A Moreau by any other name

[The_Universe]

Probably not, but WotC made a conscious decision not to include them in the SRD, which means they'd probably take exception if we used them anyway. While we probably have the law on our side, A) we want to play nice, and B) they could out-spend us before it ever got to court. As such, it's easier just to come up with a different name. Come on, we're a bunch of creative guys and gals! I'm sure we can come up with something. There's already been several great suggestions. Whatever we settle on will definitely be OGC, so other publishers won't have to go through this kind of headache.

...Unless they just don't like what we come up with.

Right now I'm leaning toward tiered names. There's be a scientific or technical name (used by their creators-- something "PC"), a common name (how they would refer to themselves), and something slang or meant to be derogatory (used by those who are forced to Interact with them whether they like it or not).

That was exactly my thought when I came up with the names above - though I didn't really differentiate between what they called themselves, and what other's called them. As you can see, some of the names were more derogatory than others.

 

[broghammerj]

I always like the term the X-man used for mutants, "Homo sapien superior".

 

[Masada]

I was just thinking a little out of the box and began to ponder how the animal/human combinations might have been created. This opens up the posibilities to virtually anything and provides a memorable history. So if the creatures were first discovered after the nuclear incident in Chernobyl then they might be called Checkov's or something else Russian.

Or they could be named for the scientist doing the first field work for them or discovering them.

If you wanted to be a little "in your face" you could say that the process of creating half-breeds involves a painful process using blood marrow. Then you could call them "Marrows"... hehe!

So anyway, it would be natural to call the creatures after the names of places they lived as well as their biological tags.

 

[malladin]

If you wanted to be a little "in your face" you could say that the process of creating half-breeds involves a painful process using blood marrow. Then you could call them "Marrows"... hehe!

You could even have them being created by a Dr Morrow .

 

[SWBaxter]

I always like the term the X-man used for mutants, "Homo sapien superior".

I kinda like Greg Bear's construction (from Darwin's Radio), homo sapiens novae. I think the superhero RPG Aberrant used a similar name, with "Nova" being the common term.

In a sci-fi campaign I ran many years ago, a fair amount of warfare was conducted using genetically engineered non-native organisms, or GENNOs for a short official name. The slang term for them was "genies", which I liked because it also invoked kind of a "letting the genie out of the bottle" metaphor, and introducing GENNOs onto a world was very rarely good for the native ecosystem.

 

[Kesh]

I do like the term "Chimeras." I've heard it before, but never associated with moreaus. I think it would work, as there are plenty of ways to use it (as well as come up with derogatory names for anti-moreau groups to refer to them).

 

[DnDChick]

Here is an article of interest for this thread:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/04/29/human.animal.mixing.ap/index.html

Seems our "moreaus" might not be so far-fetched after all ...

 

[C. Baize]

Some interesting stuff in that article.

Especially the bit about killing any mice that displayed human traits....
Indicating that it may in fact be a valid concern...

Creepy.

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

Wow. That is sort of creepy, but more than highly unlikely to occur.

Still ... gives me a great idea for a Pre-Chimera NPC ... Le Petit Fromage! The mouse with a human brain.

--fje

 

[C. Baize]

Like the Secret of N.I.M.H.