RPGnet - User contributions [en]

Game title abbreviations

2006-01-05T23:00:21Z

Wilx: /* S */

[[Category:Games]]




<h2> Overview </h2>
This is a guide to the many abbreviations for game books and game lines that you may encounter on the RPG.net forums.

Numbers at the end of an abbreviation usually indicate the edition. UA2 or UA2E, for example, would mean 'Unknown armies second edition'.

A very useful resource for publication histories and brief descriptions of these games (and many others) is the online Encyclopedia of Role-Playing Games: [http://www.darkshire.net/~jhkim/rpg/encyclopedia/ Encyclopedia of Role-Playing Games]

__TOC__

== # ==
3.5 - [[Dungeons & Dragons]] Edition 3.5

3E - [[Dungeons & Dragons]] 3rd Edition

7S - [[7th Sea]]

5ER - [[Hero System]] 5th edition Revised rulebook

== A ==
AD&D - Advanced Dungeons and Dragons

ADRPG - Amber Diceless RPG

AE - Amazing Engine ''or'' Arcana Evolved

AFMBE - All Flesh Must Be Eaten

AGOT - A Game Of Thrones

ArM - Ars Magica

AtSA - Atlantis: the Second Age

AU - Arcana Unearthed

== B ==
B&B - Bunnies and Burrows

BD&D - Basic Dungeons and Dragons

BESM - Big Eyes Small Mouth (official acronym)

BG - Blood Games

BGC - Bubblegum Crisis

BNW - Brave New World

BP - Blue Planet

BR - Blue Rose

BRP - Basic Roleplaying

BRPG - Battleaxe Roleplaying Game

BTS - Beyond the Supernatural (Palladiumbooks)

BtVS - Buffy the Vampire Slayer

BW - Burning Wheel

BWc - Burning Wheel Classic, first edition

BWr - Burning Wheel Revised, current edition

== C ==
C&C - Castles and Crusades

C&S - Chivalry and Sorcery

CAH - Cartoon Action Hour

CC - Core Command

CoC - Call of Cthulhu

ConX - Conspiracy X

CP - Cyberpunk

CP2020 - Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0.

CT - Classic Traveller

CTD - Changeling: The Dreaming

== D ==
D&D ''or'' DND - Dungeons and Dragons (nowadays usually refers to edition 3.0 or 3.5)

DA:F - Dark Ages: Fae

DA:I - Dark Ages: Inquisitor

DA:M - Dark Ages: Mage

DA:V - Dark Ages: Vampire

DA:WW - Dark Ages: Werewolf

DC - Dark Conspiracy ''or'' DC Heroes

DG - Delta Green

DG:C - Delta Green: Countdown

DITV - Dogs in the Vineyard

DS - Dawning Star

DMG - Dungeon Master's Guide. Usually in reference to Dungeons and Dragons.

DTF - Demon: The Fallen

== E ==
ED - [[Earthdawn]]

E:tA - [[Exalted: The Abyssals]]

E:tAu - [[Exalted: The Autochthonians]]

E:tDB - [[Exalted: The Dragon-Blooded]]

E:tFF - [[Exalted: The Fair Folk]]

E:tL - [[Exalted: The Lunars]]

E:tS - [[Exalted: The Sidereals]]

EPT - [[Empire of the Petal Throne]]

== F ==
FATE - Fantastic Adventures in Tabletop Entertainment (official acronym)

FB - Fireborn

FF - Forgotten Futures

FR - Forgotten Realms

FRED - [[Hero]] Fifth Revised Edition

FS - Feng Shui ''or'' Fading Suns

FUDGE - Freeform Universal Do-It-Yourself Gaming Engine (official acronym)

== G ==
GB - Gangbusters ''or'' Ghostbusters

GBI - Ghostbusters International

GH - Greyhawk ''or'' Golden Heroes

GK - Gear Krieg

GoO - Guardians of Order

GURPS - [[GURPS|Generic Universal Role-Playing System]] (official acronym)

GT - GURPS Traveller

GW - Gamma World

== H ==
HG - [[Heavy Gear]]

HOL - [[Human Occupied Landfill]]

HM - High Medieval

HQ - [[Heroquest]]

== I ==
IC - Ironclaw

IH - Iron Heroes

IK - Iron Kingdoms

IN - In Nomine

== J ==

JAGS - Just Another Generic System (official acronym)

JC - Jovian Chronicles ''or'' Jadeclaw

JD - Judge Dredd

== K ==
KOTE - Kindred of the East

KPFS - Kill puppies for Satan

== L ==
L&S - Lace and Steel

L5R - Legend of the Five Rings

LOTR - Lord of the Rings

LS - Lost Souls

== M ==
M&M (or MNM) - Mutants and Masterminds

M2 (or MII) - Mekton II

MA - Metamorphosis Alpha

MEGS - Mayfair Exponential Gaming System (official acronym)

MERP - Middle-Earth Roleplaying

MET - Mind's Eye Theatre

MM - Monster Manual. Usually in reference to Dungeons and dragons.

MLWM - My Life With Master

MSPE - Mercenaries, Spies, and Private-Eyes

MT - MegaTraveller

MTA - Mage: The Ascension ''or'' Mage: The Awakening

MTAw - Mage: The Awakening

MTDA - Mage: The Dark Ages

MTSC - Mage: The Sorcerers' Crusade

MTR - Mummy: The Resurrection

MURPG - Marvel Universe RPG

MW - Mechwarrior

MWWG - Macho Women With Guns

MZ - Mekton Zeta

== N ==
N&SS - Ninjas and Superspies

NB - Ninja Burger

NWOD - New World of Darkness

== O ==
OD&D - Original Dungeons and Dragons

OTE - Over the Edge

OVA - Open Versatile Anime Role-Playing Game (official acronym)

OWOD - Old World of Darkness

== P ==
PD - Pendragon

PHB - Players Handbook. Usually in reference to Dungeons and Dragons.

PTA - Primetime Adventures

== Q ==
== R ==
RA - Random Anime

RC - Rules Cyclopedia. Usually in reference to Dungeons and Dragons.

RD - Red Dwarf

RM - Rolemaster

RQ - Runequest

RW - Ringworld

== S ==
SAS - [[Silver Age Sentinels]]

SB - [[Stormbringer]]

SC - [[StarCluster]] ''or'' [[Sweet Chariot]]

SF - [[Star Frontiers]]

SLA - [[SLA Industries]]

SoJ - [[Skyrealms of Jorune]] ''or'' [[Secrets of Japan]] ([[Call of Cthulhu]] supplement)

SR - [[Shadowrun]]

ST - [[Star Trek]] ''or'' [[Storyteller]]

SW - [[Savage Worlds]] ''or'' [[Star Wars]] ''or'' [[Superworld]]

== T ==
T&T - Tunnels and Trolls

T20 - Traveller 20

T4 - Marc Miller's Traveller

T5 - Upcoming 5th Edition of Traveller

T8 - Tribe 8

Tal - Talislanta

THS - Transhuman Space

TINS - There Is No Spoon

TMNT - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness

TNE - Traveller: The New Era

TOJ - Time of judgement

ToMN - Tribes of Mother Night

TROS - The Riddle of Steel

TS - Transhuman Space ''or'' The Terran Story ''or'' Top Secret

TSOY - The Shadow of Yesterday

Tw2k - Twilight 2000

== U ==
UA - Unknown Armies ''or'' Unearthed Arcana ''or'' Urban Arcana
Univ - Universe, The Sci-Fi RPG

== V ==
V&V - Villains and Vigilantes

VTDA - Vampire: The Dark Ages

VTM - Vampire: The Masquerade

VTR - Vampire: The Requiem

== W ==
WC - Witchcraft

WFRP - [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]]

WHFRP - [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]]

WLD - World's Largest Dungeon

WOD - World of Darkness

WoT - The Wheel of Time

WOTG - [[Weapons of the Gods]]

WoW - Worlds of Wonder

WTA - Werewolf: The Apocalypse

WTF - Werewolf: The Forsaken

WTO - Wraith: The Oblivion

== X ==
== Y ==
== Z ==

RPG Lexica:ABC

2006-01-05T22:51:14Z

Wilx: /* C */

==A==

;alien eyes: Slang for a roll of 3 (1-1-1) on three dice. So named because of the analogy to "snake eyes" (a roll of 2 on 2 dice), and the observation that Earth creatures generally don't have 3 eyes... Also known as [[RPG_Lexica:GHI|mutant snake eyes]].

;all-out attack problem: A problem arising in [[dice pool]] systems, in situations where a [[player]] facing a foe (or a hazard or problem in general) is asked to choose a number of [[dice]] from the pool to roll for the [[success]] of their attack. The intent is usually that the player will ensure that some dice remain in the pool after their attack, so that if it happens that the attack fails, they will have dice left to roll in their defense. In fact, however, the best tactic is for the player to attack with all of the dice in their pool, because this gives the attack the best chance of succeeding and resolving the problem right there. If the dice roll badly, the player may lose out as a result of their lack of a defence - '''but''', had the player left dice in the pool to defend with, ''the dice would still have rolled badly'' resulting in an ineffective defense. This dynamic can seriously damage the value of dice pool systems in some games.

;ass staring defense: A response to anyone who objects to a player playing a character of the opposite sex to themselves (typically a male playing a female character) in a MMORPG. In these games, typically a large amount of play time is required to level up and the default camera viewpoint is from just behind the character; thus the defense is "If I'm going to have to spend hours staring at someone's ass, it's going to be a woman's". First coined by the webcomic [http://www.pvponline.com PVP Online]. The ass staring defense generally does not apply to races that would not ordinarily sexually appeal to human beings (like Tauren in [[World of Warcraft]]).

==B==

;bad wrong fun: Illegitimate enjoyment. Saying that a game is "bad wrong fun" indicates that the game is somehow broken, unplayable, poor quality or weak - in ignorance of the fact that many groups are playing and enjoying it regularly. As such, this is not normally something that a person will say themselves, but something they will accuse other people of having said. For example, "John said that [[D20 System|d20]] is bad wrong fun" indicates that the speaker believes John's criticism of d20 to be foolish given the large number of groups playing and enjoying it. Rifts is often cited as a "bad wrong fun" game.
:"Bad wrong fun" is also often used in a more light-hearted sense to indicate the gamer equivalent of a guilty pleasure. "I know it's bad wrong fun, but I loved every minute of it!"

;Bag of rats: A tactical maneuver which exploits a loophole in the rules of a tactical combat system, usually leading to ridiculous situations. Taken from a well-known loophole in the (unrevised) third edition of ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'', in which a [[character]] could have the ability "whirlwind attack" enabling them to attack all foes within range in a single maneuver, and the ability "great cleave" enabling them to, having killed a foe with an attack, carry the attack forward to a second foe. A character could thus, technically, throw a bag of rats at a powerful opponent, then approach and execute a whirlwind attack. The whirlwind attack allows the character to attack all of the rats in one manuever; each time the character attacks a rat, they almost certainly kill it, and then use great cleave to carry the attack forward to the actual powerful foe, thus gaining a huge number of hits on the foe in a single manuever.

;Bell curve: Term used in probability theory to describe a system where a middling result in most common; higher or lower values are rarer, and become rarer the higher or lower they are. Most commonly seem in role-playing games which generate random results by rolling 2 (or more) dice and adding them up: in a system based on rolling 2 d6's, for instance, there are 6 ways of rolling a 7, but only 4 ways of rolling a 9 and 1 way of rolling a 12, making these results rarer. Bell curve systems used for task resolution offer the player a more solid basis for play since they know what results their PC will commonly get, but can also cause a problem because a single point up or down the curve can make a major difference to the chance of success, thus discouraging players from trying more spectacular actions for which penalties may accrue.

;Big Bad: Short for Big Bad Evil Guy, slang for the "boss" bad guy, i.e., the person in charge of an evil plot or organization. Implies that he is much stronger, more powerful, and/or more evil than his minions, and that the PCs encounter with him will be part of the climax of the adventure or even campaign. May have originated (or been popularized) by the [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]] [[RPG]].

;Big Lebowski Theory of Roleplayer Types: First espoused by Kyle Schuant, aka Jim Bob on the forums. This theory holds that the movie The Big Lebowski has many characters who resemble strongly certain types of players. There is The Dude, the guy who just shows up to hang with his buddies, and doesn't really know the rules or anything. There's Walter, the guy who always plays the fighter, argues about stats for weapons and "realism", and loudly threatens anyone who disagrees with him, fails to show up to the game on time, etc. And there's Donny, a quiet but sociable guy who migh talk more often, but Walter keeps saying, "STFU, Donny." For more evidence of how these characters are like roleplayers, see, [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118715/quotes quotes] from the movie.

;Blossom: This is a term usually used in mecha games where a vehicle carries a large number of guided missiles. "Blossoming" represents launching a very large number of those missiles at once. It comes from the "Death Blossom" maneuver performed by Alex Rogan and his Gunstar in the 1983 movie The Last Starfighter. Also called a "Macross," after the anime series ''Super Dimension Fortress Macross''. The visual style of animation design which involves huge numbers of guided missiles corkscrewing across the sky is known as the "Itano Circus."

;Blue Bolt: A term used to refer to when a Gamemaster causes the death of a [[Player character]] for no apparent reason. Usually includes the words "from heaven" at the tail end of the term. The most common use is when a player leaves the game permanently and the Gamemaster can't come up with a suitable reason for the PCs' departure.

;BNG: Bitter Non-Gamer. Coined by Kyle Schuant, "Jim Bob" on the fora. A facetious term describing some people who seem to dedicate large portions of their day to discussions of what is "wrong" with a roleplaying game or roleplaying games in general. The implication is that they're just griping because they can't get a game group.

;Boggle: To surprise or shock someone to the point where they're just standing or sitting there, not moving, just STARING at what you've done with a shocked expression. Also '''boggled''', shocked to the point of not responding, just staring at the source of the shock.
:Origin: Possibly from the [[RPG]] ''[[Toon]]'', a game where you play cartoon [[character]]s, to describe a similar state which results in the character in question losing turns. (Often shown in cartoons by having the character's eyes bulge out toward the boggling thing or pop out of the character's head completely.)

;Boobs bonus: The hypothetical bonus given to all social skill rolls made by a female [[character]], especially when dealing with males. Derived from the assumption that a female character will automatically have better social skills than a male character, even if they behave in exactly the same way.

;Borgstromancy: The ability to understand a complex, outlandish, or badly explained setting or system well enough to run a game based on it.
:Origin: Taken, possibly unfairly, from the name of the [[RPG]] authoress Rebecca Borgstrom (also known as R. Sean Borgstrom, author of "Nobilis", "Exalted: the Fair Folk", and other works) who is notorious for writing games with spectacularly original premises and intriguing supporting fiction that are, however, almost impossible to understand well enough to actually ''play''.

;Boss: The primary opponent in a setting or adventure; the most powerful villain, usually in charge of lesser minions, but still expected to be (eventually) encountered by the PCs, often at the climax of the adventure or campaign. Borrowed from CRPGs, where it is often used to refer to the last, most dangerous enemy to be encountered in the area, who must be defeated to "win" the area or game. See also '''Big Bad'''.

;Brick: A character who can absorb impressive amounts of damage without dying. Often referred to as a '''Tank''' if the character can also dish out similar amounts of whoop-ass.
:see also [[RPG_Lexica:STU|Superheroes, Types of]]

;Broken
#When applied to a game: a game system with mechanics that fail to operate as they should or as the speaker feels they should. Especially, mechanics which fail to emulate the genre in which the game is set (or the property on which the game is based, in the case of licensed games).
#When applied to a character: a character whose deficiencies and flaws greatly outweigh their abilities or usefulness. Sometimes due to a player wishing to play an incompetent, but often implying that the player thinks that his role-playing is superior to the other players and is taking a useless character as a handicap. Alternately, a character who is such a pathetic figure that they are doomed (i.e. most Unknown Armies spellcasters) but entertaining to play in the short term. (See related term "[[RPG_Lexica:GHI|Gimp]]")
#As a catch-all: "wrong," bad and simultaniously despised and disregarded for vague and ambiguous reasons. Compare with '''bad wrong fun''', something "wrong" and "bad" but ''liked''.
#Applied to a character who has used the system and/or its loopholes to such a degree to make said character more effective than their level/points would suggest. See [[RPG_Lexica:MNO|Min-Max]].

==C==

;Calling Fate:An infamous rule from ''Synnibar'', one of the officially recognized "[[Worst RPG ever|worst RPGs ever]]". The "Calling Fate" rule allowed players to demand that GMs undo any action which did not follow the letter of the rules and/or was not planned in advance in the GMs adventure notes. Any players who "caught" the GM not following the rules or plan was rewarded with double experience points for the remainder of the game session.

;Caltrops: [[d4|Four-sided]] [[dice]], so named for their pyramidal shape which ensures that one point will face up no matter which side hits the floor. Especially noted for their tendency to get underfoot when one is heading to the bathroom, half-awake, at five in the morning after going to bed at three-thirty and suddenly remembering that one had drunk a full gallon of soda during the previous night's gaming run. In military use, caltrops are a device designed to land with a spike facing up regardless of their orientation, used to slow pursuit or flight. Police have replaced caltrops with a device called a spike strip, which improves on caltrops in that it can be activated when a fleeing vehicle crosses it and immediately deactivated to prevent damage to the tires of a civilian vehicle or pursuing cruisers. Only one game has ever been foolish enough to use caltrop dice as its main die mechanic. See also '''[[Walk of a Thousand Caltrops]]'''.

;Candy Man: This term is borrowed slang from the street, where a candy man is a physician that prescribes medications as the patient's request without peroperly determining if the patient is in need of the prescription medication. In gaming, a candy man is a referee that awards gratitious amounts of experience, treasure, equipment, and magic items to the characters, which are not commensurate with the difficult of the adventure.

;Camp: To remain stationary, or take no action, as a tactical choice. For example, waiting for enemies to attack you to ensure that the battle takes place on your choice of terrain would be considered camping. Camping in an [[RPG]] is usually an acceptable tactic, but in many competitive board or war games it is considered unfair, because if ''all'' [[player]]s camp, then the game deadlocks (if everyone waits to be attacked, then nobody will ever attack), and any person who breaks the deadlock is penalised by not having the tactical advantage conveyed by camping. (Camping differs from ''Turtling'' (q.v.) in that a turtle avoids any proactive action at all, whereas a camper makes a proactive decision to wait.)

;Captain Teflon Psycho: Term coined by Kyle Schuant, aka Jim Bob on the forums, to describe the stereotypical character everyone creates at least once: the character with no friends, no family, no backstory, one who cares for no-one. Typically they have no "positive" social "flaws" in a point-buy system, never choosing such as Honesty, Loyalty, Charitable, etc. Frequently they choose flaws such as Beserk and Bloodlust.

;Cat-Piss Man: Sometimes CPM, or BDCPM (for Basement-Dwelling CPM). First referred to here: [http://www.savantmag.com/16/retail16.html The Wrath of Cat Piss Man]
:The CPM is a legendary figure, whether he exists or not is unknown; like Bigfoot, many claim to have seen him, but there's little proof. CPM is usually depicted as a large, hairy, sweaty guy in a trenchcoat (on the hottest of days) who stinks of cat piss, and lurks about game stores, drooling over the anime magazines and leering suggestively at any unfortunate female gamers who come into the store. Will frequently distract the store clerk with hours-long tales of his 25th level Drow Lesbian Stripper Ninja. usually assumed to be living in his parents' basement amongst empty pizza boxes and porn mags when he's 35 years old and unemployed.

;Chainmail Bikini: An utterly ridiculous and useless form of armor which is worn by female characters, even those who are supposedly experienced warriors, in a large proportion of classic fantasy art. Usually deemed to demonstrate that the inclusion of female characters is not to show the involvement of both sexes but simply to include cheesecake for male viewers and players. By extension, used as a metaphor for any stereotypical treatment of women in roleplayers or roleplaying products. This has declined substantially in recent years. This artwork trend was also the inspiration for the ''Reverse Armor Theorem''.

;Character Build System
:Term for a '''chargen''' system in which the [[player]] starts with a "default" [[character]] (often a "blank slate", with no skills, advantages, or anything else) and a pool of points with which he or she can "buy" parts of the character until it approximates the character he or she wants to play. ''[[GURPS]]'' and ''[[Hero]]'' are the two most well known [[RPG]]s that work this way.

;Chargen: short for ''character generation'', the process of creating a [[player character]] for use in a [[RPG]]. Usually one of two methods: '''character build''' or '''[[RPG_Lexica:PQR|random-roll]]''', depending on the [[RPG]] being used.

;Chrome
#(borrowed from hacker terminology) something beautiful but useless, such as a snazzy interface to a buggy program.
#One of the "defining elements" of cyberpunk milieus; exemplifies the style-over-substance ethos often found in such worlds.

;Chunky Salsa:What is said to be left of a [[character]] that has taken a massive amount of [[damage]], far more than is needed to kill them (though not quite as much as needed to turn them into a [[RPG_Lexica:DEF|fine red mist]]). The implication is they've taken enough damage to turn them into small chunks in a red "sauce", like chunky salsa. Classically used to describe the results of (often multiple) grenades in small enclosed spaces; the blast tends to bounce off the walls and hit whoever's in there more than once. This rule explicitly appears in ''[[Shadowrun]]'' among other games.

;Class and Level: A method of '''chargen''' and [[character]] definition in which characters are primarily defined as members of specific pre-defined professions or archetypes, their “[[class]]”, and their degree of advancement along a predetermined course of improvement determined by that profession, their “[[level]]”. Class and Level was used in the original [[RPG]], ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'', and thus was a standard aspect of RPG design for years before other methods were attempted.

;Corebook: Any book containing information fundamental to a particular [[game system]]. Typically any person wishing to purchase books for a particular [[RPG]] will need to buy the corebooks first in order to establish the context needed to make sense of the other books. For example, the ''[[Player's Handbook]]'', ''[[Dungeon Master's Guide]]'' and ''[[Monster Manual]]'' are the corebooks for ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]''; the ''[[World of Darkness]]'' book and the Vampire book are the corebooks for ''[[Vampire: The Requiem]]''.

;CP
#Common abbreviation for Character Point, the most common term used to describe the 'points' used in games where the character creation system is freeform based on character points.
#Short for Cyberpunk.

;Critical:A rare dice result indicating that an action has been spectacularly successful. Typically a critical will grant an additional bonus beyond simple success, or represent a major success, or indicate success no matter how difficult the task was.
:Origin: Originally ''critical hit'', used in tactical combat systems to model the remote possibility of any single hit taking an enemy down if it happens to hit a critical area. This system was then adopted by [[RPG]] combat systems and then further applied to resolution of all tasks rather than just combat, creating the term ''critical success'', normally abbreviated to just ''critical'', sometimes to ''crit hit'' or just ''crit''.

;CRPG: '''C'''omputer (or '''C'''onsole) '''R'''ole '''P'''laying '''G'''ame. A computer adventure game with storytelling aspects. Notably different from tabletop RPGs in that there tends to be minimal interactivity with the plot, even to the point where in some games (especially in console RPGs) the player has no control over the creation of even a single character. Some games, most notably [[Neverwinter Nights]], have attempted to buck this trend, to varying degrees of success. Sometimes pronounced "''crappage''," a use some gamers claim is very appropriate.

;Crunch
#Slang term for the sections of a [[RPG]]'s rulebook that deal with the actual rules, as opposed to '''Fluff''' (q.v.), which is everything else. Also called '''Crunchy bits'''.
#Slang for the relative complexity of a particular ruleset. A '''crunchy''' ruleset is more complex.

;Custom dice: [[Dice]] printed with symbols other than the traditional numbers. Used in certain games to simplify task resolution. For example, ''[[DC Universe]]'' uses dice printed with images of different DC characters; hero images indicate success and villain images indicate failure.

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[[Category:Terminology]]

RPG Lexica:MNO

2006-01-05T22:46:21Z

Wilx: /* M */

==M==

;Mary Sue: An [[RPG]] [[character]] obviously designed as a supremely competent version of the real person who made and plays that character. A Mary Sue need not be female, though sometimes a male equivalent term '''Gary''' or '''Marty Stu''' is used.
:Origin: According to [http://www.subreality.com/marysue.htm this site], from a 1970's ''Star Trek'' FanFic starring "Mary Sue, StarFleet's Youngest Lieutenant". Based on this story, the witticism arose that, "A Mary Sue is braver than Kirk, smarter than Spock, more skilled than McCoy and is sleeping with all three." Please note that the original Lieutenant Mary Sue was written in parody of a type of Star Trek fanfic common at the time.

;Meat shield: Derogatory term for a fighter or NPC which is notionally used to protect the more vulnerable spellcasters in a party from harm, as a metal or wooden shield protects a fighter from harm.

;Mecha:In anime, a term for mechanical powersuits or robots (often humanoid). A popular feature of anime-styled role-playing games, such as [[Votoms]] or [[Bubblegum Crisis]], which are based on their respective anime series. Usually large and powerful enough to wipe out most conventional combatants (even tanks) by themselves. Also, used specifically to refer to games where mecha play a major part, such as [[BattleTech]].
:It's worth noting that, in anime, where the term comes from, "mecha" is simply short for "mechanical" and the term is used for all mechanical devices. So, a bicycle is a "mecha" by that definition. However, the westernized version of the term is almost universally used to describe a futuristic or otherwise non-standard vehicle which usually has a semi-humanoid form, like a giant pilotable humanoid robot.

;Mega-damage: Generically, enough damage to kill a human being instantly, see also [[fine red mist]] and [[chunky salsa]]. Specifically, a (dubious) trademark of Palladium Books indicating vehicle-scaled damage; because of the lack of rigorous design rules in Palladium there are such things as mega-damage personal weapons and body armor. Most egregiously visible in [[Rifts]].

;Metaplot: This concept exists on two levels. On the smaller, local level, it refers to the greater narrative the GM is using to connect the group's individual adventures and make them relevant to the campaign world. On the larger, commercial level it describes the tendency of professional game companies to alter their published settings over time via events described in published supplements.

:Commercial metaplots are generally perceived as a mixed blessing. Though they can offer gaming groups an easy source of narrative drive and adventure ideas, they also represent changes not under the control of the players or GM. A commercial metaplot may contradict earlier assumptions about the setting or, at worst, run roughshod over the character's initiative by introducing grand, sweeping events under the direction of powerful NPC's which the player characters have no hope of influencing, leaving them essentially spectators to someone else's story. Several World of Darkness games from White Wolf are in particular infamous for this latter transgression. It is arguable that such metaplots exist mainly to sell books, as fans try to keep abreast, rather than to in any way enhance play.

;Min-max, min-maxing: To carefully tweak a '''[[character]]''' during '''chargen''' so as to optimize the character for one thing, usually combat, often at the expense of other aspects of the character; or, to tweak a character to take advantage of quirks in the rules to do the same thing.

;Min-min: To badly tweak a character during ''chargen'' so that they are incompetent and/or unplayable in the situations that arise in the course of an adventure. A parody of ''min-max''. See also ''gimp'' (q.v.)

;Minmei: This is a derogatory comment towards a player character which is usually useless in a specific game because of a focus on an area of skill the game doesn't often involve. Ex: "Your Vagabond character was so useless in the Rifts game last night. You're such a Minmei."
:The term comes from the Robotech TV series character of the same name. Minmei was a beauty queen and singer who, at one point, proved instrumental in defeating the Zentraedi armada in that series, but she was useless and irritating the remainder of the time.
:"Minmei" and "Minmay" are two separate things. The former is the name of the irritating and untalented character from the Macross era of Robotech. The latter is the name of the significantly less irritating and more musically skilled character from the original, non-Robotech related, Macross anime. Using the wrong spelling can get you lynched in Macross fandom circles.

;Mr. Johnson:Especially in a cyberpunk game: a mysterious and anonymous figure who gives the player characters their mission. Notable mostly because the players are meant to understand that the Mr. Johnson cannot be trusted, but are usually required to accept the mission anyway because it is mutually accepted that it will be the basis of future play. Taken from the RPG ''[[Shadowrun]]''.

;Mob: An [[NPC]], in particular one who performs limited ranges of simplistic behaviour. Used in online [[RPG]]s to identify NPCs who are automatically controlled by the game program, rather than those who are played by human [[GM]]s.
:Origin: Short form of ''mobile'', the term coined by Richard Bartle for these characters in early computer RPGs. On reading the research paper which coined the term, one of the reviewers is said to have thought this a "beautiful analogy to those hanging toys used in baby's cribs, which move around seemingly as if alive, in spite of being constructed of mechanical parts". Bartle replied that this was indeed a beautiful analogy, and he would have been delighted if he had thought of it; he used the term "mobile" simply to indicate that they could move, which other computer-controlled objects couldn't.

;Monty Haul: The term monty haul is a play on the name Monty Hall, a co-creator and emcee of television's [http://www.letsmakeadeal.com/ Let's Make A Deal], where contestants bought, sold, and traded goods. In gaming, monty haul refers to role-playing for the purpose of attaining rewards, particularly treasure. The term monty haul has been applied to campaigns, players ([[munchkin]]), and referees ([[candy man]]).

;Mook: An adversary whose power is significantly beneath that of any single player character and has no real chance of inflicting serious harm. Not so much a full antagonist as an obstacle or dramatic device, whose only purpose is to make the heros look good by being easy to defeat. Often a faceless member of a horde. Two classic non-rpg examples of mooks can be found in cinema: the gangs of masked ninja rushing at the heroes of countless old kung-fu movies, and the stormtroopers of [[Star Wars]]. As a gaming term, the word originates in [[Feng Shui]], which has rules for simulating the disposable nature of "mooks" as opposed to more competent "named characters". More and more games are making a distinction between mooks and more substantial opponents.

;Munchkin: One of the most controversial terms in [[RPG]]s. A good argument could be made that it means "any player I don't like", but most people reserve the term for a specific type of bad [[player]]...
:My own definition: a player who, through inexperience or immaturity, disrupts the game to the detriment of the other players, usually by any or all of the following:
* Creating a [[character]] that's inappropriate to the setting (Classic definition: A munchkin is someone who, in a game of courtly politics and intrigue in 16th century France, wants to play a [[ninja]].)
* Insisting his character either is or has to be the absolute ''best'' at ''everything'' he does.
* Roleplays poorly, seeing his character (and the other characters) as mere game pieces, without personality or motivations beyond advancing in the game.
* Relating to the last one: approaching all problems, obstacles, and frustrations with violence as a ''first'' resort
* Attempting to "win" the game, even at the expense of the other players, in situations where it would be inappropriate.

;Mundane:also '''Norm''' (short for "Normal"); specific games or settings may have their own term (such as "baseline" in the [[Aberrant]] world)
#''In'' games, someone of merely human ability, in contrast to those with super abilities or enhancements (i.e., the [[PC]]s, usually).
#By extension, ''Outside of'' games, refers to some one outside the "fandom", i.e., one who does not game, and isn't interested in the things gamers are (such as sci-fi, anime, et cetera; see '''Geek''')

;Murphy's Law:"Anything that can go wrong, will." The premier law of the universe.
:Notes: What most people call Murphy's Law (above) is actually Finagle's Law (or, in the UK, Sod's Law). Murphy's Law is more specific: "If there are two or more ways to do something, and one of those ways will result in disaster, someone will do it." It was originally "If that guy has any way of making a mistake, he will"--referring to the technician who had just placed a series of sensors the wrong way around on the test subject of an accelleration experiment. Edward Murphy - then a Major in the United States Air Force - was the lead scientist.
:Murphy's Law is in this lexicon because, since RPGs are simulations of important (fake) events in people's (fake) lives, it crops up a ''lot.'' In particular, when making an elaborate plan, it is often necessary to include contingency plans in case of a [[RPG_Lexica:DEF|fumble]] at a critical moment. (See [[RPG_Lexica:VWX|Whiff]] for further details)
:See also: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murphy%27s_Law WikiPedia's entry on "Murphy's Law"]

;Murphy's Rule: (or just "Murphy"). A game rule which has bizarre or humourous consequences when applied to certain situations - typically those which would logically exist in the game world but are not those which the game was designed to model. A "murphy" can also be a description of the consequences of applying a rule to an outlandish situation, stated not as a criticism of the rules but purely for the comedy value. Originally coined as the name of a cartoon appearing in ''Pyramid Magazine''. A few examples of the typical format:
* In ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'', [[character]]s have a "Dexterity" stat, which is in fact used to represent agility as well as actual dexterity. Thus, every talented clockmaker is also a talented gymnast, and vice versa;
* In ''[[The Riddle of Steel]]'', in character generation the [[player]] must rank several properties of their character in order of importance. Ranking "social standing" last results in the [[PC]] being a slave. If the player has done this, all other aspects (such as combat skill, magical ability, etc) will have been rated higher than they otherwise could have been, thus meaning that slaves are the most talented and skilled people in the setting;
* In the second edition of ''[[Hong Kong Action Theatre]]'', an actor's fame is the ''only'' factor taken into consideration when assigning them to roles, thus enabling Arnold Schwarzenegger to be cast as a kung-fu ballerina.

==N==

;Naked Dwarf Syndrome: A "Murphy's Rule (see above) from [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]] First Edition. It arose from the fact that armour and the Toughness stat were both subtracted from damage. Since Toughness differences were higher than the maximum armour value, a naked Dwarf was less likely to take damage from an attack than a human in full armour.

;Negative critical: A case where a ''critical'' result on a dice roll, which is normally the best possible, can have a negative effect on a player. An example is a PC attempting to deliberately lightly wound another PC who accidentally rolls a critical hit and kills them. Although in line with the original intent of a critical hit, some groups instead play that a critical is always successful by whatever standard of success the player wishes, so in this case a critical would actually do only a small amount of damage.

;Nerf: When something is reduced in power or effectiveness, it is said to be nerfed. "The Super Fist power got nerfed. It used to do 4d6 damage and now only does 1d6 damage." The term originates from the padded nerf toys which are ineffectual at causing real harm as true toys of their nature would be. The term came into it's present gaming applicable usage by way of computer MMORPGs, where reducing the effectiveness of powers is the standard way of resolving game balance issues (to avoid an "arms race" that could result if powers were increased in effectiveness)

;Ninja: A term with multiple different meanings, mostly derived either from the real myths surrounding Ninjas or from the famous spoof websites, [http://www.realultimatepower.net "Real Ultimate Power"] and [http://www.ninjaburger.com "Ninja Burger"].
* As a noun, used with the original meaning: the Japanese term for an assassin, particularly one making use of stealth.
* As a noun, any character designed around the concepts of stealth, hand-to-hand combat, and one-hit kills.
* As a noun, a character which is sought-after for "coolness" value, and whose abilites are overestimated, even if irrelevant or ineffective in the particular situation or setting. ("Of course I can dodge the bullets of a machine-gun on full auto - I'm a ''ninja''!")
* As an adjective, sneaky or cunning.
* As an adjective, highly skilled in general.
* As a verb, to accomplish something in a highly skillful or spectacular way.

;No Myth: Play operating under a social contract in which all players and the GM acknowledge that the [[RPG_Lexica:GHI|Impossible Thing Before Breakfast]] is impossible, and also acknowledge that the GM cannot maintain every detail of the world or universe at once. The goal is to eliminate railroading from the roleplay experience, and move the things which railroading is intended to prevent (players running amok and destroying the plot, or demanding things the GM can't know) into the social contract.

;NPC Theater: When NPC's, typically more powerful than the PCs, are allowed to take over a scene, making the PC's merely spectators in the NPC theater.

==O==
;OGL Heartbreaker: A game which, although it has an original world, uses an open-licensed gaming system or variation thereof instead of a system that is unique to that game world. Typically called a "Heartbreaker" because either the system used proves to be a poor means for conveying the intended feel of the setting, or it has no hope of finding a niche in the market because the generic system chosen already has a market leading game in the same genre.

;One Roll Engine: A unique [[dice]] system designed by Greg Stolze and used in the game ''[[Godlike]]''. Rather than trying to match a particular target number, the player rolls a number of dice based on their [[character]]'s competence and are deemed to have succeeded if two or more of those dice roll the same value. The unique property of this system is that a single roll delivers ''two'' results: the number of dice that matched, and the value they matched on.
:Note: this system is copyrighted, so you must seek the author's permission to use it in any game you are designing.

;One True: A sarcastic term used to imply that a particular system, rule, or principle is being advocated above all others, as in "the One True System" or "the One True Way". A great example of this can be found on ENWorld with the user named Diaglo who regularly asserts that OD&D is the "One true game, and all others are pale imitations."

;Open-ended roll: Any [[dice]] rolling system which includes the rule that any dice which rolls its maximum result should be rolled again, with the new roll added to the previous one to determine the final result. For example, if a 5 is rolled on an open-ended d6, the result is 5; but if a 6 is rolled, the dice is rolled again, and if a 4 is rolled on the second roll the overall result is 10 (the 4 just rolled plus the 6 rolled previously).
:See also: '''Exploding Dice'''

;Ouija board gaming: Any form of gaming in which the players have a strong expectation and desire for what they want out of the game, but refuse to take direct action to obtain it in the belief that it should "arise naturally" from other play. A classic example is players who want engaging and heroic stories but actually play highly gamist systems, many of which actually penalise heroic play, in the hope that a engaging or heroic plot points will arise by chance as a result of the operation of the standard gamist rules (for example, a PC attempting a valuable task they have little chance of succeeding on and getting a lucky roll - the problem being that most of the time, the PC will not get a lucky roll and the valuable task will fail, hurting the developing plot). The term was coined by Ron Edwards as an analogy to the boards supposedly used by mediums to contact spirits, where all participants in a session want the glass to move (so that there's a point to the session) but none want to move it (because doing so would confound the idea that the glass is being moved by supernatural forces).

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[[Category:Terminology]]

User:Wilx

2006-01-05T22:03:44Z

Wilx:

Testing...

Game title abbreviations

2006-01-05T21:52:27Z

Wilx: /* U */

[[Category:Games]]




<h2> Overview </h2>
This is a guide to the many abbreviations for game books and game lines that you may encounter on the RPG.net forums.

Numbers at the end of an abbreviation usually indicate the edition. UA2 or UA2E, for example, would mean 'Unknown armies second edition'.

A very useful resource for publication histories and brief descriptions of these games (and many others) is the online Encyclopedia of Role-Playing Games: [http://www.darkshire.net/~jhkim/rpg/encyclopedia/ Encyclopedia of Role-Playing Games]

__TOC__

== # ==
3.5 - [[Dungeons & Dragons]] Edition 3.5

3E - [[Dungeons & Dragons]] 3rd Edition

7S - [[7th Sea]]

5ER - [[Hero System]] 5th edition Revised rulebook

== A ==
AD&D - Advanced Dungeons and Dragons

ADRPG - Amber Diceless RPG

AE - Amazing Engine ''or'' Arcana Evolved

AFMBE - All Flesh Must Be Eaten

AGOT - A Game Of Thrones

ArM - Ars Magica

AtSA - Atlantis: the Second Age

AU - Arcana Unearthed

== B ==
B&B - Bunnies and Burrows

BD&D - Basic Dungeons and Dragons

BESM - Big Eyes Small Mouth (official acronym)

BG - Blood Games

BGC - Bubblegum Crisis

BNW - Brave New World

BP - Blue Planet

BR - Blue Rose

BRP - Basic Roleplaying

BRPG - Battleaxe Roleplaying Game

BTS - Beyond the Supernatural (Palladiumbooks)

BtVS - Buffy the Vampire Slayer

BW - Burning Wheel

BWc - Burning Wheel Classic, first edition

BWr - Burning Wheel Revised, current edition

== C ==
C&C - Castles and Crusades

C&S - Chivalry and Sorcery

CAH - Cartoon Action Hour

CC - Core Command

CoC - Call of Cthulhu

ConX - Conspiracy X

CP - Cyberpunk

CP2020 - Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0.

CT - Classic Traveller

CTD - Changeling: The Dreaming

== D ==
D&D ''or'' DND - Dungeons and Dragons (nowadays usually refers to edition 3.0 or 3.5)

DA:F - Dark Ages: Fae

DA:I - Dark Ages: Inquisitor

DA:M - Dark Ages: Mage

DA:V - Dark Ages: Vampire

DA:WW - Dark Ages: Werewolf

DC - Dark Conspiracy ''or'' DC Heroes

DG - Delta Green

DG:C - Delta Green: Countdown

DITV - Dogs in the Vineyard

DS - Dawning Star

DMG - Dungeon Master's Guide. Usually in reference to Dungeons and Dragons.

DTF - Demon: The Fallen

== E ==
ED - [[Earthdawn]]

E:tA - [[Exalted: The Abyssals]]

E:tAu - [[Exalted: The Autochthonians]]

E:tDB - [[Exalted: The Dragon-Blooded]]

E:tFF - [[Exalted: The Fair Folk]]

E:tL - [[Exalted: The Lunars]]

E:tS - [[Exalted: The Sidereals]]

EPT - [[Empire of the Petal Throne]]

== F ==
FATE - Fantastic Adventures in Tabletop Entertainment (official acronym)

FB - Fireborn

FF - Forgotten Futures

FR - Forgotten Realms

FRED - [[Hero]] Fifth Revised Edition

FS - Feng Shui ''or'' Fading Suns

FUDGE - Freeform Universal Do-It-Yourself Gaming Engine (official acronym)

== G ==
GB - Gangbusters ''or'' Ghostbusters

GBI - Ghostbusters International

GH - Greyhawk ''or'' Golden Heroes

GK - Gear Krieg

GoO - Guardians of Order

GURPS - [[GURPS|Generic Universal Role-Playing System]] (official acronym)

GT - GURPS Traveller

GW - Gamma World

== H ==
HG - [[Heavy Gear]]

HOL - [[Human Occupied Landfill]]

HM - High Medieval

HQ - [[Heroquest]]

== I ==
IC - Ironclaw

IH - Iron Heroes

IK - Iron Kingdoms

IN - In Nomine

== J ==

JAGS - Just Another Generic System (official acronym)

JC - Jovian Chronicles ''or'' Jadeclaw

JD - Judge Dredd

== K ==
KOTE - Kindred of the East

KPFS - Kill puppies for Satan

== L ==
L&S - Lace and Steel

L5R - Legend of the Five Rings

LOTR - Lord of the Rings

LS - Lost Souls

== M ==
M&M (or MNM) - Mutants and Masterminds

M2 (or MII) - Mekton II

MA - Metamorphosis Alpha

MEGS - Mayfair Exponential Gaming System (official acronym)

MERP - Middle-Earth Roleplaying

MET - Mind's Eye Theatre

MM - Monster Manual. Usually in reference to Dungeons and dragons.

MLWM - My Life With Master

MSPE - Mercenaries, Spies, and Private-Eyes

MT - MegaTraveller

MTA - Mage: The Ascension ''or'' Mage: The Awakening

MTAw - Mage: The Awakening

MTDA - Mage: The Dark Ages

MTSC - Mage: The Sorcerers' Crusade

MTR - Mummy: The Resurrection

MURPG - Marvel Universe RPG

MW - Mechwarrior

MWWG - Macho Women With Guns

MZ - Mekton Zeta

== N ==
N&SS - Ninjas and Superspies

NB - Ninja Burger

NWOD - New World of Darkness

== O ==
OD&D - Original Dungeons and Dragons

OTE - Over the Edge

OVA - Open Versatile Anime Role-Playing Game (official acronym)

OWOD - Old World of Darkness

== P ==
PD - Pendragon

PHB - Players Handbook. Usually in reference to Dungeons and Dragons.

PTA - Primetime Adventures

== Q ==
== R ==
RA - Random Anime

RC - Rules Cyclopedia. Usually in reference to Dungeons and Dragons.

RD - Red Dwarf

RM - Rolemaster

RQ - Runequest

RW - Ringworld

== S ==
SAS - [[Silver Age Sentinels]]

SB - [[Stormbringer]]

SC - [[StarCluster]] ''or'' [[Sweet Chariot]]

SLA - [[SLA Industries]]

SoJ - [[Skyrealms of Jorune]] ''or'' [[Secrets of Japan]] ([[Call of Cthulhu]] supplement)

SR - [[Shadowrun]]

ST - [[Star Trek]] ''or'' [[Storyteller]]

SW - [[Savage Worlds]] ''or'' [[Star Wars]] ''or'' [[Superworld]]

== T ==
T&T - Tunnels and Trolls

T20 - Traveller 20

T4 - Marc Miller's Traveller

T5 - Upcoming 5th Edition of Traveller

T8 - Tribe 8

Tal - Talislanta

THS - Transhuman Space

TINS - There Is No Spoon

TMNT - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness

TNE - Traveller: The New Era

TOJ - Time of judgement

ToMN - Tribes of Mother Night

TROS - The Riddle of Steel

TS - Transhuman Space ''or'' The Terran Story ''or'' Top Secret

TSOY - The Shadow of Yesterday

Tw2k - Twilight 2000

== U ==
UA - Unknown Armies ''or'' Unearthed Arcana ''or'' Urban Arcana
Univ - Universe, The Sci-Fi RPG

== V ==
V&V - Villains and Vigilantes

VTDA - Vampire: The Dark Ages

VTM - Vampire: The Masquerade

VTR - Vampire: The Requiem

== W ==
WC - Witchcraft

WFRP - [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]]

WHFRP - [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]]

WLD - World's Largest Dungeon

WOD - World of Darkness

WoT - The Wheel of Time

WOTG - [[Weapons of the Gods]]

WoW - Worlds of Wonder

WTA - Werewolf: The Apocalypse

WTF - Werewolf: The Forsaken

WTO - Wraith: The Oblivion

== X ==
== Y ==
== Z ==

Universe

2006-01-04T07:05:50Z

Wilx:

Universe, The Sci-Fi RPG is a modern in-print role-playing game published by Tower Ravens (http://www.towerravens.com). There is also an out-of-print Universe RPG developed by SPI and then purchased by TSR.