Update: The finished glossary is available here: RPG Glossary.
This is a first pass at a glossary of GMing terms. This glossary attempts to cover every gaming term that is both related to GMing and common to most RPGs.
A lot of these terms originated with D&D, but they’re so widely used they’ve have effectively become the default terms (even though many other RPGs call them different things).
Because I want this glossary to be useful to GMs of all skill levels, it includes some very basic terms. (Even veteran GMs might find some surprises here, though.)
I’m sure I’ve forgotten something, or bollixed up a definition (or several!), and I’d love your help improving this glossary. Once it’s been out there for a bit, I’ll probably make it a permanent TT page (linked in the sidebar).
I might also publish it in another form (like a PDF, or maybe even a book) sometime down the road, and I’d like to include your contributions in that publication.
For that reason, if you comment below, please be aware that I may use your comment in a published version of this glossary. By commenting on this post, you agree to let me do that.
Treasure Tables RPG Glossary
Adventure
A series of linked encounters, often played out in one or two sessions, in which the PCs overcome a variety of obstacles. Adventures can be linked together to form a campaign. (Synonymous with scenario.)
Balance
Also called game balance, the idea that all PCs should start the game at the same power level and that enemies and challenges should be appropriate to that power level. Can also apply to other game elements, such as monsters and items. Elements that are not balanced are often referred to as being broken; nerfing broken elements is a way to make them balanced again.
Battlemat
A map on which encounters are played out with counters or miniatures, often eraseable.
BBEG
Big Bad Evil Guy, slang for the central villain in an adventure or campaign.
Boss
Originally a video game term, bosses are powerful foes who require significant resources to defeat. In a given area, there is usually only one boss (though a boss will sometimes have sub-bosses).
Broken
A broken rules element is flawed in some way, most often by being too powerful or not powerful enough.
Burnout
When you need to take an extended break from GMing, you’re suffering from burnout. Burnout is most often caused by GMing too often or under frustrating circumstances.
Campaign
A linked series of adventures, usually with a central theme or storyline that ties them together.
Campaign Journal
A record of what happens during your gaming sessions. Campaign journals can range from a simple list of events to prose-style accounts, generally used to keep track of what happens during your campaign.
Canon
Established elements of a published setting. Published supplements generally support the canon. Some gamers are quite passionate about sticking to canon, and prefer not to diverge from it.
Character
Everyone in the game world is a character. This term applies to both PCs and NPCs.
Combat
A battle, generally between PCs and NPCs or PCs and monsters.
Con
Short for convention, a con is a gathering where gamers get together to play RPGs and buy gaming stuff.
Counter
Any small, flat item that represents a character or monster, generally used in conjunction with a battlemat. Counters are an alternative to miniatures.
Crunch
Slang for the mechanical elements of any RPG.
Deus ex Machina
Latin for “God from the machine,” a deus ex machina is a plot device that dramatically alters the outcome of a situation without regard to suspension of disbelief or the actions of the PCs. Closely related to GM fiat, and generally frowned upon.
Downtime
The time between adventures, when the PCs get a chance to rest, heal, train and resupply.
Drift
Taking an idea or rules element from one RPG and incorporating it into a different RPG. For example, importing the critical hit rules from Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay into D&D.
Encounter
A self-contained event or series of events in which the PCs do (or have the opportunity to do) something of significance. Attending a royal ball would be an encounter, picking a lock would not. Linking together several encounters is the most basic way to build an adventure.
Feedback
Opinions and criticism of the game, generally solicited by the GM from the players.
Flag
Anything about a PC which can be used to drive the game. For example, a mercenary PC’s rivalry with an NPC merc from another unit would be considered a flag, as it provides the GM with a hook for involving that PC in adventures.
Flavor Text
Descriptive text that doesn’t include any rules elements, most often found in published scenarios.
Fluff
Slang for the non-mechanical elements of any RPG, such as setting material.
Fudge
When the GM alters the results of a die roll, usually without the players knowing that they’ve done so. The only form of cheating that’s widely accepted in gaming.
GM
Short for Game Master, the player who guides the other players through adventures, describes the game world and plays all of the NPCs.
GM Fiat
When the GM simply decides the outcome of an in-game event, without rolling dice or involving the rules in any way. Often has a negative connotation.
GMPC
Game Master Player Character. A PC, not an NPC, controlled by the GM. GMPCs are tough to run well, and all too often they are treated much like pet NPCs, and given unfairly powerful abilities.
Hack and Slash
A play style that focuses on killing things and taking their stuff.
Handwave
Skipping over something that would normally be played out. For example, if you normally describe each day of travel during a journey, you could handwave that time by saying, “After two weeks of riding, you all arrive safe and sound.” Similar to GM fiat, but generally used to get to the good stuff.
Hook
There are two kinds of hooks: background and plot. Background hooks are elements of a PC’s history that the GM can use to tie that PC into the game world, or as fuel for adventures. A plot hook is anything the GM describes to get the PCs involved in an adventure.
House Rule
Any game rule that is added, altered or removed from the original rules.
Improvise
What the GM does when working without notes or pre-written adventure material, often as a response to something unexpected from the players.
In-character (IC)
Speech and actions performed as if spoken or done by a character, much like an actor in a play.
In Media Res
Latin for “in the midst of things,” a storytelling technique based on starting an adventure or campaign in the middle (usually with an action sequence), rather than at the beginning.
Item Management
Item management encompasses a variety of activities centered around the PCs’ gear, such as tranferring items from PC to PC, buying new stuff and identifying magic items. Most commonly undertaken during downtime.
LARP
Live Action Role Playing game. An RPG in which the players are in-character nearly all of the time, and no one is seated around a table.
MacGuffin
Any game element that serves primarily to get the PCs involved in an adventure, most often a physical object (prototype robot, magical statue, etc.). For example, the idol in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was a MacGuffin. (The classic example is the Maltese falcon in The Maltese Falcon.)
Marching Order
The order in which the PCs travel when in a confined space, such as a corridor. Most often used in dungeon settings in fantasy RPGs.
Meat Grinder
An encounter or series of encounters that is tougher than usual, making PC death much more likely.
Mechanics
All of the rules elements of an RPG.
Metagame
Technically, any game-related concerns that are not part of the game itself, but more often used in reference to a player who uses knowledge not possessed by their PC to their advantage.
Metaplot
Background story elements that exist throughout a campaign, often built into the setting. Metaplot elements are often peripheral to a game’s main storyline.
Miniature
A tiny figure used to represent a character or other game element, most often in conjunction with a battlemat. Miniatures are available both painted and unpainted.
Min/Max
Short for minimize/maximize, a technique where you maximize a character’s abilities in one area while minimizing them in others. Often done by power gamers.
Monty Haul
A play style in which tangible rewards (usually items or treasure) far outweigh the risks involved for the PCs.
Mook
An NPC with limited abilities whose only role is to be taken out by the PCs during combat. Mooks usually come in groups, like extras in a kung-fu film.
Munchkin
A player who exploits loopholes in the rules (but does not break them) to build PCs that are more powerful than average. Synonymous with twink.
Nerf
To make a rules element significantly less powerful (sometimes too much so).
Newbie
Someone who is new to RPGs.
NPC
Non-Player Character. Any character in the game world who is not a PC.
One-shot
An adventure designed to be played in a single session, and not as part of an ongoing campaign. One-shots often feature pre-generated PCs.
Out-of-character (OOC)
Anything that a player says or does that is not spoken or done in-character, such as asking a rules question.
Party
The group formed by the PCs.
PC
Player Character. Any character that is played by a player, not the GM.
Pet NPC
An NPC that receives favored treatment from the GM, often outshining the PCs during the game. Pet NPCs are very frustrating for players.
Play by Email (PBeM)
An online RPG which is played via email, with no face-to-face interaction between the players.
Play by Post (PbP)
An online RPG which is played on a messageboard or forum, with everyone posting their actions for the rest of the group to see.
Player
Technically, everyone involved in playing the game is a player, but the term is most often used to mean everyone but the GM. Each player generally plays a single PC.
Play Style
A distinctive approach to gaming. Every gaming group has its own play style, as does every individual player and GM.
Plot
The story that unfolds during an adventure. In RPGs, the plot can start out one way and wind up somewhere very different, because of the actions of the PCs.
Power Gamer
A player whose PC utilizes the rules in such a way as to give them an extra edge, usually in combat and at the expense of non-combat skills.
Prep
Short for preparation, all of the activities that the GM does before each session (and when planning out a campaign).
Prop
A real-world object that is connected to the game, such as a parchment map that the GM draws for the players to represent that map that their PCs found in the game.
Railroad
A linear play style in which the players have very few options, so named because much like a train, adventures like this proceed as if on rails. Railroading gets a bad rap, but it can be a good thing in certain situations (at con games, for instance).
RAW
Rules As Written. The original, unaltered rules text of an RPG (not modified by house rules, for example).
RBGM
Rat Bastard Game Master. A GM who fights dirty, but fair. Forcing the PCs to choose between saving the residents of a burning building and capturing their nemesis is something an RBGM would do.
Red Herring
A game element intended to mislead the players, most often one of several possible clues.
Red Shirt
From Star Trek, a friendly NPC whose only real function is to get killed in a dramatic fashion, thus giving the PCs something to fight for. (In the original Star Trek series, when the bridge crew beamed down to a planet, they almost always took a guy in a red shirt — and he was always killed right away.)
Retcon
Short for retroactive continuity, when previously established game elements (often including the actions of the PCs) are changed after the fact. This can range from “taking back” actions during combat to adding background elements to a character after the game has begun.
RPG
RolePlaying Game. A game in which the players take on fictional roles (characters) and take part in a shared narrative, usually guided by a GM.
Rule One
“The GM is always right.” Often called the Golden Rule.
Rule Zero
“Never give the GM ideas.”
Rules Lawyer
A player who knows the rules extremely well, and prefers to stick to them very closesly. Often, rules lawyers use their extensive knowledge of the rules to exploit loopholes that favor their PC.
Scene
A discrete event or sequence of events, much like a chapter in a book, that has a definite beginning and end. An encounter is often (but not always) also a scene; an adventure is never a scene.
Scenario
A series of linked encounters, often played out in one or two sessions, in which the PCs overcome a variety of obstacles. Scenarios can be linked together to form a campaign. (Synonymous with adventure.)
Screen
A three- or four-paneled cardboard “shield” that many GMs set up in front of them to prevent the players from seeing their notes, maps and die rolls.
Session
One day/afternoon/night of gaming, which often (but not always) involves playing through a single adventure.
Setting
The world in which the game takes place.
Social Contract
The unwritten (often implict, sometimes explicit) rules under which your group operates, covering everything from when and how often you game to how much out-of-character discussion is allowed at the table.
Splatbook
An RPG supplement that further fleshes out an element of the game, most often focused on the PCs. A sourcebook just for warrior characters would be an example of a splatbook. Often shortened to just “splat.”
Splitting the Party
When the PCs split up to tackle two or more things at once.
Stakes
What is at stake for each of the parties involved in a conflict. Stakes are implict in most RPGs (PC death is at stake in nearly every combat, for example), but some RPGs have rules for setting them.
Stats
Short for statistics, the mechanical attributes of a character or item. For example, strength is a stat in most RPGs; the amount of damage caused by a gun would be one of that weapon’s stats.
Story Arc
A series of linked adventures within a campaign, connected by shared plot and/or thematic elements. Resolving a story arc does not resolve the entire campaign (unless it’s the final story arc).
Subplot
A secondary plot that runs parallel to the main plot. Subplots are often designed so that they can be ignored (or missed) by the PCs.
System
Another term for a game’s rules.
Table Talk
Any conversation at the gaming table that is not directly related to the game itself, such as quoting Monty Python lines. Excessive table talk can be disruptive.
TPK
Total Party Kill. When the entire party of PCs is wiped out in a single instance, most often due to a run of poor die rolls.
Twink
A player who exploits loopholes in the rules (but does not break them) to build PCs that are more powerful than average. Synonymous with munchkin.
Wing It
Slang for “improvise.”
Worldbuilding
The act of creating a setting.
Acknowledgements
This list was inspired by the Motive Web Design Glossary, which I found out about via Performancing.
If you’ve made it this far, I’ve got a few specific questions for you. Are these definitions long enough? Detailed enough? (I deliberately tried to keep them short and to the point.) And is the cross-linking between definitions useful?
Very nice. Crosslinking is very useful
I’d disagree with the definition for Rules Lawyer. The way I’ve always heard it used is someone who goes by the word of the rules preciely and knows them backwards.
I’m very much a rules lawyer when I play, even if the rules aren’t in my favour.
Comments?
Power Gamer: A player who’s characters utilize the rules in such a way as to give them an extra edge, usually in combat and at the expense of non-combat skills.
Min/Max: Short for Minimize/Maximize, a technique where you maximize a character’s abilities in one area while minimizing them in another. Usually this is done by power gamers. See Power Gamer.
Munchkin or Twink: Someone who exploits loopholes in the rules to build characters that are technically legal but more powerful than average.
The tradition example for the MacGuffin is the Maltese Falcon. You never really find out what it is for, which drives home the point that it’s solely a plot device.
Hmm…I didn’t see “Munchkin” on there, either…that’s a pretty common one you might want to add.
Good list, though. I think I’ll print it off for the wife to help with her continuing gaming education.
We use a few in our group which I think might or could be common…
Template – a player who consistently plays the same kind of character. This can be mechanical (always an elf fighter with a bow) or fluff (the eccentric outcast).
Chaotic Everywhere – a player who always wants to be the center of attention. When the thief opens the chest, he grabs the treasure even though he said he was 50′ away.
Deus Ex Tactica – an encounter where the opponent uses the GM knowledge to outflank/outwit the PCs (typically unreasonably, like starving dogs using advanced tactics).
PC Shield – invisible aura that prevents PCs from killing each other despite being of opposite alignments or temperaments.
Non-GM Skills – Skills which are guaranteed to fail (or prove unnecessary) because the GM either doesn’t understand or doesn’t care for them. (Usually the GMs name is put in for GM, so non-Steve Skills).
Favorite – a PC who the GM favors. Also sometime called the GMPC if the character allows the GM to pretend he’s part of the game.
DMPC (or GMPC) is uaually used to describe a character (not an NPC) that the DM is playing. The DMPC is supposed to be just another member of the party but all too often has impossible abilities, inflated level or stats and expensive equipment, as well as a knowledge that the character couldn’t have gained.
Is all too often used as a railroading tactic by poor DMs
On Deus ex Machina: It’s probably a losing battle, since apparently someone official has defined the term that way, and there are plenty of gamers that will now swear to your definition.
However, the phrase is a lot more specific than that. It means the introduction of a powerful, but heretofore unseen, entity that “makes everything right”. Typically, it’s used because the author/narrator/GM can’t see any other way to salvage the situation.
A classic contrast is the difference between the King in The Three Musketeers and the King in the play Tartuffe. In the Musketeers, the King is a full-fledged character (and pretty much incapable of “making everything right”). In Tartuffe, the whole story is a farce, where the whole trajectory of the plot is to dig all the characters into a deep hole. At the very end, the King arrives, and saves the day. Of course, the powerful entity can be God, making the phrase literal.
As a synonym for GM Fiat, Deus ex Machina is becoming useless (and contributing to future troubles for young GMs in literature classes 🙂 ). As what it really is, the phrase defines a subtle difference when using entites more powerful than any of the characters involved in the current story, and how to go about it.
This is a pet peeve. Can you tell? 🙂
Steve’s suggestions are fun, but definately aren’t universal. I can imagine why they’re used in his group, but I don’t believe they’d be useful in a generally applicable glossary like this one.
Maybe the terms aren’t universal, but based on con gming and table talk, I think many of the ideas/concepts are universal.
The only term I have real problems with is “Splitting the Party”. It’s not a GMing term. It’s just a description. That’s like saying “Rolling the Dice” or “Telling the Whiner to Shut Up” are GMing terms.
Can’t say I agree with the definition of balance. I’d say, instead, that “balance†refers to attempts to equalize levels of utility between the PCs. For instance, in D&D, the mighty power of a high level wizard is said to be balanced by them being barely more capable than a 0th level peasant at first level. No one would say a first level fighter and a first level wizard are balanced, without taking into account future potential.
It can also mean insuring that the challenges faced by the PCs are commensurate to their abilities. Unbalanced adventures lead to either Monty Haul play if they too heavily reward small amounts of effort, or TPKs if the challenges are too far beyond the PCs abilities.
There may be better therms for some of these, but I’m sure some people have run into them.
Paperclip:
Named after annoying microsoft tutorial program, a player who keeps reminding the GM of rules that act against the players.
Infobeating:
When the GM supplies so much background information that the players can no longer pick out what is pertinet to the session.
Ephemeral Gamemastering syndrome.
A condition of announceing a game, getting everyone to make up charaters, running about two times at most, if they make it as far as running at all, then dropping the entire game.
Here’s a few, some universal, some from my gaming circle:
Brick: An unsubtle clue given by the GM to keep the game flowing after the PCs are truly stumped.
Canon(ical): Established elements of a published campaign world. Official supplements generally support the canon. GMs who diverge may have to explain the divergences to new players.
Dicing: Any social interaction that is completely determined by a skill check rather than any actual roleplay.
Filler (or Padding): A technique where a GM purposefully eats up session time. Random encounter combats are the traditional methods, although overlong social scenes or downtime are other common methods. GMs usually resort to filler for one of two reasons: First, they may feel that they don’t have enough material to last through the current session, or Second, something unexpected happened during the course of the session and the GM wants to buy time to consider it.
Front-loading: A technique where, at the start of an adventure, the GM throws so many new things at the players that its impossible to significantly advance any one of them during a single session. In some cases, the players aren’t even sure which one is supposed to be the main plot.
Metagaming: Whenever a player uses information that he knows but his character doesn’t in order to make decisions for that character.
Metaplot: Background story elements that exist throughout a campaign, often built into the game world. Many times metaplots are peripheral to the actual adventures, and in some cases aren’t even meant to be touched by the players.
Monkey Wrench: Any action taken by a player for the purpose of disrupting an adventure, usually for the player’s own amusement.
On Deck: A backup PC that is fully statted and ready to be inserted once the original PC is killed.
Plot Thread: An element introduced for a player to run with or ignore at his own pace. Plot threads are often unrelated or peripheral to the main adventure.
Power Creep: The tendency for the PCs and their adversaries to get more powerful as a campaign progresses, often beyond the original scope of the campaign.
Sidekick Syndrome: The GM is so in love with an NPC (GMPC) that the entire campaign revolves around him, relegating the actual players to sidekick status.
Spaghetti-style: A GM technique of throwing a lot of plot threads at the players at the start of an adventure. The GM follows through with the threads players decide to pursue.
Spotlight: Any scene where a single PC is expected to shine.
Subplot: A secondary plot that runs parallel to the main adventure. A subplot often revolves around a PC’s personal issues. Subplots that drag out for more than a single adventure are recurring subplots.
Suicide: When a player performs irrational actions to get a character killed so that the player can introduce a new character.
Walt
I’ve added and modified a host of terms based on this first round of comments (and the ones in the forums):
– Balance
– Battle
– Campaign Journal
– Canon
– GMPC
– In Media Res
– MacGuffin
– Metagame
– Metaplot
– Min/Max
– Munchkin
– Power Gamer
– Rules Lawyer
– Subplot
– Twink
Spotlight and power creep both strike me as very close to universal — thoughts?
Steve: I like your terms, but I agree with Scott — they’re not “universal” enough to be included here. Would anyone else like to weigh in on this one?
Template and favorite sound like they’ve got potential, I just can’t pin them down.
Crazy Jerome: I thought carefully about my definition of deus ex machina, and defined it in the way I’ve most often seen it used — as a plot device, not necessarily a character.
I know it’s not the strict definition, but I think it represents the term’s most common gaming definition. Thoughts?
Daemon: With “splitting the party,” I was thinking in terms of a true neophyte GM. From that standpoint — and that standpoint alone — I don’t think it’s totally intuitive.
Spleen23: Maybe it’s just the terms (like you said), but your suggestions aren’t familiar to me. I understand them, but I haven’t run into the terminology. As always, more opinions are welcome. 🙂
My thanks to everyone for their contributions so far — this is exactly why I wanted to do this as a post first, with open comments. 🙂
Feedback, opinions on the suggestions so far and all other comments are still very much welcome!
It’s a pity that they’re going to be deleted in… like, now, actually… anyway, there was a really great discussion about the definition of powergamer and others over on the wizards.COMmunity boards. I’d disagree with yours; powergaming applies equally to all area of character development.
Speaking of the WotC boards, generally “Rule 0” there means what you’ve listed under “Rule 1.”
T
Nice summary. The inter-linking is extrememly useful.
What about adding these to the Treasure tables GMing Wiki?
A few more:
Closed Campaign: A campaign that has an expected ending, usually after predetermined goals have been met.
Open Campaign: A campaign designed to run indefinitely.
Mini-campaign: A shorter version of a closed campaign, usually comprising of a handful of adventures.
Big Bad: Generally synonymous with “Boss,” the Big Bad is usually in the background of a story arc until the very end, although his influence is felt throughout.
Dungeon Crawl: A (generally) less offensive term for hack-and-slash. Also known as “Old School.”
Character-Driven (or Player-Driven) Plot: Most common in LARPs. Plots are generated by the players reacting to their environment.
Leader: A PC designated as the final authority on party decision-making.
Archetype: A recognized character type with a particular set of abilities. A “class” is a rigid form of archetype.
Drama King/Queen: A somewhat derogatory term for a player who enjoys roleplaying his character to excess.
Buddy: A player who is only at the table because his friends are gaming. SOs are a common form of Buddy.
Critical Hit/Success: An attack so successful that it gives an extra benefit.
Fumble: A failure so spectacular that it causes extra aggravation.
Munchkin Disadvantage: A disadvantage that gives a player extra points to build his character, but is not really a detriment during actual play.
Splatbook: A supplement that adds extra crunch to a particular archetype or recognized group.
Game Breaker: A power or ability that, while official, runs the risk of disrupting campaigns.
Box Text: Flavor text that is often read verbatim to the players.
Walt
“I thought carefully about my definition of deus ex machina, and defined it in the way I’ve most often seen it used — as a plot device, not necessarily a character.”
It doesn’t have to be a character. In fact, that’s why “God” is often the character in question, since “God” need not make a physical appearance to “make things right”. But for it to be a real Deus ex Machina, there must be two things happening:
1. Something “makes things right”.
2. That something does not appear in the story until the moment things are “made right”.
If the story adequately foreshadows divine intervention, then such intervention at the end of the story is not a Deus ex Machina–no matter how ham-handed or how much it interferes with suspension of disbelief.
Suspension of disbelief has nothing to do with it, except insomuch as some people will incidently find the Deus ex Machina to be jarring. Nor is it sufficient to simply dramatically alter the situation. The situation is resolved–and thus this nearly always happens at the end. (A lot of GM Fiat could mess with suspension of disbelief and dramatically alter the situation without resolving anything. Frequently, such GM Fiat is precisely to keep things unresolved a bit longer.) And of course “make things right” is in the eye of the beholder. In a horror game, that kind of final resolution might be better expressed as “make things perfectly wrong”. 🙂
So for roleplaying purposes, I’d define the phrase as: “Major resolution of plot is accomplished through the agency of powerful interests that have not appeared in the story until the moment of resolution.”
The note about generally frowned upon is dead on, especially when you consider what is involved. (Mere GM Fiat is a tool, good or bad depending on how you use it.) The exception is, of course, any roleplaying comedy.
BTW, one of the things that makes Paranoia so deliciously creepy is that it turns the whole convention on its head. The god is a machine, and he isn’t resolving anything. 🙂
Also, I don’t mean to be so pushy about it. There are two kinds of dictionary entries, prescriptive and descriptive. If I were writing a dictionary, I’d lean towards the former–because I think that the meaning of separate terms does often merge into a hopeless mishmash–which we should valiantly attempt to delay through rearguard actions. 🙂
That said, there is really no reason why a dictionary with this tight a focus can’t be both prescriptive and descriptive. Say what things really, technically are. Then include alternate definitions showing other common usage. Such labeling should solve some issues in some of the other entries, as well.
Could just be me, but in my gaming experience the rule 1 or golden rule has always been ‘Make it Fun’.
Both constitute determining when to set aside the rules, but they emphasize different reasons for doing it. One suggests GM whim, the other player enjoyment.
I’d concur with the Golden Rule being “make it fun.”
As for Deus ex Machina, I think (if I’m reading this all correctly) I’m on Crazy Jerome’s side. While DeM and GM Fiat can overlap, DeM is often seen as appropriate to the genre, whereas GM Fiat is usually perceived as a GM “fix.”
Example: PCs in a pulp setting escape from Dinosaur Island just as the volcano explodes to destroy it. They have no hope of survival out in the middle of the Pacific…..until a steamship happens by to pull them out (DeM).
Example2: A PC in a pulp setting attempts to get the plane engine started before the volcano explodes. He botches his dice roll, but the GM rules he succeeded anyway (GM fiat).
Walt
Oops.
I didn’t notice BBEG when I suggested “Big Bad.”
Walt
Round 2’s updates, again based on feedback here and on the TT forums:
– Splatbook
– Table Talk
DMN: I wanted to write this glossary up first as a post for a couple of reasons, rather than just adding it to the wiki.
The main reason was that there aren’t that many active wiki users at the moment, whereas there are quite a lot of active TT readers.
The second reason is that there’s no barrier to entry to leave a comment — fill in two fields, write your comment, preview once and you’re set. On the wiki, you need an account to edit a page, and I didn’t want anyone to fall through the cracks.
Ultimately, I may wind up adding this glossary to the wiki.
Crazy Jerome: You’re not being pushy, just passionate about a pet peeve. 😉
I like your idea of including prescriptive and descriptive terms in the “final” version of this glossary. I’ll have to think about that one.
In the meantime, would you mind writing up your personal definition of deus ex machina, as defined from a GMing standpoint and just as you would for this glossary?
Walt’s example (which is excellent — thanks, Walt!) makes the difference very clear, I’m just not sure how to express it here.
It’s funny, but I expected controversy over the definition of RPG, which is so open to interpretation that I was sure I’d get it wrong. 😉
Rule Zero and Rule One also appear to be causing problems. I’ve heard all of the definitions suggested applied to both of them — but I’ve heard the ones I used most often applied as I used them.
Perhaps the glossary should make reference to this fact in each Rule X definition. Thoughts?
It’s also worth mentioning that this is getting tough. Walt, man, I feel bad that I’m not including more of the excellent definitions you’ve provided — in my experience, many of them just aren’t unviersal enough.
If anyone is interested in weighing in on the terms I’ve opted not include (everything in the comments above this one), please do!
Martin,
No offense taken. It’s fun brainstorming!
It’s tough to figure out what is “universal.” I’ve been playing RPGs for 25 years (hmmm, I should mark the occasion) and yet I’ve never heard the term “social contract” spoken at the gaming table. I’ve also never heard “flag” used in the way you’ve defined it (in our games, a “flag” means that something is wrong).
Since I’m a masochist, here are a few others:
Table-top: Shorthand for RPGs that are played with pen-and-paper (which is also a synonym). Gained popularity after the increase in LARPS and CRPGs.
Roll-up: (as in “Roll-up a character”) A term for character generation, even for games where no dice are involved.
Combat Monster: A character who is extremely skilled at combat (not necessarily a Power Gamer). Some characters morph into Combat Monsters through Experience.
Experience: A reward, usually in the form of points (XP) for the successful completion of an adventure. Experience is used to increase the capabilities of the character.
Walt
Here’s another:
Scripted Scene (or just “Script”): Any scene in which the PCs have little or no effect on the outcome. Scripted scenes usually advance a plot.
Deus ex Machina: “Major resolution of plot is accomplished through the agency of powerful interests that first appear in the scene where the resolution occurs.”
I think my definition got lost in the length of the post. 🙂 The above is cleaned up a bit. I like Walt’s examples better than mine, because pulp is another case where you’d expect a certain amount of Deus ex Machina, and it make the example more clear than a comedy example would. Part of what *makes* it pulp is that things like Deus ex Machina are expected to happen.
On the “Table-top” definition, a synonym would be “Pen and Paper”. That brings up other things taken from online games, such as “Tank”.
A GMPC is not different from an NPC. NPC stands for “Non-Player Character.” If a character is controlled by the GM, it is inherently not being controlled by a player.
You _could_ argue that a GMPC is a type of NPC, where the controller is specifically the GM. This would imply that some NPCs are controlled by no one at all (background characters).
I think the difference is that the GMPC is just that, a player character controlled by the GM. By comparison, NPCs are usually less involved in the game and act in the interest of the game/story and not in the interest of one particular player. Another difference might be experience. Most NPCs don’t gather experience points.
I wrote an article about GMPCs in my RPG.net column a while back (although I called them “GMC”s).
Technically, Jdvn1 is correct; any character controlled by a GM is an NPC. However, I know of many GMs who create a character, ostensibly according to the same rules as the rest of the PCs, and treat them as if they were simply another PC. They usually have no particular relevance to the plot, and go from adventure to adventure with the rest of the PCs. When the GM steps aside to allow for someone else to take over, this GMPC becomes his PC for the duration. Many GMs who would rather be a player usually create a GMPC as a sort of consolation prize.
Walt
I agree with Steve and Walt on GMPCs — although technically they’re just NPCs, in practice they’re nearly always something else. And in my experience, what they tend to be is much more like a PC (and, unfortunately, a favored PC) than an NPC.