For some reason i woke up this morning with a fully-fledged idea for a cultural belief. It seems to fit a hunter-gatherer type of society rather than a more developed one.

Anyway, my dream thought was that the people of this culture believe that unless they take steps to hide their identity, the vengeful spirits of defeated enemies will seek them out and haunt them. So, war-parties that return from a raid returns with some new members. Those that killed anyone return to the tribe with a new name. In order to keep up the ruse and deflect vengeful spirits, in everyday life these folk do not refer to each other by name unless they have been formally introduced - they leave a 'space' in conversation to allow tribe members to introduce themselves, should they need to.

So, the war-party returns and 2 of their number have killed some members of a rival tribe. On entering the tribal home, they bow to the tribe and say "Hello, i am Bartouch." "Hello, i am D'arby." From then on, they are known by those names - unless they need to change it again later down the line.

Are there any repercussions to this cultural phenomenon? Maybe, the truly bad-ass don't change their name because they are not afraid of spirits. Any other thoughts?

Seems it would toss inheritance out the window, war typically being a young men's thing.  It would also make war a distinctly ungenteel profession, unless a ruling class could be made to embrace the nouveau heroes.

It seems like a pretty good way for the priest class to subjugate the warrior class (or a sign that the priests are thoroughly dominant) – so perhaps one could work with that dynamic?

"Nope, the spirits are still on to you. Better move to that tent, at the edge of camp. I'll stay in your old tent and try to confront the spirit. Don't worry, I've got this."

One repercussion would be that some people would stop referring to warrior by name and just start referring to them as him, her, and so on. This happens on some MU**s where players can change names. Some do it frequently.

Others would baulk and keep calling them by their original name. Possibly with the argument that the person has a new name and thus their old name doesnt apply to them anymore. Or something else convoluted. Also happens on MU**s with players who flip names often.

Instead of changing names. Warriors might take up the tradition of adopting a masked "Hero Identity" that they only wear when in battle. Possibly this identity is passed down from generation to generation.

Quote from: Omega;824117Others would baulk and keep calling them by their original name.

Calling someone by a discarded name might be a criminal act.

Maybe war parties would wear masks and other disguises, actual or ritualistic perhaps that make them look almost identical and assume specific generic titles for the duration of the raid, more like rank and number than names. When they return, their assumed identities are dropped, perhaps after a rite to drive off any persistent spirits.

Quote from: One Horse Town;824119Calling someone by a discarded name might be a criminal act.

Yeah or a sign of ill will and great contempt, like attempting to curse them. Calling someone by a name famed for many kills might be thought to be an attempt to bring ill fortune on them.

Quote from: Omega;824117Instead of changing names. Warriors might take up the tradition of adopting a masked "Hero Identity" that they only wear when in battle. Possibly this identity is passed down from generation to generation.

If the purpose is to hide their identity, this example of masks and disguises makes a lot more sense than Grog is now Yog-yog since the vengeful entities would search them out by appearance and not necessarily by what name they are called.

Quote from: Nexus;824120Maybe war parties would wear masks and other disguises, actual or ritualistic perhaps that make them look almost identical and assume specific generic titles for the duration of the raid, more like rank and number than names. When they return, their assumed identities are dropped, perhaps after a rite to drive off any persistent spirits.

The downside of simple rank and file would be that the spirits would turn their anger towards the entire tribe, so anyone could be the victim of the anger, even if multiple tribes had the same disguises (which wouldn't work well on a battlefield anyway).

Quote from: Nexus;824121Yeah or a sign of ill will and great contempt, like attempting to curse them. Calling someone famed for many kills might be thought of an attempt to bring ill fortune on them.

Yep.

Then maybe there's the village hard-ass who always introduces himself by his given name, inviting spiritual trouble on himself, 'cos you know, they're hard. If the person involved in slayings choose to keep their name, there's no problem when others call them by it too.

A murderer within the tribe might have the name they held when they committed murder branded onto them, assuring the attentions of vengeful spirits and be addressed by that name by the whole tribe from that day forward. Indeed, if that person then meets a nasty end, it's obviously the work of the vengeful spirits!

Quote from: snooggums;824123If the purpose is to hide their identity, this example of masks and disguises makes a lot more sense than Grog is now Yog-yog since the vengeful entities would search them out by appearance and not necessarily by what name they are called.

In a society where your name has power, not so.

Quote from: snooggums;824123The downside of simple rank and file would be that the spirits would turn their anger towards the entire tribe, so anyone could be the victim of the anger, even if multiple tribes had the same disguises (which wouldn't work well on a battlefield anyway).

Though they could do that anyway if they could tell what tribe the attackers belonged too. Of course, myths and superstitions don't have to be perfectly logical. Perhaps the spirit's magic demands a true name to be target. If not even passing the IDs from generation to generation poses a problem if there's any truth to it. There'd be a litany of pissed off spirit targeting that identity over time, unless there's some sort of time limit or there's some way to "cleanse" them. Maybe before they're passed on the IDs are given funeral rites to make the spirits think they're dead and pass on.

This is a pretty cool idea, actually. Allot of potential. You could use all these suggestions as variation among different local cultures with similar beliefs.

Quote from: One Horse Town;824081Are there any repercussions to this cultural phenomenon? Maybe, the truly bad-ass don't change their name because they are not afraid of spirits. Any other thoughts?

Interesting idea.

It would seem to work best for tribes small enough for everyone to  see, know, and greet everyone else. Otherwise, there seems like a lot of risk that Arkel, who only knows of Conan by reputation, doesn't get the word that Conan is now to be called Thongor, and ends up referring to him by the old name when he is asking a third party, Brak (who perhaps also only knows Thongor buy his old name Conan) "Hey, I need a gift to give my foster father for his Name Day, did Conan and the rest of the war party find any good loot on their last raid?"

Even with a small tribe there is good dramatic potential if a lone hunter or gatherer aren't in the camp when the war party arrives. Probably some great legends about the wife who was out hunting and gathering when her husband returned from a raid and happily called out to him by his old name only to unthinkingly bring a curse down on his head.

Quote from: One Horse Town;824124Yep.

Then maybe there's the village hard-ass who always introduces himself by his given name, inviting spiritual trouble on himself, 'cos you know, they're hard. If the person involved in slayings choose to keep their name, there's no problem when others call them by it too.

Yeah, I imagine these people might be treated with a combination of awe, hero worship (especially by the young) and some dread since they're due for some supernatural trouble.

QuoteA murderer within the tribe might have the name they held when they committed murder branded onto them, assuring the attentions of vengeful spirits and be addressed by that name by the whole tribe from that day forward. Indeed, if that person then meets a nasty end, it's obviously the work of the vengeful spirits!

That's good!

Quote from: snooggums;824123If the purpose is to hide their identity, this example of masks and disguises makes a lot more sense than Grog is now Yog-yog since the vengeful entities would search them out by appearance and not necessarily by what name they are called.

I agree with this.

People would only go for a kill wearing a ritual mask, possibly with an appropriate enchantment on it (i.e. non-detection). Of course all masks look the same! So you don't recognize the wearer by his mask!

Three side effects:
1) Someone wearing a mask is an indication he is up to no good, so people will react adversely (or at least warily).
2) Since all killers wear the same mask, learning who killed someone becomes more difficult.
3) Killers whose masks are removed, are afraid (because the superstition) to kill you, hence they will probably abandon an attempt at murder.

In many Asian countries, name changes occur frequently. More often than not it involves being told by a fortune-teller that one's name has attracted bad luck (or even a ghost) and the only way to rid oneself of that is through a name change. Especially with Chinese speaking culture, a name has a lot of symbolism and even numerology attached so people don't usually just willy-nilly pick a name for themselves or their children, but again, consult a fortune-teller.

Then there are Asian English names. There seem to be two strains of thought there - pick a really common name like Johnny or Peter, or pick a really ridiculous (but lucky!) name like Dragon or King.

Once, I worked for a Taiwanese businessman who I loathed. After I was hired he decided I should give everyone English names. I named him Richard. I explained that because Richard includes the word 'Rich', this name would bring prosperity. Mostly, I just wanted to be able to refer to him as 'Dick' as often as possible.