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Steamsaint
2010-11-15, 10:09 PM
As per the title: How do you name the BBEG? Do you go to a random name generator, search through baby name lists etc.?

Personally I go through the names of ancient pantheons or mythologies e.g. Greece, Norse and try to find a somewhat obscure name such as Deimos, the personification of terror.

Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Greek_mythological_figures) is great for this.

Serpentine
2010-11-15, 10:12 PM
My ex and former DM liked the scientific name of the yabbie (Chyrax destructor), and tweaked it into a truly awesome villain name (Tyrax Destructor). It was pretty great.
Mostly I go through baby name sites til I find one that works.

grarrrg
2010-11-15, 10:36 PM
As per the title: How do you name the BBEG?

Step 1: Go here (http://mst3k.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Nicknames_for_Dave_Ryder).

Step 2: Pick one at random.

Step 3: Profit.

GodotIsW8ing4U
2010-11-15, 10:57 PM
For the most part, I just string syllables together until I find something I like, though occasionally I go for things that are more in-jokes.

I remember once coming up with a Shardmind Psion villain who was going to be kind of like Long Feng from Avatar: The Last Airbender. He was going to be the manipulative head of an elite organization of warriors, the real power behind the throne, etc etc etc.

His name? Mandelbrot.

AshDesert
2010-11-15, 10:58 PM
I usually tweak names from mythologies, both historical and fictional, when naming most of my characters. For villains, since they're usually fiendish in my games, I really like to draw from minor figures in the C'Thulhu Mythos as inspiration for names. The only time I've ever not used mythology for character names was for my Awakened cat, who was named Mittens:smallbiggrin:

Agrippa
2010-11-15, 11:07 PM
First I determine what sort of culture the potential Big Bad comes from. That of course decides the language his or her name comes from. Then I just pick a standard run of a mill name for the villain. I might give them some sort of nome de guere/alternate identity, but not very often.

Crossblade
2010-11-15, 11:16 PM
Depends on the race. Most, I will google a Fantasy Name Generator, a few, like my current Big Bad, will have stereotypical fantasy names. Case in point, my current BBEG, is a Half-Orc, Half Blue Dragon named Thunder Stormreach... because blue dragons are electricity based so that's how his named developed.

If PCs can do it, so can I.

GodotIsW8ing4U
2010-11-15, 11:16 PM
Another thing to remember: as long as you aren't actually publishing and/or selling your adventures or anything, you can steal names and even characters. The 4E DMG tells you point blank: steal shamelessly. Steal, rework, tweak the names a bit, etc. Obviously, producing a carbon copy of an existing character is boring, but a stolen character can easily be tweaked into something just new enough to be interesting.

Fuzzie Fuzz
2010-11-15, 11:51 PM
I use medical dictionaries. There are some great words for really obscure diseases, which make really fun fantasy names with a bit of tweaking. One of my players named his character Cheiropompholyx, which is an obscure skin disease of the hands. I actually have a pretty big list of words I pilfered from such sources. Chalazion, Epidermolysis Bullosa, Tinea Cruris, Calefacient, etc. It's always fun when you have a character named after Jock Itch, but your players have no idea.

Cealocanth
2010-11-15, 11:53 PM
As per the title: How do you name the BBEG? Do you go to a random name generator, search through baby name lists etc.?

Personally I go through the names of ancient pantheons or mythologies e.g. Greece, Norse and try to find a somewhat obscure name such as Deimos, the personification of terror.

Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Greek_mythological_figures) is great for this.

I usually use Seventh Sanctum to com up with a name for humans. The BBEG is the same as anyone else of his people isn't he, so why shouldn't he have a name like the others around them.

I have two BBEGs, currently, there's Aorek Shipman, the high priest of Midnight Shore, and Segura, a black dragon.

Admiral Squish
2010-11-16, 12:08 AM
My latest method of random-generating names is to spasm on the keyboard, delete all the vowels, then 'fix' the resulting consonants with new vowels. Edit until satisfied.

Amiel
2010-11-16, 12:11 AM
I would name the BBEG according to his and/or her backstory, personality, aspirations (including goals) et al.
According to such convention, the greatest assassin in the world would have the following name: Twinkletoes McGee.

Sir_Chivalry
2010-11-30, 01:05 AM
I use Behind the Name for humans or human-like ones, using a culture appropriate to that one. Bland sometimes, but meanings can be coached effectively:

Had a behind the scenes guy named Donovan O'Doyle. The party laughed at a fairly normal sounding name for a big bad, until I pointed out it was like naming your kid Dark of Dark (actually more like dark brown of dark stranger, but you get the point)

Duos Greanleef
2010-11-30, 01:08 AM
I like to use tweaked pop culture. My PCs had a vampire to kill a few weeks ago. He was The Count Collin Von Edwardson. If you didn't see it right away, that's okay. There might still be hope for you.:smallwink:

Callos_DeTerran
2010-11-30, 01:15 AM
As per the title: How do you name the BBEG? Do you go to a random name generator, search through baby name lists etc.?

Personally I go through the names of ancient pantheons or mythologies e.g. Greece, Norse and try to find a somewhat obscure name such as Deimos, the personification of terror.

Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Greek_mythological_figures) is great for this.

Depends on the game I'm trying to run...if it's more serious/dramatic then I make the name similar in fashion to the rest of the setting so they don't stick out like a sore thumb as an evil creature and let the PCs determine that for themselves.

On the other hand, in a more...pulpy type game (and I do so love pulp fantasy) I go for the most ostentatious name possible. Like..

Dread Lord Tiberius of the Ruinous Legion, Harrowing Emperor of the Hell-Realm Averssus.

...y'know...just so the PCs know who they are dealing with.

Halae
2010-11-30, 01:17 AM
My latest method of random-generating names is to spasm on the keyboard, delete all the vowels, then 'fix' the resulting consonants with new vowels. Edit until satisfied.

This method will help me greatly.

I also like using the name generator that Dwarf Fortress has. Plus, some of the names, when translated out of whatever language they're in, are really hilarious. one of the players found out what I named on villain, and then looked it up

"You named our BBEG... Sotho Cleanedpants?"

Keinnicht
2010-11-30, 01:19 AM
I like to use tweaked pop culture. My PCs had a vampire to kill a few weeks ago. He was The Count Collin Von Edwardson. If you didn't see it right away, that's okay. There might still be hope for you.:smallwink:

That would've been such a satisfying kill.

SilverLeaf167
2010-11-30, 01:47 AM
I use an online dictionary to translate some thematically fit words into another language, mix-and-matching them as appropriate. The exact language depends on the theme; for example, I might use Portuguese for a pirate campaign, or Latin for the church inquisition game I'm currently planning.

As for the matter of BBEGs having odd names, they are often either sons of greater evils etc. or change their names to sound scarier. Of course, that doesn't really work with sneaky BBEGs who try to masquerade as normal people.

Mecharious
2010-11-30, 01:48 AM
I actually come up with them on my own. One day I decided to write a list of names that I thought were really cool-sounding with the help of some friends. Whenever I need a name, I look on the list.

The last villian was the ancient demon Caltabactos.

Callista
2010-11-30, 01:54 AM
Deimos isn't obscure enough; it was used to name one of the moons of Mars and most people would recognize that name.

I'm partial to baby-name sites, myself.

Lord_Gareth
2010-11-30, 01:56 AM
I prefer either normal-sounding names or stark, one or two word names that come from ordinary objects. Sometimes there's a title or an honorific, but it's usually simple (I think the most complex I've ever done myself was "Pendulum Butcher", while my favorite from a DM of mine was "The Ashbringer" for a demon lord). I find that less is typically more when you want to intimidate players, as lengthy names make 'em giggle.

Serpentine
2010-11-30, 02:54 AM
I prefer either normal-sounding namesI like "real" names that aren't used very often and/or sound exotic.

or stark, one or two word names that come from ordinary objects.The first - and, oddly, only - thing that comes to mind from that is "Chair".
But I suppose that could be because of Chairface Chippendale.

Mystral
2010-11-30, 03:03 AM
Easy: Asmodeus.

Halae
2010-11-30, 03:04 AM
The first - and, oddly, only - thing that comes to mind from that is "Chair".
But I suppose that could be because of Chairface Chippendale.Personally, when he said stark, the first name I thoughyt of was "Tark", and then I realized it made an excellent name for a half-orc or something

Gensh
2010-11-30, 03:17 AM
I don't actually use any special method for villains. The method I usually use for names in general is to pick two words related to the character and mesh them together, sometimes changing a letter or two, sometimes translating them to the Earth equivalent for the character's ethnicity. Nebata, for example, is Nebuchadnezzar and tower, referring to how the character Hamon ends up building a Tower of Babel of sorts. I still have no clue where I got Selpe from, though.

Another thing is that I typically only use exotic last names for most characters. If the players are used to meeting Georges and Steves, then they know Excardalion is either special or a loony. Using my above examples, Hamon was an ordinary sort of name for the setting, while Selpe's name was just Jack, so they didn't think much of him when they first met him.

Remmirath
2010-11-30, 03:20 AM
I typically do the same thing I do naming any character - I fiddle around with sounds and letters until I come up with something that sounds good at the time. If it still sounds good next time I work on the campaign, I go with it; if not, I try again.

I try to make it fit in with wherever they're from in the setting, so that means that I usually end up avoiding ordinary names because they would stand out. To date, my villains have usually been demons, devils, or (oddly enough) elves.

Sometimes I'll do things like name dragons in draconic, but only if I'm low on inspiration just then. If I do that, I generally go with something that doesn't sound like it would be villainous.

Lord_Gareth
2010-11-30, 03:26 AM
Example names from BBEGs or recurring villains in my campaigns (3.5 and otherwise):

Tyler Vici, Daemon Magus
Knives, Pendulum Butcher
Seraphina Lumiere
Madam Murder
Miss Envy
The Ash Maiden
Jakob Havrik

Souhiro
2010-11-30, 03:50 AM
I have a little trick:

1: Close my eyes
2: Move a bit
3: Open, and read the first thing you can see.
4: Tweak it a bit
4.1 I saw a tube of hair gel called "Giorgio Navieri" in the house of the GM", so "George 'Joe' Nagi" was born.
4.2 I need an Evil Knight as an 'end of act' boss. I saw a comic of Asterix, where Obelix whas with a cooking pot in his hands (In Spanish it is called a "Marmita") so Narmitad was born
4.3 I need a final overlord. I opened The Sacred Order of Stick and saw Haertha... So I'm still hoping I don't get sued for it!

Lord Vukodlak
2010-11-30, 05:22 AM
I take names that would be cheesy in English and use babel fish to translate them into another language.

For example Lord Blutgott, its German and translates to Lord Bloodgod.
It was an ancient vampire psychic warrior.

Lord_Gareth
2010-11-30, 05:26 AM
I take names that would be cheesy in English and use babel fish to translate them into another language.

For example Lord Blutgott, its German and translates to Lord Bloodgod.
It was an ancient vampire monk.

Because successfully defeating the PCs (without killing them) with that character would be too epic for words.

Gettles
2010-11-30, 06:09 AM
I have all the npcs be named along some kind of theme name, such as assassins be named after basketball players countries named after actors, ect. I find that people who I know will remember getting help form "Pence" Hardaway the thief from Bettis than Slagim from Veramp

thubby
2010-11-30, 06:17 AM
i usually just pick race appropriate names. their mama's didn't know they were going to be villains, so unless they changed their name, *shrugs*

Duos Greanleef
2010-11-30, 09:22 AM
That would've been such a satisfying kill.

The worst part was that my PCs didn't get it until he was down to approximately a healing surge of health left.

panaikhan
2010-11-30, 09:41 AM
My last BBEG was a dragonwrought kobold sorceror.
His name? "Burn Shadow", translated into draconic.

It became his trademark, i.e. all that was left of his last victim.

big teej
2010-11-30, 11:29 AM
I actually come up with them on my own. One day I decided to write a list of names that I thought were really cool-sounding with the help of some friends. Whenever I need a name, I look on the list.

The last villian was the ancient demon Caltabactos.

do you mind if I steal that? I have a feeling next semester I'm going to need lots of demon names.






Tyler Vici, Daemon Magus


off topic joke
I know I have something of a reputation, but really? daemon magus? this goes a bit far :smalltongue:

AtwasAwamps
2010-11-30, 11:39 AM
Huh. I go for…fairly simple, I guess.

3.5 Campaign: “The First”

4e Campaign 1: Gaul

4e Campaign 2: “Home”

Myth
2010-11-30, 12:47 PM
Pookey, you must always name your BBEG Pookey.

ajkkjjk52
2010-11-30, 01:26 PM
I use an online dictionary to translate some thematically fit words into another language, mix-and-matching them as appropriate. The exact language depends on the theme; for example, I might use Portuguese for a pirate campaign, or Latin for the church inquisition game I'm currently planning.

I do this for character names, place names, and virtually any other names I need. A few things to consider:

1) Feel free to try out multiple languages and lots of words per language until you find the phonetics that you feel comfortable with.

2) Feel free to modify the words. In fact, don't just feel free; do it. Replace consonants with similar ones, tweak vowel sounds, and the like. You can get a better sound and avoid the potential embarrassment when the player who you didn't realize had taken German in highschool says "Wait, doesn't your character's name translate to 'I stab my allies in the back while they sleep to take their stuff'?"

Ormur
2010-11-30, 01:33 PM
I wanted to name my BBEG using scary Tolkien syllables but it was actually a name I had come up with a long time ago for something completely unrelated. I was originally inspired by the name of some alien ruler from an obscure science fiction short story. It was years before I started playing D&D but I still passed the time by making up genealogical trees for fictional royal families and I used the name for a few emperors.

When I had an idea for a D&D campaign I searched through my archives and picked the most appropriate name, Morndrak. It pretty much oozes cheesy evilness.

leakingpen
2010-11-30, 01:37 PM
I like giving npcs, especially villains, really NORMAL names. It confuses the players in just the right way. If Rick Smithson is hanging around, being pals with the local nobility, hiring people to work on his castle, it takes a while for the pc's to realize HES the guy kidnapping people and raising an army.

and then, a couple of adventures later, when the villian is named Charon Thunderseeker, lord of the hills, the players think, hmm, naw, must be flavor text. with a name like that, he CAN'T be important.

Myth
2010-11-30, 04:50 PM
In all seriousness the foreshadowed BBEG for my horror game is the Archlich Robert Trensenth. He could be a farmer with that name. But he's not. (OR IS HE? dun dun duuuuun) No there is a reason behind me naming him but one I will disclose as a secondary reason IS to escape the cliched black robed BigCasterLichGuy the Destroyer/Mad/Evil/Vile/Corrupted. Or all of the above.

Fiery Diamond
2010-11-30, 06:10 PM
I do this for character names, place names, and virtually any other names I need. A few things to consider:

1) Feel free to try out multiple languages and lots of words per language until you find the phonetics that you feel comfortable with.

2) Feel free to modify the words. In fact, don't just feel free; do it. Replace consonants with similar ones, tweak vowel sounds, and the like. You can get a better sound and avoid the potential embarrassment when the player who you didn't realize had taken German in highschool says "Wait, doesn't your character's name translate to 'I stab my allies in the back while they sleep to take their stuff'?"

Quite awesome thing to name your villain. :smallsmile:

Say, your location says (Wa)^3. Given that (Wa)^2 was used by my geology teacher in high school to mean "water" (wawa is water, right?), I'm trying to figure out what wawawa would mean. I'm not sure why, but the first thing that popped into my head was "ozone." I think it was because of water having oxygen an hydrogen, and ozone being O3.

Back on topic, I never managed to get a BBEG in any of my campaigns (despite them lasting like, a year each). However, I did have a villain called the Mad Blazer, who was a pyromaniac sorcerer who went mildly insane. He had a really ordinary real name, but I can't remember what it was.

When I write stories, I usually take foreign languages and mess with them, words in English and mess with them, pounding on the keyboard and messing with it, or random syllables I think sound good together. This goes for race, country, place, hero, and villain names. Like the cat-folk race called Tigren (Tee-gren), from the word Tiger. Or the villain Vox, who is the adviser to the king. Or the dark mage Darfidel.

Fawsto
2010-11-30, 06:25 PM
Jean Eric Villion, anyone?

I normaly name my BBEGs as if they were normal people. I mean, most fo then were at some time.

Think Tim, the Conqueror. Or Ralph, the Dreadful.

Shadowleaf
2010-11-30, 07:13 PM
I utterly despise BBEG's named after their dark evilness. Let's be honest - if your name was Bad McEvilpants, you wouldn't have survived groundschool. Any name with evil/dark/doom is essentially banned (Darkstalker might be okay, but not for a Rogue or Ranger).

I prefer names that make sense - sure, the BBEG might call himself Skull McDoom, but.. Let's face it, that name wouldn't catch on. My BBEG's have names regular for their races - a Human BBEG might be named Aaron, Charles, Michael or the like (I lean towards biblical/royal names), a Kobold might be named Shalantan Daz'rathetniart (I cringe when I see a Dragonic name such as "The Red Flame").

Basicly, I depise stereotypical and Evil-Name-Because-He-Is-Evil names.

Siosilvar
2010-11-30, 07:15 PM
Jean Eric Villion, anyone?
That's his personal boat.

Anxe
2010-11-30, 07:59 PM
I usually go for random syllables or names that I like from history, but occasionally I'll pick a name with an anagram. My favorite was Phodesiade. Hope is Dead.

Pokonic
2010-11-30, 08:51 PM
My DM, as a joke, have used the random goblin names from dwarf fortresses RNG ,but there are many great ways to create names for BBEG, but others have already wrote what I would have put as advice.:smallbiggrin:

Urpriest
2010-11-30, 09:03 PM
One tip: never name a BBEG Sinescax. Halfway through the game the players decided the villain was named either Skinemax or Cinnabun.

I usually just think about what sounds right. I've got a pretty good sense for these things IMO.

Although, only two of my campaigns have had a real "villain", come to think of it. One was stolen from Enemies and Allies and thus doesn't count (and the players never got far enough to know it was his fault anyway). The other was Vekax, which sounds very stereotypical-villian-y, but then again he was a troglodyte priest from a lawful evil society where human sacrifice was kind of his day job.

Myth
2010-12-01, 02:17 PM
In one pure RP game I named the two main villains after the IWDII cambion twins. Isair and Madae, those names are all kinds of awesome.

Sindri
2010-12-06, 05:22 AM
Just remember: the most badass and awe-inspiring names you can think of can and will be mocked by the players. The best case of this I've seen was in a Judges Guild Wildelands campaign, where Locog Vishnak, dark champion of the frog god and high level blackguard, was dubbed everything from Lojack the Unmemorable to LowCarb FishSnacks to Laura Fishnets by the easily distracted players. An ordinary name, on the other hand, will probably go unmutilated for a while, and any nicknames are likely to be overly familiar rather than outright insulting.

He may have nearly TPK'd us on multiple occasions, but what we remember him for are the ridiculous pseudonyms.

Myth
2010-12-06, 07:10 AM
I should say your group isn't the most serious one. Usually mockery should cease once your opponents spills your innards across the floor.

GoatBoy
2010-12-06, 09:12 AM
My latest method of random-generating names is to spasm on the keyboard, delete all the vowels, then 'fix' the resulting consonants with new vowels. Edit until satisfied.

Fojanbef Galikjehod thanks you for his name, good sir.

Crossblade
2010-12-06, 09:14 AM
Actually, it dawned on me. I have a confession to make. I named one LBEG Evira... which NOW after a quick google search I realize I intended to name Elvira; yes, after the Elvira, Mistress of the Dark from 1988. Though in my defense, she was the daughter of the BBEG. My player didn't get the reference, I actually had to explain it to her because she's too young to get it.

The second choice for that character's name was Evilalyn, after Evil-Lyn from He-Man.

grimbold
2010-12-06, 11:07 AM
the "or' letter pair is used in a lot of ominous/big bad names used in LOTR
eg Melkor Morgoth, Gorgoroth, Melkor Sauron also uses the 'or' sound

Janus
2010-12-06, 09:54 PM
My group will soon be facing off against a husband/wife team of BBEGs. Being the lazy DM that I am, I haven't come up with real names for them, so I've created nicknames for them: The Orb and The Eye (based on EverQuest's symbols for their respective classes).
Sure, it's cheesy, but I think it'll work.