RPG Lexica:ABC

B

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 characters, 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.)

C

Character

The imaginary persona "played" by the player of a RPG.

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 RPGs 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 random-roll, depending on the RPG being used.

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 D&D; the World of Darkness book and the Vampire book are the corebooks for Vampire: the Requiem.

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