D&D General Adventuring Company Names and What They Are Up To

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

These adventuring company names and descriptions can be:

- Borrowed in their entirety by DMs in need of a party of NPC adventurers.

- Used as inspiration for PC adventuring companies.

- Used as a means for DMs to knit a new group of PCs together before a first session begins, by providing ideas for the group's backstory.

- Anything else you can think of. (And if you do find a use for them, please let me know in this thread.)

Enjoy!

********

NOTE: As time progresses, I will slowly port entries from this list over to my offerings on the DMs Guild. Until then, the offerings will remain here for your use and enjoyment. Good gaming to you!

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

1. The Bloody Banners
A trio of outlander fighters--all survivors of a failed expedition into the Stonelands--form the core of this twelve strong adventuring band. They were fortunate enough to stumble upon a meager cache of healing magic and coin during their lost wanderings. Alongside a handful of other survivors, the trio escaped the Stonelands and made for Arabel where they formed an adventuring party. With new companions at their side the Bloody Banners have set out once more for the Stonelands to revisit the cache, and then to take their revenge on the hobgoblins that nearly slew them.

2. The Cracked Helms
A score of foresters, druids and rangers made up the adventuring band known as the Bright Helms of Tethgard. Thirteen Helms met their doom in the tunnels and caverns beneath the ruin from which they had taken their name. The survivors regrouped, took a new name inspired by the condition of their leader's helm, and left for Greatgaunt. The Cracked Helms explore the lands between the Sunset Mountains and the Stormhorns.

3. Ten From Tyrluk
A mostly ineffective band of youthful farmers and dreamers. The Ten do not hold an adventuring charter. Between them they know the hills and valleys for miles around Tyrluk. The addition to their ranks of a Chancepriest from the Lady's House in Arabel has spurred them to explore more than the first few feet of the interiors of the handful of caves and old ruins the Ten have discovered in their wanderings.

4. The Blades of Blustich
Before they were ever the Blades of Blustich, several members of this soon to be adventuring band discovered a small ship run aground near Blustich. They were attacked by the ship's crew, defeated their foes and discovered the cargo: a handful of Cormyreans destined for slavery. The captives and their saviors joined forces and took the fight to the Cormyrean noble who'd secretly sponsored the ship (whom they captured and turned over to the Crown; he's now serving a term of twenty years incarceration inside the prison keep of Irlingstar). The Blades explore the Hermit's Wood and wander the coast as far as Moonever.

5. The Adventurers in Parchment
This unusually named band of adventurers are comprised of the surviving members of several other adventuring bands that were slaughtered by a tyrannical Amnian moneylender. The coin merchant kept one survivor from each band alive long enough to have them magically bound into a tome. The Amnian was slain and robbed, and his collection of arcana and tomes resold in Suzail during the Festival of Handras. A mage of Cormyr bought the slave tome, discovered the captives within and freed them. The once captive adventurers elected to form a new adventuring company under the guidance of the mage.

6. The Terrible Tankards of Wormtower
This band of adventurers assembled with one goal in mind: recover enough treasure to finance the construction of a proper tavern in Wormtower--one fully stocked with the best drinkables to be had in all of Cormyr. The group are serious in their quest and plan to retire from adventuring when their coin goal is achieved.

7. The Broken Fingers of Marsember
The closest thing to a well-loved band of heroes to be found in Marsember. These adventurers derive their coin through vigilantism, the roughing up of miscreants and cutthroats, openly challenging anyone who thwarts Crown law, and challenging Crown officials who use the law for selfish ends. They enjoy breaking fingers and have earned a long list of enemies.

8. The Free Gnomes
Comprised entirely of outcast gnomes, this group of thieves and explorers is led by a charismatic gnome priest. The Free Gnomes explore the castles and mansions of Cormyrean nobles and the well to do, looking for signs of gnome habitation with the intent to recover relics and possessions of any gnomes that might have lived there. Not a few such buildings have entire rooms, pathways and living spaces built into them that are sized for gnomes, many of which have been forgotten about by their human inhabitants. The Free Gnomes are active in Suzail.

9. The Sails of Margrath's Rest
A mixed bunch of scavengers, sailors and bullyblades that banded together to overcome the hazards native to the ship graveyard called Margrath's Rest (located along the cost of the Dragonmere, west of Suzail). Together they discovered treasures hidden away in the hulls of a pair of scuttled ships. The Sails have since relocated to Suzail and purchased a ship of their own. Now they sail the Dragonmere in search of adventure.

10. The Guardians of Stonewatch
The original name for this band of adventurers has been lost to time. Each died on the battlements of Stonewatch while defending refugees assembled inside the garrison keep from massed forces of goblins and orcs during Cormyr's war against Nalavarra the Devil Dragon. The ghosts of the eight adventurers linger in and around the castle, chilling the bones of soldiers who fall asleep on watch and haunting anyone who is derelict in their duties. The eight are buried below the castle, their tomb manned at all hours by a lone Dragon (soldier) on watch.

 

[coolgamertagbro]

I play a PC (Fighter, Mystic Knight archetype) who runs an adventuring company called the Sterling Vermin and he literally works just to improve his home city. When he gets a big haul he plans to start funding orphanages and other public works but, for the time being, he is struggling to get work just to make a positive impact on the city.

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

Ten more adventuring companies, with short descriptions.

Enjoy!


1. Samdaer's Doomaxe
A giant of a Tethyrean led this band of adventurers. The Doomaxe was active in Cormyr and parts west as far as Darkhold. Forces from that grim structure hunted Samdaer and his comrades, waylaying them in Hluthvar. Samdaer fell in battle surrounded by a ring of Zhent corpses, as did most of the Doomaxe. If any of their number still live, they are likely to be found in Cormyr, along with whatever treasure they stole from the heart of Darkhold.

2. Durligo's Twelve Arrows
Expert bowmen, rock climbers and foresters. Some carry longbows as tall as a grown man that can launch an arrow a quarter mile and pierce the strongest of nonmagical armor. The Arrows range up and down the Stormhorns along Cormyr's western flank. When not poking around in tunnels and caves, the Arrows entertain themselves by climbing mountainsides and firing arrows from up high at targets in the valley below. This is also how they send messages.

4. Company of the Black Tear
Secretly followers of Myrkul. This group of adventurers roams northern Cormyr, the Stonelands and north into the Dales, ever on the lookout for lost temples, regalia and artifacts sacred to Myrkul's faith. Their leader is a potent cleric masquerading as a priest of Kelemvor. He casts ritual divinations daily that guide the Black Tear in their quests. They keep their loot in an abandoned mine north of Tilver's Gap.

5. Company of the Blazing Firewind
A band of Cormyrean adventurers better known in Sembia than in their homeland. One or more of their number possess magic capable of summoning walls of fire that can be shaped and moved about at will. The Firewind hires on as expensive caravan guards and are expert arsonists--the later activity necessitating the former when the adventurers must needs leave an area quickly.

7. The Four From Immersea
A quartet of adventurers: fighter, thief, priest and mage. Experienced veterans, with ties to Aglarond thanks to a long year of adventuring there. Battled a dragon to a standoff underneath the Desertsmouth Mountains. Lured a nest of Medusae through a portal that led to the Spiderhaunt Woods, then sealed it off so they could plunder the newly abandoned lair.

8. The Nine Gorgons of Battlerise
Never ones to shirk from a fight. The Gorgons are swift to anger at injustice done to goodly people and will bend or break the law to set matters aright. Thus are they frequent visitors to the stockade at Azoun's Hold. The handful of abandoned keeps and unkempt coastal estates to the south of Daerlun have captured the Gorgon's interest. They wear disguises when operating in Daerlun.

9. The Knightshields of Dhedluk
An honorable band of adventurers who've made a name for themselves in the King's Forrest.

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

This evening's ten adventuring companies are brought to you by our sponsors:

Thank God My Children Are Finally Asleep™

and

Now I Have Time to Write!™

Both are great products.


1. The Slydaggers
Hardblade mercenaries and cutthroats from the Moonsea and Dragonreach. The Slydaggers are recent arrivals in Cormyr, all believing it to be a soft place ripe for plunder. They've set themselves up as no questions asked problem solvers and eliminators of adventurers, and plan to turn on any patron they come to work for after earning their patron's trust.

2. The Twelvefold Trollkillers
A group of upland Sembians with experience fighting in the Dales and in Sembia proper. The Trollkillers left Sembia for Cormyr, and found adventure in the woods of Semberholme and the foothills of the Thunder Peaks while traveling on the East Way. Their name is a recent acquisition, thanks to a bloody battle in the Hullack Forest that saw the Trollkillers defend a caravan of refugees from four-armed trolls swarming out of the woods. They reside in Arabel.

3. The Glimmerboots
All sons and daughters of a long lived, unscrupulous ship merchant cum pirate and his crew. That pirate would send his men to collect their bastard children on their twelfth birthdays and take them aboard ship, feed them full of food and poison them to die in their sleep. The next day would see a ritual feast made from the corpses for the crew to consume and absorb their vitality. The captain would keep a thigh bone from each victim to decorate the walls of his cabin. The Glimmerboots sail their enchanted ship to ports of call in Cormyr, Sembia, Westgate and the Vilhon, and battle pirates, cutthroats, slavers and nefarious merchant cabals.

4. The Skullcloaks of Sunset Hill
All wear hooded cloaks capable of conjuring a grinning skull over the wearer's face whenever the hood is pulled up over the head. Stories and rumor have assigned other powers to the cloaks, such as darkvision and immunity from the deleterious touch or certain undead. This ten strong band is led by a pair of she elves and includes four mages from Scornubel that look exactly alike.

5. The Wildblades of Suzail
A group of bored and restless third, fourth and fifth in line sons and daughters of Cormyrean nobles who stand far back in line of inheritance, that have heard of the "wildblade" lords of Waterdeep that run wild up and down the Sword Coast and have taken that word as the name for their adventuring band.

6. The Company of the Dead Barge
All were poisoned and left to die, their bodies piled up with corpses of the nameless dead on a barge set to burn in the waters of Marsember.[1] They awoke in time and escaped into the water, then formed a band to pursue their attackers in the city. Their numbers have since doubled with the addition of castoffs from a band of mercenaries run out of Westgate.

7. The Surly Anandjacks of Arabel
As their name suggests, the Surly Anandjacks are former servants. They all shared an affinity for disobedience and threw in together to find a life of adventure. Before departing Arabel for the wilder parts of Cormyr and beyond, the Anandjacks absconded from the places where they had toiled certain maps and chapbooks detailing old ruins, dungeons and caves in the lands west of the Dales. Unbeknownst to them, bounty hunters and other adventurers have been hired to hunt them down and retrieve the stolen items.

8. Lightheart's Bloody Hammers
A hulking warrior maiden leads this band of hammer-swinging dwarves. Lightheart is the only human in the group, and speaks for the Hammers in all matters.

9. The Moondelvers of Priapurl
Adventurers with a taste for unexplored elf ruins, the dangerous the better. The Moondelvers are amassing a collection of Elven artifacts, all of which are shipped to Priapurl.

10. Blackthroat's Tyrant Kings
Followers of the teachings of Aumarrath, an early prophet of Bane. Each member is an accomplished (even if only in his or her mind) master at their chosen adventuring field. The Tyrant Kings do not flaunt their faith in places like Cormyr. Instead they adhere to the rule of law and quietly dispatch their own harsh brand of justice on anyone or anything they see the law as having failed to judge or punish adequately. They seek to influence the powerful in Cormyr, and have found patrons amongst the lesser nobility.


[1] "Dead barge cremations" are the means by which Marsembans rid themselves of their excess dead.

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

Forty More Adventuring Company Names

Company names in color are hyperlinked to a description for the adventurers later in the thread.

****

1. The Ghost Knights

2. The Blind Beholders

3. The Sarrukh Slayers

4. The Haunted Battlepriests

5. The Magekillers of Gulthandor

6. The Avengers of Moryndrar

7. The Serpentslayers of Chavyondat

8. The Widowed Nighthaunts

9. The Wandering Warpriests

10. Tybold's Terrible Shields

11. The Grimblades

12. Foes of the Cauldron

13. The Warders of the Hullack

14. Oromanche's Doomseekers

15. The Sundered Skulls

16. Hornshulder's Loyal Blades

17. Cathcatch's Doomed Friends

18. The Maidenseekers of Purdrim

19. The Company of the Arrogant Quill

20. The Company of the Dead Apprentice

21. The Scions of the Talking Door

22. The Blade Heralds of Ormpur

23. The Company of the Bold Axe

24. Friends of the Arshryke

25. The Cowled Nightlords of Westgate

26. The Hands of the Watchfan

27. Brightboots and Bloodcoins, Adventurers For Hire

28. The Company of the Runewight

29. The Company of the Howling Mine

30. Velahoondelar's Wagontamers

31. The Company of the Mirror Ghost

32. The Company of Helm and Heart

33. The Hammerfoot

34. Seekers of the Keyhole

35. The Quietcloaks of Slingdyke

36. The Company of the Dead Sembian

37. The Keg Crushers of Moonever

38. The Lanceknights of Monksblade

39. The Company of the Stolen Elf

40. The Company of the Crestfallen Imp

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

Halvarl’s Lost Swords


Based out of Asbravn, Halvarl’s Lost Swords are noteworthy for being discovered in petrified form amongst a group of fallen down statues scattered across a valley abutting the tall peaks of the Sunset Mountains.[1]

Though Halvarl and four others were freed, time and the elements reduced the majority of Halvarl’s companions to broken, weather-beaten stone, and they could not be saved. [2]

The shattered remains of Halvarl’s comrades and the alien, out of touch ways of his companions lent credibility to a most startling claim: the five individuals that would become the Lost Swords hailed from a time when the lands of Teshar and Anauria still existed, and there was only the Great Sand Sea, not Anauroch.[3]

Little is known about the Lost Swords, other than their origin: In the Year of the Tusk (112 DR), Halvarl fled his home along the southern coast of the Sea of Fallen Stars and traveled by boat to Suzail where he assembled a twelve-strong band of adventurers with the intent of battling the monsters and mercenary wizards forever harrying the nascent kingdom of Cormyr, not knowing the adventurers were destined to be frozen in time for the next 1300 years.

Cormyrean sages believe at least two of the Swords are natives of Asram, that all but one of the Swords hailing from Suzail perished in statue form, and that save for Halvarl all the survivors are women.[4]

Halvarl is a skilled fighter and expert at negotiating, and all the Lost Swords are superior horse riders. The specific abilities of the other Swords are a mystery to those not native to Asbravn.

And it is in Asbravn where the Swords have busied themselves with gathering information about the new world they live in from the many merchants and travelers that pass through the town, and with assisting the Riders in Red Cloaks[5] in driving off Zhentarim aggressors. The catacombs beneath Asbravn have piqued the Lost Swords' interest as well.

None but Halvarl speaks for the Lost Swords.


[1] The Lost Swords were both discovered and freed by another adventuring company: the Five Bright Blades of Cormyr. The Bright Blades did not linger; well before Halvarl and his companions found their way to Asbravn, the Bright Blades had already arrived in Suzail, there to petition the ruler of all Cormyr for a private audience. Rumorfire burned bright through Suzail when word passed from the Royal Court to greater Suzail that not only was the audience granted, but a mysterious woman was revealed by the leader of the Bright Blades. Most assume her to be a lost Royal, but others claim she is of the blood of one of the families Silver.

[2] “Or they were released during the Time of Troubles or the Spellplague, when magic was not so reliable. There are tales of men and women from the past appearing in the wake of each of these calamitous events.” This from the doomed sage Loagrandboydar, and written as part of his regular correspondence with the monks of Sagekeep before he fell prey to magical calamity in the depths of the Royal Palace of the Purple Dragon. (See page 302 of the novel “Bury Elminster Deep”.)

[3] Though Halvarl will go on at length about the world as he knew it (to anyone he befriends and learns to trust, mind), he will not speak of his fallen comrades and has never willingly told anyone the name of the adventuring company he founded in Suzail.

[4] As overheard at the headquarters of the Society of Stalwart Adventurers in Suzail by a well-dressed and always hooded figure known as the Rogue Cloak—a thief who’s been kicked out of the Society and then readmitted numerous times. The Rogue Cloak listened in as members of the Five Bright Blades recounted their discovery of the Lost Swords, and then sold an account of that conversation to sages specializing in adventurer lore and the history of Cormyr and the surrounding lands. For their part the members of the Blades have let it be known that when next they encounter the Rogue Cloak they intend to remove his (or her) tongue and nail it to the Society’s front door as a reminder to all that what is said within its walls is to remain within those walls.

[5] Asbravn’s volunteer militia. See the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, page 225.

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

The Company of the Crimson Manticore


This eclectic mix of adventurers ranges up and down the Sword Coast from Calimshan to Luskan, and as far inland as Thay. The Manticores are expert horsemen and ride trained mounts that are equal to their masters in terms of bravery and resolve in the face of danger, and quite possibly in intelligence.

Between them the Manticores speak over a dozen languages, and all share a love of horses. Wanderlust is a common trait in their ranks, as is a deep hatred for any who block the road.

The Company of the Crimson Manticore started out as a specialized escort service based in Waterdeep—one that catered to elves seeking armed and mounted protection while traveling along the human-infested roads of Faerûn.

The needs of the elves coupled with the dangers to be found as one traveled from Waterdeep to destinations all over the continent required the very best of the escorts, so Elnithor wasted no time in recruiting those he judged best suited to task and terrain, whether half-elf or human, and often from the destinations his customers had in mind.

As Elnithor’s business grew, he passed the reigns of responsibility to his daughters and took to the road with his most trusted lieutenants to settle scores tallied up in previous roadside skirmishes.

For three decades the Manticores have exterminated brigands, highwaymen and anyone who dares to block their path. They hunt those who harm and attack elves and half-elves, and readily share their wrath with hunters of halflings and anyone known to clear-cut woodlands and attack the supernatural denizens of the forests.

The Manticores are known for not seeking fame so much as trouble, which has led them into conflict with local authorities more than once. Nevertheless they are welcomed and appreciated in most woodland settlements where elves and half-elves live, and trade caravans are eager to partner with them for as long as they share the same road.

Time has not blunted Elnithor’s zeal, and as his holdings have grown in Waterdeep (along with his grandchildren) he has recruited and replenished the ranks of the Manticores from within his own family and that of his retired lieutenants.

It is unheard of for Elnithor to winter anywhere other than Waterdeep, though in the cold months his lieutenants can be found Faerûn-over, just as the enemies of the Manticores are many, and spread across the face of the continent.


The most current roster of the Manticores is:

• Elnithor of Farmeadows, 5th level sorcerer, 8th level ranger, CG, elven male, leader
• Zazphrombelar of Almraiven, 11th level elven fighter, NG, male
• Jalassa Weepingtree, 7th level thief/3rd level fighter, CG, half-elf female
• Murlanthra “Many Spells” Martolk, 10th level half-elf wizard, CG, female
• Stornalad of Tangled Trees, 10th level fighter, NG, human male
• Sasbrenor the Stormbringer, 9th level half-elf cleric of Talos, CG, male
• Horskald, 8th level barbarian, CG, human male
• Thut-hakh, 7th level monk of Ilmater, CG, half-ogre male

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

Harbold’s Hellraisers

After two years and three months on EN World, Harbold's Hellraisers are making their way to my next DMs Guild offering.

I hope you found something useful in their writeup.

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

More adventuring company names follow. They were inspired by places and hidden things in and around Cormyr, and to a lesser degree the wider Forgotten Realms.

Company names in color are hyperlinked to a description for the adventurers later in the thread.


1. The Six Bold Bards
2. The Company of the Bottled Fiend
3. The Maiden Thieves of Crownpost
4. The Scarlet Knights of Halfhap
5. The Brothers of the Rose Altar
6. Sendever’s Five Shields
7. The Company of the Three Curses
8. The Seekers of the Sleeping Rings
9. The Sly Lanterns
10. Omkurl’s Ready Blades

11. The Seekers of the Night Helm (There’s at least one in Cormyr. Honest!)
12. The Wizards of the Endless Well
13. Thalowood’s Devil Hunters
14. The Fighting Flagons of Bospir
15. The Chancepriests of Arabel
16. The Dragonfangs
17. The Company of the Sleeping Wyvern
18. The Eel Lords of Margrath’s Rest
19. The Blackened Gargoyles of Thunderstone
20. The Company of the Pearl Serpent

21. Alendue’s Winking Gems
22. The Dread Door Wardens
23. The Swiftslayers of Ghars
24. The Men of the Horngate
25. Yeladra’s Fearsome Axes
26. The Torch Drinkers of Bogbrook
27. The Company of the Dueling Ghosts
28. Solatha’s Sorcerers
29. The Company of the White Lynx
30. The Company of the Angry Chamber Pot