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House Rules & Rules Discussions / Re: Spirit speech
« Last post by Marc (Admin) on March 24, 2016, 02:40:08 PM »
I share this interpretation, or at least something very similar. Spirit Speech is about the ability of non-spirits to understand the communication coming from a spirit. Non-spirits speak to spirits in whatever way they choose or know how, and it is assumed that the spirit will intuitively understand. Spirit Speech is an understanding, not a written or oral language. The short of it is that if you are speaking English at a spirit, others will hear you speak English at the spirit without knowing Spirit Speech - they just won't understand the spirit's response. If you want to avoid eavesdropping or unwanted participants, then you need to find a way to communicate to the spirit that those you're trying to exclude don't know. For example, using foreign (human) languages.
My take on it:
The write-up in Revised says that the gift enables the Garou to "understand the communication of spirits intuitively." The flavor text muddles it by saying it enables Garou to speak to spirits whether they want to be addressed or not, but the mechanics section only talks about understanding the spirits. My personal opinion on the matter is that you say what you say, in whatever language you use, in a way that the spirit can comprehend it. Then the spirit responds, and if they don't use the same language, the gift comes into play in deciphering their communication.
And in the A-B-C example, assuming English for all PCs, A and B should be able to follow the entire conversation, while C will understand A and B, but not the spirit.
