This is an issue with D&D Next that I don't know the design team has even looked at in any major way. In the latest survey, they spammed out all these old spell names, many with names of "some old Wizard or something" attached. I've been around longer than the game and they don't even mean much to me any more. What are they supposed to mean to newer players?
Unless your game is stuck in a chronostational Greyhawk, they're either all dead and stories fading, some names people talk about or newer players may never have even heard of them.
Yeah, Mordenkainen is basically Gary's Elminster/Mary Sue and most of them are in the same vein, but if they're going to trot that stuff out again then make it evocative. Otherwise they may as well call it "Jim's Floating Disk".
A stand-alone, evergreen product would be cool, but probably not a good idea. Sidebars would be immediate and right in the new PHB, but could take up a whole lot of already tight print space. I'm not sure how they should do it but I do feel something should be done if they're going to use those names. Tell us who Tenser and Bigby were, don't leave it as just ways to make spell names longer.
Thoughts?
Unless your game is stuck in a chronostational Greyhawk, they're either all dead and stories fading, some names people talk about or newer players may never have even heard of them.
Yeah, Mordenkainen is basically Gary's Elminster/Mary Sue and most of them are in the same vein, but if they're going to trot that stuff out again then make it evocative. Otherwise they may as well call it "Jim's Floating Disk".
A stand-alone, evergreen product would be cool, but probably not a good idea. Sidebars would be immediate and right in the new PHB, but could take up a whole lot of already tight print space. I'm not sure how they should do it but I do feel something should be done if they're going to use those names. Tell us who Tenser and Bigby were, don't leave it as just ways to make spell names longer.
Thoughts?