Lighthearted character names?

[Mallus]

Your gung fu is strong and you are very wise.

Danke shoen...

 

[Lazybones]

I'm setting up an Asian-themed campaign and tried to be loyal to the setting by banning "funny" names in the Player Guide (i.e. no "Kung Pao" or "Wong Wei") and including links to several sites dedicated to Asian naming conventions. Most of my NPCs have Chinese names that are real and actually mean something. It was interesting to learn about the differences in how names work in a totally different culture.

But I left in one shopkeeper, named Lo Pei. Maybe I'm a hypocrite...

 

[Torm]

In a Star Wars campaign, we had a YT-1300 freighter called the "Aluminum Falcon", 'cause it was designed to serve the same purposes as Solo's famous freighter, but had a tendency to crumple like tin foil.

In a Feng Shui game, I named my half-Asian female reporter character Kelly Tang. Not that it wasn't a good name, but I did it because I knew what the other players would make of it.

In a FR campaign, we had a Cleric named Darmok, who had a series of horses, each named "Tenagra I", "Tenagra II", etc. - they kept meeting bad ends. (Both names are a reference to a ST:TNG episode, for the Trek-impaired.)

Not a bad character name, but similiar - in a fantasy WWII campaign I was running, using FR gods, I changed the name of the town of Christchurch in England to Sunechurch.

I agree with what a lot of others have said - clever funny names are cool, but I hate lazy names, like fighters named Bob.

 

[The Shaman]

Years later I came to the realization: they had silly names. In fact, a lot of fantasy characters do. Don't believe me? Try reciting some of Tolkien's names to a non-gamer/non-genre fan. Then explain they all belong to the same person. Or elf...

Hmmm....try reciting some Sanskrit or Bantu or Anglo-Saxon or Old English names to that same person, and you may get a similar reaction.

I think there's a difference between silly and unusual - the latter may sound odd, but the former is deliberately intended to strike a funny chord in the listener. That's not a bad thing, but in the best case it's a chord that bears being struck more than once, otherwise can be as annoying as a car alarm after awhile.

And let's be honest, better writers than any of us here didn't shy away from naming characters Bottom or Mistress Quickly...

Yes, but that writer penned those minor characters specifically as comic relief - neither Bottom nor Mistress Quickly was prince of Denmark or lord of Dunsinane.

 

[WmRAllen67]

Off Topic comment...

... why not d20 Molière?

Actually, I might buy that-- background for France IMC, court intrigue and all that...


We now return you to your regularly scheduled topic...

 

[Mallus]

That's not a bad thing, but in the best case it's a chord that bears being struck more than once, otherwise can be as annoying as a car alarm after awhile.

My question to you is: are lighthearted names any more grating in the long run than more traditional faux-grandiose fantasy ones?

Personally, I like a mix of the two. For instance. I love what Steve Erickson does with names, he has characters like Anomander Rake, Lord of Moon's Spawn and Wielder of Dragnipurake share the stage with Trotts, a soldier named for his umm, excratory habits. He teams Icarium, the Maker of Time with a loyal companion named Mappo Runt...

Yes, but that writer penned those minor characters specifically as comic relief - neither Bottom nor Mistress Quickly was prince of Denmark or lord of Dunsinane.

Sure, the characters I mentioned were comic relief... But its a question of context: how many campaigns have you seen that approach the dramatic heights of Hamlet/Macbeth? The ones I've been in a far closer to Marx Brothers films, albeit ones that feature generous amounts of sword-and-sorcery carnage...

 

[Warehouse23]

My first Starwars (D6-- the one true Starwars system) game featured a smuggling ship called the Silver Dingus. It takes a really tough-as-nails smuggler to stare down a ruffian and ask, "You mean you've never heard of the Silver Dingus"?

Taking a page for LotR, there's nothing wrong with having a nice proper name and funny sounding nickname.

 

[Gez]

The ones I've been in a far closer to Marx Brothers films, albeit ones that feature generous amounts of sword-and-sorcery carnage...

Pictures Groucho as a barbarian (with his cigar), Harpo desguised as an elven sorceress, Chico as a halfling rogue (moving over on his knees, to get the halfling size), etc.

 

[Mallus]

Pictures Groucho as a barbarian (with his cigar), Harpo desguised as an elven sorceress, Chico as a halfling rogue (moving over on his knees, to get the halfling size), etc.

See how how natural this is?

 

[The Shaman]

My question to you is: are lighthearted names any more grating in the long run than more traditional faux-grandiose fantasy ones?

Personally, I like a mix of the two.

Me too. I'm firmly in the "Depends on group, game," et al. camp.

For the games I run I try to create lists of names drawn from real-world languages to provide consistency and variety. I also give NPCs descriptive nicknames as well, based on personal habits, apperance, scatalogical proclivities, &c. and assume that players will do the same.

I'm not suggesting that everyone needs to be saddled with Bromlad Dragonblood Lord of Swordmeet without a nickname like Laddie for his friends. I believe that neither extreme is appropriate for most games.

Sure, the characters I mentioned were comic relief... But its a question of context: how many campaigns have you seen that approach the dramatic heights of Hamlet/Macbeth? The ones I've been in a far closer to Marx Brothers films, albeit ones that feature generous amounts of sword-and-sorcery carnage...

Again, I don't think the games in which I play fall to either end of the spectrum - while we may not reach the heights of Hamlet, I've certainly played in games that in terms of plot and the mix of drama and comedy could pass for The Merchant of Venice, without the poetry of course.