Dragon's Tail Cut?

[Riley]

They should call it "Sweep the Leg" and write flavor text of how it was a maneuver perfected by the ancient and mysterious Cobra Kai society.

Sweep the Leg. Leg Sweep. Knee Bash. Undercut. Something like that. Keep it simple.

You know, if we posted our suggestions on Gleemax, they'd have the rights to them, and maybe they'd use one.

I hereby bequeathe my rights to any of these names to WOTC, if they'll just use one as a replacement for Dragon's Tail Sweep.

 

[KrazyHades]

I'm going with saying neither Wallop nor Dragon's Tail Cut as any good. No offense, but c',mon, if you actually call it that you'll end up with every single DM who isn't running an asian-style setting changing the name to something more universal while remaining descriptive.

Slightly altering "Dragon's Tail Cut":
Dragon Sweep
Dragontail Strike (note: One word, no clunky " 's " sound)


Assuming this is a specific sword power (although if "wallop" is good enough, then some of these can be out there), here are some tentative ideas:
Sword Sweep
Leg Cut
Stance Slicer
Leg-lunge
Knockdown
Shove
Sword-trip

And dozens of other possibilities that are more universal and less-dorky. C'mon, Rich Baker, we know you have it in you to do better than that! We have faith in you, as long as you take our opinions here on ENWorld into account!

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

Watch out for my spinning reversed dragon's tail cut delivered while parting the wild horse's mane. Iron broom time, baby.

 

[Scribble]

Maybe Red Dragon Slash... (to tie it in with D&D itself n all...)

 

[A'koss]

I don't mind evocative names myself - so long as they actually suggest what is being done. I would never guess that "Dragon Tail Cut" was some kind of knockdown attack.

Dragon Hammer, Dragontail Strike, Dragontail Lash - if you have to use "dragon" in the name. I like the word "hammer" myself - because it suggests a powerful attack - Mountain Hammer and so on...

 

[catsclaw227]

Given how many people complained when WotC added the one-sentence, italicized descriptions to their spell write-ups, can you imagine how many complaints they'd get if each spell, maneuver, and power had a list of alternate names?

Better, I think, for them to just name each spell and each power once--as the game has always done--and let people who don't like them come up with their own.

I liked the italicized, descriptive spell text. huh....

Anyway, I am not too hot on this name, nor am I that big on the Wizard Naming traditions. I am likely to rename them with something more befitting the campaign world anyway. Maybe even something named after a local master.

A local weapon master's maneuver name might be: "Ryven's Sweeping Blade"

The barbarian half-orc: "Thurgun Dropp'um!"

 

[Atlatl Jones]

Definitely dorky. Worse yet, it's a mouthful, and completely meaningless. One problem I had with the Bo9S names, and things like "Dragon's Tail Cut", is that they don't actually describe what they do. They're meaningless, so players and DMs are forced to memorize dozens or hundreds of arbitrary names.

I hope that the dorky and confusing names is something that gets changed during playtesting. Power/spell names can be evocative, but they should also be relatively short, and actually describe what they do.

 

[CleverNickName]

Not if (as is implied by "cut") it is a sword-specific power.

That's another thing that bothers me about this power, besides its name. To be most effective at knocking an opponent backward, a choice weapon to use would be one that would generate a lot of impact force...something bulky, heavy, and long-hafted, like the flat side of a greataxe. A sword doesn't have enough stopping power; it is too light and thin.

Imagine playing baseball with a sword instead of a bat. A skilled swordsman with the right blade will cut the ball in two pieces, but that ball will still get past the plate. A skilled batter with the right club will crush that ball out of the park.

I suppose that using the "flat of the sword" on a two-handed blade would work, but the word "cut" in the title suggests using the sword to cleave an opponent backward. I suppose a sword would be ideal for upsetting an opponent's balance, due to the speed and flexibility of the blade, but this is called "tripping."

Anyway. I'm being nitpicky. Physics and fantasy should always be kept in separate containers. But it was bugging me, so I had to say something about it.

 

[MerricB]

I'm not keen on the names proposed.

However, I do think of one of the fantasy series I really like, that does have names for sword manuevers:

* Sheathing the Sword
* Folding the Fan
* Stones Falling Down the Mountain
* Cat Dances on the Wall

I really enjoyed those names.

Cheers!

 

[pawsplay]

Hm, maybe the'll go ahead and actually rename the paladin's mount to Pokemount for 4e.