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Artifact Name Generator

Names for relics, cursed items and lost treasures

Example Artifact Names

A fixed sample of what the generator produces. Use the tool above for a fresh batch, or to filter by length.

Holy Relic Names

  • The Patient Icon — three churches claim it
  • The Censer of Quiet Years — it weeps once a year
  • The Shroud of Ashes — three churches claim it
  • The Shroud of the Long Vigil — it will not enter unholy ground
  • The Third Oracle's Lantern — it weeps once a year
  • The Censer of the Kept Vow — carried in procession, never used
  • Mother Iren's Ossuary — carried in procession, never used
  • The Weeping Sceptre — nobody living has opened it
  • The Censer of the Long Vigil — it weeps once a year
  • The Reliquary of the First Dawn — carried in procession, never used

Cursed Item Names

  • The Compass of the Unpaid Debt — it is genuinely useful, at first
  • The Key of the Unpaid Debt — the curse is boring, which is worse
  • The Attentive Doll — the price is not obvious
  • The Attentive Mask — you may keep it as long as you like
  • The Generous Ring — previous owners are all accounted for
  • The Music Box of Borrowed Faces — the price is not obvious
  • Someone Who Regretted It's Doll — the price is not obvious
  • A Debtor of Nine Hells's Coin — you may keep it as long as you like
  • The Widow Sarn's Mask — it returns if discarded
  • The Mirror of Quiet Rooms — it returns if discarded

Lost Treasure Names

  • A Dynasty Ended Abruptly's Seal — half of it is still missing
  • An Empire With No Name's Astrolabe — it predates the current calendar
  • A Dynasty Ended Abruptly's Shard — the finder always vanishes
  • The Last Cartographer's Tome — the language on it is undeciphered
  • The Forgotten Tome — the finder always vanishes
  • A Dynasty Ended Abruptly's Astrolabe — it may not exist
  • The Orb of Drowned Kings — worth a kingdom, useless in a fight
  • The Sunken Horn — it predates the current calendar
  • The Last Cartographer's Horn — worth a kingdom, useless in a fight
  • The Astrolabe of Drowned Kings — worth a kingdom, useless in a fight

About Artifact Names

An artifact name should imply a story the party has not heard yet. The formal Object of Concept shape does most of the work, because it implies someone once thought this thing important enough to title.

Naming Patterns

  • The Object of Concept — The Crown of Quiet Years
  • Possessive — the maker or the victim is named
  • Understatement — plain names for terrifying objects work well

Frequently Asked Questions

How should I name a magic artifact?▼
The Object of Concept shape is reliable: a physical noun plus an abstract idea. It implies history without you having to write any yet.
Should the name reveal what it does?▼
Partly. A name that hints without confirming gives players something to investigate, which is usually better than a name that spoils the effect.
How do I make an item feel cursed?▼
Understate it. The Kind Mirror is more unsettling than The Mirror of Screaming Doom, because the gap between name and effect does the work.
Do artifacts need a maker's name?▼
Not always, but a possessive form instantly implies a person, an era and a reason — useful shorthand for setting depth.

Need Names for Everything Else?

The main generator handles characters, parties and whole kingdoms in one place.

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