Pathfinder 2E Paizo drops use of the word phylactery

[Justice and Rule]

Or perhaps "soul"?

Nah, "soul", "cleric", "altar", and "miracle" are not only term-neutral (which phlactery decidedly isn't), but also not particularly specific to any religion. Phylactery's top meaning refers to an item that carries specific and significant meaning to a religion.

Really, whenever these word games get played it feels like people completely miss the specificity of things.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

Although I do note the name Paizo doesn't have the letter E in it...

Paizo is the Ancient Greek for "play", both in the sport and theatrical senses, and both sports and theater had religious significance to the Ancient Greeks.

 

[BookTenTiger]

Paizo is the Ancient Greek for "play", both in the sport and theatrical senses, and both sports and theater had religious significance to the Ancient Greeks.

It's a good thing then that they didn't name an explicitly evil thing used by evil monsters "paizo"!

 

[Morrus]

Paizo is the Ancient Greek for "play", both in the sport and theatrical senses, and both sports and theater had religious significance to the Ancient Greeks.

Yeah, but Ancient Greeks don't currently suffer the prejudice modern Jews do in today's world. Unless you happen to know some Ancient Greeks? Antisemitism is a real thing in the real world which affects real people. Anti-ancient-greekism isn't.

 

[payn]

I think I like them together better than apart. Soulcage or Soul Cage...

 

[Dausuul]

I quite like soul cage, actually.

 

[Zaukrie]

I too like soulcage, and prefer them together for some reason. That seems like a specific thing, rather than any old cage that can hold a soul.

 

[Justice and Rule]

I'm not sure I'm completely sold on "soulcage", but as a simple English/Common parlance it works and it's evocative enough: caging one's soul really feels like it describes a lich, sealing the recognizable "humanity" (for want of a better word) of them with a cruelty that they now embody.

But really, it works as a general image from which you can create a dozen different cultural variants within your own fictional world.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

Yeah, but Ancient Greeks don't currently suffer the prejudice modern Jews do in today's world. Unless you happen to know some Ancient Greeks? Antisemitism is a real thing in the real world which affects real people. Anti-ancient-greekism isn't.

I'm perfectly aware of antisemitism and it's being real. I've had antisemitic things yelled in my face. But in my dual identity as both a Hebrew person and a Classics major, I just don't consider a rather etymologically neutral Greek word historically used as a synonym for a Jewish thing to be exclusively Jewish property. And I think it is a little silly and arbitrary to remove it from a fantasy game where the Ancient Greek ethnic slur barbaros is a damned character class.

Other people's mileage may vary.

 

[Zaukrie]

I'm perfectly aware of antisemitism and it's being real. I've had antisemitic things yelled in my face. But in my dual identity as both a Hebrew person and a Classics major, I just don't consider a rather etymologically neutral Greek word historically used as a synonym for a Jewish thing to be exclusively Jewish property. And I think it is a little silly and arbitrary to remove it from a fantasy game where the Ancient Greek ethnic slur barbaros is a damned character class.

Other people's mileage may vary.

And you'll note.....some versions are getting rid of the word barbarian. Merely because Paizo hasn't changed every word doesn't mean they shouldn't change any word.......progress can come in increments.