Many people in the roleplaying forum have found African names for their characters. Too difficult, you say? Au, contraire, just hit the handy-dandy link below, and a world of languages will open up to you.
Dictionaries
Some African languages besides Swahili include Bantu, Wolof, and Igbo.
How to use the dictionary-- choose a concept or a word that describes your character somehow (such as...evil?) and enter it into the dictionary. You can check with several different sources, and then have many different words to choose from.
For this you can either use a photograph, clipart, or draw one yourself. Since I myself am completely untalented when it comes to drawing, I frequently resort to the less dignified option of begging an artist to draw a picture. There are several sites of artists who draw characters for the role playing forum and who may be open to taking requests. In addition to the Image Archive at the Roleplaying Forum, you can try asking one of the artists at Kobu's Spot.
This helps settle the actor's constant question "What is my motivation?" Actually, it helps make roleplaying more consistent if you know what your character's all about and you can post your fanfiction on the Lion King Archive fanfiction area too. Pretty nifty, eh?
Sure, our forum is based on a cartoon, but it helps to know more about how lions would actually behave in certain situations: for example, who are their enemies, how large are prides? etc. The more you know, the better quality of roleplaying you will be able to do because you will be able to come up with more ideas. Makes sense, doesn't it?
