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Tired of "Mana"
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<blockquote data-quote="The Sigil" data-source="post: 2475835" data-attributes="member: 2013"><p>Furthermore, in D&D many of the synonyms have been co-opted to have definitions in and of themselves specific to the game. Let's look at the list of synonyms provided for "Magic"</p><p></p><p>abracadabra</p><p><strong>alchemy</strong> - Coopted by the skill "Alchemy" and later renamed Craft (alchemy) - Used as a skill specific to the art of creating quasi-magical substances</p><p>allurement, astrology, </p><p><strong>augury</strong> - Coopted by the spell "Augury" since first edition</p><p>bewitchment, black art, </p><p><strong>conjuring, conjury</strong> - Coopted by the magical school of "Conjuration" which relates to physically calling matter (a) into existence or (b) onto this plane of existence from another</p><p><strong>devilry, diabolism</strong> - Coopted to some extent by the Devil and Demon entries in the Monster Manual, and usually used to refer to conjuration spells dealing with the summoning of those creaters</p><p><strong>divination, enchantment</strong> - Coopted by the magical schools bearing their names. See also Sean K. Reynolds' rant against calling magical weapons "enchanted" weapons since "enchanted" has a game-specific meaning (not that I agree with this rant; I think because there are a finite number of synonyms to magic, it is not a good idea to limit each synonym to a particular application; I think there are more applications than synonyms, but that's another rant).</p><p><strong>exorcism</strong> - Coopted by the spell bearing the same name since 1e, usually used to reference "dispossessing" someone.</p><p><strong>fascination</strong> - Coopted by the spell "fascinate"</p><p>foreboding, fortune-telling, hocus-pocus, horoscopy, </p><p><strong>illusion</strong> - Coopted by the school bearing that name.</p><p><strong>incantation</strong> - Coopted and largely understood to be a synonym for "spell" as per the "spell list" in 3e</p><p>legerdemain</p><p><strong>magnetism</strong> - Pseudoscience throws this out</p><p><strong>necromancy</strong> - Again, coopted by a school of magic.</p><p><strong>occultism</strong> - Because of real-life occult religions like wicca, use of this word tends to be "Politically Incorrect"</p><p><strong>power</strong> - Too vague</p><p>prediction, presage</p><p><strong>prestidigitation</strong> - Coopted by a spell of the same name</p><p>prophecy, rune, soothsaying, </p><p><strong>sorcery</strong> - Coopted by the sorcerer class</p><p>sortilege, </p><p><strong>spell,</strong> - Coopted by the discrete descriptions of magical effects, as in "spell list"</p><p>superstition, taboo, thaumaturgy, trickery, </p><p><strong>voodoo, voodooism, witchcraft</strong> - See "occult" above</p><p><strong>wizardry</strong> - Coopted by wizard class, see "sorcery" above.</p><p></p><p>This narrows the list of options to just a few, which can also be further discredited for use by association:</p><p></p><p><strong>abracadabra, hocus-pocus, legerdemain, trickery</strong> - Generally refer to "sleight of hand" as in modern "magicians" that operate based on fooling the target and not supernatural powers.</p><p></p><p><strong>astrology, foreboding, fortune-telling, horoscopy, prediction, presage, prophecy, soothsaying, sortilege</strong> - All are somewhat restricted in meaning as "divination" type stuff and not suitable for "magic" as a whole thanks to the co-opting of effects of this type as "divination effects."</p><p></p><p><strong>Allurement, bewitchment</strong> - Both suggest charm effects covered under the "Enchantment" school and as such are not broad enough to substitute for "magic" as a whole thanks to the co-opting of mind-affecting spells as "enchantment"</p><p></p><p><strong>black art</strong> - Somewhat Politically incorrect, as it casts magic as "evil." Not entirely unsuable, but tread carefully.</p><p></p><p><strong>rune</strong> - Acceptable, but limited to actual written stuff, which makes it unsuitable for "magic" as a whole. Has already been coopted in several places, the earliest of which for 3e that I can think of are HoHF: Dwarves (Badaxe Games) and Spells & Magic (Bastion Press).</p><p></p><p><strong>superstition, taboo</strong> - Implies cultural beliefs, rather than what is commonly accepted as "magic" - and usually "ineffective/false" ones at that! Not a good substitute.</p><p></p><p><strong>thaumaturgy</strong> - One - count 'em - one - suitable substitute. Has already been coopted by Green Ronin in their Armies of the Abyss, however, as a "diabolist"-type spellcaster. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /></p><p></p><p>Now, I'm with you in that I wish so many synonyms hadn't been coopted and re-defined by the core rules, but when you go with that redefinition, it makes the list of acceptably broad substitutes for "magic" VERY short. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /></p><p></p><p>--The Sigil</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="The Sigil, post: 2475835, member: 2013"] Furthermore, in D&D many of the synonyms have been co-opted to have definitions in and of themselves specific to the game. Let's look at the list of synonyms provided for "Magic" abracadabra [b]alchemy[/b] - Coopted by the skill "Alchemy" and later renamed Craft (alchemy) - Used as a skill specific to the art of creating quasi-magical substances allurement, astrology, [b]augury[/b] - Coopted by the spell "Augury" since first edition bewitchment, black art, [b]conjuring, conjury[/b] - Coopted by the magical school of "Conjuration" which relates to physically calling matter (a) into existence or (b) onto this plane of existence from another [b]devilry, diabolism[/b] - Coopted to some extent by the Devil and Demon entries in the Monster Manual, and usually used to refer to conjuration spells dealing with the summoning of those creaters [b]divination, enchantment[/b] - Coopted by the magical schools bearing their names. See also Sean K. Reynolds' rant against calling magical weapons "enchanted" weapons since "enchanted" has a game-specific meaning (not that I agree with this rant; I think because there are a finite number of synonyms to magic, it is not a good idea to limit each synonym to a particular application; I think there are more applications than synonyms, but that's another rant). [b]exorcism[/b] - Coopted by the spell bearing the same name since 1e, usually used to reference "dispossessing" someone. [b]fascination[/b] - Coopted by the spell "fascinate" foreboding, fortune-telling, hocus-pocus, horoscopy, [b]illusion[/b] - Coopted by the school bearing that name. [b]incantation[/b] - Coopted and largely understood to be a synonym for "spell" as per the "spell list" in 3e legerdemain [b]magnetism[/b] - Pseudoscience throws this out [b]necromancy[/b] - Again, coopted by a school of magic. [b]occultism[/b] - Because of real-life occult religions like wicca, use of this word tends to be "Politically Incorrect" [b]power[/b] - Too vague prediction, presage [b]prestidigitation[/b] - Coopted by a spell of the same name prophecy, rune, soothsaying, [b]sorcery[/b] - Coopted by the sorcerer class sortilege, [b]spell,[/b] - Coopted by the discrete descriptions of magical effects, as in "spell list" superstition, taboo, thaumaturgy, trickery, [b]voodoo, voodooism, witchcraft[/b] - See "occult" above [b]wizardry[/b] - Coopted by wizard class, see "sorcery" above. This narrows the list of options to just a few, which can also be further discredited for use by association: [b]abracadabra, hocus-pocus, legerdemain, trickery[/b] - Generally refer to "sleight of hand" as in modern "magicians" that operate based on fooling the target and not supernatural powers. [b]astrology, foreboding, fortune-telling, horoscopy, prediction, presage, prophecy, soothsaying, sortilege[/b] - All are somewhat restricted in meaning as "divination" type stuff and not suitable for "magic" as a whole thanks to the co-opting of effects of this type as "divination effects." [b]Allurement, bewitchment[/b] - Both suggest charm effects covered under the "Enchantment" school and as such are not broad enough to substitute for "magic" as a whole thanks to the co-opting of mind-affecting spells as "enchantment" [b]black art[/b] - Somewhat Politically incorrect, as it casts magic as "evil." Not entirely unsuable, but tread carefully. [b]rune[/b] - Acceptable, but limited to actual written stuff, which makes it unsuitable for "magic" as a whole. Has already been coopted in several places, the earliest of which for 3e that I can think of are HoHF: Dwarves (Badaxe Games) and Spells & Magic (Bastion Press). [b]superstition, taboo[/b] - Implies cultural beliefs, rather than what is commonly accepted as "magic" - and usually "ineffective/false" ones at that! Not a good substitute. [b]thaumaturgy[/b] - One - count 'em - one - suitable substitute. Has already been coopted by Green Ronin in their Armies of the Abyss, however, as a "diabolist"-type spellcaster. ;) Now, I'm with you in that I wish so many synonyms hadn't been coopted and re-defined by the core rules, but when you go with that redefinition, it makes the list of acceptably broad substitutes for "magic" VERY short. ;) --The Sigil [/QUOTE]
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