Fantasy Gaming Names

[Chainsaw]

Names should fit the setting. Really peculiar names (relative to the setting) need a really good backstory.

I agree.

 

[Chainsaw]

Sometimes its about presenting an image to the world...a bluff. Chamoflage.

Check out the names of rappers or metal musicians- 2 groups known for colorful stage names- who are just starting out.

Other times, a name like "Bloodstalker of the Black Swamp" might be a family or cultural name. A Native American friend of mine has an uncle named "Whitekiller." AFAIK, he didn't earn the moniker. In addition, names like "Smith" "Cooper" and "Tanner" all derived from professions...the same could be happening in the Black Swamps, where "Bloodstalker" was a particular job within a tribe, and the PC's family was associated with it for so many generations that it became the family name.

And then there was Terry Pratchett's take on Dwarven names- how "Axebiter" and the like were just names chosen when Dwarves "left the mines" to seek their fortunes as adventurers.

As for Wizards named John?

Don't forget Tim the Enchanter...and this guy:
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If I were DM'ing a group with a guy who came up with a creative backstory for his Ultimate Destructor, then fine.. but it needs to make sense within the context of the game. My experience is that these types of names are usually not actually attached to a whole lot of thought - in fact, in my experience, they're designed to avoid having to do a whole lot of thought. It's easier to invent a 'cool' name than make the character cool through role playing. If someone in your or another group can do both, more power to him. I just haven't seen it played out like that very often.

Underlining for emphasis that I'm not trying to making sweeping statements about the motivations of everyone who ever picked Fistandantilus Bloodstalker of the Blackswamp as the name for their level one guy..

 

[The Ghost]

I cannot stand real world names in my games.

I will kill the character and, if necessary, the player because it's too easy for the game's banter ("so you're really sorcerer called John?") to break the verisimilitude.

There are plenty of name generators around and I would much rather they were used... unless the result has apostrophes. So I would broaden the rule to be no real world names or names that sound like R A Salvatore would use in one of his "novels" or, worse yet, names that one of R A Salvatore's fanbois would use in their fan fiction.

:Shrug:

I like real world names for my characters and NPCs. Currently I am playing: Rhys of Elmshire; Masoud of Ket; Kristil of the Brightaxe; and Virgil the Wary Swordknight.

 

[Chainsaw]

We have a guy new to 4E in my current 4E group who created a fighter named "Mark." We all chuckled when he said his fighter's name was "Mark." Everyone was like, "Hmm.. makes sense, I guess." After a single game of hearing his "name" tossed about constantly in battle, however, he changed it. Haha!

 

[Theroc]

We had a character named Brother Mannheim years ago. The player had a hard time figuring out a name since he was new, loved Mannheim Steamroller, so we stole it.

Personally, I think there's a disconnect if you use real-world names in fantasy. We are trained to think in terms of escaping the real world, heading into a world of fantasy where even the names are fantastical.

For example, I knew a guy once who used his own name in every one of his character's names. So you had Brother Jim, Jim the Flim-Flam Man, etc. Those types of names take you out of the moment.

When you hear a name like Paladian Dragonhelm, you get into the groove of the story. That has the feel of a fantasy name.

Now, you can combine real-world and fantasy to some degree. Paladian's older brother was John Dragonhelm. That still worked out.

Another thing you can do is to take a real world name, and change the spelling. For example, there's a Dragonlance character named Aran Tallbow. Familiar first name, but spelled differently.

I think it all boils down to mood and tone. Go with a name that suits your character in your world, whether it's fantasy, sci-fi, or what have you.

Yeah, I was at a loss for a surname, and figured Fleetwood would fit, so I took it.

As to the other comments about generic names, my dad played D&D "back in the day" I'm not sure the precise edition, but I believe it was pre AD&D.

Anyways, he had Tarl Bloodaxe, a Dwarven fighter(who ended up with a pegleg after he let the group control his character in a session he missed), Joe Magic, the wizard (who I believe got a familiar at third level, an Owl named Al.), and Zot(I think), who was a rogue/assassin type.

So, fairly basic first names with a moniker or evocative clan name, except Zot, who was a mysterious guy anyway.

 

[Barastrondo]

My brother has a penchant for naming fantasy characters after real-world cities. So, he winds up playing Mosul or Oslo the Black or Turin.

Euphony is pretty important to me. I frequently try to avoid real-world names when running a game because I feel they may give the wrong impression (such as "hey, this fantasy nation must have a culture pretty much like a historical culture where this name was popular"), but they have to sound good. I'll dabble with real-world names when I play, depending on the setting, but I want to make sure they don't come with the wrong connotations.

Plus, avoiding real-world names helps me avoid pop-culture jokes from players who've seen stuff I haven't. Last thing I want is everyone quoting Buffy because I mistakenly gave a character a name that Joss Whedon also liked. (After all, I can't resist either; name a character John Smith and I'd probably be making Pocahontas and A-Team jokes along with everyone else.)

 

[Desdichado]

Euphony is pretty important to me. I frequently try to avoid real-world names when running a game because I feel they may give the wrong impression (such as "hey, this fantasy nation must have a culture pretty much like a historical culture where this name was popular"), but they have to sound good. I'll dabble with real-world names when I play, depending on the setting, but I want to make sure they don't come with the wrong connotations.

That describes me, too. Lately, my "thing" has been names that are vaguely Mediterranean. Not too Spanish, not too Italian, but evocative of them nonetheless. Sometimes I raid Catalan and Provençal namelists, because they're just exotic enough to not come with the wrong connotations, and just familiar enough to not be just a rambling jumble of letters.

For that same reason, I hate "kenning" names, with blood or dark or strong or whatever in them. HATE. I never use them and never really have.

 

[Thunderfoot]

<SNIP> So you were a simple town guard named Ratholanious Talekanian? And nobody thought to give you a nickname?

Hey, Rat-Tale!!!! Yep, that's how nicknames are born!

I do have a tip for those that want real sounding names with a bit of the exotic. I once had a list of three hundred or so names and (in 2e) gave the players a 50 xp bonus for using names from the list and a 200xp bonus (one-time) if they could figure out where the list came from.

The list was garnered from the Index of the National Geographic Atlas of the World. Realistic sounding because they are, exotic because, they are that too. Try looking it at and see for yourself.

 

[Ssadral]

I've decided to ban all names, because the names my players chose were so awful. Now we just use numbers.

I am not a number, I am a free man!

 

[The Ghost]

Plus, avoiding real-world names helps me avoid pop-culture jokes from players who've seen stuff I haven't. Last thing I want is everyone quoting Buffy because I mistakenly gave a character a name that Joss Whedon also liked.

Hah! A few years ago I joined a Mutants & Masterminds game - until that point I knew little about comics - I made up my character and was looking for a name so I grabbed two books off of my shelf. Emma by Jane Austen and a book of poetry by Robert Frost so... Emma Frost. Needless to say everyone else had a good laugh.

(After all, I can't resist either; name a character John Smith and I'd probably be making Pocahontas and A-Team jokes along with everyone else.)

Weird. We make jokes about players who give their characters strange names. My character Rhys is currently traveling with another character names Oaen (pronounced as Owen). Of course, none of us pronounce his name and instead call him O.A.E.N. saying each letter. To each group their own, I suppose.