What does it mean? (RPG terminology and abbreviations)

Message
Author
User avatar
Norjax
Rider of Rohan
Rider of Rohan
Posts: 4140
Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2012 6:54 pm

What does it mean? (RPG terminology and abbreviations)

#1 Post by Norjax »

PbP
1E
B/X
BECMI
TPK
BFA
BtB
DDg
PH
DMG
MM
MMII
UA
OSRIC
TSR
JG
HR
IIRC
IMO, IMHO (IMNSHO)
KTAATTS
NWP
WPs
OOP
RAW
YMMV

ETA - Edited to Add
RTFM
BBEG
FaRT
POG

User avatar
rredmond
Rider of Rohan
Rider of Rohan
Posts: 8461
Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2010 4:46 pm
Location: South Jersey

Re: What does it mean? (RPG terminology and abbreviations)

#2 Post by rredmond »

Intrigued to see how many y'all get. :)
This is a game about killing things and taking their stuff so you can become more powerful in order to kill bigger things and take even better stuff.
Alethan: I'm good with NOT pressing our luck this time.
mjulius: That's how I know I'm home.
Pulpatoon: The whole point of PbP is to take the scheduling pressure off the game. We're just chatty because we're so eager!
Scott308: ...everyone should be reminded of just how wonderful the people they play games with here can be in real life.
Leitz: Quality and quantity wise, I think US is the best I've seen.
Paladin: I can promise terror, glory, and riches...or a quick and brutal death.
Inferno: Come on! That's was Vicar's Head, a completely different doomed village!
Rex: I can move to the wait list to let someone else into the game.

User avatar
tooleychris
Rider of Rohan
Rider of Rohan
Posts: 3578
Joined: Wed May 01, 2013 2:07 pm
Location: Just west of the future site of Defiance.

Re: What does it mean? (RPG terminology and abbreviations)

#3 Post by tooleychris »

Wow! That's like a dictionary for a whole new language.

User avatar
Alethan
POWAH!
POWAH!
Posts: 14356
Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2010 6:50 pm
Location: Midwest
Contact:

Re: What does it mean? (RPG terminology and abbreviations)

#4 Post by Alethan »

Added Ron's list thus far to the first post, Norjax.

I assume these are going to be in some order? Like Alphabetical? Or maybe categorized in some way? Or both? ;)

(You down with 'OCD'? Yeah, you know me!)
Dragon foot. Bamboo pole. Little mouse. Tiny boy.

saalaria
Ranger Lord
Ranger Lord
Posts: 2517
Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2012 6:07 am
Location: London

Re: What does it mean? (RPG terminology and abbreviations)

#5 Post by saalaria »

Was going to suggest BBEG
How about:
IMC
2e
LL
C&C
TETSNBN - I know not relevant here but it does crop up elsewhere on other sites
Splat books

User avatar
Zhym
Rider of Rohan
Rider of Rohan
Posts: 20556
Joined: Fri Jul 26, 2013 1:14 am

Re: What does it mean? (RPG terminology and abbreviations)

#6 Post by Zhym »

Anyone who doesn't know what TSR is should just GTFO. ;)

Maybe add E.G.G.—with maybe a photo from Expedition to the Barrier Peaks.
Attachments
pic1238275.png
pic1238275.png (44.46 KiB) Viewed 3719 times

User avatar
Alethan
POWAH!
POWAH!
Posts: 14356
Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2010 6:50 pm
Location: Midwest
Contact:

Re: What does it mean? (RPG terminology and abbreviations)

#7 Post by Alethan »

Zhym wrote:Anyone who doesn't know what TSR is should just GTFO. ;)
As long as you're here to play or run an RPG, you're welcome here, veterans and N00bs alike. ;)
Dragon foot. Bamboo pole. Little mouse. Tiny boy.

User avatar
tooleychris
Rider of Rohan
Rider of Rohan
Posts: 3578
Joined: Wed May 01, 2013 2:07 pm
Location: Just west of the future site of Defiance.

Re: What does it mean? (RPG terminology and abbreviations)

#8 Post by tooleychris »

Awwww...Alethan always makes me feel so warm and fuzzy. ;)

User avatar
Vargr1105
Ranger Knight
Ranger Knight
Posts: 1874
Joined: Mon Jun 04, 2012 10:05 pm
Location: UNSPEAKABLE POWER!!!

Re: What does it mean? (RPG terminology and abbreviations)

#9 Post by Vargr1105 »

Also don't forget:

GH
GW
FR
PF
RL
DL
DS
BM

User avatar
ToniXX
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 3225
Joined: Sat Sep 19, 2009 5:21 pm
Location: Long Beach, CA

Re: What does it mean? (RPG terminology and abbreviations)

#10 Post by ToniXX »

"Sir, our research shows that the bird is equal to or greater than the word."

User avatar
rredmond
Rider of Rohan
Rider of Rohan
Posts: 8461
Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2010 4:46 pm
Location: South Jersey

Re: What does it mean? (RPG terminology and abbreviations)

#11 Post by rredmond »

ToniXX wrote:For Alethan:

http://alphabetizer.flap.tv/
Oh. My. Lanta.
Methinks you just made his year!
:D That is a neat little site.
This is a game about killing things and taking their stuff so you can become more powerful in order to kill bigger things and take even better stuff.
Alethan: I'm good with NOT pressing our luck this time.
mjulius: That's how I know I'm home.
Pulpatoon: The whole point of PbP is to take the scheduling pressure off the game. We're just chatty because we're so eager!
Scott308: ...everyone should be reminded of just how wonderful the people they play games with here can be in real life.
Leitz: Quality and quantity wise, I think US is the best I've seen.
Paladin: I can promise terror, glory, and riches...or a quick and brutal death.
Inferno: Come on! That's was Vicar's Head, a completely different doomed village!
Rex: I can move to the wait list to let someone else into the game.

User avatar
Alethan
POWAH!
POWAH!
Posts: 14356
Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2010 6:50 pm
Location: Midwest
Contact:

Re: What does it mean? (RPG terminology and abbreviations)

#12 Post by Alethan »

rredmond wrote:
ToniXX wrote:For Alethan:

http://alphabetizer.flap.tv/
Oh. My. Lanta.
Methinks you just made his year!
:D That is a neat little site.
Back in MY day, we didn't HAVE an Alphabetizer! We had to sort them on our own! And we LIKED it!
Dragon foot. Bamboo pole. Little mouse. Tiny boy.

User avatar
Alethan
POWAH!
POWAH!
Posts: 14356
Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2010 6:50 pm
Location: Midwest
Contact:

Re: What does it mean? (RPG terminology and abbreviations)

#13 Post by Alethan »

The whole purpose of this thread is to assemble RPG terminology and acronyms that people might not know so they can be better informed.

It isn't actually to create a puzzle for Norjax to figure out. So if you want to suggest additional entries for this thread, might I suggest you include the definition or spell out the abbreviation/acronym?
Dragon foot. Bamboo pole. Little mouse. Tiny boy.

User avatar
Vargr1105
Ranger Knight
Ranger Knight
Posts: 1874
Joined: Mon Jun 04, 2012 10:05 pm
Location: UNSPEAKABLE POWER!!!

Re: What does it mean? (RPG terminology and abbreviations)

#14 Post by Vargr1105 »

Alethan wrote:The whole purpose of this thread is to assemble RPG terminology and acronyms that people might not know so they can be better informed.

It isn't actually to create a puzzle for Norjax to figure out. So if you want to suggest additional entries for this thread, might I suggest you include the definition or spell out the abbreviation/acronym?
Fair enough:

GH . Greyhawk
GW - Gamma World
FR - Forgotten Realms
PF - Pathfinder
RL - Ravenloft
DL - Dragonlance
DS - Dark Sun
BM - Blackmoor

saalaria
Ranger Lord
Ranger Lord
Posts: 2517
Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2012 6:07 am
Location: London

Re: What does it mean? (RPG terminology and abbreviations)

#15 Post by saalaria »

Alethan wrote:The whole purpose of this thread is to assemble RPG terminology and acronyms that people might not know so they can be better informed.

It isn't actually to create a puzzle for Norjax to figure out. So if you want to suggest additional entries for this thread, might I suggest you include the definition or spell out the abbreviation/acronym?
I thought that was part of the fun - well at least the way it was set out to be!

Anyway:

IMC - In my campaign
2e - AD&D 2nd edition
LL - Labyrinth Lord - BX/BECMI clone
C&C - Castles and Crusades
TETSNBN - The Edition That Shall Not Be Named - derogatory term for AD&D 3e from fans of older editions of D&D
Splat books - Additional resources books for any RPG - particularly AD&D 2nd and 3rd editions. Generally contain more background or flavour around a particular aspect of the game or optional rules for characters or scenarios eg more complex combat manoeuvres, kits for the various classes to enable further character customisation (giving further benefits and costs) and so on. Appear to be polarising - people seem to either love or hate them with no opinion inbetween. Some of the AD&D 2nd edition books are seen as bridges to the more rules-heavy 3rd edition.

User avatar
Alethan
POWAH!
POWAH!
Posts: 14356
Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2010 6:50 pm
Location: Midwest
Contact:

Re: What does it mean? (RPG terminology and abbreviations)

#16 Post by Alethan »

Vargr1105 wrote: Fair enough:

GH . Greyhawk
GW - Gamma World
FR - Forgotten Realms
PF - Pathfinder
RL - Ravenloft
DL - Dragonlance
DS - Dark Sun
BM - Blackmoor
saalaria wrote: I thought that was part of the fun - well at least the way it was set out to be!

Anyway:

IMC - In my campaign
2e - AD&D 2nd edition
LL - Labyrinth Lord - BX/BECMI clone
C&C - Castles and Crusades
TETSNBN - The Edition That Shall Not Be Named - derogatory term for AD&D 3e from fans of older editions of D&D
Splat books - Additional resources books for any RPG - particularly AD&D 2nd and 3rd editions. Generally contain more background or flavour around a particular aspect of the game or optional rules for characters or scenarios eg more complex combat manoeuvres, kits for the various classes to enable further character customisation (giving further benefits and costs) and so on. Appear to be polarising - people seem to either love or hate them with no opinion inbetween. Some of the AD&D 2nd edition books are seen as bridges to the more rules-heavy 3rd edition.
Aye, now you two are talkin'! Good stuff right there (accepting, of course, saalaria's predilection and penchant for British spellings of things)!
Dragon foot. Bamboo pole. Little mouse. Tiny boy.

User avatar
Vargr1105
Ranger Knight
Ranger Knight
Posts: 1874
Joined: Mon Jun 04, 2012 10:05 pm
Location: UNSPEAKABLE POWER!!!

Re: What does it mean? (RPG terminology and abbreviations)

#17 Post by Vargr1105 »

saalaria wrote:TETSNBN - The Edition That Shall Not Be Named - derogatory term for AD&D 3e from fans of older editions of D&D
Correction, there is no such thing as "AD&D 3e", that should be changed to "3E" or "D&D 3rd Edition".
saalaria wrote:Splat books - Additional resources books for any RPG - particularly AD&D 2nd and 3rd editions. Generally contain more background or flavour around a particular aspect of the game or optional rules for characters or scenarios eg more complex combat manoeuvres, kits for the various classes to enable further character customisation (giving further benefits and costs) and so on. Appear to be polarising - people seem to either love or hate them with no opinion inbetween. Some of the AD&D 2nd edition books are seen as bridges to the more rules-heavy 3rd edition.
This should mention what splatbooks are focusing over: adventure and pick-and-play. And that what they provide is not essential to run a game (i.e. setting info on a setting core book is essential to run a game on it, multiple very specific splatbooks are not). This last trait seems to me to be the prime factor in defining something as splatbook, as I've seen usage of the term.

User avatar
AQuebman
Ranger Knight
Ranger Knight
Posts: 1228
Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2012 8:13 pm
Location: Cincinnati Ohio

Re: What does it mean? (RPG terminology and abbreviations)

#18 Post by AQuebman »

PbP - Play by Post

1E - 1st edition

B/X - "BX" D&D refers to the combination of the 1981 Tom Moldvay Basic rulebook (the red book) and the 1981 David Cook/Steve Marsh Expert rulebook (the blue book). X is used to represent the Expert rules rather than E because the modules of that era used an X for Expert; also, this helps separate the game from the later Frank Mentzer BE, BECM, or BECMI game.

BECMI - BECMI" refers to the Frank Mentzer 1983 edition of Basic, Expert, Companion, Masters, and Immortals Dungeons & Dragons

TPK - Total Party Kill
BFA - Big F***ing A**hole(Probably not correct but that's what that acronym has meant to me in the past lol)
BtB - By the Book
DDg - Dungeon Delvers Guide
PH - Players Handbook
DMG - Dungeon Masters Guide
MM - Monsters Manual
MMII - Monsters Manual 2
UA - Unearthed Arcana
OSRIC - Old School Reference and Index Compilation, describes itself as "a compilation of rules for old school-style
TSR - Tactical Studies Rules
HR - Human Resources
IIRC - If I remember correctly, if I recall correctly.
IMO, IMHO (IMNSHO) - In My Opinion, In my Honest Opinion, In my Not So Honest Opinion
KTAATTS - Kick their asses and take their stuff
NWP - Naked Women Please
WPs - Word Processing
OOP - Out of Power
RAW - Rules as Written
YMMV - your mileage may vary.

ETA - Estimated Time of Arrival
RTFM - Read the F***ing Manual
BBEG - Big Bad Evil Guy
FaRT - An Emission of Gas from the Anus
POG - A cardboard or plastic disk printed with a design or picture, used in a children's game.

User avatar
rredmond
Rider of Rohan
Rider of Rohan
Posts: 8461
Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2010 4:46 pm
Location: South Jersey

Re: What does it mean? (RPG terminology and abbreviations)

#19 Post by rredmond »

Nice AQuebman :ugeek:

I had a couple different than you, here are the differing ones:
BFA - Bold Frontal Assault (no planning necessary :) )
DDg - Deities and Demigods
HR - House Rule
KTAATTS - Kill Them All and Take Their Stuff (essentially the same)
NWP - Non Weapon Proficiencies
WPs - Weapon Proficiencies :)
OOP - Out of Print
FaRT - Find and Remove Traps :mrgreen:
POG - Person Ousting Gygax (or what Lorraine Williams was referred to as...)
This is a game about killing things and taking their stuff so you can become more powerful in order to kill bigger things and take even better stuff.
Alethan: I'm good with NOT pressing our luck this time.
mjulius: That's how I know I'm home.
Pulpatoon: The whole point of PbP is to take the scheduling pressure off the game. We're just chatty because we're so eager!
Scott308: ...everyone should be reminded of just how wonderful the people they play games with here can be in real life.
Leitz: Quality and quantity wise, I think US is the best I've seen.
Paladin: I can promise terror, glory, and riches...or a quick and brutal death.
Inferno: Come on! That's was Vicar's Head, a completely different doomed village!
Rex: I can move to the wait list to let someone else into the game.

saalaria
Ranger Lord
Ranger Lord
Posts: 2517
Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2012 6:07 am
Location: London

Re: What does it mean? (RPG terminology and abbreviations)

#20 Post by saalaria »

Like all quizzes - obvious once you have the answers.

Thanks Ron and AQueb...particularly like FaRT (real answer that is!)

Post Reply

Return to “Tips for the Player”