October 2022 Preview
Added 2022-10-17 22:20:07 +0000 UTCGreetings Tier 3 Mythicists! I have a preview random event for you :)
This is both a preview, but also a "what do you think of this" kind of thing. It's one of the Elements Meaning Tables in the upcoming Mythic GME Second Edition. This one is for coming up with names.
My approach to randomly generating names is a little odd, which is why I'm looking to see how you respond to this.
This table is a collection of sounds and concepts that when combined are meant to be suggestive of names. Most of the entries are not meant to be used literally but should be sounded out.
For instance, coming up with the name for a fantasy warrior you roll “Hee” and “R”. Sounding those out a Player might create names such as Hearr, Huir, or Heer.
A rolled concept, such as “Number” or “Emotion”, is meant to evoke a specific word linked to those ideas that you can slot into the name.
Generating the name for a town you might roll “In” and “Elements”. This could inspire names like Innsea, Inice, or Inflam.
This table lends itself to loose interpretation. Given that names for people, places, and things can run a very wide gamut this table is meant to narrow down the possible selections and inspire a certain sound to the name.
Rather than rolling twice you may want to keep rolling until you get a sound that comes across as a valid name to you.
For instance, a sci-fi Player Character is approaching a new planet and wants to figure out a name for it. Rolling on the Names Elements Table they get “Tal” and “El”. That doesn’t sound quite right yet so the Player rolls a third time and gets “Action”. This inspires the name Tallelrun.
Discovering there’s an advanced civilization on the planet the Player Character starship captain arranges a meeting with their leader. To generate his name the Player rolls “Len”, “In”, “Pr”, “Tar”. This inspires the name Lennin Pertar.
So what do you think? Good idea, or bad idea, for a table?
Comments
Thank you Ian, I'm glad you like it! :)
Tana Pigeon
2022-10-28 19:35:42 +0000 UTCI've been using this for the past week in my adventures, and it's made the settings feel more alive and unique - The names sound plausible, yet feel like they came from a place with its own history and traditions. I especially appreciate that I can add in names that are not English without having to arbitrarily pick some other language/culture and steal names from them to keep things sounding "exotic" or "foreign". It's a really cool method and approach!
Ian Carr
2022-10-28 18:48:27 +0000 UTCThe ogreish brute from the foothills Mt. Ngranak in the Lovecraftian Dreamlands, "Kuhl-Tark," thanks you for the essence of his name. 🙂
Uncle Stoax
2022-10-21 22:50:31 +0000 UTCIf anyone is curious how I came up with the items in this table, I got some help from my daughter. She has a degree in linguistics, so I asked her if there was a resource that showed every sound human speech is capable of. She directed me to a site that shows just that. I was glad the site allowed you to hear what each sound sounds like because without hearing it the symbols they use to represent each sound meant nothing to me. She gave me some direction on which parts of the resource I should use and I went over it listening to every sound. I boiled it all down into the various sounds that are on the table. Not every single sound is represented, but a lot of them were so close together in how they sounded I kind of rounded them out to the closest sound. I also did a little research on how names are commonly formed, which is where things like "Elements" and "Color" come from. All of those things were listed as common ways names are formed. They cover all kinds of naming conventions like White, April, Baker, Green, Frost, Hunter, etc. The table is putting all of that together with some smoothing and adjusting.
Tana Pigeon
2022-10-20 19:00:40 +0000 UTCYes, i love this. This is kind of how i come up with names in my head, so this makes things even easier B)
samber
2022-10-18 20:38:56 +0000 UTCI think your method is clever!
Tana Pigeon
2022-10-18 16:53:03 +0000 UTCThanks Mel :) It is kind of fun to see what names it comes up with. To get my name, I would have to roll something like "Ta", "Nah", and "Animal" for Tana Pigeon. To get Mel maybe roll "Mah" and "El".
Tana Pigeon
2022-10-18 16:51:36 +0000 UTCThanks Keith :)
Tana Pigeon
2022-10-18 16:48:46 +0000 UTCThanks Kryat :) The table is thin because there are three on a page, so good eye! Right now there are 45 Elements tables in Mythic GME 2e.
Tana Pigeon
2022-10-18 16:48:25 +0000 UTCThank you :)
Tana Pigeon
2022-10-18 16:47:17 +0000 UTCI like this approach to names. One table can name people, places, etc. It really streamlines the number of tables one must have in order to play. Excellent work!
Tim Chapman
2022-10-18 04:10:15 +0000 UTCWow this is sooo much better than the way I currently generate names using mythic. I used to just roll on the action table and portmanteau the two words into a name: Delay + Attention = "Delion"
Dasher
2022-10-18 00:21:51 +0000 UTCI've honestly wanted a names Mythic table for a while, and I love the look of this one. It's definitely geared towards more speculative worlds, but I'll be interested in testing whether it's also usable for more grounded worlds that mostly use real-world names. 🔬
MelJay452
2022-10-18 00:17:36 +0000 UTCOdd as it is, I like it for that very reason. It suits the Mythic style of randomization quite perfectly, IMHO. I say roll with it!
Keith Malinowski
2022-10-17 22:51:45 +0000 UTCI absolutely LOVE this idea and think that these can be quite useful to stimulate creativity with fantasy and sci-fi names! This table also looks thin, which makes me think you can fit more then one in a single page or spread. I think maybe three in a row in one page? What I am thinking here is that maybe they could allow you to have variant tables for added flavour. Depending on the species, culture, etc the name originates from, there will certainly be different sounds, such as a more lyrical language or one that is more brutish and consonant heavy. So having extra tables that steers the random name in such directions could be useful. Or something similar. What do you think? Although the way it is already helps a LOT! Eager to put this to use in my games and solo runs!
Kryat Lore
2022-10-17 22:39:38 +0000 UTC
