Fellows you can skip include Flerd Trantle, Fonkin Hoddypeak, Faffle - and, of course, the incomparable Gleep Wurp the Eyebiter.
Frush O'Suggil - 14th lvl Fighter (I remember him cause he is the only character Ive seen published with a +5 shield)
Roaky Swerked - 9th lvl Cleric IIRC
Cloyer Bulse the Magsman - 13th lvl Thief
Beek Gwenders of Croodle - 9th lvl Ranger IIRC (either that or the 5/9 F/MU)
Redmod Dumple - 9th lvl Dwarven Fighter IIRC
Thats it for Giants
For Drow
Keek Breedbate of Nithe Gnome F/TH (cant remember the lvls)
Ycore Rixie - 7th lvl Grey Elf Cleric
Fnast Dringle - Wood Elven F/MU 5/11 IIRC
Philotomy Jurament - 9th lvl Paladin
Thats all I can remember of the names. I remember that there was another 2 Elven 5/11 F/MUs plus another 7th lvl Grey Elf Fighter. Then Fonkin and Beek from Giants.
From D1-2
Fonkin Hoddypeak,
Beek Gwenders,
Fnast Dringle,
Keak Breedbate,
Darg Blonke,
Ycore Rixle,
Shab Heanling,
Fage the Kexy,
Philotomy Jurament
http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6870&sid=070ce7b96bfaf19a482748e914048101
Kayen Telva was from the A-series.
Wasnt Kayen Telva in this series or was he in the Slave Lords?
He was in the Slave Lords series (A1-A4, iirc). the memories. "In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords" was the first AD&D module we ever got! Anyway, the other characters were:
Karraway (a male human cleric), Phanstern (male, human illusionist), Ogre (male, human fighter), Elwita (female, dwarf fighter, featured in all her bearded glory in one of the inside covers), Eljayess (male, half-elf fighter/cleric), Freda (female, human ranger), Dread Delgath (male, human magic-user), Blodgett (male, halfling thief) and of course, Kayen Telva (male, elf fighter/magic-user)
All things considered, at 9 members, it was a pretty large party.
Gary mostly put them together from archaic or dialect English words, many of which are found in the thieves' cant dictionary in The Canting Crew. Far from moronic, they're clever and wonderfully distinctive; moreover, they illustrate what (a subset of) World of Greyhawk names are like.
That is an interesting bit of history, but they still sound silly to me. There are plenty of Greyhawk names that don't sound like they're from Star Wars : Episode II. I'll just stick with them, and leave "Beak Gwenders" and company alone.
Gary mostly put them together from archaic or dialect English words, many of which are found in the thieves' cant dictionary in The Canting Crew. Far from moronic, they're clever and wonderfully distinctive; moreover, they illustrate what (a subset of) World of Greyhawk names are like.
Though you'll understand if some people's milage varies on that one...
But still...
Fnast Dringle? Sounds like a sports drink. ;)
Actually, I've just realized I've found all the gnome names I'll need for the rest of the campaign...
Gary mostly put them together from archaic or dialect English words, many of which are found in the thieves' cant dictionary in The Canting Crew. Far from moronic, they're clever and wonderfully distinctive; moreover, they illustrate what (a subset of) World of Greyhawk names are like.
I beg you pardon, but I am currently studying Old English and Old Norse, and I speak a bunch of other European languages and I can assure you that the overwhelming majority of the names used in the Greyhawk (and in the Ravenloft) setting is less more than a loose combination of vowels and consonants.
If there is a OE or ON origin, Gary's indeed hidden it well...
But indeed, what about Greyhawkian names? Why are they so...
Ravnos Dawl?
(Ever tried to pronounce that?!)
I beg you pardon, but I am currently studying Old English and Old Norse, and I speak a bunch of other European languages and I can assure you that the overwhelming majority of the names used in the Greyhawk (and in the Ravenloft) setting is less more than a loose combination of vowels and consonants.
If there is a OE or ON origin, Gary's indeed hidden it well...
But indeed, what about Greyhawkian names? Why are they so...
Ravnos Dawl?
(Ever tried to pronounce that?!)
Nobody said anything about Old English. What he said was "archaic" English words, i.e. words that haven't been used in a long time, particularly those used by thieves' guilds in England circa 1600-1900 (well into the period of Modern English). Similar in many ways to the odd slang used by Planescape characters (i.e. "berk", "bubber", "bonebox", and so on). Many professional thieves invented their own slang words as a way to "talk shop" without drawing the attention of law enforcement. A thief might have said to another thief that he "kipped that dringle's fnast" to mean he had stolen someone's money, for example (note that those aren't the exact definitions of those words), but any policeman overhearing that wouldn't have known what he was talking about unless he had known the thieves' cant himself.
It still vaguely amuses me that Planescape's 'berk' made it past the Code of Ethics.
But, if we take a common example: That Mortepierre posted earlier, "Gwenk".
Where does it it come from? Gwendoline? Wenk? (Oldsaxon, if I'm not wrong for "waving your hands"?)
Rel Mord? Rel <-- Real? Mord (german word for murder?)
Seuloise? <-- Saw Louis?!
What I mean, and I don't want to hijack the thread for a philogical discussion, some of the names sound good, some ...not
but cretainly there is no common structure in the languages of Greyhawk, as far as I know.
Care to remind me in what thread?
I did?!?
Care to remind me in what thread?
I am currently searching, but I can assure you that you did...
*gets headache*
Wanted to quote it earlier, but did not find it.
*Terrible Headache*
I am a bit... lets call it WITHOUT A PLAN these days...
What I mean, and I don't want to hijack the thread for a philogical discussion, some of the names sound good, some ...not
True, no Greyhawk authors have done much with constructed languages, such as explicitly working out the origin of place names in Old Oeridian. Ain't that kind of secondary world. Your first point there is a subjective matter of personal sensibility, of course.
It still vaguely amuses me that Planescape's 'berk' made it past the Code of Ethics.
Little help? Why wouldn't it? I've never heard of the word outside that game.
My understanding from Dwellers of the Forbidden City and Against the Slavelords is that the pre-gen characters are the first characters to have playtested the mods. If that's the case, you have to blame the original Player for "X the Mystic", not David Cook.
Of course, "X the Mystic" is probably my favorite pre-gen character name next to Ogre, so tastes vary.
Of course, "X the Mystic" is probably my favorite pre-gen character name next to Ogre, so tastes vary.
Heh....well...those names are no worse than 'Erac's Cousin'....the dual-classed Mage/Fighter with no name. Of course, I think Ernie was a bit miffed that his character Erac had perished of starvation on some sub-level in Castle Greyhawk.
