[Ide]

I need help thinking of some class names, and after mulling things over for a while I'm hoping someone can help me out. The basic setup on this mud is that players, after some time as a class-less character (called a mob), choose a class that defines their 'soul'. The first three I've decided on names for are:

Essence: for example, alchemists and summoners.

Spirit: priests, cultists, evangelists, prophets.

Lucre: thieves, politicians, merchants.

So the basic idea is a class forms the core of a character, and certain gameplay is available only to members of a particular class, though in other respects the mud is somewhat 'classless'.

While I'm starting with those first three (representing some main areas of gameplay -- alchemy and summoning, creating and promulgating religions, and the city economy), I am planning to add more classes after the first three are well fleshed out. The tentative names for these are:

Blood: for example, gladiators and mercenaries.

Praxis: artists, scientists, craftworkers.

I think Blood is OK but I'm not happy with the Praxis class name. I've been trying to follow a naming theme with essence, spirit, blood, etc. but I can't think of a good one that would describe the 'core' of art, science, and craft. I'm defining art pretty broadly here -- you could call this whole class 'art' but I'd like it to follow more in line with the naming convention already established.

Any ideas?

[shasarak]

"Philosophy"? (Science was originally referred to as "natural philosophy"). Or "scholars", perhaps? "Artisans"? "Craft"? "Practitioners"?

TBH, some of your divisions seem a little odd. Summoning, to me, seems very closely connected to religion, while alchemy is connected to science. And politics isn't primarily about the accumulation of wealth (or at least it shouldn't be!) - politicians tend to be idealists (however misguided), closer to priests than they are to merchants.

[Ide]

Originally Posted by shasarak TBH, some of your divisions seem a little odd. Summoning, to me, seems very closely connected to religion, while alchemy is connected to science. And politics isn't primarily about the accumulation of wealth (or at least it shouldn't be!) - politicians tend to be idealists (however misguided), closer to priests than they are to merchants.

Yeah, originally Essence was just alchemists, but I liked the idea of summoners and wanted to add more options to the Essence class, so I added summoners there; similarly with the politicians. I've been thinking of moving politicians to a different class and in their place you would have builders (dealing with real estate, building structures and so on). Summoners could be moved to Spirit, but I don't have a concrete idea of what to add to Essence to give it more options.

[Milawe]

Egalitarians for the Praxis? Though it's not quite accurate, scientists, artists, and craftspeople are somewhat equalized by their own skills and hardwork rather than their birth.

[Ogma]

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[Disillusionist]

Muse, rather than Praxis? I'd almost suggest "Ego" in the psychoanalytic sense, but I'd be afraid that might carry negative implications, or be out-of-genre, if your mud supports gladiators.

I admit, I don't comprehend the form you're following, but inspiration seems key to art and science, and approaches are often similar, even if actual method differs. Similar muses, different songs, so to speak.

While I hold back my chuckles that thieves, politicians and merchants are umbrellaed together, I actually tend to agree with it, since these are often synonymous in real life.


I also agree that some of the lumping together, such as alchemists and summoners seems arbitrary, but I don't know exactly what you have planned for them.

I'd almost prefer Viscera over Blood; blood just sounds too...general.

[Disillusionist]

Sorry to double-post. My thesaurus-demon was intrigued.

Use or discard at whim:

Afflatus: (spirit or divine guidance/inspiration; also motivation imparted directly), which would also seem to govern summoners, at first blush.

I can't come up with anything that lumps science with art, other than that both require observation of the and interpretation of the universe. Not to spark any debates on the nature of science and art, or scientists and artists, and once I start up that slippery slope, it's even harder to come up with something that gets the 'chi' of crafting, which of course might be artistic and scientific, or...it might just be knitting a sweater. Just as art might be coming up with a dirty limerick. 'Sensual' in the literal sense almost hits the mark, but....Sensual Scientists, hmmm...Well, it's fantasy, right?

Aesthetic. (actually, I like aistheta better, because someone might have to look it up, and it just sounds ....fantasy-soul-ish). That, or I got nothin'.
[German ästhetisch, from New Latin aesthēticus, from Greek aisthētikos, of sense perception, from aisthēta, perceptible things, from aisthanesthai, to perceive; see au- in Indo-European roots.]
n.
1. A guiding principle in matters of artistic beauty and taste; artistic sensibility:
2. An underlying principle, a set of principles, or a view often manifested by outward appearances or style of behavior


Carnal/Viscera for the blood category.

[Ide]

hey thanks everyone, and thanks Disillusionist for 'aistheta', that has a cool ring to it.

The general idea of the class names is to capture the essence of a particular aspect of gameplay. I don't want necessarily to define the class roles themselves too rigidly, but do want players to feel the 'lifeblood' of the class so to speak. Hence the emphasis on these terms which could be considered cousins of one another (with the possible exception of lucre, but you could say money is the lifeblood of certain professions).

[Disillusionist]

Very welcome. Good luck with your game!

[shasarak]

Some other possibilities:

"Essence" could potentially include various branches of science (as well as alchemy), and also various branches of magic - direct manipulation of magical energy, or "elementalist" effects (like calling storms, wind, rain, floods, or earthquakes), or the manipulation and transformation of matter. Essence is about the underlying nature of matter, beyond what you can immediately see and feel.

"Material" or "Craft" - people who directly manipulate matter in a real-world way - artists, craftsmen.

"Body" or "Flesh" could include warrior types and acrobats; those who focus on the performance of their own physical bodies.

"Mind" would be visionaries and psychics, psionics, diviners, and also perhaps spies and illusionists; those interested in the workings of the mind, and in how to expand their own and manipulate other people's. (Politicians might fit in here, along with diplomats).

"Soul" or "Spirit" would be priests, summoners and demonologists; those interested in supernatural, non-material beings.

"Wealth" or "Material" - thieves and merchants, people focused primarily on money.