How do you name your characters, if they are aliens?
>inb4 name generator
Depends on how autismal I'm feeling
>Full autism
Research the roots of various names on baby name websites until I find one that gives a nod to an aspect of the the character
>Example
I made a introverted magical girl character whose powers centered around forming protective bubbles and walls with magic. She was named after an island.
>50% autism
Use a random name based on the time in history the game takes place at and the cultural roots of the character. If these are wholly invented (it's a "fantasy game" and they're an imaginary race such as an elf), I pick some example names out of their entry in the rulebook, possibly adjusting them for personal taste
>Example
In a d&d game, I play an elf. "Lothwale" is given as an example name. Sure, let's go with that.
>0% autism
I make up a name that sounds neat to me, or one based on the closest object
>Example
Pepsi.
>>44112912
This pretty much.
I also named two separate characters after Duran Duran songs
>>44112457
I've made my own language and a protolanguage of that. Usually I construct a name from words of that protolanguage and butcher that in the same vein of which it evolved into that apparent main language i.e. shortening, dialectic influences etc
>>44112912
As for
>if they're aliens
This is roughly 75% or 25% autism.
Either,
>Invent a name based on the approximation of what such an alien creature's vocal cords or unique means of expression could communicate, and further invent a cultural basis for the name
Or
>Random stupid sounds, Rick and Morty style
>>44112457
Seeing as I'm a Pathfinder fag, I tend to look at the example names for various races or factions. Failing that, I'll come up with some dumb alliteration. My most recent character was never named in universe, and I got a fellow player to give them a name.
And so began the adventures of "Custos Thorndyke", the chaotic evil tiefling.
I pick or look up a name, but if the world is more fantastic, I'll just generate an English-sounding word by means of any number of syllable generators available online.
>>44112457
I generally have some kind of thematic going on with any one character. So I search words matching up with that concept in an obscure language that matches my expectations of the culture/sounds I want (for example, I'd be inclined to search Inuit/Tibetan/old Siberian dialects if my character comes from a cold desert), change a few letters so the name fit better my aesthetics, and voilà.
It's rather useful to come up with multiple names all part of a same area/culture.
>>44112457
I take a lot of names from other video games. I usually stick to the more normal sounding names from Fire Emblem orMabinogi. If I want more variety, I move to Celtic/Gaelic names since I'm a big fan of Celtic shit
>smash face on keyboard
>add vowels
>>44112457
Thanks for the insight, there are some interesting proposals. I guess I'll give the "strange dictionary" route a try.
OP
>>44114324
waaeeeyyuiiuueoouiue
>>44114505
waeyu iueoeuie
now make up some backstory and youre done super easy
>>44114324
Anon, we're making alien words, not Hungarian words.
Haven't played an alien character yet, but judging by how I usually do things...one of the following, depending on hardness of the setting:
A) invent some bullshit phonology that gets mangled into something comfortable for the players to pronounce
B) come up with an exotic system that toys with the whole concept of names--in an old NaNoWriMo attempt, the names were base-12 numbers of up to three digits, which were implied to have a cultural pattern that the main character didn't bother paying attention to--and then just use a pronounceable nickname that renders the whole thing moot
C) Google Translate a word that describes them from English to Basque, and minimally tweak that
D) Human name, and hanging a lampshade on the laziness. Only for games that I barely give two shits about
>>44112457
Depends on the type of alien.
Is it a beastlike creature it is probably named by it's encounters and does not call itself anything.
Like the Xenomorph from Alien is called so for its ability to change and adapt and since it is a xeno after all.
Is the alien more advanced, maybe somewhat like us humans?
Then you need to think about the biology of the alien, does it even have a language close to what we are useing, or are they useing hormones or maybe telapathy to detect one another and therefore names are useless to them?
If they speak, then what about culture?
Do they earn the name like native americans or are they given names at birth like most modern humans are?
In short, it's all down to what kind of alien we are talking about.
But if you like it simple, give the alien a name that is hard for humans to pronounce.. kinda gives an alien feel to it.
>>44114324
hagusihesagofihisafedoku
>>44112457
I take a concept, and i look up the name closest to the concept for whatever culture the alien might have arrived in, with the excuse that they picked the name to be better understandable and familiar to humans.
For instance, I had a person from a race that was entirely psionic, who only developed language to deal with other races. This guy's name was a concept, which is easy to relay mentally, but in language is something long like "Celebration of the inevitability of Tomorrow". He arrived in a particular country, so i looked up name meanings, and eventually settled on him calling himself Cayo for the convenience of inferior nonpsions.
