armor: none
15   Weapons:   Blades, Quarterstaff, and Flexible (restricted to light weapons)
55   Magic: no armor, no divine scrolls
25   Magic Research at L9, able to create spells, magical weapons, armor, wands, potions, ect.
250 Spells: Magic User Spell Progression at Lv1
 
Spellbook User Base Experience X Magic User Class 500%
0 -----------Level 1 ------------- 0
500 --------Level 2 -------  2500
1000 --------Level 3 ------ 5000
2000------ Level 4 ------  10000
4000 ------ Level 5 -----  20000
8000 ------ Level 6 -----  40000
16000 -----Level 7 -----  80000
25000 -----Level 8 ----- 150000
50000 -----Level 9 ----  300000
________ Level 10+ ________
1hp/Level = +150,000 each
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Level 20 @ 2,050,000   

------------------------------------------------------


Dwarf
100 Base
120 Hit Dice: d8
70   Hit Table: Fighter (+2hp after L9)
0     Bonus +1hp after L9
25   Max Level: 12th
55   Dwarf Saves
60   Armor: Any
55   Weapons: no 2-handed weapons, or longbows
30   Magic: no wands, no divine scrolls, no arcane scrolls
35   Dwarf Abilities

Standard Base Experience X Dwarf Class 550%
0 -----------Level 1 ------------- 0
400 --------Level 2 -------- 2200
800 --------Level 3 -------- 4400
1600 ------ Level 4 -------  8800
3200 ------ Level 5 ------ 17600
6400 ------ Level 6 ------ 35200
12800 -----Level 7 -------70400
24000 -----Level 8 ------132000
48000 -----Level 9 ------264000
________ Level 10+ ________
3hp/Level = +130,000 each
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
------------ Level 10 ---- 394000
-------------Level 11 ---- 524000
-------------Level 12 ---- 654000         

------------------------------------------------------


Halfling
100 Base
70   Hit Dice: d6
70   Hit Progression: Fighter (+2hp after L9)
5     Max Level: 8th
55   Dwarf/Halfling saves
60  Armor: Any
55   Weapons: no 2-handed weapons or longbows
30   Magic: no wands, no divine scrolls, no arcane scrolls
55   Halfling Abilities
Standard Base Experience X Halfling Class 500%
0 -----------Level 1 ------------- 0
400 --------Level 2 -------  2000
800 --------Level 3 -------  4000
1600 ------ Level 4 ------   8000
3200 ------ Level 5 -----   16000
6400 ------ Level 6 -----   32000
12800 -----Level 7 -----   64000
24000 -----Level 8 ----- 120000

------------------------------------------------------


Elf
100 Base
70   Hit Dice: d6
70   Hit Progression: Fighter (+2 hp after L9)
15   Max Level: 10th
35  Elf saves
60   Armor: Any
90   Weapons: Any
60   Magic: no divine scrolls 
55   Armored M-U Spellcasting (All)
25   Magic/Spell Research
50   Elf Abilities
170 Spells: Magic User Spell Progression at Lvl1, 5th Lvl spells max
 
Spellbook User Base Experience X Elf Class 800%
0 -----------Level 1 ------------- 0
500 --------Level 2 -------  4000
1000 -------Level 3 ------- 8000
2000------- Level 4 -----  16000
4000 ------ Level 5 ------ 32000
8000 ------ Level 6 -----  64000
16000 -----Level 7 ---- 128,000
25000 -----Level 8 ---- 200,000
50000 -----Level 9 ---  400,000
________ Level 10+ ________
2hp/Level = +200,000 each
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Level 10 @ 600,000

------------------------------------------------------

Customized Classes for Ezzin

Here's an excerpt from the character creation document I'll be giving to my players.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pick a Class: Any Character can be any of the human classes (Fighter, Cleric, Thief, Magic-User) without restriction. Having an ability score below 9 allows the option to play as one of the non-human classes. 

Ability Score 8 or less ----  Available Class

Strength  --------------------------  Halfling

Intelligence -----------------------  Nagual
Wisdom ---------------------------  Dwarf or Gnome
Dexterity -------------------------  Cyclops
Constitution ----------------------  Elf
Charisma -------------------------  Haniver 

An ability score of 4 or 5 also allows you the choice to play as a beast man, any sort of human/animal hybrid, a fey creature, an intelligent dire animal, or somesuch thing. Your choice. Just make sure it fits with the low score you rolled. Strength 4 fits with a Pixie, Frogling, or Ratling. A talking Dire Wolf or Minotaur fits better with a low Int, Wis, or Cha. This is your chance to play a goblin, patherman, fairy, serpentaur, spiderfreak, or whatever. No Dragons, Djinn, Divine or Demonic beings. Email me with your choice and any ideas you have about culture, skills, and background. I’ll make the custom class and XP chart for you and send back a link to the new class document.

If you roll a 3 for any of your six ability scores, you may play a dragon. The life of a young dragon is no picnic. Email me, we’ll roll on the dragon charts and see what you get.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

So instead of giving myself just a handful of custom classes to create and balance, I might also need to create a new class whenever a player rolls a crappy Ability Score.  I enjoy a challenge.  The easiest road would be to just make up classes/races on the fly and build xp tables with my gut, but I second guess myself far too much for that.  What I needed was a system, a class creation formula, so I set about looking for it.

Paul Crabaugh's excellent "Customized Classes" from Dragon #109 was almost exactly what I was looking for.  The only thing was that I wanted the xp charts for the original seven classes to remain unchanged.  Not that I disagree with Crabaugh's results.  I just don't want to have to justify those results to others.  I seems to me that if the customized class formula could recreate the xp tables of the seven canonical classes, then it somehow lends an air of authenticity to any newly created classes.  I want to be able to sidestep the "Why does my Wizardly Wolf-Man need 5000xp for level 2?" discussions by simply pointing at the B/X book and saying "it's based on those xp tables".  Somehow it just feels more fair if the xp tables are already in print, I dunno why.

So I set about tweaking Crabaugh's system.  "It can't be that difficult" I said to myself.  Besides, reverse engineering the B/X classes seemed like it would be a fun mental exercise that might give me some insight about why those xp charts seem to vary so wildly.  Here is a summary of my process.

Step 1: Assume the xp tables in B/X are implicitly correct.
Step 2: Assume that all skills and abilities have values based upon their usefulness/fun
Step 3: Waste hours and hours of your free time struggling to find method in the madness
Step 4: Make your wife question your sanity by mumbling gibberish mixed with numbers... for days

Step 5: Nail down all the numbers and share the whole thing on your blog
Step 6: Sit in the rocking chair and sip a brandy while feelings of smug satisfaction wash over you


I'm on Step 5 now.  My next post will be just the raw tables and numbers without any detailed instructions or explanation.  Sorry, but I want to hurry along to step 6.

Basically you just start with 100%, then add all the percentages for the skills, abilities, and equipment you want the class to have access to.  That's your multiplier for the appropriate base xp chart (the first table), those results are your customized xp table.

It's not perfect.  I know that.  Heck, I don't even own any B/X books anymore due to a fit of generosity a few years back.  A lot of this is from bits and pieces I found on the web and memory, so buyer beware.  I think it turned out pretty well though, especially if you're willing to do a little rounding for the Dwarves and look the other way when Elves get to level 7 and 8. 

Later on I might write a post about each of the tables, discuss how I came to the numbers and other such minutia.  For now though I'm just excited to set it all aside for a couple of days.  Someone else can play and tinker with it if they like while I enjoy my drink.

Don't do what Elfy Don't does!

DM: "You're all walking along toward the dungeon.  Suddenly, a shadow passes over you.  You all look up and see a large, winged, serpentine..."

Elfy Don't: "I cast Magic Missile at it!"

Everyone Else: "No, Elfy!  DON'T!"

Elfy Don't: *rolls for damage*
-----------------------------------------

I honestly don't know why my brain called up the image of that giant, flying, venomous snake that we saw in the caves a few sessions ago.   Once Jeff said the word "dragon" I had to resist the urge to crawl under the table in shame.

As most of the party dove into the bushes for cover, Elfy Don't stood his ground and readied a wand. (Don't do that)


Ready for the Pro Tips?

1. Dragon Breath has greater range than a Wand of Paralyzation.
2. Check your sheet for the Potion of Fire Resistance that you forgot about.
3. When the DM says that one of the henchmen stands slack-jawed staring at the dragon, HIDE!  Let the hench-patsy suffer the dragon's wrath.
4. You're probably dead anyway.  Running away from the rest of your party might save their lives.
5. Drop magic items as you run.  You might get rezzed, your items won't.

This public service announcement has been brought to you by:  a remorseful, impoverished, 2nd level elf in a loincloth

The Beast Tongues of Ezzin

I'm still working on the playable races/classes, but I think I'm nearly done.  One of these are called the Nagual.  They are a race of shapeshifters.  When individual Nagual learn a new form they can usually slip into a pack or herd for a time in order to learn their ways and language.

Basically, I wanted them to be able to speak to whatever animals they could change into.  So then I had to decide some things.  Do animals all speak the same language, or a different language for each species, or what?  I knew I wanted to give druids and elves the chance to speak to some animals too, but I thought that being able to speak to any animal should cost more than one language slot.

So, this is what I decided.  Each species has a unique dialect based upon one of the root languages below (1-10).  The last two (11 and 12) are amalgamations of many words from many root languages developed over time by the animals forced to live together by their biped captors.  Most animals know their species dialect, plus two of the languages listed below.

Fera Lingua: The Beast Tongues. None of these languages have an alphabet or written words, they are spoken only.

1. Avian
2. Reptilian
3. Amphibian
4. Mammalian
5. Insectian
6. Vermian - worm, snail, slug, centipede, spider, tick
7. Fishycan (Mid Ocean Common)
8. Molluskian (Low Ocean Common, crustacean, squid, jellyfish, bottom dwellers)
9. Surfsong (High Ocean Common, whale, dolphin, seal, some sea birds)
10. Penguinian (Panarctic Common, all penguin, rorquals, polar bears, snow petrel, flightless midge)
11. Barnyard Slang (Low Domesticated Common: chickens, pigs, goats, cows, sheep)
12. Kennel Cant (High Domesticated Common: dog, cat, war horse, service lizard)

Sylvan (Fey Common, fairy, pixie, brownie, sprite) is understood by many wild creatures of the forest.  Some of these wild animals may have even been taught to read a few words or trail markings such as "danger" or "haven".  Animals usually find it difficult to speak in Sylvan though, as their mouths can't make the proper sounds.  So, an elf or druid who wants to use a single language slot to communicate with a number of wild animals might do well to learn this.

On the other hand, Naganese (the language of the Nagual shapeshifters) is never taught to outsiders and is unknown to both animals and men.  It also has no alphabet, and is only spoken.  The Nagual use this in order to identify each other while hidden among other species.

Animals refer to all other languages as "the babels".  These languages of men and bipeds are too complex for them.  They might be able to learn a few command words at best.  There are always exceptions though, some individuals or species are smarter than others.

So... a chicken would probably know the chicken dialect (based on Avian), Barnyard Slang, and Avian.  However, they probably react better to those who speak Barnyard Slang because they find Avian so highfalutin that they think you sound like a pretentious asshole.

A trained Peregrine Falcon would also likely know their species dialect, Barnyard Slang, and Avian.  Unlike chickens though, Avian is more commonly spoken in the mews where hawks and falcons are kept.  So anyone speaking Barnyard Slang to them would likely be thought of as some lowly yokel.  I imagine that most other domesticated carnivores speak Kennel Cant and rarely speak Barnyard Slang (even if they understand it) because they too feel it is beneath them.

So, what do you all think?  Is there a better way to split these up?