Grammar & Capitalization rules?

[Wolffenjugend]

OK, I'm not an English major so I need some insight into this.

When should a creature's name be capitalized? And, obviously, beyond at the beginning of a sentence.

For example: Is it...

The orc is green.
OR
The Orc is green.

Is the creature capitalized when it is first written and then not afterwards?

Yes, I'm nitpicking, but I'd like to know...

p.s. what about spells?

 

[jgsugden]

http://ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/capitals.htm

That should help.

 

[UltimaGabe]

Generally, only proper names and titles should be capitalized. So unless the orc's name was "Orc", you don't HAVE to capitalize it at all.

Spells pretty much ARE proper names, so they should pretty much always be capitalized. (Except in rare circumstances- for example, if you were to say, "I just hit him with a Mordenkainen's Disjunction" or "Man, he's gonna be feeling that Meteor Swarm for a while", then they would probably be capitalized- but if you were referring to the effect, rather than the spell's name, like "Lucky for me, the fireball burned up the whole building" then it isn't necessary.)

 

[CRGreathouse]

I disagree with Gabe on spells -- unless they're starting a sentence I don't capitalize anything but the proper names. Thus fireball, sleet storm, and Otto's irresistable dance. Spell names are always italicized.

 

[Flyspeck23]

"The orc is green" isn't correct. But "The orc is greyish-green" is

 

[Wolffenjugend]

Thanks Gabe. I used to capitalize spell names but stopped when I saw that Dungeon & Dragon magazine didn't do it. Same with magic items.

 

[Silveras]

Truthfully, the rules of grammar do not really apply to game terms. Instead, most publishers are likely to have internal "style sheets", rules about how their products should present game terms. One of the things the editor on a project is responsible for is making sure that the text uses the required styles.

If you look at Wizards products, for example, spell names are not capitalized when used in body text -- but they are usually italicized.

This specialized usage can vary from publisher to publisher, but it looks like most try to follow the same pattern as Wizards.

 

[Silveras]

Cursed double-post !

 

[trentonjoe]

"The orc is green" isn't correct. But "The orc is greyish-green" is

You shouldn't start a sentence with a conjuction.

 

[CyberSpyder]

You shouldn't start a sentence with a conjuction.

Actually, that is just a grammar-school rule (appropriately enough) that is incorrect in actual formal writing. It is perfectly acceptable to begin sentences with 'and' or 'but' - one simply shouldn't do it too often.