Alternative names for monsters? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Alternative names for monsters? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Mal20
10-08-04, 09:48 AM In our last adventure my group encountered several creatures we'd never seen or heard of before. The players knew what they were, but not the characters, so we gave them our own names. For example:

Roper: Tendriliser
Grick: Octophidian
Troglodyte: Smellian

It may sound pretty daft, but we had a great laugh doing it.
Anyone else done this sort of thing?
Ilium
10-08-04, 10:09 AM I've started re-naming things just to keep the players a little off-balance. Displacer Beasts are Blur Cats, Sahuagin are "fish-men", etc. It sounds better, too. It's just not right when the rural hunter says "I'm looking for two displacer beasts." Much better if he says, "I've been tracking a pair of blur cats for three days. Have you seen any sign of them?"
obrysii
10-09-04, 12:39 AM Well, the players don't have any specific names...but in my campaign, most of the commoners think everything is a demon or some sort of fiend if it's out of the normal.
Brian.C
10-09-04, 03:56 PM It isn't really an alternative name, but...

In my campaign, common folk are so scared of the drow, that word "drow" is rarely spoken aloud. People often call them "dark ones", or "those who dwell in darkness."

As you can tell, drow are a major threat in my campaign.

- Brian
Nurgan_the_drunked
10-11-04, 04:55 AM Our group always used to do this. I'll remember the Tripedal turd terrors, gruesome gore golems, brass moomins and red-hot burrow worms for ages (Otyugh, blood golem of hextor, brass golem and thoqua).
The encounter with a Wyvern, and the party deciding it was a dragon led to us declaring that as it wasn't an actual dragon, it was a fake, or indeed a pseudo-dragon
Zaster
10-11-04, 11:36 PM I've been doing this kind of thing for flavor now and then. A horrible ancient scroll that "binds the black brood" sounds so much cooler than something that just summons a Canoloth.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Mal20 10-08-04, 09:48 AM	In our last adventure my group encountered several creatures we'd never seen or heard of before. The players knew what they were, but not the characters, so we gave them our own names. For example: Roper: Tendriliser Grick: Octophidian Troglodyte: Smellian It may sound pretty daft, but we had a great laugh doing it. Anyone else done this sort of thing?
Ilium 10-08-04, 10:09 AM	I've started re-naming things just to keep the players a little off-balance. Displacer Beasts are Blur Cats, Sahuagin are "fish-men", etc. It sounds better, too. It's just not right when the rural hunter says "I'm looking for two displacer beasts." Much better if he says, "I've been tracking a pair of blur cats for three days. Have you seen any sign of them?"
obrysii 10-09-04, 12:39 AM	Well, the players don't have any specific names...but in my campaign, most of the commoners think everything is a demon or some sort of fiend if it's out of the normal.
Brian.C 10-09-04, 03:56 PM	It isn't really an alternative name, but... In my campaign, common folk are so scared of the drow, that word "drow" is rarely spoken aloud. People often call them "dark ones", or "those who dwell in darkness." As you can tell, drow are a major threat in my campaign. - Brian
Nurgan_the_drunked 10-11-04, 04:55 AM	Our group always used to do this. I'll remember the Tripedal turd terrors, gruesome gore golems, brass moomins and red-hot burrow worms for ages (Otyugh, blood golem of hextor, brass golem and thoqua). The encounter with a Wyvern, and the party deciding it was a dragon led to us declaring that as it wasn't an actual dragon, it was a fake, or indeed a pseudo-dragon
Zaster 10-11-04, 11:36 PM	I've been doing this kind of thing for flavor now and then. A horrible ancient scroll that "binds the black brood" sounds so much cooler than something that just summons a Canoloth.