In a recent discussion of Robin's Laws of Good Game Mastering, ColonelHardisson suggested roleplayingtips.com for, well, roleplaying tips. I enjoyed this little tidbit from an archived issue:
Generate Awesome Sounding Magic Weapon Names
From: John H.
Names hold power. Throughout time, beliefs persist that knowing the true name of someone (or something) provides some control over the named one. Names are descriptive, running from the simple job title to the awe- or fear- inspiring surname sported by heroes and fiends of renown.
While the former are useful, it's the latter names that I think about when generating treasure hordes or interesting legends. To that end, I put together a few brief tables of synonyms, grouped (loosely) by type. I know that by going through a thesaurus, I could no doubt generate enough terms to last a lifetime of campaigns. As it is, the tables below fit nicely into the back of my Dungeon Master's Guide and provide enough raw data to formulate my own awe-inspiring weapons (well, the names at least).
As it stands, I've no alignment terms due to both not having enough words and in an effort to keep this list fairly generic. While the lists are primarily intended for use as suffixes to weapon, monster, or body part terms (like sword, goblin, or head), some of the words make decent prefixes as well.
For example:
Trollsear (flaming troll bane weapon)
Rimefang (cold piercing weapon)
Heartseeker (enhanced "to hit" weapon -- most likely piercing)
Stormcaller (electrical weapon)
Runeripper (anti-magical or anti-mage slashing weapon)
Goblindoom (goblin bane weapon)
Elfcutter (elf bane slashing weapon)
Headknocker (enhanced "to hit" blunt weapon)
Skullcrusher (enhanced "damage" blunt weapon)
Flamerend (flaming slashing weapon) OR (cold-based fire bane weapon)
Frostbringer (cold weapon)
Here are the charts:
Bane Weapons (d8):
Foe
Death
Bane
Slayer
Fear
Ruin
Doom
End
Fire Weapons (d6):
Flame
Fire
Sear
Heat
Burn
Pyre
Cold Weapons (d6):
Rime
Hoar
Frost
Ice
Chill
Cold
Useful Suffixes (d8):
Caller
Taker
Maker
Giver
Bringer
Seeker
Finder
Sender
Electrical Weapons (d6):
Bolt
Shock
Blast
Flash
Lightning
Storm
Blunt Weapons (d6):
Hammer
Crusher
Knocker
Basher
Grinder
Thumper
Pointed Weapons (d4):
Piercer
Fang / Tooth
Sting
Bite(r)
Slashing Weapons (d6):
Splitter
Razor
Claw
Rend
Cutter
Ripper
Magic Prefixes (d4):
Spell
Magic
Rune
Dweomer
Generate Awesome Sounding Magic Weapon Names
From: John H.
Names hold power. Throughout time, beliefs persist that knowing the true name of someone (or something) provides some control over the named one. Names are descriptive, running from the simple job title to the awe- or fear- inspiring surname sported by heroes and fiends of renown.
While the former are useful, it's the latter names that I think about when generating treasure hordes or interesting legends. To that end, I put together a few brief tables of synonyms, grouped (loosely) by type. I know that by going through a thesaurus, I could no doubt generate enough terms to last a lifetime of campaigns. As it is, the tables below fit nicely into the back of my Dungeon Master's Guide and provide enough raw data to formulate my own awe-inspiring weapons (well, the names at least).
As it stands, I've no alignment terms due to both not having enough words and in an effort to keep this list fairly generic. While the lists are primarily intended for use as suffixes to weapon, monster, or body part terms (like sword, goblin, or head), some of the words make decent prefixes as well.
For example:
Trollsear (flaming troll bane weapon)
Rimefang (cold piercing weapon)
Heartseeker (enhanced "to hit" weapon -- most likely piercing)
Stormcaller (electrical weapon)
Runeripper (anti-magical or anti-mage slashing weapon)
Goblindoom (goblin bane weapon)
Elfcutter (elf bane slashing weapon)
Headknocker (enhanced "to hit" blunt weapon)
Skullcrusher (enhanced "damage" blunt weapon)
Flamerend (flaming slashing weapon) OR (cold-based fire bane weapon)
Frostbringer (cold weapon)
Here are the charts:
Bane Weapons (d8):
Foe
Death
Bane
Slayer
Fear
Ruin
Doom
End
Fire Weapons (d6):
Flame
Fire
Sear
Heat
Burn
Pyre
Cold Weapons (d6):
Rime
Hoar
Frost
Ice
Chill
Cold
Useful Suffixes (d8):
Caller
Taker
Maker
Giver
Bringer
Seeker
Finder
Sender
Electrical Weapons (d6):
Bolt
Shock
Blast
Flash
Lightning
Storm
Blunt Weapons (d6):
Hammer
Crusher
Knocker
Basher
Grinder
Thumper
Pointed Weapons (d4):
Piercer
Fang / Tooth
Sting
Bite(r)
Slashing Weapons (d6):
Splitter
Razor
Claw
Rend
Cutter
Ripper
Magic Prefixes (d4):
Spell
Magic
Rune
Dweomer
