baron arem heshvaun |
I always thought the AP chapter titles would make good Oingo Boingo song/track titles and vice versa.
delabarre |
** spoiler omitted **
Probably you feel the same way I felt at the end of my first viewing of Gladiator. "WHO IS THAT FEMALE VOCALIST...oh, of course, it's Lisa Gerrard from Dead Can Dance, can't believe I didn't recognize that voice..." [owns all DCD and LG cds]
hogarth |
Hmmm...when I think of 1st edition titles, I think mostly of the template:
"The [Place] of [Inhabitants]"
E.g.
- The Vault of the Drow
- The Steading of the Hill Giant Chief
- The Tomb of Horrors
- The Lost Temple of Tharizdun
- The Temple of Elemental Evil
- The Ghost Tower of Inverness (O.K., so there isn't an Inverness inside, so sue me)
The only one that fits that formula is "The House of the Beast".
Snorter |
Thumbs up for delabarre.
When I saw the mention of 1st Edition titles, I thought it meant like in the class tables;
Cleric Level 1 - 'Acolyte'
Cleric Level 2 - 'Adept', etc.
I always found those bizarre.
"You are now a Level 9 Magic-User, also known as ...a Necromancer!"
"Huh, what? I don't even know any Necromancy spells! Can't I just stay a peace-loving Diviner? No, Put away the torches and pitchforks! Aaiiiiieeee!"
James Jacobs Creative Director |
Fun side trek about titles!
We do 18 adventures a year. That's a lot. And that means coming up with 18 titles a year. One of the things we try VERY HARD to avoid is making too many titles contain the words "of the." Using those words makes it super easy to name adventures, but they all start sounding the same after a while, so we try to limit our "of the" titles to once or maybe twice in a particular Adventure Path. We're not always successful.
My preferred place to look for title constructions is actually the pulps; the titles they came up with there are GREAT.
Mairkurion {tm} |
Yeah, I agree that "The Blank of the [Blank] Blank" can get monotonous. I guess when I wrote the OP, I was thinking, "the best of the old module titles". Which, while rather amorphous and personal, is still a good feeling. (Maybe if I get real inspired, I'll go and tally those old titles to see how many fall in that format and how many don't, but it might only show my particular tastes.)
veector |
I think the key is avoiding the place names and focusing on what action occurs in the adventure. I thought Burnt Offerings was a great title because it was just ambiguous enough.
You could have also titled it:
A New Unpleasantness
or Goblins Delight
I think you guys are on the right track. My favorite titles are actually the one-word titles from Tracy Hickman's work:
"Ravenloft" and "Pharaoh"
hogarth |
As one word titles go, it's hard to top 'Ravenloft'.
It is a pretty bad-ass title, although titles like:
[description][place] (e.g. Ravenloft, White Plume Mountain)really aren't much different semantically from:
The [place] of [description] (e.g. The Tomb of Horrors, The Isle of Dread)
Some of my favourite Pathfinder titles are "The Hook Mountain Massacre", "Seven Days to the Grave" and "Escape from Old Korvosa".
James Jacobs Creative Director |
baron arem heshvaun wrote:As one word titles go, it's hard to top 'Ravenloft'.It is a pretty bad-ass title, although titles like:
[description][place] (e.g. Ravenloft, White Plume Mountain)
really aren't much different semantically from:
The [place] of [description] (e.g. The Tomb of Horrors, The Isle of Dread)Some of my favourite Pathfinder titles are "The Hook Mountain Massacre", "Seven Days to the Grave" and "Escape from Old Korvosa".
Two of those, of course, are variations on popular movies (Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Escape from New York). The middle one is the creation of our own Jeff Alvarez, the secret creative brain behind a lot of what goes on back in the editorial pit.
Adam Daigle Director of Game Development |
Russ Taylor Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 6 |
Titles I just love...
Bastards of Erebus
Children of the Void
Seven Days to the Grave
Sins of the Saviors
Ones not so much...
Edge of Anarchy
Burnt Offerings
The Skinsaw Murders
There haven't been that many I've disliked (Skinsaw is one, the noun just doesnt work for me). In general, the titles are really, really good. Glad to know it doesn't come easy, because I struggle with naming.
hogarth |
hogarth wrote:Two of those, of course, are variations on popular movies (Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Escape from New York). The middle one is the creation of our own Jeff Alvarez, the secret creative brain behind a lot of what goes on back in the editorial pit.
Some of my favourite Pathfinder titles are "The Hook Mountain Massacre", "Seven Days to the Grave" and "Escape from Old Korvosa".
Also, "Seven Days to the Grave" reminded me of "I Spit On Your Grave". :-)
Anyways, I like titles with a lot of action in them, whether it's a massacre, a countdown to death, an escape, or an assault on an aerie.
Mairkurion {tm} |
My Title (or Navel?) Gazing Experiment
OK, you all had ample opportunity to discourage me, and you didn't, so here's my highly personal opining:
Favorite Old Module Titles (not in order of intensity)
Descent into the Depths of the Earth
Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords
Danger at Dunwater
Expedition to the Barrier Peaks
Ravenloft
Glacial Rifts of the Frost Giant Jarl
Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan
Queen of the Demonweb Pits
The Temple of Elemental Evil
Isle of Dread
Desert of Desolation
Palace of the Silver Princess
Secret of Bone Hill
Notice I broke these into two groups, and I still came out with more “Blank of [the] Blank[s]”. (Yes, I realize that parts of other titles include this format, but I only put those that strictly kept to that format in that category.) While I didn't count, I'm going to go with the assumption that there are more titles of this format. I tried to be ruthless, suppressing all my memories of content and happy associations and just go with how the title strikes me. There were lots of mediocre (and some crappy) titles, and there were also lots of “germ of a really good idea, but not pulled off in the execution.” I tend to favor the first category as usually implying action. Ravenloft is just a fantastic name. The latter category breaks down into the creative and original (even the alien), and the simple but effective.
I Turn My Gaze Paizoward
Rise of the Runelords and Curse of the Crimson Throne both follow the “Blank of the Blank” pattern, but they are flat-out great names. If they had been first edition titles, they would have easily made my favorite list at the high end. In RotR: I've got to say, The Skinsaw Murders is my favorite name, precisely because the risky neologism succeeds for me. Fortress of the Stone Giants is the weakest link. In CotCT, the names are still good, although they don't strike me quite as much as the titles of RotR. Escape from Old Korvosa has to be my favorite, although Seven Days to the Grave gives it a run for its money. Skeletons of Scarwall is the weakest link in this AP's titles. For Second Darkness (a somewhat less impressive title), it is really hard for me to choose between Children of the Void, The Armageddon Echo, and Descent into Midnight. I just don't think I can. Shadow in the Sky, you are the weakest link. For Legacy of Fire (there it is again! I almost put Legacy of Blood in my first list), I'll stew on the titles a while longer.
Well, I fear that wasn't as interesting for you at it was for me, but there it is. I won't touch pulp and movie titles, for fear I won't get anything done today! But I appreciate James making some explicit connections there for us; it was illuminating.
hogarth |
I tend to favor the first category as usually implying action.
I totally agree. I prefer titles that imply some kind of activity or tension rather than just a static location full of monsters.
One more comment: I'm not a big fan of generic titles that sound like they could be a Star Trek episode. E.g.:
- "Sins of the Saviors"
- "Burnt Offerings"
- "Edge of Anarchy"
- "Lords of Oblivion"
- "Encounter at Farpoint...er...I mean...Blackwall Keep"
I noticed that those are the favourites of some other folks, though, so there's no arguing with taste. Exception: "Here There Be Monsters" -- that's just a cool title, even if it would work in a lot of genres.
Mairkurion {tm} |
Yeah, I hear what you're saying, Hogarth. So why am I not consistent? Those generic titles sometimes seem either particularly apt, or have a little something to them (usually for me, in the element of word choice, sound--Can I imagine the movie guy saying it and it not sounding corny?--, or something) that sets them apart and makes me break that general rule, but it may be super-duper idiosyncratic. Sins of the Saviors seems so very apt to me (okay, and alliterative) that it is hard for me not to like it, even though it's not a favorite. (I may be breaking my other rule too of ignoring content and just thinking of it as the title by itself.)
While it's strictly speaking not defensible, I'll reflect in brief:
Desert of Desolation (alliteration, word choice)
Isle of Dread (Word choice: Tomb of Horrors would never make it for me)
Palace of the Silver Princess (Evocative. Why "Silver"? Is she the moon? It makes her sound like a mythic personage and thus it a mythic location.)
Secret of Bone Hill (something about its concreteness, its imagery)
So perhaps the above may make my inconsistency to my principles more understandable, while no less personal or more convincing.
Edit: we could have a contest...
KaeYoss |
I totally love "The Armageddon Echo" It's just a noun, I know, but it is way beyond awesome. You can't help but think about it. What is the Armageddon Echo? It intrigues you to no end.
I also like "A Memory of Darkness". It is in the same vein as "A Dream of Dawn" for some reason. It has that certain something.
hogarth |
Yeah, I hear what you're saying, Hogarth. So why am I not consistent?
Consistency, conshmistency. I'm not consistent in my favourite names, either.
Sometimes just adding one word can make a name great. If heard of a product called "The City State of the Overlord", I'd yawn. But "The City State of the Invincible Overlord"? Invincible!? Says who! That just gets the blood pumping.
Gamer Girrl RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32 |
Russ Taylor Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 6 |
Mairkurion {tm} |
Alas, they are lost to us.
EDIT: I wonder if any of the remainders ended up at Half Price. I'll check when I go there today.
Gamer Girrl RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32 |
delabarre |
As if you, like the rest of us, aren't whipped up into a Skinnerian frenzy, salivating like dogs and hitting levers like rats every time we see something that makes us think of Legacy of Fire!
What I do behind closed doors, with the blinds drawn is none of your affairs!
I said good day, sir!
;-D
Mairkurion {tm} |
Hello, Veector...
Malice of the Medusa was new to me with Veector's link.
Lost Tomb of the Sphinx Queen I bought at the first opportunity, and so David set me to thinking again about titles. I would never choose it as one of my favorite titles, or even as an example of a good title. But it was an economically effective title. What? A lost tomb? Well, maybe. The Sphinx Queen's lost tomb, you say? Can't keep me away from it. While not artsy or gripping or cool, it told me what I needed to know to make me snap it up. I didn't buy that many DCCs, but that was one of two that I snapped up immediately without even thinking.