davethegame
Explorer
Andor said:Incidently, if they are going to put Bard and Barbarian on the bad list can I nominate the Ninja?![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
You'll notice that "Barbarian" is not actually on the list.
WotC_PeterS: Class Names| NEW: Rouse-ist parts of PHB
You'll notice that "Barbarian" is not actually on the list.
Ruin Explorer
Legend
Andor said:Incidently, if they are going to put Bard and Barbarian on the bad list can I nominate the Ninja?
Yeah really.
Barbarian isn't actually on the list, though, only Bardarian (I thought the term was "Bardbarian" but w/e) and Barbararian.
What's wrong with Fighter? What's a better term for a generic guy who, well, Fights?
Magic-Users have become Wizards, Clerics became Priests (and back to Clerics), and Thieves have become Rogues, but 34 years later, Fighters are still Fighters. The name WORKS. Almost anything else is either just as generic (Warrior) or carries baggage (Soldier, Knight, Swordsman, etc...).
In other news, I think Bulette Catcher is a GREAT PRC name for halflings. Like the Giant-Slayers of Warhammer.
Magic-Users have become Wizards, Clerics became Priests (and back to Clerics), and Thieves have become Rogues, but 34 years later, Fighters are still Fighters. The name WORKS. Almost anything else is either just as generic (Warrior) or carries baggage (Soldier, Knight, Swordsman, etc...).
In other news, I think Bulette Catcher is a GREAT PRC name for halflings. Like the Giant-Slayers of Warhammer.
Zinovia
Explorer
As for Fighter, I agree that it's not a good class name. Warrior is better. It's something I can imagine using to describe your profession in-character. "I'm a warrior" Saying "I'm a fighter" only means a generic melee character in D&D. In normal English it means someone who likes to pick fights, or else won't give up easily.
Bad class names that were really used:
Magic-User - wizard, sorcerer, mage - all are better. Magic-user is *too* generic and artificial sounding. Like saying, "I'm a sword-swinger" or "I'm an arrow-shooter".
Barbarian - nobody ever refers to themselves as a barbarian. It's an insulting term for people you consider less civilized than yourself. Berserker would have been perfect. It doesn't carry the negative connotations of the name barbarian. I thought it was a horrible class name the first time I ever saw it, and they haven't fixed it ever since. Now it's sacred tradition graven in stone. I hate the name so much I can't bring myself to play the class. Really.
Thief - yep, announce to the entire world that you're a sneaky amoral person inclined to pocket stuff that doesn't belong to you. Rogue is better - even if I did set off a rogue detector at the magic store the other day. "We don't need *your* kind here" said the snooty elven proprietor. Bah. I wasn't gonna steal anything.
Bad class names that were really used:
Magic-User - wizard, sorcerer, mage - all are better. Magic-user is *too* generic and artificial sounding. Like saying, "I'm a sword-swinger" or "I'm an arrow-shooter".
Barbarian - nobody ever refers to themselves as a barbarian. It's an insulting term for people you consider less civilized than yourself. Berserker would have been perfect. It doesn't carry the negative connotations of the name barbarian. I thought it was a horrible class name the first time I ever saw it, and they haven't fixed it ever since. Now it's sacred tradition graven in stone. I hate the name so much I can't bring myself to play the class. Really.
Thief - yep, announce to the entire world that you're a sneaky amoral person inclined to pocket stuff that doesn't belong to you. Rogue is better - even if I did set off a rogue detector at the magic store the other day. "We don't need *your* kind here" said the snooty elven proprietor. Bah. I wasn't gonna steal anything.
Ruin Explorer
Legend
So Barbarian* and Thief are stupid names, even though they tell the player what the character is about, simply because they "aren't something you'd call yourself", but Rogue, which is a pretty vague and meaningless name in exactly same way Fighter is, is a good name? Even though again, I can't see anyone calling themselves this in describing what they do. "A dashing rogue" is unlikely, in D&D, to be a Rogue, either. More likely a Fighter or Swashbuckler (or Warlord in 4E). I mean, a Rogue only means "a guy who steals things and stabs people in the back" in D&D. In general English, exactly like Fighter, it has a very different meaning.
I think your logic there is a bit horrible tangled and confused.
Personally I think Thief and Barbarian were/are good names because players go "AHA that's what I want to be!" when they read it. Same for Cavalier or Knight (but lots of players are then disappointed that Knight isn't actually particularly interesting as a class). Better to keep class names as useful identifiers, and have characters role-play their self-description. I mean, a Fighter MIGHT describe himself as a Warrior, a Soldier, a Mercenary, a Protagonist, or just a person. Generally speaking, only characters with distinct magical powers or highly specific social positions (which in many cases are a result of their magical powers) would use their class name to describe themselves, anyway.
* = Due to awareness of Conan the Barbarian, at least.
I think your logic there is a bit horrible tangled and confused.
Personally I think Thief and Barbarian were/are good names because players go "AHA that's what I want to be!" when they read it. Same for Cavalier or Knight (but lots of players are then disappointed that Knight isn't actually particularly interesting as a class). Better to keep class names as useful identifiers, and have characters role-play their self-description. I mean, a Fighter MIGHT describe himself as a Warrior, a Soldier, a Mercenary, a Protagonist, or just a person. Generally speaking, only characters with distinct magical powers or highly specific social positions (which in many cases are a result of their magical powers) would use their class name to describe themselves, anyway.
* = Due to awareness of Conan the Barbarian, at least.
IceFractal
First Post
Actually, I liked Fighter as a name, for the same reason as I liked the d20 Modern ones - they're so generic, they force you to actually decide what your character calls himself instead of falling into the "class = character" trap.