I am looking to run one of the D&D modules for my group, namely Out of the Abyss. Are there any good resources to figure out the correct pronunciation of the names for characters and locations featured in it?
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I second the importance of consistency. I once pronounced Acererak as "Acerak." It was a lapse of memory, and I did it about 3 times one session. From then on the BBEG was Acerak. It didn't matter as much as consistency. It lasted a long time, and nobody cared.
Honestly, it really doesn't matter all that much. As others have said consistency is important so once you've given out a name and a pronunciation try and keep note that you remember it.
I'd also offer this piece of advice. If you are working through a published adventure or module and come across a name you find difficult to pronounce...change it. There's legitimately no harm in it. Likewise, just because a module uses a particular monster you don't have to use it. Change it to fit your style if that's more helpful. It really won't impact all that much. And what you can do is to write the original name in the published adventure in the following way on a post-it note that then gets fixed to your notebook or DM Screen.
[Published Name = My name] [Aoerylrylyn = Air ryn]
You could also use this technique to scour the publish adventure ahead of time and write down the names in a phonetic way that makes sense to you.
So for example, I might write:
[Siobhan = Shi vaughn] (apologies to any Irish folk out there, but hopefully you get my gist)
I actually do this when teaching to make sure I know how to pronounce an unfamiliar name.
I second the importance of consistency. I once pronounced Acererak as "Acerak." It was a lapse of memory, and I did it about 3 times one session. From then on the BBEG was Acerak. It didn't matter as much as consistency. It lasted a long time, and nobody cared.
While I've only ever seen it in passing, I've always mentally pronounced it that way. That extra "er" makes it a lot harder to say, and is easy to elide if you're reading quickly.
I spent eighteen years working in customer service (I retired after running a call center) and found the best way to pronounce names is to read them out loud quickly and without thoughtand you usually come closer to being correct than people who try too hard to get it right. Of course, doing it a few times during prep couldn't help. Also, rule zero applies.
Frame challenge - don't pronouce them correctly. Have diferent NPCs use different pronounciation. Also, spell them, differently in handouts. After all, standard spelling wasn't invented in our world until fairly recently. Captain Cook spelt the name of his ship five different ways in one letter home.
I'm watching the Rings of Power series at the moment, It strikes me how many different ways Galadriel has been pronounced.
Point of order; there is not any set-in-stone pronunciation of words. Period. Heck, my best pal has a PhD. in philosophy and he can't pronounce things. Me too, mainly because we read everything. I frankly am only pretty good at it because I'm often familiar with the origins of the word. That is, if you know the word comes from Latin or Greek, then you get a sense of it's pronunciation.
However, in fantasy works like D&D, the creators pretty much are just slapping words together with absolutely no rhyme or reason behind them. So, how they are pronounced is likely a complete mystery even to them! ;)
As others have mentioned, consistency is the key. Additionally, chances are even your players will have difficulty with the name. My players will take a name and make something that sounds similar and just use that for the rest of the adventure. Case in point: Claugiyliamatar - Monsters - D&D Beyond (dndbeyond.com); my players call that Cloudy Leotard and that's what they ran with despite my best attempts to pronounce it correctly. In other words, just have fun and understand that many modern naming conventions came from people mispronouncing actual names of people and places. ;)
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"...or you can find the secret tunnel that leads to the Vault of Dickish DM which is filled with 10,000,000 copper coins and a 5,000 pound solid gold statue of a middle finger that is too big to fit through the door."
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I am looking to run one of the D&D modules for my group, namely Out of the Abyss. Are there any good resources to figure out the correct pronunciation of the names for characters and locations featured in it?
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I use Google's Text To Speech website: https://cloud.google.com/text-to-speech
I think the important thng is consistency - as long as you keep pronouncing the places nd people's names the same, it'll work!
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I second the importance of consistency. I once pronounced Acererak as "Acerak." It was a lapse of memory, and I did it about 3 times one session. From then on the BBEG was Acerak. It didn't matter as much as consistency. It lasted a long time, and nobody cared.
Honestly, it really doesn't matter all that much. As others have said consistency is important so once you've given out a name and a pronunciation try and keep note that you remember it.
I'd also offer this piece of advice. If you are working through a published adventure or module and come across a name you find difficult to pronounce...change it. There's legitimately no harm in it. Likewise, just because a module uses a particular monster you don't have to use it. Change it to fit your style if that's more helpful. It really won't impact all that much. And what you can do is to write the original name in the published adventure in the following way on a post-it note that then gets fixed to your notebook or DM Screen.
[Published Name = My name]
[Aoerylrylyn = Air ryn]
You could also use this technique to scour the publish adventure ahead of time and write down the names in a phonetic way that makes sense to you.
So for example, I might write:
[Siobhan = Shi vaughn] (apologies to any Irish folk out there, but hopefully you get my gist)
I actually do this when teaching to make sure I know how to pronounce an unfamiliar name.
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While I've only ever seen it in passing, I've always mentally pronounced it that way. That extra "er" makes it a lot harder to say, and is easy to elide if you're reading quickly.
I spent eighteen years working in customer service (I retired after running a call center) and found the best way to pronounce names is to read them out loud quickly and without thought and you usually come closer to being correct than people who try too hard to get it right. Of course, doing it a few times during prep couldn't help. Also, rule zero applies.
Frame challenge - don't pronouce them correctly. Have diferent NPCs use different pronounciation. Also, spell them, differently in handouts. After all, standard spelling wasn't invented in our world until fairly recently. Captain Cook spelt the name of his ship five different ways in one letter home.
I'm watching the Rings of Power series at the moment, It strikes me how many different ways Galadriel has been pronounced.
Point of order; there is not any set-in-stone pronunciation of words. Period. Heck, my best pal has a PhD. in philosophy and he can't pronounce things. Me too, mainly because we read everything. I frankly am only pretty good at it because I'm often familiar with the origins of the word. That is, if you know the word comes from Latin or Greek, then you get a sense of it's pronunciation.
However, in fantasy works like D&D, the creators pretty much are just slapping words together with absolutely no rhyme or reason behind them. So, how they are pronounced is likely a complete mystery even to them! ;)
As others have mentioned, consistency is the key. Additionally, chances are even your players will have difficulty with the name. My players will take a name and make something that sounds similar and just use that for the rest of the adventure. Case in point: Claugiyliamatar - Monsters - D&D Beyond (dndbeyond.com); my players call that Cloudy Leotard and that's what they ran with despite my best attempts to pronounce it correctly. In other words, just have fun and understand that many modern naming conventions came from people mispronouncing actual names of people and places. ;)
#OpenD&D #ORC
"...or you can find the secret tunnel that leads to the Vault of Dickish DM which is filled with 10,000,000 copper coins and a 5,000 pound solid gold statue of a middle finger that is too big to fit through the door."