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I've been thinking about role-playing games a bit more, recently. I very nearly got to run a Call of Cthulhu session, though it turned out to get cancelled at the last minute (ah, scheduling). So, semi-relatedly, here's a lovely little excerpt from DM of the Rings about place names, which is part of the reason I enjoy Call of Cthulhu -- it's most frequently set in the mystical and fantastical land of Eastern Massachusetts, in the dark, obscure and perhaps wholly legendary years between 1920 and 1930 AD.

Nobody wants to play a campaign with Emporer Fred or High Chancellor Gary, and so the usual approach is to give everyone high fantasy names like King Geon’ai, Sir Lua’an-Eradin, or Lady Alaain Mera-Dovrel. You know, strange and fantasy-ish. Of course, this means the names will all be unpronouncable, difficult to spell, and easily confused. For fun, have your players describe the plot of your campaign after it’s over. I promise it will sound something like this:

( The dragon guy with that black sword was... )