Names

insanity5000 · Post by **insanity5000** » Wed Jun 11, 2003 3:03 pm

im relitivly new to rpg i only played diablo before so when i started i made several partys to see what was the best
but i could never think of names that didnt come from lord of the rings and there arnt many names to choose form.

could anybody give me some sugestions

thanks

Aremah · Post by **Aremah** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 3:54 am

Making good sounding fantasy names is a pretty tough chore, any writer will tell you that. I bought BG2 after I had W3, so through the several times I played, I used Warcraft 3 hero names, because I like some of them some so much. And so my fighter was named Bloodwrath, my thief Shadowsong, etc. It worked just fine and I'll probably use those (or similar) names again in new RPGs (for example Lionheart or V:M - Bloodlines).

lightningpig · Post by **lightningpig** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 5:51 am

Same as with writing, coming up with a name depends a lot on your being observant. There are many people with cool and unusual names around you, you just have have to find them. A good number of my names are derived from names of people I actually know or have met. If they are great names to begin with, you can use them as is - otherwise you can tweak them by adding extra vowels, adding ('x' just kidding) or doubling (usually done for 'r' or 'l') consonants, replacing 'i' with the popular 'y'.

Also, being well-read helps in this regard - the wider your experience with the fantasy genre the easier it is for you to formulate 'fantasy-sounding' names. And if you're lazy, you'll have more material to plagiarize from! In fact, you don't have to be confined to the fantasy genre. You will find that a lot of names used by actual writers have etymologies in different cultures and mythologies (the more obscure the source, the cooler). You also have the option of tweaking those names that you find (as with the above). Or, if you're creative, sometimes randomly leafing through the dictionary can yield surprising results.

Another technique (usually employed in generating those crazy last/second names) is compounding words. You can put two fantasy-related words together to form interesting names. For the first part of the compound word, you usually want a symbol - since early man was very dependent on symbolism (think totems). What usually works for these are nature words like: 'moon', 'wolf', 'fire', etc. Of course the wider your vocabulary the words you have to choose from. For the second part of the compound structure you can use objects (usually man-made. These are based on the fact that people want to think that their totem grants them some sort of power, so like if you chose 'blade' and combine it with 'moon' (I'm using an example from the game) - you get 'Moonblade', which makes sense for Emma (look, a name from real life!) because she is a priestess of Selune so supposedly Selune (moon goddess) imbues her sword (blade) with power, hence 'Moonblade'. Of course that method will occasionally yield nonsense names like 'Squirrelboot', but those are good for laughs, if nothing else.

Another variation for coming up with the second portion of the compound is making you character a '_er' of something. Get a particularly exciting verb and add an 'er' to the end. The most popular example of this is 'slayer'. So like: 'Puppyslayer'. I'm kidding.

There are many other types you can use, but to list them all would be a strain on the eyes (this post is long enough as it is). In the end it's all about being creative and having fun with it. It's just a character name, don't kill yourself over it!

For example:

'Tara'

I know this girl named Tara, but I want to transform it to keep her anonymous, so I replace the 'T' with a 'Z', making it 'Zara'.

'Zara'

Zara is good, but it seems I've seen that somewhere before. Hmmm, let's put in a random 'l'.

'Zaral'

Blech too forced, let's take out a letter.

'Z'ral'

Too alien/insectoid/drow. Let's try the other 'a'

'Zarl'

Not bad. Now let's add a last name. I'm thinking 'sun' and 'sword'

'Zarl Sunsword'

It has a nice ring to it (totally arbitrary!) I think I'll keep it.

Spotz · Post by **Spotz** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 10:22 am

And if you're lazy like me and can't come up with something yourself, you can use the online Fantasy Name Generator found here:

http://spitfire.ausys.se/johan/names/default.htm

lonely wolf · Post by **lonely wolf** » Fri Jun 13, 2003 1:14 am

if you have the player's handbook, try this:
look at the names in your charecter's race. cut a name to half (or any other...) and mix it with another cut name. it will create good enough names for a charecter. do the sme with the family or clan name. you could also take a name and change it slightly...
hope I helped

Gruntboy · Post by **Gruntboy** » Fri Jun 13, 2003 3:54 pm

Originally posted by lonely wolf
if you have the player's handbook, try this:
look at the names in your charecter's race. cut a name to half (or any other...) and mix it with another cut name. it will create good enough names for a charecter. do the sme with the family or clan name. you could also take a name and change it slightly...
hope I helped

What a great idea!

You could use names from the phonebook.

insanity5000 · Post by **insanity5000** » Fri Jun 13, 2003 5:13 pm

thank guys that will be really helpful i never would have thought of those my self

lonely wolf · Post by **lonely wolf** » Sat Jun 14, 2003 1:57 pm

Originally posted by Gruntboy
What a great idea! You could use names from the phonebook.

thanks Gruntboy

, I thought of this "Naming Machine" when I started to play D&D. the phonebook edit sounds great (well, maybe not for dwarves...

)

Enchantress · Post by **Enchantress** » Sun Jun 22, 2003 4:16 pm

Creating 6 characters and thinking of 6 names rather put me off playing IWD to be honest, as I couldn't muster up all that creativity at the beginning of the game. I just wanted to get into it quickly without any hassle.

Anyway, when I play a RPG I generally create a character that's more or less like me in real life and call it by my real first name. Maybe that's a bit silly in retrospect but I've played lots of games like that and it's kind of a habit now. But I couldn't call 6 characters the same name as it would've got confusing!

However, using the phone book - that's quite an idea....

How would it work? Would you start at the beginning and have an aardvark or two or start at the end and have characters that sound vaguely Polish? Or stick a pin in the middle maybe?

lonely wolf · Post by **lonely wolf** » Mon Jun 23, 2003 1:03 am

Originally posted by Enchantress
Creating 6 characters and thinking of 6 names rather put me off playing IWD to be honest, as I couldn't muster up all that creativity at the beginning of the game. I just wanted to get into it quickly without any hassle.

Anyway, when I play a RPG I generally create a character that's more or less like me in real life and call it by my real first name. Maybe that's a bit silly in retrospect but I've played lots of games like that and it's kind of a habit now. But I couldn't call 6 characters the same name as it would've got confusing!

However, using the phone book - that's quite an idea....

How would it work? Would you start at the beginning and have an aardvark or two or start at the end and have characters that sound vaguely Polish? Or stick a pin in the middle maybe?

It dosen't really matters. just create a name that sounds good for the race/class etc...

Enchantress · Post by **Enchantress** » Mon Jun 23, 2003 5:11 am

Originally posted by lonely wolf
It dosen't really matters. just create a name that sounds good for the race/class etc...

Like what, though, that is the question! Can one find suitable Elven and Gnomish names in the phone book?! What did you call your party, then?

By the way, I see you're Israeli. Shalom erev tov.

Gruntboy · Post by **Gruntboy** » Mon Jun 23, 2003 7:07 am

Like picking baby names - just close your eyes and open a page, pick a line. Half the first name. Then do it again and take half the second name. Stick them together and see what its like, then "fantasize" it a bit if it doesn't work

You always have discarded half names to play around with too!

Enchantress · Post by **Enchantress** » Mon Jun 23, 2003 7:10 am

Originally posted by Gruntboy
Like picking baby names - just close your eyes and open a page, pick a line. Half the first name. Then do it again and take half the second name. Stick them together and see what its like, then "fantasize" it a bit if it doesn't work

You always have discarded half names to play around with too!

That's an insane idea.

insanity5000 · Post by **insanity5000** » Mon Jun 23, 2003 9:46 am

thanks guy that really helped and those are really good ideas

Enchantress · Post by **Enchantress** » Mon Jun 23, 2003 2:21 pm

Originally posted by insanity5000
thanks guy that really helped and those are really good ideas

Sorry, Insanity5000 - I was just messing with Gruntboy there coz he's my mate.

Glad you liked his ideas and hope they helped.

Gruntboy · Post by **Gruntboy** » Mon Jun 23, 2003 3:43 pm

Aw, mate, that's so sweet.

Hey, you could always use names from Gamebanshe - just check out the member list for ideas. There's plenty!

lonely wolf · Post by **lonely wolf** » Tue Jun 24, 2003 12:57 am

lol

lonely wolf · Post by **lonely wolf** » Tue Jun 24, 2003 1:00 am

Originally posted by Enchantress
Like what, though, that is the question! Can one find suitable Elven and Gnomish names in the phone book?! What did you call your party, then?

By the way, I see you're Israeli. Shalom erev tov.

Well, I didn't make the idea of the phonebook, it's gruntboy... I just took some names from the PHB and did the same...
BTW- you have great Hebrew!