Need names for countries and Kingdoms
- Thread starter Rpjunkie
- Start date
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Randolpho
First Post
It usually helps...
if you provide geographic locations for your countries and kingdoms. That helps us get a feel for giving pseudo-whatever names to the kingdom.
For example, if it's in a mountainous region, at around 30-40 degrees latitude, you might use pseudo-germanic names. In desert regions you might use pseudo-arabic names.
And so on.
So, give us the goods -- where are these kingdoms located?
if you provide geographic locations for your countries and kingdoms. That helps us get a feel for giving pseudo-whatever names to the kingdom.
For example, if it's in a mountainous region, at around 30-40 degrees latitude, you might use pseudo-germanic names. In desert regions you might use pseudo-arabic names.
And so on.
So, give us the goods -- where are these kingdoms located?
CrazyMage
4th Level Lawful Good Cleric
A good source if you want more off-beat or unfamiliar names would be phrasebooks/dictionaries for uncommon foreign languages. People might recognize French or German names, but yank something from Uzbek or Estonian and it's just strange and cool. I've "made" dozens of names from my Berlitz East European phrasebook and Lonely Planet's Central Asia phrasebook. If you're looking for names that feel different, here's one way to do it.
MooseHB
First Post
Open up the games closet
Grab that Scrabble or Boggle game that has been gathering dust for a decade, and roll or draw your names. Use the letters you roll or pull, and sort them however your brain sees names in the pattern.
Scattergories has a d20 with letters on it. Roll random letters until a useable sequence comes up.
Also, draw diagonals in a finished crossword, sometimes "names" come up that way too.
Lastly, a bigshot NPC may be cause enough to name a location "Bigshot NPC-ville" or "Bigshot NPC-town."
Grab that Scrabble or Boggle game that has been gathering dust for a decade, and roll or draw your names. Use the letters you roll or pull, and sort them however your brain sees names in the pattern.
Scattergories has a d20 with letters on it. Roll random letters until a useable sequence comes up.
Also, draw diagonals in a finished crossword, sometimes "names" come up that way too.
Lastly, a bigshot NPC may be cause enough to name a location "Bigshot NPC-ville" or "Bigshot NPC-town."
Saturn's Halo
First Post
I like the name Verdegatze. It's from a video game I played a while back... how could you possibly have a campaign without a small kingdom called Verdegatze?
Names
I also use older or lost languages, granted you can find the text or somwhere where it is documented. Most peoples use of Latin, Yvidian, Occtain, Akkadian or other languages are limited unless they have some linguistic skills. Also Made languages also make fine names, I sometimes give my players a small bonus if they can find the word and translate it to what it really means. Helps increase Player in game and out of game knowledge!
Nopau
I also use older or lost languages, granted you can find the text or somwhere where it is documented. Most peoples use of Latin, Yvidian, Occtain, Akkadian or other languages are limited unless they have some linguistic skills. Also Made languages also make fine names, I sometimes give my players a small bonus if they can find the word and translate it to what it really means. Helps increase Player in game and out of game knowledge!
Nopau
Gez
First Post
I just imagine names and write them on a paper when I found them cool. Latter, I associate them with a place or person.
For places, it gave me names like Rostferg, Sélissandre, Abystine, Edelonne, Portolane, Massande, Charvade, Sarlafosse, Afrane, Portafel, Chandrales, Laëlmore, Kerchézel and Kaztengarken, among other.
Foreign dictionnaries are useful tools. But I don't use them "as is", I always transform the word a bit more, until it sounds "right" for my place. For example, the dark forest of Charvade started out as Schwartzwald (blackwood in german), but it has been transformed and tweaked so as to not sound german anymore. Edelonne was deformed from the english words "elder" and "lone".
Things that helps creating names is inventing "laws" for them. For example, says that most town in a region have names that end by "ter", and that have mainly sounds in "pl" and "n".This allows you to create instantly names like Plenanter, Nirpleter, Plonter... Of course, don't abide always by these laws -- exceptions are a factor of realism -- but use them and you'll give your region an united feeling.
You can look at this page for some names.
For places, it gave me names like Rostferg, Sélissandre, Abystine, Edelonne, Portolane, Massande, Charvade, Sarlafosse, Afrane, Portafel, Chandrales, Laëlmore, Kerchézel and Kaztengarken, among other.
Foreign dictionnaries are useful tools. But I don't use them "as is", I always transform the word a bit more, until it sounds "right" for my place. For example, the dark forest of Charvade started out as Schwartzwald (blackwood in german), but it has been transformed and tweaked so as to not sound german anymore. Edelonne was deformed from the english words "elder" and "lone".
Things that helps creating names is inventing "laws" for them. For example, says that most town in a region have names that end by "ter", and that have mainly sounds in "pl" and "n".This allows you to create instantly names like Plenanter, Nirpleter, Plonter... Of course, don't abide always by these laws -- exceptions are a factor of realism -- but use them and you'll give your region an united feeling.
You can look at this page for some names.
Chimera
First Post
There's some great names all over the world. Especially try East and southern Africa, and Central Asia. If you have some image of the people as being approximate to an earth people, steal their earth place names. Just use lesser known ones. Heck, you can probably come up with a dozen 'historic' names for a kingdom of "English" or "French" type people.
American Indian Reservations are also a good source. I pulled the 'Kingdom of Mandan' and it's secondary city of Sanish from a map of North Dakota.
Geographic features are also a good source. Standing Rock. Hill Valley. Oxford (a ford for Oxen). Portsmouth. etc, etc, etc.
Then, I've probably made up a few too. Egrena, Ytella, Gyre, Kinet...
American Indian Reservations are also a good source. I pulled the 'Kingdom of Mandan' and it's secondary city of Sanish from a map of North Dakota.
Geographic features are also a good source. Standing Rock. Hill Valley. Oxford (a ford for Oxen). Portsmouth. etc, etc, etc.
Then, I've probably made up a few too. Egrena, Ytella, Gyre, Kinet...
