Name Forge

A system-agnostic name generator for Foundry VTT (v13/v14). Pick a genre and category, generate a batch of names, and create an actor of any type your game system supports directly from a suggestion. Fully self-contained - everything is generated locally.

Installation:

https://github.com/mordachai/name-forge/releases/latest/download/module.json

Using it

1. As a GM, open the Actors sidebar tab. A Name Forge button appears in the directory footer.
2. Pick a Genre (Fantasy, Historical / Real-World, Sci-Fi, Cthulhu Mythos, Alien RPG, Blade Runner, Avatar Legends), then a Category (only shown when the genre has more than one), then the specific Name Type (e.g. "Elvish Male Names", "Towns and Cities").
3. Set how many names (max. 30) to generate and click Generate.
4. Click a name to copy it to the clipboard, or click the person-plus icon next to it to immediately create an actor with that name, using the actor type chosen at the bottom of the window.

Settings

Two client-scoped settings (per-user, found under Configure Settings -> Module Settings -> Name Forge):

• Only Generate Names (default on): hides the "Create as" actor-type picker and the per-result actor-creation button, leaving name generation/copying only. Turn it off to bring back actor creation.
• Show Button in Actors Directory (default on): controls whether the Name Forge button appears at the bottom of the Actors sidebar tab. Turn it off if you'd rather open the window only via the API/macro below.

API

nameForge.Open() (also available as game.modules.get("name-forge").api.Open()) opens the Name Forge window from the console or a macro, without needing the Actors directory button:

nameForge.Open();

Where the names come from

Every category is generated by one of three methods:

• A phoneme pattern engine for fantasy races, invented cultures, and most sci-fi/mythos factions - a small pattern compiler (s/v/V/c/ B/C syllable and cluster symbols, grouping, alternation, capitalization) ported from skeeto/fantasyname (public domain / Unlicense), itself modeled on the long-standing RinkWorks Fantasy Name Generator.
• A Markov chain over real name corpora - for every culture in the Historical / Real-World genre (and the "World / By Country" weighted mix), trained at load time on real name lists adapted from Extraordinary Book of Names (Malcolm Bowers, Gygaxian Fantasy Worlds Vol. IV), plus a small English corpus from the humans category of the Corpora project (CC0 / public domain) used for the generic "Modern"/sci-fi human filler names. This produces new, non-existent names in an authentically real-world style rather than picking from a fixed list. A lot of crap will appear, but you can cherry pick the best option.
• Word-bank composers for "thing" names that read better as short phrases than as raw phonemes - kingdoms, inns, ships, weapons, deities, megacorps, technobabble, and so on.

All generated names are checked against a small safety blocklist and regenerated if they happen to collide with an offensive word by pure chance of the random phoneme combination.

Actor types

The "Create as" dropdown lists whatever actor types your currently active game system defines (e.g. Character/NPC/Vehicle..., or whatever your system calls its own types) - the module has no game-system-specific code.

Credits

• Pattern-compiler engine: skeeto/fantasyname (public domain), modeled on the RinkWorks Fantasy Name Generator.
• Real-world culture name lists, fantasy-species prefix/suffix tables, and the real-world naming-distribution data behind "World / By Country": ideas and rules adapted from Extraordinary Book of Names by Malcolm Bowers (Gygaxian Fantasy Worlds Vol. IV).
• Generic "Modern"/sci-fi human filler names: the humans category of dariusk/corpora (CC0 1.0 Universal / public domain dedication).
• The original genre/category taxonomy was inspired by donjon.bin.sh's name generator layout; this module is not affiliated with or endorsed by donjon.bin.sh.

Full genre / category list

Every genre, its categories, and a sample of the cultures/factions/name types available in each (each category also generates matching town/place names where applicable - omitted below for brevity).

Fantasy

• Common Names: Human, Dwarvish, Elvish, Halfling, Faerykind, Nymphs and Sirens, Primitive
• Monstrous Names: Draconic, Drow, Orcish, Beastfolk (Mammal, Reptile, Bird, Fish, Arthropod, Mollusc, Amphibian)
• Outsider Names: Celestial, Fiendish, Modron, Air/Earth/Fire/Water Elemental
• Fantasy Setting: Adventuring Parties, Ship, Deities and Demigods, Festivals and Holy Days, Blasphemous Rituals, Wars and Battles, Books and Tomes, Weapon, Kingdom, Castle, Dungeon, Wilderness Locations, Planar Locations, Towns and Cities, Ward, Street, Inns and Taverns

Historical / Real-World

• Ancient World: Babylonian, Celtic, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Sumerian
• Medieval Europe: English, French, German, Italian, Norse, Saxon, Slavic, Spanish, Armenian, Dutch, Finnish, Gaulish, Hungarian, Modern Greek, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romani, Russian
• British Isles: Briton, Cornish, English Aristocratic, English Rustic, Gaelic, Irish, Scottish, Welsh
• Asia and the Far East: Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, Hindu, Jewish, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, Persian, Sanskrit, Tibetan
• Africa: African, Berber, Congolese, Egyptian, Ethiopian, Malian
• New World: Algonquin, Amerindian, Aztec, Inkan, Inuit, Mayan, Navajo, Sioux
• Oceania: Aboriginal, Papuan
• World / By Country (154 countries): pick a real country and the generator weighted-mixes its actual real-world naming-culture sources for you - Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Mexico, United States, Brazil, Argentina, India, China, Japan, Indonesia, Ireland, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Australia, New Zealand, ...

Sci-Fi

• Cyberpunk: Modern, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Netrunner Handles, MegaCorp, Locations
• Space: Terran, Alien, FTL Drives, Spaceship, Locations, Planet, Star
• Serenity: Spaceship, Alliance Spaceships, Locations, Worlds
• Star Trek: Human, Andorian, Cardassian, Klingon, Romulan, Tellarite, Vulcan, Borg Designation, Locations, Planet, Technobabble
• Star Wars: Bothan, Chiss, Duros, Gamorrean, Hutt, Ithorian, Mon Calamari, Quarren, Rodian, Sullustan, Trandoshan, Twi'lek, Wookiee, Droid, Locations, Planet
• Miscellany: Na'vi (Avatar), Centauri/Minbari/Narn (Babylon 5), Abh (Crest of the Stars), Pern (human and dragon)

Cthulhu Mythos

Unspeakable, Mythos Tomes, Arabic, Aztec, Chinese, Egyptian, Sumerian

Alien RPG

ICC Designations, Planet, Star

Blade Runner

Bars and Clubs, Corporation

Avatar Legends

Air Nomad, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, Water Tribe, United Republic, Earth Kingdom Village, Fire Nation Village, Water Tribe Village