Baldur's Gate : The Sword Coast Chronicles : NWN2 Persistent World

Hello!

My main character "Heart-Eater" just went through a name change , supposedly by DM Luna, without my knowledge or consent. I've talked to DM Avara about this, and he/she was very friendly and informed me that apparently I'm breaking some naming policy of the server.

I was surprised, since my character is a tanarukk and its a perfect tanarukk name. They're all like that. Gutwrencher. Headtaker. Heart-eater. Its how the name themselves, similar to how drow names are like Dies Irae, Val'ssysn or Olor'tana which have hidden meanings, and not the randomly generated elven names or "albert johnson".

Regardless, I'm going to follow DM rules, but I'm basically wondering what will fly. Heart-Eater, the very name, was the heart and soul of my character because of what it inspired. I've roleplayed him along those lines for my entire time here. For a name change, I definitely want something orcish.

I dont want to be named "Steve", or the randomly generated "foust" I got from the DM. I want an orcish name. But apparently, Grug Heart-Eater won't fly either. Which puts me at a dilemma.

I want an orcish name. Orcish names have "titles", like Obould many-arrows. Titles aren't allowed.

Any helpful tips?


Regards,

// Karond

4. Please do not use famous names (like "Robin Hood" or "John Do'Urden") for your character. Do not put any titles in your name or biography that you did not earn. You are not a king, noble, general, baron, etc. unless we state you are. And finally, please use a name rather than a description (like "Big Man") for your character. A character in violation of this rule may log in to find the character with a new name.

Though I'm not sure what to say in your case, because it seems like they're suppose to have names like that. You could still go by Heart-eater ingame though. It just wouldn't show on your guys' name.

i had a character named Anon Ymous... got changed... why? dont know...

you can have a character named Nipskin Flidipipskin and it's ok with the rules....

EDIT. i know for sure the many Elven names arepissing people off... try to remember El'thrviean Fr' Sat'raen

Use DMFI languages... Type in Heart-Eater, abbreviate or smooth to roll off the tongue. Voila, orcish name.

Kho'Gnok "Grey Strength" Kho Gnukk
Zho "Mule"
Zha'Graht "Cliff Shield" Zhao Graoht

In that case most dwarves will need name changes. There are so many of them with title-sounding clan names.

I think we are confusing titles with monickers. Heart-Eater is a monicker, not a title. Why shouldn't it be allowed?

AlphaCentaur wrote:In that case most dwarves will need name changes. There are so many of them with title-sounding clan names.

I think we are confusing titles with monickers. Heart-Eater is a monicker, not a title. Why shouldn't it be allowed?

I concur. There is no difference between "Grug Heart-Eater" and "Thorin Oakenshield" or "Somename Hammerhands" and yet they are allowed.

Thanks alot for the input, never thought about the dwarven comparison because it always seemed so taken for granted. Naturally, I concur as well since its in my interest.

I'll await a DM storming in to this topic for a ruling then.

Regards,

// Karond

Try Hearteater vs Heart-Eater. I would guess it is the hyphen.

"Hearteater of the Gutcrusher Tribe"
That's a valid orc name as long as we aren't talking about Tolkien's or Warhammer's orcs.

What does "heart eater" translate to in orcish or Tanarukk? Perhaps change it to the translated name?

I PMed the DM staff about this.

BTW guys, PMing the DM staff is a much better way to get a positive change than making a post that we may or may not see.

Whenever this comes up, I think of Philip 'The mouse'. The name Mathew Broderic's character had in Ladyhawk.

Strictly speaking according to the server rules, 'The mouse' would be an illegal name because of 'The'. This isn't a title, it's a moniker. he isn't claiming to be "The definitive article" as Tom Baker used to say. it is simply a name that is descriptive. And for someone who grew up on the streets and has no last name, it is and should be perfectly all right to do. JMHO.

And as has been listed above, Dwarves and Orcs in particular, but really any fantasy name that doesn't "specifically" state a title, should be Ok. Just look at Fafrd's traveling companion.

Imo, there's a subtle difference between Philip the mouse and an orc named Hearteater. The former could easily simply type "Philip" into the first name box and refer to himself or be known as the mouse to others. But if the latter isn't allowed hearteater, he suddenly doesn't have a name period.

So perhaps I have misunderstood, but I thought the OP was saying their character's name was "Grug Heart-Eater".

In either case, again I point out Fafrd's companion, The Grey Mouser. Again, "The" does not designate a title (or at least not one bestowed by any formality). it is a Name.

In so long as the player doesn't play their character as if they are Nobility, and their name doesn't "Actually" say "King of ALL" or something equally obvious, where is the harm? and if they do, then all manner of wackiness can ensue from players, DMs, whomever as they try to give royal decrees to the masses that no one will believe or follow. It's like IRL officially changing your name to "king Henry the 8th". People can do it, but no one is going to take them seriously.

If I want to create a character named Oscar The Grouch, where "The Grouch" is my last name, why should I need to leave last name blank?

was heart-eater your first or last name?

also have in mind, the staff dont see or hear of all the names, that is why you see some, and wonder why they havent been changed...

Paws is aloud to be Paws, right? I don't think the DMs missed that one...