D&D 5E Do you love Awesome Names?

[Sunseeker]

I think awesome is akin to cool - the harder you try, the more you miss the mark.

Dave the Cleric. Most awesome character to grace our tables. He was a cleric. His name was Dave.

His name was mundane. His actions..

...legend.

This. Characters should be defined and remembered for their actions, not the goofiness of their name. Hey, maybe their actions are goofy, that's fine. Everyone loves Tasslehoff. But all-in-all one of my favorite characters ever was a gunslinger in Deadlands: Frank Sims.

 

[Al'Kelhar]

...As DM I've used NPCs like Louie Louie and Monie Monie the town guards, and their captain, Ringo. The players became invested in them, giving them personalities and risking themselves on the guards' behalf. In the end my group insisted I give LL, MM, and Cap'n Ringo happy endings, so beloved had they become.

Since "Major" and "Sergeant" are both perfectly common and reasonable surnames in English, there were, of course, both a Major Major and a Sergeant Sergeant in the town guard in one of my campaigns way, way back. (Yes, I nicked "Major Major" from Catch 22, although IIRC the character was actually named "Major Major Major".). And the players remember them with some fondness. And remind me every time their players encounter a new group of town guards.

Cheers, Al'Kelhar

 

[Lanefan]

I don't mind "awesome" names as long as some thought has gone into it.

I mean, you can't get better than a Cavalier named Sir Kalvin of Hobbes.

But alas, that one wasn't mine; I merely had the honour of DMing it, many years ago.

Best one I've done in the last while for my own was Elena. Simple, normal name - right? - except in this case Elena stood for Elvish Lawful Evil Necromancer Assassin, which is exactly what she was...well, except for the Lawful part which didn't really survive contact with my playing of her.

Lanefan

 

[Jacob Marley]

My preference when naming D&D PCs and NPCs is to use real world names that fit the tone of the campaign. I found that www.behindthename.com is a good resource for naming characters. In particular, the sections on mythological names and ancient & medieval names is good for finding a name that feels natural and fantastical. As far as epithets and sobriquets go, I prefer them to emerge naturally from playing the game.

 

[Wulffolk]

Silly names kill the mood for me. I stop caring about the game or group if my character is forced to associate with other characters that insist on being called something ridiculous. I just can't see any character I have played ever putting his or her life in the hands of somebody that they can't take seriously, let alone relying on them to complete any important task.

 

[Henry]

For most long-running campaigns, my group and I try not to go too comical, because we're going to be saying these names a LOT -- and I don't want to refer to "Fonkin Hoddypeak" when I'm in the midst of a negotiation that could badly affect our characters for life or death. In one-shots however, anything goes -- and Rod Nodgrod the fighter might make an appearance, or Pzap the Evoker, or someone equally silly.

We do break te rules though. Oir spy ring had a rogue named Scamprilius, who specialized in spring attack, (he would "scamper" across the battlefield) in our Hell's Rebels game.

 

[Lanefan]

For most long-running campaigns, my group and I try not to go too comical, because we're going to be saying these names a LOT

It's truly surprising how easy it is to just get used to them as they become part of your game's lore (assuming a reasonable lifespan).

A long time ago - as in 1982 long time ago - one of our crew named his first character Gandalf. "Oh sigh", you might think, "how unoriginal". And you'd be right...but:

Gandalf went on to become perhaps the best-known character that campaign produced (which is saying something)...and, amazingly, he's still going today. Around here mention of "Gandalf" doesn't evoke images of Tolkein's wizard but of a bright, bumbling half-Elf Magic-User whose main talent is his uncanny ability to survive his own blunders.

Lan-"Gandalf, in fact, is the reason I laid in for a longsword +2 Wizardslayer"-efan

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Johnny Bones- a NE human ftr/th- turned out to be one of the PCs my friends liked the most in terms of his name & his role & character fitting together. An all-around thug and a menace...and they were glad to have him.

Brother Sycamore (a.k.a. "Woody") was a Swamp Thing inspired Sorc/Cl/Geomancer/Mystic Theurge- another whose name & character meshed nicely. He took only the plant-themed Geomancer Drift mutations.

 

[ccs]

None of those names strike me as "awesome" and I'd be largely annoyed to have to address another character, in-character, as any of them. I agree that D&D can vary in its level of seriousness and joke names have their place...usually on NPCs that are encountered once or twice to lighten the mood...but not on players who essentially force the party to deal with their name on a very regular basis.

Doesn't mean your dwarf can't be Thurgill Thunderfist. Or your elf can'y be Seela Treerunner or your gnome Hoppil Hydrospanner. But that's sort of the point IMO of surnames, "titles" and middle names. Give your character a reasonable first name that we may address them by in informal party conversation and then feel free to go crazy with the middle name, last-name or title. As long as Thurgill Nancy Thunderfist the Orcslammer can be referred to as "Thurgill" I'm fine.

Well I wasn't expecting my MechWarrior to live. Or that his name would even be important. Otherwise I'd have written something down.... But the game became a series of linked BT scenarios. And those evolved into a MW RPG campaign.
By that time we were all just referring to my model as Slash. So RP-wise? New characters joining the unit simply knew the guy who piloted the all black Jenner as Slash because that's what the vets called him. His real name has never yet been revealed.
Like someone else said; His name is mundane. His actions.....

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

None of those names strike me as "awesome" and I'd be largely annoyed to have to address another character, in-character, as any of them. I agree that D&D can vary in its level of seriousness and joke names have their place...usually on NPCs that are encountered once or twice to lighten the mood...but not on players who essentially force the party to deal with their name on a very regular basis.

Doesn't mean your dwarf can't be Thurgill Thunderfist. Or your elf can'y be Seela Treerunner or your gnome Hoppil Hydrospanner. But that's sort of the point IMO of surnames, "titles" and middle names. Give your character a reasonable first name that we may address them by in informal party conversation and then feel free to go crazy with the middle name, last-name or title. As long as Thurgill Nancy Thunderfist the Orcslammer can be referred to as "Thurgill" I'm fine.

OTOH, a player in our group chose a nice name for his gnomish monk, and somehow got dubbed "Scooter". It happens.