Alternative Monster Names?

[damned]

Im wondering if this has been discussed before...

2 scenarios:
A bunch of goblins ambush the party. I drag the 8 goblins into the Combat Tracker and place them around the combat map and set them to hidden. I make them visible to party as they show themselves one way or another. The party however notice that the first two Goblins they can see are called Goblin3 and Goblin8 and can fairly safely assume they are facing at least 8 Goblins...

Party encounter a strange creature that is unknown to them but the monster appears in the Combat Tracker with its proper name which gives the party a clue how to defeat it that they dont get just from its description.

Would it be feasable to have 2 names for monsters - one for the DM and one for the Players to see? I think you can do this with Special Items - but I havent tried it yet...

[dr_venture]

Great idea. I get around the first scenario by just putting random numbers after the goblin's names: "Goblin 3", "Goblin 72", Goblin B2" ... caused some initial concern when the first level characters saw "Kobold 37" show up on the battlemat - heh.

[damned]

hey doc - that is also what I did - with the same result :)
i guess both scenarios could be handled the same way - they just require a little prepping before making the monsters visible in combat tracker
how is the new internet connection going?

[dr_venture]

Still ragged around the edges, but it works. Thanks to Hamachi, I'll be hosting a game Sat. morning between myself, the SF Bay Area, and Vietnam... works like a charm. I'm sure "Kobold 38725" will be making an appearance.

Having a random NPC numbering option and/or identified/unidentified names would be a good one to pose to Sorcerer for an upcoming version of the ruleset (not that the new version didn't have enough new features already). I love both those ideas - it's pretty common to have a NPC show up who should just be something like "Rugged Woodsman" and later changed to "Ranger Spy" or "Geoff the Ranger" or something. I'm just guessing that swapping names on the fly for speaker IDs at the bottom of the FG screen might not be an easy programming task, tho.

Also, Sorcerer has unfortunately disappeared completely off the radar, which has me worried about him. I was helping him test his new C&C ruleset, but I haven't heard from him since the August 3rd. He's a great guy and has really put his all into one of the best rulesets for FG - I hope he's ok.

[Trenloe]

I've thought about this before and it would be a very nice option to have. When playing one of Damned's sessions a while back I was wondering whether to attack a group of human guards. When I noticed they were "Evil Paladin 1" etc. I made up my mind! ;)

[Callum]

A bunch of goblins ambush the party. I drag the 8 goblins into the Combat Tracker and place them around the combat map and set them to hidden. I make them visible to party as they show themselves one way or another. The party however notice that the first two Goblins they can see are called Goblin3 and Goblin8 and can fairly safely assume they are facing at least 8 Goblins...
In the 3.5E ruleset, in the GM Options section for Combat, you can set "Auto NPC numbering" to "Random".


Party encounter a strange creature that is unknown to them but the monster appears in the Combat Tracker with its proper name which gives the party a clue how to defeat it that they dont get just from its description.
I often change the names of monsters in the Combat Tracker before I make them visible to the players. This also changes the name that pops up when you hover over the monster's token.

[damned]

yes - i think for now changing their names before making them visible will be the way to go.
i too hope sorceror is ok.

[Trenloe]

This can be taken even further for all objects shared with players (images etc). For example, I was running a game and I had some images of the NPCs the players were facing. I brought up one image (named "The Lopper.jpg") and all of the players commented "Oh great, this is the BBEG we're looking for!"

I suppose the main thing to keep in mind is naming objects using a convention that means something to you but doesn't give the game away. Using a story entry with the names you recognise with links to the images could be a good way to access the images...