Cheeky players.... what would you do?

[Arnwyn]

If you were DM and your players did the above, what would you do?

First, I'd wait and see to confirm if they were serious or not.

If serious, I'd tell them to "come up with better names, dumbasses". (Of course, that's just me and my particular group. I take no responsibility for the outcome of using this approach when used with other groups. )

The DM's "job" and responsibility is to create a game that his/her players will enjoy.

Hell no. It's the DM's responsibility to create a game that's fun for everyone - including the DM. If I, as DM, am not having fun, then the game's a no-go.

Remember, the players are the customers, and you can't DM if you don't have them.

And then I can do better things in my life than work heavily on a game that's no fun for me. If they're my "customers" (which is nonsense, of course), then I expect to be compensated. Thankfully, they're not and I don't - we're all friends.

(I think I know what you're trying to say though - both the players and DM should talk before starting a campaign to make sure everyone is on the same page with the likes and dislikes. Too bad you said it so poorly.)

 

[Agemegos]

Remember, the players are the customers, and you can't DM if you don't have them.

Customers, are they? Well, I charge $55 per hour, including prep time. And a licence for my proprietary background material is a steal at $20 per person. But I'll monitor ENworld for no extra cost.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

Personally I'd run with it, but I'd also turn things on their heads just to get the players back. Just because they are goofing and choosing the archetype names does not mean they actually want a Satr Wars game. So, I'd just let them play in whatever I was planning on running and then every once in a while I'd throw in my own SW references into the game, but sometimes with a twist to keep reminding them that they asked for it BUT it is not Star Wars.

Create an NPC who is to help the party, dress him in black armor and name him Vader, but have him be a real help, not a villan. I know almost nothing about Eberron, but maybe have a Warforged academy run by an order of gnomes with glowing eyes called Jawas. Things like that.

 

[Geoff Watson]

I'd ignore it, and play as if they had 'sensible' names.

I have a hard time coming up with 'good' names, anyway, so I don't mind too much if the names aren't that great.

I'd see how things go. I might use other Star Wars names for NPCs, depending on how the 'goofy' PCs are played.

Geoff.

 

[Kale78]

I agree you should run a game your players want to play in, but if they do not want to play what you do - get a new set of players. The DM is the engine that keeps the game running - players generally bring very little to the game.

Are you serious? Players add little to the game? Then what is the point, play without players, or sit down and write a fantasy novel instead of running a campaign. And finding new players is not that easy, there's only 3.5 million of us scattered around the world, that's not terribly many. While I agree the silliness can get annoying I think you're off target, DM's are often as much trouble as players.

 

[scourger]

I played in a Star Wars game that the other players turned into D&D in space: kill an intergalactic monster and take its treasure; but I've never heard of players truning a D&D game into Star Wars. It could be cool if you want them to play heroic characters. I would love to do an all-Jedi-type campaign with Gestalt Paladin/Rogue/Sorcerers.

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

Such has been a thorn in my gaming side for YEARS. It bugs me no end when players name their characters with, for instance, Roman names when the Romans never existed in my campaign, or use a "real world" name in a fantasy setting where names like Michael or Gilhoolie (yes...I currently have a Gilhoolie in my game) would not be found. But, I let them. We get to play so very very infrequently, it's not worth fighting over.

We did recently have a very short lived Star Wars game (the GM is notorious for playing up a campaign, running 3 sessions, and dropping it) where the characters were named Link N. Logg (my 10 year old son's Jedi), Sebeyshus J. Sisst (my scoundrel), and Keel Basa (a soldier). There were a couple others just as bad, but the group's consensus was to make the game fun for all because we knew it wouldn't last.

So...it's your call as the DM. It's not worth fighting for on my end.

 

[The It's Man]

(...)
I face the frustration of players who get too goofy at the table from time-to-time. I veto names, I ignore out of campaign remarks, I interupt lame puns, and there is an XP penalty for Monte Python quotes. (...)

/me makes note not to play in Pogre's game .

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

Such has been a thorn in my gaming side for YEARS. It bugs me no end when players name their characters with, for instance, Roman names when the Romans never existed in my campaign, or use a "real world" name in a fantasy setting where names like Michael or Gilhoolie (yes...I currently have a Gilhoolie in my game) would not be found. But, I let them. We get to play so very very infrequently, it's not worth fighting over.

Plus, are you giving them lists of names to pick from? Or pointing in that direction?

If no direction is given, then you shouldn't expect people to find names that
go with what you expect.

Heck, for a friend's homebrew, I came up with my character's name using the names of two health insurances...CIGNA and Pacificare. I mixed them up a bit and came up with what's now my login name.

Brad

 

[Saeviomagy]

Such has been a thorn in my gaming side for YEARS. It bugs me no end when players name their characters with, for instance, Roman names when the Romans never existed in my campaign, or use a "real world" name in a fantasy setting where names like Michael or Gilhoolie (yes...I currently have a Gilhoolie in my game) would not be found. But, I let them. We get to play so very very infrequently, it's not worth fighting over.

So what do you want for names? Rummages through a scrabble box? Lots of apostrophes?

Frankly - if someone comes up with a roman name in D&D, then just think of his home culture as "slightly romany". If he comes up with something that sounds asian, go with "slightly asian" etc.

You don't need to go the whole hog and assume that the only place that roman names could ever possibly exist is rome, or you're barring an awful lot of pronouncable combinations of letters.

Personally I find scrabble names far more offensive than ones concocted from real-world personalities or pseudo-real-world cultures.