When a character wants to speak to another character in a language, he/she should make a dice roll using his/her IQ + Regional knowledge (in relevant language). The difficulty value depends on what the speaker is aiming to achieve:
| Communication | Difficulty value |
| A single common word (e.g. "Yes", "No, "Hello", "Goodbye", "Thank-you", "Please", etc.) | 1 |
| A short phrase of common words (e.g. "Two beers please") | 2 |
| A simple sentence in the present tense (e.g. "Where is the castle?") | 3 |
| A simple sentence in the past/future tense (e.g. "Where will you be tomorrow?") | 4 |
| A complex sentence with multiple clauses or irregular verbs (e.g. "When you get to the end of the road, you need to turn right in front of the well and then it's the third on the left"). | 5 |
| A series of sentences delivered fluently | 6 |
| Use of appropriate current idiom - spoken like a native | 7 |
| Getting difficult grammar right (e.g. use of subjunctive) | 8 |
| Using an unusual word (e.g. anhydrous) correctly | 9 |
| Using a very rare and obscure word correctly | 10 |
When a character is listening to another person speak in a language, he/she should make a dice roll using his/her PE + Regional knowledge (in relevant language) to correctly understand what the other character is saying. The difficulty value is the same as the difficulty value the speaker had to speak correctly (see table above). For example, to understand a fluent conversation fully is difficulty value 6. If a character fails the dice roll, but by two points or less, he/she will pick up pieces of the communication and so may get the gist of what the other person is saying.
If a speaker fails to speak correctly in the language, he/she makes it harder for a listener to understand what he/she is saying. For each half point that the speaker fails the speaking dice roll, the difficulty value of the listener's understanding dice roll is increased by one point.
When a pair of characters are trying to communicate and are reasonably skilled in a language, they will often achieve assured communication (in other words their dice roll basic values are high enough that they do not have to take risks on the dice rolls and can automatically succeed in communicating). To work out whether a speaker can achieve assured communication with a listener, take the listener's basic value (PE + Regional knowledge skill) plus double the speaker's basic value (IQ + Regional knowledge skill) and compare with the values in the following chart:
Regional knowledge (in relevant language). The difficulty value depends on what the speaker is aiming to achieve:
| Communication | Assured communication value |
| A single common word (e.g. "Yes", "No, "Hello", "Goodbye", "Thank-you", "Please", etc.) | 3 |
| A short phrase of common words (e.g. "Two beers please") | 6 |
| A simple sentence in the present tense (e.g. "Where is the castle?") | 9 |
| A simple sentence in the past/future tense (e.g. "Where will you be tomorrow?") | 12 |
| A complex sentence with multiple clauses or irregular verbs (e.g. "When you get to the end of the road, you need to turn right in front of the well and then it's the third on the left"). | 15 |
| Fluent conversation | 18 |
| Idiomatic/slang conversation | 21 |
| Unusual/technical discussion | 27 |
| Obscure/bizarre/byzantine discussion | 30 |
It is possible for a pair of people to have assured one-way communication but to struggle when the communication is the other way (this is often the case where the speaker is less skilled than the listener). Mutually assured communication is where communication is assured in both directions.
For example, Cogan has a Regional Knowledge in Eastern Steppes of 3 with a specialism of 1 1/2 in languages (broad specialism). He has an IQ of -2 and a PE of +1/2. He is trying to communicate with Ben Ruben, who also has a Regional Knowledge of 3. Unlike Cogan, Ben Ruben has a talent in Regional Knowledge which gives him a +2 bonus, however he has only a +1/2 specialism bonus in languages (broad specialism). Ben Ruben's IQ is + 2 1/2 and his PE is + 1 1/2. When Cogan speaks to Ben Ruben in an Eastern steppe language, their assured communication score is ((3 + 2 + 1/2 + 1 1/2) + 2 x (3 + 1 1/2 - 2)) = 12, enough for simple sentences. When Ben Ruben speaks to Cogan in the same language, their assured communication score is ((3 + 1 1/2 + 1/2) + 2 x (3 + 2 + 1/2 + 2 1/2)) = 21, enough for fluent idiomatic conversation. The difference is largely because Ben Ruben, the better linguist, can paraphrase when he is talking which Cogan can't, and Cogan is a better listener than he is at expressing himself. If Cogan tries to use a complex sentence or Ben Ruben uses an unusual or technical term, both characters will need to make dice rolls to see whether one understand the other.