Names for the Noble

Discussion on game mastering Fading Suns. May contain spoilers; caution is recommended!
Calvin
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Re: Names for the Noble

Postby Calvin » Tue Jan 17, 2012 8:51 pm

Captain: I like that train of thought. Instead of monocultures, you have to look at the layers of culture. There is the central House culture, local regional culture, the KW culture itself...

In order to do so, we need to look at how these worlds were first inhabited. From what I can understand of the time of the 1st Republic and the Diaspora, a lot of corporations and sponsored colonisation was based on nationalities. A German corp settling a world would recruit German settlers etc. Often two or more waves of colonisation from different cultures would inhabit a world. There was travel during the Diaspora and 2nd Republic, but not the large scale movements of the first colonies.

All Houses start somewhere. All have one world they recognise as the homeworld. I think House court culture is a formalised version based on this (and not necessarily in touch with contemporary commoner culture). This then spreads as the House expands on to other worlds. Either by colonisation, a family breaking off to settle newly claimed area, or intermarriage with local branches of nobility.

The central courts of the House are closest to the House culture. These are the folks with the strongest ties to the central idea of the House. As you move from the planetary courts, to the courts of regional leaders and finally country nobility, this connection grows weaker. Finally you have the typical country baron for whom the idea of "Prince Hyram" or "Delphi" are as distant and abstract concepts as for any of his serfs. The centralisation differs between Houses... Some actively propagate for these ideals, while others are more split.

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the Captain
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Re: Names for the Noble

Postby the Captain » Tue Jan 17, 2012 10:13 pm

Yeah, I think the houses are pretty complex internally, and don't really like the idea of there being a "latin" or "russian" mono culture to a house, but I am willing to go with the flow. I see those elements as historically influential, but not overriding of the individual families. That said, the families typically have several children, and there is plenty of room for there to be some good Hawkwood names floating around, just like we have good Italian or Irish names today. Lesser nobles probably fall over themselves to name a kid after a powerful relative, I know people that do this in real life.

I really want to have everyone submit some names that other GMs can use in games. When I am creating a throw away NPC, I like to have a cheat sheet that I can consult and get a name with the appropriate "flavor" for the relevant house or guild. The culture of FS is pretty far along from ours, it's unlikely that John is as popular a name as it is today. I was looking to make up some names that sound like real names, but fit with the style of FS. I think it would be handy, and there might be a few new GMs picking up this game once FS3 hits store shelves. I just thought we could clobber something together as we are all waiting for the game to arrive. Names are something that many players and GMs struggle with.

If everyone will post some names, I will make a compilation list in the top post with the notations for male/female or surname, grouped by house, whatever you put it down as.

Calvin
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Re: Names for the Noble

Postby Calvin » Wed Jan 18, 2012 2:49 am

Of course, there are some culture attached to the House name. There is a dominant overall House culture radiating out from the homeworld and the central courts there. There's just a lot of lag due to the overall communication breakdown of the Fall. There's some variance in how different Houses look at this. The Li Halan allocate resources to imprint a common culture on their Garden Worlds, Hawkwoods are conservative enough to keep traditions stronger...

The cultures of Terra are unknown to mostly everyone in the KW, except the few people with Lore (1st Republic History). That's the reason I try to avoid medieval-speak and ren faire fashion in the KW. Why not let that serf have a cheap, low-quality t-shirt? I think there are some noble scholars at work here... Got to "retrace the lineage"!

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the Captain
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Re: Names for the Noble

Postby the Captain » Wed Jan 18, 2012 8:50 am

I always liked dressing my serfs in tyvek jump suits, or fast food restaurant style uniforms emblazoned with house logos.

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Sir Marco
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Re: Names for the Noble

Postby Sir Marco » Wed Jan 18, 2012 10:23 am

In the Li Halan house they have some info on names. There are the "old guard" who name their children the old way and the "new guard" who use more Imperial / roman esque names.

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mjustinian
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Re: Names for the Noble

Postby mjustinian » Tue Jan 24, 2012 4:25 pm

Hi,

I just found this board today. I've been playing Fading Suns since 1998.

In regards to the houses, I see them having main branches, just like the royal houses on Earth today, with additional branches. These branches may be intertwined with each other and with other houses. The flavor of each main house is evident in their name, but over the centuries, they may have either bred to be something totally different. I see House Hawkwood and LiHalan being very strict on breeding where as the Decados and al-Makik my not be. One great thing about this game is how open ended it is.

My concentration has been House Justinian and their reach to become a major house again. In a very, very long campaign, with breaks, it has happened. In my campaign, House Justinian is a combination of the royal houses of Zulu, Hohenzollern, and Palaiologos. The Justinian comes from the Greco-Roman background. So, the house uses those type of titles.

In regards to the Emperor Alexius, as in the Empire he is refered to as Basileus (βασιλεύς), or Soveriegn.

I hope to contribute more later. I'm gearing up again for the next part of the epic...
"Don't forget your great guns, which are the most respectable arguments of the rights of kings."
Frederick The Great

Aurin
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Re: Names for the Noble

Postby Aurin » Tue Jan 24, 2012 4:57 pm

Welcome to the boards, Mjustinian!

Etzel
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Re: Names for the Noble

Postby Etzel » Tue Jan 24, 2012 5:17 pm

Hi

If you are looking for names you have just to ask Google.

If you want spanish names for Hazat

http://www.behindthename.com/names/usage/spanish

If you want arabic names fro Al-Malik

http://www.behindthename.com/names/usage/arabic

And I belive that the names of the humans still have the culture of the past. If for exsample settlers from afrika will go to a planet they will take their culture to the new planet. Of course it will be mixed with other settlers from other countries which settel on the same planet. but the roots of the culture of the humans will not disappear if they left the earth.

I like it to use in my campains, typical names for this culture. If the players are on a Li-Halan planet, than they will meet serveal chineses or asian names.


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