About character names
Portraits open with a verdict, in the manner of "a true hunter among dwarves" or "a true champion among gnomes", then undercut it with a frame that does not match and sometimes a scar carrying its own history. Treat one result as the moment a stranger enters your tavern scene, the line the table hears before any dialogue starts.
How character names are built
This is not a name generator but a portrait builder. Several sentence templates each cover one facet of a figure: the presence they leave on strangers, a scar traced across the face and tied to its origin and season, a bearing that unsettles a room, and a hair-and-face portrait that closes on a place the figure guards, and fill each slot from 28 trait banks (marks, demeanour, reputation and more). Every pull runs ungendered on they and their. Real pulls land as "A scar from a duelling blade opens on the forehead, just off-centre, cuts straight as a drawn ruler, and fades out along the throat." and "Strangers keep both hands where they can be seen and, when they think it unseen, measure the distance to the nearest door."
A scar from a duelling blade opens on the forehead, just off-centre, cuts straight as a drawn ruler, and fades out along the throat. They wear it without explanation, though it dates from the loss that ended an old life, the same season as the famine that followed the long drought.
template: distinguishing mark + slots: origin + start + path + endpoint + memory + season
the mark template routes a scar across the face and attaches a history
What lingers is harder to name: a presence that is impossible to ignore, leaving most with an awareness of every exit in the room and, beneath it, the quiet certainty of being underestimated in turn. Strangers straighten in their chairs and, when they think it unseen, gauge the temper behind the calm.
template: impression on others + slots: presence + two effects + open reaction + covert tell
the impression line decides how a room reads the figure
Their hair is wheat-gold, worn in a tousled crop barely tamed that trails down a straight spine. The face is delicately pointed and shadowed by old grief, the eyes deep-set and moss-green, ringed by faint shadow and fixed as if the room held a threat on whoever speaks. Ask after the king's hunting wood and the manner changes: this is someone who trusts no stranger near its walls.
template: face and bearing + slots: hair colour + style + face + eyes + gaze + guarded place
the portrait closes on the one subject the figure will not discuss
Naming notes
Presence lines name what lingers, a presence hard to refuse or softly magnetic, then track how strangers react without deciding to. The mark template traces a scar across the face and ties it to a history, a slaver's whip or a duelling blade, dated to the same season as a famine or a broken pact, so a single line carries backstory. Treat one result as the moment a stranger walks into your tavern scene, the description the table hears before any dialogue. The guarded places and scar histories are easy to reskin, so swap them for your own setting and rename freely.
Questions about character names
- Does this make up character names or describe them?
- Description only. No name or species is generated; each pull runs on they and their, covering presence, facial marks and bearing, so the prose drops onto any character you have already named.
- How long is one description?
- Two to three long sentences per template. The scar line carries an origin, a path and a season; the presence line pairs a first impression with a stranger's covert reaction. Combine a mark, a presence and a face line for a full paragraph portrait.
- Can I use these for NPCs in my game or characters in a novel?
- Yes. Read a result aloud as a stranger enters a scene, or paste it into a character sheet as a starting sketch. The guarded places and scar histories are placeholders of a sort, so adjust them to your world before play or publication.