Every great RPG needs an equally great name ... and I can't for the life of me think of one. All I know is that I don't want to name it something that makes it sound like a D&D rip off; you know, things like Magic and Steel or Axes and Orcs.
I should be finished with the website relatively soon so I have to come up with something. My RPG is of the high-fantasy genre much like D&D and Pathfinder. Also, once I get the core rules up online and alpha tested, it will be open for anyone to use from beta onward. Even better yet, it will be open for anyone to contribute content to as well (feats, spells, items etc.). I'll let everyone know when that happens so you can check it out if you'd like.
But first, it needs a name. Can you help me? Any suggestions would be appreciated.
P.S. Make sure you don't give me any names that you intend on using for your own personal projects without specifying whether I can use it or not.
P.S.S. Feel free to give your own opinion on other peoples ideas for names.
Can you give us more info on your RPG?
Can you give us more info on your RPG?
What would you like to know? As far as the default campaign setting goes, it's pretty generic fantasy much like GreyHawk or Golarion(sp?). I have another guy working on that though. My baby is the system.
As far as the core system goes, it's rules-light but options/customization heavy. It's skill-based and classless and uses a scaling dice mechanic that probably most resembles the Cortex system but I'm not sure as I don't own the rule book. I just know what's in the Serenity wiki which isn't much.
Well, I like the fact you are coming up with your own system.
To find the right name for the RPG system look at it's characteristics and qualities and see if their is something unique about it.
I am also making my own RPG system. I named it after a unique characteristic "Paradox."
The reason being that some parts appear in contradiction to other parts, but are actually in harmony with each other and creates an illusion of a paradox, hence it's name.
It also is a hybrid of class-base and class-less-base RPG designs.
What is is that makes your system different from DnD, Pathfinder, or any of the other fantasy settings? If you want a name that stand apart from these other, very well known franchises, you need to play up the differences. Maybe I have a setting where humans are rare 12+ level monsters and dragons are the core race- I would pick a name like 'Dracoventure' or 'Legends of Scale and Claw.' Maybe my hypothetical system is d13 based- 'Marvelous Misadventures' or 'Unlucky Lore' (alliteration is fun, but just don't pick D). GURPS is an acronym, maybe that could also work for you.
If you can't differentiate your system from the rest in an easy and meaningful way, not only will people have a hard time putting weight behind it (instead of a more established title), but you may also run into icky copyright infringement issues.
Best of luck!
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Try 'ChaosKampf'. I even suggest you look it up on Wiki so you know why.
"Chaos (Greek χάος khaos) refers to the formless or void state preceding the creation of the universe or cosmos in the Greek creation myths, more specifically the initial "gap" created by the original separation of heaven and earth.
The same term has also been extended to parallel concepts in the religions of the Ancient Near East. The motif of chaoskampf (German for "struggle against chaos") is ubiquitous in these myths, depicting a battle of a culture hero deity with a chaos monster, often in the shape of a serpent or dragon."-Wikipedia
A god or demigod/hero fighting to death with a dragon is pretty much every fantasy roleplay game cover. I hadnt considered D&D a creation myth but that is exactly what it is.
Cannibalism
Says it all...
Well, I like the fact you are coming up with your own system.
Cool. Not being able to find "the perfect system" is kind of what spawned this little adventure.
To find the right name for the RPG system look at it's characteristics and qualities and see if their is something unique about it.
There's a lot of small unique things that were mostly design decisions made so that I could meet four ultimate goals.
1. Fast game play
2. Lots of options and customization
3. Simple to learn and play
4. Easy to GM
The thing that is hard to quantify, though, is that setting, adventures, look and feel of the game is pretty much standard fantasy, D&D type stuff (unless the guy working on the default campaign setting really comes up with something out of this world). It's pretty much designed to be plugged into any campaign setting you want, in fact, I was planning on testing it out with Golarion. The whole reason I made it was to fix all of the inherently annoying aspects of the d20 3.x system without making something that my group refuses to play (4E).
The name of my RPG should probably be something generic (i.e. not specifically tied to the default campaign setting). I just don't want it to be cheesy.
I am also making my own RPG system. I named it after a unique characteristic "Paradox."
The reason being that some parts appear in contradiction to other parts, but are actually in harmony with each other and creates an illusion of a paradox, hence it's name.
It also is a hybrid of class-base and class-less-base RPG designs.
I like that. I hope we can come up with a name that cool. I think that's a pretty awesome name for an RPG.
What is is that makes your system different from DnD, Pathfinder, or any of the other fantasy settings? If you want a name that stand apart from these other, very well known franchises, you need to play up the differences. Maybe I have a setting where humans are rare 12+ level monsters and dragons are the core race- I would pick a name like 'Dracoventure' or 'Legends of Scale and Claw.' Maybe my hypothetical system is d13 based- 'Marvelous Misadventures' or 'Unlucky Lore' (alliteration is fun, but just don't pick D). GURPS is an acronym, maybe that could also work for you.
Right now, my system is just a generic set of rules tied to the fantasy genre so it's hard to differentiate from what amounts to another generic set of rules tied to the fantasy genre. This was kind of by design, though. The campaign setting hasn't been fleshed out yet. Maybe something will emerge from that.
I've noticed that a lot of indie games and other lower budget ones try to hit on some really specific niche. This is not what my game was meant to be. It's actually a d20 3.5 and now Pathfinder replacement for my group. If the game plays as well as it looks on paper, I think a lot of other people will like it though. Every time I read threads about what everyone doesn't like or should be fixed about 3.5, Pathfinder or 4E, and vise-versa, I get a smile on my face because I feel solved all of those issues. Of course, I have the advantage of learning from others mistakes. Hopefully my system doesn't get ripped to shreds to point of becoming unsalvageable when it's alpha tested.
If you can't differentiate your system from the rest in an easy and meaningful way, not only will people have a hard time putting weight behind it (instead of a more established title), but you may also run into icky copyright infringement issues.
The biggest differentiator is the way the rules and certain design guidelines facilitate the gameplay (hopefully). It seems like it's just going to play different but in a way that I have trouble explaining without going into very specific examples.
I'll be fine if my game doesn't gather a huge following, in fact, I'm not really expecting it. Odds are overwhelmingly against it. I'm not selling my game or trying to make any money off of it. It's going to be (almost) completely open.
Most generic fantasy RPG staples aren't copyrightable so I shouldn't run into any issues there. I'll avoid the obvious things that belong to WotC and Paizo but the rest is pretty much free game and is used in just about every fantasy RPG. I can't imagine that the game mechanics, since they weren't based off of another system could really fall close enough to something already out there that I need to worry about that either.
Try 'ChaosKampf'. I even suggest you look it up on Wiki so you know why.
"Chaos (Greek χάος khaos) refers to the formless or void state preceding the creation of the universe or cosmos in the Greek creation myths, more specifically the initial "gap" created by the original separation of heaven and earth.
The same term has also been extended to parallel concepts in the religions of the Ancient Near East. The motif of chaoskampf (German for "struggle against chaos") is ubiquitous in these myths, depicting a battle of a culture hero deity with a chaos monster, often in the shape of a serpent or dragon."-Wikipedia
A god or demigod/hero fighting to death with a dragon is pretty much every fantasy roleplay game cover. I hadnt considered D&D a creation myth but that is exactly what it is.
I like the focus here. Chaos and the lore surrounding it (big Greek Mythology fan myself) is an interesting idea.
Open source fantasy system Source system for short.
Hero Builder
Imagination Engine
Serendipity
Flexible Fantasy
Parallel Visions
Ingenious Edge
Tales of Elsewhere
Magic and Mayhem
Sorcery
Fantasy Toybox
The Age of Wonder
Create!
Yourworld
Adventure elements.
Playworlds.
Elsewhere
Insert World Here.
Your tagline should be:
Throw some dice. Have fun.
Cosmo.
Cosmo Kramer? :)
Insert World Here.
Ha ha! That's kind of fitting.
Right now, my system is just a generic set of rules tied to the fantasy genre so it's hard to differentiate from what amounts to another generic set of rules tied to the fantasy genre.
Well, it has been done to some extent, but there's nothing wrong with using "Generic" in the title. You could call it
"Generic Fantasy Ruleset" or "GFR"
or there are plenty of words with "Gen" in the title that could also work, evoking both fantasy and universality:
"Genesis"
"Genre"
"The Genre" (actually sounds like a good name for a magazine about all things sci-fi/fantasy/horror)
At one time, D&D wasn't exactly so "generic".
Heroes gain levels. As they do so, they gain better defenses and offenses, and the magical characters learn new spells. In a title, this translates to something like "Epic", "Tales", "Adventures", "Journeys" (a la Joseph Campbell's "Hero's Journey"), "Sagas", "Mythical".
There are magical characters. Who "cast" spells that damage targets. Casting spells is almost always a question of a few seconds of chanting. It takes about as long to cast a spell as it does for a fighter to score a blow with a sword, or for an archer to draw and fire an arrow. In a title, this would be "Fantasy", "Magic", "Arcana", "Spellcasting", "Casting", "Wizards", "Sorcery", "Trickery", "Wondrous".
There are four roles: the fighter/tank, the rogue back-stabber and skills guy, the magical ranged wizard, and the healer who also fights pretty good. Titles: "Cooperative", "Team", "Party", "Group", "Comrades", "Motley Crew", "Adventurers", "The Misfits", "The Odd Quartet", "Eccentric Adventurers".
"The Wondrous Adventures of the Adventuring Adventurers"!
They go into dungeons. It's not called Forests & Dragons, or Towns & Dragons. Outdoor and urban encounters are basically grafted onto the core D&D environment, which is dungeons. D&D was specifically designed to model dungeons. Titles: "Underground", "The Underworld", "To Hell (and possibly back)", "Hades", "Depths", "Delving", "Diving", "Tunnels", "Descent into XYZ". I'm thinking of Joseph Campbell again with the Hero's Journey to the Underworld.
I kind of like "Hero's Journey: The Role-Playing Game"
They fight monsters. Why do D&D characters draw first and ask questions later? Why is it okay to slaughter wave after wave of goblins and orcs? That's just how the game is played. Negotiation skills, alignment, and personality are things that got grafted on later. And it shows. Title words "Demons", "Fairies", "Spirits", "Dark XYZ", "Creepers", "Creeps", "Critters", "Creepy Crawlers", "Fiends", "Killer XYZ".
Wow! That's a lot to take in. :)
I've got one to throw out there. I'd like everyone's honest opinion ... even if it's negative.
What does everyone think about the name .
It has a double meaning. The game I developed along with the website that is community driven makes this a living game that's always being updated and added to.
And since it's a role-playing game, it's kind of assumed that you're living the lives of the characters you create and play.
"Fantasy" is just the genre slapped on the end. It could easily be substituted if I ever spun the game off into other genres such as Living Horror, Living Steam or Living Sci (or Sci-fi).
Better get that coprighted before some porn company does...
I don't post any personal work on websites like this that I care about. You should read the user agreement and make sure they don't own anything you post on this site.
That would kill this thread in a hurry if that was the case.
I don't post any personal work on websites like this that I care about. You should read the user agreement and make sure they don't own anything you post on this site.
I am not a lawyer, but I'm pretty sure it's cool to talk about here. Even if they claimed to own all content, they wouldn't be able to enforce it. They could claim rights to the conversations, and the words we choose to use, but they couldn't (and wouldn't) claim to own names, characters, settings, and other things that we mention in conversation.