Number Appearing brainstorm

[wightbred]

Putting the finishing touches on the playtest version of Number Appearing, and I need some more inspiration.

What names would you give a monster you were playing (goblin, orc, ogre, skeleton, werewolf)?

If these are possible facts about the small and sneaky races (goblins and kobolds) you could choose...
o   You are not born, you grow from fungus spores instead
o   You come from eggs, just like dragons
o   You are the immature form of a surprising bigger race
o   You hibernate in the winter
o   You usually form progressive governing structures, like democracies
o   You eat waste and refuse and would happily co-exist
o   Those murders were done by another race that looks very similar
o   You have an eons old pact with a powerful sorcerer, and are awaiting his return to complete your duty

What would be the same list for marauding hordes (orcs, etc) or towering brutes (trolls, ogres, etc)?

[Radium]

I've just had a (probably) weird idea for giants -

Mountain spawn - every mountain has a seed, and when the conditions are right that seed will grow to form a creature.

It's rumoured some dwarves dug too deep and found a seed. They're trying to germinate it.


Brad

[mease19]

goblin - Gibly, Grimes, Squagg, Skoog (names reminiscent of mud and the sound it makes)
orc - Kish, Chock, Grik (names that sound like stones breaking)
ogre - I got nothing
skeleton - Thonk, Crichton, Krik (bone noises)
.............-Benson, Edgar, Godfrey, Higgins, Winston, (butler names)
werewolf - Samantha, Lily, Gunther (really unassuming names)

Goblins:
You are the parasites that gestate in the bowels of giants

Towering Brutes:
You were born in the lakes of the North and must return there to bear young
You wade for months on the continental shelf to keep from overheating
You are often forgotten when you spend decades in silent meditation
You constantly graze and, in time, will clear the forest

Marauding hordes:
You will turn cannibalistic when populations become too dense
You become aggressive only in numbers, alone you are artists and philosophers

[rubiconium]

I think I would give skeletons archaic-sounding names. Maybe old-old British names (Boadicea, Cingetorix, Cartimandua), mashed together Greek or dog-Latin stuff, (Hematogone or Teratome, Venifax), or even pharoah names (Meryhathor, Sehetepre, Artaxerxes).

[nemomeme]

I like that Mountain Spawn idea, Brad.

I am messing around with giants and trolls a lot lately, reading Scandinavian mythology.

[Murgh Bpurn]

+1 to rubiconium's suggestions

For ogres what about the likes of Stomp, Biff, Bash, Grind, Smak

[ZonerZ]

or even pharoah names (Meryhathor, Sehetepre, Artaxerxes).

This is far cooler than anything I could've thought up. Good show, old bean!

[samuraiko]

Personally, I've always liked my goblins taking more inspiration from their European roots in fairy tales and folklore than how most fantasy RPGs convey them. Goblins, hobgoblins and bugbears used to be fey creatures, tricky, mischievous and sly, but there are also the fabled Goblin Markets where the wondrous and impossible can be found, for a price. I could see this sort of goblin being cultivated in moth/silk worm cocoons in hidden forest glades.

@Radium: I love the idea of the Mountain Seed/Giant connection.

[Jeremy]

Maurading hordes:

• All cattle/weapons/land in the world belong to your people. The other races stole it from you long ago.
• Your people were here first, damnit, and land itself cries for the blood of the invaders.
• You hear the voice of the Howler, and have succumbed to it.
• Pain is holy; suffering it or inflicting it makes you holier.
• Your bloody rights keep the Black Earth Mother appeased and quiet

[mease19]

"All cattle/weapons/land in the world belong to your people. The other races stole it from you long ago."
I like it Jeremy!

[skinnyghost]

Human curse-words are great goblin names.

[Jeremy]

More maurading horde ideas:

• You consume the bones of your felled heroes, that their strength lives on in you.
• Your people live on coals and ash; the coals of burnt buildings are particularly nourishing
• Your people keep and breed a particularly dangerous type of animal
• The evil spirits that hunt your people revel in missery, death, and ruin, so you leave it in your wake to slow them down.

[Mtallen]

Goblins, hobgoblins and bugbears used to be fey creatures, tricky, mischievous and sly, but there are also the fabled Goblin Markets where the wondrous and impossible can be found, for a price.

This is totally how I play Goblins. In fact today I let my 3.5 year old make a bunch of decisions for the Goblins in our campaign and it was perfect. No true malice, just a bunch of chaos and messing with her sister and mom. it worked out quite well.

[noofy]

That's wonderful Oli! I'm excited about your supplement :)

Brian Froud's Goblins is a good resource, also, the monster burner for Burning Wheel has wonderfully evocative monster traits that you could use to inspire choice lists for creatures other than goblins.

[wightbred]

Thanks all, this is gold. They align nicely with what I have but extend to other interesting places.

Not sure if it was the cold I have or tiredness, but I was seriously considering Julia Ghoulia as a ghoul name yesterday.

(Will put some thanks in the PDFs for these. I'll use your account name, but drop me an alternative if you'd prefer.)