From: kab@strl.labs.tek.com (Kent Black)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.advocacy
Subject: Re: Names
Date: 17 Nov 92 17:22:06 GMT
Organization: STRL, Tektronix, Inc.

In article <1992Nov17.055630.29842@news.unomaha.edu>, dburgdor@cwis.unomaha.edu (Darryl Burgdorf) writes:
|> 
|> Todd McCall wrote:
|> 
|> >  Personally, I prefer my fantasy RPG to have fantasy-sounding names, and
|> >  names like Bob, and Skippy are too mundane (I realize that this is by
|> >  the standards of 20th Century folk, but that's who the GM is trying to
|> >  create the illusion of a fantasy world for.) 
...
How true!
|> 
...
|> In a campaign I ran several years ago, one of the chief NPCs was a powerful
|> mystic .... who happened to be a tallfellow halfling.  He was SUPPOSED to be
|> a character no one would take seriously.  He was a hobbit, for chrissake;
...
|> So what did I name him? 
|> 
|> Harold.

And if you were authentically medieval, you would have reserved
"Harold" and "Harry" for proper state address of English King Henry V!
Yeah, Shakespeare prefers the formal "King Harry", which to our 20th
century ears sounds almost precious.

As with many other things, I suspect the only rule is "Don't over do
it:" If all demons are "Fifi" and "Sashimi" and all gods are "Bob" and
"Mary" and all villagers are "Yxthitiles" and "Mnephocytes" then
you're boring your players!  And probably yourself.  On the other
hand, "A Boy Named Sue" provided some small amusement.

For random names, I have a simple name generator which I feed a set of
syllables (phonemes, actually) and common letter combinations derived
from specific languages, say from a book of English word origins;
similar programs appear here from time to time.  I find that
generating a certain kind of linguistic consistency leads to a
sensation of cultural consistency, and helps me to remember how a town
or an NPC is likely to behave.  You can do exactly the same thing by
using (generally) unfamiliar names from maps, letting a single
national map "populate" an ethnographic center on your 'world'.
Beware the great melting-pot, the US, where local names may have no
commonality at all.

Of course, changing political loyalties, disguises, etc. alter names,
so it's not a complete giveaway.  For more fun, give any major site
different names in each of your campaign's various languages.  If you
pick a really difficult name, "Adirondak", then experiment with
shortening or slurring or softening it for the 'common speech', say,
"Adronna".  Of course, if you use a map of the British Isles you'll
have to do this anyway: can you make "Worchestershire" rhyme with
rooster?  Even more distressing, the U.S. and Canada have many
wonderful Native American place-names originally transliterated into
French, Spanish, etc., then the spelling was retained but
pronunciation changed to English.  Consider what the average
English-speaker does to the name "Guy Forget" if they don't know he's
a French tennis player!  (Sounds kinda like "ghee four zjay", if you're
confused ;-) Give cities and NPC's nicknames and diminutives, and your
players may have lengthy adventures just discovering that "Weird Al"
is Bib'al the local cobbler.  Again, obey the rule: don't over do it!
-- unless you want your campaign set in a Russian novel.

Words are such fun!
-- kab
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.advocacy