History NonIndicativeName / TabletopGames

* A "nineteen point hand"[[note]]sometimes shortened to just "a nineteen"[[/note]] in TabletopGame/''{{Cribbage}}'' is not worth nineteen points. It's worth ''zero'' points, but is so named because nineteen is the lowest number of points that it is mathematically impossible for a hand to be worth.

* A "nineteen point hand"[[note]]sometimes shortened to just "a nineteen"[[/note]] in TabletopGame/''Cribbage'' is not worth nineteen points. It's worth ''zero'' points, but is so named because nineteen is the lowest number of points that it is mathematically impossible for a hand to be worth.

* A "nineteen point hand"[note]sometimes shortened to just "a nineteen"[/note] in TabletopGame/''Cribbage'' is not worth nineteen points. It's worth ''zero'' points, but is so named because nineteen is the lowest number of points that is mathematically impossible to get in Cribbage.

* Chinese Checkers: it's not from China and it's not even technically a form of Checkers. It was invented in Germany in 1892, brought to the United States in 1928, and the NonindicativeName was induced deliberately because the marketers thought it sounded more exotic that way. Probably for the same or a similar reason, when the traditional English dice game Yacht was mass-marketed, it was given a pseudo-Oriental makeover and renamed TabletopGame/{{Yahtzee}} (no connection with [[WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation this]] Creator/{{Yahtzee}}).
* Necrons for ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' have melee soldiers known as "Flayed Ones". Actually, they are the ones doing the flaying. And wearing their victims' skins.
** Also in the novels, Graham [=McNeil=] Literature/{{Ultramarines}} novel ''Dead Sky, Black Sun'' has the Unfleshed, hulking monstrosities with a lot of flesh in the form of muscle. It's the ''skin'' they lack (no, it wasn't taken by the guys above).

* The eponymous [[TabletopGame/TheDarkEye Dark Eyes]] may be powerful clairvoyance artifacts, yet they rarely are present or play any significant role in the official settings.
** In-universe example: The Nordmarken (Northern Marches) were the first territorial expansion of the Old Empire towards to the north. Within the current New Empire, the province is located in the southwest.

* ''{{TabletopGame/Warhammer}}'':
** The von Carstein vampire family are not from any place called Carstein. In fact, there ''is'' no place in the Old World called Carstein, as far as Imperial cartographers know. What happened to Carstein, if it ever existed, and how Vlad von Carstein came by the title (if he didn't invent both it and Carstein itself) is unknown, and quite possibly lost to the mists of time.
** The Warriors of Chaos has had thirteen 'Everchosen', who, in spite of the title, are not very permanent about ''anything'' given the erratic whims of the Chaos Gods.
* Some players of Creator/GamesWorkshop's ''Chainsaw Warrior'' snarkily note that the titular character should just be called ''Warrior''. That's because the one thing that the Chainsaw Warrior automatically starts off with...is the [[WeWillUseLasersInTheFuture Laser Lance]]. Getting the chainsaw is a random roll every time you select a melee weapon choice from your extremely precious supply points. Given that most players will spend almost all their points on non-weapon equipment, having a chainsaw is actually rare. The video game version and its sequel alleviate this by having easier difficulty levels that lets you specifically choose your items (though there's still a Classic mode which follows the board game).

** There's also TurnUndead, which uses an obscure meaning of the word "turn". Spoofed in [[http://us.media.blizzard.com/wow/media/comics/comic-2009-08-felly-full.jpg this]] ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'' comic.

** Something that started in original ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' and continued into ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'', Hobgoblins. The word "Hob" in English pertains to a shelf or bench for setting utensils down next to a hearth; "Hobgoblin" therefore, was traditionally a tiny household goblin, while true Goblins were human-sized. Since Pathfinder descends from D&D, which was written by [[Creator/GaryGygax people with a tentative understanding of European folklore at best]] the misnomer stuck, and "Goblins" became the diminutive guys while "Hobgoblins" became the taller, smarter cousins. This is an error that goes back to Tolkien, who described "hobgoblin" as "the larger kinds."
** Many players will never actually encounter a [[SeriesMascot Dragon]]. Since most campaigns take place at low levels where all but the youngest dragons would easily slaughter the party, so [[ArtifactTitle never seeing a dragon is quite common]].
*** In particularly some settings like Ravenloft or Dark Sun only contain a single dragon, making both the plural inaccurate and seeing the one that exists very unlikely.

** The very first supplement to the core rules of OD&D was called ''Greyhawk''. It didn't contain a campaign setting, or any information at all about the Greyhawk world.

** In 3rd Edition, [[SeriesMascot Dragons]] don't come automatically made and have to be purpose-built by the dungeon masters for the encounter they're devising. As a result, many new dungeon masters, not knowing how to build a balanced encounter with a Dragon, [[ArtifactTitle will simply never include them in their games.]]

* In the ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' game, the [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Gradius Gradius]] card, the first card in a ''very'' long line of monsters based on spaceships and enemies from Konami's ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}}' series, is a misnomer; the space fighter on the card is actually the Victory Viper ("Gradius" is the name of the planet the craft defends). Although, they do have another more appropriately named card [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Victory_Viper_XX03 depicting the Vic Viper.]] (This is only non-indicative in translation - the Japanese name for the Gradius card is Chōjikū Sentōki Vic Viper, which translates as Super Dimensional Fighter Vic Viper. The Victory Viper XX03 has the same name in both regions.)

* In the ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' game, the [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Gradius Gradius]] card, the first card in a ''very'' long line of monsters based on spaceships and enemies from Konami's ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}}' series, is a misnomer; the space fighter on the card is actually the Victory Viper ("Gradius" is the name of the planet the craft defends). Although, they do have another more appropriately named card [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Victory_Viper_XX03 depicting the Vic Viper.]]

** Seeing the name Injection Fairy Lily, you might think the monster is Fairy type. You'd be wrong. It's a spellcaster.

** ''Dragonborn'' are not half-dragon hybrids, despite being DraconicHumanoids. In the default backstory, they are only loosely related to dragons, as they arose from the blood spilled when Io, the original god of dragonkind, was slain.

* In a sense, TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering. Originally the intent was for the game to be but the first of a series of card games (which would have thus been progressively named.) However, the first game proved so immensely popular that they abandoned the idea, and simply expanded the first one with more cards. Thus the name became effectively an ArtifactTitle, and the "gathering" part doesn't really say anything at all about the game.

** There's also TurnUndead, which uses an obscure meaning of the word "turn". Spoofed in [[http://us.media.blizzard.com/wow/media/comics/comic-2009-08-felly-full.jpg this]] ''Franchise/{{Warcraft}}'' comic.

** There's also TurnUndead, which uses an obscure meaning of the word "turn".

* ''{{TabletopGame/Warhammer}}'': The von Carstein vampire family are not from any place called Carstein. In fact, there ''is'' no place in the Old World called Carstein, as far as Imperial cartographers know. What happened to Carstein, if it ever existed, and how Vlad von Carstein came by the title (if he didn't invent both it and Carstein itself) is unknown, and quite possibly lost to the mists of time.

* Joe Dever was obviously far more concerned about creating an elaborate world and riveting adventures when writing the ''Literature/LoneWolf'' series than accurate titles. As a result, quite a few of them are at best very loose fits:
** ''Fire on the Water'' -- This refers to the big naval battle where you wield the legendary Sommerswerd, which occurs at the very end of the adventure and is easily the least dangerous part of it. The great majority of the adventure is your quest to obtain the weapon.
** ''The Caverns of Kalte'' -- Your mission begins in open wilderness and ends in a fortress; unless you take one very specific detour (with a 30% chance that you'll miss it entirely), you're going to see little, if any, of the eponymous caverns.
** ''The Kingdoms of Terror'' -- The wars between the Stornland kingdoms play next to no real part in your quest, and in any case there's nothing particularly terrifying about any of them.
** ''The Cauldron of Fear'' -- Not only is the Cauldron is a completely nondescript landmark which serves solely to get you to Zaaryx, there's a 50% chance you won't even use that route.
** ''The Dungeons of Torgar'' -- As with ''[=FotW=]'', the point of nearly the entire adventure is getting to Torgar's dungeons, and you hardly do anything in them.
** ''The Prisoners of Time'' -- You don't see the prisoners in question until the very end of the adventure, they don't have anything to do with your quest, and until you meet them you don't even know who they are.
** ''The Captives of Kaag'' -- Just the one captive! (There are other unfortunates in Kaag, but they're well beyond saving.)
** ''Dawn of the Dragons'' -- An epic, sprawling journey where you face a grand total of ONE dragon, near (yep) the very end. And of course, if you're successful, there is no "dawn of the dragons"; they're toast.
** ''The Curse of Naar'' -- Despite the fact that you're in Naar's domain, not only doesn't he speak to you or attempt to hinder your quest (especially curious since he does both several times over the course of Grand Master), he doesn't even appear at all!
** ''The Buccaneers of Shadaki'' -- You face them once in a ''very'' brief encounter near the start of the adventure, after which they have no relevance to anything whatsoever.
** ''The Fall of Blood Mountain'' -- The mountain kingdom is still standing at the start of the adventure; its fall is what you're fighting to prevent.

* Chinese Checkers is neither from China nor technically a form of Checkers. It was invented in Germany in 1892, brought to the United States in 1928, and the NonindicativeName was induced deliberately because the marketers thought it sounded more exotic that way. Probably for the same or a similar reason, when the traditional English dice game Yacht was mass-marketed, it was given a pseudo-Oriental makeover and renamed TabletopGame/{{Yahtzee}} (no connection with [[WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation this]] Creator/{{Yahtzee}}).

* Chinese Checkers game was created in Germany. This NonindicativeName was induced deliberately when it was brought into the United States, as the marketers thought it sounded more exotic that way. Probably for the same or a similar reason, when the traditional English dice game Yacht was mass-marketed, it was given a pseudo-Oriental makeover and renamed TabletopGame/{{Yahtzee}} (no connection with [[WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation this]] Creator/{{Yahtzee}}).

** When 4th edition delved into the realm of psionics with its third Player's Handbook, it gave us among other playable classes the "battlemind". Which sounds a bit odd and perhaps a little bland, but makes perfect sense for something like, say, a telepathic leader figure who uses their gifts to coordinate their allies and predict their enemies' moves -- wait, what? The class is all about front-line fighter types who instead use their psychic abilities to enhance and perhaps even transform primarily their ''bodies'', sometimes even being pointedly too dense to figure out that that ''is'' in fact what they're doing? Never mind, then...

** Something that started in original ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' and continued into ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'', Hobgoblins. The word "Hob" in English pertains to a shelf or bench for setting utensils down next to a hearth; "Hobgoblin" therefore, was traditionally a tiny household goblin, while true Goblins were human-sized. Since Pathfinder descends from D&D, which was written by [[Creator/GaryGygax people with a tentative understanding of European folklore at best]] the misnomer stuck, and "Goblins" became the diminutive guys while "Hobgoblins" became the taller, smarter cousins.