Question on SW Protocol Droids and Languages

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by whswhs

1. Modular Abilities, Computer Brain, 2 slots, 6 points each (to cover full fluency in two languages at a time, over and above the base language). Each slot has a base cost of 6 points and 24 more points for the point value of what it holds; so the total base cost is 60 points. Then you take Trait-Limited, Languages only -50%, to get the cost down to 30 points.

2. Omnilingual, only for human languages from the "known world," 40 points.

Both of these will look very much alike, but the underlying rationale is different.
With Omnilingual, you don't actually know an insanely huge number of languages; you might know a dozen, or a score, or fifty. But you JUST HAPPEN to be fluent in whatever language comes up in the script, the way Sidney Bristow was on Alias. On the other hand, with Modular Abilities, you really do have access to millions of languages—but not all at once. They're backed up, and you can bring them online as you need them, fairly quickly, but not quite instantly. (You probably want a high score in Linguistic to identify which language you need!) So at any one time you "know" three languages, but you will "forget" two of them when you need two different languages.

I would actually favor the latter for Threepio, both because it's something that might actually be simplified down to "fluent in over six million forms of communication" (for the naive humans who don't know how droid minds work) and because Computer Brain seems appropriate.

The former.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

The former.

Yes, right. My absence of mind. Thanks!

[cvannrederode]

I was able to do some research online: and this is the "official" technobabble from wookiepedia:

Each droid was equipped with a SyntheTech AA-1 VerboBrain making them capable of storing enormous amounts of information, the additional memory space was often used to keep communication modules in the active memory so that long delays could be avoided while searching for linguistic information on mid-translation. A TranLang III communications module allowed them to be fluent in over six million forms of communication, even if they could not respond in all of them for a lack of proper communication appendages. They also had the skills necessary to quickly analyze new unregistered languages and translate them into more well-known ones.

So I'm still debating between a 30 modular ability or the 40 point omni-lingual ability. It's work noting that with the Ewoks, C-3PO had to apply linguistic skills to map their language to another (one of six million he knew).

I currently have a 0-point build that uses the 30 point modular kind, plus 12 skill points in comparative linguistics. Still mulling.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by cvannrederode

I was able to do some research online: and this is the "official" technobabble from wookiepedia:

So I'm still debating between a 30 modular ability or the 40 point omni-lingual ability. It's work noting that with the Ewoks, C-3PO had to apply linguistic skills to map their language to another (one of six million he knew).

I currently have a 0-point build that uses the 30 point modular kind, plus 12 skill points in comparative linguistics. Still mulling.

I think that's the way to do it. You have BOTH a lower point cost AND a narrative that better fits the setting information.

One option you might look at is to say that Threepio also has Language Talent. That would let him buy four-point slots and have them each act as six points. In addition, he could figure out a new language at the Broken level and gain fluency at the Accented level, which kind of fits your story about the Ewoks.

[Nereidalbel]

XenoOmnilingual with Cosmic: Fluent is fitting. Sure, it's expensive, but, it covers the ability to perfectly translate any language into any other. You may need some enhanced senses to cover some forms of communication.

[Phantasm]

In my own Star Wars conversion, I used 4-point computer slot ModAb for protocol droids, noting that Accented was typically considered good enough for most translation purposes (e.g. Jabba's throne room). Threepio, essentially being a PC, also had Language Talent and points in the Linguistics skill to help him figure out the Ewok language from others (including the Yuzzum language - the furry male singer from the remastered musical number in RotJ, also from Endor), something most NPC protocol droids may not be able to do.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Nereidalbel

XenoOmnilingual with Cosmic: Fluent is fitting. Sure, it's expensive, but, it covers the ability to perfectly translate any language into any other. You may need some enhanced senses to cover some forms of communication.

Not only is it incredibly expensive, but it doesn't fit the narrative.

[Nereidalbel]

Originally Posted by whswhs

Not only is it incredibly expensive, but it doesn't fit the narrative.

Have protocol droids even run into languages they can't translate in the EU? If there has never been a language they can't translate, it's the one trait that works without fail, and doesn't require anybody saying "Excuse me, only 5 species can speak at once!"

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Nereidalbel

Have protocol droids even run into languages they can't translate in the EU? If there has never been a language they can't translate, it's the one trait that works without fail, and doesn't require anybody saying "Excuse me, only 5 species can speak at once!"

Are we ever told, "Oh, fortunately, I just happen to have learned that language"? No, we're told, "I am fluent in over six million forms of communication." So it's not being presented as a fortuitous outcome of a choice to study specific languages out of a much larger list (like Sidney Bristow speaking less than 1% of all human languages that conveniently happen to include whatever's being spoken in the current scene). Indeed, it hardly could be; if Threepio's makers had spent a century training him, he would have had to learn 60,000 languages a year, which would give him less than 10 minutes per language. Having him download files makes a lot more sense.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Nereidalbel

Have protocol droids even run into languages they can't translate in the EU? If there has never been a language they can't translate, it's the one trait that works without fail, and doesn't require anybody saying "Excuse me, only 5 species can speak at once!"

It's overkill. Just because it's theoretically possible for an Omnilingual character to run into a language it can't speak doesn't mean it will ever actually happen in the course of a campaign. Doctor Who went for a huge number of seasons before encountering the first occasion where there was a language the Tardis didn't understand. It only happened when the scriptwriter found a plot related reason for it to happen. I don't know whether a translator droid ever encountered a language it didn't understand but based on C-3PO's "adept in over six million forms of communication" self-description there is a theoretical limit that can be invoked the moment the GM decides it's important that something not be understood.