Drow Sign Language - Free to all drow?

[Morndinsamman]

I'm curious to know what those who play in the UD think of the idea of all drow PCs gaining Drow Sign as a free language.

According to the Forgotten Realms Campaign Sourcebook ...

A silent hand code used to communicate in the Underdark. Unlike other languages that must be heard to be comprehended Drow sign language must be seen to gather meaning. It has no alphabet and or written form.

Many drow also communicate with a hand cant, a special sign language, very akin to the thieves cant used by most thieves guilds.

Taken from Forgotten Realms Wikia ...

Drow Sign is a sign-language type tongue which uses hand motions and expressions. It is, as the name suggests, used mainly by the Drow elves. Humans and other goodly races often confuse these motions as spell conjurations as noted in the novel Sojourn. It is notoriously difficult for non-elves to master as they often lack the manual dexterity and slenderness of an elf's hands, even the incredibly dextrous Artemis Entreri had difficulty getting his hand to enunciate the movements properly and lacks the finesse of a Drow even years after learning the language.

[Hydrocarbonated]

It's not an automatic language. You can request it be given to you by a DM if you have the appropriate INT modifier or a compelling RP reason.

In the interest of not flooding my fellow staff with requests, send me a tell when I'm on, or ask Ansient directly. We'll evaluate your 'case' for having the language and sort it out for you.

Note that languages cannot be removed - please don't ask a DM to swap that Gnomish you never use for the Drow Hand Sign you really want. The DMFI button for that just doesn't work.