So... what other names do you have for the base classes?

[Nyaricus]

I was going through old threads in House Rules today, and I came across one which the OP was asking for a name for his new ranger/scout class, and I got the inspiratio to make a thread about what you call the classes in your campaign or games, or just simply alternative names you have for the base classes. I have no idea if anyone has done somehting like this before (if so, a link would be cool ), but I think it's a fun idea.

Bard
Fool, Jester, Minstrel, Poet, Scald, Trobadour, War-chanter

Barbarian
Berzerker, Rager, Ravager, Savage

Cleric
Doorkeeper, Reader, Exorcist, Acolyte, Sub-Deacon, Deacon, Priest, Bishop, Flamen, Inquisitor

Druid
Hoodoo, Flamen, Medicine-Man, Shaman, Witch, Witch Doctor

Fighter
Archer, Bandit, Cavalier, Duelist, Gladiator, Knight, Man-at-arms, Warrior, Weapon Master

Paladin
Crusader, Knight, Templar

Monk
Holy Man, Shaolin Monk, Reflective

Ranger
Advance, Bandit, Bloodhound, Bounty Hunter, Bushman, Commando, Forester, Guide, Hunter, Nomad, Pathfinder, Patroller, Recon, Scout, Sheriff, Spotter, Strider, Tracker, Survivalist, Wanderer, Woodsman

Rogue
Bandit, Cut-throat, Duelist, Ne'er-Do-Well, Pirate, Scoundrel, Swashbuckler, Thief

Sorcerer and Wizard
Mage, Warlock, Witch

 

[Dog Moon]

Druids: Tree Huggers.

Paladin: Champion [of Good].

Rogue: Rouge.

Does slang count? Barb, Pally, Sorc, Wizzy.

 

[paradox42]

Druids: Tree Huggers.

Rogue: Rouge.

Methinks our friendly neighborhood lycanthrope trigger is trolling... That misspelling is a pet peeve of many, many people!

On topic, "Brawler" could apply to either Fighter or Monk, and probably Barbarian as well. A strong Rogue would often be nicknamed "Thug." And along that line, lots of nicknames associated with Mafia and gangsters in RL could work for Rogues too- "mobster," "enforcer," or the like.

 

[frankthedm]

Bard
Soul caster, music mage, Hearer of the spheres$

Barbarian$
Berzerker$, Degenerate$, Maniac$

Cleric
Crusader$, Spellbegger$, healer, priest

Druid [see wizard and cleric]
beastlover$ Shaman, Witch$, priest, Woodsman

Fighter
Warrior, Weapon Master

Paladin [see cleric as well]
Crusader$

Ranger
Hunter, Tracker, Scout, stalker$, Woodsman.

Rogue$
burglar$, Thief$, Scout, Troubleshooter

Sorcerer [see wizard for those who don’t know the difference]
Soulcaster, warper of the spheres$

Wizard
Mage, Warlock$, diabolist$, Witch$, sorcerer, Alienist$ + all school names. [I make it a point any NPC without the appropriate knowledge makes mistakes with naming conventions of arcane casters]

Names marked with $ means the name is a slur or rarely used in a positive manner.

 

[Aus_Snow]

OMG, a thread in General that isn't a poll by 'Mark'!


Anyway, for.. pretty much.. actual D&D (in other games, the whole system is completely different), here's my class names (the ones in bold):

Barbarian = Berserker
Bard (from CBOEM) = Spellsinger
Cleric (minus Heavy Armour) = Templar
Cloistered Cleric (from UA) = Priest
Druid (well, close) = Shaman
Fighter = Warrior
Monk (kind of) = Battledancer
Ninja (from CV; modified) = Assassin
Psychic (from APM) = Mystic
Ranger (custom, magic-free)
Shugenja (from CD) = Elementalist
Sorcerer (a mix of Sorc and the Eldritch Weaver from APM)
Spirit Shaman (from CD) = Spiritwalker
Swashbuckler (custom)
Wilderness Rogue (from UA) = Scout
Wizard (kind of) = Mage (or Magus)

 

[Umbran]

My current campaign has a specific note about the culture - the PCs and NPCs don't know from "classes", so there is no name for the class, per se. Classes, as such, don't even exist inside the game world. They are a useful out-of-game notion for purposes of character progression, but nobody in the world knows that a "paladin" exists. There's just this guy who fights pretty well, and has some holy power.

 

[paradox42]

Ooo, Frank's got a great notion there! I comploetely forgot about that side of things, but it can really spice up the world and cultures if some class archetypes are denigrated and have nicknames with negative connotations. It can even help make PC interactions more fun, as in "Hey, we're the only ones who can call him that and not get an axe to the face. Watch yourself!"

I only thought up such names for the four varieties of Elemental-based wizards in my game, and they're most commonly used by opposing elementalist types in reference to each other during philosophical arguments. Air Elementalists are pejoratively called Blowhards, Earth are called Rockbrains, Fire are Hotheads, and Water Elementalists are called Drips. But now I want to get nicknames for other classes too...

 

[Evil Monkey]

I allow just about anything into my campaign, so I've come up with terminology the people of my campaign world use to describe the various systems of magic.

Magic-User: Anyone who uses magic (spells, psionics, incarnum, etc.)

Spellcaster: Anyone who casts spells (arcane or divine).
Priest: Used to refer to divine spellcasters of any class. Not all those who serve churches as priests are divine spellcasters, however; such persons are usually referred to by their title.
Templar: Used to refer to religious warriors who also cast divine spells (paladins, anarchs, etc.)
Arcanist: Refers to arcane spellcasters of any class. The word "shadow" may be added in front if the person in question draws their power from the Shadow Weave.
Mage: Refers to arcane spellcasters who must prepare their spells in advance.
Magician: Refers to arcane spellcasters who wield magic spontaneously. This has a somewhat derogatory context, especially among scholars and true magi.

Psionicist: Used to refer to anyone who manifests psionic powers.
Psion: Refers to psionicists who mainly rely on their powers (telepaths, erudites, etc).
Mindknight: Refers to warriors with some psionic ability (psychic warriors, divine minds).

Soulshaper: Refers to anyone who shapes incarnum.
Wordsmith: Refers to anyone who uses truename magic.

Other than that, most classes are just referred to by their names (warlock, artificer, etc.)

I haven't really thought of anything for classes that don't use magic. It would really depend on the character concept as to what they would be called (berserker, mercenary, thug, cat burglar, etc.).

 

[Dog Moon]

Methinks our friendly neighborhood lycanthrope trigger is trolling... That misspelling is a pet peeve of many, many people!

I dislike it as well, but it's a common enough occurrance that I thought it had to be included.

 

[kroh]

Umbran really hit the nail on the head in that the classes (and in essence their names) are really only functions of the game. One could call some one a warrior in the world and in the game he is a 1/4dragon celestial ooze monster, fighter/mage/rogue who just happens to look like Rodney Dangerfield . When people saw the character throw a beating to some ancient peeps, they would most likely call said amalgam a warrior, unless there is a specific name for the above mixture.

Ponit based games suffer less from this as there are less instances of defined classes due to the characters being skill based rather than class based. So a group of warriors could have some warriors and some "priest" types and some "mystic types" and some "sneeky types." Sometimes these games have archetypes or "paths" that define the character in the beginning but they are not confined to it.

I think it would be funny to identify the different classes by explenatives uttered when some one faced off against a paragon of that class.

Fighter:AWWW CRAP!

Barbarian: Hide the women!

Mage: Not this guy again!

Cleric: HOLY CRAP!

Paladin:AIM FOR THE HORSE!

Rogue:Let's see him do THAT again!

Ranger:It's an AMBUSH!

Druid:AHHH! BEAR!...AHHHH...Lion...AHHHH! Vorpal BuNny!

Regards,
Walt