One trick works if you know a foreign language. Pick a theme and mispronounce words you know from it. End result is a bunch of names that sound like they are from the same culture.
Examples: Coachay, Bysicleta, Aveon, Trane
You mispronounce them to be easier for you to say and remember.
One option is to choose an ancient civilization and use names from their history. The more arcane the civilization, the better. Another is to use a list of baby names from a foreign country. Consider this list of names from Ethiopia that I've drawn from. The effect is less if your group includes a person from that country, of course.
My current game has only Germanic cultures (in the local area), so I have tables set up for Dutch, German, Norse and Old Saxon names. I like to use history as inspiration for my settings though.
One option is to choose an ancient civilization and use names from their history. The more arcane the civilization, the better. Another is to use a list of baby names from a foreign country. Consider this list of names from Ethiopia that I've drawn from. The effect is less if your group includes a person from that country, of course.
When I'm not panic-naming people Steve, I go the baby name route too. Behind the Name is my go-to, as I'm an etymology nerd.
Races/species/cultures have distinct linguistic inspiration in my universe. Drow have Slavic names, tieflings have a twist on virtue names (Calumny, Malice, Vice, Anathema, etc.), gith all get Arabic-inspired names with apostrophes after the first syllable...Stuff like that. The names of locales and geographic features for each region thus is dependent on the inhabitants' language inspo. Theoretically, this helps me avoid panic-naming Drow Cultist #3 "Steve," though my brain usually goes there first before I eventually spit out something like Vanya instead. Sigh.
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All DMs struggle with names. So to help all of us what is a good name, and how would you use it?
EX: Stonewood, a trading center for wood elves and other races.
https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com
Age: 33 | Sex: Male | Languages: French and English | Roles: DM and Player
Some DMs are organized and have a list of names to give NPCs in a pinch.
I'm old school. I just panic and say "Steve" because my brain won't give me any other name.
One trick works if you know a foreign language. Pick a theme and mispronounce words you know from it. End result is a bunch of names that sound like they are from the same culture.
Examples: Coachay, Bysicleta, Aveon, Trane
You mispronounce them to be easier for you to say and remember.
One option is to choose an ancient civilization and use names from their history. The more arcane the civilization, the better. Another is to use a list of baby names from a foreign country. Consider this list of names from Ethiopia that I've drawn from. The effect is less if your group includes a person from that country, of course.
My current game has only Germanic cultures (in the local area), so I have tables set up for Dutch, German, Norse and Old Saxon names. I like to use history as inspiration for my settings though.
When I'm not panic-naming people Steve, I go the baby name route too. Behind the Name is my go-to, as I'm an etymology nerd.
Races/species/cultures have distinct linguistic inspiration in my universe. Drow have Slavic names, tieflings have a twist on virtue names (Calumny, Malice, Vice, Anathema, etc.), gith all get Arabic-inspired names with apostrophes after the first syllable...Stuff like that. The names of locales and geographic features for each region thus is dependent on the inhabitants' language inspo. Theoretically, this helps me avoid panic-naming Drow Cultist #3 "Steve," though my brain usually goes there first before I eventually spit out something like Vanya instead. Sigh.