NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pukunui" data-source="post: 4157666" data-attributes="member: 54629">I wonder if they do the whole compound word thing on purpose in hopes that we will customize all the fluff to suit our own campaigns.I don't mind it that much. Sometimes it's easier just to use a bunch of English words that, while not very creative, nevertheless give the players a good idea of what to expect ("Gloomdeep" might sound dumb, but at least the players know they'll be going somewhere dark and gloomy whereas "T'ak-Darmoordath" doesn't mean anything to them and if they asked for an English translation, I'd have to end up saying something like "gloomdeep" anyway). A nonsensical fantasy name isn't guaranteed to evoke anything, let alone what you were hoping it would evoke ... as others have pointed out, made up words (or even real foreign words) are more likely to make your players laugh at you than shiver with fear or whatever.Actually, I've found that my players don't generally laugh at the made up names in my campaigns. Instead they either butcher the name beyond recognition (or use a different name that sounds similar) or come up with a nickname that's easier for them to say and, I suppose, remember. They don't just do this with NPC/monster/location names, either. They do it with each other's characters' names, too. As an example, one of the current PCs is an elf named Lyaelrae Besthar. Looks great on paper. But the others decided not to even bother trying to pronounce it (or try to spell it on the initiative board) and dubbed him "Lye" instead.</blockquote>

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