Character names

Tom Hatfield · Post by **Tom Hatfield** » Sun May 23, 2004 8:54 pm

Anybody else like to change the character names? I always do this and then give them new backstories. For instance, every time I start a new game, I rename Torham to "Thomas the Fallen." He's a former apprentice of Dragoth, betrayed when Dragoth banished him from the Void after he became too powerful. As revenge, Thomas assembles a party of champions and, under the guise of "saving the world," enters the keep to destroy his former master.

I can't remember the name I gave to Kol Del Tac. I renamed Seri to "Sonja Flameheart," and of course Saros became "Gothmog" in tribute to the baddest character in the first game. (I miss the red eyes.) Last time I played, I didn't bother to rename anyone except Thomas — er, Torham. Next time may be different.

I know I'm not the only one who roleplays to himself in these games. . .

beowuuf · Post by **beowuuf** » Sun May 23, 2004 9:24 pm

Do that more in DM sometimes, but usually I carry on the original characters and alter their names for their new status

Sandman · Post by **Sandman** » Mon May 24, 2004 6:16 pm

I never change the DM 2 names. It has no purpose and I am not very keen on "inventing" new names.
But in DM i change the names just to see the champions are reincarnated. I have one (or two) names assigned for each character and change it just occassionaly. E.g. my new CSB party: Tunda = Nuada Keeper of the Grove, Algor = Grendel Bog Creature (i think

), Petal = Sidhe the Nymph, Necro = Dagda of Life and Death. I just hope the gods are assigned their true function!

Tom Hatfield · Post by **Tom Hatfield** » Tue May 25, 2004 5:12 am

Of course it has a purpose: it develops ownership of — and therefore investment in — the characters. How can you basically tell us you rename your CSB characters, and then claim there is "no purpose" to renaming DM2 characters? It's about immersiveness!

I feel so old school.

Sandman · Post by **Sandman** » Tue May 25, 2004 9:30 am

No, I just...
Renaming DM / CSB characters is linked to the reincarnation process, which is absent in DM II. Of course the ownership is a reason. I just like the Skullkeep names as they are...

Tom Hatfield · Post by **Tom Hatfield** » Thu May 27, 2004 2:53 am

I can understand that. Ironically, when I reincarnated characters in DM, I tried to give them names as close as possible to the originals, because those characters did in fact have personalities in my mind. I really don't know why I got into the habit of renaming my DM2 characters — but if it's worth anything, the last time I played through DM2, the only character I renamed was Torham. The other three (Cletus, Anders, Graen) I left as they were. Weird.

On second thought, maybe it's because the manual for DM began with a story that introduced some of the characters. DM2 also had a story, but the only character in it was Torham. He had a strong personality — that aspect never changed in my mind — but I didn't like his background for some reason. So I made him evil.

purple1 · Post by **purple1** » Tue Aug 10, 2004 4:06 am

In DM SNES, you are forced to rename your characters if you reincarnate them. The downside is, you only get 5 characters for the name. Ressurected Gothmog is named Gothmog (and the letters are squished together), but if you reincarnate, you hae to chose a shorter, less cool name. I call him Draco or Drago.

Of course, in DM2 Mac, you can name them the names of the producers, and then pretend that Torham is Wayne Holder and Uggo is Wayne's wife (*chuckle chuckle*).

Vidd · Post by **Vidd** » Fri Aug 27, 2004 6:30 pm

Woot. It's fun. I name my characters names from stories I write. My current party is...
Nikolai Malnir (Torham)
Vraax Decimus (Bane)
Daemos the Destroyer (Saros)
Deamia Green (Seri)