Good naming is possibly the single most important aspect of worldbuilding. Names are out front and player-facing from the moment you introduce your world setting, and they can make or break the first impression your players have about the world. Good names can make a medium-quality world seem excellent, and drab names can make an excellent world seem much less so to the players. Keep in mind, though, that over-complicated names might sound great until you realize that your players can't remember them. Some people make fun of the fact that Tolkien, one of the best name-makers in fantasy, chose to call a major plot-location "Mount Doom." That was done for a reason, well-understood by any Game Master who has had players refer to an elaborately-named city as "Bob Town" because it's where they met Bobbintramazal the Alchemist. The Nomicon is designed to work alongside the Tome of Worldbuilding, so you can generate fantastic names as you build the world's geography, cultures, and challenges. This sourcebook for world creation is system-neutral, and can be used with any fantasy roleplaying game, of any edition. The Nomicon is written by ENNIE-award winning author Matt Finch, author of the critically-acclaimed Tome of Adventure Design.
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