PDA

View Full Version : 'Brickwitch'? (Urban druid class name, help!)



Tasbard
2010-02-07, 02:56 PM
I'm thinking about writing up a campaign set entirely in an urban area; naturally, I don't want to kick out the druid just because of a change in setting, so I'm modding it to fit. I don't think I'll need any help on the muscle and bone of the class alterations, but I'm having an issue with the name of the class- what other people in the game world call them- as normal druids continue to exist, out of immediate sight of the characters. So far, I've come up with 'brickwitch', which I'm really just not sure about. Any suggestions? (P.S.: Normal druids and most other established magical authorities look down on the rogue urban druidic tradition. They might get some nasty names thrown their way.)

DragoonWraith
2010-02-07, 02:59 PM
Brickwitch is pretty good as a derogatory, but unless they're the kind of group that takes an insult and adopts it as a name for themselves (thereby eliminating its insulting nature), it doesn't seem likely as their own preferred name for themselves.

But I'd think that the group would honestly just call themselves Druids, really. Druids that argue that humans (or whatever) are natural animals too, and a city is just humanity's natural habitat. Or something like that.

nepphi
2010-02-07, 02:59 PM
Metropolitan springs to mind =)

vampire2948
2010-02-07, 02:59 PM
Spirit of the City?

Something like that? In that your 'druid' uses the power of the city rather than nature to do things.

Shadowbane
2010-02-07, 03:00 PM
Brickwitch is pretty good as a derogatory, but unless they're the kind of group that takes an insult and adopts it as a name for themselves (thereby eliminating its insulting nature), it doesn't seem likely as their own preferred name for themselves.

But I'd think that the group would honestly just call themselves Druids, really. Druids that argue that humans (or whatever) are natural animals too, and a city is just humanity's natural habitat. Or something like that.

This. Very much this.

CTLC
2010-02-07, 03:02 PM
Brickwitch is pretty good as a derogatory, but unless they're the kind of group that takes an insult and adopts it as a name for themselves (thereby eliminating its insulting nature), it doesn't seem likely as their own preferred name for themselves.

But I'd think that the group would honestly just call themselves Druids, really. Druids that argue that humans (or whatever) are natural animals too, and a city is just humanity's natural habitat. Or something like that.

I have to agree with this, it makes sense, although im not too sure on the part about cities being our natural habitat. but if your druids work in unnatural ways, that may be tough to do.

flyingchicken
2010-02-07, 03:05 PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#Etymology

Call them Seers (from "Weid" of Proto-Indo-European) or just Druids (Clerics don't have yo be parts of clergies anyway, nor are they boring clerks) -- but the overtly natural nature connotations are there.

From that link you could also use... Knower, or maybe even something to do with birds. Birdkeeper? Windwalker? Whisperer (as in horse whispering, except with birds...uh, a stretch)? Knower of Birds sounds rather kinky.

Shadowbane
2010-02-07, 03:05 PM
Another one could be, if they're kind of outcasts within the city: Citywraith, Cityspirit, Treeborn.

*Shrug* This is a difficult concept to name.

EDIT: I used this one in a piece of writing: Wildwalker.

Tasbard
2010-02-07, 03:05 PM
The problem with the urban druids calling themselves 'druids' is that they have been explicitly kicked out of the druidic order for violating various oaths. They've been effectively excommunicated. They don't have a right to the name 'druid'; I suppose some of them might insist upon using it, but I'd imagine them in the minority.
Besides, they are an entirely separate organization, with different aims and methods; how, on a practical level, do they differentiate themselves from the mainstream?

sonofzeal
2010-02-07, 03:05 PM
Cityscape Web Enhancement, Part 1 - Urban Class Features (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070228a). May be of interest. ^^

hiryuu
2010-02-07, 03:07 PM
But I'd think that the group would honestly just call themselves Druids, really. Druids that argue that humans (or whatever) are natural animals too, and a city is just humanity's natural habitat. Or something like that.

Makes sense to me. Birds gotta build nests, bees gotta build hives, humans gotta build stone towers four stories high. Beavers routinely destroy habitats, practice overlogging, and flood forests (but "make up" for it by creating habitats for other animals; the same could be said for humans and rats, chimney swifts, pigeons, raccoons, rabbits, possum, lizards, and in D&D, spire dragons, otyughs, and tons of other creatures). Beavers, humans, bees, and birds can even destroy more than necessary by overconstruction, the only difference is that humans have the ability to notice when they're doing it.


I have to agree with this, it makes sense, although im not too sure on the part about cities being our natural habitat. but if your druids work in unnatural ways, that may be tough to do.

Put a bunch of humans in the wilderness for a few generations and they'll have a city/town/cluster of buildings built, animals domesticated, and crops growing even with no outside influence or knowledge; it's repeated itself enough around the world that we can even be reasonably sure that some measure of cultural organization is inherent in the species. In fact, that appears to be the one thing humans have over other species on the planet: cultural organization is hard-coded into us, our children learn to point at things without being taught, and we have the ability to make other animals think we are them and induce newly created behaviors in herds and individuals of those animal species. We've also got some of the best long-term endurance in nature.

Tasbard
2010-02-07, 03:09 PM
Cityscape Web Enhancement, Part 1 - Urban Class Features (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070228a). May be of interest. ^^

That is interesting, thanks.

Comet
2010-02-07, 03:12 PM
'Brickwitch' is an awesome slang term and I heavily recommend that you keep using it in some context in your gameworld. I think I'll steal it for my own use, even :smallbiggrin:


As for the actual names the urban druids use for themselves... something a bit more formal would be in order. Stonewalkers? Streetshamans? Something like that, anyway.
But Brickwitch is definetly good.

nepphi
2010-02-07, 03:13 PM
Expanding on ideas;

Metropolitan still is my first inclination, because it suggests someone part of the city while still keeping the semi religious bent of the Druid flavor.

Shaper is another good title, as it goes with the idea of buildings being crafted and shaped into a city.

Brick Witch is a good derogative as some have said, as is Scab or Scabdweller (referencing many druids' opinions on such environs). Alley Rat for a more generic but still colourful derogative.

Lapak
2010-02-07, 03:21 PM
Call them Stewards. They still fulfill the role of fostering the normal development of their environment; it's just not a natural environment.

Or translate it to, say, Irish Gaelic and call them Maoir, or maor in the singular.

EDIT: Grabbing that translation online, as I'm not actually familiar with it; you could just as easily go to some other language. Or leave it in English; I like Stewards.

Thatguyoverther
2010-02-07, 03:22 PM
I'd try to think of some of the less derisive names the cities inhabitants are likely to call them like Weirdwalker or Street Mage, or Street Saint if they tend to hand out a lot of free healing.

DragoonWraith
2010-02-07, 03:23 PM
I like Streetwalkers, that's a good one.

Also, something I have found very effective - come up with some descriptive phrase ("Spirits of the City" or something), and translate it into another language (preferably one your players don't know). Latin is usually my choice (since I know a lot of Latin), though I've also used Quenya and Sindarin quite a bit (two of Tolkien's Elvish languages). For example, "Spirit of the City" would be "Eala Osto" in Quenya. That probably is a bit of a mouthful for a class name, but you might find some luck if you try other things.

EDIT: Stewards is also excellent.

Tasbard
2010-02-07, 03:25 PM
'Kay, new idea. (Thanks greatly to flyingchicken, who posted the link about the etymology of 'druid'.) As 'druid' is derived from 'oak-knower', one could form a name for an urban druid from 'stone-knower'. Working backwards from the Irish, I'm calling that 'clochwid'. Eh? Ehhh?

Edit: Still just an idea, though. I kind of like 'maor'.

Thatguyoverther
2010-02-07, 03:28 PM
I like Streetwalkers, that's a good one.
For example, "Spirit of the City" would be "Eala Osto" in Quenya. That probably is a bit of a mouthful for a class name, but you might find some luck if you try other things.


I like streetwalkers but I think that implies an entirely different profession.

I'd take "Eala Osto" and turn it into slang calling them "Elas" or maybe "Oysters"

DragoonWraith
2010-02-07, 03:32 PM
'Kay, new idea. (Thanks greatly to flyingchicken, who posted the link about the etymology of 'druid'.) As 'druid' is derived from 'oak-knower', one could form a name for an urban druid from 'stone-knower'. Working backwards from the Irish, I'm calling that 'clochwid'. Eh? Ehhh?

Edit: Still just an idea, though. I kind of like 'maor'.
The only issue there is that "Stone-Knower" makes me think of mountains and caves and dwarves.

Street Knower or similar might be better. But I really like this direction that you're taking it.

By the way, if you run this game PbP, I'm interested; toss me a PM if you're looking for players.

nepphi
2010-02-07, 03:35 PM
Me as well, the setting sounds creative and grand.

Tasbard
2010-02-07, 03:37 PM
I had to look up 'PbP', but that does sound like fun. I might just do that. :)

Hat-Trick
2010-02-07, 03:52 PM
Someone said Street Shaman. I like that one.

Zaq
2010-02-07, 04:08 PM
I'd go in the direction that they're watching over humans (for the purposes of this post, "humans" = "humans, orcs, dwarves, halflings, gnomes, goblins, illumians, skarns, rilkans, dusklings, hadozee, asherati, and whatever is likely to end up as a player race in a city campaign") the way that other druids watch over plants and animals. The word that leaps to mind is "manherd," but I don't really like the way that flows. Something, though, that implies that they are in tune with humans and human society. Don't focus on the city; focus on the people who live there.

Leon
2010-02-07, 04:35 PM
I like streetwalkers but I think that implies an entirely different profession.


Druidism, the second oldest profession.

BRC
2010-02-07, 04:36 PM
Druidism, the second oldest profession.
Hey, somebody has to cast those "Cure Disease" spells.

Kylarra
2010-02-07, 04:52 PM
So... would desert druids be "sandwitches"? :smallbiggrin:

mostlyharmful
2010-02-07, 05:21 PM
Druidism, the second oldest profession.

hey! You impeach the honour of many a fine brewer.