There's a huge degree of difference between wanting characters and NPCs to have names that fit the tone of the campaign and lecturing on the history of why copper pieces are called canaries in Ghurtyef'flan'd. (Feel free to add umlauts and accents where necessary.) If the game is humorous, play humorous; if serious, play serious. Playing against the grain is being the jerk.
That's what I was getting at.
Yes, really; and he went on to a grand career as first a Cavalier, then later a Paladin. One of the longer-lasting characters in that campaign.
For that I am glad. I'm glad you had fun. Hell, I wouldn't have given you
too much flak for it, though I would have raised an eyebrow.
I think we have a vastly VASTLY different take-it-seriously level, you and I.
There's where you're coming a cropper, mate. It's not about "taking it seriously." It's about not being a wankpuppet. If you look around the table at characters with appropriate names and deliberately trot out "Sir Kalvin of Hobbes," you're just being a jerk.
Er...someone who wants to put a little humour in the situation? Hardly my definition of a wankpuppet.
Depends. If you're* so self-centered you impose your humor** on people who don't really want it, if the only person amused is you, then yeah, you're a wankpuppet. That's what I'm talking about.
So you wouldn't be impressed with my Elena, then, whose name is an acronym for what she is; or Aelyina (a shortened form of Aelinelaure which came from randomly rolling on a letter generation table otherwise known as a Scrabble board); or Eohyl Eriglif (also from the letter table). These are all characters I've played, past or present, and in all cases the name ended up fitting the character just fine.
As difficult as it might be to believe, I don't have a problem with any of those. Those are at least suitably "fantasy," even Elena, which is somewhat exotic. It's not Sir Kalvin of Hobbes, or Fighty McFightface, or Bob the Cleric.
Suitable is in the eye of the beholder.
True dat! If it weren't, we wouldn't be having this discussion.
Let me put it like this. For me, if it's my regular Wednesday AL game (like I'm off to in a matter of minutes), who cares? Nobody at that table is invested in Storm King's Thunder. We're scalpin' Nazis, not creating a collaborative story. Hell, nobody really roleplays; it's an exercise in killin' giants, more of a wargame than an RPG. So names don't matter even one little bit. If you want to try to be funny, have at it.
My home table is different. There, we're engaged in collaborative storytelling. It's just plain rude to insert Fighty McFightface into an exercise where everyone else is committed to the story. It shows you care more about your cheap joke than anyone else at the table. I don't think that kind of behavior is defensible. It's not about BadWrongFun, either, in terms of the game; it's about being able to interact with other human beings with sensitivity, i.e., not being a selfish wankpuppet.
A creative pun or twist on a name (e.g. good ol' Sir Kalvin) is to me more inventive than simply looking something up online and has the added value of a bit of amusement.
Creative and
inventive do not necessarily equal
appropriate. That's all I'm saying.
Regards,
Bob
www.r-p-davis.com
* Here I'm using the colloquial "you," not intending you personally.
** For a given value of "humor."