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In the PHB, they have "sample alphabets" for a few of the exotic languages (everything that isn't "common"). For example - the Draconic alphabet:

Draconic alphabet - PHB p. 123

They suggest these are "sample" alphabets only, so do they have characters for digits in these alphabets as well?

Side note: to clarify, I am perceiving the use of the word "sample" as only part of the character set, not as a suggested character set. If this is incorrect please do inform me.

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    \$\begingroup\$ These materials were the only part of the 5th edition core that really made me cringe, in that inhuman writing systems are assumed to not only be alphabets, but be simple ciphers of the Latin alphabet. There is no reason to assume that an unknown language group/culture even uses base 10, let alone that they use a numbering system that is simply a cipher of our own numbering system. \$\endgroup\$
    – Lexible
    Oct 7, 2015 at 15:42
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Lexible: On the other hand, someone wanting to have a little fun with the runes can do so without any knowledge of linguistics. Maybe someone else can take it further if required, but it would be quite niche to want a realistic alphabet and language in an RPG, and to therefore have to learn it to use it \$\endgroup\$ Oct 7, 2015 at 18:18
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Lexible It may be a legacy issue. This specific Draconic has already been established in FR canon, and for better or worse has always been a simple cipher (so too, Dethek and Espruar). It may also be an accessibility and space consideration: a conlang script's description takes up far more space (and design time) and is less immediately usable than a simple cipher, and usability often trumps authenticity in RPG publishing. \$\endgroup\$ Oct 8, 2015 at 5:07
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Lexible I once ran across a site that had a character set for elven script, and included a numbering system in base 12. It attributed this to their longevity, and suggested that the 12-month calendar and 24-hour day were derived from elven timekeeping methods. \$\endgroup\$ Oct 14, 2015 at 8:45
  • \$\begingroup\$ @NeilSlater Well, there is an assumption in "take it further"that the players are not bilingual or multilingual in languages using different alphabets, but sure. \$\endgroup\$
    – Lexible
    Oct 14, 2015 at 14:05

4 Answers 4

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In general, the other languages within the Forgotten Realms do have numerals. For example, the Draconic Alphabet with numerals can be found on the Forgotten Realms Wikia.

Though I could not find written Primordial or Supernal alphabets, given that the other written instances of alphabets have numerals, I think you are safe to say they all do.

However, I think you are wrong in your interpretation. I do not think they are saying that this is part of the Draconic Alphabet, but rather a possible Draconic Alphabet (in particular from the Forgotten Realms), and neglected to include the numerals due to space constraints.

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All non-mechanical information can be treated as suggestions. And some of the mechanical stuff, too, if you wish. If your dragon races need digits, they can have digits, or they can spell out all their numbers. It's your game, you get to own it.

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A realistic solution for no numbers is to do something like the Braille system and reuse the letters from A-J as numbers, and then use Arabic notation, not Roman. I believe Hebrew also did something like this. You'd add a notation to indicate "this is a number". Braille basically uses # in front of all its numbers, although currency signs and a couple of other things are considered "obvious". So $EAB.IE is $512.95.

What really bothers me is the omission of rather more fundamental stuff, like punctuation, mathematical operators, how the text is emphasized, or instructions on how things are even written (right to left, up to down, in any random direction that looks pretty like with Ancient Egyptian).

But then you fall down the con-lang rabbit hole, and for that it's easier to just say your Orcs speak Klingon, the Elves speak Tolkien's Elvish, and Dwarves speak Esperanto. Or German, Mandarin, and Swahili.

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If you don't get a better answer, you could use Roman numeral style writing of numbers. Dedicated number characters are a fairly recent addition to the Latin character set, having been borrowed from Arabic within the last 1000 years (give or take a few hundred).

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