So in my campaign I'm planning on including a lich that assists the main necromancer bad guy, and I'm having trouble coming up with names. If you guys/girls could help me that'd be much appreciated.
Feel free to request addional information if needed.
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Faithfulness. Watch the look of horror on your players' faces when they realize the Phylactery of Faithfulness was one of the first things they looted and sold in the dungeon. For extra sh**s 'n giggles make the name in an obscure language and only reveal that it translates as Faithfulness.
The faithfulness one is pretty funny lol. But as for the race, I wasn't planning on anything special, just human or possibly elf. But Thats got me thinking.... It could totally be some exotic race.
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Non-Silly Random Fictional Names:
- Raknorn
- Vorgol
- Imildrak
- Zenahn
- Levious
- Talosh
- Lorsh
- Amul
- Hazarg
- Phelgorn
Silly Names:
- Dead Tom
- Buttercup
- Betty
- Henchman #1
- You Over There
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Lets see... 3.5 is dead, so Elminster?
Does it have to be male?
There's some good names from history/literature, like 'Kassandra, the Prophet of Doom'. Plus you could get away with Darigaaz's suggestion with names like Hope, Faith, and etc.
Fluffywuffums McSnugglepants...very sweet name.
For more dignified or cool names, just pick a race appropriate name and do like Wargamer said, add a title of some sort. Or just a very dignified sounding human name. Actually, doesn't even have to be a real name, per se. Anyone arrogant and powerful enough to become a Lich might rename themselves. "Charles Bixby" the terrifying Lich doesn't have a good ring to it. Hence why even Human Liches have names like "Tetrax the Wanderer" and "Grundelthang, Master of Magic" or just go by a title like "Devourer of Souls" or "He Who Walks Among The Darkness".
This is much like asking for a good name for a wizard. Need more info! Personality, backstory, the works. Becoming a lich is no small feat, so there should be some worthy lore.
If the character is not important enough to have significant lore, it isn't important enough to have a significant name. Pull up a random villain name generator and throw in "the Deathless" or ", Devourer of Puppy Souls" or something.
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"Names are important. They tell the world who we are, and allow others to speak of us when we are not present. They are the title of the story of our lives. They are the legacy we leave behind for our children."
"They are, in essence, the definition of us. They are how we remember our heroes, and our villains."
"Sure, we can change ourselves. We can change our names. We can even take on new names. However, we always have one. Can you imagine what it would be like not to have a name? Just think about it. What kind of life would that be?
"So, with that to reflect on, perhaps you will understand the significance of the fact that he doesn't have a name any longer."
"It was one of the things he had to give up to become what he became."
"Now he is nobody, and everybody. He is a paradox of life and death. An empty shell made of lies that he fills with the hopes and dreams of others. He wears our names to suit his purpose, but doffs them like old clothing when he no longer needs them. Our lives are his playground."
"He could be anyone, anywhere."
"If you somehow cross him, if you are utterly stupid enough to become noticed by him, he will not fight you. He will become you. He will ruin you from the inside and cast you aside to be destroyed by the very people you try to defend."
"If you seek him, you will learn a new kind of fear."
"You will learn what you could be like. He will act on your darkest wishes. He will tear down everything you have ever built. You will learn what others are willing to believe you are capable of, what a monster they think you could become given just the right tiny push. You will see yourself become the very evil you fight against. You will learn just how close the world is from devouring you. You will discover that the only thing the crowd loves more than a hero is to watch them fall. You will learn the power of lies and false hope, and how little the idea of justice really means."
"In the end, once you are a ruin of yourself, once the darkness he has sewn in your life has finally seeped in and settled behind your eyes, once you embrace his version of you and have taken your tainted name back from him, he will come to you and give you a choice. Your name, or your life. Yourself, or your legacy."
"You might choose to die so that your name can live on, redeemed in the memory of others. You will be a legend. One of the few who fought the darkness and won. Your legacy will be bright, and rich, and false, and your dying thought will be to wonder how many of your heroes were actually cowards like you."
"Or, you might choose defy him if you are willing to sacrifice everything you are for the chance to destroy him. You won't get the chance. He still won't fight you. He will let you live as the great villain in someone else's story. Heroes will come after you for the crimes he committed in your name, and the crimes you committed trying to clear it. One of them will succeed, and in the final confrontation, just before you are destroyed, you will try to tell them about him. You will try to explain how you are just a victim trying to set things right. You will die on the end of an idealist's sword, and your final thought will be to wonder how many of your villains were actually just those who crossed him."
"He is the Namestealer."
"How much are you willing to lose to find him?"
I remember reading that liches often lose touch with the world of the living, forgetting their old names and adopting monikers like "The Black Hand" or "The Forgotten King". Personally, I dig that concept, and former race and background take on less meaning.
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I like to give my Liches elaborate titles instead of names. It makes them sound more intimidating, adds to their inhuman condition, and adds an extra air of mystery to them.
That the 'undead' characters in Exalted, the Abyssal Exalted, do it. They cast their name into Oblivion and are given a title in its place.
Faithless Lord of the Seven Paths
Maroon Countessa, Vagrant Lady of Souls
Tranquil Lullaby of the Void
Fourth Magus of the Legion Sepulcher
As a few examples I made up.
Malkeizathek
The One Who Waits
High Magister of the Void
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I always liked the name Shallowsoul from the FR novel, Lost Library of Cormanthyr.
The name I made for a Lich in one of my games back in the 90s that I kinda liked was SootSoul.
....But for some reason it doesn't sound as good to me 20 years later. Maybe it was "Soot-something else" or "something-Soot."
The Ghostlord
Mossy (as in lichen)
Aridian (as in dry husk)
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Lichtenstein.
Hey wasn't "Ghostlord" the Lich in Red Hand of Doom? I remember him -- he was a badass!
Oh yes!
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The Glücklich.
(Because if we're going to go to Pun City, we might as well go there auf Deutsch.)
In my own games I have
Malygris
Anaxagoras
Laura (the youngest of the bunch only 200 years old)
Nightmare of Flame (with a teleporting demon possessed dagger as his phylactry)
The Glücklich.
(Because if we're going to go to Pun City, we might as well go there auf Deutsch.)
I completely agree.
Charles Emerson Winchester III has already been taken.
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Another neat source to borrow names from is video games. We fought a pair of reoccurring skeleton warriors named Biggs and Wedge (of Final Fantasy). Younger players may not get the references and just think you made up neat names, those who know will appreciate it.
The Diablo series had cool boss names that may suit, and a quick wiki search should turn up a list.
I recall Soulpus, Rotfeast the Hungry, Rotcarnage, The Butcher, Bilefroth, Stareye the Witch, etc., etc., etc...
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Yeah, real good bad guy names from video games work well. Vaas and Sephiroth make great names for Liches.
I always liked the name Shallowsoul from the FR novel, Lost Library of Cormanthyr.
Oh man, getting to beat the crap out of Shallowsoul would be so cathartic...
Hey wasn't "Ghostlord" the Lich in Red Hand of Doom? I remember him -- he was a badass!
>:(
Thanks, now I know there's a Lich in RHoD.
Nergal
Nergal is an ancient Sumero-Babylonian deity and the god of the netherworld, where he rules with his consort Ereshkigal. He is an evil god who brings war, pestilence, fever and devastation. He is sometimes regarded as representing the sinister aspect of the sun god Shamash. He is the subject of an Akkadian poem which describes his translation from heaven to the underworld. The foremost center of his cult was the city Kuthu. His attributes are the club and the sickle. (From Encyclopedia Mythica).
Thanks, now I know there's a Lich in RHoD.
It's a social encounter...
I feel with you.
We fought a pair of reoccurring skeleton warriors named Biggs and Wedge (of Final Fantasy).
Final Fantasy... not... STAR WARS?
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Nergal
Could be dangerous for the lich as the Slow Death might not take kindly to a pretender.
-TimD
Thanks, now I know there's a Lich in RHoD.It's a social encounter...
I feel with you.
We fought a pair of reoccurring skeleton warriors named Biggs and Wedge (of Final Fantasy).Final Fantasy... not... STAR WARS?
Yeah, I cringed at that too. The scene he's talking about is Final Fantasy 6, where the English translation team inserted Biggs and Wedge from Star Wars as throwaway characters in the beginning.
The "Younger players may not get the references" part made me laugh at the irony <3
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Nergal...
Also the lead singer of Behemoth, which leads me to my next idea- black metal names. Black metal bands and their members often take on awesome, archaic sounding monikers like Lord Abrimahn, Themgorath, Blackmoon, Shagrath, Vortex,etc.
Not into black metal? Too bad, really, but you can still mine it for badass names, lol.
Skulldaddy.
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Sucrose, Fructose, Dextrose, Lactose, Galactose, Glucose, and Maltose are all pretty sweet names. If you want something really sweet, try Thaumatin.
I dunno if I would use Nergal. A guy known for protecting crops and raising the dead isn't exactly what strikes me as a lich. He was also called the Burner... because of his habit of burning outdated teachings (making him a god of learning as well).
However, I would use a name no one would expect...
Aroden.
Then never answer whether or not it's the actual god, depowered, or just a lich making a play for divinity.
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"Names are important. They tell the world who we are, and allow others to speak of us when we are not present. They are the title of the story of our lives. They are the legacy we leave behind for our children."
"They are, in essence, the definition of us. They are how we remember our heroes, and our villains."
"Sure, we can change ourselves. We can change our names. We can even take on new names. However, we always have one. Can you imagine what it would be like not to have a name? Just think about it. What kind of life would that be?
"So, with that to reflect on, perhaps you will understand the significance of the fact that he doesn't have a name any longer."
"It was one of the things he had to give up to become what he became."
"Now he is nobody, and everybody. He is a paradox of life and death. An empty shell full of lies that he fills with the hopes and dreams of others He wears our names to suit his purpose, but doffs them like old clothing when he no longer needs them. Our lives are his playground."
"He could be anyone, anywhere."
"If you somehow cross him, if you are utterly stupid enough to become noticed by him, he will not fight you. He will become you. He will ruin you from the inside and cast you aside to be destroyed by the very people you try to defend."
"If you seek him, you will learn a new kind of fear."
"You will learn what you could be like. He will act on your darkest wishes. He will tear down everything you have ever built. You will learn what others are willing to believe you are capable of, what a monster they think you could become given just the right tiny push. You will see yourself become the very evil you fight against. You will learn just how close the world is from devouring you. You will discover that the only thing the crowd loves more than a hero is to watch them fall. You will learn the power of lies and false hope, and how little the idea of justice really means."...
I'd like to take a moment to reflect on how kickass of a storyline this would be. The next time I GM this is the game I'm running.
I dunno if I would use Nergal. A guy known for protecting crops and raising the dead isn't exactly what strikes me as a lich. He was also called the Burner... because of his habit of burning outdated teachings (making him a god of learning as well).
However, I would use a name no one would expect...
Aroden.
Then never answer whether or not it's the actual god, depowered, or just a lich making a play for divinity.
to be fair the warhammer version does sound like a lich
If we're using old gods there's plenty. Nemesis, goddess of revenge... Added bonus of having a 'forshadowing name'.
Hecate, Sekhmet, Angra Mainyu, Youalahuan, Phobos, Chamunda, etc. Unfortunately most gods of pestilence tend to be female, while liches tend towards the masculine side.
Does a lich have to be arcane?
Does a lich have to be arcane?
Nope! They just need to be able to make the phylactery. They don't even have to be a spellcaster, actually.
"Names are important...I'd like to take a moment to reflect on how kickass of a storyline this would be. The next time I GM this is the game I'm running.
Steal away. Just tell me how the game goes. :)
That little story is my thesis on why Bards make the most terrifying liches ever.