Post by tavis on Jan 17, 2009 20:00:23 GMT -6
I've been writing a fair amount of stuff lately that's "compatible with the latest edition of the world's most popular fantasy roleplaying game," as the euphemism used to have it. One thing that I often need are names of famous heroes to drop into a paragraph of background or use as an example. I'm hoping some of y'all might volunteer the names of some of your PCs, or famous/infamous NPCs from your campaigns, that I could use for these little background sections. My rationale is:
- I know it tickles me to think of one of my characters being immortalized in print, but I've already used all of my own good ones!
- Quixotic though it may be, I'm always seeking to connect the new-edition stuff I do to the old school insofar as possible, and names like Erac's Cousin are much more authentically evocative of the Golden Age than the ones I try to think up on the spot.
- Just as there's a trend for RPG writers to become self-referential, so that I think it's important to read the old fantasy that inspired D&D (and cringe when I encounter the reverse, a designer who's got nothing but game-franchise licensed novels on his shelves), I think there's a trend to become insular, so that I'd like to use names of characters that have emerged from actual play wherever possible instead of circularly propagating my idea of what an adventurer's name sounds like.
If you want to give some details of famous exploits, distinguishing features, etc. that's awesome, but I can't guarantee that I'll be able to work them in; I usually only have a sentence or two to work with per name. In general the way I wind up using a name may not resemble the original much, although I love hearing about legendary characters even if you say "don't use this guy, but..." or specify "use them only if you don't change any details."
- I know it tickles me to think of one of my characters being immortalized in print, but I've already used all of my own good ones!
- Quixotic though it may be, I'm always seeking to connect the new-edition stuff I do to the old school insofar as possible, and names like Erac's Cousin are much more authentically evocative of the Golden Age than the ones I try to think up on the spot.
- Just as there's a trend for RPG writers to become self-referential, so that I think it's important to read the old fantasy that inspired D&D (and cringe when I encounter the reverse, a designer who's got nothing but game-franchise licensed novels on his shelves), I think there's a trend to become insular, so that I'd like to use names of characters that have emerged from actual play wherever possible instead of circularly propagating my idea of what an adventurer's name sounds like.
If you want to give some details of famous exploits, distinguishing features, etc. that's awesome, but I can't guarantee that I'll be able to work them in; I usually only have a sentence or two to work with per name. In general the way I wind up using a name may not resemble the original much, although I love hearing about legendary characters even if you say "don't use this guy, but..." or specify "use them only if you don't change any details."
