| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| ElaineCunningham |
Posted - 25 Oct 2011 : 22:05:35
Many places, no doubt, but some of mine tend to come from songs.
Today's blog post tells a bit of backstory about Hedvig, a character in an upcoming Tales of Sevrin book. http://www.elainecunningham.com/2011/10/25/dwarf-girls-have-more-fun-no-really/
Some of you might remember Jill, the berserker dwarf from Silver Shadows. A few readers have identified the source of inspiration: Johnny Cash's song "A Boy Named Sue."
Danilo's roots include the adventure story The Scarlet Pimpernel. and Oscar Wilde's plays.
I have no idea where Liriel came from.
Anyone care to chime in with mini-backstories, sources of inspiration, and so on? Anyone can play--you don't need to be a published writer.  |
| 30 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Aulduron |
Posted - 08 Dec 2017 : 20:00:16
I always wanted to read a scene based on All Along The Watchtower by Dylan/Hendrix |
| moonbeast |
Posted - 25 Nov 2017 : 01:33:59
quote:
Originally posted by Artemas Entreri
I always thought that characters are created when a mommy character and daddy character love each other very much....
Or when mommy found the Orc bartender somewhat attractive. |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 07 Nov 2017 : 20:26:47
quote:
Originally posted by PaulSKemp
Cale came in part from Bill Munny (Clint Eastwood's character) in UNFORGIVEN.
That's kind of funny... years ago when I first created Sleyvas I had actually used the picture of Clint Eastwood from the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly on my character sheet (and whenever I was using him as an NPC as well). I had him as a dual classed fighter / mage. Then when I ran a mini-ravenloft campaign I used him there as an NPC transferred over to whatever the domain was that had Bane available as a god (Nova Vaasa maybe?). I had him with smokepowder weapons. Then when they came out with the Gothic Earth piece of ravenloft, I was using him in stories with another person, and I had him get introduced to six shooters. So, he then transferred back to the realms, but time had passed weird, and though he was 20 years older or thereabouts, only 5 - 10 years had passed in the realms (yeah, my memory is fading). When he returned, he'd lost respect for the Zulkirs, had been living as a bounty hunter hunting mages, and eventually he meddled with time magic in order to rescue his dead wife... which led eventually to his betrayal of Thay and need to flee, faking his death by seizing someone else's body. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 07 Nov 2017 : 15:38:18
quote:
Originally posted by PaulSKemp
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by PaulSKemp
Cale came in part from Bill Munny (Clint Eastwood's character) in UNFORGIVEN.
For a moment, I misread that as Bill Mumy. 
Haha.
The real question, though, is: Does a Bill Mumy mentnion conjure LOST IN SPACE for you or BABYLON 5? ;-)
I know of Lost in Space, but it rather predates me. Babylon 5, though, gave me two of my all-time favorite characters from any media: G'Kar and Bester (or Dark Chekov, as I call him). G'Kar for his overall story arc and character development, and Bester because he's one of the best villains I've seen: the kind you can empathize with and understand, and the kind that represents the darker side of otherwise noble impulses. |
| PaulSKemp |
Posted - 07 Nov 2017 : 14:38:12
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by PaulSKemp
Cale came in part from Bill Munny (Clint Eastwood's character) in UNFORGIVEN.
For a moment, I misread that as Bill Mumy.
Haha.
The real question, though, is: Does a Bill Mumy mentnion conjure LOST IN SPACE for you or BABYLON 5? ;-) |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 06 Nov 2017 : 18:05:30
quote:
Originally posted by PaulSKemp
Cale came in part from Bill Munny (Clint Eastwood's character) in UNFORGIVEN.
For a moment, I misread that as Bill Mumy. |
| PaulSKemp |
Posted - 06 Nov 2017 : 16:35:22
Cale came in part from Bill Munny (Clint Eastwood's character) in UNFORGIVEN. |
| ElaineCunningham |
Posted - 29 Oct 2017 : 21:15:39
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by ElaineCunningham
Many places, no doubt, but some of mine tend to come from songs.
Today's blog post tells a bit of backstory about Hedvig, a character in an upcoming Tales of Sevrin book. http://www.elainecunningham.com/2011/10/25/dwarf-girls-have-more-fun-no-really/
Some of you might remember Jill, the berserker dwarf from Silver Shadows. A few readers have identified the source of inspiration: Johnny Cash's song "A Boy Named Sue."
Danilo's roots include the adventure story The Scarlet Pimpernel. and Oscar Wilde's plays.
Bit of thread necromancy, here... I just finished reading The Scarlet Pimpernel for the first time, and I found myself thinking the character was a lot like Danilo. Now I know why.
A reader once described Danilo as "The Green Pimpernel." That amused me. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 29 Oct 2017 : 14:41:45
quote:
Originally posted by Spectralballoons
I'm getting a 404 error.
The page has likely been moved -- this was resurrecting a 6 year old topic.
I should have removed that part of the quote and only used the reference to the Scarlet Pimpernel character as an influence for Danilo. |
| Spectralballoons |
Posted - 29 Oct 2017 : 14:03:00
quote:
Originally posted by Artemas Entreri
quote:
Originally posted by Yoss
I've come to the realization that no matter what music/movies/books I try to borrow from, I can never select a decent name for a character. Or a message board handle, even. My hat's off to you folks who can.
<---who is named after their first WoW character (the short version, since he was originally named after Yossarian from Catch-22).
A cool way to come up with unique character names is to just randomnly type on your keboard and see what comes up. Interesting names may jump out at you when you add strategic vowels or tweak it a little.
Kyjifhu Hepieaef shall be in my next game of Dwarf Fortress. |
| Spectralballoons |
Posted - 29 Oct 2017 : 13:56:58
I'm getting a 404 error. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 28 Oct 2017 : 21:53:59
quote:
Originally posted by ElaineCunningham
Many places, no doubt, but some of mine tend to come from songs.
Today's blog post tells a bit of backstory about Hedvig, a character in an upcoming Tales of Sevrin book. http://www.elainecunningham.com/2011/10/25/dwarf-girls-have-more-fun-no-really/
Some of you might remember Jill, the berserker dwarf from Silver Shadows. A few readers have identified the source of inspiration: Johnny Cash's song "A Boy Named Sue."
Danilo's roots include the adventure story The Scarlet Pimpernel. and Oscar Wilde's plays.
Bit of thread necromancy, here... I just finished reading The Scarlet Pimpernel for the first time, and I found myself thinking the character was a lot like Danilo. Now I know why. |
| Dennis |
Posted - 11 Dec 2011 : 12:55:45
Sometimes I use the real names of my friends, especially if the characters are so like them. I just alter a letter or two. With their permission, of course. |
| Thrasymachus |
Posted - 06 Dec 2011 : 07:34:37
At some point I started finding the situation first, and then the character. How did this character land up here to begin with. What choices did they make along the way, and why? How much control did they have over these situations. Now, what are they likely to do? Or what are they unlikely to do, but now have to do. I go back far enough to get the flesh on the bones, and then release the character to the wild. Sometimes I find that the characters along the way become more interesting than the person I started with though.
Sometimes, I take someone right out of real life. I have a NPC sage in Candlekeep who is David McCullough. I liked McCullogh’s written work, and his audiobook that he read “1776”. I liked what I saw of the gentleman in interviews. He came off as a hardworking, modest, curious, good natured sort who would never climb into a dungeon under normal circumstances. I liked his voice style, and could do a passing imitation of it. Now he’s mine.
PS I really enjoyed Danilo Thann |
| Aulduron |
Posted - 12 Nov 2011 : 03:24:13
I get a lot of character names off maps. |
| Orglaun |
Posted - 29 Oct 2011 : 01:32:54
Never been much of a writer but i dabbled in my younger days. One method Ive seen suggested for creating names is to have a core word that you start with and then start adding to it or tweaking it until you come up with a usable name. The word that you start with can be either be a name already and you add a suffix or prefix to it, or it can be an idea that your character embodies or even a trait of your character.
Examples of some of this would be taking a word like Dark and Bear and then going from there and looking up synonyms for these words or these words in other languages and from dark and bear you could get KveldBjorn if you use the Icelandic translations of them. the other cool thing about doing it with methods like this is that Dark and Bear becomes KveldBjorn and that can be read as Night Bear or with some ways the words translate it could be Bear of Consuming Darkness since Kveld is Night/Dark/Evening and somehow its meant to describe the transition from Day to Night and so thats where the "Consuming Darkness" part comes into play. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 28 Oct 2011 : 00:57:17
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
I keep a running list of names. Whenever I think of something that could be a name, I add it to my list. Later on, when I need a name for something, I review the list. Sometimes names just jump right off the list, sometimes I start with something on my list and then tweak it a bit, other times I don't like any of the names, and come up with something new.
Brainstorming for the latter often generates new names for the list.
Pretty much the same for me as well.
The only difference for me is, I also have a "splicing name" side-list, which features names, titles, and other assorted naming conventions that I like to play with from time to time. Mixing and matching half-names with other names that wouldn't otherwise go together.
It's all for fun, really, and rarely something I use in my serious writings. I just like playing with names. |
| Yoss |
Posted - 27 Oct 2011 : 22:26:35
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by Yoss
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
I keep a running list of names. Whenever I think of something that could be a name, I add it to my list. Later on, when I need a name for something, I review the list. Sometimes names just jump right off the list, sometimes I start with something on my list and then tweak it a bit, other times I don't like any of the names, and come up with something new.
Brainstorming for the latter often generates new names for the list.
That's what I need, a list. When swtor comes out, I can't be running around with a sith assassin named after Artemis Entreri. That would just be silly. 
It wouldn't be uncommon, either... In LotRO, I've seen several toons named after RAS characters. A few from other FR books, but mostly from RAS.
I also once saw Frohdoh and Legulass running around... That was simply painful, to me.
Out of nine LotRO toons, I have one that doesn't have an original name -- and that one is an alternate spelling of an Egyptian deity.
During my brief forays into SWG and WoW, each of my toons had original names.
The SWG toon I wound up heavily modifying and using as one of my other Lords of Waterdeep. By the time I was done, it was mostly a very loose concept of how I played that character, but it still was the basis for Taethen Caliel.
One part of the backstory involved a deliberate name change -- the toon's name wouldn't work well in the Realms, so I was trying to explain why the character had such an unusual name. I eventually tossed the name aside -- it just wouldn't work. But the idea behind the name change worked for me, so I left that as part of his backstory. Having a need for the guy to want to change his name made for a good part of his history, thinks I.
Frodoh, OUCH. That's up there with Yoduh in terms of painful.
Ya, I know it's not uncommon at all. I've seen a Danilo (although I think he had an extra N or L), far too many variants on Drizzt, my buddy called about 3 different druids Khelben (he has a habit of re-starting toons like you would not believe), and I found it endlessly hilarious to run around on my rogue named after Entreri with another guildie's hunter named Catti-brie (he's got a Qilue as well), a Gromph (who I didn't notice was in a battleground with us til he pointed out in chat that Entreri and Catti-brie were on the same team) etc. Never mind all the non-Realms books I've named video game toons after...
The friend who got me hooked on FR came up with a pretty in-depth backstory for an army of toons once swtor comes out, and while I did the same for an Imperial Agent I may or may not play, I can't even name the thing. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 27 Oct 2011 : 22:14:17
quote:
Originally posted by Yoss
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
I keep a running list of names. Whenever I think of something that could be a name, I add it to my list. Later on, when I need a name for something, I review the list. Sometimes names just jump right off the list, sometimes I start with something on my list and then tweak it a bit, other times I don't like any of the names, and come up with something new.
Brainstorming for the latter often generates new names for the list.
That's what I need, a list. When swtor comes out, I can't be running around with a sith assassin named after Artemis Entreri. That would just be silly.
It wouldn't be uncommon, either... In LotRO, I've seen several toons named after RAS characters. A few from other FR books, but mostly from RAS.
I also once saw Frohdoh and Legulass running around... That was simply painful, to me.
Out of nine LotRO toons, I have one that doesn't have an original name -- and that one is an alternate spelling of an Egyptian deity.
During my brief forays into SWG and WoW, each of my toons had original names.
The SWG toon I wound up heavily modifying and using as one of my other Lords of Waterdeep. By the time I was done, it was mostly a very loose concept of how I played that character, but it still was the basis for Taethen Caliel.
One part of the backstory involved a deliberate name change -- the toon's name wouldn't work well in the Realms, so I was trying to explain why the character had such an unusual name. I eventually tossed the name aside -- it just wouldn't work. But the idea behind the name change worked for me, so I left that as part of his backstory. Having a need for the guy to want to change his name made for a good part of his history, thinks I. |
| Yoss |
Posted - 27 Oct 2011 : 21:22:17
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
I keep a running list of names. Whenever I think of something that could be a name, I add it to my list. Later on, when I need a name for something, I review the list. Sometimes names just jump right off the list, sometimes I start with something on my list and then tweak it a bit, other times I don't like any of the names, and come up with something new.
Brainstorming for the latter often generates new names for the list.
That's what I need, a list. When swtor comes out, I can't be running around with a sith assassin named after Artemis Entreri. That would just be silly. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 27 Oct 2011 : 19:24:39
A mini-backstory... Once upon a time, I was very much inclined towards being a munchkin. I would come up with NPCs that had backstories and small magical arsenals, but no personalities... One such NPC was Sierkan Dahl, whom I later wrote up for my Lords of Waterdeep articles for the Compendium.
He was originally created to be the psionic member of an archmage's entourage (the archmage was an Elminster knockoff! ). I later scrapped the idea, but kept the name handy.
When I was working my Lords of Waterdeep project, I decided I wanted to include Sierkan, and to keep him a psionicist. I needed a reason for him to have gotten into psionics, though, and that was tough. I eventually came up with the idea of an amnesiac searching for his past -- more than a bit cliché, certainly, but it seemed a very good reason for someone to delve into the secrets of the mind. From there, it was just filling in the details.
I added in his lady Sapphire because I'd long wanted to use, in some fashion, the Alias clone that was a Waterdhavian courtesan. And I also rolled in another of my random ideas, with the psionicist who is killed by a greater doppelganger but manages to take over that greater doppelganger's mind. Both were ideas I'd been sitting on for a while, and both added nicely to the backstory.
In my write-up, I left Sierkan's early history blank, so that DMs who wanted to use him could add whatever details they wanted to his lost years. Personally, I see him as a MechWarrior in the Davion Heavy Guards, around the time of the Fourth Succession War. He was injured in combat, and had problems interfacing with Mechs afterwards. During the course of investigating this, it was somehow discovered that Sierkan (whatever his name was, then) had psychic abilities. Sierkan was officially declared medically unfit to drive a Mech, and sent to the New Avalon Military Academy as an unarmed combat instructor. Unofficially, he was actually there so the scientists at the New Avalon Institute of Science could study him and his abilities. When ComStar, masquerading as those dirty Cappies, attacked the NAIS, something happened (an experiment gone awry, perhaps, or maybe some unknown ability of Sierkan's) and chucked Sierkan off of New Avalon, and into the Realms.
Because of that part of his backstory, and also because I was avoiding the tall/handsome/young dude cliché, I based his appearance on another BattleTech character, Jaime Wolf of Wolf's Dragoons.
And that's how Sierkan's backstory and concept came about. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 27 Oct 2011 : 19:08:01
I keep a running list of names. Whenever I think of something that could be a name, I add it to my list. Later on, when I need a name for something, I review the list. Sometimes names just jump right off the list, sometimes I start with something on my list and then tweak it a bit, other times I don't like any of the names, and come up with something new.
Brainstorming for the latter often generates new names for the list. |
| Dennis |
Posted - 27 Oct 2011 : 17:43:23
quote:
Originally posted by entreri3478
quote:
Originally posted by Yoss
I've come to the realization that no matter what music/movies/books I try to borrow from, I can never select a decent name for a character. Or a message board handle, even. My hat's off to you folks who can.
<---who is named after their first WoW character (the short version, since he was originally named after Yossarian from Catch-22).
A cool way to come up with unique character names is to just randomnly type on your keboard and see what comes up. Interesting names may jump out at you when you add strategic vowels or tweak it a little.
There are a couple of sites that generate fantasy names. Some names are passable, few sound good, while most [for me, of course] are disastrously insipid. |
| Artemas Entreri |
Posted - 27 Oct 2011 : 15:30:15
quote:
Originally posted by Yoss
I've come to the realization that no matter what music/movies/books I try to borrow from, I can never select a decent name for a character. Or a message board handle, even. My hat's off to you folks who can.
<---who is named after their first WoW character (the short version, since he was originally named after Yossarian from Catch-22).
A cool way to come up with unique character names is to just randomnly type on your keboard and see what comes up. Interesting names may jump out at you when you add strategic vowels or tweak it a little. |
| Yoss |
Posted - 27 Oct 2011 : 15:17:51
I've come to the realization that no matter what music/movies/books I try to borrow from, I can never select a decent name for a character. Or a message board handle, even. My hat's off to you folks who can.
<---who is named after their first WoW character (the short version, since he was originally named after Yossarian from Catch-22). |
| Artemas Entreri |
Posted - 27 Oct 2011 : 14:35:35
quote:
Originally posted by Dennis
quote:
Originally posted by entreri3478
quote:
Originally posted by Dennis
My nutty friend based some of his characters on cigarette brands and their endorsers.
What like a were-camel? 
Something like that. He made Fortune, a cheap cigar, the name of his poor, battered, horribly deformed, and hopelessly "unfortunate" character.
lol |
| Dennis |
Posted - 27 Oct 2011 : 07:48:48
quote:
Originally posted by entreri3478
quote:
Originally posted by Dennis
My nutty friend based some of his characters on cigarette brands and their endorsers.
What like a were-camel?
Something like that. He made Fortune, a cheap cigar, the name of his poor, battered, horribly deformed, and hopelessly "unfortunate" character. |
| Mantis |
Posted - 27 Oct 2011 : 05:45:21
When I create a character I usually have seen a picture of something like an ornate dagger or a twisted carved staff. Then I think what kind of character would use something like that? |
| Artemas Entreri |
Posted - 26 Oct 2011 : 17:47:25
quote:
Originally posted by Therise
quote:
Originally posted by entreri3478
quote:
Originally posted by Dennis
My nutty friend based some of his characters on cigarette brands and their endorsers.
What like a were-camel?
Shh! They're saving the Invasion of the Camel-born for 5E. 
Special character benefit: ability to store water and fat in back-humps.
Don't forget "called shots" with spitting  |
| Therise |
Posted - 26 Oct 2011 : 17:10:11
quote:
Originally posted by entreri3478
quote:
Originally posted by Dennis
My nutty friend based some of his characters on cigarette brands and their endorsers.
What like a were-camel?
Shh! They're saving the Invasion of the Camel-born for 5E.
Special character benefit: ability to store water and fat in back-humps.
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