Ghosts of Saltmarsh has me excited about nautical adventures. I'm printing Devon Jones' pirate ship then I'm going to design an adventure involving boarding this ship and exploring it like a floating dungeon. I've come up with a list of ship names with some help from literature, history, and the internet. Which do you like and what others would you add to the mix?
I like Fever Dream and Redwater Jewel. But think Queen's Secret is a good one, because "What's the Secret? Let's go explore!"
As for other random thoughts off the top of my head: Stormshark, The King Ghro, Black Hand, Cleric of Myrkul, Garden of the West. If you really just wanted something random you could create your own d10 or d20 table, rolling a die for an adjective (ex. 4= Golden) and another for the noun (ex. 14= Rune).
Have you checked through the adventure Salvage Operation in Ghosts of Saltmarsh? I read it to give me a starting point of my own shipwreck dungeon I'm designing for later this summer. plot twist there's a Beholder below deck hoarding the treasure.
Remember that a ship being used as a dungeon doesn't have to have a cool name. Think of the Nostromo in Alien, or XD-1 in 2001: A Space Odyssey. The players can rechristen it with their own cool name once they take it as a prize. Also, assume someone had an actual purpose in building a ship. Why would you name your ship the Silent Deceit? If you were a harbormaster trying to find smuggled goods on the docks, you'd pretty much start at the Silent Deceit, right? If you met them at sea and they asked your ship for some help with repairs, would you give it to them or just assume they were bad guys and sail away? I personally wouldn't take a job as a sailor on the White Widow either.
British warships have cool names, though you have to edit out a lot of real life place names and proper names.
I'm partial to the Black Peter. As for suggestions, I humbly submit the Left Tit, an orc ship with a proper orc name. Alternatively, you could go for something animal named, such as The Kraken, the Sea Dragon, or the Wolf of the Waves.
Personally, I love alliteration in these sorts of things which lends them a really light-hearted quality - the Piglet's Pride, the Galloping Griffon, or for a meta-flurry of sound-soup: the Assassin's Assonance :)
Also, for pun value alone: the Waking Dream (or Dreamer's Wake).
The Dawn Treader comes to mind, though of your list I favor Devil's Contract and Redwater Jewel. Though I definitely agree with TimCurtin that the name ought to relate and relay the ship's purpose, original or otherwise. The Dawn Treader projects exploration, the Devil's Contract projects infernal and supernatural purpose (whether real or aspiration), and the Redwater Jewel projects rich cargo and gem transport.
I have a Ghostship that is called the Mo(u)rning Star; huge.. and is manned by warforged from the War between the Titans and the God's.. unfortunately when the (stellar) Navy was decommissioned.. the Mo)u(rning star was left on patrol. The Spirits of the Dead couldn't get leave, and rejoined their bodies after death. The Captain couldn't be a construct or undead.
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Itinerant Deputy Shire-reave Tomas Burrfoot - world walker, Raft-captain, speaker to his dead
Toddy Shelfungus- Rider of the Order of Ill Luck, Speaker to Friends of Friends, and Horribly big nosed
Jarl Archi of Jenisis Glade Fee- Noble Knight of the Dragonborn Goldcrest Clan, Sorcerer of the Noble Investigator;y; Knightly order of the Wolfhound
Blackbeard's ship was called "The Queen Anne's Revenge" which is a pretty awesome ship name from history. I used that (and a bit of Shakespearean flair) as inspiration to give a pirate ship in my game the name "The Queen Mab's Revenge".
Personally, I love alliteration in these sorts of things which lends them a really light-hearted quality - the Piglet's Pride, the Galloping Griffon, or for a meta-flurry of sound-soup: the Assassin's Assonance :)
Also, for pun value alone: the Waking Dream (or Dreamer's Wake).
You could take this one to eleven and name it the SS Assassin's Assonance.
How about the Dark Maiden, the Midnight Eclipse, or the Dawn's Blade?
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All stars fade. Some stars forever fall. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homebrew:Magic Items,Monsters,Spells,Subclasses ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
A ship in our game was named the Wicked Hard Woman. It took some heavy damage thanks to my PCs and is drydock for rebuild. If it turns up again I might consider an amended name. Maybe something like the Penitent Lady.
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PC - Ethel - Human - Lvl 4 Necromancer - Undying Dragons * Serge Marshblade - Human - Lvl 5 Eldritch Knight - Hoard of the Dragon Queen
DM -(Homebrew) Heroes of Bardstown *Red Dead Annihilation: ToA *Where the Cold Winds Blow : DoIP * Covetous, Dragonish Thoughts: HotDQ * Red Wine, Black Rose: CoS * Greyhawk: Tides of War
I've done a few ships, but what I do for the name is simple, and it'll match with whatever you put on the ship. Here's my process for ship naming.
1. What's the race or leading character class on the ship?
2. What waters does it sail?
3. What deity does the captain and crew believe in?
4. What is the ship's purpose? (Hauling, warfare, etc.)
5. Has the captain of the ship met or saw a mythical or legendary sea beast?
Using the answers of the questions above, use those words and synonyms until you find a good ship name. It should fit what the ship, captain, and crew are like and stand for. Also, with it being a floating dungeon and being a pirate ship, you can make people recognize the name of the ship because it belongs to infamous pirates, or cryptic to where most don't recognize the name, but know the appearance.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Player Quotes
Comet - "I want to burn the saloon with a firework and this rifle!"
Ghosts of Saltmarsh has me excited about nautical adventures. I'm printing Devon Jones' pirate ship then I'm going to design an adventure involving boarding this ship and exploring it like a floating dungeon. I've come up with a list of ship names with some help from literature, history, and the internet. Which do you like and what others would you add to the mix?
I like Fever Dream and Redwater Jewel. But think Queen's Secret is a good one, because "What's the Secret? Let's go explore!"
As for other random thoughts off the top of my head: Stormshark, The King Ghro, Black Hand, Cleric of Myrkul, Garden of the West. If you really just wanted something random you could create your own d10 or d20 table, rolling a die for an adjective (ex. 4= Golden) and another for the noun (ex. 14= Rune).
Have you checked through the adventure Salvage Operation in Ghosts of Saltmarsh? I read it to give me a starting point of my own shipwreck dungeon I'm designing for later this summer. plot twist there's a Beholder below deck hoarding the treasure.
Boldly go
How about The Filthy Whore. Was the name of a ship in the movie Cabin boy.
If you're looking for a name generator, here's a pirate ship one: https://www.seventhsanctum.com/generate.php?Genname=pirateshipnamer
My Homebrew Backgrounds | Feats | Magic Items | Monsters | Races | Subclasses
Remember that a ship being used as a dungeon doesn't have to have a cool name. Think of the Nostromo in Alien, or XD-1 in 2001: A Space Odyssey. The players can rechristen it with their own cool name once they take it as a prize. Also, assume someone had an actual purpose in building a ship. Why would you name your ship the Silent Deceit? If you were a harbormaster trying to find smuggled goods on the docks, you'd pretty much start at the Silent Deceit, right? If you met them at sea and they asked your ship for some help with repairs, would you give it to them or just assume they were bad guys and sail away? I personally wouldn't take a job as a sailor on the White Widow either.
British warships have cool names, though you have to edit out a lot of real life place names and proper names.
Torpedo Tester II
Jesus Saves!... Everyone else takes damage.
I'm partial to the Black Peter. As for suggestions, I humbly submit the Left Tit, an orc ship with a proper orc name. Alternatively, you could go for something animal named, such as The Kraken, the Sea Dragon, or the Wolf of the Waves.
Personally, I love alliteration in these sorts of things which lends them a really light-hearted quality - the Piglet's Pride, the Galloping Griffon, or for a meta-flurry of sound-soup: the Assassin's Assonance :)
Also, for pun value alone: the Waking Dream (or Dreamer's Wake).
The Dawn Treader comes to mind, though of your list I favor Devil's Contract and Redwater Jewel. Though I definitely agree with TimCurtin that the name ought to relate and relay the ship's purpose, original or otherwise. The Dawn Treader projects exploration, the Devil's Contract projects infernal and supernatural purpose (whether real or aspiration), and the Redwater Jewel projects rich cargo and gem transport.
Not all who wander are lost.
I have a Ghostship that is called the Mo(u)rning Star; huge.. and is manned by warforged from the War between the Titans and the God's.. unfortunately when the (stellar) Navy was decommissioned.. the Mo)u(rning star was left on patrol.
The Spirits of the Dead couldn't get leave, and rejoined their bodies after death.
The Captain couldn't be a construct or undead.
Itinerant Deputy Shire-reave Tomas Burrfoot - world walker, Raft-captain, speaker to his dead
Toddy Shelfungus- Rider of the Order of Ill Luck, Speaker to Friends of Friends, and Horribly big nosed
Jarl Archi of Jenisis Glade Fee- Noble Knight of the Dragonborn Goldcrest Clan, Sorcerer of the Noble Investigator;y; Knightly order of the Wolfhound
Blackbeard's ship was called "The Queen Anne's Revenge" which is a pretty awesome ship name from history. I used that (and a bit of Shakespearean flair) as inspiration to give a pirate ship in my game the name "The Queen Mab's Revenge".
You could take this one to eleven and name it the SS Assassin's Assonance.
We just named our ship The Untamed Harpy in reference to some shit our characters got up to.
In my campaign, there is a sunken pirate ship called "The Passion of Poseidon", which has a gorgon as the ship's figurehead.
My favorite 2 ships we've had in my campaigns are: "It'll do" and "A Great Boat"
How about the Dark Maiden, the Midnight Eclipse, or the Dawn's Blade?
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall.
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Homebrew: Magic Items, Monsters, Spells, Subclasses
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If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
A ship in our game was named the Wicked Hard Woman. It took some heavy damage thanks to my PCs and is drydock for rebuild. If it turns up again I might consider an amended name. Maybe something like the Penitent Lady.
PC - Ethel - Human - Lvl 4 Necromancer - Undying Dragons * Serge Marshblade - Human - Lvl 5 Eldritch Knight - Hoard of the Dragon Queen
DM - (Homebrew) Heroes of Bardstown * Red Dead Annihilation: ToA * Where the Cold Winds Blow : DoIP * Covetous, Dragonish Thoughts: HotDQ * Red Wine, Black Rose: CoS * Greyhawk: Tides of War
I like the draconian death
A ship so big it has at least 50 of each reptileien race
I've done a few ships, but what I do for the name is simple, and it'll match with whatever you put on the ship. Here's my process for ship naming.
1. What's the race or leading character class on the ship?
2. What waters does it sail?
3. What deity does the captain and crew believe in?
4. What is the ship's purpose? (Hauling, warfare, etc.)
5. Has the captain of the ship met or saw a mythical or legendary sea beast?
Using the answers of the questions above, use those words and synonyms until you find a good ship name. It should fit what the ship, captain, and crew are like and stand for. Also, with it being a floating dungeon and being a pirate ship, you can make people recognize the name of the ship because it belongs to infamous pirates, or cryptic to where most don't recognize the name, but know the appearance.
Player Quotes
Comet - "I want to burn the saloon with a firework and this rifle!"
Beans >:] - "BEANS."
Fine Wine
Channel Dancer
Mud Puppy
Porky Cork
Sea Strider
Backwash
Denise
Iron Butterfly
Wave Kisser
Wave Dancer
Unladend Swallow
Pig Chaser
Charon
The name plate has been forcibly removed and cannot be found.