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Seriously. We've all got our characters rolled up and finalised, everyone's favourite method of being scarred by the GrimDarkness/DarkGrimness of the 41st Millennium has been incorporated into their background.
We've even agreed on what ship to take and what upgrades she has, and are almost ready to begin, except for that final maddening question.

What do we call our ship? Our Rogue Trader has sold out and wants to call her the Liliana Vess. Our Explorator (me) doesn't like that, but wants to call him Ulysses or Sleipnir (a difficult choice, to be sure). Our DM, who likes Norse mythology (he's a Dane), likes Naglfar. The other party members have each come up with other (even more random) names, as well...

The argument boils on, and on, and on...

Yeah, our group were pretty stumped by that too. Eventually, they came up with "The Falling Down", an odd name, but hey!
Their second ship got called "One More Day", though I don't think it was a spiderman reference. The guys just let the Trader name the ship though. No big arguments.

Use the solution used by roleplayers since the dawn of... roleplaying.

Roll for it.

Three easy options:
1) It's the Rogue Trader's ship.
2) As said, roll a die.
3) Vote, but nobody can vote for their own suggestion.

Personally, I'd suggest the last is probably the best all round option. If that doesn't decide it, dice off the tie.

Our group just discussed it.

I decided long ago that in any such game my spaceship name would always be the 'Forlorn Hope'. I would simply argue until I got my way.

Is that meant to be deliberately ironic, or not?

MarcoSkoll wrote:
3) Vote, but nobody can vote for their own suggestion.

For this knock off the last 1 or 2 each round depending on how many suggestions there are

Whenever I have a ship, it always has "star" in the name - Wandering Star, Fallen Star, etc. Though once I had a ship for a Star Wars RP called the "White Butterfly" that I really loved.

Really miss RP'ing :(



But I would probably roll for it when you have several people with strong views on the name, or turn on a random name generator.

Name her the "She's one of ours sir". That should buy you a few seconds.

j/k

How many players do you have? Maybe, if you're voting, have each player assign points to every name by making them list the names in order of preference. Granted, it might turn out to have the same effect as what MarcoSkoll suggested, but this way you'd also see if someone really doesn't like a name that the others think is cool. The best result would be to have a name that everybody can "live with".

Name her the "She's one of ours sir". That should buy you a few seconds.

Thats not a bad idea....

BACON FORTRESS

You are all heretics, the lot of you.

Why has noone thought to ask the Machine Spirit what it is called?

Also if the Machine Spirit has no assigned name then you need to pay a tithe to the Priesthood like a good little sefvant of the Emperor and get one.

Remember you start being independent Rogue Trader types after you leave spacedock.

Each person gets one mash of a keyboard using any appendage (within reason) and the ship's name is the first real word that can be located, with all letters in order, in the mess of letters. If no word is found, roll a D6, on the roll of a 2-6, you do it again, on the roll of a 1, the ships name IS the mess of letters.

Anyone who refuses to mash the keyboard or is rendered unable to participate automatically forfeits their right to participate in the naming.

This is the 41st millennium. Take the most pompous pseudo-Latin name anyone can think of.

The Rogue Trader decides the name, (s)he is in overall command, crew be damned.

Bran Dawri wrote:Seriously. What do we call our ship? Our Rogue Trader has sold out and wants to call her the Liliana Vess. Our Explorator (me) doesn't like that, but wants to call him Ulysses or Sleipnir (a difficult choice, to be sure). Our DM, who likes Norse mythology (he's a Dane), likes Naglfar. The other party members have each come up with other (even more random) names, as well...

The argument boils on, and on, and on...

Put all the options in a hat and draw one out and go with it. A choice like that could take forever to please everyone in the group. Or the Captain, who is the original owner, could just be left to name the ship himself...

Skriker

BrookM wrote:The Rogue Trader decides the name, (s)he is in overall command, crew be damned.

So his/her crew is damned? *scribbes notes*

The Ordo Hereticus will hear of this.

I like the suggestion of letting the machine spirit pick.

How about the Beowulf?

first the DM has not much to say about the ship name.

Who is the captain? Who is the owner? The name should be between those 2. If all player own a share, there you have your problem.

I have no solution, by the way... A in game discussion, with beer. Yep, That will end well...

Various Names for Vessels in my games have been "The Ceaseless Voyage", "The Cutlass", "The Gauntlet of Mars", "The Dirge of Heresy" "The Creed of Light" "The Aspiyato" (made up eldar name sounds like Asp-e-ya-to), Da Star Chewer (orky), The Black Vigil, The Void Maiden, Deamon-chaser, The Imperial Burden, one of my favorite; The Flaming Pheasant (badass little transport ship which actually took out a frigate lol)

I find examining your ship oddities and quirks is the best way to decide what to name your ship, look at your gear, your crew and the overall idea of what you may or may not be accomplishing and start running in that direction of thinking till something sticks.

For example if I have the Quirk where my ship is frightened of combat and equipped with short range weapons "The Lucky Mouse or The Battle-Scar" this represents either it's flighty nature or the event that may have been the reason the ship fell into Rogue trader hands rather than continue to serve with the Battlefleet. Just run a basic train of thought and shouldn't have a problem at all

We named our ship, "The Courage to Question." The Inquisitors had it in for us from the start. :(

Then we named one, "The Fires of Her Vengeance". The plasma banks erupted. :(

Then we named one, "Benign Indifference". So far, so good.

AnomanderRake wrote:This is the 41st millennium. Take the most pompous pseudo-Latin name anyone can think of.

SECONDED.

Take a random roman name generator. Roll it once or a few more times. Name found.

The small ship I gave my players to get around in DH was quickly renamed the "Spiritual Liege".

I had an issue like this, it quickly became make up ten names of the "ships in drydock", and make them roll for them, no arguing, nobody happy with the name. I quickly became the guy that "solves everything with a shotgun blast."

My first ship name was "It made the kessel run in 12 parsecs"

I hated that Rogue Trader.

btemple0 wrote:I had an issue like this, it quickly became make up ten names of the "ships in drydock", and make them roll for them, no arguing, nobody happy with the name. I quickly became the guy that "solves everything with a shotgun blast."

You may solve it with a shotgun blast, but at least you *solve* it...

Skriker