Names for magic?

[Omnimental]

In my opinion, you should only rename it if the new name is part of a greater thematic purpose.  Calling it PSY in a scifi setting, for example.  Or maybe special powers in your world employ chi.  But I don't think something should be renamed solely for "kool" factor.  Best case scenario, your players don't care.  Worst case, it distracts them from actually playing the game.

 

[Eschaton]

Your players will just call it Mana or MP in their heads.  Even when it has a specific name, I always called it MP instead of "Psynergy" in Golden Sun, for example (mostly because of the arguement of its pronunciation "synergy" vs "psi-energy") or Elder Scrolls' "Magicka." 

 

[Silent Darkness]

I find that reading through a lot of old fantasy books and such might help give inspiration.

 

[West Mains]

Sometimes a cigar should just be called a cigar.

 

[Eschaton]

As long as the characters don't refer to it by whatever technical name you given it ("oh no! I've run out of MP! Luckily my Guard Command will protect me!"), call it whatever you want.

 

[orochii]

As long as the characters don't refer to it by whatever technical name you given it ("oh no! I've run out of MP! Luckily my Guard Command will protect me!"), call it whatever you want.

That's something you see only on RPG parodies.

 

[Eschaton]

That's something you see only on RPG parodies.

*chuckles*  Sure it is.

 

[Omnimental]

Wait, why is it automatically a negative thing for characters to know the name of their techniques?  I can easily think of settings where they would.  Any that operates under Powers-as-Programs, for instance.  Or ones where magic is only known through rigorous instruction.

If anything, your mechanics should be integrated well enough into your setting that it's not an issue.

 

[Eschaton]

Okay, imagine how silly the Nolan Batman films immediately would become at the utterance of the words "batmobile" or "batararang." I cringed when Alfred referred to Batman's motorcycle as the "batpod." Lucius calling the helicopter "the Bat" wasn't as bad.

Having bat-nouns creates connections to the Silver age Nolan was trying to distance his films from.

Having having wizards mention their MP and calling it that by name just creates comparison with silly Shounen anime and JRPGs. It can also create an implication that the wizard is aware that he is in a video game. It can destroy verisimilitude and immersion.

We don't have an arbitrary number that defines how strong we are. If you can't get another rep on the bench, or you just can't sprint anymore, it is not because you ran out of stamina points.

 

[Omnimental]

But they might say that he's run out of stamina.  A wizard may say they're out of mana in a similar fashion.  I'm not saying the characters should be aware of the mechanics.  I'm saying they'd have classifications for what they know how to do.  If the name sounds ridiculous, then the name is the problem, not the fact that they know what they're doing.

And in specific reference to fighting, martial arts name their techniques.  They don't say "Do that arm grabby thingy!"  They say "Put him in an arm triangle."  I'm not saying your protagonist is going to be shouting "Crouching lizard attacks sitting duck!" every time he attacks someone, but unless he's completely self taught he'll know that there's names for the techniques he uses.

 

[orochii]

"Damn it, I'm in the red zone!" - a character warning you of being under 25% of health. This is actually not that bad, because it has some ambiguity.

"I'm below 25% of my Health Points!" - same thing, but silly. Unless your character is an RPG addict.

"Hahaha well done Hero, it seems you've raised some levels and grinded a lot" - I think there is an RM game somewhere that says something similar to this.

"Welcome to the INN! For 50gp, recover all your HP and MP to full. Do you want to stay?" - An NPC that knows the secret.

"Why have you to die? Here, take this before it's too late!". "Im sorry son, but plot deaths can't be cured by Phoenix Downs".

 

[Omnimental]

Half of the issue with that is that people insist on referring to them as points.

"Welcome to the INN! For 50gp, recover all your HP and MP to full. Do you want to stay?" sounds like badly written forced dialog.

"Welcome to Forgath's Inn!  One night's rest in our luxurious suite will fully restore your health and mana.  Our rates are 50gp a night.  Would you like to stay?"  still references the RPG elements, but it sounds much more believable and engaging.

And the death/phoenix down issue is entirely why my "Death" status is renamed "Downed".  Normal combat incapacitated you, but leaves you just alive enough to be rescued.

"I'm sorry son.  Phoenix downs will bring you back from the brink of death, but once you've passed over you're gone for good."  Heck, watching a character repeatedly trying and failing to bring back a recently slain ally seems like a gripping character moment.

 

[Eschaton]

I can't get over the "downed/KO'ed" vs "dead."  These RPG characters must be demi-gods if they can get nuked, set on fire, stabbed repeatedly, eaten, and touched by the Grim Reaper and still only be "KO'ed" to the point where the feathers of an immortal bird-god are used as smelling salts.

The semantics of your mechanics is just as important as the mechanics themselves and their believability.

 

[Omnimental]

And yet most combat abilities never actually affect the world the RPG takes place in.  Hell, the whole concept of an item that revives someone from the dead being prolific enough that it's sold on every street corner alone should seriously shake up how a world functions.  The idea that it's possible to come back from the dead to begin with should have massive theological and practical impacts.  Yet that's rarely (if ever) addressed.

There are no "God Mode" attacks in my game solely to make being incapacitated a more believable thing.  I want story death to be a valid possibility in my game, and having the character die and be brought back to life hundreds of times before that point from combat seriously undermines that believability.  Hence, in my game, they're not "Dead", they're dying.  In-combat revival options are expensive, and any downed character is revived to 1 hit point after combat because his friends saved his life in the nick of time.  "Dead" as a status effect is not appropriate for my game.

 

[headdie]

If you want you can "invert" the MP system and use things like fatigue,  might be useful if you want to blur the distinction between magic and other abilities

 

[Eschaton]

And yet most combat abilities never actually affect the world the RPG takes place in.  Hell, the whole concept of an item that revives someone from the dead being prolific enough that it's sold on every street corner alone should seriously shake up how a world functions.  The idea that it's possible to come back from the dead to begin with should have massive theological and practical impacts.  Yet that's rarely (if ever) addressed.

It's called "bad writing."

 

[Probotector 200X]

This reminds me of one of my RPG ideas I liked more, where typical RPG stuff like levels, status effects, and reviving the dead are integral to the story. It's...not a "comedy" game either. It would be a little silly, but the idea would be trying to having an in-world explanation and reason for these things. Like, permanent death isn't very common, as the abundance of revive items in stores tell you. So, "death-threats" aren't taken very seriously. You might think there's no danger, but there's more to life...than...life? Well, the point is, things like status and reputation might mean everything, and repeatedly "dying" over and over is really bad on your reputation, so there's still consequences. But how to make levels relevant without making "grinding" a viable strategy in life, heh. Anyway, the idea is still in really early planning stages, so...whatever.

 

[Eschaton]

Knights of the Old Republic II made mention of you getting stronger by killing enemies because you are... Okay they had a story justification but they still never, ever mentioned experience points or levels.

Also: Vegeta and the scouter. And all it did was serve as a silly meme.

YuYu Hakusho and it's "spirit stats."

I can't remember any specific instances in Pokemon. I stopped watching anime long ago.

 

[Berylstone]

I don't feel as if achieving realism is of much consequence on a RPG game.  What truly matters to me is rather or not the game itself is fun to play.

Also it's tempting sometimes as a developer to delve into long descriptive narratives in an effort to bring the details of your game to life.  And while that is a worthy aim, I think often times this can actually have the opposite effect.

I have come to the conclusion it's best just to let the player discover the details of your world on his/her own rather than explain it to them. 

 

[Chaos Avian]

"I'm below 25% of my Health Points!" - same thing, but silly. Unless your character is an RPG addict.

"Hahaha well done Hero, it seems you've raised some levels and grinded a lot" - I think there is an RM game somewhere that says something similar to this.

Esper Wing Chronicle by any chance? :3