What's Your Favorite Name for a TTRPG and Why?

[Benjamin Olson]

So I have a 5e clone more or less ready to start playtesting, but it's provisional name Vagabonds and Varlets, while a fun conversation starter when talking about the game with friends, is that in part because of it's problem: as a title to actually market something with, the overwhelming majority of responses were "what's a varlet". And the additional problem is that a varlet is a term for a servant (related to "valet") as well as for a somewhat disreputable man, which was pretty clever wordplay when I was thinking the game would prominently incorporate hirelings in a context of somewhat morally ambiguous heroics. Our itinerant not-quite hero pcs are the "vagabonds", their hirelings are the "varlets". But I've yet to incorporate any rules supporting hirelings, and have no intention to shoehorn them in just to support a silly title for the game. In any case while the Vagabonds and Varlets moniker will probably still get its day in the sun if I ever create a hireling supplement, the game probably needs a rechristening before I go registering any domain names.

But this got me thinking: What's in a name? Some Hasbro executives seem to think the words "dungeons", "dragons", and an ampersand logo are the be-all-end-all of what makes a marketable RPG, but I think their market research is lacking on that.

What is a game whose name you have liked, and what did that name evoke for you?

I'm not actually trying to crowdsource naming my project here, I'm just curious about how people relate to the names of the games they play, which are appealing, which are unappealing, and why. What impressions did the names initially give you of the games?

 

[John Dallman]

Some titles give you an immediate idea of what the game is about, such as Space Opera or Villains & Vigilantes. Many more are more meaningful when you've read at least part of the background, such as RuneQuest.

A few seem actively misleading, such as DragonQuest. The front cover showed a cheerful-looking barbarian swordsman holding a freshly-picked dragon's head. Once you'd read the rules and the dragon stats, the question become "why does the picture leave out the corpses of the other 199 men who went to fight that dragon?"

 

[Mallus]

Empire of the Petal Throne.

 

[Haiku Elvis]

Names I like:
Monster of the week. - Being a game inspired by the TV shows that inspired the phrase "Monster of the week" means you instantly get the right vibe but also as the term is often used slightly dismissively it comes across as not taking itself too seriously as well so a nice balance of plain and clever.
Blades in the Dark: evocative and makes you want to know more. When you know what it's about it's a perfect fit but you wouldn't guess the setting just from the name so you still get that whoa! when you look into it more.
Electric Bastionland - accurate, distinctive and music reference combined. Nice.
Cairn - just cool. Short and evocative. Hard sounding yet shadowy and sinister as well all in one syllable. The name I'm most jealous I didn't come up with for an RPG.

 

[Richards]

I rather like "Numenera," because it's "New Men Era" hiding there in plain sight. Very clever.

I've never played the game, mind you, but I like the name.

Johnathan

 

[practicalm]

Paranoia accurately describes the state the characters should be in

 

[jdrakeh]

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. Accurate and conveys the brutality of the setting.

 

[Jolly Ruby]

Into the Odd, because it captures the exactly feeling I want to convey when the characters begin a adventure.

 

[Committed Hero]

Some Hasbro executives seem to think the words "dungeons", "dragons", and an ampersand logo are the be-all-end-all of what makes a marketable RPG, but I think their market research is lacking on that.

It's not my favorite title, but nor should the name be dismissed that lightly. It has endured for half a century, and provides the game's iconic locations and antagonists in a poetic and succinct method that's still copied today.

My favorites are the Gumshoe titles Night's Black Agents, Trail of Cthulhu, and The Fall of Delta Green. Good use of allusion and double meaning in all three.

 

[eyeheartawk]

Fantasy Adventure to Adult Lechery.