Thiefling names

Byronic · Jun 25, 2008

Ok, this has annoyed me for quite a while, but let's hear some opinions on it.

Thieflings seem to be the "bad boy" race. I find that the best way to describe them is with three sentences.

*whine* the world fears and resents me because of my race
*cry* I have a dark side that I must over come
*slit wrist* Because I'm emo.

Sorry, just had to get that out of my system. But now on to what really annoys me. The names they choose for themselves. This is what the PHB says:

Some young tieflings, striving to find a place in the world, choose a name that signifies a concept and then try to embody the concept. For some, the chosen name is a noble quest. For others, it’s a grim destiny.

Modern Names: Art, Carrion, Chant, Despair, Fear, Gladness, Hope, Ideal, Music, Nowhere, Open, Poetry, Quest, Random, Reverence, Sorrow, Torment, Weary

... are these people serious? I mean, really, are they serious or is this some kind of joke. I mean, think about it. Your adventurers come together to fight the evil dragon Smug.

Gandalf the Human Wizard.
Dorgan Bronzebeard the Dwarven Paladin
Aelar the Elven Ranger

and travelling with them

Despair the Emo Thiefling

Please, someone explain this to me. Is this an elaborate trick to get 14 year olds into the game?
Is there something I missed?

Rechan · Jun 25, 2008

What's a thiefling?

wayne62682 · Jun 25, 2008

Just a lame attempt I suppose. I like the regular names (they sound like a mix of Biblical and Ancient Greek) but the "modern' name are teh sux

I'm A Banana · Jun 25, 2008

Before I do anything else:

Tiefling!
(not "thiefling")

Next:

I do posit that at least one of the dev team was a HUGE goth in HS. See how affectionate they are for the Shadar-kai, and the mesh shirt on the Cambion.

Either that, or some dunderhead in the brand department thought that kids who cut themselves and post bad poetry to their Livejournals were something that D&D needed a slice of, since Vampire already had some.

Yes, those names are dumb.

Tieflings don't need to be gothy or emo, though. Heck, the core back story says they were from an empire that basically sold out to the Nine Hells for power. That's got potential for arrogant condescending bravado more than crybaby emoness.

The older backstory is a little emo, but because of Planescape, I have more images of Newsies and orphans in my head than attention-whoring kiddies.

Also, I will say that there's nothing inherently wrong with the emo/gothy play. But those names are still hilariously dumb to me.

Slander · Jun 25, 2008

That mob of beggar kids that surrounds and distracts you in big cities while one of them runs off with your coin purse ... Thiefling Swarm.

I don't think you missed anything. ~~Don't know that~~ it is an elaborate trick or and devious plot ... ~~just a~~ and it is story choice I don't find particularly satisfying. I definitely won't be encouraging that kind of stuff in my 4E game (whenever I get around to one). Why is WotC trying to ruin my players by encouraging emo behavior?!

Edits: noticed the humor tag

Byronic · Jun 25, 2008

Thiefling is the new Rouge

Slander said:
That mob of beggar kids that surrounds and distracts you in big cities while one of them runs off with your coin purse ... Thiefling Swarm.

Oh... I am definitely stealing that joke for ingame purposes

*writes it in his DM notepad*

CountPopeula · Jun 25, 2008

When I opened this thread, I thought it was going to be derogatory towards halflings...

lutecius · Jun 25, 2008

Byronic said:
... are these people serious?

Well, they came up with Golden Wyvern and Emerald Frost.

Wormwood · Jun 25, 2008

Hmmm. The only Tiefling I've seen so far in play is named Wormwood.

edit: And after a stultifying Google search, I can confidently state that he's not "emo". In. The. Least.

ProfessorCirno · Jun 26, 2008

Kamikaze Midget said:
Tieflings don't need to be gothy or emo, though. Heck, the core back story says they were from an empire that basically sold out to the Nine Hells for power. That's got potential for arrogant condescending bravado more than crybaby emoness.

Unfortunately, they're described as being angsty loners who only trust their deepest TRUFRIENDS and prefer sitting in dark corners and oh god I spontaneously grew a trench coat reading through the tiefling section of the PHB.

And trench coats belong in three and ONLY three places: In an actual World War trench, accompanied with a fedora, or hiding a snub-nosed .38.

Thiefling names

Byronic

First Post

Rechan

Adventurer

wayne62682

First Post

I'm A Banana

Potassium-Rich

Slander

Explorer

Byronic

First Post

CountPopeula

First Post

lutecius

Explorer

Wormwood

Adventurer

ProfessorCirno

Banned

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