Npcs are the lifeblood of a good story. But the right amount varies from story to story. As does if they are just there… or if they are named.
No matter the right amount for your story… how many Npcs are named and at least semi-important to the story?
And which Cog/HG game do you think has the best NPC names? and which the worst
And why?
Curious Cuisine has 86 named heroes and villains, all of them with civilian names, plus 6 named civilians getting things to 92 named npcs. Atm
Hmm let’s see. In terms of my own WIP there are the 16 ROs of courses but also a handful of reocccuring (or potentially reoccurring) characters such as you co-workers, friends and family of the ROs, your family, etc. (Which i would put at about 15 additional named NCPs in the first route alone but many to come later on I’m sure). So that puts me at about 31 as of now. I haven’t recieved any feedback regarding names so I can’t tell where they fall on the best/worst scale but they’re all fairly average names.
I don’t have any examples off the top of my head but I usually stuggle with more fantastical names. I always forget them, misspell them, or pronounce them eight different ways while reading.
Indonesian “classic old” names have many exotic sounds associated to them, especially if you know the translation. Granted, most words are loaned from Sanskrit and many other cultures.
Puspa, Padma, Sekar = Flower
Citra = Image / Light Ray
Putra/i = Son/Daughter
Surya = Sun
Devi = Goddess
Bahari = Ocean
Kirana = Beauty/ful
Prakosa = Stalwart
Bagus = Good
Of course, if you’re interested, feel free to DM
I think I’d like to name a character Origa, out of respect.
I don’t know what it is about the name “Oriana” from Heart of the House but I suuuuuper do not believe that she is a real human being who has existed in the world independent of my personal story within it. Meanwhile Devanand Sikdar seems pretty grounded and I could totally believe that he has a history and a place in the world. Oriana seems like a name that someone made up, whereas Dev is a name that a parent would give their child.
I haven’t finished the game so it’s likely that was 100% intentional.
And, saying that, I’m not making a huge effort to make the names believable in my own story, and they’re often a bit theatrical (Jolliant of Bo, Count Edden C. Mortulous the Second, Molloth Queen of Spiders, etc.) but it’s also a fantastical and theatrical story. Honestly I think the best name is unironically “Clankers” because it tells us a hell of a lot about the person who created it.
Oh, and btw, any idea for a demonic sounding name?
A name for a being that’s literally “the devourer of world,” or some such. Bonus point for syllables with sa, za, al, etc, if you get what I mean.
Here’s what I’ve got in mind.
Razgriz (obviously can’t use this one).
Salaszaar.
Szaalsthum.
Zaalik.
You’ll want a lot of “or” and “aur” sounds, like Sauron or Mordor. And a lot of “uh” vowels, which are guttural and deep.
How about …
Aurora?
The worst NPC name I have?
The Inspectre
Aurora! Sounds more like a divine-y kinda gal dont you think? Lets make it edgier. Aurroraah. Eck.
Demonic names from another plane that sound menacing should be foreign to the eyes and ears, but no so much so that youd have to debate yourself on he 10 different ways to pronounce it. Heres an ugly one and its an actual one I read in a book. Qwert Yuoip. I mean what?
A good name would fit into your setting snuggly. If your game is a high fantasy set in a land called Skyrim and you have one dude named Richard, that would break immersion.
Aurora is a disney princess. It was a joke! 
Whelp shes a demon now rip Maleficent, you need a new gig now.
(Actually now that i think about it the anatasgonists names in each disney film are pretty easy to spot, and fits the character well.)
Aurora means dawn. One of the names for the devil is Morningstar. I’d say Aurora is a pretty devilish name.
in Spanish Morning star is Lucero del alba aka Venus and a mace type nor a demon name. The North lights are called Aurora borealis. is a saint name The first lights in the morning and a name used by queens and nuns so nope no devil at all
Though in the latin meaning behind the name relates to the roman goddess of dawn so one could technically still argue the Morningstar reference without it being too far off-based
The goddess of dawn was one of most peaceful and good roman gods so devil is not , you could say Pagan but not devil or malicious.
I meant for more like a “in universe” explanation as to why a demonic character may be named Aurora. Say, wanting to explain the different transitions between predominant religions over the course of history. Not so much in real life, just for the sake of lore
i was writing a book about a tournament in which there were 80 people partnered with 80 mythical creatures all with names not to mention those not competing parents and stuff. I used to hate naming characters but idk it’s not as big a deal anymore
dave, the main, and disposable character
the story itself, the setting and the events are really what take precedence in the story, dave’s just sorta there to act as my input and generally exist.
Demon Disney villain names: