Renaming the G-word (hint: fighter-mages)

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Oddly enough, I'm fine with teh G-word-that-mods-will-fix-for-you... but I would be annoyed if someone used Bladesinger to mean any Fighter/Mage who wasn't also an Elf. Crazy, no?

No - I think of Bladesinger as being the Elven sword-and-magic combo, too. But then, I've been exposed to Bladesingers a lot more ... organically? ... than G-fish.* Accordingly, I don't have any particular image in my head of what a G-impish* character should entail other than combining sword and spell.

 

[Pale]

No, it's saying that Bladesinger is a better term than Fighter-Wizard.

It's saying that THREADCRAPPING WORD is a better term than Warrior-Mage.

It's saying that Bard or Skald are better terms than Warrior-Poet.

It's saying that Swashbuckler is a better term than Fighter-Rogue.

Any term that sounds like a 2E multiclass character is inferior to a single word that encompasses the whole of the character.

The one disconnect you seem to be having is that you seem to think the G-word means something in the english language just like all of the other words.

It doesn't. You have to explain what it means, and then possibly explain the origin of the word, then, more than not, have to explain what in the hell Githyanki and Githzerai are. Therefor, it's not a good word to use. A good word to use is immediately recognizable to those outside of the culture so that it can be introduced to newcomers relatively easily. If this can't be done, then it's "jargon" and should not be used in any official capacity.

As a culture we shouldn't be in the practice of alienating newcomers with extremely arcane terminology.

By the by:

Bladesinger is not a good term for a Fighter/Wizard, maybe a Fighter/Bard, but that's about it.

Skald is a good term for Warrior-Poet, because, well, "Warrior-Poet" is the definition of that word.

Swashbuckler evokes "romanticized pirate" more than a Fighter/Rogue combo, so it too, isn't a very good replacement.

 

[Bacris]

I'd agree with you, except that 5 years ago, the term "Googling" wasn't common, either... or understood by most culture.

Terms get invented, evolve, or change over time - that doesn't make it wrong. It's when it hits that critical mass threshold where enough people know what it means that it becomes accepted - some may not like the term, but it's starting to become the norm - at least in online conversation about "fighter/mage combo" without any connection to the Gith races.

 

[Squire James]

My favorite term is "Battlemancer". It implies both fighting and wizardry, it flows well, and nobody has to mentally add a slash in the middle for it to make sense.

The githyanki battlemancers tended to be females who joined a special club that translates roughly to "Githyanki Intraplanar Sorority House". Unfortunately, even the githyanki started using its associated acronym, and the name stuck. Even more frightening were the fat male githyanki who liked smoke powder who formed the "Githyanki Intraplanar Fraternity of Friends"...

 

[blargney the second]

I was away for a couple of days... sorry for stirring the hornet's nest with the OP - that was definitely not my intention. I just wanted to have a productive thread, so I set out a couple of parameters to focus discussion as I've seen others do on these forums. I was specifically hoping to avoid discussing whether or not the g-word was a useful term, so I wanted it to be a given within this thread that it needed to be replaced to concentrate on coming up with alternatives.

By the way, I'm not filled with outrage or anything when I see the g-word. It just sets off my mental alarm to the tune of "there has to be a better way to say that!" When I started the thread I was feeling kind of whimsical about it, hence the categorization of Humor and the slightly goofy first post. I'm still feeling that way.

Back on topic, battlemancer rocks.
-blarg

 

[blargney the second]

I just realized that there's an interesting thing going on - battlemage has become a role (in the 4E sense) that is an integral part of some people's play experience, rather than just a multiclass combo.

 

[Elephant]

Polite notice:

If you think it would be funny to use the 'word-that-rhymes-with-dish' in this thread, think again.

I would have thought my humorous removal of the first instance would have made the point, but apparently not, as three people have since thought it clever to use it. I've deleted those posts.

If you can't play nicely in this thread, don't play in it at all.

If I see it happen again, there will be bannings. There are thousands of threads where you can use the word freely, do so there. Not here.

You have been warned!

Wow, overreacting much?

IRT the OP, before I heard the term 'gish', I always used 'fighter-mage'.

 

[wildstarsreach]

Wow, overreacting much?

IRT the OP, before I heard the term 'XXXX', I always used 'fighter-mage'.

Since I don't want my post deconstructed, I removed the proverbeal word that moderators are enforcing. Expect your post to disappear.

I used Fimut for the fighter mage thieves that I would play.

 

[Blackrat]

/SNIP\ So why not just go with Fighter/Wizard? Too long? Wi-Fi? (heh) /SNIP\

Sorry for snipping away the rest of your awesome post Anthelios, but I just wanted to comment on this part. Even though you probably made this as a joke, I actually find Wifi as a preferable option to the Githyanki-word. It is short, it's easy to say and it's logical if you know where it's derived. And it doesn't have a presice cultural implication. I'm actually going to try to get my friends to accept Wifi as a replacement for the "Word". Wifi is a good word.

 

[Plane Sailing]

For goodness sake.

Thread closed.

You can open up the discussion again in a few days if you like, but anyone making snarky remarks to/about moderators is likely to get suspended for a few days.