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ILM
2014-10-31, 02:51 PM
So I have this former-PC NPC, high-level shadowcraft mage, really badass. Like truly all legendary figures, she needs a moniker that people use, since most people are not really on first-name terms with her and all. And I'm drawing a blank: all I've got is "Queen of Shadows" and that's lame, and cliché, and there are about a dozen Queens of Shadows in published material already.

Can anyone help me find something that sounds cool and like the sort of thing a population would naturally come up with? (i.e. nothing that sounds like a title she'd have won after some kind of wizarding contest, like Monarch of Umbra or something equally pompous. They're Commoner 1s, not historians) I won't bore you with the full tale of her exploits; her thing is shadow / shadow illusions, I assume people would just latch on to that.

Gorfnod
2014-10-31, 03:04 PM
First things first, do the people like her or not?

I assume if they don't like her or are afraid of her power that they might call her the Black "female dog".

1337 b4k4
2014-10-31, 03:31 PM
Gendered:
----------
Lady of the Mist
Shadow Princess
Dark Lady
Herself
Shade Witch
Mistress of Shadow

Non-Gendered:
----------------
Black Dog
Nightwatcher
Shade
The Fox (illusions and trickery connotations)
The Coyote (again, illusions and trickery connotations)
Shadow Soul

Since you left out the actual exploits of the character, we don't have much to go on, but not every person with a moniker gets them based on their specialty and gender. For instance, the Desert Fox tells you neither that Rommel was a male, nor that his specialty was mechanized infantry.

Berenger
2014-10-31, 03:35 PM
The place of origin is a pretty common and down-to-earth source of (nick-) names. My own surname translates to "the one from bavaria". The nom de guerre of Lenin translates to "the one from the river Lena".

Oneris
2014-10-31, 03:37 PM
Lady Tenebrae

sktarq
2014-10-31, 03:42 PM
The Nightwitch
The Shadowdame
The Lady of Dusk
The Nightfaye (as a play on her illusion powers)


use any notable physical or equipment she is regularly seen in as a base for a nick name

Galen
2014-10-31, 03:47 PM
Lady Duskshadow

mephnick
2014-10-31, 04:09 PM
Mistress Grimstiletto Shadowdark

Ceiling_Squid
2014-10-31, 04:13 PM
The place of origin is a pretty common and down-to-earth source of (nick-) names. My own surname translates to "the one from bavaria". The nom de guerre of Lenin translates to "the one from the river Lena".

I agree. I strongly advocate the simple, descriptive, and colloquial approach. I can't really come up with any examples (since I don't know your campaign world), but sometimes titles can be unrelated to the character's powers, and more about where they're from.

If you must go with the shadow theme on the name, here are some pointers...

Avoid Latin (sorry, Oneris). It comes across as too fanciful to be a moniker given by the general public. If a learned person applied it to her, sure, but I'd try to stay away from terms that would feel outside common use.

Also avoid unnecessary alternate spelling (also sorry, sktarq, but "Nightfaye" made me cringe). It's too stereotypically fantasy-themed, with the Y's and the E's. The same goes for stuff like "Duskshadow", because it follows the trite fantasy theme of compound names made up of two normal words mashed together. Heck, it works better if you split them up, so it becomes a descriptive title rather than a pseudo-name. "The Dusk Shadow" is more palatable.

I mean, these are all perfectly serviceable if you want to use them, but you specifically said you wanted something non-cliche, so...

Go for a title. Simple and descriptive. Gendered or non-gendered works.

"The Dark Maiden"
"The Black Witch"(simple, classic)
"The Lying Lady" (emphasizing her use of illusions)
"The Bewitcher"
"Lady Night"

Etc. etc. you get the idea. Rely upon common words that commoners are likely to know. Don't go pawing through a thesaurus. Avoid that at all costs if you're going for simple.

Gnoman
2014-10-31, 04:32 PM
A simple pronoun (She, Her, etc) can work quite well, if she's well enough known, especially if you can make sure your players can hear the capital letters thudding into place.

BWR
2014-10-31, 04:37 PM
Avoid "the X of Y" formulations. Overused and easily sounds pretentious and gives a bit more weight than most people should have. " the [qualifier] [noun]" is a much better. Batman is the Dark Knight, not the Knight of Darkness.

"X the Black" - classic and unimaginative - just like 1st level commoners. Similar monikers like "the Great" or "the Terrible" are common enough IRL and in classic fantasy.
"[Name], the [area] Shadow"/"The Shadow from [area]"

Does she have some special spell or item or act that would be easy to notice? Like a mage with lots of ravens around him all the time could be called the Raven King, or Khelben Arunsun in FR is known as the Blackstaff because of his signature spell.

Honest Tiefling
2014-10-31, 04:46 PM
Well, how did these villagers come to know about her? I mean, did she stroll around declaring herself the Shadewitch? Or is she a local boogeyman that people say will eat naughty children? Did she defeat something?

BeerMug Paladin
2014-10-31, 04:49 PM
Her name could reflect how she operates, her reputation, her agenda, or any combination of those things. Is her identity common knowledge or do the general public only know of her by her actions taken, and perhaps a calling card?

For example, if she's good aligned and generally helpful to the public while not making her identity known, I'd suggest White Wraith.

If she's neutral and has an unknown agenda and identity, I'd suggest Black Bat.

If she's a malicious presence, perhaps The Spider would be better.

More information about what the public knows about her could get you better suggestions.

mephnick
2014-10-31, 06:35 PM
Some real life names to back up ceiling_squid's theory of short and simple.

Think of famous people in real life history:

The Iron Lady
The Desert Fox
Richard the Lionheart
White Death
Vlad the Impaler
The Mad Monk
The Wizard of Menlo Park

Putting too much artistic thought into a nickname reeks of impracticality and overwriting.

Berenger
2014-10-31, 06:43 PM
Avoid "the X of Y" formulations. Overused and easily sounds pretentious and gives a bit more weight than most people should have. " the [qualifier] [noun]" is a much better. Batman is the Dark Knight, not the Knight of Darkness.


Andre Baptiste Sr.: They say that I am the lord of war, but perhaps it is you.
Yuri Orlov: I believe it's "warlord."
Andre Baptiste Sr.: Thank you, but I prefer it my way.


Sorry, I could not resist. :smallredface:

Phoenixguard09
2014-10-31, 07:15 PM
Another thing to keep in mind is whether or not she is respected by these commoners.

Even if they don't like her, if they respect her, they probably won't call her the Black Bitch, especially since she could be hiding in the dark corner of your house.

Lady Night / Black is simple and respectful.

Alternatively, I'm a big fan of Her.

Milodiah
2014-10-31, 07:30 PM
Think of famous people in real life history:

The Iron Lady


Slowly describe the character more and more until it's obvious you're talking about Margaret Thatcher.

Go for it.

nedz
2014-10-31, 08:09 PM
It depends upon her personality, some ideas

Umbrage (Haughty, Arrogant, etc.)
Umber (Umbra mis-spoken, which is quite a commoner thing - also sounds like Amber)
Umbane
Twilight (more cutesy/elven)
Twiglet (mis-spoken Twilight - a bit naff)
Ms Shady (but only if she can rap)

More information would be helpful.

GAAD
2014-10-31, 10:19 PM
Dark Mistress Shadowgale.

Jeff the Green
2014-11-01, 01:16 AM
Princess Shadowbritches?


Slowly describe the character more and more until it's obvious you're talking about Margaret Thatcher.

Go for it.

"Aside from being hanging upside down from the ceiling, she appears a normal, if not exceptionally beautiful, woman with excessively large hair and large pearls on her ears. As she speaks, however, you grow more and more uneasy; her pinched lips move unnaturally and when she blinks it sends shards of ice to your very soul. Something is not right, but you can't put your finger on it. Suddenly she drops to the ground with an acrobatic flip and you are suddenly face to face with the most grotesque monster you've ever seen (http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/illusion-chasers/2013/04/10/illusion-of-the-week-the-margaret-thatcher-illusion-a-retrospective/)."

Slipperychicken
2014-11-01, 01:38 AM
Can anyone help me find something that sounds cool and like the sort of thing a population would naturally come up with?

Depends.

What did she do? Who is she? Why's she so famous?
Why do people need to talk about her so much they'd give her an epithet?

1of3
2014-11-01, 03:59 AM
Lady of $WhereverSheLives.
Lady Savior of $WhateverSheSavedWhenSheWasAPC

Really, isn't there anything to this character besides being a shadow wizard?

Xuc Xac
2014-11-01, 08:05 AM
Avoid Latin (sorry, Oneris). It comes across as too fanciful to be a moniker given by the general public.

Ironically, "general public" is Latin.

And as for compound names: they're actually really common. You just don't notice because you don't speak the language or you just think of it as a name instead of a pair of words that mean something. For example, Hollywood or every town name ending with -ton, -ville, or -ham.

Vitruviansquid
2014-11-01, 12:12 PM
For some reason, it just doesn't sound authentic to me to give someone a nickname that directly relates to what they do. The nickname should have something like a striking image from what she does. For example, you wouldn't call a boxer the "Lord of Punches," because it's just too obvious. Besides, every other championship boxer is a potential Lord of Punches, so the nickname doesn't really express this one particularly well. You might call him something like "The Steam Train" because he chugs along no matter how much he gets hit. Likewise, I would rule out any nickname with "shadow" or "dark" or "night" immediately for a shadow using mage.

What I would do to come up with a good nickname for your character is to imagine one unusual and/or heroic exploit she's done, or one striking feature about her besides her talent at shadowcrafting. Then give her a nickname based on that.

Slipperychicken
2014-11-01, 02:46 PM
What I would do to come up with a good nickname for your character is to imagine one unusual and/or heroic exploit she's done, or one striking feature about her besides her talent at shadowcrafting. Then give her a nickname based on that.

Or really, whatever point of difference comes to mind first when people think of her. Like if they remember that time she called the mayor an idiot, they might call her "the slanderer". If she always wears flamboyant black outfits, she might be "the black". If they remember her gang looting all the valuables from a lost temple or intimidating shopkeeper, she might be "the looter" or "the bandit". And so on.

Jeff the Green
2014-11-01, 03:23 PM
Ironically, "general public" is Latin.

Not really. It's derived from Latin, but the phrase in Latin would probably be "multitudo", "vulgus", or just "publicum".

Vitruviansquid
2014-11-03, 12:43 AM
Another example: I just played a one-shot where the character I randomly got was "the convict." So the backstory I came up with included that my nickname is "Airlock." I tell people it's because I threw a man out of an airlock once (it's a sci-fi setting), but the actual story is that I was once stuck in an airlock, on account of being very fat (in my words, "built like Rufus, from Street Fighter").

ILM
2014-11-03, 01:44 PM
Thanks all for weighing in, and apologies for not providing more info. She's a character that survived a campaign and a half (which sort of broke down due to real life getting in the way of regular gaming sessions) and that I leveled up for worldbuilding purposes, possibly with a background role in an upcoming campaign if I ever manage to get it off the ground.

For those of you who wanted more details: long post ahead.

The setting is urban-medieval, and she leads the (used to be more before she got involved) thieves guild. Within the guild she's a LN mother-figure, and while not everyone around would realize it, her taking over and organizing the street urchins and other assorted rapscallions has in fact made the city a safer place, technically: more efficient pickpocketing and breaking & entering, sure, but less random muggings and backalley stabbings.

She's more of a lurker-type, I played her as BFC and mind-screwer; exceptionally, summoner but very few evocations. Her cohort is an ancient, intelligent shadow of some importance (though the DM never got around to telling me exactly how) that she befriended while questing in the Plane of Shadows (amusingly, the group had picked up a fist-sized chunck of black, opaque crystal with a few 1/day darkness-related powers. I think the DM anticipated I'd pick it up but since I already rocked the whole darkness/shadow thing, we left it with the party rogue. For a few sessions the DM dropped various hints, until the crystal basically started whispering stuff to my character in her sleep. The shadow was freed when she shattered it, much to the chagrin of our rogue).

In relations with people she tried to be the calm and wise one (or you know, as well as I can play the calm and wise one) but more often than not her stack of passive abilities related to shadow tended to freak out other people and give me the lower hand, so mostly she let the plucky cleric who served as our party face (a few skill-related houserules were in effect) deal with things.

Our first campaign had us deal with a string of mysterious killings, link them to a bunch of local black-robed demon-worshipping hippies, find said hippies, figure out they weren't working alone, find their allies, make a bunch of new enemies at the highest ranks of government, get the authorities turned against us while we tried to stop the next murders, and failed spectacularly at that (in our defense, we didn't get much time to rest, which meant that most encounters we entered with partially depleted resources. Side benefit: our halberd-wielding Warblade of an ex-city guard always got to shine, even when I started getting access to level 4+ spells). Demons got summoned, people got dead, spell resistance became a problem (T_T) but we trudged along, found and exposed the traitors, had an epic punch-out with them, realized that they'd already managed to summon a duke of the abyss, kicked his ass too, lost our dragon shaman (poor Wilfred) but still saved the kingdom.

Our second campaign (started at level 12) began when we were summoned by the king's top advisor to meet with an emissary from the Plane of Shadow, which was being besieged by, you guessed it, the same sort of demon that we'd been dealing with. We got volunteered to help. They clearly didn't stop the first invasion so by the time we got there it was really more of a war campaign with large battles and stuff, and we were occasionally given command over some of the forces to do battle. We got to explore a bit, star in a couple critical fights and started gathering some macguffins when the campaign sort of fizzled out.

So anyway, she's now back in town after saving the Plane of Shadow (and by extension, much of the coterminous Planes that would have been next). She started her little underground family and cleaned out the competition, and splits her days between managing the guild and research. She's ostensibly a wanted person but in reality on friendly terms with the crown, because a) she kind of saved their bacon, and b) it's kind of useful - if a bit cynical - for a pragmatic king to be drinking buddies with the boss of the local underworld.

And that's pretty much the short version! :smallsmile:

Red Fel
2014-11-03, 01:49 PM
"Sharon."

Seriously. She seems like a friendly sort. The kind with whom you'd be on a first-name basis. So call her by her name. (For purposes of this exercise, her name is Sharon.)

It adds to her mystique, in a way. People talk, they say "We're going to see Sharon." You get there and she turns out to be a major underworld figure. Or, the inverse; people speaking in hushed tones about seeking out a terrible and wanted figure. They arrive, and she says, smirking, "Just Sharon will do, thanks."

You want to avoid the cliche? Subvert it completely. Every powerful figure has a fancy-pants title, every weapon an elaborate name, every attack a haiku. And then there's Sharon.

TechnoWarforged
2014-11-05, 03:55 PM
For irony, you can call her either Aura, Dawn or Lucien.

But I think Twilight Sparkle is a much better recommendation.

Wardog
2014-11-05, 07:39 PM
Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way?

Slipperychicken
2014-11-05, 11:07 PM
She's more of a lurker-type, I played her as BFC and mind-screwer; exceptionally, summoner but very few evocations. Her cohort is an ancient, intelligent shadow of some importance (though the DM never got around to telling me exactly how) that she befriended while questing in the Plane of Shadows (amusingly, the group had picked up a fist-sized chunck of black, opaque crystal with a few 1/day darkness-related powers. I think the DM anticipated I'd pick it up but since I already rocked the whole darkness/shadow thing, we left it with the party rogue. For a few sessions the DM dropped various hints, until the crystal basically started whispering stuff to my character in her sleep. The shadow was freed when she shattered it, much to the chagrin of our rogue).



So anyway, she's now back in town after saving the Plane of Shadow (and by extension, much of the coterminous Planes that would have been next). She started her little underground family and cleaned out the competition, and splits her days between managing the guild and research. She's ostensibly a wanted person but in reality on friendly terms with the crown, because a) she kind of saved their bacon, and b) it's kind of useful - if a bit cynical - for a pragmatic king to be drinking buddies with the boss of the local underworld.

Savior of Shadows? Shadow-Savior? Hero of the Shadow-Realm? Dark Messiah? Shadow-Friend? Friend of Shadows?


Personally, I think "Shannon Shadow-Friend" would convey the idea nicely.

nedz
2014-11-06, 04:05 AM
Seven of Shadows — to lampshade a cliché :smallbiggrin:

KnotKnormal
2014-11-06, 11:00 AM
The Damsel of Distress... Oh god... no that's worse... ignore this... not my finest moment.

TheFamilarRaven
2014-11-06, 02:55 PM
I'd second Sharon, for the very same reasons as previously described. I mean, epic good guys are usually pretty nice people. Take Gandalf for example. Sure, his official title is Gandalf the grey/white. But, everyone seems to just call him Gandalf, (or Mithrandir if you're an elf). Even formally.

Fayd
2014-11-06, 08:33 PM
The Tenebrous Tyrant?
The Shadowmancer? (Literally one who speaks with shadows, and yes, not conjugated properly but this sounds decent)
Lady Umbra?

The Oni
2014-11-07, 01:28 AM
I'm liking the unusually-significant normal first name deal. Thoroughly mononymous, as there's clearly no one ELSE you could be talking about. I mean, this is, like, Sharon we're talking about. Titles are for people who don't have REAL power. Play it up. When the PCs don't get what's such a friggin' big deal about her, have NPCs react accordingly.

This is assuming the figure in question doesn't have a flair for the dramatic. 'Cos if she does and tries to cultivate the mystery intentionally, I'd go ahead and go with White Wraith. Bonus points if the shadow-mistress dresses only in the starkest white fabrics in all the multiverse, just to make a better impression when she shadowports.

Shannon Shadow-Friend is kind of cool too, but that's probably because I'm thinking Wheel of Time where "Darkfriend" is a term to watch the hell out for. Not everyone would get that reference. Consider your audience - what are your players going to react to?

Honest Tiefling
2014-11-07, 02:29 AM
Give her a normal name. But its a male name, a very archaic one. See, when she was born, that name was actually for girls. Mind you, that shift happened...Ah, about 2 centuries ago, give or take?

ILM
2014-11-07, 06:35 AM
You guys are making me wish I hadn't already established that she only wore black. I should have seen that white would be way cooler. Ah well.

I think I'll go with the significant first name. It's in keeping with the mother-figure thing she's got going on. Maybe I'll introduce a sort of informal following among the city's shopkeepers who are friendly to her, since under her stewardship crime has focused away from them and away from violence, and focused on nonviolent theft from the really rich who don't really feel the bite instead. Maybe a few might even be aware that in order to keep her underworld organized she's sometimes gone out on a limb to protect the city from other things.

Hell, she could be a full-blown behind-the-curtain "Our Lady of the City" protector figure. Like Johnny Marcone if he was everyone's favourite aunt (I've been bingeing on the Dresden Files).

I knew I came to the right people :smallbiggrin:.

Marlowe
2014-11-07, 07:40 AM
She Who Must Be Avoided?
Umbrella?

Hytheter
2014-11-07, 08:16 AM
You guys are making me wish I hadn't already established that she only wore black. I should have seen that white would be way cooler. Ah well.

I think I'll go with the significant first name. It's in keeping with the mother-figure thing she's got going on. Maybe I'll introduce a sort of informal following among the city's shopkeepers who are friendly to her, since under her stewardship crime has focused away from them and away from violence, and focused on nonviolent theft from the really rich who don't really feel the bite instead. Maybe a few might even be aware that in order to keep her underworld organized she's sometimes gone out on a limb to protect the city from other things.

Hell, she could be a full-blown behind-the-curtain "Our Lady of the City" protector figure. Like Johnny Marcone if he was everyone's favourite aunt (I've been bingeing on the Dresden Files).

I knew I came to the right people :smallbiggrin:.

If you really wanna play up the mother-figure angle you could make it explicit in her title. Like "aunt sharon" or just "mum".

BeerMug Paladin
2014-11-07, 10:40 AM
I know this isn't helpful at all, but I've been greatly amused with the name "Lord of Punches" since that name was mentioned. You could also have her role as a disciplinarian and guidance figure come into effect for her name.

Lady of Spanking.

Yeah, that's pretty stupid.

Gnome Alone
2014-11-07, 11:31 AM
I know this isn't helpful at all, but I've been greatly amused with the name "Lord of Punches" since that name was mentioned. You could also have her role as a disciplinarian and guidance figure come into effect for her name.

Lady of Spanking.

Yeah, that's pretty stupid.

Hoo-boy. Yeah, THAT wouldn't get awkward fast.

Personally, my take-away from this thread is that I should insist on referring to Batman as "The Knight of Darkness" and "The Crusader So Encapéd," and make a sorcerer whose verbal components are all haikus.

Red Fel
2014-11-07, 12:02 PM
If you really wanna play up the mother-figure angle you could make it explicit in her title. Like "aunt sharon" or just "mum".

Oh mai gao. This is it. This is her new hobby.

She starts up a social group for semi-retired heroines. (And anti-heroines, it's cool.) Since it's a social group, and since basically anything short of a major villain is more of an amusement than a concern, and as a result they tend to look out on the people of the world with a sort of patronizing warmth, they gave themselves a friendly-sounding name. And since they are semi-retired, occasionally, they can be hired to do heroic stuff.

They are the Women of A.U.N.T.I.E.

Starring Sharon as Auntie Shadowpuncher, and David McCallum as Ilya Kuryakin.

nedz
2014-11-07, 12:45 PM
Oh mai gao. This is it. This is her new hobby.

She starts up a social group for semi-retired heroines. (And anti-heroines, it's cool.) Since it's a social group, and since basically anything short of a major villain is more of an amusement than a concern, and as a result they tend to look out on the people of the world with a sort of patronizing warmth, they gave themselves a friendly-sounding name. And since they are semi-retired, occasionally, they can be hired to do heroic stuff.

They are the Women of A.U.N.T.I.E.

Starring Sharon as Auntie Shadowpuncher, and David McCallum as Ilya Kuryakin.

David McCallum in drag, pictures please ?