Native Tongue is the ability to speak and read one’s own language, the one learned while growing up in one’s home culture. For humans, this is the Common Tongue, while demi-human and other races each have their own native languages. Native Tongue measures articulation, eloquence, and the depth of the speaker’s vocabulary.
Unlike other skills, Native Tongue is not rolled against directly. Instead, it is treated as a static representation of overall fluency, limiting the level of conversational interaction. This is described in more detail under the Language skill, but starting characters usually begin play fully fluent in their mother tongue.
The skill can be used in two ways. First, it can help to understand the dialects of neighboring peoples who share a common linguistic basis or origin. In such cases the skill is treated at least one grade harder, potentially affecting the character’s fluency. Second, it can be used as a cap on verbal skills which require a good grasp of language. See Capping Skills.