Thursday, February 2, 2012

My first House Rule

Ok, maybe not my first one, but one of them any way.

"You are allowed to name your character after a Lords of the Rings character.  But only once."

I think we have all done it and then later in life thought "man what was I thinking?".  I had a halfing thief named Bilbo.  My son is in the "regret" stage now with his wizard named "Gandalf".  I told him not to worry that everyone has done it (que a bunch of replies of people saying "I never did!").

So instead of feeling bad about it I say embrace it.  Own it.
Galdalf was named after a legendary near-mythical wizard.  With a name like that he was bound for greatness.  Bilbo is a very popular name among halflings, as is Frodo and Sam.

So here is where I have to ask.  Did anyone name a character after a Tolkien character?

17 comments:

Simon Forster said...

I never named any characters after LotR, although my uncle did have a druid called Gandalf. I did, however, name my two original D&D characters after a superhero and an ewok.

brink. said...

I don't believe i ever did.

But the first game i ever played in was in fact a halfling, a wizard and a bunch of dwarfs. I don't remember any of their names.

My first recurring character was in fact a halfling thief. But he was named Hawkwind, after a character in another book - Dragonworld - who wasn't a halfling or a thief. I don't think i had heard of the band at the time...

My friend did have characters named Boromir and Faramir. And i think they had a bunch of brothers and sisters with similar -mir names.

It never occurred to us at the time to not name stuff after, and even blatantly rip off, our favorite books.

ERIC! said...
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ERIC! said...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandalf_(Norse_mythology)

Tolkien wasn't to original either.

Black Vulmea said...

I used the name of one of Faramir's men from the Rangers of Ithlorien, and I used the elvish dictionary in the Silmarillion to come up with original names.

So, yeah, your son's in good company.

Anonymous said...

Halfling named Sam...

**sigh**

Anyone got a rope and stool I can borrow for five, ten minutes?

T.D. McFrost said...

NEVER! And I never will. I try my darndest to come up with new and interesting names, and then I Google them to make sure. So far, none is taken and I'm very pleased.

Timothy S. Brannan said...

I know Tolkien had taken a lot of names from myth and stories, so this is not a surprise.

April Plummer said...

I've never regretted my pets' names. Honestly. Right now, we have Toby the cat. My daughter named her gerbil that we pay no attention to almost ever Sara. LOL. No idea why. But Toby totally fits our cat.

Tim Snider said...

Ah, but then you have the reverse where you name your character something stupid for a laugh, then ride it out that first game, then -- as the campaign progresses and your PC gets awesomer -- you're stuck with "Fartknocker the Barbarian" or "Brother Fathersister the Cleric".

Dracula said...

I nabbed "Glorfindel" from Tolkien to use for my elf wizard in our 3.5E game that's been going for three years or so. I actually don't remember what role Glorfindel played in the novel. I think he was in "Fellowship."

Later, my Glorfindel died and was resurrected, but in death his mind was possessed by the dead blood mage Radagast - another name I copped from Tolkien. So I'm doubly guilty.

Actually triply. In my 1E campaign I start this weekend, there's a country with a mountain range called the "Crissagrim," which I understand comes from the Silmarillion. Technically, though, I first heard it used in Castlevania...

Higgipedia said...

Back in 1984, at the ripe old age of 9, I made my first D&D character. An elf named Legolas.

Then when I played AD&D for the first time, I made a cleric named Aleena.

Yeah. I was original back then.

Unknown said...

I used Greenbow as a character's last name, close to Greenleaf. Beyond that, nope, though I might once just to say I did.

5stonegames said...
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5stonegames said...

My very first D&D character (in Holmes) was a dwarf named Dwalin I think.

After that never save for an NPC Necromancer called well the Necromancer, a unintentional use of a Sauron title.

gcbrowni said...

During the 5E playtest I named myself Bildo and Boroagorn.

Doc Savage said...

I had a cavalier named Dirk just like in that video game...