The Book of Names

The Book of Names is a tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG). It is set on the world of Shem in the Angeldawn solar system. Players are all wielders of magic, belonging to inherently magical species, who find themselves embroiled in the many wondrous, whimsical, and horrifying parts of the world.

This game is run on the Tarafore system created by Tim Dedeaux and evolved over time by numerous others. To play the game, all you truly need is a bit of imagination, but dice, paper, and something to write with helps. Typically, the game is run by a storyteller or game-master (GM) with three to five players.

The setting is designed with adults in mind, tackling themes of oppression, exploitation, abuse, and how to resist, heal from, and liberate oneself from all of those. Though every storyteller should bear in mind their own limits and those of their players, the setting is written in a way that does not flinch from the horrors of the world. Oppression and exploitation and abuse are terrible things, and in a high magic setting, they are amplified. It serves no one to water down these things. At the same time, this setting is written with the intention of showing how we can all collectively stand against oppression, exploitation, and abuse.

Names

The Name of a Thing Is the Whole of a Thing.

Names have power. The Names we are given. The Names we choose. The Names we are called. The Names we keep to ourselves. But a True Name, a magical Name, is the totality of a thing, the purest description of its entire being. Most are unspeakable except by those who they describe, but aspects of them can be understood and wielded.

The Book of Names is a legendary tome that contains the True Name of everything. Since the Name of a Thing is the Whole of a Thing, the Book contains the whole of everything, which means it contains everything. In short, it is a metaphor for the universe. Or perhaps it is the universe.

The study of True Names is the study of magic, being, and the universe. There are few within the universe fully aware of the power of Names or the Book of Names as a concept, but there are many who are able to wield a fraction of its power via the use of magic. Those who are aware have divided the Name of a Thing into four component parts: the Body or Physical part of a Thing; the Mind or Mental part of a Thing; the Heart or Emotional part of a Thing; and the Soul or the Metaphysical part of a Thing. These four aspects make up an entire Name, or the fullness of a Thing.

A Thing is not just an inanimate object. Thing refers to any person, place, object, group, or concept within the universe. The Names of people are powerful, but they have a very specific use, as they mostly have power over the person they describe. The same is true for the Names of places or objects or even groups. But the Name of a Concept is extremely powerful, as it has application across all other categories.

Those who study magic and Names within the universe of the Book of Names have identified 240 True Names of broad concepts that exist across five alignments of magic. The True Names of these concepts are the sources of all magic within the universe.

Names

---

Old:

Blazonry - symbolism by sphere
Books - the entirety
Campaigns - various characters and campaigns
Countries - nations of the world
Courts - the Divine courts
Diversity - magical creatures
Divines - the divine
Esoterica - supernatural energies
Geography - maps through the ages
Gifts - the artifacts of the gods
Glossary - terms that might make things more clear
Groups - various organizations
Growth - character advancement
Hierarchy - the whole breakdown
History - what has been
Inventory - weapons, armor, items
Landforms - unique features of the land
Materials - metals, woods, stones, etc.
Occupations - roles for characters
Planes - other realms of existence
Prophecies - predictions of the future
Religion - how the gods are viewed & worshipped
Roles - party dynamics
Setting - other information
Species - some playable, some not
Spheres - perfectly round things, good for throwing at politicians
System - the game system mechanics

---

Campaigns | Reference