 1001 NPC names, Lets make a list |
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 Sep 22 2007, 08:09 PM
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#1
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Shooting Target  Group: Members Posts: 1,532 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Calgary, Canada Member No.: 769  |
One of the biggest pains I've found when GMing is coming up with names for NPC's on the fly. They usually end up sounding cheesy or increadably generic. Anything goes, former PC's former NPC's, streetnames, real names it doesn't matter. To start the ball rolling here are a couple of mine.
Tinman: a retired Street sam completely replaced with obvious cyber. Elfin-Face: A hidiously ugly troll ganger. |
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Sep 22 2007, 08:11 PM
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#2
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,664 Joined: 21-September 04 From: Arvada, CO Member No.: 6,686 |
Most names are generic.
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Sep 22 2007, 10:33 PM
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#3
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,288 Joined: 4-September 06 From: The Scandinavian Federation Member No.: 9,300 |
The good part about playing in setting that is close to ours is that you can use RL names without it sounding stupid.
Except the shadowrunner nicknames stuff, but they all sound stupid anyway... like "iceman", "killer", "jetblack".... oh wait that's taken ;) |
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Sep 23 2007, 12:16 AM
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#4
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 993 Joined: 5-December 05 From: Crying in the wilderness Member No.: 8,047 |
We done on starting this thread. There are a few similiar in the SR3 forum for handles. This kind of thing is a great resource for the community.
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Sep 23 2007, 12:54 AM
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#5
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Target Group: Members Posts: 13 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 974 |
My npc's are often called Bob
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Sep 23 2007, 01:00 AM
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#6
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 168 Joined: 6-August 06 Member No.: 9,033 |
But bob is not just a name, it is a way of life, a way of comidic tradgy, and never ending laughs. Bob is more thane a name it is an ideal,... Of mass comic DEATH. |
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Sep 23 2007, 05:48 AM
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#7
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 609 Joined: 13-August 07 Member No.: 12,615 |
The following are all nicknames I've seen in book/movies/comics.
Laughing Jack (meant to be ironic, no sense of humor) Two-Gun Corky (not because he has two guns, but because his, ah...member...is longer than most pistol barrels) Hot Lips (obvious for anyone who has ever seen M*A*S*H) Webster (no, not the tv show...the character has a habit of using fancy words, hence the name of the dictionary) |
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Sep 23 2007, 07:15 AM
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#8
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Free Spirit Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,944 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Bloomington, IN UCAS Member No.: 1,920 |
Some I have gleened over the years:
11)Abel 12)Ace 13)Ace of Spades 14)Afterburn 15)Ai (Japanese for "love") 16)Akimbo 17)Akuma 18)Alabaster Underground 19)Alias 20)Anastasia 21)Angel 22)Anon 23)Aphrodite 24)Apoc 25)Apostle 26)Arachniphobia 27)Arael (Lion of God) 28)Arc Angel 29)Arclight 30)Artemis 31)Astria 32)Aurora 33)Axler [Streetsamurai] 34)Baby Boy 35)Badger 36)Ballistic Betty 37)Bambi 38)Bane 39)Banshee 40)Bard (or "the Bard") 41)Bark 42)Bear Paws 43)Beckett 44)Behemoth 45)Belladonna 46)Benegal 47)Big Z 48)Bishop 49)Bit 50)Blacklight 51)Black Pheonix 52)Blade 53)Blake 54)Blanc 55)Blaze 56)Blindsider (or Blindsided - useful for a blind runner) 57)Block 58)Bloody Mary 59)Blue 60)Blue Shinobi 61)Blur 62)BNI (Batteries Not Included) 63)Bodycount 64)Boomer 65)Born-on-the-Bayou 66)Bowzer [Ganger] 67)Brandt 68)Breeze 69)Brick 70)Bullseye 71)Burning Bright 72)Burnout [Cyberzombie] 73)Bushi 74)Butch 75)Caleb 76)Carrion 77)Carver 78)Cat 79)CC (Console Cowboy) 80)Chance 81)Charlie 82)Chase 83)Chew Toy 84)Chimera 85)Chrome 86)Chrome Phoenix 87)Claw 88)Clutch 89)C-Note 90)Commodore Jones 91)Cook 92)Cooter 93)Corpselight (the spookier the character the better) 94)Corrupt 95)Cosmo Grand 96)Countdown 97)Cricket 98)Crimson Scarlet 99)Cronos 100)Cross 101)Crow 102)Crunch 103)Crystal 104)Cyberella 105)Cyberlan 106)Cybert 107)Cygor 108)Cypher 109)Daemon Hunter Y 110)Dance-With-Fire-Elementals 111)Dante 112)Daredevil 113)Darkchylde 114)Data Deva 115)David 116)Deadend 117)Dead-Eye 118)Deadman Walking 119)Death from Above 120)Deathawk 121)Delphi 122)Deuce 123)Deva 124)Dharma 125)Diablo 126)Diesel 127)DMZ 128)Doc 129)Doc Holiday 130)Dodger 131)Domino 132)Double Dee 133)Double Echo 134)Dove 135)Downshift 136)Dracul 137)Dread Man 138)Dreamer 139)Dreamscaper 140)Drifter 141)Ebony 142)Eclipse 143)Edge 144)Ember 145)Euna (Hunger in Celtic) 146)Eve 147)Evo 148)Eyeball 149)Falcon-5 150)Family Man 151)Fei 152)Fenris 153)Feral 154)Finder-Keepers 155)Flatline 156)Fletch 157)Flex 158)Flower 159)Ford Fairlane 160)Foucas [Vampire Hunter] 161)Foxfire 162)Fringe 163)Frogtongue [Bouncer, Streetsamurai] 164)Frost 165)Frostfire 166)-G 167)Gabriel 168)Gallowglass 169)Gator 170)G-Force 171)Ghost 172)Ghost Dragon 173)Ghost Owl 174)Gilgamesh 175)Glimmer Glitch Gloom & Doom Glory Grace 180)Grasshopper Gray Dawn Grid Griffin Grimey Grind Gris-Gris (Vodoun) Grog Gun-Fu Guttersnipe 190)Halfer in the Hood (Dwarf) Hamfist J. Hammer Harbinger Hardwire Hat Trick Hawk Head Hunter Hell-In-A-Barrel Hero 200)Hollywood Hood Howler Hunter Hush Puppy Icarus Ice Ice Angel Ice Wire Icebrand 210)Infiniti Iris Isabella Jack Jack of all Trades Jäger (German for Hunter) Jane-in-the-box Jarman Jasmine Jehovah 220)Jezebel Jezz Jigsaw Jimmy Jimmy Jazz Jin Jitters Joan Johnny the Bull Joy 230)Judas Jude (Patron Saint of Lost Causes) Juicer Kane Karma Kawaii Ken Kensai (roughly "Sword Saint") Kermit King 240)King-Maker Kingslayer Kitsune Koh Laughing Crow Leadfoot Leggo Leto Leverage Lightning 250)Lila Lion Little D Little Mikey Loki Lone Sky Long Feather (prob. best as amerind) Lotus Lucero Lucifer 260)Lupin Macabre Macedon Mad Dog <Insert name starting with “M� here> Mad Mardigan Mad Max Mageslayer Magnum Magnum Force Malachai 270)Mantis Masamune Maximilian Meek Reaper Messiah Midnight Mind's Eye Minos Mirage Mirrorman 280)Mista Pain Mojo Man Mojojojo Mole Monk Moonshine Morpheus (before "The Matrix") Morrigan Mort Mr Black 290)Mr. Darke Mr. Fixit ("if it ain't broke, I fixit!") Mr. Smith Nameless Neko Nemesis Nemo (No-name) Neon Neon-Antichrist New Sight 300)Nick Nitro Night Rider Nightcrawler Nightingale Nightshade Nightwatch Nitro No-Name Nucleus Obsidian 310)Old Growler Omen One-Eyed Jack Osprey Overlord Padre Papa Bear Percival Phantasmagoria Phoenix 320)Phreaker Pinball Pipeline Piston Point Man Preacher Priest Prime Prometheus Prophet 330)Proteus Pyro Quean (note spelling means shrew or hussy) Queen Bee Quicksilver Radar Ragnarock Rain Raine Rajah 340)Rally-Cat Ralphie Ram Ramjet Raptor Rat Ratchet Raven Razor Razorback 350)Razorwire Reaper Red Red Baron Red Dragon Requiem Re-Volt Richter Ricochet Rictor 360)Rift Runner Riv Roadblock Rock Rogue Rolf Romeo Ronin Rook Rubicon 370)Ruby Rune Sabbacatus Saber Sable Sage Saint Saint Jude Sam Sez Sapphire 380)Saturn Scar Second Sight Sellsword Sensor Ghost Seraphim (or serah) Sergei Seven Sewer Jack Shade 390)Shadow Shear Sher-Khan Shoots-The-Moon Shotgun James Shyft Sideburn Sidesweep Silence Silver 400)Silverline Sin Sioux Standoff Sister Mary Six Six Pack Skid Slammer Slash Slays-the-Rain 410)Sledge Sleepy Smiley Smudge Snake Snakepit Snoopy Snowflake Socrates Sol 420)Soul Drinker Soulfire Sparrow Spidey Spike Spiral Squiggy Stalker Stargazer Steel 430)Sticks Sting(er) Stitch Stone Straight Up Sun-Hunter Swan Switch Tabris (Angel of Free Will) Talisman 440)Talon Tank Tare Tarot Tattoo T-Bone Team One Tenshi (Jap - roughly Angel) Tequila Tetsuko (Japanese, roughly "Lady of Steel") 450)The Bodyguard The Chef The Chemist The Concrete Warrior The Doppleganger The Drifter The Goose The Graveringer Poet The Grifter The Hour(s) (best for spooky characters) 460)The Hulk The Jester The Knife The Swede Thorn Thorne Three of Swords Thumper Thunder Thunder Cloud 470)Thunderwyld Thunk Tito Toecutter Toe-fu Torque Toy Girl Trace Tradewind Rider Travesty 480)Trip/Tripper Troggeater Twin Runners [Mercenaries] Twitch Tyr Ugh Uplink Urban Twilight Urgewyrm Uriel 490)Velvet Veneficus (Latin for wizard or poison) Venerable One Viper Vizier Walker Warchild Wave Man (has the same meanings as Ronin) Weatherman Wedge 500)Wheels Whiplash Whisper Will O' Wisp Willis Willow Windy Wingnut Woo (or Wu - for Gun-fu adepts) Wotan 510)Wraith Wren Wyrm Zato (good for blind swordsmen!) Zero Zero-G Zero Hour Ziggurat 518)Z-Zoner I have been in groups where the handles were signs of the zodiac and another with classical composers, prompting someone to shout, "I'll be Bach!" Aquarius 520)Aries Cancer Capricorn Gemini Leo Libra Pisces Sagittarius Scorpio Taurus 530)Virgo Dog Dragon Horse Monkey Ox Pig Rabbit Rat Rooster 540)Sheep Snake Tiger Bach Beethoven Brahms Chopin Handel Haydn Mendelssohn 550)Monteverdi 551)Mozart 552)Paganini 553)Rossini 554)Scarlatti 555)Schubert 556)Verdi 557)Vivaldi 558)Wagner 559)Weber 560)Tchaikovsky Well over half way to 1001. |
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Sep 23 2007, 07:45 AM
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#9
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 104 Joined: 19-June 07 From: Florida Member No.: 11,950 |
The Robot
TheMadDutchman (Dutch) Blaise Smooth Operator Big Daddy Laramie Tight Curves Catfish Verna Tatsuo (Dragon Man) Traveller ValueRunner ManicMachine FalconFire Firewall Shaolin Robot Funky Brown Milkshake Jones Jack Frost Queen Mob Shaelock Whiskey Sam Tex El Cochino Plus Cigar brands work great Victgor Sinclair Arturo Fuente Macanudo Portofino Sancho Panchez Padron |
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Sep 23 2007, 08:44 AM
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#10
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Midnight Toker Group: Members Posts: 7,686 Joined: 4-July 04 From: Zombie Drop Bear Santa's Workshop Member No.: 6,456 |
Iron Klaw
Dr. Claw Sax Rohmer Solitaire Nugget Scooter Tombstone Cy-Kill Stoneheart Crackpot Crasher Hornet Klaws Smallfoot Small Foot Small-Foot Gamekeeper Kytani The Ultimate Roadblock Shipwreck Tomax and Xamot Norin Radd Evil Lyn Beastman Skeletor Eyeclops Manbeast Man-Beast Storm Shadow Serpentor Major Bludd Snake Eyes Snake-Eyes Stalker Flint Lady Jaye BAT Bat Flagg Kamakura The Black Major Baron Ironblood Baron Von Joy Bugbite Bug Bite Bug-Bite Tank Turbo Lock Fitor Leader-1 Cop-Tur Lock Crasher Crusher Dr. Mindbender Jinx Grandslam Grand Slam Grand-Slam Golobulous Zartan Optimus Prime Jose Quervo Magnus Ultra Magnus Gimlock Bumblebee Megatron Galvatron Hot Rod Arcee Bi-Beast Devil Dinosaur Rusty Skids Panthro Cheetara Lion-O Bengali Quicksilver (Jonathan Quick) Stargazer Bluegrass Steelheart & Steelwill Moonstryker Hotwing Flashback Condor Moonboy Darkseid Michael Ironside Hulk Hogan Sting Flash Freddie Mercury (no relation to Ryan) Hawkeye Kingpin The Mandarin Connor Macleod Wallhacker Sentinel The Sentinel Tri-Sentinel Dr. Giggles Dr. Doom Dr. Mercury Dr. Baddass Dr. McNinja Dr. House Dr. No Dr. Evil Dr. Carter Dr. Greene Goose Maverick Iceman Ice-Man Ice Man Your Friendly Neighborhood Iceman Milk Man Milk-Man Milkman Milk Money Funny Money Funny Man Mr. Man Mr. McMahon Stone Cold Steve Austin Regular Steve Austin Cyborg Steve Austin Guitarist Steve Austin Lee Majors Lee Meriwether Urtha Kitt |
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Sep 23 2007, 09:46 AM
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#11
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 315 Joined: 12-October 03 From: Germany, Regensburg Member No.: 5,709 |
There's a name list here: http://www.eisparadies.org/fileadmin/shado...namensliste.pdf
(The text is in german, but the names are sorted by region) |
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Sep 23 2007, 09:10 PM
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#12
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Bushido Cowgirl Group: Members Posts: 5,782 Joined: 8-July 05 From: On the Double K Ranch a half day's ride out of Phlogiston Flats Member No.: 7,490 |
...hey those guys are supposed to be in my RiS campaign...:grinbig: To add a bit to this list François Couperin César Franck Franz Liszt Gustav Mahler Robert & Clara Schumann (yeah, Bob's better half was also renowned as a composer) Johann Strauss (the Elder and Junior.) ...I won't even delve into the impressionists & moderns. :D ...a few others I've used. The Icewoman Bob the Decker Happy Nat Herr Doktor Bob Müller Big Jake Jade Rose The Amazing Bob (Hermetic Mage) Smoker Badger (badger, badger, badger...) Sterling Steele Chicago Joe Samurai Bob Dieter |
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Sep 23 2007, 10:49 PM
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#13
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Project Terminus: Soul Hunters Group: Members Posts: 1,052 Joined: 6-November 03 From: Casselberry, Florida U.S.A. Member No.: 5,798 |
Here are some names to use and yes I have used some of them in my games what can I say some of these are really cool.
Backgammon BitBasher bit_buckethead Brother Justice Cain Casazil Cochise DarusGrey Derek Drain Brain Ecclesiastes Eyeless Blond FlakJacket FrostyNSO GlassJaw hahnsoo jklst14 Kagetenshi Kai Kanada Ten L.D Lazygenius Lindt LoveMutt Mintcar MooCow Necro Tech NexusVoid Nikoli Nomad OurTeam Prospero Raiko Rakshasa Ranma_Sao Raygun Req Shadow SirBedevere Solstice Sommers Spetulhu Swing Kid Tanka The Lost Coin tisoz Tony torzzzzz Zephania Rob Boyle Patrick Goodman Synner Caine Hazen Dashifen Eidolon Adam Bull Now for some other nmaes I have used but then again I am a fan. Teal'c Samantha Carter Daniel Jackson Jack O'Neill George Hammond Walter Harriman Janet Fraiser Siler Cameron Mitchell Hank Landry Vala Mal Doran Jonas Quinn Bra'tac Selmak Apophis Bill Lee Paul Davis Ba'al Robert Kinsey Harry Maybourne Anubis Carolyn Lam Chaka Lantash Rodney McKay Richard Woolsey Rya'c Charles Kawalsky Skaara Sha're Merlin Gerak Heru'ur Oma Desala Pete Shanahan Hathor Kasuf Kerrigan Narim Nirrti Cronus Robert Rothman Martin Lloyd Tanith Anise Tomin Freyr Catherine Langford Gairwyn Cassandra Charlie O'Neill Jolinar of Malkshur Shan'auc Jennifer Hailey Jay Felger Ishta Elizabeth Weir Orlin Anubis Anyway I could keep going but then my post would be like a mile long. |
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Sep 24 2007, 12:02 AM
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#14
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 6,640 Joined: 6-June 04 Member No.: 6,383 |
A recurring classic in my games is "Dirk Thunderbarrel". It's really the only NPC name you need.
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Sep 24 2007, 01:26 AM
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#15
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 438 Joined: 21-September 07 From: Houston Member No.: 13,369 |
its funny, I also use Bob as my generic every name
I had a rigger in my old 2ed campaign named Maximum Bob turns out its a book i must have seen the name for at some time. also, borrowed froma friends D&D game you can have fun with the name "Ballzout" Oliver is great with that one of course Had a decker npc named Kelvin |
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Sep 24 2007, 07:22 AM
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#16
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Bushido Cowgirl Group: Members Posts: 5,782 Joined: 8-July 05 From: On the Double K Ranch a half day's ride out of Phlogiston Flats Member No.: 7,490 |
...my fave to use is Chief Headless Chicken. |
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Sep 24 2007, 02:54 PM
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#17
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ghostrider Group: Retired Admins Posts: 4,196 Joined: 16-May 04 Member No.: 6,333 |
Pick a demon. Awesome names for NPCs (and PCs).
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Sep 24 2007, 09:57 PM
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#18
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Free Spirit Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,944 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Bloomington, IN UCAS Member No.: 1,920 |
The Bald Avenger. It sounds better spoken than read, especially if described as having a full head of hair. ;)
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Sep 25 2007, 12:07 AM
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#19
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,026 Joined: 23-November 05 From: Seattle (Really!) Member No.: 7,996 |
An infamous one from the early days of our game:
Jose Franklin And everyone's favorite Triad Fixer: Sammy Chang |
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Sep 25 2007, 11:16 AM
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#20
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 490 Joined: 29-August 06 From: Texas Member No.: 9,245 |
Bones (An Man about town from Austriallia)
Skywyze Arnold (the armorer) Reggie (the Jamaican demo man. "Just Blow it all up man") Guido "I know a guy" Marconi Sen. A.J Robinson ® (Tex) Kit Carson Douglas Morgan Kamehameha-O'Day White Lilly Freddy "the Merlin" Mercury Ben "HF" Johnson |
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Sep 25 2007, 12:26 PM
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#21
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Slacker Extraordinaire Group: Retired Admins Posts: 337 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Ashburn, VA Member No.: 997 |
I've never had much issue coming up with tough sounding aliases. Real names can throw me for a loop though, if I'm forced to provide an unexpected one on the spot.
I picked up an inexpensive, black and white, booklet at my local game store that provides lists of first and last names for various regions around the globe. They are numbered for random rolling, and note boxes offer tips on naming conventions for regions that use names differently or mixing regions to create more exotic "future" names. Probably one of my better buys. It has saved me from giving an NPC a name I would come to regret after the story takes a turn and that character becomes a more important aspect of the campaign. I've definately seen a few websites that offer the same sort of resource for free as well. |
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Sep 25 2007, 01:34 PM
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#22
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Technomancer Group: Retired Admins Posts: 4,638 Joined: 2-October 02 From: Champaign, IL Member No.: 3,374 |
I just use names of friends. Steve, Jill, Jackson, Bob, Eric, etc. If they need a handle, then I usually fall back on weapons, mythology, or gangster movies. I'm also a big fan of ripping off of song titles or themes. For example, my current game has a smuggling crew of the following, all Billy Joel references: Captain Jack, Pianoman, Alexa, Stiletto, and Anthony.
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Sep 25 2007, 07:42 PM
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#23
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,408 Joined: 31-January 04 From: Reston VA, USA Member No.: 6,046 |
"Unlike their friend Mac, mafia wanna-be's Tom 'the Fork', and Bob 'the Spoon' never made it out of the Sprawl into the big leagues..." |
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Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 23rd April 2024 - 09:02 AM |
Topps, Inc has sole ownership of the names, logo, artwork, marks, photographs, sounds, audio, video and/or any proprietary material used in connection with the game Shadowrun. Topps, Inc has granted permission to the Dumpshock Forums to use such names, logos, artwork, marks and/or any proprietary materials for promotional and informational purposes on its website but does not endorse, and is not affiliated with the Dumpshock Forums in any official capacity whatsoever.