Portrait Cards and Pub Names

I’ve added a PDF of portraits to the resources page. You can print and cut out the portraits to use as handouts, an NPC generator, character portraits, or however you want to enhance your Victoriana sessions.

I’ll update the PDF when I have enough illustrations to fill more pages.

As this post is little anemic, here is a fun minigame I play about once per Victoriana adventure:

Pub Names

British pubs are known for having strange names. My players tend to visits pubs to seek local information, regroup after splitting up, and make the richest character pay for a meal. Instead of having a list of pub names ready to go, I prefer to put individual players on the spot with a mini game of Mad Libs. Just ask a player for a particular kind of word (noun, adjective, type of boat, weapon, color) and then ask another player for another sort of word (verb, positive adjective, fish, light source). Combine the words to name your pub.

Here are a few examples:

The (negative Adjective) (position of authority) - The Ugly Judge, the Clumsy Captain

The (method of murder past tense) (food) - The Stabbed Apple, the Poisoned Biscuit

The (farm animal) and (position of authority) - The Sheep and Bishop, The Duck and Duke
the (word often used to describe a machine) (fish) – The Efficient Mackerel, The Well Tended Sardine

The (common house hold item) and (uncommon animal) – The Spoon and Mare, The Lamp Wick and Pig

The (color) (profession) - the Red Lamplighter, The Brown Barman

It’s a quick bit of fun to get the player involved without slowing down play. It works well in my group, it might be fun in yours.