I was just wondering if there was any story/lore behind the "last names" or epithets of Orcs/Half-Orcs.
A lot of the time I will see Orc last names written more like a title, or descriptor, such as:
Urdala Skull Thrasher
Bozgar the Unsightly
Shamvul Pest Splitter
So, I was curious if there was a canon way that Orc/half-orcs received these 'last names'? Or is this entirely up to the player and the DM?
Does Urdala really thrash skulls? Or is her family known for thrashing skulls, and she's just one of many in a long line of noble skull thrashers? Is there an orc coming-of-age ceremony where titles are bestowed? Is Bozgar really that unsightly? Or did he just have a really bad case of acne during his orc bat mitzvah?
Would love to know if there's actually a convention on this! And if there isn't, I'd love to hear how your came up with your Orc/Half-Orc's honorific!
In an old 3.5e comic, different clans had different ways of naming kids. Some based on lineage, some based on prophecy, some based on exhibited behavior or identifying feature in the first year, some because the seer had a hangover and chose "Goawayaihavaheddake" during the naming ceremony.
I guess one could say that the convention is that it's really entirely up to the player and DM to choose the character's history.
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Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider. My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong. I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲 “It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
I feel I should add one more process. A major character in the comic was named for purely political reasons to prevent a civil war - a fake prophecy - while the one who was foreseen as the rightful person was instead named for being born in during AD&D. "Thaco." Thaco was told of this and agreed to keep the truth secret to prevent the foreseen civil war in the clan, just proving that he was really the right one for the political position. The civil war was prevented, but defying the prophecies had other unforeseen consequences and everything's a confused mess now.
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Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider. My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong. I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲 “It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Here's a thought: A "given" name (like a first name in many English-speaking countries) followed by the characteristic or prophesied name in a naming ceremony a year after birth followed by the family or parent's name (like a surname) followed by the clan name.
The full name would be too long for non-ceremonial conversation, of course. The character's nickname inside the clan would probably be any part of the first two parts of the name. Outside the clan, the nickname could be any part of the full name.
Gtog, the Kennelmaster, Stragborne, of the Warhorde Clan.
Given name: Gtog, a good strong name that doesn't really mean anything. Characteristic name Kennelmaster (for warhounds not attacking him when he crawled into the kennel). Born of Strag (the mother's name). From the obvious clan.
Also known as "Kenny" to his friends.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider. My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong. I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲 “It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
Hi all!
I was just wondering if there was any story/lore behind the "last names" or epithets of Orcs/Half-Orcs.
A lot of the time I will see Orc last names written more like a title, or descriptor, such as:
So, I was curious if there was a canon way that Orc/half-orcs received these 'last names'? Or is this entirely up to the player and the DM?
Does Urdala really thrash skulls? Or is her family known for thrashing skulls, and she's just one of many in a long line of noble skull thrashers?
Is there an orc coming-of-age ceremony where titles are bestowed? Is Bozgar really that unsightly? Or did he just have a really bad case of acne during his orc bat mitzvah?
Would love to know if there's actually a convention on this! And if there isn't, I'd love to hear how your came up with your Orc/Half-Orc's honorific!
Cheers.
In an old 3.5e comic, different clans had different ways of naming kids. Some based on lineage, some based on prophecy, some based on exhibited behavior or identifying feature in the first year, some because the seer had a hangover and chose "Goawayaihavaheddake" during the naming ceremony.
I guess one could say that the convention is that it's really entirely up to the player and DM to choose the character's history.
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider.
My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong.
I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲
“It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
Bhahaha. That's fantastic!
I feel I should add one more process. A major character in the comic was named for purely political reasons to prevent a civil war - a fake prophecy - while the one who was foreseen as the rightful person was instead named for being born in during AD&D. "Thaco." Thaco was told of this and agreed to keep the truth secret to prevent the foreseen civil war in the clan, just proving that he was really the right one for the political position. The civil war was prevented, but defying the prophecies had other unforeseen consequences and everything's a confused mess now.
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider.
My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong.
I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲
“It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
My warlock's familiar is named Thaco lol
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
Here's a thought: A "given" name (like a first name in many English-speaking countries) followed by the characteristic or prophesied name in a naming ceremony a year after birth followed by the family or parent's name (like a surname) followed by the clan name.
The full name would be too long for non-ceremonial conversation, of course. The character's nickname inside the clan would probably be any part of the first two parts of the name. Outside the clan, the nickname could be any part of the full name.
Gtog, the Kennelmaster, Stragborne, of the Warhorde Clan.
Given name: Gtog, a good strong name that doesn't really mean anything. Characteristic name Kennelmaster (for warhounds not attacking him when he crawled into the kennel). Born of Strag (the mother's name). From the obvious clan.
Also known as "Kenny" to his friends.
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider.
My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong.
I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲
“It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
Am I the only one who uses last names like Gradstone or Yuldfrond for any race.