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Characters with this skill understand and can speak a foreign language. If the character is literate he can also read and write the language (does not apply to languages for which there is no writing system, such as traditional Navaho).
This skill much be purchased separately for each language "branch" that the character understands. Specialties are specific languages within the branch. In order for a character to have an understanding of all languages within a given language "family," the character must purchase a minimum of one level in each branch within that family.
All characters start with a score of 3 in their native language (unless they have a trait which limits their starting score) and a score of 1 in the parent branch. The character's native language should be noted on the character sheet.
In addition to being used in skill rolls, the skill score represents the character's fluency with languages within the chosen group, as shown on the table below.
| Level | Fluency |
| 1 | Rudimentary; simple words and phrases only. Thick, noticeable accent (obviously not a local). |
| 2 | Basic; simple conversations. Moderate accent (requires Average Awareness roll to detect). |
| 3 | Conversational fluency. Minor accent or regional dialect (requires Challenging Awareness roll to detect). |
| 4 | Fluent; complex dialogue and expressions. No accent. |
| 6 | Expert; speaks perfectly, better than most natives. |
| 8 | Master; command of the language rivals the most learned scholar (a rarity!). |
Language (Type) is a Universal Skill; all characters receive it at level 2 at no cost. The "Type" for this skill is the character's native language.
Available language groups and the Specialties (individual languages) available are shown on the following page.
Languages and language branches in italics (such as Luwian and Anatolian) are archaic or "dead" languages in a modern setting. Those indicated by an asterisk are languages with no written component.
The 20 most commonly used languages in the world are shown in bold text.
| Berber* | Shluh, Tamazight, Riffian, Kabyle, Shawia, Tuareg, Guanch |
| Chadic | Hausa |
| Cushitic | Somali, Galla, Sidamo, Beja, Afar, Saho |
| Egyptian | Coptic, Egyptian, Heiroglyphics |
| Semitic | Arabic, Maltese, Hebrew, Amharic, Tigrinya, Tigre, Aramaic, Gurage, Harari, Geez, Syriac, Akkadian, Phonoecian, Punic, Ugaritic, Nabatean |
| Japonic | Japanese, Ryukyuan |
| Korean | Korean |
| Mongolian | Buryat, Kalmyk, Mongolian |
| Tungusic | Evenki, Lamut, Manchu, Nanai, Sibo |
| Turkic | Azeri, Balkar, Bashkir, Chuvash, Kazakh, Kirghiz, Nogai, Salar, Shor, Tatar, Turkish, Turkmen, Uigur, Uzbek |
Apache, Navajo*
| Mon-Khmer | Khmer, Mon, Palaung, Wa, Bahnar, Sedang, Khasi, Nicobarese, So, Nancowry, Sengoi, Temiar |
| Munda | Santali, Mundari, Ho, Savara, Korku |
| Viet-Muong | Vietnamese, Muong |
| Central | Brahui, Gondi, Kurukh, Kui, (Elamite) |
| Southern | Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Tulu |
Aleut, Intuit
| Gestures | Deaf Sign Language (by country), Hand & Arm Signals* (military) |
| Anatolian | Hittite, Lycian, Lydian, Luwian, Palaic |
| Armenian | Armenian, Lomavren |
| Baltic | Latvian, Lithuanian, Prussian |
| Celtic | Breton, Cornish, Cumbrian, Galatian, Gaulish, Irish Gaelic, Manx, Scottish Gaelic, Pictish, Welsh |
| Germanic | Afrikaans, Anglo Saxon, Dutch, English, Flemish, Frankish, Frisian, German, Gothic, Lombardo, Old English, Old Norse, Norwegian, Scots, Swedish, Vandal, Visigoth, Yiddish |
| Hellenic | Byzantine Greek, Classical Greek (Attic), Modern Greek (Deotic, Katharevoussa), Koine, Mycenaean |
| Illyric | Albanian |
| Indic | Ardhamagadhi, Assamese, Bengali, Gujerati, Hindi, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maldivian, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Pali, Punjabi, Romany (gypsy language) , Sanskrit, Sindhi, Sinhalese, Urdu |
| International | Esperanto, Ido (improved Esperanto), Intal, Interglossa, Interlingua, Novial, Romanova, Unish, VolapŸk |
| Iranian | Avestan, Baluchi, Farsi, Kurdish, Ossetian, Pashto, Persian, Tadzhik |
| Romance (Latin) | Corsican, Dalmation, French, Italian, Italo-Dalmation, Latin, Oscan, Portuguese, Romanian, Sabine, Sardinian, Spanish, Umbrian |
| Slavic | Bosnian, Bulgarian, Byelorussian, Czech, Kashubian, Kashubian, Knaanic, Macedonian, Old Church Slavic, Polabian, Polish, Romano-Serbian, Russian, Serbo-Croation, Slovak, Slovene, Sorbian, Ukranian |
| Formosan | Amis, Atayal, Paiwan, Tsou |
| Melanesian | Fijian, Motu, Yabim |
| Micronesian | Chamorro, Gilbertese, Marshallese, Nauruan, Palau, Ponapean, Trukese, Yapese |
| Polynesian Branch | Hawaiian, Maori, Marquesan, Niuean, Rapa Nui, Rarotongan, Samoan, Tahitian, Tongan, Tuamotu, Uvea |
| Western Malayo | Achinese, Balinese, Batak, Bikol, Buginese, Cham, Igorot, Ilocano, Jarai, Javanese, Madurese, Malagasy, Malay / Indonesian, Maranao, Pampangan, Pangasinan, Rhade Sundanese, Tagalog, Visayan |
| Adamawan | Mbum |
| Bantu | Ambo, Bemba, Bubi, Bulu, Chagga, Chiga, Chokwe, Duala, Fang, Ganda, Gisu, Hehe, Herero, Kamba, Kikuyu, Kongo, Lingala, Lozi, Luba, Lunda, Lwena, Makonde, Makua, Matebele, Mbundu, Mongo, Nkole, Nyamwezi, Nyanja, Nyoro, Pedi, Ruanda, Rundi, Shona, Sotho, Sukuma, Swahili, Swazi, Thonga, Tonga, Toro, Tswana, Tumbuka, Venda, Xhosa, Yao, Yaundé, Zulu |
| Eastern | Banda, Gbaya, Sango, Zande |
| Efik | Efik, Ibibio, Tiv |
| Ijo | Ijo |
| Kwa | Adangme, Agni, Baule, Bassa, Ibo, Edo, Ewe, Fanti, Fon, Ga, Grebo, Idoma, Kru, Nupe, Twi, Urhobo, Yoruba |
| Mande | Bambara, Dyula, Kpelle, Loma, Malinke, Mende, Soninke, Susu, Vai |
| Voltaic | Bariba, Dagomba, Gurma, Kabre, Mossi, Senufo |
| West Atlantic | Balante, Dyola, Fulani, Gola, Kissi, Serer, Temne, Wolof |
| Sinitic | Cantonese, Dungan, Fukienese, Gan, Hakka, Huizhou, Jinyu, Mandarin, Min, Min Bei, Min Dong, Min Nan, Min Zhong, Pu-Xian, Wu, Xiang, Yue |
| Southern Branch | Miao, She, Yao |
| Tai | Be, Chuang, Kam-Sui, Lao, Li, Nung, Puyi, Shan, Thai, Tung, Zhuang |
| Tibeto-Burman | Bodo, Burmese, Chin, Garo, Jonkha, Kachin, Karen, Lahu, Lepcha, Lisu, Lushei, Manipuri, Meithei, Mizo, Moso, Murmi, Newari, Tibetan, Yi |