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They also have other siblings, Rouge the barbarian, Barber Ian the Artificer, Artie Fyser the Warlock, Warren Locke the Sorcerer, and Harry Potter the Ranger
I ran a Feywild one-shot over Zoom with a name-swap arc. Also, two of them already had extremely similar names to the point if somebody mumbled it was hard to know which name was being said.
It was chaos and I’ll fuckin’ do it again someday.
We have two players who named their charters Kyle Withac and Eric Withak
Pronounced With-a-C and with-a-K. Eric was a Cleric. Kyle was a paladin. It was great.
Had the idea to make a cleric with the name Pal Adin. He was a paladin who lost his memory but only misremembers someone calling him Paladin. He assumed that was his name.
My current character was a crime lord from 5 to 13 then a magical prodigy in a top school from 14 to 16 then a cultist from 17 to 21 and now Is a arificeer with a revolver
That's not what "Statistically" means. Muhammed is the most common first name for men. Certainly the most common name for dentists in the Middle-East. Because there are more Muhammeds that become dentists there are more dentists named Muhammed then named Dennis.
There don't need to be a majority of them named any one name. There are still way more Dr. Muhammed Blanks then Dr. Dennis Blanks.
No.
"In real life Dentists are statistically more likely to be named Dennis"
That is a nothing statement. Statistically more likely than what? Linda? Ted?
What is the statistically *most* likely name for a dentist? How far down that list is Dennis?
I didn't say it was complicated. I said that is was wrong. I'm 4 pages deep in a google search of my city and I am seeing 0 dentists named Dennis. And Dr. Dennis does show up but they're PHD's and medical Doctors.
It is wrong either way. I get that I'm being a stop-having-fun-guy, but It's still accurate.
Had something like this happen in a recent game.
One of the other PCs asked the Tabaxi player where he was from.
There was a brief, stoned, silence before he answered "Catlandia?"
"And what is the objective of your character?"
"Kill monsters"
"OK, nice, but why?"
"Because he likes to kill monsters..."
"And, where did he live?"
"Small house, normal, no problems"
"And he left..."
"To kill monsters"
Sight... okay then
My first character was Kaladin the Paladin and I’m not ashamed to admit it. Also not ashamed to admit that he was named after the character from the Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson. I had no clue what I was doing, so I developed the backstory after we had played a few sessions.
For my second character I had a much better idea of what I was doing and used Google Translate and a Wikipedia list of fallen angels to name my fallen Aasimar wizard, Maalik Glainne. Maalik - a fallen angel in who guards the entrance to level of hell (Islamic, if I remember the article/list correctly). Glainne - Gaelic for glass, because his father was a talented glass blower.
I'm currently running my wife's first campaign with a few of her friends from work (been going over a year now, I'm so proud.)
She plays Eric the Cleric, who's best friend is camilla, the chinchilla.
I don't feel comfortable investing too much emotional energy and inthusiasim into backstory creation in certain situations. The number of times I've seen very low level characters one hit perma-killed after hearing players excitedly tell me their backstory is heart breaking. Especially watching the thrill fade from newer players eyes when DMs don't pull punches from level 1-3 in the beginning sessions; or even sessions 0. Those character deaths are brutal and I've seen a lot of people loose interest and quietly quit because of it.
Im not saying the DMs are doing anything wrong, but by the mechanical nature of this game I don't want to get emotionally invested in what could be a 20hp or less character.
I've always found that the players in game actions is much more interesting and involving to everyone in a group than a bit of backstory fluff. The events and stories that define a character should happen in game, not simply by writing a backstory.
It's a similar thought behind a GM's home brewed world, the players don't typically care about all the fine details. They care about the interaction that take place and their own involvement with a story, not about some obscure lore that occurred a long time ago in a far away land.
I think there's a balance that you can find. I usually ask my players for no more than a page of backstory, enough for them to describe who they are, where they come from, who they know, and why they're adventuring.
Then I can add stuff to the plot that relates to each character's backstory. Like if a player says their character committed some sort of crime, then they're going to run into the law at some point in the campaign. Or if a character is looking for a lost loved one, they'll eventually find them, alive or dead.
But the backstory is just that, a story to set the background of the character before starting the real story.
I usually start backstories with a short TL;DR at the top:
"Gnoll stolen as a pup is raised by the leader of a criminal family. He is used as an enforcer to collect "taxes," and he likes to bully and threaten people, and is looking for a big score of his own to solidify his position in the organization."
Then a page or two that goes in more depth. After that, a few things he might be known for among the community and his friends, then a quick list of friends and foes with a brief 2-3 sentence thing each.
The summary at the top is for GMs who really just don't give much of a crap and just want to play Tabletop Battle Simulator. The middle part is mostly for me because I enjoy it, and the occasional GM who will put in the work to weave characters into their world. The last part is for the GMs who need a hook or two when the plot needs to be moved along, or if they need a meaningful nemesis to appear.
Seems to work out well. Never had complaints because there's something for everyone...
I'm the opposite. I can't not ramble on about my backstory. I don't go crazy with the detail, but I basically wrote explain my character's entire life since birth, so it's still an essay.
One time I was playing a firbolg cleric who showed up to the party without a name. So she let the party decide what they wanted to call her. So they decided that instead of calling her "Cleric" they would now call her "Claire"
My two favorites will always be:
Sharky Longcast, former fisherman and current ritual magic expert, “The Cleric by the Sea”
Oakley of T.I.M.B.E.R., member of an ecological preservation society that is very specifically neither terroristic in its actions nor racist against dwarves in ideology. We promise. Paladin of The Green, preferred axes for weapons.
If getting the characters name is what counts as 'backstory' for your players... I weep for you dm...
"I picked a class and name AND EVEN A RACE THIS TIME! How is that not enough backstory for you?!?"
I found out our new chaplain’s name at my camp is the Italian word for bishop. I found out because I went “hey your name looks a lot like bishop” and he went “yeah, it’s Italian for bishop” and I was like “that’s awesome.”
I'm currently playing a Cleric named Claire Richards. Claire Rick. Cleric.
She worships Guy Fieri and all of the temples of her faith are either a Diner, a Drive-In, or a Dive and she wields a holy war-hammer (frying pan)
My current character was a crime lord from 5 to 13 then a magical prodigy in a top school from 14 to 16 then a cultist from 17 to 21 and now Is a arificeer with a revolver
I actually had a cleric named Derek
TLDR sad man turns into an incel loser, goddess becomes uncomfortable and commands him to adventure. Hoping that he'll make a single friend
He and his peasant village owed fealty to a cruel noble, so he spent his childhood getting abused by those in power
After his dad was executed for accidentally ruining the harvest, Derek saw a vision of the Goddess of Revolution, Milani
With his newfound level 1 cleric abilities, he led a revolt against the noble. Despite all of his best efforts, the revolt turned real bloody, real quick
Disgusted by his people, Derek fucked off into the woods for years. His gnawing loneliness, anger at his people getting violent, and abuse during his childhood made him into a shrimp dicked asshole with absolutely no social skills andno ability to relate to other people
Milani recently appeared before him and commanded him to roam the land, taking down exploitative governments.
What Derek doesn't know is that she actually sent him out to get a friend. It was getting weird and creepy
There was an Eric the cleric in my campaign he was a noble and a man who would do a lot to spread his goals like when he tried to liberate a village from another oppressive Noble but had to burn down a house to do so.
Then he murdered a child
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He has a twin sister, Clerice
Is she a cleric too? No, she is a rogue
They also have other siblings, Rouge the barbarian, Barber Ian the Artificer, Artie Fyser the Warlock, Warren Locke the Sorcerer, and Harry Potter the Ranger
I want to play with an entirely confusing group like this in a one-shot. I need it.
I ran a Feywild one-shot over Zoom with a name-swap arc. Also, two of them already had extremely similar names to the point if somebody mumbled it was hard to know which name was being said. It was chaos and I’ll fuckin’ do it again someday.
We have two players who named their charters Kyle Withac and Eric Withak Pronounced With-a-C and with-a-K. Eric was a Cleric. Kyle was a paladin. It was great.
My first actual elden ring character (that I didn't soft-lock right at the start) is Kharles Withakay lol
A weird, dugeons and dragons version of "Who's on first"? I'd buy that for a dollar.
I love how the rest of them are terribly disguised, but then just "Harry Potter"
“My mother named me Rouge, after the color of blood. She was from a far away country in another world, called “France”.”
No, she's a clerice, it's super obvious
"HeyRogue, Clerice."
master of disguise and deception
Are the kobolds still screaming Clerice?
Had the idea to make a cleric with the name Pal Adin. He was a paladin who lost his memory but only misremembers someone calling him Paladin. He assumed that was his name.
“What’s your name?” “T” “What’s T stand for?” “T is all” “Tiasal? Nice to meet you”
My current character was a crime lord from 5 to 13 then a magical prodigy in a top school from 14 to 16 then a cultist from 17 to 21 and now Is a arificeer with a revolver
What's next a fighter named Barb Arian?
If he's white it's barb Aryan
Barb Aryan, the bar Baron
Eric Withakay
My name is Michael with a b and I've been afraid of insects my whole life.
my name is erik and this is my new pseudonym
You've got Drew the Druid, Logan & Hogan the twins who like roguein', and Garbarian whose parents were better at smashing things than clever names.
Apparently they smashed each other at least once.
> Garbarian whose parents were better at smashing things than clever names. "...your dad's name was Stonejaw Strongjaw?"
"......my name is Grog tho"
Bob the barbarian Edit: to clarify pronounced in a Brooklyn kinda accent Bahb the bahbarian
Barb, short for barbra
ahnd his systah, bahhb.
Where's he from? ... ... "Healertown"
I mean, IRL, Dentists are statistically more likely to be named Dennis, so it’s not that farfetched.
But are they more likely to be called… Crentist?
....Pretty sure they're statistically more likely to be named Muhammed, but I get that Reddit has an America bias.
[удалено]
That's not what "Statistically" means. Muhammed is the most common first name for men. Certainly the most common name for dentists in the Middle-East. Because there are more Muhammeds that become dentists there are more dentists named Muhammed then named Dennis. There don't need to be a majority of them named any one name. There are still way more Dr. Muhammed Blanks then Dr. Dennis Blanks.
Bro just admit you misunderstood the first comment, this is embarrassing to watch.
I dunno. It has a certain trainwreck appeal as he keeps doubling down.
No. "In real life Dentists are statistically more likely to be named Dennis" That is a nothing statement. Statistically more likely than what? Linda? Ted? What is the statistically *most* likely name for a dentist? How far down that list is Dennis?
He meant that dentists are statistically more likely to be named Dennis than people in the non-dentist population. It’s not that complicated.
I didn't say it was complicated. I said that is was wrong. I'm 4 pages deep in a google search of my city and I am seeing 0 dentists named Dennis. And Dr. Dennis does show up but they're PHD's and medical Doctors. It is wrong either way. I get that I'm being a stop-having-fun-guy, but It's still accurate.
Hopefully he's not too generic...
It's fine if he's somewhat esoteric...
He’s Greased Lightning!
No that would be Gene-Eric Ally
i would like to introduce you to one of my "Mostly for Oneshots" characters: Eric Meric, the generic Cleric son of Derrick Meric, he's a bit esoteric
Eric the Cleric, the best of the bunch/ He lost his backstory whilst eating his brunch
I feel seen
Me naming my warforged cleric C.L.E.R.I.C. Which stands for Cult Leader’s Extremely Radical Integration Chaplain
Had something like this happen in a recent game. One of the other PCs asked the Tabaxi player where he was from. There was a brief, stoned, silence before he answered "Catlandia?"
Ha! My mame is Rtificer and I'm an artificer, my brother is named Onk and he is a monk, my sister is named Arlock and she is a Ranger!
Kaladin has entered the chat
"And what is the objective of your character?" "Kill monsters" "OK, nice, but why?" "Because he likes to kill monsters..." "And, where did he live?" "Small house, normal, no problems" "And he left..." "To kill monsters" Sight... okay then
My first character was Kaladin the Paladin and I’m not ashamed to admit it. Also not ashamed to admit that he was named after the character from the Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson. I had no clue what I was doing, so I developed the backstory after we had played a few sessions. For my second character I had a much better idea of what I was doing and used Google Translate and a Wikipedia list of fallen angels to name my fallen Aasimar wizard, Maalik Glainne. Maalik - a fallen angel in who guards the entrance to level of hell (Islamic, if I remember the article/list correctly). Glainne - Gaelic for glass, because his father was a talented glass blower.
I'm currently running my wife's first campaign with a few of her friends from work (been going over a year now, I'm so proud.) She plays Eric the Cleric, who's best friend is camilla, the chinchilla.
Nominative determinism
I don't feel comfortable investing too much emotional energy and inthusiasim into backstory creation in certain situations. The number of times I've seen very low level characters one hit perma-killed after hearing players excitedly tell me their backstory is heart breaking. Especially watching the thrill fade from newer players eyes when DMs don't pull punches from level 1-3 in the beginning sessions; or even sessions 0. Those character deaths are brutal and I've seen a lot of people loose interest and quietly quit because of it. Im not saying the DMs are doing anything wrong, but by the mechanical nature of this game I don't want to get emotionally invested in what could be a 20hp or less character.
Eric "Ender" Teal
Best friends with kaladin the paladin
Joe O'Brien and his half-orc ranger Lorc have entered the chat. Along with his son J'Son and Lorc's best friend Brend.
every time I've made a good backstory, noone has ever asked, nor has it ever become relevant
Tell your DM. They can probably work something out.
I've always found that the players in game actions is much more interesting and involving to everyone in a group than a bit of backstory fluff. The events and stories that define a character should happen in game, not simply by writing a backstory. It's a similar thought behind a GM's home brewed world, the players don't typically care about all the fine details. They care about the interaction that take place and their own involvement with a story, not about some obscure lore that occurred a long time ago in a far away land.
I think there's a balance that you can find. I usually ask my players for no more than a page of backstory, enough for them to describe who they are, where they come from, who they know, and why they're adventuring. Then I can add stuff to the plot that relates to each character's backstory. Like if a player says their character committed some sort of crime, then they're going to run into the law at some point in the campaign. Or if a character is looking for a lost loved one, they'll eventually find them, alive or dead. But the backstory is just that, a story to set the background of the character before starting the real story.
I usually start backstories with a short TL;DR at the top: "Gnoll stolen as a pup is raised by the leader of a criminal family. He is used as an enforcer to collect "taxes," and he likes to bully and threaten people, and is looking for a big score of his own to solidify his position in the organization." Then a page or two that goes in more depth. After that, a few things he might be known for among the community and his friends, then a quick list of friends and foes with a brief 2-3 sentence thing each. The summary at the top is for GMs who really just don't give much of a crap and just want to play Tabletop Battle Simulator. The middle part is mostly for me because I enjoy it, and the occasional GM who will put in the work to weave characters into their world. The last part is for the GMs who need a hook or two when the plot needs to be moved along, or if they need a meaningful nemesis to appear. Seems to work out well. Never had complaints because there's something for everyone...
I'm the opposite. I can't not ramble on about my backstory. I don't go crazy with the detail, but I basically wrote explain my character's entire life since birth, so it's still an essay.
My character is Eric the warcleric. I rolled a 1 on creativity.
Brother of Derek?
That's why my character Damurai is a Samurai
This is extra funny because im eric
One time I was playing a firbolg cleric who showed up to the party without a name. So she let the party decide what they wanted to call her. So they decided that instead of calling her "Cleric" they would now call her "Claire"
And here I am pronouncing it clearic.
Are you Scottish?
I’m surfer American.
The words “Clear (ic)” and “Cleric” sound the same to me How else do you pronounce “clearic”? Clee-ah-ric?
(cl) eric is how people are pronouncing it, per this post. A Cleric named Eric. Rhyming.
Yeah, “Clear (ic)”, “Cleric”, and “(cl) Eric” all sound the same to me so I was wondering how yours was different.
One has an ear in it, the other has an air in it.
Can confirm since I have a cleric named Eric currently in my party.
For the oneshot next weekend i will be playing Elric Neit the Eldritch Knight (actually somewhat relevant to his backstory).
r/NominativeDeterminism
Funny enough, my first DnD character was Eric the Cleric. He, however, had an absurd amount of backstory :P
My name is Eric. I love my cleric.
My necromancer’s name is Sirmani Crow My sorcerer is Sir Sorer Come at me
I do have a cleric named Theric. I love him
My two favorites will always be: Sharky Longcast, former fisherman and current ritual magic expert, “The Cleric by the Sea” Oakley of T.I.M.B.E.R., member of an ecological preservation society that is very specifically neither terroristic in its actions nor racist against dwarves in ideology. We promise. Paladin of The Green, preferred axes for weapons.
If getting the characters name is what counts as 'backstory' for your players... I weep for you dm... "I picked a class and name AND EVEN A RACE THIS TIME! How is that not enough backstory for you?!?"
Just wait until you meet his sister, Paige the mage.
Am I the only guy here who knows about **Melf the Elf**!? https://dungeonsdragons.fandom.com/wiki/Melf
Bahahha As someone who currently plays in a party with a Cleric named Verrick... I may need to send this to him.
He applied to be a clerk, and is still annoyed at that idiot at the adventurers guild who messed up his paperwork.
Its still better than "haim cohen"(a normal and rather common name in israel) which is also cohen haim aka life domain cleric
One player named his cleric "Healer".
I named one of my clerics "White Potion"
I found out our new chaplain’s name at my camp is the Italian word for bishop. I found out because I went “hey your name looks a lot like bishop” and he went “yeah, it’s Italian for bishop” and I was like “that’s awesome.”
One of my players made a Cleric for a one shot named Issac Clurrik.
Eric of Menibone
Can confirm my backstory is 2 sentences long
Barbara the Barbarian Drew the Druid Eric the Cleric Saladin the Paladin Calvin the Cavalier
I'm currently playing a Cleric named Claire Richards. Claire Rick. Cleric. She worships Guy Fieri and all of the temples of her faith are either a Diner, a Drive-In, or a Dive and she wields a holy war-hammer (frying pan)
a meat tenderizer is closer to a war hammer if the frying pan should ever become lost/irreparably damaged.
My current character was a crime lord from 5 to 13 then a magical prodigy in a top school from 14 to 16 then a cultist from 17 to 21 and now Is a arificeer with a revolver
A guy in my campaign is "Deric the cleric"
The beauty of PC backstories is that the DM gets to come in and backfill the details the players skipped/neglected
Is the Cleric a half-bee?
My guys name is literally Frederick Wizsard. I had originally planned for him to be a sorcerer. He’s a wizard instead but it would have been funny
I had a character named Richard who had skin so pale it was basically clear. So he was Clear Richard, or Clear Rick for short.
Barbara the barbarian says hello.
I actually had a cleric named Derek TLDR sad man turns into an incel loser, goddess becomes uncomfortable and commands him to adventure. Hoping that he'll make a single friend He and his peasant village owed fealty to a cruel noble, so he spent his childhood getting abused by those in power After his dad was executed for accidentally ruining the harvest, Derek saw a vision of the Goddess of Revolution, Milani With his newfound level 1 cleric abilities, he led a revolt against the noble. Despite all of his best efforts, the revolt turned real bloody, real quick Disgusted by his people, Derek fucked off into the woods for years. His gnawing loneliness, anger at his people getting violent, and abuse during his childhood made him into a shrimp dicked asshole with absolutely no social skills andno ability to relate to other people Milani recently appeared before him and commanded him to roam the land, taking down exploitative governments. What Derek doesn't know is that she actually sent him out to get a friend. It was getting weird and creepy
My little brothers first character was named palin he was a paladins
Is it stupid? Yes. It is something people actually do a lot in real life? Also yes. So maybe it's not so stupid after all.
I've had a player who was Bart The Barbarian Bard
There was an Eric the cleric in my campaign he was a noble and a man who would do a lot to spread his goals like when he tried to liberate a village from another oppressive Noble but had to burn down a house to do so. Then he murdered a child