Saturday, January 13, 2018

Random Ship Name Generator

This is an idea that I've been kicking around for a while; hopefully it's useful to GMs. Note that, while it's designed for  a space fantasy campaign, it can easily be used for more traditional nautical fantasy; the big change for any campaign setting is to provide a different list of place names for Table 7. 

-Nate 


Random Ship Name Generator
The following tables are designed to help GMs quickly and easily generate names for ships. Start with Table 1—Basic Name, and then move forward as directed. As always, the GM should feel free to interpret dice rolls as needed for the enjoyment of the players and the benefit of the campaign—and especially when results are nonsensical or otherwise inadvisable.


Table 1—Basic Name
Roll 1d10 and consult the following results.
1-4. Adjective—Roll again on Table 3.
5-6. Animal/Monster—Roll again on Table 4.
7-8. Other thing—Roll again on Table 5.
9-10. Two parts—Roll again on this table,
and roll on Table 2.
Table 2—Additional Descriptors
Roll 1d8 and consult the following results.
1-2. Color—Roll again on Table 6.
3-6. Adjective—Roll again on Table 3.
7. Location—Roll again on Table 7.
8. Choose whichever result you want, or roll
again.


Table 3—Adjective
Roll d100 and consult the following results. Note that, in addition to providing names for vessels, these descriptors also provide hints as to the natures of the vessels' crew and passengers, along with their purpose in traveling the Void.
1. Able
2. Absolute
3. Adamant
4. Adventurous
5. Amorous
6. Avenging
7. Awesome
8. Beautiful
9. Benevolent
10. Blessed
11. Bountiful
12. Brilliant
13. Calamitous
14. Capricious
15. Carefree
16. Celestial
17. Charming
18. Comely
19. Cunning
20. Daft
21. Dark
22. Dastardly
23. Defiant
24. Dominant
25. Elemental
26. Eminent
27. Enchanted
28. Eternal
29. Famous
30. Fateful
31. Favored
32. Fell
33. Fickle
34. Fighting
35. Free
36. Glad
37. Godly
38. Grandiose
39. Grim
40. Harmonious
41. Hateful
42. Hellacious
43. Holy
44. Humble
45. Illustrious
46. Infinite
47. Interplanetary
48. Interstellar
49. Intrepid
50. Itinerant
51. Jaded
52. Jolly
53. Jovial
54. Joyous
55. Kindly
56. Limitless
57. Lost
58. Luminous
59. Magical
60. Magnificent
61. Majestic
62. Marvelous
63. Melodious
64. Militant
65. Nebulous
66. Numinous
67. Omnipotent
68. Omniscient
69. Opalescent
70. Otherworldly
71. Patient
72. Penitent
73. Pleasant
74. Proud
75. Questing
76. Radiant
77. Redoubtable
78. Regal
79. Resilient
80. Resolute
81. Royal
82. Splendid
83. Stalwart
84. Steadfast
85. Stellar
86. Strange
87. Tempestuous
88. Tumultuous
89. Ultimate
90. Undaunted
91. Unfettered
92. Unrepentant
93. Valiant
94. Vigilant
95. Vindictive
96. Virtuous
97. Wandering
98. Wicked
99. Wondrous
100. Zealous


Table 4—Animals and Monsters
Roll d100 and consult the following results. Here again, the name chose provides some insight into the character and purpose of those who crew the vessel.
1-2. Albatross
3-4. Asp
5-6. Barracuda
7-8. Bat
9-10. Bear
11-12. Boar
13-14. Bull
15-16. Carp
17-18. Cockerel
19-20. Crow
21-22. Dolphin
23-24. Dragon
25-26. Eagle
27-28. Eel
29-30. Falcon
31-32. Fox
33-34. Ghost
35-36. Ghoul
37-38. Grackle
39-40. Griffin
41-42. Hag
43-44. Harpy
45-46. Hart
47-48. Hawk
49-50. Hound
51-52. Ibis
53-54. Jaguar
55-56. Kingfisher
57-58. Kraken
59-60. Lark
61-62. Magpie
63-64. Manticore
65-66. Mermaid
67-68. Narwhal
69-70. Nereid
71-72. Owl
73-74. Porpoise
75-76. Quail
77-78. Raven
79-80. Roc
81-82. Serpent
83-84. Shark
85-86. Siren
87-88. Spectre
89-90. Spirit
91-92. Squid
93-94. Tempest
95-96. Tyrant
97-98. Walrus
99-100. Wraith


Table 5—Other Things
Roll d100 and consult the following results. As mentioned above, the chosen name provides hints regarding who crews the vessel and what business they might be pursuing.
1-2. Arbiter
3-4. Bastion
5-6. Beggar
7-8. Breeze
9-10. Bulwark
11-12. Cad
13-14. Centurion
15-16. Damsel
17-18. Dancer
19-20. Dirge
21-22. Dowager
23-24. Entropy
25-26. Explorer
27-28. Fire
29-30. Flame
31-32. Gale
33-34. Hammer
35-36. Hunter
37-38. Interloper
39-40. Intruder
41-42. Jester
43-44. King
45-46. Knave
47-48. Liberator
49-50. Lightning
51-52. Lotus
53-54. Maiden
55-56. Martyr
57-58. Merchant
59-60. Minstrel
61-62. Nereid
63-64. Outlaw
65-66. Pilgrim
67-68. Prince
69-70. Princess
71-72. Queen
73-74. Rock
75-76. Rogue
77-78. Rose
79-80. Runner
81-82. Siren
83-84. Thunder
85-86. Venture
87-88. Victor
89-90. Vow
91-92. Warrior
93-94. Wave
95-96. Wind
97-98. Youth
99-100. Zealot




Table 6—Colors
Roll 1d20 and consult the following results.
1. Azure
2. Brown
3. Cerulean
4. Copper
5. Crimson
6. Ebony
7. Emerald
8. Golden
9. Grey
10. Indigo
11. Ivory
12. Lavender
13. Ruby
14. Sable
15. Sapphire
16. Scarlet
17. Silver
18. Turquoise
19. Umber
20. White


Table 7—Locations
Roll 1d12 and refer to the following results. In this case, the nature of the beings who inhabit the given location can provide insight into just who is traveling aboard the vessel in question and what manner of business they might be pursuing. Note, too, that the location names can be used in different ways to go with different corresponding words. For example, a given set of rolls could result in the Spirit of the Sun, but the Solar Spirit might be more agreeable as the name for a ship.
1. Sun/Sol
2. Wodan
3. Freya
4. Homeworld
5. Luna
6. Tyr
7. The Belt
8. Thonar
9. Kronos
10. The Void
11. The Galaxy
12. The Universe

An Example of Use
Let's say the GM needs to generate the name for a random ship. She starts by rolling 1d10 on Table 1, yielding a 9; the result is a two-part name, and she rolls again. This time she rolls a 6, calling for an animal or monster. Her 1d8 roll on Table 2 is a 3, resulting in an added adjective. As such, she rolls once on Table 3 (yielding a 65) and once on Table 4 (a 68). This results in the christening of the Harmonious Narwhal.


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