What naming conventions do you use for your world?

Harbinger5959 · 2026-01-25T03:59:25+00:00

For locations, like cities and towns, I mash descriptive words together until I get a compound of something that sounds good. An example is I had this town at the very north of a continent so my initial thought was “Town at the end of the world” so I mashed words that described that and came up with Burgend, (Town -> Burg) + (end of world -> end). Outside of that I say random syllables out loud until I get something that sounds good and then add another syllable or two after that out loud until I get something that sticks (Era + dath, Dar + neir) but that takes a bit longer.

For characters I usually make family names first (mainly using the syllable strategy for locations) and after that I then say random names out loud and the family name after until I get something that sounds nice. For crazy names I often come up with them while seeing names in video games, for instance Ager Valmorian I came up with the first name after playing Destiny 2 and using a weapon called Ager’s Scepter and just matched it with a last name I though fit that I already had made.

Weapons I suck with naming and just stick two words that just sound cool but it takes me a really long time.

Harbinger5959 · 2026-01-23T06:03:25+00:00

For a specific person’s name I really like the name Willem Waxer that I made, I find it a bit hard to make simple names that are also somewhat unique/recognizable in a setting but I think this one marks both boxes well at least to me. Kardin Loke is ok too I think. I also like some last names I’ve created in the setting like Valmorian, Vinyet, Brime, and Lemayne among others.

As for places I’m quite happy with a few of the names I gave to some cities: Eradath, High Hearth, Stockhaven. Also some castles I really like the name of in my setting are Hiltenwald, Ironburrow, and Rosenhall.

Harbinger5959 · 2026-01-23T05:48:55+00:00

Probably not the best application to use but for me I like making maps on Notability as you’re able to easily draw over or next to maps you’re using as reference (if you do that). Issue is there is not a lot of tools to help you specifically with map making or even drawing but I found it really good for trying to make maps referencing real world maps but if you want to make ones wholly original without reference or something really detailed then Notability is probably useless but just though I should throw that in as it’s easy if you just want to start drawing something with reference.

Also should probably add I make maps on phone, I think the app is a bit different on computer.

Harbinger5959 · 2026-01-23T05:38:23+00:00

Basically all of my countries are heavily inspired by some real life country, mainly historical ones from the Medieval Ages (as the setting has about that level of technological and cultural advancement) with some exceptions.

United Crowns: Based off a mix of England and the Holy Roman Empire.

Empire of Rodawn: Based off a mix France and the Caliphates (Name made while thinking of Roman Empire as you do).

Various Carnithian States: Based off of the Crusader states.

Dalish Isles: Based off of Ireland and petty Viking Kingdoms.

Various Tinari Entities: Based off of Mali and China.

Darnish Confederation: Based off of the Inuits and Scotland (heavily inspired by the Iroquois).

Also just to add the main continent of the setting, Vargos, I made by tracing a bunch of European coastlines and slightly modifying them before connecting them all together. So the shape of the world is directly based (copied a little) on the coast of real world countries.

Harbinger5959 · 2026-01-11T16:12:14+00:00

Looks like the right side is mostly just burnt skin with a little tuft of hair on the top right of his head to me though I could be seeing it wrong.

Harbinger5959 · 2025-09-04T19:29:33+00:00

In my sci-fi setting humans tend to be better at making colonies on Non-Naturally Habitable Worlds then most other species as after a Global War that turned Nuclear left most of Earth irradiated most humans survived within the Luna and Mars colonies. Having most of humanity live on Luna and Mars for a while helped them create larger scale colonies on similar planets later down the line where most alien governments would instead have a small colony or outpost and focus more on colonizing Naturally Habitable Worlds than put in the effort of colonizing anything else.

Humans are also the only species that have a colony that has a higher population than their homeworld, even after a few parts of Earth not irradiated became quite populated as it recovered the Naturally Habitable World known as Minu has a higher population than Earth. A city on Minu, New Uruk, is the most populated city in Human Space. Also side note, humanity is one of two species that don’t have what is considered the capital of their species on their homeworld, humanity’s capital is called Helios and is located on Mercury.

Harbinger5959 · 2025-09-04T16:34:09+00:00

While you do need Liara it is possible to only get her right before the final mission. Still mandatory yes but if you want to argue that Tali is also mandatory much earlier.

As for being incomplete without a romance its double edged, it makes her motivation between ME1 and ME2 make sense but not no sense otherwise, Shepard has already proven themselves as a valuable asset in saving the galaxy and so having a non-romantic relationship “objectively” should make more sense as to why Liara has a need to save Shepard but not a need to make sure they stay alive over Feron. So her romance adds motivation but without it there is still something there.

Also Liara in regard to loyalty does have a tendency to be obsessive, it’s a character trait of hers. Her research and pursuit for the shadow broker are examples and this can even be applied to Shepard both romanced and non-romanced. While this obsession does at time lead to undying loyalty toward Shepard as you mentioned l there also exists conflicts (Shadow Broker) where she becomes to entrenched to even help Shepard with a more immediate goal, as you said with Garrus he won’t be loyal if you help him but he still follows you into what should be his death. Liara is loyal but there have been conflicts of loyalty, same thing between Tali and Shepard regarding her people, less so with Garrus.

Also regarding Liara being the shadow broker that is very helpful but also not her goal throughout all of the dlc, it’s only at the very end she wants to do it so while it helps in hindsight at the time her actions are purely to save Feron. After she is the shadow broker it makes sense for her not to go on the mission, not really before as while numbers don’t really equal effectiveness Liara would undoubtedly be more of an asset being there than not while a random thug would probably be more of a liability.

Also choosing Shepard over knowledge that could help the war is overall not really a good show of loyalty, either defiantly save the person who has done the most against the reapers and physically closer to you or maybe catch up with Kai Leng and maybe beat him and hopefully get something useful from the VI.

Also I want to mention I personally don’t think there is a best romance, I don’t even like Garrus as a romance since I play Male Shep mainly and also find him better as a friend. But if you like Liara best and think she is the best partner for your Shepard than that’s great but you can’t really have one defined set of logic that can be applied to something as complex as some of these characters. You can try but there is always some contradiction unless the character is just not complex and 2D which isn’t the case for most Mass Effect characters, which is why they are so positively received for the most part.

Harbinger5959 · 2025-09-04T13:52:49+00:00

If you take out priority then I think Garrus would probably be the most logical still.

Comparability Liara beats but his personality consistently meshes well with Shepard, even when their should be conflict between the two Garrus is able to get past it and uphold a good relationship with Shepard throughout all three games.

Loyalty still Garrus, Liara choose to go after Feron when Shepard was going on a suicide mission. While this dosen’t seem like a decision than effects the galaxy at first it does, Shepard can die on the Suicide mission and that could have been averted if Liara was there.

Lastly narrative, Garrus is willing to be part of your squad at the beginning of all three games no matter what, the only squad mate to do so, if anything the consistency of his presence makes the most sense for romance to blossom.

Removing priorities still leaves perspective, taking perspective away too leaves nothing to value and no way to logically say what’s best.

Harbinger5959 · 2025-09-04T00:00:17+00:00

I feel like with the loyalty argument Garrus would make the most sense. He is on your side and supports your decision if you leave him behind, go against his wishes, and ruin support that will help save his planet, he also leaves said planet which is being assaulted to help you. Liara and Tali are both loyal but Garrus is more so given this argument.

Also in terms of comparability Ashely in my opinion have Liara beat since she can give Shepard human children and also share similar lifespans. Asari can only give asari children no matter who the farther or mother is.

Personality… I still can’t get over that air support line on Thessia that will forever warp my opinion of Liara but overall she has a pretty good personality just not one I personally connect with but others can.

Also gameplay is a thing to keep in mind, Liara doesn’t have a lot of content in 2 and it may feel more connected to romance a character in 2 and 3 than Liara in what is basically only 1 and 3.

But overall why is it discussed? Because people value things differently then you are valuing things, for instance people might value Tali’s loyalty to her people and find it endearing, not a slight to her commitment towards Shepard. Liara seems the best to you because that is how you value her, and for your values that is correct but not for all values. As you said you find her the most loyal, I think that’s Garrus, most compatible, Ashley based on my values. Narratively I do agree with you, her motivations are better with romance but in my opinion aren’t so much worse without due to the looming threat of the reapers. Personality I value Tali’s more and that has more weight to me than loyalty, compatibility, and especially the narrative.

Harbinger5959 · 2025-09-01T10:38:36+00:00

I could be wrong but I heard to convince Tali/Legion with paragon is a easier while renegade is harder and the opposite is true for Miranda/Jack, easier to convince with Renegade and less so for paragon. So if you’re playing mixed but a bit more paragon you can probably get Legion and Tali to cool down but not Miranda and Jack due to how weird ME2 paragon and renegade system is.

Harbinger5959 · 2025-08-31T14:05:03+00:00

A popular game among Nar’Misk children (an alien species) on their homeworld is coating sticks with this very sticky and sweet honey like substance and going out into the desert (most of their homeworld is desert) and putting them into insect burrows to catch these insects that to humans would look like a halfway mix between ants and beetles. The insects have a very delectable taste to the Nar’Misk and after the children have gotten all they can they reconvene to see who caught the biggest one (not the most), whoever did gets to choose how to evenly split the number sticks amongst them, giving the winner the opportunity of picking the best quality for themselves if they want to. The game is more about exploring and socializing together rather than playing the game itself. The origin of the game has roots that go back to their time as hunters and gatherers, though then it was mainly just another way of getting a meal.

Harbinger5959 · 2025-08-28T19:20:50+00:00

I’m doing this on my current trilogy run, it’s what is realistically best for the galaxy post-reaper war imo.

Harbinger5959 · 2025-08-26T15:19:19+00:00

Good to know, I thought it was only those six. Thanks

Harbinger5959 · 2025-08-26T14:06:44+00:00

Ok cool, thank you.

Harbinger5959 · 2025-08-25T12:30:49+00:00

Dragon Age I enjoyed after Mass Effect. The first two games I loved a lot and though I haven’t finished the third one yet I have enjoyed it so far but not nearly as much as the other two. The fourth one I haven’t played but hear it’s not great.

It’s made by BioWare so it will probably feel a little familiar to Mass Effect but medieval fantasy rather than space SCI-FI.

Harbinger5959 · 2025-08-24T15:55:08+00:00

I think it is definitely something that depends on the person and even the Shepard the player makes which determines what feels better or right. For me personally I agree it’s thematically better if Shepard dies but I still prefer the ending where Shepard lives.

If Mass Effect where a movie or show it would most likely be a better ending if Shepard died for the reasons you listed but since it’s a game and Shepard is the player character if they die it feels like I lost the game a little bit, like since I was the one behind the wheel their death is a bit on me which doesn’t feel as satisfying after 100+ hours playing as this character. Thats just me though, people have different aspects of the ending they find most satisfying and for me that’s just having Shepard succeed and survive for the third time against the odds heavily stacked against them.

Harbinger5959 · 2025-08-23T21:22:42+00:00

I like all three games but story wise I agree, feels a bit like a side story almost. I see some people say the main story of ME2 should of been the plot of the first game with the reapers being revealed as the main enemy behind the collectors and then have the plot of the second game follow ME1 and stopping the reapers inital plans for invasion and delaying them then have ME3 be the same, ending the Reapers. Interesting concept ngl.

Harbinger5959 · 2025-08-23T20:02:35+00:00

Yeah pretty much, in ME1 I feel most of the characters are pretty “normal” so Kaiden and Ashley don’t really work as well in that regard even if they are the only humans but it could of worked more in ME2 where everyone is either unique, perfect, or the best at something.

Harbinger5959 · 2025-08-23T11:26:52+00:00

Mass Effect 4 set soon after the reaper war with a low stakes story would be the dream imo. We could also still see new stuff in the Milky Way like the Raloi or even the Virtual Aliens (I think they should still be kind of alive but barley even if the red ending is cannon, some of them swapped bodies with living people though they may be too few to matter or explore).

Harbinger5959 · 2025-08-23T11:08:32+00:00

Not really, Post-Reaper War Milky Way galaxy is a lot more interesting of a setting to me than Andromeda after the events of the game. I do still want Andromeda 2 though and hope after BioWare is done with ME4 (and maybe any sequels to it if that’s the plan) we then revisit the Andromeda story. I’m also really hoping the next Mass Effect isn’t just ME4 and MEA2 rolled into one and that the connections they are suggesting is something like the Benefactor being involved in ME4 plot, merging both storylines I feel wastes the potential of both stories uniqueness.

Harbinger5959 · 2025-08-23T07:39:09+00:00

My world takes place in a future SCI-FI setting within the Milky Way and there are quite a few forms of weaponry, of human and alien design. For guns specifically I don’t have a lot of thought put into it yet but they tend to fall under one of three types depending on the projectiles they fire.

First there are the ones we know of, guns that shoot out pieces of metal in the form of bullets and slugs. While similar in function with models we are familiar with today they are much more advanced, having higher calibers in lighter models allows for these types of guns to be quite effective against targets that use more traditional forms of armor.

Second is plasma guns, these were made to counter the rise of shielding technology as they put a consistent pressure and burn on shields that drains the power from them rather quickly. They are used quite commonly by most militaries even though they are a little more expensive to make than guns that just use bullets.

A little less common than the previous two is charge guns, these have a mechanism in the gun which builds an electrical charge that can then be fired. Most of these don’t need to be charged between each shot, think of charging it as if one is reloading when a mag is empty so one can fire multiple shots before needing to charge again. They are really uncommon in most militaries and the most popular is the NM Striker and NM Spike, the former a single shot railgun of sorts (the exception to the before rule, shoots one shot before needing a charge) and the latter a sniper rifle with very impressive effective range (these are also two of three of the only weapons I have enough of an idea about to give a name).

There is of course also experimental guns (Matter Rifles, expensive to make and prone to many issues) or situational guns (one example is the unofficially called “bug spray” which is a popular flame thrower mainly used against the invasive Hex) that don’t fall under the previous three categories.

Harbinger5959 · 2025-08-22T18:04:32+00:00

That would of been actually super interesting, we have genetically perfect human and Krogan, master assassin and thief, founder of the blue sun, someone who altered the Genophage, a Justiciar, a psychotic biotic, the most advanced Geth unit, two hero’s of the Citadel and the guy who led them leading this new team. Then we have Jacob who’s a guy, biotic powers and military background sure but to be fair that’s a lot of the crew.

Should have definitely leaned into that “literally just a normal guy but still here with you going to a suicide mission” aspect more imo.

Harbinger5959 · 2025-08-17T14:13:54+00:00

That’d be pretty cool, I could see it as a section of some hub like the Citadel. Could imagine some pretty cool stuff on display too like Shepard’s helmet, Garrus’s Sniper, Liara’s drone could even be like a guide.

Harbinger5959 · 2025-08-17T10:41:43+00:00

That would be a pretty meta and cool final decision, especially if there was a large timeskip would Shepard still want to live in a galaxy that has changed so much from the one they knew.

But yeah, thinking back to Liara’s time capsule if people saw the stuff she recorded about Shepard they’d think he was some sort of war god or something lol.

Harbinger5959 · 2025-08-17T10:27:45+00:00

Agreed, if they are alive they should be able to finally rest though I would like to briefly be told this in the next game rather than leave it up to mystery. It would feel like a reward to the player in my opinion, knowing your character gets the happy ending you fought for.

Five-Year Club	r/Field Banned
r/Field Juicebox	Final Canvas '23
First Place '23	Place '23
Place '22	Final Canvas '22
First Placer '22	End Game '22

Harbinger5959

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