Small Gods: Actor, Acts, Acting, Action

Most name generators I’ve found connect syllables in ways that hopefully make sense, or are at least pronounceable. Some are thematic, based on names from certain cultures. Others lean on pulp naming conventions, as Tome of Adventure Design does. These serve their purpose, in that they give me labels for these entities, but they rarely tell me much.

Even more powerful, for my purpose when creating small gods or patrons, is giving them epithets.

The d86 table below gives 48 words that can be used in generating epithets for patrons and small gods. Roll a d8 and a d6, put the digits together, and you’ve got your row number.

Templates that use this table can include

&Epithet
|1 &EpithetBase
|1 &EpithetBase &EpithetModifier

&EpithetBase
|3 The &EpithetActor
|1 The One Who &EpithetActs
|1 The One &EpithetActing

I’ll have to get EpithetModifier together (next post?), but it should be clear where this is all going.

d86	Actor	Acts	Acting	Act	Action
11	Avenger	Avenges	Avenging	Avenge	Vengeance
12	Betrayer	Betrays	Betraying	Betray	Betrayal
13	Burrower	Burrows	Burrowing	Burrow	Burrow
14	Carver	Carves	Carving	Carve	Carving
15	Caster	Casts	Casting	Cast	Casting
16	Changer	Changes	Changing	Change	Change
21	Chanter	Chants	Chanting	Chant	Chant
22	Climber	Climbs	Climbing	Climb	Climb
23	Conqueror	Conquers	Conquering	Conquer	Conquest
24	Crawler	Crawls	Crawling	Crawl	Crawl
25	Creator	Creates	Creating	Create	Creation
26	Dancer	Dances	Dancing	Dance	Dance
31	Deceiver	Deceives	Deceiving	Deceive	Deception
32	Delver	Delves	Delving	Delve	Delve
33	Destroyer	Destroys	Destroying	Destroy	Destruction
34	Digger	Digs	Digging	Dig	Dig
35	Discoverer	Discovers	Discovering	Discover	Discovery
36	Enchanter	Enchants	Enchanting	Enchant	Enchantment
41	Executioner	Executes	Executing	Execute	Execution
42	Explorer	Explores	Exploring	Explore	Exploration
43	Finder	Finds	Finding	Find	Finding
44	Flier	Flies	Flying	Fly	Flight
45	Healer	Heals	Healing	Heal	Healing
46	Hunter	Hunts	Hunting	Hunt	Hunt
51	Inventor	Invents	Inventing	Invent	Invention
52	Judge	Judges	Judging	Judge	Judgement
53	Light	Shines	Shining	Light	Light
54	Miner	Mines	Mining	Mine	Mine
55	Mover	Moves	Moving	Move	Movement
56	Performer	Performs	Performing	Perform	Performance
61	Player	Plays	Playing	Play	Game
62	Redeemer	Redeems	Redeeming	Redeem	Redemption
63	Rester	Rests	Resting	Rest	Rest
64	Ruler	Rules	Ruling	Rule	Reign
65	Scholar	Studies	Studying	Study	Study
66	Seeker	Seeks	Seeking	Seek	Seeking
71	Shaper	Shapes	Shaping	Shape	Shape
72	Slayer	Slays	Slaying	Slay	Slaughter
73	Sleeper	Sleeps	Sleeping	Sleep	Sleep
74	Speaker	Speaks	Speaking	Speak	Speech
75	Swimmer	Swims	Swimming	Swim	Swim
76	Teacher	Teaches	Teaching	Teach	Teaching
81	Thief	Steals	Stealing	Steal	Theft
82	Traveler	Travels	Traveling	Travel	Journey
83	Tyrant	Tyrannizes	Tyrannizing	Tyrannize	Tyranny
84	Usurper	Usurps	Usurping	Usurp	Usurping
85	Waiter	Waits	Waiting	Wait	Wait
86	Wanderer	Wanders	Wandering	Wander	Wandering