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Thread: How do you do names?
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2009-11-23, 03:50 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2009
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- Long Shiny Cloud-land
- Gender
How do you do names?
As the title says, how do you do names? Peronally, I have a rather elaborate system whereby I take a base word and run it through several steps, arriving at a name which is unrecognisable as the root word. As aan example, a cookie to the first person who guesses the root word for "Silep".
If I creep into your house in the dead of night and strangle you while you sleep, you probably messed up your grammar.
I'm always extremely careful to hedge myself against absolute statements.
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2009-11-23, 03:55 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2008
Re: How do you do names?
I replace all the vowels with apostrophes and then put a hyphen in the middle.
In the case of noteworthy characters, I also append "the [verb]er"
For BBEGs, it's "the [synonym for dark/shadow/evil/bad] [verb]er"
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2009-11-23, 03:56 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2009
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- In the T.A.R.D.I.S.
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Re: How do you do names?
Not gonna try to figure it out...
I also have a complex system of...umm...recycling names from previous characters...
After 25 years, you start to run out of names...Originally Posted by The Doctor
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2009-11-23, 03:58 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2007
- Location
- The Icy North
- Gender
Re: How do you do names?
As a player, I pick a name off the top of my head - names, especially female, usually come pretty easily to me.
As GM, I'm still fairly new, so I haven't run out of names (yet ), but I still go to a session with two or three names in my head, just in case I'll need it.
Silep = sleep ?Spoiler
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2009-11-23, 04:03 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jan 2008
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- Within my own Insanity
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Re: How do you do names?
I've taken to give every race human names of people I like. Needless to say, I'll still pretty new, I'm going to have to start relying on my Latin-English, Spanish-English, French-English, and really anylanguage-English dictionaries at some point.
But... but... You can't Wake Up Dead
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2009-11-23, 04:04 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2009
Re: How do you do names?
I tend to use a lot of Hindi, Sanskrit, Japanese, and Chinese in determining roots of names.
Then I create an NPC named Eric the Mage. He is a mage. His name is Eric.
What? He's cool. We like Eric.
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2009-11-23, 04:06 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2008
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- Boulder, CO
- Gender
Re: How do you do names?
Several ways:
1) I have several recurring NPCs who exist across campaign settings. These are people like Ajheed, who took his name from a previous PC of mine and turned into a wholly different NPC quest-giver bard-type.
2) Similarly, any wizard/cleric PCs (mine or my friends') of sufficient power are occasionally ported in from other games when I need a plot device and nothing short of "an all-powerful wizard knows" will do.
3) When I actually want to make a meaningful (major NPC) name, I use a poorly-disguised root word, but I make it an obscure root and then relate it in a nonstandard way.
4) PC names are, if I can't think of anything, created using a complicated system of dice rolls worked out so that a pronouncable number of vowels are usually generated and so that all letters are representable. Up to about 4 letters are usually generated this way (for each of first/last names), then I fill in the rest (resulting in mixed-heritage names like Claaus O'Neal).
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2009-11-23, 04:07 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2007
- Location
- raiding wales!
- Gender
Re: How do you do names?
I take a pen and paper and i get things DONE!
haha, srsly. I just grab a pencil and see what I write. if I like it I take itNeed a setting for your game? a character concept? any gaming related ideas? I make far to many to eat up myself, and therefor I am willing to share them. Free ideas! Get yer fluff here! PM me.
The friendly neighborhood gentleman perv is always ready to help!
on M&B:
Originally Posted by Celesyne
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2009-11-23, 04:09 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2009
Re: How do you do names?
My favorite name is still "Sciane", pronounced just like Shane but spelled all fancy-like.
Took a page from Asimov's book with that one (Hari, Dors, etc...He admits that he just liked misspelling names when he thought he could get away with it). For the longest time I thought Hari Seldon was supposed to be Indian...
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2009-11-23, 04:15 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2009
- Gender
Re: How do you do names?
I usually just go on the D&D website and run the character name generator they have up there. Yes, I'm lazy.
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2009-11-23, 04:16 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2006
- Location
- Koboldonia
- Gender
Re: How do you do names?
I second (or third, or wherever we are now) the idea of using foreign-language dictionaries - the dwarves in my homebrew campaign were all named with the aid of a Lithuanian-English dictionary. I don't really try for words that mean specific things; mostly I'm after words that sound right. However, if you're doing that, it's probably a good idea to make sure that nobody in your gaming group is actually fluent in language in question! It's always unfortunate when somebody points out that your BBEG is named something like "Baggage-Carousel Rainbow."
On a more specific note, if you're looking for Ancient-Greek-Sounding names, The Iliad is a great source. It's full of minor characters whose only role is to appear for a few lines (often with their parents' names helpfully included), get hacked to bits by Achilles or Hector, and vanish back into obscurity.Trophies and current avi by Lord Herman!
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2009-11-23, 04:19 PM (ISO 8601)
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- May 2006
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- Wandering in Harrekh
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2009-11-23, 04:22 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2009
- Location
- Long Shiny Cloud-land
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Re: How do you do names?
A nice try, but nowher near. My system generally takes me about a minute to run for one name, although I need pen and paper or similar on hand. It also involves fudging whenever I feel it neccessary, although I avoided that with the one that I posted. I have never had trouble with coming up with names, but it is very interesting to see what other people have done.
EDIT: Ninja'd! And wrong. Closer to my system than the above suggestion, but missing the vital step which makes them damned near unrecognizable.Last edited by Fortuna; 2009-11-23 at 04:23 PM.
If I creep into your house in the dead of night and strangle you while you sleep, you probably messed up your grammar.
I'm always extremely careful to hedge myself against absolute statements.
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2009-11-23, 04:23 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2007
- Gender
Re: How do you do names?
For non-humans, I just mash a bunch of letters together and call it a name.
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2009-11-23, 04:29 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2005
- Location
- Somerville, MA
- Gender
Re: How do you do names?
I usually try to use something that could have been an English name, but just wasn't. I don't like over the top fantasy names with 6 syllables, twice as many apostrophes, and at least one ę.
If you like what I have to say, please check out my GMing Blog where I discuss writing and roleplaying in greater depth.
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2009-11-23, 04:32 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2009
- Location
- Long Shiny Cloud-land
- Gender
Re: How do you do names?
Likewise for most names, but occasionally they can work IMHO.
If I creep into your house in the dead of night and strangle you while you sleep, you probably messed up your grammar.
I'm always extremely careful to hedge myself against absolute statements.
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2009-11-23, 04:33 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2006
- Location
- Fairfield, CA
- Gender
Re: How do you do names?
I find a name with a meaning that fits from here.
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2009-11-23, 04:41 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2009
Re: How do you do names?
I just name the important NPC something vaguely Latin-y, or make up something that could be a name in my native Icelandic that doesn't actually mean anything. I also reused a lot of names I made long ago when I made a genealogical tree for an imaginary kingdom. I try to keep them a bit familiar and pronounceable in my language, maybe a bit Tolkienesque: Morndrak, Gerdrekur, Vertólus etc.
If I run out of ideas I go to Wikipedia and look for historical equivalents or in sci-fi books my players haven't read. The last emperor of an empire In my game was named Pįlogos after the dynasty of the last Byzantine emperor, Palaiologos.
The non plot significant common people have to make due with nouns or adjectives that could pass for names. So there's no real system. I might adopt something for specific races or creatures when I get to naming those in my campaign. So far it's mostly humans and a few gnomes and halflings.Last edited by Ormur; 2009-11-23 at 04:43 PM.
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2009-11-23, 04:44 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2007
- Location
- The Icy North
- Gender
Spoiler
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2009-11-23, 04:52 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2007
- Location
- Metro Manila, Philippines
- Gender
Re: How do you do names?
This is pretty much what I do as well.
A BBEG's blackguard/warblade right hand man (eventually I decided to make the character a woman) started with the base word "Calamity." That went through Calamor and then became Caellamore when I decided the character would be female.
Sometimes I also take the suggested names in some fluff books (like the common national names in Eberron's Five Nations book) and mash them together. I ended up with "Elzikki" for my female artificer once through that method.
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2009-11-23, 04:58 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2009
Re: How do you do names?
I just make stuff up at random, unless there's a specific meaning I need. So I've gotten all kinds of weird names like that. Lirance, for my barbarian, for example, or Callsiyette for a random NPC. I liked the sound of it, so I used it.
"Once upon a time, a story was never finished..."
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2009-11-23, 05:03 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2009
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- In the shadows Waiting...
- Gender
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2009-11-23, 05:11 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2009
- Location
- Long Shiny Cloud-land
- Gender
Re: How do you do names?
If I creep into your house in the dead of night and strangle you while you sleep, you probably messed up your grammar.
I'm always extremely careful to hedge myself against absolute statements.
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2009-11-23, 05:12 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2007
- Location
- Stillwater
- Gender
Re: How do you do names?
I hate coming up with names, and so I usually use a random name generator (like this one: http://www.rinkworks.com/namegen/). I look at the ones it provides, then pick the one I think sounds best. To that end, it has to be pronounceable, and not ridiculous.
Last edited by rockdeworld; 2009-11-23 at 05:13 PM.
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2009-11-23, 05:12 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2009
Re: How do you do names?
i look around. i once called a PC "Tim Nestea" because Tim was in the FLGS drinking Nestea.
and yes, i hate naming characters and i have a history of "Tim" "Ed" "Robert/Bob" "John/Joe" ect... mainly because i find most fantasy names absolutely ridiculous.
when i do get "creative" with names, it's usually a sound or just a silly sounding word.
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2009-11-23, 05:14 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2009
Re: How do you do names?
If the character is supposed to be a member of a certain culture, I go to the Onamastikon and just rip through names until I see one that 'sounds cool.'
Since I usually end up writing down a half-dozen, and then picking the one that rolls off the tongue easier, I end up with extra names left over for NPCs, that end up in a file somewhere. I often use them for MMO characters, and have a bunch with weird Celtic sounding names like Uinseach, Sammae and Siobhannon or weird Nordic sounding names like Steinketl, Solskaer, Helsdottir and Hrafngeir.
Other times I'm not in the mood, and end up playing a character named Rutroh Raggy for 60 odd levels. Such is life.Last edited by Set; 2009-11-23 at 05:15 PM.
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2009-11-23, 05:16 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2007
- Location
- The Icy North
- Gender
Re: How do you do names?
Rot13. Nevermind, I was mostly just trying to be funny.
Actually, one method I used long ago is sitting down in front of your computer, open a word document, and then just randomly hit your keyboard until you've got four or five lines. Read them - there ought to be something that sounds a little bit cool among all those letters - modify a little - et voilą!Spoiler
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2009-11-23, 05:39 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2007
- Location
- Metro Manila, Philippines
- Gender
Re: How do you do names?
Eberron Red Hand of Doom Campaign Journal. NOW COMPLETE!
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"I dunno, you just gave me the image of a nerd flying slow motion over a coffee table towards another nerd, dual wielding massive books. It was awesome." -- Marriclay
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2009-11-23, 05:43 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2007
- Location
- The midwest.
Re: How do you do names?
I have two methods.
First, I just go through random pairs of syllables in my head until I find a pairing I like. Then, if it sounds good I'll go with it, and if I think it needs more, I'll add another syllable somewhere.
The second method consists of taking a real name or word and modifying it into something new. For example, I got Lasaan by taking Alexander and dropping the first and last syllables. Lexan actually isn't bad, but it's the name of some commercial product or other, so it still needs work. Change the x to an s and we get Lesan. Change the spelling slightly so it's pronounced properly, and I ended up with Lasaan.
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2009-11-23, 05:53 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2008
- Gender
Re: How do you do names?
I take an ancient Germanic name (Western, Northern and Eastern), and then mess them up depending on what name I want to end up with. 'Evil' characters I often base on Gothic names, and Dwarves have actual dwarven names.