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<blockquote data-quote="Korgoth" data-source="post: 4169966" data-attributes="member: 49613">Some names are descriptive, and some are not.&nbsp; &quot;The King of France Cafe&quot; is just a name, and maybe evocative of a theme, but it doesn't imply that there is a place called France, or that France is a monarchy, or that the thing named is actually a man who is the monarch of that place.&nbsp; Whereas calling somebody &quot;the King of France&quot; does imply all those things.&quot;The Hand of Vecna&quot; is both evocative and descriptive.&nbsp; It is descriptive in that you know it is a hand.&nbsp; It is evocative in that it makes you wonder about who this Vecna was, and what a bad dude he must have been.&quot;Power Attack&quot; and &quot;Improved Trip&quot; (much as I hate feats) are descriptive but not evocative.&nbsp; Which is fine, because they are techniques.&nbsp; The names tell you what to expect from the powers: while I may have to learn some rules about how each works, I can tell right off the bat that one involves making your attack more powerful and the other involves doing a better job of tripping people.&nbsp; These are heuristic devices that cut down on the amount of extraneous crap I have to fill my brain with at a given time.&nbsp; When Bork the SemiOrk's player declares that he is going to Power Attack the Ogre, I know that he is going to try to lay the smack.&nbsp; I don't need to know the rules specifics... if he hits, I can expect that the Ogre will take serious damage.&nbsp; As the wizard, that helps me make a decision about what spell to use, etc.&nbsp; But if Bork's player announces that he will &quot;Purple Monkey Hazmat PotatoChip&quot; the Ogre, I have no idea what the heck he is talking about.&nbsp; Even though that may be the opportunity for somebody to launch into a tiresome explanation that &quot;Purple&quot; connotes royalty, which means it's a really good monkey, and &quot;Monkey&quot; connotes throwing feces so this is a ranged attack, and &quot;Hazmat&quot; means that the attack will be poison-based, and &quot;PotatoChip&quot; connotes carbohydrates which means that the power adversely affects constitution, blah blah blah... none of that helps because those terms could mean anything.Further, you give a name to a magical artifact or a person or a single malt scotch whisky because it is something special.&nbsp; You don't give a name to a technique, especially a fairly pedestrian one, because it merely a way of accomplishing a mechanical task.&nbsp; When you open a container of aspirin, you don't call out &quot;Orange Groundsloth Mountebank Hackysack!&quot;&nbsp; You just push down while turning the cap and it opens.The latter point applies even more to techniques that involve your companions.&nbsp; When the warlord shouts &quot;White Raven Onslaught!&quot; does everybody else in the party look at each other and go &quot;White Raven hooooooo!&quot;&nbsp; I'd imagine they'd stand around looking at each other going &quot;What the heck is he talking abou... oooh.&nbsp; We better go help him.&quot;&nbsp; Or perhaps there's a pre-battle pep talk:Warlord: &quot;OK, guys.&nbsp; I've got this cool idea for a move we all do.&quot;Party: ...Warlord: &quot;You know, a move in combat.&quot;Fighter: &quot;You mean like attacking with our weapons?&quot;Warlord: &quot;No.&nbsp; I mean like I do an attack and you guys all think it is so cool that you move faster than usual and we totally gang up on the bad guy.&quot;Ranger: &quot;Is that really going to happen that way?&quot;Warlord: &quot;Yeah, totally.&nbsp; Trust me: when you see this attack, you'll be so totally blown away that you're going to move really fast.&nbsp; The coolness of it will literally suck you toward the bad guy that I'm wailing on.&quot;Party: &quot;OK, fine.&quot;Warlord: &quot;Now, we're going to call this move 'White Raven Onslaught'.&quot;Rogue: &quot;Excuse me?&quot;Warlord: &quot;We're going to call it 'White Raven Onslaught'.&quot;Fighter: &quot;Why don't we just call it 'Onslaught'?&quot;Warlord: &quot;Because Ravens are like cool and stuff.&nbsp; And white is good for some reason.&quot;Wizard: &quot;Is there like a 'Gray Raven Onslaught' that's somehow inferior?&quot;Warlord: &quot;No, there's just 'White Raven Onslaught'.&nbsp; That's the only onslaught.&quot;Rogue: &quot;For once I agree with the fighter.&nbsp; Let's just call it 'Onslaught'.&quot;Warlord: &quot;No, we can't call it 'Onslaught'; it isn't an onslaught it's a White Raven Onslaught.&quot;Wizard: &quot;But you just said it was the only onslaught.&quot;Warlord: &quot;Right.&quot;Ranger: &quot;So why confuse everybody?&nbsp; If there's only one onslaught then let's just call it onslaught.&nbsp; If there really is a better onslaught that you figure out how to do later, let's just call it Improved Onslaught.&quot;Warlord: &quot;Gang, we're calling it 'White Raven Onslaught' and that's final.&quot;Fighter: &quot;Hey.&nbsp; This is a group power.&nbsp; Why are you in charge of naming it?&quot;Warlord: &quot;Because it's my power and I'm the Warlord.&quot;Rogue: &quot;Yeah.&nbsp; Remind us again of which war you're actually lord of.&quot;</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Korgoth, post: 4169966, member: 49613"] Some names are descriptive, and some are not. "The King of France Cafe" is just a name, and maybe evocative of a theme, but it doesn't imply that there is a place called France, or that France is a monarchy, or that the thing named is actually a man who is the monarch of that place. Whereas calling somebody "the King of France" does imply all those things. "The Hand of Vecna" is both evocative and descriptive. It is descriptive in that you know it is a hand. It is evocative in that it makes you wonder about who this Vecna was, and what a bad dude he must have been. "Power Attack" and "Improved Trip" (much as I hate feats) are descriptive but not evocative. Which is fine, because they are techniques. The names tell you what to expect from the powers: while I may have to learn some rules about how each works, I can tell right off the bat that one involves making your attack more powerful and the other involves doing a better job of tripping people. These are heuristic devices that cut down on the amount of extraneous crap I have to fill my brain with at a given time. When Bork the SemiOrk's player declares that he is going to Power Attack the Ogre, I know that he is going to try to lay the smack. I don't need to know the rules specifics... if he hits, I can expect that the Ogre will take serious damage. As the wizard, that helps me make a decision about what spell to use, etc. But if Bork's player announces that he will "Purple Monkey Hazmat PotatoChip" the Ogre, I have no idea what the heck he is talking about. Even though that may be the opportunity for somebody to launch into a tiresome explanation that "Purple" connotes royalty, which means it's a really good monkey, and "Monkey" connotes throwing feces so this is a ranged attack, and "Hazmat" means that the attack will be poison-based, and "PotatoChip" connotes carbohydrates which means that the power adversely affects constitution, blah blah blah... none of that helps because those terms could mean anything. Further, you give a name to a magical artifact or a person or a single malt scotch whisky because it is something special. You don't give a name to a technique, especially a fairly pedestrian one, because it merely a way of accomplishing a mechanical task. When you open a container of aspirin, you don't call out "Orange Groundsloth Mountebank Hackysack!" You just push down while turning the cap and it opens. The latter point applies even more to techniques that involve your companions. When the warlord shouts "White Raven Onslaught!" does everybody else in the party look at each other and go "White Raven hooooooo!" I'd imagine they'd stand around looking at each other going "What the heck is he talking abou... oooh. We better go help him." Or perhaps there's a pre-battle pep talk: Warlord: "OK, guys. I've got this cool idea for a move we all do." Party: ... Warlord: "You know, a move in combat." Fighter: "You mean like attacking with our weapons?" Warlord: "No. I mean like I do an attack and you guys all think it is so cool that you move faster than usual and we totally gang up on the bad guy." Ranger: "Is that really going to happen that way?" Warlord: "Yeah, totally. Trust me: when you see this attack, you'll be so totally blown away that you're going to move really fast. The coolness of it will literally suck you toward the bad guy that I'm wailing on." Party: "OK, fine." Warlord: "Now, we're going to call this move 'White Raven Onslaught'." Rogue: "Excuse me?" Warlord: "We're going to call it 'White Raven Onslaught'." Fighter: "Why don't we just call it 'Onslaught'?" Warlord: "Because Ravens are like cool and stuff. And white is good for some reason." Wizard: "Is there like a 'Gray Raven Onslaught' that's somehow inferior?" Warlord: "No, there's just 'White Raven Onslaught'. That's the only onslaught." Rogue: "For once I agree with the fighter. Let's just call it 'Onslaught'." Warlord: "No, we can't call it 'Onslaught'; it isn't an onslaught it's a White Raven Onslaught." Wizard: "But you just said it was the only onslaught." Warlord: "Right." Ranger: "So why confuse everybody? If there's only one onslaught then let's just call it onslaught. If there really is a better onslaught that you figure out how to do later, let's just call it Improved Onslaught." Warlord: "Gang, we're calling it 'White Raven Onslaught' and that's final." Fighter: "Hey. This is a group power. Why are you in charge of naming it?" Warlord: "Because it's my power and I'm the Warlord." Rogue: "Yeah. Remind us again of which war you're actually lord of." [/QUOTE]

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