Forked Thread: Its the terminology that kills me...

[hexgrid]

I'm not a big fan of 'class/level' systems but it seems liked if your going to have them one benefit is an easy means of designation. With previous editions, players might say, "That's when my Wizard cast lightning bolt at the orc guard". Now its 'my controller'. Totally ruins the mood and atmosphere for me.

Have you actually witnessed this?

In my game so far, no one has referred to their character as anything besides it's race/class combo.

Role names have only come up when discussing the design of the classes.

 

[Obryn]

You know, for a tool to help DMs create interesting encounter groups on the fly, the terminology sure is causing a lot of grumbling.

Leader, skirmisher, brute... Those are just ways to throw together a neat group of bad guys and have some idea how they might work in combat without exhaustively reading all their abilities before-hand.

-O

 

[RSKennan]

Like Henry, I loathe hearing the word "Toon" for character. It just gives me the impression that that player doesn't remotely care about roleplaying.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Like Henry, I loathe hearing the word "Toon" for character. It just gives me the impression that that player doesn't remotely care about roleplaying.

Toon... Where does this even come from! I never head this before!

 

[ST]

I've also found that discussing D&D on the internet ruins my immersion, because D&D is set in ye olden times and so it doesn't have Internet access.

 

[RSKennan]

Toon... Where does this even come from! I never head this before!

It seems to come from video games- your character looks like a cartoon, hence "toon".

This mindset is exactly the opposite of what I want out of games.

Edit: I would play a cartoon-based rpg (like Who Framed Roger Rabbit), though.

 

[Nifft]

Toon... Where does this even come from! I never head this before!

The first place I heard it was over on the WotC boards.

If it does come from video games, perhaps it's a good sign (despite my personal distaste) -- if it's an indication that 4e is bringing video game people into RPGs, the hobby is getting healthier.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Cadfan]

I've never heard the "toon" thing. I've referred to my character as "my d00d" a few times, but mostly to annoy people who being snooty about a roleplaying game.

 

[RSKennan]

The thing is, I heard it throughout 3e, too. I think it's more from people who played tabletop games, then discovered WoW or something, and brought the term back.

 

[racoffin]

The thing is, I heard it throughout 3e, too. I think it's more from people who played tabletop games, then discovered WoW or something, and brought the term back.

like a disease? Instead of small pox we got toon?

I agree that most of the jargon is a bit off-putting when it isn't something your group regularly uses. I hadn't heard most of the terms until I ran across them here, or from others who had played online games.