Guest Admiral C Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 I'm thinking of making my next cadre of villains and NPCs having some sort of power play behind the scenes using a lot of mind control magic. I know the grimoire calls it sorcery but that sounds too generic to me. I'd like a name that can translate into a title like sorcery becomes sorcerer. I remember Rolemaster calling it mentalism which would be a perfect fit I, and my players, didn't already associate mentalist and mentalists with supers. Enchantment would be great if it wasn't already associated with something that is a good fit too. Mesmerist and Hypnotist sound too pulp. I briefly toyed with "Confusionist" but that just sounds silly. I even thought of just naming them after a color like Blue Adepts or something but that felt wrong too. Suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilDrPuma Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 Re: Need a good name for Mind Control magic Domination? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 Re: Need a good name for Mind Control magic Domination? A practitioner of "domination" would probably be called a "dominator" or "dominatrix," which might be, um, unfortunate. Times like this I hit up my trusty thesaurus for synonyms for "control/ controller:" Enthrallment/ enthraller Oversight/ overseer Subjugation/ subjugator Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gojira Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 Re: Need a good name for Mind Control magic Wikipedia article on Mentalism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mentalism Thinking about terms like White Magic and Black Magic, maybe Mind Magic? Perhaps you have a *reason* why this type of magic works. Like maybe it affects the soul, so call it Soul Magic. Or Spirit Magic, if people have spirits instead of souls. Or just come up with a non-English term. An online translation web page translates "Enthrall Mind Spirit Magic" as Evinco Mens Phasmatis Veneficus. Pick two of those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackSword Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 Re: Need a good name for Mind Control magic Depending on how invasive it is you could call them Puppeteers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supreme Serpent Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 Re: Need a good name for Mind Control magic What do you call other types of magic in your world? If there's a common naming convention that might suggest something. Ferinstance, if everything else ends in -mancy, this should too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Labrat Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 Re: Need a good name for Mind Control magic I'm thinking of making my next cadre of villains and NPCs having some sort of power play behind the scenes using a lot of mind control magic. I know the grimoire calls it sorcery but that sounds too generic to me. I'd like a name that can translate into a title like sorcery becomes sorcerer. I remember Rolemaster calling it mentalism which would be a perfect fit I, and my players, didn't already associate mentalist and mentalists with supers. Enchantment would be great if it wasn't already associated with something that is a good fit too. Mesmerist and Hypnotist sound too pulp. I briefly toyed with "Confusionist" but that just sounds silly. I even thought of just naming them after a color like Blue Adepts or something but that felt wrong too. Suggestions? In the Bible, 'sorcery' is sometimes translated from the Greek farmakoi, obviously leading us to pharmacy. Pharmacists? How about working with the word Overlord? Mastery? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CourtFool Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 Re: Need a good name for Mind Control magic The Veil? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Admiral C Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 Re: Need a good name for Mind Control magic Times like this I hit up my trusty thesaurus for synonyms for "control/ controller:" Enthrallment/ enthraller I was struggling to remember this word just the other night and kept coming up some D&Dism or coming back to Enchantment. I'm gonna go with this. I can see someone calling themselves an Enthraller in polite mage society and a Thrallmaster in much more sinister company. The "Arcana of Enthrallment" sounds good too. Thanks LL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burrito Boy Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 Re: Need a good name for Mind Control magic Nobody suggested Mesmerism? I'm sure Mesmer would be disappointed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Mesmer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curufea Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 Re: Need a good name for Mind Control magic Theosomancy. Based on Theosophy and theosophist. The idea being that mind control is very similar to belief control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hierax Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 Re: Need a good name for Mind Control magic Here's your solution: Volomancer as a name for a spell-caster who by means of his own will controls the will/volition of others. Volo being the Latin verb for willing/wishing and the Fantasy gaming convention to make every spell type a -mancy. Lewis & Short Latin Dictionary: in Engl. mostly rendered, to wish, want, intend, purpose, propose, be willing, consent, mean, will, and, impersonally, it is my will, purpose, intention, plan, policy (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/lexindex?lookup=volo&db=ls) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DusterBoy Posted July 2, 2009 Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 Re: Need a good name for Mind Control magic Glamour? As in "to cast a glamour on someone"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vondy Posted July 4, 2009 Report Share Posted July 4, 2009 Re: Need a good name for Mind Control magic Mesmerism? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba smith Posted July 7, 2009 Report Share Posted July 7, 2009 Re: Need a good name for Mind Control magic phsyc-magic? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilFleischmann Posted July 8, 2009 Report Share Posted July 8, 2009 Re: Need a good name for Mind Control magic Spellbinders Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lezentauw Posted July 10, 2009 Report Share Posted July 10, 2009 Re: Need a good name for Mind Control magic Why not just Sorcery? There are plenty of examples in books and such not, where a character would state "What type of sorcery is this?" Those times are usually referring when said character believed he was being tricked by fowl magics... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndianaJoe3 Posted July 19, 2009 Report Share Posted July 19, 2009 Re: Need a good name for Mind Control magic Those times are usually referring when said character believed he was being tricked by fowl magics... Poultrymancy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tasha Posted July 20, 2009 Report Share Posted July 20, 2009 Re: Need a good name for Mind Control magic I'm thinking of making my next cadre of villains and NPCs having some sort of power play behind the scenes using a lot of mind control magic. I know the grimoire calls it sorcery but that sounds too generic to me. I'd like a name that can translate into a title like sorcery becomes sorcerer. I remember Rolemaster calling it mentalism which would be a perfect fit I, and my players, didn't already associate mentalist and mentalists with supers. Enchantment would be great if it wasn't already associated with something that is a good fit too. Mesmerist and Hypnotist sound too pulp. I briefly toyed with "Confusionist" but that just sounds silly. I even thought of just naming them after a color like Blue Adepts or something but that felt wrong too. Suggestions? Most mind control spells are known as Charm spells. You could be a Charmomancer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tasha Posted July 20, 2009 Report Share Posted July 20, 2009 Re: Need a good name for Mind Control magic Glamour? As in "to cast a glamour on someone"? Glamours are actually Illusion. hense high Fashion is known as glamor. Because fashion is an illusion to increase attractiveness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbywolfe Posted July 21, 2009 Report Share Posted July 21, 2009 Re: Need a good name for Mind Control magic "Charmomancer"? Isn't that a pokemon? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tasha Posted July 21, 2009 Report Share Posted July 21, 2009 Re: Need a good name for Mind Control magic "Charmomancer"? Isn't that a pokemon? Who knows? BTW in Everquest, Enchanters are the folk who have spells that both strengthen and enthrall the mind. The real problem is that terms like Sorcery, Enchantment, Charms, Warlock etc have really lost their real meanings or that like many things from history are actually synonymous in their meanings. So just pick a term and a place/group ie I learned Enchantment from the Waterdeep Brothers of Magic or I studied Enchantment from the Great Wizard Tobar. Make it sound big and important. If people wonder why you can't make magic items, tell them that's another school of Enchantment. That you do magic on living minds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilFleischmann Posted July 21, 2009 Report Share Posted July 21, 2009 Re: Need a good name for Mind Control magic Yes. One of the legacies of Gygax is the idea that magic is well-defined and compartmentalized. That there are discrete categories of magic and standardized terminology. As if magic is a modern field of engineering, using the scientific method and everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curufea Posted July 22, 2009 Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 Re: Need a good name for Mind Control magic Also of interest- Thaumobabble and other fantasy words for all occasions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucius Posted July 25, 2009 Report Share Posted July 25, 2009 Re: Need a good name for Mind Control magic Yes. One of the legacies of Gygax is the idea that magic is well-defined and compartmentalized. That there are discrete categories of magic and standardized terminology. As if magic is a modern field of engineering' date=' using the scientific method and everything.[/quote'] There ARE some words that manage to hold onto more or less specific denotations, or sometimes connotations, but once gamers get hold of a word they are likely to mangle it beyond recognition. Take Necromancy, and Gygax. By the time Gygax came along the basic meaning of Necromancy ("Divination by means of the dead") had already suffered (partly from being confounded with "nigromancy" meaning "black (as in dark, as in evil) arts of divination" and then meaning "black magic.") But then, by whatever twisted reasoning he used, Gygax decided that all forms of healing and restoration by magic fall under "Necromancy." Compared to that, Steve Jackson lumping Demonology under Necromancy almost makes sense. It at least retains the connotations that have haunted Necromancy for centuries. Lucius Alexander The palindromedary notes that I seem to get carried away with those nested parentheses.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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