15. names

We’re into the Playbooks. Let’s talk names.

I love that each playbook has a list of possible names. No fooling.

The lists serve a number of purposes. First, they tell us about Apocalypse World (the world itself, not the game). 50 years after the apocalypse, we are in an in-between place. The traditional names of old are still hanging on, but newer names have taken hold as well. Kim, Scarlet, Smith, Francois, and Julia are all still viable, but mixed in with them are Jonker, Juck, Shit head, Inch, Uncle, and Sword. Words have come unglued from their meaning and everything is fair game. The list of names tell us about that cultural world.

Second, the name lists make for a quick and easy way to get moving on your character. A lot of Apocalypse World (the game itself, not the world) is designed to discover your character as you play. Grab a name with flavor and implications from the list and figure out through play why this guy seemed, for example, like a Jonker to you.

Third, if you insist on creating your own name, the list of names lets you place yourself in the same tonal and referential ballpark.

Fourth, the lists together create a giant pool of names from which the MC can draw when creating NPCs.

Fifth, because Apocalypse World is a popular game and played by so many people, the lists create a set of alternate universes in which versions of these characters are running around in their own apocalypses. How many versions of Bish the Angel are saving their comrades? How many versions of Cybelle the Brainer are creeping people out? And lord knows how many hundreds of Dremmers and Rolfballs are causing trouble. I have no idea if this was a design consideration, but it is certainly a cool effect all the same.

Sixth, . . . okay, I don’t have a sixth, but I feel like there are a sixth through a ninth out there, so if you’ve got ‘em, throw them in.