Help Requested: Help me name my campaign setting

[Gemini Lupus]

Like many of you, I have home brewed a campaign setting to use in my home Pathfinder/D&D games and I've been calling it the "Mythopoeia Campaign Setting" as a placeholder. Mythopoeia, a term coined by the legendary Tolkien himself, means "Myth-Making," which while appropriate, I feel is too general a name, as it could be applied to any Constructed World, so now I'm searching for a new name.

It's a pretty standard fantasy kitchen sink campaign setting. A main continent based largely on Ancient/Medieval Europe, complete with a nearby sub-continent based upon Britain, plus a few continents elsewhere for other genres, such as Oriental Adventures, a homeland for Anthropomorphic races, elemental races, etc. I've drawn inspiration from all manner of places: literature such as Tolkien and Martin, film, television such as Avatar, video games, folklore and mythology, particularly the Arthurian Legends.

Basically I'm just looking for some brainstorming of names, if the Playground would be so kind!

[3SecondCultist]

I apologize in advance for being didactic. You've asked for advice, and I'm not looking to condescend, but I love naming things.

There's a lot you've got going on here! In your OP, you've outlined numerous continents, various cultures and subcultures, and the only unifying thread you've put forward is the idea of myths themselves. I always find that good names can be general or specific, but need to be tailored to the game.

For instance, I created a game on this forum that ran for the better part of two years, and I called it 'Death's End'. You'd think it's super generic, right? But the primary antagonist of the game is actually a hateful personality splinter of the god of death, embodied in the material plane from a catastrophe thousands of years ago. So it is actually very specific, and more importantly it's relevant. Titles have meaning. You'll need to try and sit down and define the scope of your setting, what kinds of obstacles any characters in the story would face, and cross that with important names or themes in the setting. Double meaning titles work really well (triple for bonus points!!).

Hope that helps. :smallsmile:

[draken50]

Dimly Remembered Domains?

Misbegotton Helms?

Sorry it sounded a bit like Forgotten Realms.

Are you looking for like a title like that, or something more descriptive?

Fantasy Novel Gumbo...

Nautical stuff seems to hold appeal, Tides of something or the like.

I like Dynasty, it's a good word. Dynasties of Fire, or such.

[JAL_1138]

If you need a name for the world, draw on the kind of names you want smaller places to have and peoples' names to resemble, by and large. If most of the action takes place in a particular area, name it in accordance with the same naming themes of that area, maybe. If there's a grand empire, maybe have the world name reflect their language. Campaign name and planet name don't need to be the same; the parts of it that are focused on in the adventures you make could be a good place to start.

That's assuming campaign name and world name are the same, which is very often not the case.

Pathfinder -- Golarion
Forgotten Realms -- Abeir-Toril--Faerun
World of Greyhawk --Oerth--The Flanaess--Greyhawk
Planescape--The Great Wheel / The Outer Planes--Sigil
Dark Sun--Athas

Only Greyhawk in the above examples has a name derived from a specific location on the world of the setting, though Forgotten Realms derives from the notion that those realms were, well, forgotten and Planescape is descriptive of the setting even if not the actual name of it.

There's also the idea of picking something from the setting for the name; Shadowrun revolves around shadowrunners and their runs; Pathfinder is drawn from the adventuring organization called the Pathfinder Society, etc.

[Maglubiyet]

Why does it need a name, are you submitting it somewhere? Very rarely do I name a campaign. Usually players refer to them by the game name or some memorable events, "let's play that goat attack game!" Also, in the case of a campaign I had that was centered in a large city, the city name became synonymous with the campaign.

[goto124]

Just run the campaign. Let the players come up with a name organically.

Is there a thread of nicknames that players come up with for NPCs, locations, and such?

[Sith_Happens]

Hm, don't ask me why, but this setting sounds like a "Joe" to me.

[Bard1cKnowledge]

I make small mini campaigns, like the first fully stocked with players one I had was called "the rakshasas favor"

The PCs earned the trust of a raven headed rakshasa by being his team in a tornament.

Anyway, go with what the one guy said about dynasty, it sounds epic

[Firest Kathon]

The developers of Das schwarze Auge (The Dark Eye) were big fans of Anagrams of real-world places. Their world is called "Dere", an anagram of "Erde", the German word for Earth.

You could call it "Ketch Ski Inn" (anagramm for Kitchen Sink :smallwink:).

[Joe the Rat]

Hm, don't ask me why, but this setting sounds like a "Joe" to me.
No, there's too much kitchen, and not enough kitsch for a Joe.


We've got two different lines of thought going on here - Name the campaign setting, and name the campaign world (as JAL_1138 has noted, they are often not the same).

Your world name should have a sound that fits the flavor of the setting. We do like our exotic-sounding world names. I'd pick whichever culture-analog best fits the most ancient or world-spanning civilization, go to the relevant language, and start looking at words for "world" "earth" and "land" to butcher. That said, note that many settings outside of RPGs simply note their world as being "The World" (also see Earth, Middle Earth, Creation). Lands and nations, yes, but the world? Unless your peoples are sophisticated or (ahem) well-traveled enough to need a unique name for their world, you don't need to be too fancy about it.

Campaign settings... gets trickier. This is where you need to decide on the flavor of the place. Forgotten Realms - lands both ancient and lost. The Known World - suggests there's more out there to explore. Northlands - suggests cold, or at least that there is more to the south. Greyhawk - is named for a particular location of note (see also blackmoor, razor coast) - but this can also be important personages (Arthurian) or objects (Dragonlance). This is what sets your theme and focus - or lack of focus if you are going to be sandboxy.

So what's your theme? War? Intrigue? Exploration? Epic world-spanning quests? Cooking competitions?

[Maglubiyet]

So what's your theme? War? Intrigue? Exploration? Epic world-spanning quests? Cooking competitions?

Hmm, a world of epic cooking competitions in a fantasy medieval setting. So much potential.

The Mithril Chef. Omelet of the Beholder. Arcane Cuisine...

[JAL_1138]

Hmm, a world of epic cooking competitions in a fantasy medieval setting. So much potential.

The Mithril Chef. Omelet of the Beholder. Arcane Cuisine...

"Ye Cuisine of ye Worlde, as Re-Created by Ordinarye Adventureurs, who art Untrained in ye Culinarie Artes, for ye Purposes of Competition to be Judged by a Panell of Renowned Cookes."

[King of Casuals]

"The Bloodrose Chronicles"