D&D General What To Call A Gish?

What about arcknight, combining a cut down arcane and knight into a single word. Otherwise though, I agree with others, if nothing else jumps out as a great name then stick with swordmage.
That's what I used for my homebrew Arcane Gish class. It's evocative, fairly self-explanatory, and isn't used by other IPs for similar concepts (like "Spellblade" or "Magus" would).

This is starting to feel like another "An Elf by Any Other Name" situation. There wasn't a Trope Namer for this trope in the original editions of D&D or other popular fantasy media for such a long time that there's so many variations of it that it seems almost impossible to get a good name.
 

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Indeed. My first suggestion in this thread was Aegis and I still think that would be the best one:
  • It is a feature of the class AND the name of the subclasses in 4e.
  • Sound mystical without being too esoteric
  • its not a two parts name
I’m leaning toward Aegis, Dweomerlok, or Artavus.

The recently suggested Warder is interesting, but I’m tempted to save for for another idea I’ve got that borrows from some of the underused bits of the swordmage, monk, Paladin, Ranger, and Fighter, to make something like the Warders from Wheel of Time. Primarily martial, lightly armored, faster and tougher than most, resistant to many magics, and usually focused on a single weapon. Probably d10 HD with some THP granting features, scaling bonus saving throw proficiencies, or maybe a “half-PB to all non proficient saves” feature, the monk’s “end an effect that has charmed or frightened you as an action”, maybe an ability to interrupt Spellcasting or even non-spell special moves, if good wording can be figured out, and all of that would be centered around a marking ability with subtle mystical flavor but no flashy magic.
 



I'm confused. Why is 'Arcknight' preferable to 'Arcane Knight'?

Surely the second is vastly better?
It's fine, but 5e class names all follow the general "rule" that they're just one word. It's "Paladin" and "Wizard", not "Holy Knight" and "Magic-User". That's the main reason why I personally prefer "Arcknight" over "Arcane Knight". "Arcane Knight" just feels clunkier than the other class names than "Arcknight", IMO.
 


Gish ONLY applies to the Githyanki... rant over. Sri, had to be done. I'll take my cane and go shake it elsewhere now...lmao

As to what to name ... Spellsword or Magicblade. (Only 29.99 if you order now).
Just like the rest of language, game jargon evolves. Heck, look what Hit Die means now vs. a few editions back. Gish start with the Gith, but it's expanded beyond them in common usage.
 

Isn't "Magus" just as much of a problem as "Janissary"? "Magus" is a reference to the Avestan priests of ancient Persia--just as much appropriation of a foreign term specifically for its exoticality, it's just been appropriated by several cultures before ours (the Greeks and Romans, primarily). But it's still appropriated and is still the word, in English, for a Zoroastrian priest, a religion that still exists. At least the Janissaries went the way of the dodo almost 200 years ago--and were never brought back.

Yet "mage" is about as deeply baked into D&D topics as any other class term--like Barbarian, which gets flak for both its etymology and its current usage. And, as noted, several of the proposed names literally mean appropriating an important religious tool for an active modern religion (Wicca, which got its start in the 1920s). Appropriation is flying all over the place here. "Janissary" isn't actually used--I mean, technically it is because it comes from the Turkish phrase that literally means "new soldier," but realistically it's not used as a title anymore--and both etymologically and, potentially, within the context of the story it could make sense to use it.* That doesn't seem to be any worse than openly stealing the tools of currently-living religions for use as weapons of war (when, as I am given to understand it, most Wiccan traditions would openly reject such violence).

*E.g., the first "Janissaries" could have been mortal conscripts taken by powerful genie-lords, but the art escaped those narrow confines. Now the term is worn with pride, as its practitioners are the "new way" of fighting, one that blends wizardry and warfare into a cohesive whole.
 


Just like the rest of language, game jargon evolves. Heck, look what Hit Die means now vs. a few editions back. Gish start with the Gith, but it's expanded beyond them in common usage.

Just like the rest of language, game jargon evolves. Heck, look what Hit Die means now vs. a few editions back. Gish start with the Gith, but it's expanded beyond them in common usage.
I will agree to disagree, I won't argue anymore, frankly it doesn't matter much but fighter/magic-user was around long before Gish and I've never accepted that (to me) illogical leap. That being said. Most of my post was tongue in cheek. I don't triggered much more by gamer 'gab'. Too much else to worry about. ;)
 

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