Alternate Names for Spells

[tleilaxu]

Does anybody do this? Personally, I think it is more fun to find a scroll of Fendu's Fabulous Flaming Fingers than to find a scroll of Burning Hands...

 

[Crothian]

When I do do it, I also change the spell in some way to give it that personal feel in effect besides just name.

 

[DM with a vengence]

Voodoo.

It works just like our good friend Magic Missile, with the following exceptions.
Necromancy school.
Caster stabs doll with knife.
You suffer internal pain.
Fail a Fort save and cough up blood.

More of a style change to freak people out.

 

[NoOneofConsequence]

Alright tleilaxu, you can stop reading my mind now! I was planning only yesterday to post this exact question.

Personally, we don't use alternate names in-game too much, but when I'm writing game based fiction I loathe game-speak so I'm constantly developing new names for spells - or new ways to say old names.

Frex: the acid evocation made famous by Melph. (Melph's acid arrow)

 

[Kamard]

I use new names for spells when I am playing, but I am generally too lazy as a DM to do so.

 

[tleilaxu]

So part 2 of this is...

Post some of your creative names for spells!

Thee most excellent prismatic spray (of course)

Jenner's Prismatic Pattern (rainbow pattern)

Tolo's Size Enhancer (enlarge)

Errod's Erotic Enhancer (potion of endurance)

 

[Deadguy]

I always try and do this very thing in my Shattered World campaign. I have distinct 'schools' of magic, co-existent and competitive. So I make sure that I name spells to indicate somewhat of origins. I may also go down the path of reworking a spell somewhat to go with the different approaches taken by different wizards. For example I have magic missile, arcane bolt and levin bolt - all variants of the magic missile spell (for reference, the middle one does d6+1 damage per bolt and requires a ranged touch attack, the last allows a Fort save and does d6+1 damage per bolt). These three spells come from different 'schools', and have been stolen by others over the centuries.

All in all, it adds to the feeling that magic is an ongoing work, rather than just the parroting of the works of the ancients.

 

[Pielorinho]

I don't use spell names that much, but I work Detect Magic a little differently, to give spells different flavors.

If someone casts detect magic and succeeds on their spellcraft check, I don't tell them what school of magic they're looking at. I give them some symbolic representation of what they're seeing.

A +1 rapier might have a hornet's spirit in it. A potion of sneaking might appear mossy and gray. A ring of jump might show up as a frog. A potion of inflict moderate wounds ("recommended by four out of five undead!") contains a swirling black stormcloud.

If a spell has a particularly dumb name, I'll encourage players to use something else. A PC recently recovered a dried, shrunken cobra off of an enemy wizard. When the 14" long serpent is held in one hand and a command word is said, the cobra bares its fangs and spits a clear caustic venom at enemies, venom that burns into their flesh.

It won't work if my player calls it his Wand of Melf's Acid Arrows, though. Despite its effect, he's gotta call it his Cobra Fetish if he wants to inflict 2d4 points of damage on his enemies for 2 rounds.

Daniel

 

[Lurks-no-More]

Have a look at this: Dying Earth spell generator
It's meant for the Dying Earth game, but since the D&D spell system is taken whole-hog from Vance anyway (just look at Prismatic Spray or Otiluke's Resilient Sphere), you can adapt these with ease.

So, anyone interested in The Spell of Fair Plagiarism?

 

[Deadguy]

The Spell of Fair Plagiarism? A Transmutation spell that lets you copy a spell cast by another spellcaster earlier in the round and cast it back at the original caster? Maybe fair is a litte sarcastic, but it's certainly poetic!