Topic: Another name for the Rogue

[calmacil]

Can anyone come up with another name for a rogue character?


Here's the reason. It's not a big change, but i've subtly changed all the names of the professions. Reason is i'm a bit jaded after doing a certain well selling RP game for too long. So a new system (Harp) and new names will freshen it up a bit 



Here's what i've changed so far;

- Fighter, Harper and Warrior Mage remain the same

Ranger is now Hunter
Mage is now Loremaster
Monk is now Warrior Monk (i wanted him sounding more agressive)
Thief is now Rogue (i don't like using the term thief, it seems to predetermine his role. I was going to call him a scout, but prefered rogue)
Cleris is...... dependant on the Deity in my setting
(eg. if you have God of Valour you're a Paladin, if you have God of War you're a Warrior Priest, Goddess of Nature= Animist, God of Knowledge= a Namer, God of Death= Reaper, God of Shadows = Nightcloak, Goddess of Winter are Frost Maidens etc )

So i've stolen the rogues name for the old thief.
Anyone think of a name for a rogue?
 Something that suggests an allrounder. He can cast spells, not bad in combat.
He's similar to a warrior mage i guess

[Thom @ ICE]

For your purposes I would simply use "Adventurer"

[GrumpyOldFart]

Something that suggests an allrounder. He can cast spells, not bad in combat.
He's similar to a warrior mage i guess

He's a Jack. As in "Jack of all trades."

 

[calmacil]

Thanks for the quick replies, both good ones    a Jack is quite clever

I've just had a cup of tea and a brain storming session with some paper. At first i was thinking of something like a Witch Hunter (bit like the latest Van Helsing film) but that doesn't make sense because he'd be hunting himself 

Then i simply went through a list that were all different names for "Warrior" or "Mage". From this the best i got was Spellsword or BattleMage.

I'm tempted by either Adventurer or Warlock. In my dictionary it just describes warlock as a male spellcaster.

[Rasyr-Mjolnir]

Anyone think of a name for a rogue?
 Something that suggests an allrounder. He can cast spells, not bad in combat.

My first two suggestions would be...
Outdoorsman
Scout

Since he is more outdoors-oriented. And while he can cast spells in a manner similar to a Warrior mage, he doesn't actually have a spell sphere like the Warrior mage does.

Here are a few other possibilities...

Adventurer
Survivalist
Joat (Jack of all trades)

[Ecthelion]

Here's the reason. It's not a big change, but i've subtly changed all the names of the professions. Reason is i'm a bit jaded after doing a certain well selling RP game for too long. So a new system (Harp) and new names will freshen it up a bit 

Personally I am not a fan of changing an aspect of a system unless it is somehow broken. And I can't see why this should be the case for the profession names. If it works don't fix it...

Mage is now Loremaster

For me Loremaster does not sound like spell-casting. I am not a native English speaker, so this might be just me having this problem. But I'd prefer something else like Mage, Magician, Wizard or the like.

Thief is now Rogue (i don't like using the term thief, it seems to predetermine his role. I was going to call him a scout, but prefered rogue)

This is a bit strange. You are keeping the term Rogue but use it for another profession and are now in search of a new name for the old Rogue profession. So it seems the term Rogue itself still seems OK for you. In that case why not keep it for the existing Rogue profession, to reduce the confusion of the existing HARP players, and only change the name of the current Thief profession to something else but Rogue. The old MERP system used the name Scout for the Thief, which you already mentioned. Why not use that name?

Just my 2 cents

[calmacil]

Personally I am not a fan of changing an aspect of a system unless it is somehow broken. And I can't see why this should be the case for the profession names. If it works don't fix it...

It's not a question of whether it's broken or not, it's about tailoring a game/setting to suit the groups own personal needs. It's not something i'm suggesting for anyone else, just my game.
You could also argue that i have to use the races in the book. But i'm not using Gryx or Halflings in my setting. Neither of those races are broken, they just don't fit in my setting.

Problem is I think it's subjective, not objective

Like i said i'm not actually chaging the professions, just adding a subtle change so players aren't sighing when they see yet another list containing... fighter, monk, ranger, cleric etc.

As opposed to your "if it's not broken, don't fix it"        My view is....... "if it enhances your game, put it in"



(hope i didn't come across as too harsh, people can be upset easily on the net  thanks for the reply, you're perfectly entitled to your opinion  )


EDIT..... i used to play alot of MERP. I did originally have the thief as a scout and kept the rogue the same. But i see rogue as more of a trickster or silver-tongued scoundrel that doesn't use spells, and relies on his wits to survive. I didn't think scout fitted the skill-set for the thief. Hence i changed it around. But tht's just my own personal taste.

[Ecthelion]

Of course you are free to tailor the game to your needs as you see fit. Sorry if I did offend you.

[Thom @ ICE]

But i see rogue as more of a trickster or silver-tongued scoundrel that doesn't use spells, and relies on his wits to survive.

Well that might be your answer then....   Scoundrel

For me, these are simply metagaming concepts which could be called profession X, Y and Z - but if it helps the players and GM to envision them in different ways based upon the name you give to the profession, then by all means call them anything you want.

Best of luck with it.

[calmacil]

Of course you are free to tailor the game to your needs as you see fit. Sorry if I did offend you.

No, not at all. That's fine.

(i was playing it safe incase i offended you)

I've seen big arguements start from differing opinions on threads, didn't want it to esculate. 


@Thom... yeah i've got a few i like there. Thanks all, idea points for all.

[bpowell]

When I first read this I thought of "Jack of all Trades".  This is how I describe the difference between the Thief and the Rogue for new gamers in my campaign.  I would stay away from Jack, especially with my type of group, because they would change it to something non-PG13.  ;-)

But I must admit I love the idea of the "Scoundrel".  Might be a great way to describe it.

[choc]

how about >>bandit<< or >>raider<<?

[Uriel]

If you need a general term, I agree that Scoundrel works quite nicely.


-Uriel

[Uriel]

From a site of Synonyms...

Main Entry:    
rogue  [rohg] Show IPA
Part of Speech:    noun
Definition:    person who deceives, swindles
Synonyms:    bad egg, bad news, black sheep, blackguard, charlatan, cheat, cheater, con artist, criminal, crook, defrauder, devil, fraud, heel, hooligan*, lowlife, mischief, miscreant, monstrosity, ne'er-do-well, outlaw, problem*, rapscallion, rascal, reprobate, scalawag, scamp, scoundrel, swindler, trickster, villain

[choc]

how about
Soldier of Fortune
Tramp