Dungeon Fantasy party compositions

[Peter V. Dell'Orto]

Originally Posted by Kromm

Sorry, but I don't see it – why must a name imply any of that?

I feel the same way about a lot of silly names in games, after years of silly names in my own games. I used to get more bothered by it, but that's worn off. My current game has at least one in-joke silly name (Borriz the dwarf) and one fiction copy (Nakar, from Nakar the Abomination).

Off hand in play, I've had a Rand Althor, a Corell Seldarine (named after the elven gods from AD&D), a drow named Szandor, a paladin named "Graylock" because the guy who ran him lived in the Graylock Apartments, a Kurgen, an entire series of Dru the Druids (there was a Dru the 14th, and not because the guy had 13 generations of successful druid delvers), a Crestlin (based on Raistlin), a guy named Furious ("It's pronounced "furry-ous!"), a commando named Action Jackson, a Wyvern Intestineeater, a half-elf ranger/druid named Recon, and more I'm forgetting I'm sure.

That's putting aside the endless succession of guys named Rellik Retsam Noegnud run by this guy I knew in Junior High.

It used to bother me a bit more, but in the end, who cares? If the knight calls himself Tinkerbell and he's happy every session with that, that's fine. You can always say it's not a normal name, so now he's got a nickname or crazy parents, or just run with it and apply it to the culture. Either way, it doesn't detract from my fun. I do ask people with crazy names if they're sure they want it, but if they say yes, more power to them! Bring on the Wyvern Intestineeaters, I say.