Naming a bad guy help

[Omegaxicor]

I have a design for a world in which we have started a campaign but while I have most of the information I have struggled for days to come up with a convincing set of evil guys, I have the "Sauron" character (that isn't the name of the character) but his/her lieutenants are a problem.

I thought of having the lieutenants specialising in Stealth, Siege, Spells, etc but that seems 'tacky' and unimaginative, I have four lieutenants to design but I'm not sure of a good way to differentiate one from another and how to build them. I want each one to have a "title" that common folk identify them as rather than an actual name but I want to avoid silly sounding things.

I have ideas but I was hoping to get some ideas that aren't my normal line of thinking because my players will be prepared for that. I know previous answers have been unusual and that's what I'm looking for, thanks for any help

 

[herrozerro]

For titles, this might help you with finding some interesting names:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_and_noble_ranks

Are you looking for each once to have a specific identity? Martial commander, Sorceress, Assassin, etc? Or are you saying you are looking for something other than that?

 

[Henry]

A couple of suggestions:

1) can't really go wrong with the classics - theme them around war, famine, pestilence, and death. One is an elder ghoul who "consumes" other noble households by day, and after accusing the nobles of deviancy or heresies, she consumes them for real after being sentenced... Then, one lieutenant is in charge of civic planning and the health of the populace, but who secretly experiments on the destitute, giving and curing horrible plagues and diseases in his secret labs below his palace... Etc.

2) pick one major theme for each such as a totem animal, or a specific standard like a type of flower, or a function in the kingdom - you could go so far as to rip off Eberron's great houses (gorgon, cockatrice, hippogriff, kraken,etc.)

3) exemplify the seven deadly sins among the four - one is very much the embodiment of avarice and gluttony, another wrath and envy, etc. it might give you a clearer picture of what each one is like personally, and what about them attracted the big bad evil person to them in the first place.

 

[Savage Wombat]

Have the party meet the Duke of Blood first, and then meet his companions, the Choleric Count, the Melancholic Marquis, and the Bilious Baron.

 

[GX.Sigma]

Easy trick: Base it on a group of fictional characters you already know well, preferably from a different genre (like a superhero team). Change the flavor a bit so it's not super obvious to the players. Then you have all the personalities, themes, and relationships already.

 

[herrozerro]

Lord Darkbad is a favorite name of mine.

 

[ExploderWizard]

I would first get design at least some characteristics and habits of the lieutenants first to get an idea about who they are, what they tend do and most importantly; what is it that earns them their reputation.

After you get an idea of what aspects of their personality are most well know then you can start thinking of names that would fit them.

Think about superheroes and villains for a moment. They usually have a well known name that sums them up pretty well. There are multiple masked vigilantes around but when you hear the name Batman, you know exactly who that is.

 

[Bawylie]

They can all be named David - just get the actions right.

 

[Henry]

Think about superheroes and villains for a moment. They usually have a well known name that sums them up pretty well. There are multiple masked vigilantes around but when you hear the name Batman, you know exactly who that is.

It occurs to me that "Lord ExploderWizard" would be a pretty unambiguous villain name, letting you know where he stands.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Imagine what the character does.

Then think about how he does it.

Then think about how he looks doing it.

Following that, I just envisioned one of the lieutenants as a viscount who was LE (in D&D terms)- a big stickler for enforcing the law...and a draconian tyrant about doing so. Break the rules at your own risk, because he likes physical punishment as opposed to imprisonment. Jailing people costs money and takes up space. Physically punishing them and letting them go- or killing them- is cheaper.

It is also more fun, since he is a sadist. Maybe even a psychopath.

And I saw him played by a jovial and boisterous Brian Blessed. I mentally mashed the visuals and audio of his depictions of the leader of the Hawkmen in Flash Gordon, the King in Black Adder and the Ghost of Chrismas Present together...along with a smattering of the Joker. He's big, boisterous, and favors colorful, gaudy garb...with black as an everpresent accent. (Like a poison dart frog...)

And he became "Lord Jollydeath"...at least, when nobody thinks he or his agents can hear them...