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ShortQuests -- individual adventure modules! An all-new collection of digest-sized D&D adventures designed to plug in to your game.

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="HeavenShallBurn" data-source="post: 2978948" data-attributes="member: 39593">True Names in Fantasy and HistoryIn history the idea of the True Name is a very old thing.  It's fairly common among primitive peoples the world over to this day.  Many native tribes from the Northwest coast of America to Malaysia have a secret name that is known only to family and a second used with everyone else.  In the Judeic tradition the proper name YWYH is used for their deity but is forbidden from being used in favor of a generic "god" that variously translated in the ancient context means lord or master.  It's all part of one basic idea that's probably as old as modern humanity.  That to name something is to hold power over it and command it or invoke it in some fashion through the use of this Name.In game I've worked up some house rules for it, that probably need polishing.  Humanoids, Monstrous Humanoids, Giants, Aberrations, Plants, and Magical Beasts do not naturally know their True Name, they have to research it.  Constructs, Oozes, Undead, and Vermin do not possess a True Name.  Outsiders, Elementals, Fey and Dragons innately know their True Name and are generally very protective of it, as are Wizards who will take majors actions to assure they alone know their True Name.  True Names have no relationship to the name a being is called by, they are simply an innate part of existence and each one is unique associated with a single creature from the time of their birth.  Related to Aleph the Words of Creation(which I use as the default universal spellcasting language).  True Names are a series of otherwise disjointed syllables in Aleph spoken in three syllable groups.  A creature's True Name is three syllables long for each Hit Dice they have.  When researching a True Name the being attempting to learn the Name must roll a Knowledge Arcana check at a DC of (in my campaigns) 10+target HD for each HD of the creature. If a check is failed the researcher gets a Will save to realize their mistake.  Failed checks can be rerolled.  In order to be used a True Name must have every syllable correct otherwise it is useless.   A being in possession of another's True Name can bypass any magical protection around the target whose Name is known.</blockquote>

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