Drop Dice

So typically when you read a lot of fantasy novels especially those with Elves, Dwarves, and Werebears (oh my!) you tend to come across some odd naming conventions out there. You find things like this little gem I made where the name is designed to be ridiculous so that its unique. Now most people would simply break up the word and say the sword's name is Tal-ganz-fik-narf, but lets say I am one of those authors that really want to through a wrench in the works. Say its an Elven sword and in the Elven/Elvish language for this word maybe I have special rules like you only pronounce the consonants after vowels with the exception of z, which is always said and sounds like a hard S. So now its al-anS-ik-ar. Then the reader has to ask why all the other letters? No explanation given. Either way you get my point. Sometimes naming things and characters can be the hardest part about playing a game like D&D. A bad name can instantly detour a person from your game, I know for me if I feel like I cant say the vast majority of names of locations in a setting I usually put the book down immediately. So this time I am talking about some handy tips for naming things in your game.

I usually look to real world names as a good source for humans and their half-breeds. This can also be used if you are saying that your Dwarven Culture has a Tibetan feel to it. You can reinforce the campaign setting by picking a name that is appropriate, or in the case of a foreigner, picking a name that is appropriate for you people but will stand out here. I tend to use the same website for every character I make simply because I like the interface, 20000-names. For more exotic races I will often look at the suggestions in the book and build something similar, or if they seem too complex perhaps try a common name your friends would use and a formal name that would match your race. Its not uncommon to have nicknames among friends.

Here is a short checklist I do to make sure I like the name:

• If you are a player work with the GM to find an appropriate style name if things are not "per the book" exactly.
• Can I say the name without having to put a lot of thought into it?
• Can others figure out my characters name by just hearing it? (especially if your game is going on YouTube.)
• What does your name mean? ( I like to make character's name be a reflection of my RP for that character.)
• Is your name very close to another characters? (for ease of everyone at the table I recommend against having similar or same names, it would be realistic to have two Chris' as characters in your story but it can be confusing, if you do go that route use last initial as you do in the real world)
• Found a good name? Good. Sleep on it, do something else, come back in an hour... Do you still like it, because you may have to use that name for the next six months?

Making Language Matter

If you do have a unique guide to the way things are said in a language it might not matter too much in game play beyond names so make it work. If you use the Elven Sword idea then you have to build a strong pronunciation guide make it publicly aware. You players should have a reference they can call on, but it should be more well defined than what I presented earlier. The guide I gave did not let the reader understand the choice of letters used. Perhaps in the Elven language they have a letter that would be "Ta" and another the is "l" now it makes more sense where that came from. Don't just put apostrophes in to break up a world, give them reason too. Maybe the word for sword is "Tal" and the apostrophe is the short hand equivalent to "of," so now its Sword of... Giving the weapon a name that matters and a easy alternative to use for the players. Unless they really like calling it "al-anS-ik-ar," which luckily isn't that hard to say, but it could be worse. Another tip is if you do have special letters like a sideways P with a christian cross superimposed on it always have the pronunciation written down near it, and spell out the things name so your players know if its something they will have to come back to in a later game or you have a note taker in your party.

Consistency

The important thing when playing with language is to establish rules. If you happen to be an native English speaker don't model it after English, way too many contradicting rules. Keep it simple. The more consistent you are with your naming conventions and language rules the easier it will be for players to buy into your story. Plus when someone comes along with a really strange name like Charles in a Korean themed Elf game its going to be weird, in fact they may say his name with their pronunciation at first if he writes it for them, so "ar-es." This can be fun if you want to try a traditional exploration into a foreign land campaign. You could teach the players the language rules while also teaching the characters. For a great example of the kind of thing check out the first season of the History Channel's Vikings, they learn English as the story goes, but it is a strange tongue to them. If you have the ability to I would suggest making up little rules and following them about the language, but only provide a translation to the player with that language. That may be a lot of work but it could be a vary interesting game, especially if you only have to worry about one or two languages in the game.