What's in a (Party) name?

[Presto2112]

I've been involved with a group of players in the same campaign for over two years now. In that time our characters have grown together and work pretty well with each other. We're a well oiled unit. The only thing we're missing is a collective party name. I kow not everyone does this, but I feel the party would be more cohesive (and possibly more recognized withing the game world) if we went by a unit name.

This is turning out to be a bigger chore than I'd imagined.

The idea is to try to come up with something that doesn't sound too arrogant, while simultaneously trying not to sound like a sports team.

Here are some of the ideas I've come up with:

League of Questors
Guard's Coast Defenders
Saddle Tramp Six
The Gadabout Guild
The Wayfarer's Pact
The Vanguard Legion

There are a few more, but they all follow a similar strain. Do any of these sound cool, or are they a little cheesy?

Anyone else have what they consider to be a really cool party name in a current or past campaign?

 

[Whisper72]

Hmmm.. it is difficult to comment without more info on the members of the party (i.e. balance spellslingers vs fighters, rogues etc.) and their deeds. From the third name I deduce there are six PC's involved. Any NPC followers / henchmen?

If you fear sounding too arrogant, stay away from terms like Legion, League, Guild etc. which suggest a huge organization.

The second and third names sound okay to me.

I must admit that in most of my campaigns, the issue of a party name never really came up, so it is difficult to give cool examples.

 

[StalkingBlue]

The PCs in my Midnight game just decided to name themselves 'Jez's band', to honour a brave and much loved PC who died at the hand of a BBEG a couple of sessions ago.


I'd suggest you look for a name that reflects something your party specifically has done, succeeded at or experienced. If you can come up with something you all share and care about, even if it's a small thing, the name will be a lot more likely to stick than if you try to come up with something big and 'heroic'-sounding out of the blue.

 

[Presto2112]

Hmmm.. it is difficult to comment without more info on the members of the party (i.e. balance spellslingers vs fighters, rogues etc.) and their deeds. From the third name I deduce there are six PC's involved. Any NPC followers / henchmen?

If you fear sounding too arrogant, stay away from terms like Legion, League, Guild etc. which suggest a huge organization.

The second and third names sound okay to me.

I must admit that in most of my campaigns, the issue of a party name never really came up, so it is difficult to give cool examples.

Well, as I eluded to previously, there are six of us. We're fairly warrior intensive, with 1 ranger / rogue, 1 single-class ranger, one fighter/rogue, and one dwarf cleric/fighter. Our other two characters are sorceror and rogue. Currently no followers except for 2 animal companions which actually aren't around that often.

Key deeds include rescuing a kingdom from a doppelganger "ruler", eluding capture from a corrupted military force, and most recently retrieving six artifacts to aid in a war against an overwhelming contingent of demons and orcs.

I guess what I previously meant by "arrogant" is that I wasn't focusing on names that concentrating on past deeds or stuff we killed. Perhaps "boastful" would have been a better word.

 

[tonym]

I like Wayfarer's Pact the best. Though you might try different words for Pact. Pact seems like you have a page of rules written down (which you might).

Wayfarers Alliance or Wayfarers Brotherhood sound nifty.

I also like The Wayfarers.

The Wayfarers could be short for something longer, like The Wayfarers of the Silver Spike or whatever, but are called The Wayfarers for short.


Tony

 

[Naafra]

Why don't you ask your players to suggest one (and only one) group name each and then vote for the best? Could be simpler...

 

[Wyckedemus]

I do like Wayfarer's Pact.


If you were open to other random ideas, here are some more "group" words.


Company
Companions
Heroes
Guardians
Compact
Seekers

Also as heroes of the kingdom, having the "of the Crown" descriptor is very prestigious.

I had a group that wanted to call themselves "The Smiters of Yore". Then they'd drop in a target subject that they'd be smiting Smiters of Yore Arse, for instance. lol. They chose the Seekers of Truth instead. Oghma clerics were their primary care physicians.

 

[lior_shapira]

My Midnight group decided two sessions ago to call ourselves "The Bucketeers " after a very intense session where we broke out of an orcish prison armed only with a bucket and a half used torch.

Thats how it usually happens, we name ourselves after some "momentous" event in the party history

 

[Arbiter of Wyrms]

You saved the kingdom from a doppleganger AND a marauding band of orcs and fiends?! I would think that warrants a name. I might expect the king to start calling you The King's Blades or the Six Champions of the Realm or something, but if the DM hasn't done so, and you are determined to come up with a name that doesn't reference the group's heroic deeds, then I'll cast my vote for The Wayfarers. Sounds cool, and better yet, it's non-commital.

As for names of parties in which I adventured, well the group I played in that ran through the RttToEE, a group with much more success than I think I've heard anyone else report on that monstrous dungeon crawl, called ourselves:

Twelve Seconds or
Twelve Seconds of Bloodshed

because it usually only took about two rounds to finish an encounter, and we made sure that EVERY encounter was a combat encounter.

 

[StalkingBlue]

My Midnight group decided two sessions ago to call ourselves "The Bucketeers " after a very intense session where we broke out of an orcish prison armed only with a bucket and a half used torch.

Thats how it usually happens, we name ourselves after some "momentous" event in the party history

Cool name.