How about "Witch" instead of "Warlock"?

[Felon]

I posted this over on the WotC boards a while back, and was for the most part repaid for my efforts in the usual coin for that forum . I figure I'd take a crack at seeing the folks here would respond, hopefully in a more constructive, coherent manner.

Some folks have expressed that having both warlord and warlock in the PHB has something of an awkward feel to it, and may even give rise to some practical difficulties when it comes to abbreviations and shorthand notations. Most have suggested alternate warlord names. It occurred to me that using the effeminate of warlock might be worth consideration.

Any possible love for using "witch" instead of warlock? It has some broader connotations to it, which addresses some concerns about moving away from the heavily sinister overtones of "warlock". Some witches practice white magic, while warlocks tend to be exclusively sinister (Dumbledor notwithstanding).

There's also less gender bias, as a male can be called a witch, but women are not called warlocks (they're witches).

Roll it around your tastebuds for a minute and tell me what you think.

 

[pawsplay]

First, feminine, not effeminate. Second, it's not. Witch comes from a word meaning "wise," warlock is less certain but probably means "oath-breaker," "blasphemer," or "libeler." Witch was originally applied as often or more to men, but became associated with woman primarily during the witch pogroms of the so-called Enlightenment period.

Witch is a term that has been applied to and subsquently claimed by various spiritualist, non-Christian religions and hence is politically and socially loaded. I would avoid using it for core game concepts; it's a word that might be used "in-game" for some things, which in my mind means it's sort of okay. Presenting it as a character class means "This is what a witch means in D&D," whereas presenting it as simply a description, the name of a specific pretige class, or an organization makes it simply something known by that name in-game (which hopefully isn't itself a disrespectful treatement WRT neo-pagans and the like).

Also, witch has other important connotations.... cackling old ladies with green faces, dressed like charcoal makers. It's just too silly to throw out there without some context.

 

[blargney the second]

It'd work for me, but honestly I'm almost completely ambivalent about class names. We don't use them when talking in character, so it just doesn't matter.
-blarg

 

[WhatGravitas]

Roll it around your tastebuds for a minute and tell me what you think.

Well, I've played AE, therefore I think highly of it.

Cheers, LT.

 

[Mighty Veil]

Warlock works fine.

 

[Aloïsius]

I would rather remove the warlord from the PHB...

 

[Skyman]

'Cleric' has specific meanings in certain religions, and 'druid' also has meaning in a pagan religion to which a family member of mine belongs. I don't think it's wrong to use terms like witch for a game class.

And I like it too - especially if they can bring some of the coolness of the AE witch. Themes like winter witch and sea witch are pretty awesome.

 

[Nifft]

I like Witch, but I'm also a fan of MC's AE, so my default cultural associations (which were basically Glynda, Ursula, and Alyssa Milano) have been pre-eroded.

But more than that, I dislike Warlord. If we have to get rid of one of the War names, let's dump that one first.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Teflon Billy]

Witch sounds fine--largely because I am in the "Too Many Warlo-'s" camp.

But I'm still not convinced Warlord is much of a name either. I like them both conceptually, but the naming conventions are just troublesome.

 

[Lorthanoth]

I was thinking about this only today - the "Warlo-" classes. Either or both could eb changed, it does seem a little clunky. My personal preference would be to change warlord, but to what? "Battleleader"? "Marshal"? I don't know.