PsionicsWorld

What would you call a world in which there was no magic, but instead psionics took its place? I've been toying with the idea for a long time now, and I'm being struck by an initial, early, and surprising roadblock: I can't think of a name for the setting that I like.
 

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The 11 Kingdoms - after the setting of Katherine Kurtz' Deryni novels.
I don't really want to steal somebody else's name, though.

Although I could always change the number, I suppose. Hmm...
Wasn't there an 3.5 OGL campaign setting released not so long ago that followed this same premise?
I can't recall the name of it, though...
Mindshadows by Green Ronin? Is that what you're thinking of?
 

Did you consider the name Sarlona?

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Sarlona-Dungeons-Roleplaying-Supplement/dp/0786940379]Amazon.com: Secrets of Sarlona (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Eberron Supplement): Keith Baker, Scott Fitzgerald Gray, Glenn McDonald, Chris Sims: Books[/ame]
 

Well, again, that's not really a homebrew if I take someone else's setting, is it?

I'm just looking for a name, not a setting to use. I've got the basics of the setting already in mind.

And no, I don't want to crib some other reasonably well-known setting's name. Although by default, I've gotta say that what I'm working on doesn't look too terribly different than Sarlona. Maybe a post-Riedran revolution Sarlona, anyway.
 

Are you looking for an organic name like, Trenova?

or a descriptive name, say Realm of the Inner Eye?
 

I'm just looking for a name, not a setting to use. I've got the basics of the setting already in mind.

Well, Most good settign names have meaning. but other than "no magic, only psionics" we don't know enough to suggest anything other than random collections of syllables. You want a cool sounding collection of syllables, we can do that. But I think most of us were reaching for meaning by referent.

So, why don't you pitch more of your ideas, and we'll try a bit more? :)
 

Dark Sun done right?

Seriously, though, when it comes to generating placenames--or any names, really--what I usually do is find a language (or even a few languages) with a flavor that I want to steal, and then toss a few hundred names or words from that language into this random word generator.

Kate Monk's onomastikon is, as always, the best source out there for getting loads of names from different cultures, while good old Wikipedia is a great source for all sorts of random text in loads and loads of different languages (of course, Wikipedia also uses those languages' native alphabets, so it's not always useful for this trick).
 

Are you looking for an organic name like, Trenova?

or a descriptive name, say Realm of the Inner Eye?
Probably more descriptive. I can come up with organic names 'til the cows come home. I don't want anything too New Agey though; psionics is magic in this setting... it just uses the rules for psionics instead of the vaguely Vancian regular rules for magic that D&D normally uses.
Well, Most good settign names have meaning. but other than "no magic, only psionics" we don't know enough to suggest anything other than random collections of syllables. You want a cool sounding collection of syllables, we can do that. But I think most of us were reaching for meaning by referent.

So, why don't you pitch more of your ideas, and we'll try a bit more? :)
No, they really don't. What's the big meaning behind "Dragonlance", "Forgotten Realms" or "Greyhawk?" "Birthright" or "Dark Sun" or "Planescape" or any number of others are also names based on similarly vague premises.

Sorry, Umbran. As a matter of fact, I can't think of a single setting that meets the criteria you claim for "most" settings. The exact opposite seems to be true. Those setting names are, at best, a minor component detail of the setting blown up big.

In any case, I don't want to get bogged down with too many descriptive elements, but it's a humanocentric setting, with no spellcasting, no "Tolkienian" races, and leans heavily on the Expanded Psionics Handbook and Complete Psionic as rules material. I'm also taking the three non-warforged Eberron races as well. Psionics isn't so much "psionics", defined as being "mental magic"; psionics is just what magic is in this setting. I'm hoping to get past the novelty value of the setting rather quickly and not draw too many comparisons to standard "magical" settings if I can help it, but I'm definately looking for an "old school" pulp fantasy feel: humanocentric, high-octane action and adventure, the occasional pseudo-scientific feel, and a very non-medieval, non-Tolkien vibe. A hybrid of Barsoom, Conan and Sergio Leone, with smaller city-states rather than vast empires, and broad expanses of bandit and monster-haunted wilderness in between. Points of light, I guess, since that's the new buzzword, although these are relatively big and bright points of light in this case.

Maybe as a quick and dirty descriptor; sorta like Star Wars without the spaceships and blasters.
 

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