Renaming your skills/feats/class features: does anyone actually do it?

[Flame of Anor]

You can call your skills, feats, and class features whatever your character would call them. Lidda, the halfling rogue, talks about “footpaddin’ ” rather than about “moving silently,” so her player writes “Footpaddin’ ” down on her character sheet to stand for the Move Silently skill. Ember, the monk, calls her Move Silently skill “Rice Paper Walk.”

So do you, or does anyone you know, really do this? Is it funny? Does it have silly consequences? Or does it actually help with roleplaying?

[Ravens_cry]

I would write both so I have an idea to what my character calls something I can do, while at the same time anyone else, like the DM, looking at my character sheet knows what everything is in game terms. It also helps me so I don't forget whether I meet the prerequisite for such and such a feat or such.
Mostly, I just stick to the name in the book and don't refer to my abilities in game except in a general sense.

[Optimator]

My group does it with some frequency. I like it and it seems to help with role-playing in some cases.

[Zaq]

Yup. Quite frequently, as a matter of fact. I don't usually do it for everything, but there's usually at least one or two things I just out-and-out rename on pretty much any character I make. My current character, for instance, has Shape Soulmeld: Draconic Mantle, but since I can't stand dragons and don't really want this character to have much to do with them, I call it Dwarven Resilience instead. Makes sense to me.

[Rogue Shadows]

On the sheet, I use the normal names, but in-game I might call them anything, or arbitrarily group them all together. Regardless of the specific skill check, for example, my thief calls it thiefin'.

[Dusk Eclipse]

I had a hobgoblin character who instead of having Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Spiked Chain, had Hobgoblin Warspear training, crunch wise he used a spiked chain; but I fluffed it as special training to use a spear in close quarters and at reach.

Does that counts?

[Siosilvar]

Yeah, out of game not so much. In-game, of course!

...actually, I might start keeping two copies of my character sheets, just for this reason...

[Curmudgeon]

Sure. Not on the actual sheet, same as Rogue Shadows mentioned, but in-game. "Slinking" is Move Silently; "Jinking" is Tumble, and "Fading" is Hide.

[NNescio]

Cooking (Craft: Poisonmaking) (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LethalChef)

[Captain Caveman]

My party has gone so far as to add a little flare to spells. One example a guy decided he just wanted his fireball to be green flames. This was accomplished mechanically by him sprinkling in some Boron with the bat poop. (Yes, my group consists mainly of science majors including a chemical engineer.) He had some special name for it, but this was a couple years ago so the name escapes me. I would actually use this to my advantage as DM. It was easy for villains to track them all they had to do was track the sightings of a green fireball.

[Yora]

I use psionics in a bronze age setting. Renaming the powers is almost mandatory. Biofeedback, destiny dissonance, temporal acelleration, and matter agitation just sound completely out of place.

[PollyOliver]

Cooking (Craft: Poisonmaking) (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LethalChef)

I don't have this on her sheet, but I have a brewer who is also a poisonmaker, and she tends to refer to the two interchangeably. (Though she has ranks in both craft (poison) and profession (brewer).)

[Psyren]

Renaming everything on the sheet would just cause confusion. If I were to refluff something (and those random Incarnum feats make good candidates as Zaq mentioned) then it would be purely in-game.

[Zaq]

My previous character was actually almost 100% renamed/refluffed. He was a DFA who didn't actually have anything to do with dragons. (Look, I can't help it if Dragon Magic has really good crunch and really crappy fluff.) Pretty much his entire suite of abilities was renamed. What I did was to write what I called the ability as the main entry on the character sheet, then put what WotC called the ability at the end with the page reference. It worked.

EDIT: Heh, I do this in 4e, too. It was only recently that one of my partymates learned that no, the Runepriest healing power is not, in fact, called "Word of Rune of Mending." (For those of you who don't know, it's just called "Rune of Mending," but since the majority of other leader heals have "word" in the name somewhere, and my character is made out of words, well . . .)

[Psyren]

Out of curiosity, what did you refluff DFA to? ("Balorbreath Adept?")

And it sounds like you ported Illumians into 4e, which is pretty cool.

[Zaq]

Out of curiosity, what did you refluff DFA to? ("Balorbreath Adept?")

And it sounds like you ported Illumians into 4e, which is pretty cool.

He was a warforged. I basically made him a straight ripoff of Inspector Gadget. (Entangling Exhalation? No no no. Go Go Gadget Hot Glue!) I forget what I said DFA stood for . . . "Detective Function Automaton" or something. But the point is, all his breath weapons and invocations and stuff were Go Go Gadget tricks. He was a lot of fun.

And yes, I did assert that illumians exist in 4e, and my character is one. Mechanically, I'm just using the stats for a human (hey, they're humanoids with the [human] subtype anyway, so . . .), but since my character's a Rune Aimer (er . . . Runepriest), I just say that the rune state he's in is represented by the sigils around his head. It gets the job done.

[Psyren]

He was a warforged. I basically made him a straight ripoff of Inspector Gadget. (Entangling Exhalation? No no no. Go Go Gadget Hot Glue!) I forget what I said DFA stood for . . . "Detective Function Automaton" or something. But the point is, all his breath weapons and invocations and stuff were Go Go Gadget tricks. He was a lot of fun.

Very nice; I heartily approve :smallbiggrin:

(I may have to borrow this idea)

[NNescio]

I once played a Raptoran refluffed into a Tengu, because the latter's LA and RHD just plain suck.

And yes, I did have ranks in Gather Information Journalism, as a shout out.

[SlashRunner]

You REALLY REALLY REALLY don't want to know what we renamed our rogue's sneak attack ability. Seriously. Don't ask.

[Malimar]

You REALLY REALLY REALLY don't want to know what we renamed our rogue's sneak attack ability. Seriously. Don't ask.

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.

What did you rename your rogue's sneak attack ability?

[Lord Ruby34]

...or what my group renamed mind thrust. Just. Don't. Ask.

[Flame of Anor]

I use psionics in a bronze age setting. Renaming the powers is almost mandatory. Biofeedback, destiny dissonance, temporal acelleration, and matter agitation just sound completely out of place.


My previous character was actually almost 100% renamed/refluffed. He was a DFA who didn't actually have anything to do with dragons.

Hey, now, it takes half the fun away if you don't tell the class what you renamed them to. :smallwink:



You REALLY REALLY REALLY don't want to know what we renamed our rogue's sneak attack ability. Seriously. Don't ask.

Let me guess...it had something to do with the groin.

[Malimar]

...or what my group renamed mind thrust. Just. Don't. Ask.

CHALLENGE ACC-

Wait, I think I can guess that one. Was it "Pelvic Thrust"? I know I'm not capable of using the word "thrust" without the proper hip movement.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Sure, do it all the time with Warlock, when infernal references are inappropriate for the fey-based character...

[Lord Ruby34]

CHALLENGE ACC-

Wait, I think I can guess that one. Was it "Pelvic Thrust"? I know I'm not capable of using the word "thrust" without the proper hip movement.

...It was a bit worse than that. I'm not sure if I'm actually allowed to repeat it on this form.

And the group's wilder uses about every other round. :smallsigh:

[NNescio]

Evard's Black Tentacles.

I'm sure my group isn't the only one who came up with some risqué names for it. With the exact same reference, at that.

[Ryu_Bonkosi]

...or what my group renamed mind thrust. Just. Don't. Ask.

Let ME guess. Was is something along Mind F***?

[Lord Ruby34]

Let ME guess. Was is something along Mind F***?

Nope. Think lower.

[NNescio]

Mind Screw (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MindScrew) isn't that bad.

Edit:

Nope. Think lower.
Well, there's an actual spell named Mindrape...

[Lord Ruby34]

Mind Screw (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MindScrew) isn't that bad.

Edit:

Well, there's an actual spell named Mindrape...

They were going to name it that until I told them about that spell. Then they got creative.

[Saintheart]

For my part, in a PbP where I do shortened stat blocks during combat, I do like to mess around with the spell names with current effect on them, depending on the character.

For the clerics of my party I tend to go with stuff that names their god. "Divine Power" becomes "Tyr's Power".

For the bard in the party, though, I have to get creative because the character's insane and tends to break the fourth wall and metafiction a lot. Put it this way, the first thing he did with a Hat of Disguise was to turn himself into Errol Flynn. He's the most memorable and the most fun bard, or character, I've ever had in a party.

For him, "Haste" becomes "Milil's Speed Metal".
"Glibness" becomes the "Cant of Millus Vanillus".
"Improvisation" becomes "Pool of Clapton".
And when he uses Snowflake Wardance, I call it Milil's Feeling for Snow.

[BlueInc]

I can't believe this is on the second page and nobody's mentioned the barbarian wizard.

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=195049

I'll refluff anything for my players as long as it's balanced and fun.

[Cespenar]

You can probably find a "technological" name for every spell in every list, if you were to play a, let's say, Warforged Wizard. Abusing words like "quantum" and "nanobots" would help a lot, naturally.

[Vladislav]

I play a nature-oriented Sorcerer in a game. Grease becomes Sweating Earth, Magic Missile is Silvanus' Power, and Color Spray is Silvanus' Radiance. Summon Swarm, on the other hand, is just Summon Swarm.

[Draz74]

I can't believe this is on the second page and nobody's mentioned the barbarian wizard.

Along these lines, I like calling entire classes something different. Factotums who call themselves Rangers. Warblades who call themselves Samurai. DFAs who call themselves Sorcerers. And many, many more (these are only some of the less-creative ones).

[SlashRunner]

...or what my group renamed mind thrust. Just. Don't. Ask.

I believe your group thinks in a similar manner to my group.

[NNescio]

I play a nature-oriented Sorcerer in a game. Grease becomes Sweating Earth, Magic Missile is Silvanus' Power, and Color Spray is Silvanus' Radiance. Summon Swarm, on the other hand, is just Summon Swarm.

Prismatic Spray -> MASTAH SPARRKKK!

Time Stop -> Za WARUDO!

*cough*

[opticalshadow]

i like making themeatic wizards, my favorite is my wizard who is themed around space and time. all of my spells names and visuals and sounds (within the rules allwoence) are changed.