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Give Boss Monsters Awesome Nicknames

by Mike on 17 July 2023

This excellent Reddit thread by BigEditorial describes the value of adding Zelda-like "boss subtitles" or Dark Souls-like epithets to RPG bosses to easily add richer flavor to our named monsters. This fantastic lazy idea works perfectly alongside Building Villains like Pro-Wrestlers and creating Villainous Heralds.

The idea is simple. Give bosses and unique monsters a nickname that defines them in the world. We could have Sephek, Blade of the Frostmaiden or Tekeli-li, Red Fang of the Glacier or Xardorok Sunblight, Chardalon Mastermind.

These nicknames can appear throughout the game as rumors they hear or notes they pick up before they meet the villain. Sometimes proper names are difficult to spell or remember but nicknames are memorable and easy to write down. They help players remember their villains and teach them about the world in which those villains live.

Here are twenty such nicknames to get your mind going.

The Silver Fire
The Red Blade
Scourge of Netherwilds
Herald of the Void
Father of the World's End
The Stone Burner
Lady Rednail
Exsanguinator of Chult
Father of Flies
The Storm Caller
Sleeping Death
Shield of the North
Maul of Avernus
The Ebonheart
The Night's Kiss
The Barrowmaker
The Withering of Joy
Orphan's Sorrow
The Bog Born
Caller of the Deep

A boss might have multiple names. Different groups or regions may know a single villain by different names. An assassin may be known as the Shadow's Touch in Luskan, The Ice-eyed Devil in the Icewind Dale, and Brother Death in Amn. Each name may come to the characters as they learn more of the villain who they hunt, or who hunts them.

The next time you're whipping up a notable villain, give them a title or two and drop those descriptors in front of the players to watch those villains come to life.

Check Out ttrpg.network

The original Reddit post that inspired this article was posted before Reddit became fully enshittified. Since then I've really enjoyed ttrpg.network, built on the opensource federated Reddit-like service of Lemmy. Give it a look.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

This week I posted YouTube videos including Scarlet Citadel Session 30, The Eight Steps of Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master (2023), and Map Options for In-Person D&D.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Each week I record an episode of the Lazy RPG Talk Show (also available as a podcast) in which I talk about all things in tabletop RPGs. Here are last week's topics with timestamped links to the YouTube video:

Patreon Questions and Answers

Also on the Talk Show, I answer questions from Sly Flourish Patreons. Here are last week's questions and answers:

RPG Tips

Each week I think about what I learned in my last RPG session and write them up as D&D tips. Here are this week's tips:

Even in sessions of heavy roleplaying and narration – make sure there's something for the characters to DO. Focus on opportunities for decisions and actions.
Introduce cities by the locations you think specific characters would be interested in visiting.
Gangsters like hanging out in bath houses.
Focus less on the intentions for a scene such as one focusing on combat, roleplaying, or exploration. Set up the situation and see how it plays out.
Focus on one monster book at a time. Pick out cool monsters befitting your next session's situations.
Write down random NPC names as soon as they're spoken. Keep track of them.
Ask players to take notes and draw maps.