# Adventuring party names



## Ambrus (Jan 21, 2010)

In general, I believe that few groups bother to name their adventuring party; being perfectly content to adventure in relative anonymity. But on rare occasions I read mention of an adventuring group with a distinctive moniker. Sometimes it's a simple descriptor such as the "_the Heroes of Sandpoint_" or something truly unique like "_the Knights of Myth Drannor_". I'm just curious how common it is to name one's party, what names have your adventuring companies been known by if any and how they came by them. Was it ascribed by the DM through NPCs or did the players choose it for themselves? Either way did it stick?

The first group I DMed way back when were known as the "*Azure Bonds*" after being tattooed with blue tattoos in the Forgotten Realms adventure of the same name.

Another group chose the supposedly druidic name "*RIkir Athair*" (supposedly meaning "Warriors of Life") for themselves because most PCs respected the druidic faith and the campaign was focused on battling the undead.

One group I ran in an Anglo-Saxon D&D campaign was known informally known as "*the Fyrd*"; an old english term meaning roughly "military expedition".

My most recent Planescape campaign's adventuring group was known informally as "*the Crossguard Cutters*" after their home neighborhood in Sigil.


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## Yabanjin (Jan 21, 2010)

Her Majesty's Special Commission on Matters Supernatural.
 ┌─┐
 ┴─┴ 
 ಠ_ರೃ


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## vic20 (Jan 21, 2010)

The Handlers

Thunder Company


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## coyote6 (Jan 21, 2010)

The players in my 3.x games named their parties, mostly at the prompting of NPCs -- after the second or third iteration of "Who _are_ you people?", they came up with an answer. 

One group dubbed themselves the Riders of the Axe (at the key moment, they were all mounted, and one of the PCs said, "We're, uh, the Riders, of, uh..." -- and the inebriated dwarven cleric added, "Of the Axe!").

The other group was the Company of the Sparrow (named for the copper coin in Keoland -- I tortured the PCs by giving large sums of money, in copper).

Various other groups I played in also had names, just 'cause it's fun to introduce yourselves collectively.

That reminds me -- we PCs need to come up with a group name in the Age of Worms game I'm playing in. Hmm...


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## anithri (Jan 21, 2010)

Roshia's Rats
Strikeforce Inferno
Legion Arcane
Silver Wolves
Gold Talons
Horizons
The Irregulars


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## Theo R Cwithin (Jan 21, 2010)

Usually my groups have been named (by NPCs) such epithets as "Those thugs" or "That gang" or just "Trouble".

Also have seen: The Eightfalls Five, the G6, The Irrevocables (or something odd like that).

And of course "The Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers", who had among their ranks a changeling "highwayman" (like Robin Hood), a druid, some sort of elf ranger with shapeshifting, and a werebear fighter/lumberjack.


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## Ed_Laprade (Jan 21, 2010)

"The debate and mayhem society." Not sure if it applied to one of our parties first or not, but its what we called our group. This came about by our play style of spending an hour or more planning attacks and then rushing in and meleeing away in a totally chaotic manner.


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## S'mon (Jan 21, 2010)

The PCs IMC are adventuring in Quail Valley, following in the footsteps of an NPC group called the Birds of Prey.  One PC proposed they follow the avian theme and call themselves Raven's Wing.    Everyone agreed.  Only later did it occur to me that the PC was, after all, an Invoker of the Raven Queen, and she got the group named after her deity!


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## Stormonu (Jan 21, 2010)

I keep PC sheets in folders, so I urge the players to come up with a group name.  I've had:

Link & Co. (named for the group's leader, Link)
The 2nd Generation (the characters were the descendants of the above group)
The Band of the Black Hand (The group's leader was a pirate known as "The Black Hand")
Fellowship of the Burning Portal (Named for my dwarf character, who charged a bunch of kobold archers with a burning door in the first adventure)
The Magistrate's Six (The group of 6 PCs were blackmailed into working for a group of wizardly rulers)
Heroes of the Woods (The group was based in Kennestone Forest)

Most of the names evolve from the group's activities or a memorable events, as noted above.


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## rogueattorney (Jan 21, 2010)

The only group that ever named their party was the "Merry Plunderers."

"We're like pirates, only we don't have a boat," was how they described themselves.  The paladin, of course, objected to the appellation although he usually agreed with the description.  

They journeyed around the Forgotten Realms from 1987 to 1991, righting wrongs and wronging rights, until they collectively carved out a major stronghold for themselves in the Moonsea area.  The paladin and cleric decided to stick around and help the locals fight the Zhentarim menace.  The ranger, elf, halfling, and bard literally headed off into the sunset, traveling west to seek more adventure.  

Then we all went off to college.


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## Pig Champion (Jan 21, 2010)

My group tends be quite unimaginative with names and thus pays homage to our collective interests: 

Loco Ocho
Jerry's Kids
Hing Rascals
New Adventures Network

As much as I can think of at the present.


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## Cyronax (Jan 21, 2010)

Through NPC and out-of-game prompting, I have tried hard to get my players' to name their groups. 

I've even introduced other rival (and rare) NPC adventuring companies over the course of several campaigns (for various groups and players):

- The Dawn Striders
- The New Dawn Striders
- The Order of the Northern Star (The Northstars)
- The Arbiters
- The Idle hammer Company (dwarven adventurers')
- The Rookfoot Company

...among others.


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## Coldwyn (Jan 22, 2010)

My current adventuring paarty named itself "Monkey Business". Don´t ask my why, I was AWOL the session it happened and dread asking the guys/gals why they chose it.


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## MichaelSomething (Jan 22, 2010)

In a 3.5 Undermoutain game, I dubbed the group "The Adventurers of Destiny!"


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## Ghostwind (Jan 22, 2010)

For over 20 years, my gaming group has been called The Company of the Dragonwing.


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## catsclaw227 (Jan 22, 2010)

My the Age of Worms game I DMed, the party started calling themselves The Diamond League once they finished Three Faces of Evil (named after Diamond Lake, their place of origin).  Very fun.

I had a couple of others too for parties that I DMed, but can't remember many of them.   The Azure Dawn, St. Cuthbert's Fist, and the Wanderers.

We opened a pub in one game called The Good Times Tavern.


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## Starfox (Jan 22, 2010)

We try, but it seems we can never agree on a name.


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## Jools (Jan 22, 2010)

My group calls themselves the Shadow Hunters.


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## Olaf the Stout (Jan 22, 2010)

The group that I am running through the SCAP called themselves the "Knights of the Old Republic" (highly original, I know! ).

They only came up with a name after the Cauldron newspaper interviewed them and asked what the group was called.  That's the first time I've ever been in or run a game where the party has given themselves a name.  I quite like the idea personally.  It adds a little bit of depth to the game.

Olaf the Stout


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## Wormwood (Jan 22, 2010)

Scales of War campaign: *The Overlook Vanguard*


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## TarionzCousin (Jan 22, 2010)

The group I just joined calls themselves "The Defrosters." They melted the entire icy tower from Dungeon #159 and the name stuck.

Story hour just begun here.


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## beverson (Jan 22, 2010)

We've never named any of the parties in our D&D games until the 4e game I'm running right now, and it wasn't intentional.  I'm running the WotC modules, and during Keep on the Shadowfell the PC's keep running into a gang of slavers called the Bloodreavers.  So when they'd run up against another encounter, if someone asked who they were, they started saying "We're the Bloodreavers!", all jokingly of course.

I decided to run with that, and they eventually started hearing townsfolk whispering "hey, there go the Bloodreavers!".  And it stuck.


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## Anand (Jan 22, 2010)

My current group used to call themselves Purple Scales, because they used to work for the Purple Dragons of Cormyr as an elite team. Moving to the paragon levels, they left Cormyr to follow their on interests, and now they're the Dark Scales.


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## theskyfullofdust (Jan 22, 2010)

In the game I am currently DMing the party don't have a name as yet, but they are unofficially known as Doom Patrol, because of a disguise they once adopted; which was thought up by the PC harpy with an INT of 4...

In my 4th ed. Scales of War game, they haven't come with a name yet either, but they are working on it.

In the past, there was a company of adventurers called The Greyhawk Falcons, so-called as they were the special envoy's of the City of Greyhawk and undertook numerous missions for the city.

But mostly, my players tend to avoid party names. Not sure why.


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## Mark Chance (Jan 22, 2010)

Adventuring party names should be mandatory, or at least close to it. With our _Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil_ DM, we're the Company of the Jeweled Stein.

I fairly recently ran a one-off with premade PCs who formed the Scion Squad.

I'm working on another one-off featuring the all-halfling Anklebiters League.


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## Raven Crowking (Jan 22, 2010)

If you want your PCs to use a group name, the easiest way to do so is to example NPCs doing the same, either currently or historically.

RC


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## Zaruthustran (Jan 22, 2010)

I'm partial to Acquisitions, Inc. (http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4pod/20080530).  I find the construct of an incorporated private military contractor company to be very suitable for a typical D&D party's activities and motivation.

Also, our new group in Heinsoo's campaign, featuring a post-cataclysmic world where we're agents of a god from the Feywild who has teamed up with the Raven Queen. Consisting of an Elf, an Eladrin, a Wilden, two shadar-kai, and a drow. 

During the email discussion re: character generation, a buddy posted:


> "I looked at some possibilities last night. I like Swordmages (Defenders), because then I could create a sort of Elric character—which would seem to fit in with a drow assassin, a drow WIZard, and other elf-types. Could we be an elven contingent, Rob? Or is it better if we're a mongrel party? Or we could be mercenary outcasts and still all be elves, if it's better for us to be unaligned. Maybe we were sent to prison by a military court for a crime we didn't commit, and then we promptly escaped from the maximum security stockade to the fantasy underground. We're still wanted by the government, but we survive as soldiers of fortune. If people have problems and no one else can help, they generally let us know."




That's right. We are... _the Fey Team_.

Rob Heinsoo - Fey Team


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## El Mahdi (Jan 22, 2010)

deleted


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## Miphon (Jan 23, 2010)

Zaruthustran said:


> I'm partial to Acquisitions, Inc. (Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page - Article (Penny Arcade/PvP Podcast Series 1 Ep1)). I find the construct of an incorporated private military contractor company to be very suitable for a typical D&D party's activities and motivation.




Several of the players in my 4E campaign (a conversion of Paizo's Rise of the Runelords AP) were inspired by these podcasts to come up with a name for their party. They are still struggling to agree on a suitable name, but Thistletop Raiders is leading the field atm.

In the 3.5 game I play in, the party from the campaign we just finished was known as Werebane Chaka. It was a name given to us by the council when our charter was registered with them early in our adventuring career and reflected the fact that we had recently been fighting a lot of wererats.

We've recently started Age of Wyrms, but that party has no group name as yet.


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## Ambrus (Jan 23, 2010)

Raven Crowking said:


> If you want your PCs to use a group name, the easiest way to do so is to example NPCs doing the same, either currently or historically.



That can work, but in my opinion the best way to force the issue as a DM is to have NPCs saddle the party with an informal name they'll hate. For instance, in one group I had NPCs assume that the high Charisma bard was the party's leader; something which rankled the female players who thought of him as comically foppish. After being referred one too many times as "Liam's band", the party determinately debated the issue and finally settled upon the "_Rikir Athair_" or "_Warriors of Life_".


Zaruthustran said:


> That's right. We are... _the Fey Team_.



You sir win the thread!


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## Mark1733 (Jan 23, 2010)

Names have included:

-Heroes of Labalna
-Old Goose Gang (we hang out at the Old Goose Inn)

but in one campaign, we were constantly taunted by enemies as the "Filthy Mammals" and that name stuck.


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## Wik (Jan 23, 2010)

My current group of PCs adopted the name "the Blinkstone Companions" after they found a malfunctioning Eladrin Lightstone that constantly flickered.  They carried the blinkstone around as something of a trophy, and then discovered that it reacted poorly when around heavy doses of magic.  

A while back, it was used as an explosive to trigger a magical trap.  Goodbye, blinkstone... the party name has sort of faded away, as well.


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## samursus (Jan 23, 2010)

My old BECMI group was called the Dragons of Mystara... a name I suggested...each wore a colour scheme according to their dragon.


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## Daern (Jan 23, 2010)

I do write ups for my campaigns, so the last two I've just come up with something and no one seemed to mind:  The Platonic Solids, and The Brotherhood of Mercy.


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## Derulbaskul (Jan 23, 2010)

The party in my current campaign don't have a name yet, but all the groups they are facing do so I suspect they will catch on eventually (and I like the suggestions in this thread about having others name them otherwise).

My next campaign will involve the party restarting the group known as the Knights of the North (my games are set in FR). The party will be known as the Knights of the North and will use their symbol (and they will have the right to do so as they are the sons and daughters of the last of the Knights of the North).


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## Mercule (Jan 23, 2010)

I've only seen party names when there was some external reason -- like wanting to get a writ from Breland to bring back treasures.  Otherwise, it's always seemed fairly cheesy (yeah, I know -- I'm playing D&D) and/or fairly low priority.


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## jdrakeh (Jan 24, 2010)

The Emerald City Irregulars (later shortened to "The Irregulars") 
Harry Bottom's Band (Just. Don't. Ask.)


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## Jack99 (Jan 24, 2010)

In my last campaign, they finally managed to agree on a name, and called themselves the Swords of Drahar.

In the current campaign (level 1), they have yet to come up with something.


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## Meridius (Jan 24, 2010)

I don't know what these names say about my DM-style, but one of my players came up with a few 'complimenting names':

"_The Not Yet Headless Bunch_" (What can I say? They have high expectations )
"_The Knights without a table_" (He DOES have a shed WITH a table! I swear!)
"_The Goblinslayers of the Castle with way too many Doors_" (Ok, I admit there where quite a lot of doors to pick from in that surprisingly small castle )
"_The Amazing Arachnophobic Archaists_" (I don't know where he got this one from).
 "_The Silly Streakers_" (Don't ask... or well, before you actually do, they had a gnome in their party who occasionally had the habit of disrobing on random moments followed by him happily running around naked)

They never actually decided on a name though...


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## coyote6 (Jan 25, 2010)

In the AoW campaign I'm currently playing in, I think my gnome sorcerer just dubbed the group the "Sons of the Cairn". I needed a name to shout as boasting challenge to a dragon, and that was what I came up with. Too bad the dragon turned out to not be at home.


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## Zinovia (Feb 10, 2010)

The only group I've run with a name were called the Elves Out to Save the World, based on a note addressed that way from an NPC.  "To all elves out to save the world..."  The party was all various types of elves, in AD&D.  

My current group has adventuring company name envy after running into the NPC group "Brightshield Company" led by the dragonborn paladin Braden Brightshield.  Several times they have said they need to pick a name, but they have yet to do so.  I may saddle them with something - either unflattering to spur them into choosing their own, or decent, that they might like.


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## Qualidar (Feb 10, 2010)

The players in my Shackled City campaign were mulling over what to call themselves for a while. When they emerged from a fight in a bathhouse the curious bystanders started reffering to them as the "Bathhouse Six", which spured them into coming up with a real name right quick. 

So, they became The Ebon Shield. 

My other group of players, also playing in SCAP, came up with The Others.

Other than that, my players traditionally haven't named their groups in the game. Although back in the day my AD&D Forgotten Realms players mockingly titled themselves the Shinny Happy People Paryty because they had gone against their grain and done so many altruistic deeds. We started every SHPP session playing that song, but that was really only to torture my friend Dave, who hated it.


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## Withnail (Feb 11, 2010)

A.A.R.D.V.A.R.K.

Adventurers Against Raging Draconic Violence And Random Killing


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## Withnail (Feb 11, 2010)

First we were the Originals.  Then we found out there was already a group called the Originals, so we became the New Originals.  Then the Originals broke up and we thought about taking the name back but instead decided to become the Lovely Lads.  

Thank you Spinal Tap!


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## MerrikCale (Feb 11, 2010)

The Noble Wolves


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## Pseudonym (Feb 11, 2010)

Back in Basic D&D, we were the Company of the Gold Crown, being either a reference to the King or the humble gold piece depending upon the situation.

In 4E we were the Aramil Experience featuring Thrrak, but Aramil died last session, so the name is up in the air for now.  I'll bring it up when we game this Saturday.


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## Mean Eyed Cat (Feb 12, 2010)

Years ago with the game I was running, the players just called themselves "Team Awesome."  When I prodded them into trying to come up with something more official, they chose the very heroic "Lords of Glory."

I've noticed that it can sometimes be difficult to come up with a cool adventuring group name.  The players want something original but they don't want something corny.

I took it upon myself to come up with the current group name, "Wyvern Company," as the characters are currently enlisted as special forces agents.


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