D&D General What To Call A Gish?


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cbwjm

Seb-wejem
I never liked the term "gish". Ever. Not even during the heyday of 3e Char Op on the WotC forums. Swordmage always sounded better. The names of classes should be revealing. Eldritch Knight is too specific. Just considering the name, a Swordmage could wear heavy armor or none at all. If the "sword" part is off-putting because of its limitations that's completely understandable, but I still like it better than "gish" which basically conveys nothing. The word "gish" is an idioglossia of D&D lore and we can do better.
I'm not a fan of gish either, I think that was the githyanki term for fighter/mage and it seemed to stick. I much preferred the githzerai name of zerth, though 3e decided to make them monastic warriors instead of fighter/mage type characters. I was a little sad about that.
 


jgsugden

Legend
My rule: If I can't come up with a name that evokes the concept I am constructing, I go with a name with no association and let the new name develop the context by itself. If I feel I really need to tie it to the concept in some way, I base the new name on a sound a 6 year old would make if they were pretending to be the thing. The Whalesh in my campaign world are names Whalesh because it sounds like Woosh and that that is the sound something being flushed makes and the Whalesh are humanoid sea scroungers.
 

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