What's in a (Spell) Name? - Poll

[avin]

Named spells become increasingly absurd the moment you have anything casting it naturally or from a patron.

4E witches and 3E sorcerers, for example.

It's a good point. Why would a Sorcerer use something like that? I have never thought about that

 

[Klaus]

In different campaigns, the names can mean different things. In one of his Eberron columns, Keith Baker mentioned that "Mordenkainen" could've been a legendary gnome hero, or somesuch.

Maybe Emirikol isn't a chaotic wizard, but a fabled place of power floating in the Elemental Chaos, etc.

 

[Alzrius]

Eponymous spells are part of D&D. Wizards created these spells, and to strip those iconic spells of their names is to do damage to the story of D&D. If a particular DM wants to strip names from spells, then he or she can do so by indicating that those spells are not part of the game, or, to the extent they are in the game, different (or no) names are associated with those spells. But D&D has lore all its own—lore that is part of the game’s identity—and eponymous spells speak to that. Besides, is it so hard to believe that an ancient archwizard’s spells have spread by a panspermialike migration of dimensional travelers over the millennia?

This speaks to me on so many levels.

 

[tlantl]

It's a good point. Why would a Sorcerer use something like that? I have never thought about that

Because sorcerers have to learn their spells too. They might not need to memorize them each day but until they choose the spells they know they can't cast them.

Instantly and spontaneously knowing just the right spell to add to their list at level up never really held water for me. To learn a spell to add to their list, the sorcerer needs to find a scroll or spell book with the spell in it to learn it. This way I have control of the spells available to the players.

I could have gone with randomly rolling for new spells but I think that is too punishing although I like it better.

 

[Blacky the Blackball]

who *is* "Kwalish" anyway?

Kwalish was one of Tim Kask's characters from Gygax's campaign. He never owned such an apparatus though. Gygax just named it after the character because he thought it would be funny.

But I'm fine with Melf's Acid Arrow, even though I don't know or care who Melf is.

Melf was one of Luke Gygax's characters - the name stood for "Male Elf".

As for the other people with spells named after them...

Mordenkainen ('s Magnificent Mansion) = Gary Gygax's character
Tasha ('s Hideous Laughter) = Not named after a character but after a real girl who wrote letters to Gary Gygax.
Bigby ('s Interposing Hand) = NPC created by Rob Kuntz who became a henchman to Mordenkainen
Leomund ('s Hut) = Len Lakofka's character
Drawmij ('s Instant Summons) = Jim Ward's character (it's his name spelled backwards)
Otiluke ('s Freezing Sphere) = Unknown
Tenser ('s Transformation) = Ernie Gygax's character (it's an anagram of Ernest)
Evard ('s Black Tentacles) = Unknown
Rary ('s Mnemonic Enhancer) = Brian Blume's character
Otto ('s Irresistable Dance) = NPC created by Gary Gygax who became a henchman to Tenser
Nystul ('s Magic Aura) = Unknown

 

[Incenjucar]

In D&D, a sorcerer's magic comes from their ancestry. Presumably, their spells are an expression of their ancestry in some shape or form. Them having access to named spells only makes sense if their flavor paints them as writing the spell INTO their blood, which it does not. Then you have all the various creatures with natural spell abilities. 4E gets around this issue entirely, but introduces the Witch, which is basically a proto-wizard that gets its spells from such patrons as Sehanine, the moon goddess. It's a bit strange to imagine Sehanine handing out copies of Bigby's spells behind his back.

 

[Incenjucar]

In different campaigns, the names can mean different things. In one of his Eberron columns, Keith Baker mentioned that "Mordenkainen" could've been a legendary gnome hero, or somesuch.

Maybe Emirikol isn't a chaotic wizard, but a fabled place of power floating in the Elemental Chaos, etc.

I actually like the idea of spells being named after relatively universal places, especially places like "The Jade Fountain" or "The Stone Heart" or "The Frozen Cloud." "Magic Missile of the Spirit Rift" is pretty easy to slip into anywhere, especially if you never define just what the Spirit Rift is.

NPC names just aren't as fluid. Nobody is going to forget that Elminster's Magic Missile is about an almighty lech in Toril just because you say that, in your Dark Sun game, Elminster is the name of a kind of lizard.

 

[Mengu]

Voted no, but was tempted by the don't care button.

Don't care who Mordenkainen is, or what a Melf is (I always thought it was mutant elf), and scroch Aganazzar, it's spelled all wrong anyway, looks to me like they meant Nebuchadnezzar (try that, spelling bees!). Don't really understand all the name obsession (okay I guess there is some historic homage, but make it an Easter egg then, maybe part of fluff text for the spell). Worth noting, I never played Greyhawk, so don't have particular ties to that world. Having said all that, I'm perfectly capable of ignoring the names (or continuing to make fun of them) if they do get used, so don't really care too much one way or the other (and I used way too many parentheses in this post).

 

[Alzrius]

Kwalish was one of Tim Kask's characters from Gygax's campaign. He never owned such an apparatus though. Gygax just named it after the character because he thought it would be funny.

Melf was one of Luke Gygax's characters - the name stood for "Male Elf".

As for the other people with spells named after them...

Mordenkainen ('s Magnificent Mansion) = Gary Gygax's character
Tasha ('s Hideous Laughter) = Not named after a character but after a real girl who wrote letters to Gary Gygax.
Bigby ('s Interposing Hand) = NPC created by Rob Kuntz who became a henchman to Mordenkainen
Leomund ('s Hut) = Len Lakofka's character
Drawmij ('s Instant Summons) = Jim Ward's character (it's his name spelled backwards)
Otiluke ('s Freezing Sphere) = Unknown
Tenser ('s Transformation) = Ernie Gygax's character (it's an anagram of Ernest)
Evard ('s Black Tentacles) = Unknown
Rary ('s Mnemonic Enhancer) = Brian Blume's character
Otto ('s Irresistable Dance) = NPC created by Gary Gygax who became a henchman to Tenser
Nystul ('s Magic Aura) = Unknown

Blacky, that's a great list of name sources! To that I'd like to add that Nystul isn't named after a character, but the real-life Mike Nystul. I also suspect that the "luke" in Otiluke is a reference to Luke Gygax, but I'm not certain.

What'd be really cool is to post a brief in-game summary of who those characters are and what they've done (perhaps along with some sources for more information and game stats - some have appeared in multiple products, others in virtually none).

 

[Tony Vargas]

Blacky, that's a great list of name sources! To that I'd like to add that Nystul isn't named after a character, but the real-life Mike Nystul.

Funny, that gives his DoB as '66 - he'd have been 12 when Nystul's Magic Aura apeared in the PH..?