Naming Characters After Yourself?

[Diamond Cross]

Let's say your name is Johnathin Thomas Raynard. Whenever you play D&D or some RPG, you always name your character after some variation of your name. Every single one of them.

For example:

John DuChamp, leader of the Militia of the town of Myrtle.
Thomas Justice. High Wizard of the court of his majesty.
Raynard Maximillain the III. Third generation blacksmith.

So on and so forth.

Is this wrong for a player to do? Why or why not?

 

[Stumblewyk]

Not wrong. It's just lazy, in my opinion. It shows (to my admittedly elitist, egotistical creative side) that the player just doesn't care enough to create a separate identity for their character, and I'm probably going to assume that this bleeds over into other aspects of the character. (Does the character act in ways and manners consistent with the player's own personality? Probably.)

All that aside...I still give the player the chance the prove me wrong and convince me that they're just not all that creative.

 

[tuxgeo]

Let's say your name is Johnathin Thomas Raynard. Whenever you play D&D or some RPG, you always name your character after some variation of your name. Every single one of them.

For example:

John DuChamp, leader of the Militia of the town of Myrtle.
Thomas Justice. High Wizard of the court of his majesty.
Raynard Maximillain the III. Third generation blacksmith.

So on and so forth.

Is this wrong for a player to do? Why or why not?

Does this even need an answer?
Hardly anyone here is going to go the "badwrongfun" route and say that it is wrong for a player to name his or her PCs however he or she wishes.

I think the naming conventions that players use are up to the players: if one player like to self-identify when playing, while another player wants to explore possibilities of being somebody else, those are their own personal choices to make as they like (as far as I'm concerned).

 

[The Shaman]

All I hope for is a name which doesn't become a distraction. Humorous is fine, but please, let it be subtle humor. A name which fits the setting is best of all.

I don't see a problem with any of the names mentioned in the original post.

 

[Nifft]

Is this wrong for a player to do? Why or why not?

Yes, it is wrong. And bad. And badwrong.

Furthermore, all of these "names" lack internal punctuation, which is vital to a high-quality fantasy name. Where are the hyphens? Whither the apostrophes? Nary an en-dash nor em-dash grace those monikers. Also, they need more exotic letters, like X and Q.

Here, let me help you help him:

John DuChamp -> Jo'on Du-Xamp
Thomas Justice -> Qhomas Just'Yce

There we go! Now these are the names of heroes worthy to stand beside Driz'zt against the wicked Tanar'ri and Ba'atezu.

Cheers, -- Nif'ft

 

[the Jester]

Wrong? No.

Annoying? Likely.

Lazy? Almost certainly.

Are there times where this is not appropriate? Absolutely- if the game is set in 800 AD Japan, no way should you be named "John" or "Thomas" or whatever.

 

[frankthedm]

Now what is real fun is giving a character the name of another player in the group! Especially if the group uses character names and player names interchangeably

 

[Bluenose]

I don't know. After a while, calling all my characters Mister Awesome would get confusing.

[sblock]For other people, of course, rather than me, since I'm pbviously too awesome to be confused.[/sblock]

 

[Dungeoneer]

Let's say your name is Johnathin Thomas Raynard. Whenever you play D&D or some RPG, you always name your character after some variation of your name. Every single one of them.

For example:

John DuChamp, leader of the Militia of the town of Myrtle.
Thomas Justice. High Wizard of the court of his majesty.
Raynard Maximillain the III. Third generation blacksmith.

So on and so forth.

Is this wrong for a player to do? Why or why not?

Y'know, some people just aren't good at coming up with names, and this has nothing to do with their inherent creativity. Just like some people are bad spellers, but still intelligent.

I've seen people at my table who use variations of the same name every time. I've seen people borrow names from movies and popular tv shows. These are about at the same level as 'borrowing from your own name'. But these people are fun, creative players.

If you're playing serious, historically accurate fantasy it's not wrong to ask your players to pick a name that conforms to this. And if someone shows up to one of my games trying to play a PC named Gonad the Librarian, I'd laugh and then tell them hell no. Then I'd help them pick out something better.

But not everyone is good at coming up with names and some people just flat out don't enjoy it and will want to pick something easy. If it's not 'immersion breaking' I say go for it.

 

[jaerdaph]

Drawmij and Zagyg good. Bob and Randy, not so much.