Mottos, 12 (d100)

Whether they’re called adages, maxims, slogans or creeds, a motto by any other name will still sound as sweet. These simple statements are essentially promises made to oneself, family, clan, guild, order or institution. It is a phrase that can be proudly carved into a castle’s archway as a sign or wealth and power or muttered to oneself as a mantra against madness when all other hope is lost. A personal motto is a vow to oneself and a promise of intent (For good or ill) to others, while an institutional motto is a binding pact of like-minded peers. A character’s motto can be a goal in itself or a moral anchor that centers his life and guides his action. This table is a mixed collection of real life and fictional mottos that can aid a DM to quickly expand the history of the campaign or to aid a PC in a richer character creation. —Note: The phrasing for the mottos are copied from their original sources the way they were written (I, Me, We, Him, Man, etc), and a DM should change the tenses to best suit the situation.

d100 Result

1

A Beautiful Battle Is One You Don’t Have To Fight.

2

A Man Destined To Hang Can Never Drown.

3

A Scar Is Never The Same As Good Flesh, But It Stops The Bleeding.

4

Anger Is Fleeting; Remorse Is Eternal.

5

Be The Shadow Beyond The Flame.

6

Blood Is Life.

7

Caution Once Forgotten Could Be Forgotten Once Too Often.

8

Cross Not A Librarian, For They Hold The Keys To All Lore.

9

Death Is Not The End To Our Suffering.

10

Death Walks In My Footsteps Just To Find An Easier Road.

11

Do The Impossible.

12

Every Rose Has Its Thorns.

13

Fear Is Never Irrational.

14

God May Judge, But His Sins Outnumber Us All.

15

Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds.

16

Half Of What You Heard About Me Isn’t True, And The Other Half Wasn’t My Fault.

17

Heroes Only Live In Stories.

18

Hold Your Ground… Forever.

19

Humankind Cannot Gain Anything Without First Giving Something In Return. To Obtain, Something Of Equal Value Must Be Lost.

20

I Am Both The Messenger And The Message.

21

I Am Filled With Glorious Purpose.

22

I Would Have Lived In Peace But My Enemies Brought Me War.

23

If An Angel Sets Out To Slay All Demons, Should She Fall On Her Own Sword In The End?

24

If One Is An Annoyance Then A Hundred Is A Threat.

25

If You Cant Beat Them. Join Them.

26

If You Want Peace, Prepare For War.

27

Insanity Is Just A State Of Mind.

28

It’s Only After You’ve Lost Everything That You’re Free To Do Anything.

29

Keep Your Axe Sharp, Your Bow Dry, And Your Flask Full.

30

Knowledge Brings Power, And With Power You Can Grab Truth By The Throat And Shape It As You Wish.

31

Let The Lord Of Chaos Rule.

32

Life Is Cruel, For Every Hello There Are Two Goodbyes.

33

Modest In Temper, Bold In Deed.

34

No Day But Today.

35

No One Is Actually Dead Until The Ripples They Cause In The World Die Away.

36

On A Long Enough Timeline, The Survival Rate For Everything Drops To Zero.

37

One Is All And All Is One.

38

Only A Battle Lost Is Sadder Than A Battle Won.

39

Pain Outlives The Flesh.

40

Practice Compassion And Mercy, But Know When They Must End.

41

Respect Is Good But Gold Is Better.

42

Risk Is My Business.

43

See Something Slay Something.

44

Shoot First, Ask No Questions.

45

Small Things Are Important. Seconds Are Small Things And If You Heaped Enough Of Those On Top Of One Another, They Become A Person’s Life.

46

Sometimes, Pain Is All That Lets You Know You’re Alive.

47

The Answer To Despair Is Action.

48

The Blade Itself Incites To Deeds Of Violence.

49

The Difference Between Good And Evil Is The Lengths They’ll Go To Achieve Their Goals.

50

The First Try Is Spent To Make The Second Try Easier.

51

The Hardest Choices Require The Strongest Wills.

52

The Oak Fought The Wind And Was Broken, The Willow Bent When It Must And Survived.

53

The Perfect Is The Enemy Of The Good.

54

The Seeds Of The Past Bear Fruit In The Present.

55

The Sword Of Destiny Has Two Edges.

56

There Are No Pacts Between Lions And Men.

57

There Are Three Things All Wise Men Fear: The Sea In A Storm, A Night With No Moon, And The Anger Of A Gentle Man.

58

There Is No Such Thing As Innocence, Only Shades Of Guilt.

59

There Was Never A Good Knife Made Of Bad Steel.

60

Those Who Destroy Knowledge, With Ink, Fire, Or Sword, Are Themselves Destroyed.

61

Thou Shalt Not Disfigure The Soul.

62

To Feel Sorrow Is To Deserve Peace.

63

To Know Good You Must First Experience Evil.

64

Tomorrow Belongs To Me.

65

Tradition Is The Corpse Of Wisdom.

66

Trust Is The Color Of Death.

67

Unto The Pure All Things Are Pure.

68

Violence Is Not The Answer. But It’ll Do In A Pinch.

69

Wake Up And Choose Violence.

70

We Are Always More Afraid Than We Wish To Be, But We Can Always Be Braver Than We Expect.

71

We Get Our Hands Dirty, And The World Stays Clean.

72

Wealth Unspent Is Wealth Wasted.

73

What Is Impossible Today, May Not Be Impossible Tomorrow.

74

When Hell Is Full, The Dead Shall Walk The Earth.

75

When Tyranny Becomes Law, Resistance Becomes Duty.

76

Why Make When You Can Take.

77

Wolves Have No Kings.

78

You Can Build A Perfect Machine Out Of Imperfect Parts.

79

You Can Lead A Horse To Slaughter, But You Can’t Make It Butcher Itself.

80

You Can’t Fix Stupid.

81

You Get What You Give.

82

A Bird Doesn’t Abuse The Ability To Fly.

83

A Man Without Fear Is Missing A Friend.

84

Born In The Dawn To Pass In The Twilight.

85

Good Art Should Disturb The Comfortable And Comfort The Disturbed.

86

Heroes Get Remembered But Legends Never Die.

87

I Am Better Off Healed Than I Ever Was Unbroken.

88

I Am Fate’s Sword. She Wields Me Cruelly.

89

If There’s No Stories To Tell, I’ll Make One.

90

Keep Watch Only For Giants And You’ll Be Eaten By Ants.

91

Life Feeds On Life.

92

No Life Without Value. No Death Without Meaning.

93

Once You’ve Got A Task To Do, It’s Better To Do It Than Live With The Fear Of It.

94

Respect Doesn’t Make History.

95

Steel For Humans. Silver For Monsters. Gold For Heroes.

96

The Only Reason One Should Ever Walk Into The Jaws Of Death Is To Steal His Gold Teeth.

97

The Rose Petal Floats On Water. The Kingfisher Flashes Above The Pond. Life And Beauty Swirl In The Midst Of Death.

98

There Is One Rule, Above All Others, For Being A Hero. Whatever Comes, Face It On Your Feet.

99

You Can Never Have Too Many Knives.

100

You Don’t Need To Make Good Decisions If You Can Outrun Your Bad Ones.