Mine for the Making Ch.1: Names

So,
You’ve bought some books, some dice, maybe even some minis. You may or may not have played Dungeons and Dragons before but somehow you’ve been chosen (or perhaps even appointed yourself) to take on the mantle of Dungeon Master (imagine that in a font that embodies the chest-exploding scene from Alien).  You’ve made the brave choice to spurn the literal decades of work that other, variably proficient writers and world builders have done and strike out on your own.  “This world is mine for the making,” you’ve said, and now you’re sitting there staring at this massive amount of work that you assume needs to be done. And when I say work, I mean:
-Deities
-Geography
-Magic systems
-Species
-Towns
-Cities
-Thorps
-Weapons
-Guilds
And let’s not forget the aforementioned
-Dungeons
And/or
-Dragons

It’s a ton.  And now, since you’ve decided to build from the ground up (YOU FOOL!) you will  have to build the mountain, describe its flora and fauna, work out if it was formed by plate subduction, and then climb the thing. To some, this whole process is easy.  Economies and ancient civilizations flow out from their minds in steadily beating waves. However, if your name isn’t George R. R. Sander-Tolkien, you may run into snags every once in a while. It comes in stops and starts, it’s terribly inconvenient, and it’s hard.

But, that’s ok! It’s still fun! Plus, I (and a ton of other people you may even know) have been and are where you’re at right now. We’ve been in the car begging our wives to drive while we look up what fault line subduction actually is. We’ve also walked into a game of D&D incredibly under-prepared and still had a blast. So don’t let not knowing everything hold you back. Just look at it as taking free improv lessons. 

We’ll talk about making stuff up on the fly later, though, because right now we DO actually have time to plan some stuff, and we’re in the mood, so let’s get down to it!

Names.

Everybody’s got one, including every player at your table. The fun (or perhaps “fun”) part of this is that their characters, everyone those characters meet, and everyone they could ever POSSIBLY meet also has a name. And guess whose job it is to keep track of, or at the very least come up with, those names.

I see you have already guessed.

Now, you don’t actually have to make up all of these names yourself. Ideally, you’ll have some players that will help you out on that (an incredibly rewarding experience).  Until then, you can make use of the tools you have at your disposal.  Let’s take a look at a few of the methods that are easily available for generating names. 

Name generators:
Look up fantasy name generators online and just go to town. Scrolling through these lists can give you some solid ideas to build on or even use.  I’ve included a link below to one that has a generator for just about anything you could possibly need.  Refresh and enjoy.

Check the books:
Many core rule books, 5e and otherwise, come with name generators or lists.  Xanathar’s Guide to Everything has a whole appendix of lists breaking down names by ancestry.  If you only have the core books (Player’s Handbook, Monster Manual, Dungeon Master’s Guide) check out the character creation sections, monster descriptions, and Tavern Name Generator in Chapter 5 respectively.  Just skimming through these or any other rule book that describes the personality or function of something can really help in coming up for what it is called.

  
Steal, steal, steal.:
I once had an English teacher who described the process by which languages evolve. She said that many languages borrow bits and pieces from the languages nearby. English, she claimed, is different. English tracks other languages down in back alleys and steals their lunch money. This process holds true with running an RPG like D&D.  If there is something in a form of media,  history, or whatever that you like (and you think your players will like) include it!  The only laws at the table are the ones you and your players agree on.  If your players want to be a gang of adolescents running around the countryside capturing beasts in magic rune-rocks, you can do it.  Don’t pirate content, writers deserve their paychecks, too; but don’t be afraid to incorporate bits and pieces from stuff you think is cool.

There, now that we’ve come up with some tools to find names we can begin the process of putting them to good use.  Here are some helpful techniques to frame and use these jumbly monikers we’ve acquired.

Use themes:
If you have an ancestry or dialect that you’re choosing from, try to stay on theme with other names in the area.  Google time periods and keep it consistent.  This is a great help in writer’s block anyway.  As with any rule when it comes to making it all up, ignore this at your pleasure. 

Don’t be afraid to keep it simple:
Just like it says.  Sometimes the town known for its mill can just be Milltown. This method works to solidify the purpose of a place/thing/object in your mind as well as your players’.  Just remember, as always, to keep things consistent if possible.

Make pre-written lists:
Will you use them all the time? Of course not, but having that list of tavern, shop, or NPC names will help you roll with the randomness as your party deals it out. Just don’t forget to make notes of names you use.

Read other stuff:
Stephen King’s On Writing has a lot of good information for anyone with a pen or a word processor.  One of the key points I took away from reading it was the necessity of feeding the creative fire with other peoples’ work.  You may hate reading, if so you’ve made a bold choice of hobby, but find something that you can absorb that gets your juices flowing.  And then include the stuff you like in your games. 

So there you have it; some hopefully good advice about naming. We want to continue these articles into the future focusing on other TTRPG-related topics, so let us know in the comments below what you’d like to see more of.

Until next time, keep on rolling,

-Dalton

EXTRA CREDIT:

Xanathar’s Guide to Everything: Check out your FLGS (Friendly Local Game Store) for this one.

Fantasy Name Generator: https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/ 

On Writing; King, Stephen: https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Memoir-Craft-Stephen-King/dp/1982159375/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1613241023&sr=8-1