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General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Who cares about Otiluke, Mordenkainen, Rary and whatever geezer names they trot out.
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<blockquote data-quote="arscott" data-source="post: 5974443" data-attributes="member: 17969"><p>I think it would be great if every wizard spell had a cool vancian name. But having a few random, lesser used spells with such names while the rest are unimaginative descriptions like "cone of cold" and "lightning bolt"? Not that great.</p><p></p><p>Mordenkainen I like. It's a cool, fantasy sounding name, attached to some interesting spells. And, you know, it's Gary Gygax. I'd like to see the name attached to a few more iconic spells, even. How about Mordenkainen's Magical Missile? or Mordenkainen's Mirror Image?</p><p></p><p>Bigby is great. Took a theme and ran with it. I think the designers really dropped the ball when "Mage Hand" didn't have bigby's name attached to it.</p><p></p><p>But can we all agree that Serten's spell immunity and Rary's Mnemonic Enhancer are just the oldschool equivalent of 4e's bloodfang whateverdrakes?</p><p></p><p>Every name in the spell lists should</p><p></p><p>a) sound like the name of a wizard, either by being an evocative fantasy name (such as Mordenkainen), or a stuffy and bookish name (like Bigby)</p><p></p><p>b) have a theme. Mordenkainen is sort of the magical Leonardo DaVinci or Isaac Newton. A broadly talented supergenius: The giant that other mages stand on the shoulders of. Bigby is the guy who did one thing really well. But the rest of the big names don't really have anything going for them.</p><p></p><p>We have to recognize that Otiluke, Tenser, and Melf have never been Iconic characters. They're not even important to Greyhawk. They're just the lazy anagram name's of somebody's old characters. The fact that those various somebodies were really important to the history of early D&D shouldn't be the guiding principle.</p><p></p><p>Let's invent some new Iconic wizards. Let's add some vancian flavor without resorting to wizard's names.</p><p></p><p>Esfandiar's Waylaying Winds</p><p>Gogmodan's Unspeakable Resurrection</p><p>Charm of Cacaphonous Coloration</p><p></p><p>etc.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="arscott, post: 5974443, member: 17969"] I think it would be great if every wizard spell had a cool vancian name. But having a few random, lesser used spells with such names while the rest are unimaginative descriptions like "cone of cold" and "lightning bolt"? Not that great. Mordenkainen I like. It's a cool, fantasy sounding name, attached to some interesting spells. And, you know, it's Gary Gygax. I'd like to see the name attached to a few more iconic spells, even. How about Mordenkainen's Magical Missile? or Mordenkainen's Mirror Image? Bigby is great. Took a theme and ran with it. I think the designers really dropped the ball when "Mage Hand" didn't have bigby's name attached to it. But can we all agree that Serten's spell immunity and Rary's Mnemonic Enhancer are just the oldschool equivalent of 4e's bloodfang whateverdrakes? Every name in the spell lists should a) sound like the name of a wizard, either by being an evocative fantasy name (such as Mordenkainen), or a stuffy and bookish name (like Bigby) b) have a theme. Mordenkainen is sort of the magical Leonardo DaVinci or Isaac Newton. A broadly talented supergenius: The giant that other mages stand on the shoulders of. Bigby is the guy who did one thing really well. But the rest of the big names don't really have anything going for them. We have to recognize that Otiluke, Tenser, and Melf have never been Iconic characters. They're not even important to Greyhawk. They're just the lazy anagram name's of somebody's old characters. The fact that those various somebodies were really important to the history of early D&D shouldn't be the guiding principle. Let's invent some new Iconic wizards. Let's add some vancian flavor without resorting to wizard's names. Esfandiar's Waylaying Winds Gogmodan's Unspeakable Resurrection Charm of Cacaphonous Coloration etc. [/QUOTE]
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Who cares about Otiluke, Mordenkainen, Rary and whatever geezer names they trot out.
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