Juspera's Good Ole GS4 Page / Roleplaying

Naming Your Character: Make It Cultural

October 9, 2019 | Juspera's Player

Names are such a great opportunity to shape the way people see your characters. In GS, they're the first impression your character makes, and in some situations the only one. In the next few essays I'll share three ways to settle on a great name that suits your character's race or culture, history and personality, as well as standing out in the crowd. For today, it's how to create a name that fits your character's culture and language of origin.

The lore docs give some idea of what different racial/cultural languages sound like, whether through the names of each race's cultures, the names of historic people and places, or actual words from their language. You can use these docs to create a name that is actively Aelotoi sounding, or Gnomish sounding, et cetera. Scan the documents listed below to see vocabulary as well as place- and people-names to inspire your character's own.

Aelotoi: https://gswiki.play.net/Aelotian_language is very useful.

Dhe'nar: http://tahlon.obsidiantower.com/lost/gazda/ has some Dhe'nar-si phrases; see also https://gswiki.play.net/History_of_the_Dhe%27nar for historic names.

Dwarven: See https://gswiki.play.net/History_of_Dwarves for historic names, and https://gswiki.play.net/Dwarf for how the many clans are named.

Elven: See https://www.play.net/gs4/info/races/cultures/elf/illistim_1.asp as well as https://gswiki.play.net/Ta%27Illistim_Monarchs for some Illistimi names, which presumably are at least similar to names used in other houses.

Erithian: The document on Erithi clothing, https://gswiki.play.net/Erithi_clothing, and that on the katana's history, https://gswiki.play.net/History_of_the_Elanthian_Katana_and_the_Order_of_the_Watchful_Eye, contain the most Erithian names/words.

Faendryl: See https://gswiki.play.net/History_of_the_Faendryl for historic names.

Giantkin: See https://gswiki.play.net/Giantkin_History for historic names.

Gnomish: https://gswiki.play.net/Lines_of_Blood:_A_History_of_the_Gnomes has some historic names.

Half-Krolvin: You can't get much better than https://gswiki.play.net/Krolgeh_Language for a document. However, remember that a Common name would also make sense for a Half-Krolvin.

Human: https://gswiki.play.net/History_of_the_Turamzzyrian_Empire has more place-names and person-names than you can shake a stick at. Also see https://gswiki.play.net/Life_and_Being_in_the_Sea_of_Fire#Language for some Tehir words.

Halfling: See https://gswiki.play.net/History_of_the_Truefolk for historic names.

Sylvan: See https://gswiki.play.net/History_of_the_Sylvan_Elves for historic names.

Next time, I'll talk about some ways to craft a name that suits the personality you intend for your character.

Back to:

Juspera's Good Ole GS4 Page / Roleplaying