Looking for naming altenratives to "improved", "greater", etc..

[Ken Murikumo]

Hey, folks!

Just doing some brainstorming and trying to come up with a nomenclature for things improving in intervals.

D&D and it's offspring use thing like "improved", "greater", "perfect", and such; as well as, a simple +1 to +5. Though the numbers are a little boring, they are easy to remember and easy to apply.

Skyrim uses a cool nomenclature of: Fine, Superior, Exquisite, Flawless, Epic, & Legendary.

I'm aiming for 5 different ranks, but Im drawing quite the blank, as i tend to burn out when approaching the end of a project. What about everyone here? What are some you think are cool. How about from non-D&D sources. How about some you've made up?

Edit: to clarify this is not system specific. Just a general exercise!

[1337 b4k4]

Masterwork, Craft, Heirloom, Journeyman, Priceless, Infamous (or Famous)

That said, a "Masterwork Sword" is boring for the same reason that +1 swords are boring, they're everywhere and don't tell a tale. "The Sword of Jaronth" or "Kithslayer" are interesting because they have tales (they must to get names). Even something like a "Master Barrows Special" even though it implies non-uniqueness does imply a rarity and story (who was or is Master Barrows? Why are their swords known? What makes a "Special" vs any other sword Master Barrow's made?)

[Hackulator]

good, gooder, better, best, bestest

[Avista]

Simple, Masterwork, Rare, Ascended, Legendary

[Segev]

Fine, excellent, exquisite, exemplary, supernal.

Magnificent

Superb

Superlatives are either going to be generic or related to the thing being discussed. “Fine china” was so called due to the superior nature of pottery from China, for instance. Damascus steel was a very particular formulation that was known to be very very good for weaponry. A Muramasa blade is forged by a particular sword smith, famed for his prowess. Dwarf-forged armor is known for its quality and particular style.

[Xuc Xac]

Sweet, tasty, fine, mo' betta, pimped out

[Spore]

Look at D3 gem quality levels. https://diablo.fandom.com/wiki/Gems

5e:
Regular: +0
Magic: +1
Epic: +2
Legendary: +3

3.PF:
Regular: +0
Masterwork: MW
Magic: +1
Epic: +2
Legendary: +3 til +5
Artifact: +6 or more.

[Zhorn]

Gabriel Iglesias has a scale I'm fond of:

• Big
• Healthy
• Husky
• Fluffy
• DAMN!
• and “OH HELL NO!”

[Spore]

Gabriel Iglesias has a scale I'm fond of:

• Big
• Healthy
• Husky
• Fluffy
• DAMN!
• and “OH HELL NO!”

I think you forgot *dinosaur noise*

[Pauly]

Orc made, human made, dwarves made, elven made, dragon made

[Lapak]

Do you want this scale to go only up from normal, or up and down?

That is, are you looking for
Makeshift / Poor / Ordinary / Exceptional / Mastercrafted
or
Ordinary / Exceptional / Mastercrafted / Unique / Gods-work
?

[hymer]

Chipped, flawed, [blank], flawless, perfect.

Cookie to anyone who knows where it came from.

[Slipperychicken]

I like the way it's handled in the video-game Kingdom Come: Deliverance, where items are differentiated by their style. Instead of having explicit tiers of weapons for example, you'd have each weapon-type named; "cooper's axe", "butcher's blade", "merchant's sword", "mercenary's bedfellow", "hungarian sabre", "baliff's mace", "st george's sword", and so on each with stats of their own. It gave a bit more personality to it, with implications regarding the sort of people, context, and status associated with them.

That said, a "Masterwork Sword" is boring for the same reason that +1 swords are boring, they're everywhere and don't tell a tale. "The Sword of Jaronth" or "Kithslayer" are interesting because they have tales (they must to get names). Even something like a "Master Barrows Special" even though it implies non-uniqueness does imply a rarity and story (who was or is Master Barrows? Why are their swords known? What makes a "Special" vs any other sword Master Barrow's made?)

This. Bland numerical loot-treadmills are going to be uninteresting on their own no matter what you name them.

Ask yourself what purpose the quality-ratings serve in the overall experience. It could be about showing off class-differences, making clear distinction between factions with the quality of their kit, illustrating the PCs' movement through social or economic ranks, being part of a social-blending/stealth mechanic (i.e. wearing a jeweled/engraved/exceptionally-made weapon fit for a lord when trying to hide among mercenaries could draw attention or 'out' a would-be saboteur), and so on. Whatever the reason, the important thing is to think it through rather than having a loot treadmill for its own sake.

[Quertus]

I think we're forgetting the scale that has Pixie, Orc, Bugbear, Ogre, Troll...

Gabriel Iglesias has a scale I'm fond of:

• Big
• Healthy
• Husky
• Fluffy
• DAMN!
• and “OH HELL NO!”

I just watched that last week - excellent choice.

Chipped, flawed, [blank], flawless, perfect.

Cookie to anyone who knows where it came from.

Well, of course, it's from Diablo. Dang, now I'm hungry.

[hamishspence]

Chipped, flawed, [blank], flawless, perfect.

Cookie to anyone who knows where it came from.

Diabloverse. The magic item naming conventions might also be worth using.

In that style, +1 weapon would be Warrior's, +2 Soldier's, +3 Knight's, +4 Lord's, +5 King's.

So, instead of a +5 Greatsword, you have a King's Greatsword.

[Imbalance]

Are you looking for five grades of production quality or five tiers of effective power and renown? Is your range only for improved items, or will the lower levels represent crude makes? Are storied unique or even legendary items found at any grade of quality?

What if instead of a scale, it was more like the alignment grid? In the middle is a basic item, say a sword, forged by a blacksmith, replaces nuetral. The other corners are unique vs. common and busted vs. perfect. Thereby a shoddy one-off cutlass may be a +2 due to having been the favored gut-spiller of a notorious pirate. Maybe add a third dimension with blessed vs. cursed. Just spitballing.

[Anxe]

Diabloverse. The magic item naming conventions might also be worth using.

In that style, +1 weapon would be Warrior's, +2 Soldier's, +3 Knight's, +4 Lord's, +5 King's.

So, instead of a +5 Greatsword, you have a King's Greatsword.

I think this is the way to do it if you want it to actually sound different. A bunch of adjectives will eventually become placeholders for +1 through +5. Making the adjectives have a meaning associated with social status can help understand how rare and powerful the weapon is.

Also throw Emperor's and [Insert Deity's Name]'s in there too.

[halfeye]

Skyrim uses a cool nomenclature of: Fine, Superior, Exquisite, Flawless, Epic, & Legendary.

There are levels of legendary. I don't know how many because they are all called legendary, but there seem to be at least five, and could be as many as fifteen.

There are also the lockpicking levels; novice, apprentice, acolyte, expert and master, and Oblivion has novice? apprentice or was it acolyte? journeyman, expert and master.

[Ken Murikumo]

good, gooder, better, best, bestest

Sweet, tasty, fine, mo' betta, pimped out

Gabriel Iglesias has a scale I'm fond of:

• Big
• Healthy
• Husky
• Fluffy
• DAMN!
• and “OH HELL NO!”

NAILED IT!!

+1 weapon would be Warrior's, +2 Soldier's, +3 Knight's, +4 Lord's, +5 King's.

So, instead of a +5 Greatsword, you have a King's Greatsword.

That's an awesome and simple tiering system for equipment. It's simple, informative, and easy to figure out.

Making adjectives relative to the thing in question is also an interesting idea but requires a bit more understanding.


I've also been scheming a perk-tree based magic system that i think this could be used for. It's very rough and doesn't have any numbers it's just a skeleton of a concept at the moment. In short you buy each perk in the tree and progress through, giving you more options to buy as you go.

Spoiler: Crude example below:

Show

Lets use a fireball spell as a quick example. (I hope the formatting doesn't get screwed up)

....................Passive Bonus............................................. ...
..........................///.................................................. ...........
EX Fireball..........///............Cheaper Fireballs -> Cheaper Fireballs
..///.................///..................///...........................................
T1 Fireball -> T2 Fireball -> T3 Fireball -> T4 Fireball.............
..\\\.................\\\......................... ......................................
...\\\...............Radius increase -> Radius increase..................
....\\\........................................... ......................................
metamagic -> more metamagic......................................... ..

The tiers of magic abilities could be named with a blanket term (improved, greater) or even name with something related (Fireball, Blazing Fireball, Raging Fireball, or something)

[D+1]

Does nobody own a thesaurus anymore?

[Jay R]

Whatever you come up with will soon become as commonplace as "improved" or "greater" is now. Just accept that these words work. and look for your mystery and immersion from the adventures, not the wording.

[FaerieGodfather]

You said people remember the numbers easier and prefer to use them.

Just use the numbers.

If you need in-character terminology, try "fourth degree" or "threefold mastery" or similar.

[Berenger]

Does nobody own a thesaurus anymore?

The last wild packs of thesauri were hunted to extinction by the Knightly Order of the Purple Prose years ago.

[Ken Murikumo]

Whatever you come up with will soon become as commonplace as "improved" or "greater" is now. Just accept that these words work. and look for your mystery and immersion from the adventures, not the wording.

While, you are not wrong, sticking to "improved" & "greater" leaves me just that; two options. D&D really only uses those two with exception of "Perfect" for two weapon fighting (and, i guess, flight). I Was looking for more than 2 or 3.

You said people remember the numbers easier and p̶r̶e̶f̶e̶r̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶u̶s̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶m̶.

Just use the numbers.

If you need in-character terminology, try "fourth degree" or "threefold mastery" or similar.

I'd like to move away from naming items with numbers, but the "threefold mastery does sound pretty cool. You may be on to something!

Does nobody own a thesaurus anymore?

With google? Nobody owns (or uses) a thesaurus, dictionary, or its ilk anymore. Also, the English lexicon is expanding far too quickly for said books to be useful; what with memes and them damned kids making up new words and all.

[J-H]

Normal, enhanced, royal-grade, potent, powerful, legendary

[Kaptin Keen]

Eliminate terms entirely - only use unique items. Swapping out a Divine Blade of Heavenly Wrath for an Even Diviner Blade of Heavenly Wrath and Fury is just silly anyways. And instead of swapping out gear, improve on it.

[sleepy hedgehog]

For DnD, I always imagined that weapon enhancements were along a continuous spectrum.
They are just arbitrarily bucketed into +1, +2... for ease of play.

So I could see people describing it in the same way they would describe its detect magic aura strength.
The book uses Faint, Moderate Strong, Overwhelming
More interesting words could be, Trace, Faint, Enveloped, Expansive, Immense/Vast

EDIT: Or if you picture detect magic as showing brightness, instead of size:
shimmering, glowing, gleaming, radiant, blinding

[Draconi Redfir]

Bland, Tasty, Delicious, Scrumptious, Decadent.

[Saintheart]

Does nobody own a thesaurus anymore?

I hear you can still borrow, rent, lease, charter, hire, secure, reserve, or mortgage them.

[dps]

Minor, Basic, Standard, Major, Superior.