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Why don't your players like psionics?
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<blockquote data-quote="jgbrowning" data-source="post: 1483459" data-attributes="member: 5724"><p>Although I'm not a big fan, I actually like the psionic concept. Like the idea of a separate, internal, independent "magic," but dislike the naming conventions. Firstly, because I think they have a lot to do with its general distaste with many D&D players. And secondly, because there are plenty of ways to do "mental magic" while relying upon a terminology set that isn't as exclusive as what we have now--which would lead to greater acceptance.</p><p></p><p>I don't think I'm being finnicky about the amount of modern terminology because the amount is an important aspect of the matter. We may disagree how much constitutes an "important" amount, but I don't think that qualifies for dismissing my arguement as finnicky. Especially considering that many of the "modern" sounding spell names come from the 1970-80's version of D&D. For me, twenty years of saying Telekinesis while playing a medieval fantasy game has erased the modern, scientific, veneer from the word.</p><p></p><p>If I were to create a new "ability" that shocked someone with electricity, Shocking Ray would be the more "magical" name while Static Discharge would be the more "psionicy" name. When writing up new psionic stuff, the naming convention stears me to use a more modern, scientific discription of the abiltiy rather than a non-scientific discription.</p><p></p><p>I think my assessment that many psionic powers (much more so than D&D spells) have names based more upon how a modern would describe an effect than how a base D&D quasi-medieval persona would describe the effect is a valid point. I also think this naming convention is less congruent with the base medieval D&D universe than non-psionic naming conventions.</p><p></p><p>As I stated earlier, I wouldn't read an ability called "Flaming Monkey Punch" without thinking about asian society <em>simply because of the name</em>. If I picked up a book filled with a large number of suchly named spells, I'd think that I was reading a heavily asian influenced game book and that perhaps the material wouldn't fit a typical D&D game as well as if the abilities had been named more conventionally. If I picked up a book with abilties named Apopsi, Biofeedback, Combat Precognition, and Hypercognition, I'd start to think I was reading a Sci-Fi game book <strong>before</strong> I'd think I was reading a fantasy game book.</p><p></p><p>joe b.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="jgbrowning, post: 1483459, member: 5724"] Although I'm not a big fan, I actually like the psionic concept. Like the idea of a separate, internal, independent "magic," but dislike the naming conventions. Firstly, because I think they have a lot to do with its general distaste with many D&D players. And secondly, because there are plenty of ways to do "mental magic" while relying upon a terminology set that isn't as exclusive as what we have now--which would lead to greater acceptance. I don't think I'm being finnicky about the amount of modern terminology because the amount is an important aspect of the matter. We may disagree how much constitutes an "important" amount, but I don't think that qualifies for dismissing my arguement as finnicky. Especially considering that many of the "modern" sounding spell names come from the 1970-80's version of D&D. For me, twenty years of saying Telekinesis while playing a medieval fantasy game has erased the modern, scientific, veneer from the word. If I were to create a new "ability" that shocked someone with electricity, Shocking Ray would be the more "magical" name while Static Discharge would be the more "psionicy" name. When writing up new psionic stuff, the naming convention stears me to use a more modern, scientific discription of the abiltiy rather than a non-scientific discription. I think my assessment that many psionic powers (much more so than D&D spells) have names based more upon how a modern would describe an effect than how a base D&D quasi-medieval persona would describe the effect is a valid point. I also think this naming convention is less congruent with the base medieval D&D universe than non-psionic naming conventions. As I stated earlier, I wouldn't read an ability called "Flaming Monkey Punch" without thinking about asian society [i]simply because of the name[/i]. If I picked up a book filled with a large number of suchly named spells, I'd think that I was reading a heavily asian influenced game book and that perhaps the material wouldn't fit a typical D&D game as well as if the abilities had been named more conventionally. If I picked up a book with abilties named Apopsi, Biofeedback, Combat Precognition, and Hypercognition, I'd start to think I was reading a Sci-Fi game book [b]before[/b] I'd think I was reading a fantasy game book. joe b. [/QUOTE]
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