diff --git a/evennia/accounts/accounts.py b/evennia/accounts/accounts.py
index 0c0006f83e..4eb63d93f6 100644
--- a/evennia/accounts/accounts.py
+++ b/evennia/accounts/accounts.py
@@ -273,7 +273,7 @@ class DefaultAccount(AccountDB, metaclass=TypeclassBase):
     objects = AccountManager()
 
     # Used by account.create_character() to choose default typeclass for characters.
-    player_character_typeclass = settings.BASE_CHARACTER_TYPECLASS
+    default_character_typeclass = settings.BASE_CHARACTER_TYPECLASS
 
     # properties
     @lazy_property
@@ -795,18 +795,26 @@ class DefaultAccount(AccountDB, metaclass=TypeclassBase):
 
     def get_character_slots(self) -> typing.Optional[int]:
         """
-        Returns the number of character slots this account has.
+        Returns the number of character slots this account has, or
+        None if there are no limits.
 
         By default, that's settings.MAX_NR_CHARACTERS but this makes it easy to override.
         Maybe for your game, players can be rewarded with more slots, somehow.
 
-        If it returns None, then there are no limits on character slots.
+        Returns:
+            int (optional): The number of character slots this account has, or None
+                if there are no limits.
         """
         return settings.MAX_NR_CHARACTERS
 
     def get_available_character_slots(self) -> typing.Optional[int]:
         """
-        Returns the number of character slots this account has available.
+        Returns the number of character slots this account has available, or None if
+        there are no limits.
+
+        Returns:
+            int (optional): The number of open character slots this account has, or None
+                if there are no limits.
         """
         if (slots := self.get_character_slots()) is None:
             return None
@@ -834,7 +842,7 @@ class DefaultAccount(AccountDB, metaclass=TypeclassBase):
         Args:
             key (str, optional): If not given, use the same name as the account.
             typeclass (str, optional): Typeclass to use for this character. If
-                not given, use settings.BASE_CHARACTER_TYPECLASS.
+                not given, use self.default_character_class.
             permissions (list, optional): If not given, use the account's permissions.
             ip (str, optional): The client IP creating this character. Will fall back to the
                 one stored for the account if not given.
@@ -854,7 +862,7 @@ class DefaultAccount(AccountDB, metaclass=TypeclassBase):
         character_permissions = kwargs.pop("permissions", self.permissions)
 
         # Load the appropriate Character class
-        character_typeclass = kwargs.pop("typeclass", self.player_character_typeclass)
+        character_typeclass = kwargs.pop("typeclass", self.default_character_typeclass)
         Character = class_from_module(character_typeclass)
 
         if "location" not in kwargs:
@@ -1015,10 +1023,10 @@ class DefaultAccount(AccountDB, metaclass=TypeclassBase):
 
             if account and _AUTO_CREATE_CHARACTER_WITH_ACCOUNT:
                 # Auto-create a character to go with this account
-                call_kwargs = {}
-                if "character_typeclass" in kwargs:
-                    call_kwargs["character_typeclass"] = kwargs["character_typeclass"]
-                character, errs = account.create_character(**call_kwargs)
+
+                character, errs = account.create_character(
+                    typeclass=kwargs.get("character_typeclass", account.default_character_typeclass)
+                )
                 if errs:
                     errors.extend(errs)
 
diff --git a/evennia/objects/objects.py b/evennia/objects/objects.py
index 503167f9da..b117cb613e 100644
--- a/evennia/objects/objects.py
+++ b/evennia/objects/objects.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ This is the v1.0 develop version (for ref in doc building).
 """
 import time
 from collections import defaultdict
+import typing
 
 import inflect
 from django.conf import settings
@@ -2529,8 +2530,8 @@ class DefaultCharacter(DefaultObject):
         # Normalize to latin characters and validate, if necessary, the supplied key
         key = cls.normalize_name(key)
 
-        if not cls.validate_name(key):
-            errors.append(_("Invalid character name."))
+        if (val_err := cls.validate_name(key, account=account)):
+            errors.append(val_err)
             return obj, errors
 
         # Set the supplied key as the name of the intended object
@@ -2604,18 +2605,20 @@ class DefaultCharacter(DefaultObject):
         return latin_name
 
     @classmethod
-    def validate_name(cls, name):
+    def validate_name(cls, name, account=None) -> typing.Optional[str]:
         """
         Validate the character name prior to creating. Overload this function to add custom validators
 
         Args:
             name (str) : The name of the character
+        Kwargs:
+            account (DefaultAccount, optional) : The account creating the character.
         Returns:
-            valid (bool) : True if character creation should continue; False if it should fail
+            error (str, optional) : A non-empty error message if there is a problem, otherwise False.
 
         """
-
-        return True  # Default validator does not perform any operations
+        if account and cls.objects.filter_family(db_key__iexact=name):
+            return f"|rA character named '|w{name}|r' already exists.|n"
 
     def basetype_setup(self):
         """