So you want to name a gish class…

[Gammadoodler]

Pretty much. To lend a bit more context to the project, I'm reworking a game with a very simple class system. Four base classes, each of which can promote into either of two sub-classes. So I want to keep the names very archetypical; I don't want to use any silly-sounding nounverber compounds at all (because I personally and intensely dislike them); and for the sake of keeping the rules of the game concise and the various elements easy to abbreviate, I'm not letting any two classes or sub-classes start with the same letter.

So right at the moment, the game has four stats which are tentatively named Bravery, Subtlety, Discipline, and Volition, and each is the key attribute for one of the four base classes, the Fighter, Rogue, Healer, or Mage.

The sub-classes at the moment are called Knight and Assassin (from Fighter), Corsair and Outlaw (from Rogue), Priest and Templar (from Healer), and Wizard and Sorcerer (from Mage). Each is intended to be a bit of a dichotomy of specialization: the Knight focusing on frontal combat and gaining a bit of divine magic vs. the Assassin focusing on stealthy tactics and a bit of arcane magic; the Corsair focused on exploration and tomb-robbing vs. the Outlaw focused on banditry and archery; the Priest specialized in healing magic vs. the Templar having more melee skills; and right now I'm leaning to the Wizard again being the arcane magic specialist vs. the Sorcerer being the more melee-oriented sword-mage.

Ahh.. from that context, I'd second the earlier nomination for "Warlock". "War" is right there in the name.

 

[Willie the Duck]

If this is what you want to do, who are we to tell you otherwise. I think you're pounding some square pegs into round holes to make this symmetry and acceptable-word rules to work, but you do you. In that context, I guess I'd agree that Sorcerer is ever so slightly better as a weapon-user than wizard (and Gammadoodler is right that warlock is even better).

 

[Jack Daniel]

If this is what you want to do, who are we to tell you otherwise. I think you're pounding some square pegs into round holes to make this symmetry and acceptable-word rules to work, but you do you. In that context, I guess I'd agree that Sorcerer is ever so slightly better as a weapon-user than wizard (and Gammadoodler is right that warlock is even better).

Precisely why I didn't want to give any context when I first posted the poll. But by now, I think I've gathered enough data by asking the question blind. Sorcerer is ever-so-slightly better than wizard, and that's all I was asking, and that's all I needed to know. So thanks!

 

[Blue Orange]

Too late I guess, but I still like Warlock; fits with the 5e conception, and 'War' is right there in it, as Gammadoodler said.

Hey man, it's your game.

 

[Jack Daniel]

Too late I guess, but I still like Warlock; fits with the 5e conception, and 'War' is right there in it, as Gammadoodler said.

I don't play 5e, so that's meaningless to me. That holds for WotCisms in general.

When I see the word "sorcerer," I think of Conan villains or Elric. When I see the word "warlock," I think of goofy Bewitched and Sabrina characters, or that one horror movie from the 80s with the time-traveling Puritan witch-hunter.

 

[Aldarc]

I don't play 5e, so that's meaningless to me. That holds for WotCisms in general.

When I see the word "sorcerer," I think of Conan villains or Elric. When I see the word "warlock," I think of goofy Bewitched and Sabrina characters, or that one horror movie from the 80s with the time-traveling Puritan witch-hunter.

But will your target audience see it that way?

 

[Gammadoodler]

I don't play 5e, so that's meaningless to me. That holds for WotCisms in general.

When I see the word "sorcerer," I think of Conan villains or Elric. When I see the word "warlock," I think of goofy Bewitched and Sabrina characters, or that one horror movie from the 80s with the time-traveling Puritan witch-hunter.

If it weren't for D&D, if you asked me to tell you the difference between a wizard and a sorcerer, I would have no answer to give you. To be fair, I wouldn't have a great answer to give you if you included warlock in there. It'd just be "dark magic" vs. "general magic".

The one advantage "warlock" has is if you tell me it's a warrior mage and I don't know the etymology, I just go "yeah that makes sense".

Of course I may be poor representative of your target audience, so grains of salt galore.

 

[Blue Orange]

A bit OT, but the whole question of the associations with the various synonyms for 'non-religious magic user' (conjuror, magician, sorcerer, wizard, necromancer, etc.) has always fascinated me. When I was a kid, I knew the above 5 words, ranked them in power level in my mind, and was surprised to find that D&D, when I discovered it, had almost the same order I did (2 were switched).

One of the things D&D did was use synonyms for the same concept as entirely different monsters--a phantom, haunt, wraith, spectre, and ghost are entirely different monsters, though often with many similarities. Similarly, was there really any big difference in most people's mind between demons and devils, or was it just a generic term for the minions of the Lowerarchy?

 

[aramis erak]

I don't play 5e, so that's meaningless to me. That holds for WotCisms in general.

When I see the word "sorcerer," I think of Conan villains or Elric. When I see the word "warlock," I think of goofy Bewitched and Sabrina characters, or that one horror movie from the 80s with the time-traveling Puritan witch-hunter.

To be blunt: any game you release will be facing WotC-isms, because that's the lingua franka of gaming. Sorcerers in D&D are not warrior-mages, but intuitive casters (vs studied casters) with dragon-blood heritage.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

What I would call a “Gish” of my own design would depend on how it worked mechanically and how it fit in the setting.

For example: Thieves’ World had an organization of wandering adventurers who combined martial skill, some roguish aspects, and powerful mageries. Each member derived power from a combination of oaths and unique secrets & taboos. They’re called “Blue Star Adepts”, because each member of the organization has a glowing blue star upon their forehead.

On the other hand, a nautically themed “Gish” class whose powers were largely buffs & debuffs might be called a “Jonah”.

Ones who worked like the ones in Chaosium’s original Stormbringer game- creating magical items by binding elementals or demons into arms, armor and whatnot- might be called “Binders”, “Alchemists” or something derived from that kind of specialized craftsmanship.