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.

Skill Proficiencies: Medicine, Survival

Tool Proficiencies: Herbalism Kit

Languages: One of your choice

Equipment: A staff, a hunting trap, a set of traveler's clothes, an herbalism kit, and 5 gp

Feature: Survive

You have spent a lifetime wandering and meeting those who would be sympathetic to your plight. While in a city you can find those who will support you at a poor lifestyle. In addition, you can always find places to shelter yourself from the elements and hostile creatures at night, reducing the odds of being surprised. GM should modify the random encounter chart to account for this feature

Suggested Characteristics

d8	Personality Trait
1	I'm not sure when my next meal will be so I am constantly eating something.
2	I collect souvenirs from every place I've been.
3	I always have a plan for when things go wrong.
4	I have spent so much time drifting I have little practical experience dealing with city dwellers.
5	I'm not sure when my next meal will be so I hoard and ration food constantly.
6	I am utterly serene, even in the face of disaster.
7	I pocket anything I see that might have some value.
8	I watch over my friends as if they were a litter of pups.

d6	Ideal
1	Protector. My life is forfeit already, all I can do is protect those around me no matter the cost. (Good)
2	Tradition. Even though my city and people have been destroyed I will keep their traditions and beliefs alive through my actions. (Lawful)
3	Change. Chaos changed everything, those who do not think so are fools and will work to educate them. (Chaotic)
4	Survive. I will do things that many consider to be unethical in order to survive, my life is most important. (Evil)
5	People. One day I will find a place to call home. (Any)
6	Redemption. This is our chance to create something better than any civilization. (Good)

d6	Bonds
1	My lands were taken and made useless, one day I will have the strength to take back my home.
2	I have a family, but I have no idea where they are. One day, I hope to see them again.
3	I own little, but my honor and my word are my bond.
4	Someone close to me died because of a mistake I made. That will never happen again.
5	Where I lay my head is home, and I will fight to protect it.
6	I suffer awful visions of a coming disaster and will do anything to prevent it

d6	Flaw
1	I am a coward, conditioned to flee from the dangerous brought on by Chaos.
2	I left behind a spouse and child and it now brings me great shame.
3	I will never fully trust anyone other than myself.
4	I envy people who know their home, and I can't hide my resentment.
5	I'm constantly worried that I will never get to go home for one reason or another.
6	People who can't take care of themselves get what they deserve.

In the past, I have been a game store style GM. I would make a world and say "join if you would like." After getting players who showed up every week, for a while, I would start working their background in. This style worked well enough for me when I actually ran a game at the store. Since having a group that plays regularly, this play style is kind of limiting. I feel like my story-line is separate, from what the characters are interested in. It creates a dichotomy between personal story and GM Story.

 Oddly enough, I notice that in certain settings I ran differently. In Star Wars, I am almost always character heavy through out my story, if I had one prepared for the sake of their story. I cant really even explain it, but I guess its more media influenced. I feel like fantasy characters are almost wrapped up, in the story, where as sci-fi is more character centered. You see that most common in TV shows. In movies for example:
Star Wars is about the characters and their personal interactions with the Empire

Lord of the Rings is an epic. The characters are part of it and they have value but the ring needed to be destroyed by someone. It could have been anyone at all.

I think its more because of these iconic stories. that I have always done that in the past. I have always been ok with this formula. even though I knew my players often gravitated to my sci-fi campaigns. Not to say either way is lesser. Its just a preference.

Another thing I have noticed is I have not been much for completion. In the sense that my players have always had an ending, but it has never really been as memorable as some of the middle parts. I cant really think of a time, where my players thought of my end boss as more than a big guy with lots of hit points.

Something else I did, in the past, was plan a big epic story arc, at least 12 sessions a story arc. Every play session was a direct pick up from the last session.

Since tooling around and listening to other GMs and writers, I have kind of changed my mind on this. Firstly, I have come to the conclusion that I get GM fatigue faster than my players get player fatigue. I think its because I have always done long story arcs, that were not directly focused on continuation. I have almost always done mini-campaigns. I get my fatigue when I feel like the PC's are not accomplishing much, which in reality is my fault. They had almost no influence on the world, unless they started to siege other cities and take slaves.

So, this time I took a very different approach. I let the players make the world. The world being a continuation, of a world that they almost destroyed with previous characters. Their new characters have no direct connection to the last set, but its a neat concept to play out. Let the players fix the world they destroyed. I am also going into this with a different event style of story writing. Instead of doing long continuing story arc, that I hope is just building and building up, I am going to focus in on smaller stories, like a serial. The larger story will be there because of the supported smaller stories.

How does the back story work in? So, I linked a forum in the background tools post about hash-tagging peoples background and adding those hash-tags, to my plot points. My goal is to make every session hit at least one character's background, and if possible more. I thought this was so simple, yet a great way that works for me. The goal to finding a way to incorporate backgrounds is finding what works for you. I am not going to tell you that you should do it my way. I am going to refer you back to the internet. There are so many good opinions out there.

The big thing to remember is don't write your story for you. Write it for them. That's where the backgrounds become so important.