Would this break a fantasy setting for you?

[Rechan]

A long while ago there was either a blog or forum post that players cannot remember the details of the adventure or the campaign. Names, where they're going, who they're fighting. Either during, or years later when recounting the stories. So to paraphrase the poster's solution:

"If the PCs were under a quest given by Queen Latifa, to save Philadelphia from the the Detroit Lions, and needed Steven Hawking's help to get the Oscar trophy from the dread warlord Donald Trump, they'd remember that freaking campaign."

Fast forward to now. I'm reading a fantasy series written by Alex Bledsoe. The setting is fantasy with very little FANTASY elements (or rather, the stories are about the existence of those elements). They are written like fantasy Detective novels.

The thing that stands out the most (aside from the less-fantastic elements) are People's names.

The main character is named Eddie Lacross.

Other characters have been Clive Clemens, King Mark Drake, Queen Jennifer, Princess Janet, Eliot Spears, Iris Gladstone, Gary Bunsen, Buddy Ims, Jack, Tom Gillian, Ted Maerks, Megan Drake, and Sir Bob Kay.

They're all modern names.

I think that if all NPCs in a game world had fairly modern, easy to remember names, players would be more likely to remember who their allies and enemies are, instead of hard-to-pronounce fantasy names. And as a DM it'd be easier to come up with a modern name on the fly.

However, putting Modern names into a fantasy setting might make it feel less like a fantasy game.

Would that affect your suspension of disbelief? Would it feel the "same"?

 

[Crothian]

It would not bother me but I'm usually one that as a player I try to write down and know names of people and places. I like to find ways to use them in the game and I think it is more enjoyable game for me through that.

 

[Oryan77]

I'd prefer to hear fantasy sounding names. It also might depend on the campaign/setting though. The first time I played D&D and my rogue (2e Darksun) needed to give a fake name, my mind went blank and I blurted out "Pete". I guess there could be some guy on Athas named Pete, but that sure doesn't sound like an adventuring fighter/rogue name.

I try to take notes to remember names. My players usually do also if they think they may need to remember this NPC. I can understand forgetting an NPC name, but if I've said it a bajillion times, out of respect, write it down or remember it if you keep forgetting it.

 

[Bedrockgames]

I think names that are modern are fine. Another option is to stick with names that aren't modern, but are familiar and easy to remember.

 

[nedjer]

So during my last game of Traveller Beyonce stood for re-election, Richard Nixon captained a starship and, thankfully, William Shatner didn't sing a song. No great confusion there, but there was a difficult moment when Karl Marx wanted an extra Danish pastry.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

It's so weird, from the standpoint of genre expectations, that I would want an in-game explanation for it.

Is the whole world the daydream of a modern person in a coma? Is the whole plane a spiritual battleground for perfectly mundane activities on the material plane?

I think it's possible to have easy names to remember and come up with without completely screwing with player expectations without any apparent payoff. (Screwing with them WITH a payoff -- well, that's the definition of a good game, IMO.)

 

[Thunderfoot]

No, it wouldn't be a deal breaker...per se.
Historically accurate names I can deal with, Shequanika the Magnificent, Monique the Fabulous or Paris for females would have me pelting the DM/player with my dice in a relentless attack. Male names that would break the bank, Brad, Lance, Futaqua, Leroy and Ralph.

Pete would be a little annoying, but Peter, Pietr or Petra would be just fine. Most of the name you quoted from the book would be okay, but Ted, Jennifer, Megan and Buddy push my buttons. But then again GHrk'thek'll the magician is just plain stupid too.

 

[Krensky]

Megan and Jennifer would be fine in Wales and Cornwall, respectively.

Buddy is the only one that seems anachronistic to me for a medieval English setting.

 

[amerigoV]

Heck, I'm no better with modern names. I would still say Mr. Fancypants and Mayor McCheese.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

"If the PCs were under a quest given by Queen Latifa, to save Philadelphia from the the Detroit Lions, and needed Steven Hawking's help to get the Oscar trophy from the dread warlord Donald Trump, they'd remember that freaking campaign."

"For freedom! For Philadelphia! FOR LATIFAH!"

(I'd SO play in that campaign!)

As to the core question, no, it wouldn't stop me. Sometimes, your familiarity with modern naming conventions helps you convey something about the PC that would otherwise be lost, like a guy being an "Average Joe." For instance, what is the LotR name equivalent of Bob Brown (among humans...or hobbits...or elves...or dwarves)? What name is so common that is conveys that the individual is in all respects a nondescript member of his race? Only JRRT could say for sure.

Or what about someone who is a member of an ethnicity stereotyped for being involved with organized crime? Or somehow linked to royalty? And so forth.

So sometimes, I choose "modernesque" names anyway...and it doesn't bother anyone. (Well, Johnny Bones was pretty popular.)