How about "Witch" instead of "Warlock"?

[Nifft]

Some, yes. But I would bet a considerable amount of money that, if you grab a random person off the street and tell them to picture a witch, 9 times out of 10 you'll get a green warty lady with a broomstick.

If we made the same bet regarding Wizard and "an old bearded dude", would that preclude you from playing a young, female, beard-free Wizard?

Cheers, -- N

 

[resistor]

No, it just means that it's a sub-optimal choice of names. At this point, though, it's kind of grand-fathered in, but we can try not to make the same error in the future.

Edit: Also, the wizard class did grow out of the old-man-with-beard-and-hat image (think Gandalf), so at the time it was named it made sense. We're talking about a new class whose flavor has nothing to do with the name witch as commonly interpreted now. Wizard at least matched its common interpretation when it was originally conceived.

 

[Gloombunny]

Just because green warty woman in a black pointy hat is the first thing most people think of when you say "witch" doesn't mean it's the only thing. Other witch imagery has a strong enough place that the name could work for a class. IMO.

I still think "witch" is a bad idea for a class, but that's because it's too gender-specific and too loaded yet vague a word, not because I think people won't be able to deal with wartless witches. (Anyone who can get used to "cleric" being a guy in full plate with a mace should have no problem with "witch". Unless they just don't know what "cleric" means in the first place, of course.)

 

[resistor]

I still think "witch" is a bad idea for a class, but that's because it's too gender-specific and too loaded yet vague a word, not because I think people won't be able to deal with wartless witches. (Anyone who can get used to "cleric" being a guy in full plate with a mace should have no problem with "witch". Unless they just don't know what "cleric" means in the first place, of course.)

I don't think we're really saying anything different. I know that, etymologically, "witch" is a decent word for the class. However, most people are not aware of its etymology, and for them it is loaded with meaning(s) that are not necessarily what Wizards wants for the class.

I'm not saying that it's impossible to co-opt a word with another meaning, just that it's much harder. A name that's not loaded with other meanings is more likely to catch-on/become popular. And, being a business and all, Wizards is definitely in hoping that things they invent will catch on.

 

[Gloombunny]

I think we just disagree on precisely how loaded the word is. It's my opinion that non-warty witch portrayals have become mainstream enough that people would have little trouble adapting even if their first thought is green.

 

[blargney the second]

I think Harry Potter when I hear witch.

 

[rounser]

My personal preference would be to change warlord, but to what? "Battleleader"? "Marshal"? I don't know.

I'm fond of "Champion". It works on the leader stuff, and for any cause you choose (someone who's a "Champion of Chaos", for instance, or simply a champion of the current quest, keeping his or her companions alive...whatever). Importantly, champions belong in adventuring parties...warlords don't. They belong somewhere in Africa, in real life, issuing commands to guys in berets who commit atrocities.

You could even have a pacifist champion, whereas a pacifist warlord is oxymoronic. Heck, a warlord in an adventuring party doesn't even need the "oxy" bit IMO, it just doesn't fit. Gah, I really hope they did a find and replace on that name before finalising the PHB.

 

[resistor]

I think Harry Potter when I hear witch.

That's probably a close second for me too, and still probably not the image Wizards is trying to conjure.

 

[olshanski]

Warlord has to go

I've been sitting quietly waiting for it to go away on its own.

Are there other cultures where "warlord" doesn't have the same connotation as it does in America?

Here in the midwest of America, "warlord" is a very specialized word meaning a particular type of abusive 3rd world despot... the people that are committing genocide and mass mutilations in Somalia and Darfur.

Maybe I am just clueless and "Warlord" is some neutral word like "General" or "Tactician" or "Soldier" or "Master-of-Arms".

 

[Felon]

I think Harry Potter when I hear witch.

Even though Harry's a wizard?