Character Languages

The remainder of the PHB language model — racial languages, a common tongue, bonus languages from Intelligence — applies as a guideline rather than a mechanical table. Languages in Oath-Bound are handled through the Competency Profile. A character knows the languages their background warrants, established at Session Zero through the same mediated discussion that produces the rest of their profile.

The Intelligence-based limit on additional languages is a reference point for what is plausible, not a hard ceiling. A character with a background that credibly accounts for multiple languages may have them regardless of their Intelligence score, subject to GM agreement at Session Zero.

The common tongue in Oath-Bound is Markish — a colloquial and expressive language spoken by most Exceptional Actors and the majority of the people they encounter. It is the language of trade, civic life, and everyday exchange across much of the setting. Some societies speak variants of Markish, or related languages that share enough common root to be partially intelligible; others require genuine competency to navigate fluently. The GM establishes which languages and variants are present in the specific campaign.

Racial languages apply as written for the supported player character races — Dwarves, Elves, Halflings, and Humans — where those languages exist in the campaign setting.

Thieves' Cant is not used as a formal PHB construct. Most criminal syndicates and guilds have developed regional patois that serves the same function — keeping the content of a conversation opaque to outsiders who happen to overhear it. These are organic, setting-specific, and not a unified secret language. A Gray Actor’s familiarity with such a patois is a Competency Profile matter, established at Session Zero or developed through play.