2nd wave

Category descriptor for roleplaying games created in the mid to late 70s in the immediate wake of Dungeons & Dragons. Where the cut-off occurs inspires much debate, but examples include Chivalry & Sorcery, RuneQuest, Traveller, Boot Hill, and Metamorphosis Alpha.

3rd wave

category descriptor for roleplaying games created in the late 70s to early 80s, drawing design elements not only from Dungeons & Dragons but from 2nd wave games and one another.

abstract

a quality a rule or subsystem has when built for its mathematical or formal attributes. Antonym of emotional (q.v.)

action points

a game resource, usually more plentiful than hero points, used to increase chances of success when performing challenging tasks.

action resolution

a longer term for resolution (q.v.), the act of determining whether an action succeeds or fails.

actual play

an audio or audiovisual record of a game session presented for others to enjoy as passive entertainment

advantage

a character capability of a specific, often innate, often unusual nature, such as photographic memory or an affinity for animals.

adventure gaming

a commercial category encompassing tabletop games that appeal to a specialized audience of fans, often with themes anchored in fantastical genres, including roleplaying games. United by audience more than strict definitional boundaries, the appellation, for example, includes complex board games even when they’re about sheep.

adventure

1) a single storyline in a roleplaying game, often one in a series; 2) a document that serves as the blueprint for a single storyline in a roleplaying game, either prepared by the GM or published by a game company or designer. Also called a scenario.

adventurers

a collective term for the PCs. See also: party, heroes, Investigators.

adversary

an NPC who acts as an obstacle to your characters, often in combat

agency

the ability of the player characters to make key choices affecting the direction or outcome of events in the storyline

alternate scene

in GUMSHOE, a scene where the Investigators gather useful or interesting information but no core clues, or where they gain a core clue they were more likely to gain in another scene

Antagonist Reaction

in GUMSHOE, an optional scene in which the PCs’ adversaries push back against them, incurring a cost or risk

applicability

a quality a game system has if it is designed for a single highly specific player character core activity (q.v.) Antonym of versatility. (q.v.)

archetype

a synonym for, or type of, template (q.v.), often recreating a familiar trope or stereotype from the source genre.

armor class

a numerical value measuring the character’s ability to deflect or absorb damage

ashcan

a published preview version of a game the creator intends to release in a more fully realized version later

attribute

a key game statistic for a character, measuring general innate physical and mental capabilities. Sometimes called characteristic.

battlemap

a map of the physical boundaries of a fight scene, divided into spaces to keep track of movement, scaled for the use of miniatures

bennie

a benefit players can use to their characters’ advantage, often on a one-time basis, often gained as a reward for actions in play.

bestiary

game supplement devoted to monsters and adversaries.

big bad

borrowed from television, an ongoing or recurring adversary whose defeat marks the end of a campaign or segment thereof.

big six

the classic six attributes appearing in Dungeons & Dragons and many of its F20 descendants: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma.

bleed

when feelings between characters turn into feelings between the players, or vice versa.  

bluebooking

working between actual game sessions, often collaboratively, on the development of the characters and the resources they manage

boffer LARP

A variety of Live Action Roleplaying (q.v.) featuring simulated physical combat.

bonus

most often, a number applied to a die roll, increasing its chance of success. Antonym of penalty. (q.v.)

boss monster

borrowed from video games, the especially powerful foe the PCs confront at the climax of an adventure.

brick

in a combat-centered game, a character built for high defensive capability with Strength as its main offensive capability

broken

uncomplimentary adjective for a rule that doesn’t work at the table

buff

an effect that gives a character a bonus

build point system

A character generation system in which players assemble characters from a wide array of crunchy bits, using a budget of points, generally without the easy starting point or constraints of character classes.

build

mechanical expression of character archetype, as seen in many F20 (q.v.) games.

buy-in

the process, prior to the start of a game, where the GM enlists the players and ensures that everyone shares the same basic expectations for tone, content, genre and other key elements.

caller

as envisioned in first edition Dungeons & Dragons, a player who funnels the instructions of all other players to the GM. As this created a bottleneck instead of clarity, it is seldom used today, except to fill out glossaries.

campaign book

game supplement presenting a series of linked adventures leading to a grand climax.

campaign

1) a linked series of adventures featuring the same PCs. Term borrowed from the hobby’s wargaming roots 2) the effort to crowdfund (q.v.) a project.

canon

1) as in pop culture properties generally, the events and facts considered to be officially true for a setting or ongoing series. 2) a quality a game favors when it presents a heavily detailed setting. Antonym for open (q.v.)

casual player

a player who fully enjoys hanging out with the group but doesn’t obviously engage much, either with fellow participants, the rules set, or the plot. Often mistaken for a player who wants to be drawn out by the GM and put in the spotlight.

cat

a small animal that will bat your d20s (q.v.) under the couch if they roll off the table, which is why you might want to use a dice tray (q.v.)

chain of fights

an adventure loosely modeled on the action movie in which simple connective sequences draw the PCs through a series of set-piece fights and chases.

chapter

synonym for adventure (q.v.) in White Wolf’s Storyteller system and other games

character build

in some F20 (q.v.) games, a preset way of creating a character of a particular class to favor certain of its key abilities over others

character creation

A variant term for character generation, often used in games where that process is relatively simple compared to the median trad game.

character generation

The process of creating a character to play in a session or series.

character sheet

a paper or virtual form listing all of the game statistics and other key qualities of a player character.

characteristic

a synonym for attribute (q.v.)

chargen

abbreviation for character generation (q.v.)

choice

a quality a game system favors if its events are predominantly determined by creative decisions made by players and GM. Antonym of randomness (q.v.)

chrome

synonym for flavor (q.v.)

clan

A group a character belongs to that provides a set of specific capabilities and strongly suggested beliefs and behavior patterns. Most associated with the Storyteller line of games.

class

in F20 (q.v.) games, a character type with its own distinct set of crunchy bits (q.v.)

collaborative authorship

a quality of a game in which players are at times invited to help invent elements of the setting

combo

In a crunchy game, a powerful effect gained by combining two separate elements, like a spell and a feat, spell and a magic item, two spells, and so on.

community content

a license permitting third parties to use a company’s otherwise restricted intellectual properties, often to be sold in particular venue.

con game

A roleplaying game run at a convention.

con

short for gaming convention

condition

an ongoing affect on a character that remains in effect until it expires or is remedied. To be wounded and take a -1 penalty to many actions is to have wounded as a condition.

contest

an event resolution in which each character takes multiple actions before an outcome is determined, increasing suspense and adding opportunities to use different tactics.

core activity

the premise of the game, boiled down into a formula that explains who the player characters are and what they do. For example, “You are art students in 1895 who investigate the occult conspiracy of an alien god or monarch called the King in Yellow.”

core clue

in GUMSHOE, a piece of information needed to progress through the scenario and storyline

core rules

synonym for engine (q.v.)

core scene

in GUMSHOE, the scene in which the Investigators are most likely to gather at least one specific core clue

creature

1) encompassing term for all beings who might fight or be fought in a game, including player characters and NPCs (q.v.); 2) a monstrous adversary

crit

short for critical (q.v.)

critical

an especially effective blow landed in combat, or an especially good result of any roll that brings an effect of greater than usual magnitude

crock

a badly designed and playtested crunchy bit so disproportionately powerful that it invites disdain from the GM and players. Typically not used, either because the GM has house-ruled it out of existence, or the players are too proud to stoop to it.

crowdfund

to sell an upcoming product, often one still in development that will be increased in scope or scale by the effort, via a third party platform that facilitates such efforts, such as Kickstarter or Backerkit.

crunch

the part of a rule book devoted to rules defining what characters and the people, places and things they interact with can do

crunchy bit

a single character capability from a crunchy game, which might be, for example, a spell, feat, skill, magic item, mutant power, piece of technical equipment.

crunchy

informal descriptor for a detailed rules set or style of play emphasizing a large number of powers and abilities and their interactions. If you’re looking for our crunchiest game, pick up 13th Age.

cult

A religious group a character belongs to that provides a set of specific capabilities and strongly suggested beliefs and behavior patterns. Most associated with RuneQuest and games that share its setting.

cursed item

an apparent magic item that turns out to penalize the characters who own it; typically hard to get rid of once acquired.

cut scene or cutscene

borrowed from video games, a GM-driven sequence in which characters briefly become spectators, and players suspend their agency, to receive information or experience a story’s setup or a narrative jump.

d%

synonym for d100 (q.v.)

d00

synonym for d100 (q.v.)

d10

abbreviation for a ten-sided die.

d100

abbreviation for the roll of a two digit number from 0 to 100, usually by rolling one d10 for the first digit and another for the second.

d12

abbreviation for a twelve-sided die.

d20

1) abbreviation for a twenty-sided die. 2) the name of the system trademark allowing publishers using the open source license for materials from 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons to mark their work as using that license.

d4

abbreviation for four-sided die.

d6

abbreviation for a six-sided die.

d8

abbreviation for an eight-sided die.

damage

1) a loss of hit points from a particular source, such as an attack or hazard. 2) the base number of hit points, or range thereof, a character’s attack removes from an opponent on a successful attack.

debuff

an effect that reduces an adversary’s capabilities.

demo

a brief, boiled down game session tuned to teach a game and encourage people to buy it.

design by addition

creating a new game from scratch by building only the sub-systems you need to fit your core activity and design goals

design by subtraction

creating a game from an existing engine by looking at its existing corpus of sub-systems and taking only those that fit your core activity and design goals

developer

in tabletop publishing, the person who edits a writer/designer’s manuscript for content, including adjustments to rules mechanics.

Diana Jones Award

a singular award given out once per year prior to the Gen Con game convention, celebrating excellence in the roleplaying field. Judged by a select, quasi-confidential committee of industry notables which in the past has nominated and chosen games, designers, service providers, and abstract concepts. Named after a charred piece of cardstock encased in its original Perspex pyramid trophy, the remnants of the cover to an Indiana Jones adventure TSR UK employees were required to destroy on the cessation of their parent company’s license with Lucasfilm. In no way affiliated with the late English children’s author Diana Jones.

dice pool system

a resolution system in which many dice are rolled, and participants decide which ones are treated as relevant.

dice tower

a vertical game accessory, in which dice are thrown, ensuring that they will tumble fully randomly. The earliest known version dates back to the 4th century Roman Empire.

dice tray

a game accessory that contains dice when thrown, so that they don’t roll off the table.

difficulty

a number that must be matched or better to achieve success when attempting an action.

directed emotion

a quality a game system has if the reactions of players and GMs stem from rules designed to provoke certain responses. Antonym of emergent emotion (q.v.)

directed freeform

freeform play that starts with a Fortune at the Beginning (q.v.) roll.

disad

abbreviation for disadvantage (q.v.)

disadvantage

a character vulnerability of a specific, often innate, often unusual nature, such as a susceptibility to Kryptonite or a lack of telescopic vision.

DM

abbreviation for Dungeon Master (q.v.)

downtime

a player-driven interstitial sequence in which characters step back from the hazards of danger to pursue low stakes activities such as shopping, training, spell research, rest, or healing.

DPS

borrowed from video games, where it stood for Damage Per Second, a term used to compare characters’ ability to deal damage (q.v.)

DramaSystem

the rules engine for Hillfolk, a story game focused on dramatic interaction between characters, chiefly player characters.

drift

to use a given game for a setting or PC group not standard for it.

duet

synonym for one-to-one (q.v.)

dump stat

an attribute, characteristic, or other value to which a player assigns their lowest roll or invests the least number of build points.

dungeon crawl

an adventure centered on fighting and exploration in a confined environment with many discrete areas.

Dungeon Master

proprietary synonym for Game Master, specific to Dungeons and Dragons

dungeon

literally, an underground environment in which F20 characters find fights, challenges, exploration opportunities and loot in close proximity. Figuratively, any adventure structured around any discrete environment where the PCs explore and fight their way through a particular area, gaining increasing control over it as they progress.

ease

a quality a game has when players can pick it up and run with it right away. Antonym of mastery (q.v.)

elegance

a quality a game system has if all of its subsystems work in the same way, stemming from a central resolution mechanic. Antonym of ornamented (q.v.)

emergent emotion

a quality a game system has if the reactions of players and GMs stem from the story content they introduce. Antonym of directed emotion (q.v.)

emotional

a quality a rule or subsystem has when it is built with the feelings they are meant to evoke at the table as a starting point. Antonym of abstract (q.v.)

emulation

the process of evoking the styles, methods, and structures of other fictional forms in roleplaying

encounter

especially in F20, a sequence in which the PCs meet a group of GMCs and/or creatures, probably resulting in a fight but possibly concluding with a verbal interaction. It begins when the two groups meet and end when one departs or has been slain.

encumbrance

a value assigned to a particular item corresponding to its weight and bulk, in a frequently seen sub-system determining how much each character can carry.

enemy

synonym for adversary (q.v.)

engine

a rules set, often one forming the basis of several related roleplaying games.

ENnie

an award given to roleplaying products in a range of categories, given out each year at the Gen Con game convention. Named after the ENWorld forum the award ceremony arose from.

experience points

abbreviation for experience points

epic campaign

a very big thick campaign book (q.v.)

episode

1) synonym for adventure (q.v.); 2) in some rules sets, a synonym for session (q.v.)

errata

a list of corrections and suggested amendments to a published rule set or other book.

Escalation Die

in 13th Age, a six-sided die which acts as a visual aid, reminding the GM and players of a bonus to attack rolls, which increases by 1 each round, counteracting the slowly fizzling rhythm F20 combats are otherwise prone to

exceptions-based

a style of game design that establishes a baseline of rules, which individual conditions or crunchy bits can suspend or alter, thus creating an exception. Associated most strongly with trading card games, but found in some tabletop roleplaying rules, for example monster abilities in 13th Age or shock and injury cards in The Yellow King Roleplaying Game.

experience

a mechanism allowing players to increase the effectiveness of their characters over the course of a series

exploding die

a mechanic in which a die result increases when it gets a particular result, usually its highest one, and is then rerolled, with the new result added to a running total, possibly multiple times. In some systems, such as Feng Shui, rolls can explode downwards as well, with a countervailing die reducing the overall total each time it is rerolled.

F20

the broad category of fantasy games that draw on the tropes and design principles of Dungeons & Dragons. The F stands for fantasy, the 20 for the type of die most often used in most if not all D&D-derived games. 13th Age is an F20 game.

fantasy heartbreaker

mournfully sympathetic term for an F20 game a designer has taken considerable love and effort to create but which offers no clear or appealing point of differentiation from D&D and other games already occupying that ferociously competitive market niche. In the old days of offset print runs, the heartbroken reaction came from picturing a garage full of thick, high price-point books the self-published designer would never be able to sell.

FKR

acronym for Free Kriegsspiel Revolution (q.v.)

flailsnail

1) a cool F20 monster, i.e., a giant snail with flails for eyestalks, 2) a style of gaming in which PCs are highly portable and can be expected to switch between settings or even rules sets, roughly converted as necessary.

flavor

a more subtly dismissive synonym for fluff (q.v.)

FLGS

acronym for Friendly Local Game Store, a place where we would be very happy to see you purchase your Pelgrane Press products

fluff

the part of a book devoted to the setting and story, used sarcastically by players who prefer to concentrate on crunch and tactics.

focus

a quality a game system has if it works best at a narrower sweet spot. Antonym of width (q.v.)

foe

synonym for adversary (q.v.)

fortune at the beginning

a random roll made prior to an otherwise player-directed, improvised plot structure, determining a starting direction. Like a request for suggestions at an improv comedy show, this focuses all participants on a piece of input preventing them from falling back on their usual patterns.

Free Kriegsspiel Revolution

an offshoot of and/or countermovement to OSR (q.v.) that focuses on rules minimalism, immersion, and narration-based problem solving.

freeform

1) A synonym for Live Action Roleplaying (q.v.), often used in convention settings where both tabletop and Live Action events take place, to more obviously distinguish one from the other. 2) playing a session or part of one without dice, with event resolution determined by a combination of drama, vibes and GM fiat, or by simply comparing stats. 3) In tabletop, a synonym for sandbox (q.v.)

frp

abbreviation for fantasy roleplaying, used early on and still in some territories as a name for the form as a whole.

fumble

an especially poor result when a character attempts to do something

gadget

a technological item, sometimes fanciful or from the pages of science fiction, extends characters’ powers, granting them buffs or superhuman capabilities.

GAMA

the Game Manufacturers Association, an adventure gaming industry trade group founded in 1977.

game jam

an event in which designers are invited to create games or game products within particular parameters and then share their results with fellow participants and others following the results.

Game Master Character / Game Moderator Character (GMC) synonym for Non-Player Character; unlike the more common, traditional term, this alternative tells you what it is rather than what it isn’t

Game Master

a participant who takes on the special role of leading the group, preparing or improvising adventures, adjudicating rules, creating and/or depicting the setting, and playing the roles of secondary characters.

Game Moderator

a synonym for Game Master, which Pelgrane uses in a number of our games, when we want to emphasize their role as facilitator without putting them at the top of a hierarchy.

Game Moderator

synonym for Game Master (q.v.); less commonly used, but emphasizes that the task is more about facilitating the game than controlling it.

game poem

a brief game focused on images and emotions, which takes minutes to play instead of hours.

game statistics

the numbers and descriptors defining what characters and their adversaries can do and how likely they are to succeed.

game time

the amount of time that passes for the characters in the world, which may be longer or shorter than the time passed by the players and GM.

gamism

styles of roleplaying emphasizing its tactical, crunchy (q.v.), and achievement-oriented facets.

gearhead

nickname for a character who specializes in technological items.

Gen Con

the English-speaking world’s biggest and most important game convention, now held in Indianapolis. In its original incarnation as a tiny meet-up of wargaming enthusiasts in Lake Geneva, WI, it provided an opportunity for the creators of Dungeons & Dragons to meet up and start hatching the game.

generational

describes a game in which players take on the roles of multiple generations, later generations either literally, corporately, or symbolically descended from their earlier player characters. Due to its span of history can also be described as a saga (q.v.)

glass cannon

a character or creature with a heavy offensive capability but low defense. In many games this manifests as high damage and low hit points and/or armor.

GM fiat

an event resolution decided by the GM without resort to a rules mechanism.

GM screen

1) a game accessory, by default a piece of reinforced cardstock, that stands up at the gaming table, shielding the Game Master’s notes and (sometimes) die rolls from the eyes of the players, with tables and other quick-reference material, printed on the GM-facing side. 2) The physical fold-out cardboard album cover for Peter Frampton’s classic Frampton Comes Alive.

GM-facing

descriptor for a rules mechanism that the GM interacts with but is opaque to the players.

GM-less

a quality a game has when it drops the role of GM, instead distributing the responsibilities usually associated with that role to the players, either serially or in a collective.

GM

abbreviation for Game Master (q.v.) or Game Moderator

GMC

abbreviated synonym for Non-Player Character (q.v.); less commonly used but more explanatory, as it tells you what it is, rather than what it isn’t

GNS

a taxonomic system proposed in 1999 by designer and theorist Ron Edwards, inspired by earlier critical models, which divides tabletop play into three basic styles: gamist, narrativist, and simulationist, defining each of those terms in a highly specific manner.

grognard

appropriately borrowed from an old slang term for a worn out soldier, a pejorative and/or affectionate and/or proudly self-identifying term for a change-resistant gamer who favors the crunchy, complex, often simulationist rules systems that were new when they were younger.

GUMSHOE

Pelgrane’s rules engine tuned for investigative play, also available through an open license. It powers such games as Trail of Cthulhu, Night’s Black Agents, The Yellow King Roleplaying Game, Swords of the Serpentine, and Merryshire Detective Club.

hack

the act of substantially altering an existing rules set, often by adapting it to a different genre, or sometimes to radically simplify or complicate it.

hacker problem

the classic challenge of finding something for other characters to while one character engages in an extended solo activity, as typified by the hacker attempting a computer intrustion.

hacker

a character who specializes in computers, especially computer intrusion.

hand-out

a paper prop given by the GM to the players, representing a document the characters handle, for example a map, business card, newspaper clipping or brochure

handling cost

the effort needed for GM and players to make use of a particular rule. Sub-systems with relatively high handling costs must justify their presence by providing some other value, such as high emotional engagement or a form of entertainment key to the core activity.

harmonica

descriptive metaphor for a rule or game that is simple to operate and in output. Antonym of violin (q.v.)

hazard

1) an impersonal element in the world environment that threatens harm to the PCs if not counteracted or avoided, such as a lava pit, sandstorm, or land mine. 2) in GUMSHOE, a type of scene centering around such an element

heartbreaker

like a fantasy heartbreaker (q.v.), but atypically, in another genre.

hero points

a game resource players can choose to spend to increase their chances of success, as an overlay on the rest of the resolution system.

heroes

a collective term for the PCs. See also: party, adventurers, Investigators.

hex

1) a unit in a map or diagram with a grid subdivided into hexagons. Found in many wargames, they are most often used in tabletop roleplaying to mark outdoor areas and other open spaces where combat might occur, the unconfined space granting relatively free movement across the area. 2) less commonly, a synonym for spell.

hexcrawl

a style of game, often F20, focused on exploring and defeating opposition in a contiguous outdoor area, named for the style of map used for such areas.

hit points

a value in many games where characters can come to physical harm, determining how often and how badly they can be hurt before they lose the ability to act, lapse into unconsciousness, or die

homebrew

a rules set heavily modified by the GM you’re playing with; very often based on Dungeons and Dragons

hook

a brief premise for a scenario. Synonym for seed.

hook

the inspiration or premise for a story-driven scenario.

houserule

a rule used by your GM that does not appear in the published game

icon

in 13th Age, a powerful GMC a PC might have a hostile or friendly relationship with, shaping the events of the story

immersive

descriptor for a style of play in which a player wishes only to control the words and actions of their character, with minimal reminders of the rules structure and no decisions that smack of authorial creation

in media res

as borrowed from literature, a technique in which the adventure begins already deep into the action. Flashbacks may later explain how the PCs got to that point. This starts the game on an exciting note and sidesteps premise rejection by assuming the characters have accepted the mission.

in-character

a mode of player speech, used when directly improvising the character’s dialogue. If your character Beulah Stokes says “What a nincompoop!” to the fussy librarian, you are speaking in character. Antonym of out-of-character (q.v.)

in-house playtesting

running a game or scenario you have designed in order to identify its flaws in design and presentation, so they can be corrected before publication.

indie

descriptor for a game published by an individual or small company, and for the community of people who produce such games. A vibe, not a precise definition, in which various people use different criteria to define what traits qualify a game as indie. Some games by established publishers draw from the indie tradition or are designed by its key figures. Often but not always a story game. Antonym for trad.

initiative

1) a subsystem (q.v.) determine the order in which participants in a fight or contest (q.v.) take their turns (q.v.) 2) what a character has when it is their turn to act

interval

in GUMSHOE, a period of time between the acquisition of core clues.

Investigators

in mystery games such as Trail of Cthulhu or the various GUMSHOE games, a collective term for the PCs. See also: party, adventurers, Investigators.

level

a stratum of capability characters achieve in some systems when they pass certain experience thresholds, granting them additional powers and/or increases to their game statistics. A key feature of F20 games.

line editor

in tabletop publishing, the person who oversees a particular game line (q.v.)

line

1) in tabletop publishing, a core game book and all of its supplements, adventures and sourcebooks. 2) a safety tool used in discussion prior to play, in which a player designates a type of content as entirely out of bounds

Live Action Roleplaying (LARP)

A sister form to tabletop roleplaying in which players move around a common play space interacting with one another, often in a large or multi-room space, often in costume. Synonym for freeform.

lone wolf

synonym for one-to-one (q.v.)

loot list

the section of a rules book, or the entirety of a supplement, detailing various power-granting items the characters might gain.

lyric

a quality a game has when it focuses on experimental, often deconstructed play that challenges the limits of the form, using creative methods inspired by modernist poetry. Originally used to describe the work of a late 2010s-early 2020s game design movement prioritizing emotional intimacy and formal experimentation.

magic item

in a fantasy game, a wondrous object that extends characters’ powers, granting them buffs or spell-like capabilities.

mastery

a quality a game has if it presents complex or elaborate rules or setting material, favoring those who take the time and brainspace to learn it. Antonym of ease (q.v.)

megadungeon

a very thick adventure book detailing a vast dungeon environment.

melee

1) a fight scene 2) a descriptor for the rules rules governing fight scenes. Typically used in F20 games (q.v.)

metagaming

breaking the illusion of reality by making decisions for your character based on your knowledge of its fictional nature

metaplot

a story arc developed over a series of published game books and supplements. This publishing strategy becomes controversial when it seems to steal control from individual gaming groups.

microgame

a very short roleplaying game design.

mini

abbreviation for miniature (q.v.)

miniature

a small (often 28-32 mm) figure used to represent characters and creatures during in-person play. Sometimes used for flavor purposes only, but more often to determine positioning for combat subsystems that take it into account.

minimaxing

getting maximum benefit at minimum cost by taking advantage of underpriced or overpowered character abilities, or combinations of abilities, to an extent that strains fictional credibility. Sometimes spelled min-maxing or minmaxing.

modifier

most often, a number applied to a die roll, changing its chance of success. Umbrella term for bonus (q.v.) and penalty (q.v.)

monster

a hostile or frightening creature, often appearing as a threatening, combative adversary to the PCs.

monster

synonym for adversary (q.v.); used in games where you exclusively or primarily fight hostile non-human people and beasties

montage scene

as borrowed from cinema, a sequence in which time is telescoped to quickly indicate a lengthy process undergone by the characters. A long period of game time (q.v.) is reduced to a few minutes of table time (q.v.)

Monty Haul

a pejorative term for GMs who give out treasure too generously. More often used in the hobby’s early years.

mook

an easily beaten opponent with limited offensive capability, threatening only in the large numbers it usually appears in, as inspired by the swarms of henchmen dispatched by action movie heroes.

MOSAIC Strict

a game design style built on modular subsystems that must each successfully operate without assuming anything about any of the other modular subsystems a GM might choose to combine them with.

multiclass

1) to have a player character belong to two or more classes (q.v.)

munchkin

mocking term for an immature and/or selfish player who goes overboard with the minimaxing (q.v.)

murder hoboes

A sarcastic term for player characters who rove through an environment free of social, emotional or legal constraint and therefore engage, often with glee, in irresponsible and criminal behavior, up to and including murder. Many games include sub-systems to discourage or prevent the characters from behaving as murder hoboes, as this anti-hero behavior violates the ethos of most fictional genres.

mystery

a scenario type in which the PCs progress by investigating and gathering information, answering a question posed at the outset

narrative control

the ability to determine what is happening in the fictional reality, remarkable only when a player has it and not the GM.

narrativist

a style emphasizing story over other facets of play.

nerdtroping

found in pop culture as well as in gaming, the act of adding elements of a fanciful genre, such as fantasy, horror, SF, or superheroes, to a usually naturalistic drama, such as the police procedure, hospital drama, or western.

nerf

to retroactively reduce the effectiveness of a character ability found to be overpowered after the game is published

niche protection

in a game where characters fulfill certain roles in the story, often through their adherence to genre stereotypes, the design need to ensure that other characters don’t impinge on those roles.

Non-Player Character

a supporting character played by the GM.

NPC

abbreviation for Non-Player Character (q.v.)

occupation

a starting point used in character generation, with a specialty corresponding to a profession.

offstage

a descriptor for events that occur outside of the player characters’ perception, such as backstory or distant interactions between GMCs. In some narrative techniques players are aware of offstage events but their characters are not.

OGL

an acronym for Open Gaming License, a component of the public copyright license connected to 3rd edition D&D. Usage has turned it into a term for any tabletop roleplaying public copyright license, which is technically incorrect.

old school

a style of play recreating the feeling of games from the 70s and early 80s. Often abbreviated as OSR, for old school renaissance.

One Unique Thing

in 13th Age, a storytelling element that makes a PC special, which may be used as a broad ability during play

one-on-one

synonym for one-to-one (q.v.)

one-shot

a single session game that is not followed up by further installments, often at a convention, as a demonstration of an unfamiliar game, or a fill-in when the regular game can’t go forward

one-to-one

a game with one player and one GM.

onstage

a descriptor for in-game events one or more player characters are aware of.

open content

game and setting material made available for other publishers and fans to incorporate into their publications without seeking additional approval or permission, according to the terms of an open gaming license (q.v.)

open license

a public copyright license in which a publisher grants permission to use rules and setting elements of a game without remuneration or the need for an approval process. GUMSHOE and DramaSystem can both be used by other publishers through open licenses.

open

a quality a game favors when it sketches a few principles for its setting, then encourages players and GMs to add details through improvisation and joint creation. Antonym to canon (2), (q.v.)

opponent

synonym for adversary (q.v.)

optional

descriptor for a rule that only comes into effect if GMs explicitly choose to include it in their games.

Origins Award

an award given to tabletop game products in a range of categories under the aegis of the GAMA trade organization, given out each year at its Origins game convention, hence the name.

ornamented

a quality a game system has if its many subsystems work in unrelated ways. Antonym of elegance (q.v.)

OSR

see “old school”

out-of-character

a mode of player speech, used when speaking as the player, outside of the fictional reality. If you say “What a nincompoop!” in response to the GM’s portrayal of a fussy librarian, but do not mean for your character to say it to him, you are speaking out-of-character. Antonym of in-character (q.v.)

outside playtesting

sending a game or scenario manuscript to others to run, so they can report on the problems they had, allowing you to fix your work before publication

party

a collective term for the PCs. Synonyms include adventurers, heroes, and Investigators. Some games present highly specific collective terms, such as “art students” and “squad”, used in different sequences of The Yellow King Roleplaying Game.

PAX Unplugged

a tabletop game offshoot of the PAX group of game conventions, held in the fall in Philadelphia.

PBEM

acronym for Play By Email, a game played in epistolary format. Sometimes literally by electronic mail, at other times in forums or other online communications forums.

PC

abbreviation for Non-Player Character (q.v.)

PDF

the digital file format, an acronym for Portable Document File, in which gaming books are often sold

penalty

most often, a number applied to a die roll, decreasing its chance of success. Antonym of bonus (q.v.)

percentile dice

two ten-sided dice rolled at the same time, with one providing the first digit and the other the second digit of a number ranging from 01 to 100.

pixel-bitching

borrowed from video games, the process of trying many methods to overcome a problem in a game session until the players finally hit on the single possible solution the GM or scenario designer originally had in mind.

Player Character

the fictional character through whom a player interacts with game events

player-facing: descriptor for a rules mechanism that the players interact with, to the exclusion of GM involvement. Combat in The Yellow King Roleplaying Game is player-facing; the GM never rolls dice to represent the actions of foes confronting the PCs.

player

a participant in a roleplaying game who takes on the improvised role of a fictional character, making decisions and solving problems through it

playtesting

running a roleplaying game or scenario, or having someone else run it, in order to identify its flaws in design and presentation, so they can be corrected before publication.

point-buy

a method of character generation in which the player purchases the character’s various capabilities, sometimes including attributes (q.v.) from a budgeted number of points. In some cases, as in attribute selection in F20 games, only a particular element of the character may be created with a point-buy system.

points-crawl

an adventure that advances by movement between locations, or points of interest, separated by variable distances, as marked on an abstracted map composed of nodes or paths.

polyhedral

literally, to have more than one side, a property shared by all dice. Colloquially in tabletop roleplaying, any die with more or fewer than the basic six sides.

pool points

in GUMSHOE, the number of points from a particular ability the character currently has available to spend.

power gamer

a player who builds a character around the most effective, usually action-oriented, crunchy bits, and loves to see them devastate the opposition in play

pregen

short for pregenerated character

pregenerated character

a character supplied for you by the GM or adventure writer

premise rejection

a moment when the players balk at pursuing the central goal the scenario has put before them

product identity

The portion of an intellectual property its publisher excludes from the material usable through an open license (q.v.) Antonym of open content (q.v.)

projector

a character, often in the superhero genre, who specializes in a high-damage, long range attack.

public domain content

game and setting material made available for other publishers and fans to incorporate into their publications without seeking additional approval or permission, because its creators have explicitly disavowed any copyright protection.

PvP

an acronym for player vs. player, used to describe situations where the player characters come into conflict with one another.

quorum

enough players to run a planned game

race

in fantasy games, a species of humanoid being, including humans and fictional beings such as elves and dwarves. Often used specifically to denote types players can select during character creation, which come with a particular suite of attribute adjustments, capabilities, and sometimes vulnerabilities or limitations. Introduced into the fantasy genre by Tolkien, and now disfavored by some publishers for its unwanted political connotations.

railroading

1) depriving players of the freedom to make meaningful decisions that affect the direction and outcome of events. 2) making them feel that they have been deprived of freedom. 3) as per designer and theorist Kenneth Hite, “pejorative term for a game in which something actually happens or which requires structure to function, such as a mystery RPG.”

random attribute generation

in games that use attributes, a method of determining them by rolling dice. Depending on the system each random result might be hard-coded to each attribute in turn, or the player may make a number of random rolls equal to the number of attributes and then allocate to the attributes as desired.

random encounter

an encounter (q.v.) that is not tethered to the events of a scenario, which might or might not occur depending on the result of one or more random determinations.

random table

a list of different entries or outcomes corresponding to the results of a die or other randomizing device.

random

a descriptor for decision made with a die roll (or, rarely, another randomizing device) during play. If the text of an adventure says, “This room contains a random treasure,” the GM knows to roll a die and consult a random table or list to find out exactly what it is.

randomizing device

any physical or virtual item, such as a die, spinner, coin to toss, or grab bag, that can be used to arrive at a previously unanticipated result.

randomness

a play style a game favors if its events are predominantly determined by dice or other unpredictable elements outside of the control of players and GM. Antonym of choice (q.v.)

range

the distance at which a projectile or projectile-like weapon, such as an attack spell or energy beam, can be effectively used

ranged attack

an attempt in combat to damage an opposing character from a distance with a projectile or projectile-like attack.

rating points

in GUMSHOE, the number of points from a particular ability the character has at the outset of a scenario, before any are spent or topped up above their usual maximums.

referential circularity

the phenomenon by which certain terms can not be defined without assuming familiarity with other interlocking, related terms, which is why roleplaying rules books are impossible to logically structure and are loaded with page references

relationship map

a diagram showing the interrelationships of various characters, sometimes the PCs, sometimes GMCs, sometimes both. The process of creating the map may establish the bonds between PCs and deepen their characterization.

resolution

the act of determining whether an action succeeds or fails.

retroclone

a game designed to reproduce the rules and tone of an older rpg without violating the intellectual property rights of the original’s rights holders.

rights holder

a person or company that holds the copyright on an intellectual property.

roll high system

a descriptor for a game system where players making die rolls want to hit a certain number or higher to succeed. GUMSHOE and 13th Age are roll high systems.

roll low system

a descriptor for a game system where players making die rolls want to hit a certain number or lower to succeed. Call of Cthulhu and GURPS are roll low systems.

roll under system

synonym for roll low system, above.

roll-play

sarcastic term for players who prefer the tactical and arithmetical facets of play; used by players who prefer characterization and story. Often spoken with an audible eye-roll.

round

a period of time in which each participant in a fight, chase, debate or other contest is afforded the chance to act at least once.

RPG

abbreviation for roleplaying game.

Rule 0

alternate spelling of Rule Zero (q.v.)

Rule of Cool

a practice allowing players to situationally bend or break the letter of the game rules when everyone at the table agrees it would be entertaining and fun to let them do that.

Rule of Drama

a practice allowing the GM or players to situationally bend or break the letter of the game rules to follow storytelling imperatives such as enhanced conflict, thematic aptness, invocation of tropes, character revelation, or emulation of narrative structure.

Rule of Karma

the idea that important moments in the story should be maximally shaped by Choice (q.v.) over Randomness (q.v.)

rule set

the rules allowing you to play a particular game. Examples include Dungeons and Dragons, its cousins Pathfinder and 13th Age, The Esoterrorists, The Yellow King Roleplaying Game, Trail of Cthulhu, Champions, Traveller, Vampire in its various incarnations, Burning Wheel, Dresden Files, Fiasco and Apocalypse World.

Rule Zero

the principle that GMs can change any rule to suit the preferences of their groups.

rules engine

A basic set of rules underlying several related games, often modified to meet the needs of each. Pelgrane’s chief game system is GUMSHOE, which we use for our many investigative games.

rules lawyer

sarcastic term for a player who enjoys arguing over rules interpretations, often making strained arguments that benefit his character. Can dominate play to the irritation of others if the GM hasn’t learned to make quick rulings during play and listen to rules argument after the session ends.

rules-heavy

descriptor for a game with many highly detailed or complex rules subsystems, which exert a dominating influence over events. Antonym of rules-light (q.v.)

rules-light

descriptor for a game that runs on a few simple subsystems, in which participants exert a dominating influence over events. Antonym of rules-heavy (q.v.)

safety tools

a set of conventions and practices used to ensure that only content everyone at the table comfortably enjoys is put before the participants.

saga

a game that covers a long span of history, with original player characters dying off (perhaps in interstitial segments between time jumps) to be replaced by new ones. A saga may be generational (q.v.) but all generational games are sagas.

sandbox

requiring players to find their own narrative by interacting with a complex fictional environment that responds to their choices but otherwise conveys the impression of ticking along without them

save

Shorter synonym for saving throw (q.v.)

saving throw

a roll made in many systems, especially F20, to avoid harm or another negative result.

scenario

1) a single storyline in a roleplaying game, often one in a series; 2) a document that serves as the blueprint for a single storyline in a roleplaying game, either prepared by the GM or published by a game company or designer. Also called a scenario. Synonym for adventure (q.v.)

scene calling

the act of deciding the basic qualities of a sequence about to be played, often by listing the characters present and location, with other elements varying by game system. As seen in Hillfolk and Page Turners.

scene framing

synonym for scene calling (q.v.) May imply a greater degree of narrative control by the scene framer than calling.

scene

a section of a session’s narrative unified by discrete elements, typically a location and time duration

schtick preservation

in a game with classes, occupations or other tightly demarcated specialties, the design need to ensure that one class’ defining ability or power can’t be performed as well or better by other classes.

seed

a brief premise for a scenario. Synonym for hook.

series

a sequence of adventures featuring the same game and cast of PCs. Used as a synonym for campaign in games that bear little relation to the hobby’s wargaming roots.

series

synonym for campaign (q.v.), less commonly used; found in games more focused on story than martial exploits

session zero

A prelude session of a roleplaying series featuring character creation and out-of-character expectations setting, without any narrative or game play.

session

a single setting of play, often three to four hours

setting

the backdrop of people, places, and things against which the action occurs, encompassing to varying degrees its genre elements, history, customs and geography. Examples might include the modern day with superpowers, the 1920s with cosmic horrors, the old west with werewolves, Middle-Earth, a galactic empire, etcetera.

simulation

using roleplaying rules to model an imagined reality operating on its own internal logic

simulationist

a style emphasizing impartial faithfulness to the setting, for example, to using mechanisms meant to reproduce the statistically probable outcomes of physics or politics in our material, nonfictional world over other facets of play, such as the outcomes we associate with an emotionally or structurally satisfying story.

skill-based system

a game in which the attributes are downplayed or eliminated in favor of a focus on skills (q.v.)

skill

a character ability marking high performance in a sort of activity, often gained through learning or education, formal or otherwise.

slot

The number of choices one may make when picking character capabilities for a particular duration, from a larger list. If you may take 3 first-level spells at the outset of a mission or day of adventuring, you have 3 slots in that capability type.

sniper

a character specialized in ranged attacks.

soak

The ability to absorb or deflect points of damage before losing hit points or the equivalent health resource.

social contract

the shared assumptions of a play group regarding what will and won’t happen in the course of play, which act implicitly if not explicitly resolved in advance.

solo game

A game with one participant who, aided by a rules set or adventure, acts as both GM and player

species

a distinct type of humanoid being, including humans and fictional beings such as elves and dwarves. Often used specifically to denote types players can select during character creation, which come with a particular suite of attribute adjustments, capabilities, and sometimes vulnerabilities or limitations. Used by some publishers as a preferred alternative to race (q.v.)

spell

a crunchy bit (q.v.) representing and defining a magical effect wielded by a character

spend

in GUMSHOE, the act of gaining a benefit at the cost of one or more points connected to an Investigative ability, or of increasing a risky action’s chance of success at the cost of one or more points from a General ability.

spine

a bare bones outline for a scenario. May appear on its own, for the GM to flesh out, or as a precis of a fully written published scenario.

splatbook

One of a series of sourcebooks providing additional possible capabilities for characters of a certain class, species, or affiliation.

spotlight time

the comparative or absolute amount of time, over the course of a session or campaign, in which a particular player’s character has the spotlight (q.v.) In theory, all players ought to receive an equal share of spotlight time, unless content to cede a greater share to others.

spotlight

the notional space in which characters who are acting or speaking operate. Those doing so are said to have the spotlight.

SRD

abbreviation for system reference document (q.v.)

stat array

set of scores that can be allocated to a character’s attributes during character generation. An alternative to point-buy or dice-rolling methods of character attribute generation used in 13th Age and some other systems.

stat block

several or many lines of text presenting all of a creature or GMC’s game statistics (q.v.)

stat up

(verb) to assign game statistics to a character or adversary

stats

abbreviation for game statistics (q.v.)

storygame / story game

1) An often rules-light game focused on the emulation of narrative patterns and structures. 2) Products of the loose turn of the century movement specializing in such games.

stretch goal: in a crowdfunded project, a new element of the product or set of products that will be created if the campaign reaches a certain funding target.

subsystem

a discrete section of a core rules set devoted to a particular activity within the game, such as chases, combat, training, or managing the effects of psychological harm.

survival

descriptor for a scenario where the primary PC objective is to avoid being killed for as long as possible

SwordDream

an offshoot of and/or countermovement to OSR (q.v.) that fuses old school design principles with progressive political ideals.

system mastery

a degree of player commitment a rules system rewards when time spent learning and understanding its intricacies yields a tactical advantage in play.

system reference document

a comprehensive list of game elements that third parties may use as part of an open license (q.v.) Often abbreviated as SRD.

system

synonym for rules or rules engine

table time

time that passes for the players and GM, not the characters.

tactician

a player who enjoys careful planning and smart, perhaps lateral thinking to solve problems with a maximum of execution and a minimum of risk

tank

in a combat-centered game, a character heavily invested in defense, that nonetheless wields a single extremely effective attack.

target number

a number characters must meet or overcome to succeed at an action. Synonym for difficulty (q.v.)

template

a kit or starting point used in character generation, expressing a particular role, specialty or occupation, often presented in a state of partial completion, requiring a degree of additional customization by the player.

test

an event resolved by a single action or roll, or perhaps one roll or action per participating character.

THAC0

short for “to hit armor class 0,” a game statistic in D&D 2nd Edition and some of its F20 descendants providing a character’s baseline target number when attempting to hit opponents.

theater of the mind

1) what the group collectively imagines as events unfold in the fictional world. 2) a descriptor for a style of play heavily focused on evoking this ongoing mental picture 3) a descriptor indicating that the game will not use a map to position characters during combat, but will instead rely on this collective imagining to roughly picture positioning, when it even matters.

toy book

wry term for a game supplement entirely devoted to magic items, gadgets, or vehicles.

TPK

total party kill, a situation where all of the player characters are killed in the same fight, ending or catastrophically disrupting the current campaign

trad

descriptor for a game carrying over many of the primary design qualities of Dungeons & Dragons and its 2nd wave descendants. Antonym for indie.

trope

common storytelling device, moment, or image, often associated with a particular genre.

troupe style

a descriptor for a game in which players portray more than one PC and some PCs are played by more than one player.

TTRPG

abbreviation for tabletop roleplaying game, an expanded term for our form to distinguish it from video games, which appropriated our original term.

turn

one’s chance to act during a round (q.v.)

unbalanced

descriptor for a crunchy bit (q.v.) that either provides too great a benefit compared to others of its cost, or too little benefit compared to others of its cost; in F20, may refer to an entire class or character build that outpowers other PC types

veil

a safety tool used in discussion prior to play, in which a player designates a type of difficult subject matter as acceptable only if broadly alluded to, but not described in specific or graphic detail

versatility

a quality a game system has if it supports many possible core activities (q.v.)

violin

descriptive metaphor for a rule or game with a high handling cost justified by the enjoyment it brings. Antonym of harmonica (q.v.)

virtual tabletop

an online platform facilitating remote play.

VTT

abbreviation for virtual tabletop (q.v.)

wandering monster

especially in F20, a hostile dungeon or area inhabitant who confronts the party, triggered according to statistical likelihood or when characters linger or make too much noise in one spot. Typically wandering monster encounters serve as a cost or risk of time spent in a hostile area, as they are fights that would not otherwise occur (compared to the expected fights with room inhabitants) and do not result in significant treasure reward.

Westmarch style/West March style

descriptor for a campaign with a large pool of players, of whom only a fraction appear for any given session, with adventures based on the unpredictable assortment of players who happen to have shown up.

width

a quality a game system has if it supports play equally well over a long progression of power levels. Antonym of focus (q.v.)

world

sometimes used as a synonym for setting (q.v.), particularly in a fantasy game.

worldbuilding

the process of fleshing out an imaginary place, developing such facets as its geography, culture, natural history, and politics.

X-Card

a safety tool (q.v) anyone can use during play to indicate that content put before the group crosses their personal boundaries and needs to be modified or cut.

XP

see experience points