A Question about Magick

[Majikal]

I was just curious if when refering to a certain spell you have in your skill list to say, another magicker. Would it be appropriate to call the spell by its skill name, or would it be more approriate to just describe or make up your own name for it?

Also curious what everyone thinks about even magickers not understanding there abilities, would a fire elementalist fully understand his control over fire and why it happens the way it does?

[Sakra]

It's all up to you. Seriously. If you don't want to make up names or use the skill list name for a spell, describe the spell. If the other magicker knows a name for it, they'll tell you. If not, maybe the two of you can make one up.

Personally, I tend to use some of the spell names, because they make sense, but others that don't -exactly- describe the spell I might make up my own.

For the second part, it depends on your character. -Does- your character understand his abilities or not? Some of my magickers have understood it, or it came naturally to them so they never thought about it. It's all how your play your character.

[Anonymous]

The magickers I have played have never referred to a spell by it's listed name that I can recall.  Considering that I have never roleplayed magick as being anything but an innate skill that can be improved upon through trial, error and intuition, it wouldn't make sense to somehow know to call a spell where a  PC shoots fire out of their butt and flies into the sky 'Rocketassery' as listed in the skills list.

[moab]

I do both - it depends on how I, oocly, view my magicker's personality.  I think it's important for you to understand how magick works for  character even if your character doesn't.

Once you've figure that out - the answer come easily.  A character could (and I've had those that do this) have a spell on their list and never know to use it because they don't understand it, know the words to it, or for some reason don't know they can use it.  The spell in your list is "potential" whether you utilize that potental is up to you.

Also - they can completely NOT know how magick actually work - and jugding from the number of ideas magickers have on how magick works, it's pretty typical to make a guess on how it all works - little deamons of whira?  Calling some psedu-elemental?  Summoning raw element?  Who can say?

As for spell names - you can use them or not - depends on how your character understands their magick.

[Twilight]

The answers to all those questions is that it is just up to you how you want to play it.  I will note that every time I have ever heard a templar refer to a spell my character had (and this is over multiple character, multiple templars) it has always, always been by the spell's actual name.  Food for thought, or coincidence.

Also, an elf, for instance, might refer to a spell by its skill name in Allundean, but might use a more obtuse term when speaking Sirihish, and something completely screwed up and nearly unintelligible when speaking Heshrak.

[Xygax]

It's fun to see people get creative with describing skills and their effects/sources of power/inner workings, but a lot of this is left to the individual elementalist to explore, and that is intentional.  I really like seeing people NOT use the coded names of spells, though, especially if their alternate names are descriptive or creative.

-- X

[Anonymous]

I'd like to add that while there is nothing I can see wrong with naming a spell, that there's also a chance that some magickers would never think to name what they are doing.  Sure, some archers might name a maneuver where they shoot two arrows behind their back, but others might not.