Hi,
sure thing, when there is doubt it is no. But when should one be in doubt? After all, considering the evil things that Nazgûls are supposed to have done (and keeps doing), they are no less evil than the guys from WWII. I once had the name of 'Lady Di' turned down. Had a laugh over it and wouldn't dream of complaining about this specific incidence, but it tells more than most how different people look at offensive names. We are (most of us) grown ups, and this a fantasy universe where good faces evil. So what is the point in preventing people from choosing evil names for evil characters? I know, it may bring on associations for real life, and I am lucky to live in a country where there's nearly no terrorism and the worst problem is drunken swedes. But I would still think of it as much more offensive if a player chose an 'evil' name for a FP character. I am in a game where a FP guy called one of his commanders Morgoth. I wouldn't dream of doing such a thing myself, and the guy is currently a hostage. You DS in game 18, do us a favour and execute the guy. The "problem" (?) with 'Lady Di' could have been me playing the Cloud Lord...
My limit is for names that are intentionally abusing, like 'Erohwasirehtomstnilc' for example, or 'Devereux Slayer' as cited by Laurence. That has got nothing to do with game atmosphere. AND: If people simply complain about a specific name, with just course. I don't think that we should draw an actual line, it would damage the atmosphere of good fighting evil, but we can take all the individual considerations that might pop up. I think that the best way to do it is to let Clint or whoever is running the show consider any complaints, and having the rest of us comply to any renaming witout complaints. And to have the gamemaster consider complaints seriously and have the willingness to perform renamings if complaints are judged as fair. Repeated complaints over a name might cause the gamemaster to consider ruling a name out in general, but I would be very careful with such a thing.
I personally think that in a game like this you should let go of reality and embrace the fantasy. But where do you get the inspiration (as a DS) to all the evil actions you are to perform? Well, from the real world, with all its own fantasies and realities, there is noting elseif you're an atheist. But why make more trouble for ourselves than what is needed - if we draw one line we would soon have to draw others in addition, if any consequent lines are to be kept. Palestinian players might find 'Crusaiders of Justice' offensive, considering then amount of 'justice' that the crusaiders did down there, while 'Arafat' could be offensive for others. Naming characters after people from the real world will inevitably lead to characters that has done harm to others, no lines can prevent new cases from arising. So why not take things as they come and deal with the (hopefully few) cases that may arise. I am not as careful as Laurence in this, first I don't feel the need for it and second I think that it would damage the game atmosphere. Only minor, maybe, but it would still be somewhat restraining for your fantasy. In individual cases though, things may be different.
Cheers,
Anders Stockmarr
PS. As a dane I will object if I ever meet 'Admiral Nelson' on a FP side (I COULD be serious).
PPS. Is the following names offensive: "Thatcher", "Evil Thatcher", "Scargill", "Gerry Adams", "The Guilford Four", "The Ugly Pope", "Che Guevara", "Commandante Marcos", "Clinton's Cigar", "Mugabe", "Ariel Sharon", "Jahve"? Who can tell? All of these have done harm to someone (Except The Guilford Four - they harmed something else), but does it make their names offensive? Was their course right, are they even heroes? Depends on how you feel...
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Fra: Laurence G. Tilley[SMTP:laurence@lgtilley.freeserve.co.uk]
Sendt: 17. maj 2000 09:53
Til: mepbmlist@egroups.com
Emne: Re: [mepbmlist] Name Game?
Harlequin Games <pbm@harlequingames.com> wrote
Would names from the WWII be considered offensive such as "Hitler"? What
about present day events such as in "Kosov@"? What about religious names?
The answers I'm afraid are Yes, Yes, Yes. On this issue you're not
looking to please a majority, you're looking to please everyone.
Because you might have one player who feels himself a persecuted Jew,
one player who's has compassion for events in Kosovo, and one
Evangelical Christian, you need to exclude all these names.
I think you know the answer to your own question really: If there's any
doubt the answer is no.
Names based on player names are for example what I would consider
doubtful. "Devereux Slayer" was allowed. Now _I_ know that when Kim
Andersen named this character, that it was affectionate abuse, and that
Richard would have chuckled his socks off when he came across it.
Haven't had such a good laugh since I took one of Kim's turns for him
and named one of his assassins "Fluffy" - the others were "Devereux
Slayer", "Destroyer", "Venom" etc. BUT it surprised me that the GM was
confident enough to let a player based name go through.
Regards,
Laurence G. Tilley
http://www.lgtilley.freeserve.co.uk/
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