Satyrn
First Post
I think the bolded bit was actually about specific characters.
That way, my table reinforces the point, as 3 of the four characters don't have feats.
Xanathar's 18 Pages of What??
That way, my table reinforces the point, as 3 of the four characters don't have feats.
Correct. WotC didn't say anything about how many tables allow feats. They only noted that a majority of PCs do not actually have feats. And they also commented that human was the single most popular race.
Then a bunch of people turned this into "Most PCs are featless humans and most tables ban feats!"
Le sigh.
TheCosmicKid
Hero
A clan name is not the same thing as a family name.
Yaarel
He Mage
The Western last name is a clan name, comprising many (nuclear) families that descend (patrilineally) from a common ancestor.
TheCosmicKid
Hero
Gaius: given name. Julius: clan name. Caesar: patrilineal family name. Any questions?
Yaarel
He Mage
Regarding Roman customs.
Which Gaius Julius Caesar? I assume you are talking about the Julius Caesar.
• Gaius (praenomen) - personal name
• Julius (nomen) - clan name
• Caesar (cognomen) - distinguishing name
In this case, when he was born he was given the name ‘caesar’ because he was literally born by means of a caesarean section, cutting thru the abdomen, when the mother had difficulty giving birth to him.
Note, later emperors have complicated names, essentially adding several cognomina describing their imperial status. In their cases, ‘Caesar’ is more like a royal title.
TheCosmicKid
Hero
You ask "Which Gaius Julius Caesar?", indicating that you are aware there were many. But you don't seem to be aware that one of them was the legendary dictator's father. So either both of them -- as well as all the other men of the Caesar family going back at least to the Punic Wars -- were by stunning coincidence born of Caesarian section, or else there is something amiss about your theory.
In short: cognomina were often hereditary, and functioned much like modern family names, identifying smaller family units as opposed to the large kinship units of sociopolitical significance (i.e., "clans") indicated by the nomina.
Actually, according to some sources, one of his ancestors was born via Caesarean section, but I don't think he was ever mentioned as being born via c-sec. Caesar has been a Iulii cognomen for a some time before *the* Julius Caesar was born (e.g. his father and grandfather were also named Gaius Julius Caesar).
MichaelSomething
Legend
Given all this discussion on names, maybe 18 pages wasn't enough.
I've found them incredibly useful. They've become my NPC roster.
It chops a lot of effort and time off my adventure planning - and adds a lot of verisimilitude in my DMing - to be able to ratchet off a bunch of good names for plot-centric characters and other people the PCs will interact with.
It chops a lot of effort and time off my adventure planning - and adds a lot of verisimilitude in my DMing - to be able to ratchet off a bunch of good names for plot-centric characters and other people the PCs will interact with.
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