Editing RPG Lexica:STU

;Skarka's Law: This is an observation, originally attributed to author and publisher Gareth-Michael Skarka on RPGnet, that, on internet messageboards, there is no subject so vile or indefensible that someone won't post positively/in defense of it. This law is sometimes assumed to be coined ''about'' Skarka, because of his sometimes scathing and antagonistic posting style and eventual permaban from RPGnet (the ban was retracted in 2008), but this is erroneous.

;SLF: A German expression (SpielLeiterFicken = lit. Game Master Fucking) that is used when it becomes obvious that the character of the [[GM]]'s Significant Other is getting special treatment from the [[GM]] due to their OOC relationship. Also used when a [[player]] tries to charm a [[GM]] of the opposite sex into doing as they wish.  In English-speaking countries, this is generally alluded to by the phrase "GM's Girlfriend" or "GM's Wife" (or boyfriend/husband, naturally).

;Social Contract: The (often unstated) rules that govern the interactions taking place during an [[RPG]].  ''Not'' a statement of basic social etiquette, which is assumed to be in force regardless: rather the social contract of an RPG defines the expectations and responsibilities of the [[player]]s with regard to the entertainment of the RPG [[session]].  For example, many games have the rule that the [[GM]] may break the rules if doing so is to the good of the game; the social contract would include the definition of what "the good of the game" means in the particular group.  As mentioned above, these are often unstated and not discussed, which can later lead to friction in the group.     

;Social Skills Problem:  A problem arising in many [[RPG]]s where social skills are modeled as part of the rules system.  The typical problem is that resolving the results of these skills via a simple [[dice]] roll, as usually mandated by the rules, will leave the [[player]]s and [[GM]] with no idea of what was actually said or done by the [[character]] - highly unsatisfactory.  On the other hand, if the player is required to speak in-character and to play out the social situation, then the situation will be determined by the player's social skills, not the character's.

;Specialization problem:  A game balance (q.v.) problem arising in games where characters are able to specialize in particular fields.  Typically, the problem arises when a group contains only a single specialist in a particular area: any hazard in that area that is challenging to the specialist is utterly impossible for the other characters, leaving their players with nothing to do but sit and grow bored; and any hazard that would be challenging but possible for the other characters is trivially solved by the specialist, again leaving the non-specialist players with nothing to do.  (A concrete example would be, in the d20 system, a fighter with a +22 attack bonus and a wizard with a +2 bonus.  Any enemy that the wizard has a chance of hitting, the fighter can never miss; and any enemy that the fighter will not always hit, the wizard will never hit.  D&D introduces special rules for handling very high attack bonuses to prevent exactly this situation arising.)  This can lead to player boredom and disengagement and in extreme cases may result in players attempting to manipulate the game story to ensure their characters' specialized talents get used and those of other characters do not.

;Squishy Caster problem: Related to the [[RPG Lexica:DEF|Dumb Fighter problem]].  The Squishy Caster problem (sometimes referred to as the Glass Cannon) arises in class-and-level RPGs where a character's life counters are intimately tied to his or her role in the game.  Spellcasters such as Wizards and Sorcerors in D&D have powerful and intensely damaging attacks, but very poor armor and hit points; it thus becomes desirable from an opponent's point of view to focus attacks on the spellcasters rather than the more heavily armored but less dangerous warriors, in hopes of knocking them out of the fight quickly. This is not, however, desirable from a metagame point of view as killing PCs quickly results in less fun, and increased probability of a '''Total Party Kill'''.

*'''Brick''': A character whose primary attribute is high strength (Superman, the Hulk, the Thing from the Fantastic Four), especially in systems like ''[[Hero]]'' in which Strength adds to defenses, making them tougher.  Sometimes applied to games in other genres to refer to high-strength, high-defense characters (such as a typical [[D&D]] fighter).

*'''Dex Monster''': A character whose primary attribute is high Dexterity. Usually has good weapon skill, classic “thief skills”, evasive defenses, and is often quicker than other characters (though not as quick as a '''speedster''', below).  Also known as a '''Ninja''', whether trained in martial arts or not.

*'''Energy Projector''': A character that “throws” an energy discharge of some sort, such as a fire blast, lightning bolt, or just the blast of destructive energy typical of many comic book characters. Originally a ''[[Champions]]'' term. Also known as a '''Blaster'''.

:He strongly believes in a form of Gonzo journalism to make a point. The term swine was adapted from Hunter Thompson's "Generation of Swine".  

;Symbiote problem:  A spin off of the ''specialization problem'' that arises when a group of PCs is composed entirely of specialists, each specialized in a different field.  Because typically no individual PC will be able to survive or progress in any challenging situation that is not his/her specialty, the group is forced to stick together at all times, and thus almost all significant actions (such as where the group should travel next) will have to be decided on by the group as a whole or by a designated leader.  This can damage the players' ability to role-play their characters, as well as making the game session very boring for players other than the group leader who may get to do nothing in the session but declare when they are making use of their specialty.  This problem is especially insidious because the group of specialists is often considered the best possible make-up for a party.

;Tank:  As a noun, an extremely tough character capable of taking (or, occasionally, avoiding) lots of damage.

;Thelma:  A gamer who would go to any extreme, including committing suicide, rather than be caught.  Two of them are called ''Thelma & Louise''.

;TLP: Abbreviation for '''(check for) Traps, Listen, Pick''' - the standard behavior of a thief or rogue character when encountering an unknown door in a dungeon that the party needs to pass through.

;Total Party Kill: (Sometimes abbreviated '''TPK''') Any course of action in a [[RPG]] that results in the entire [[party]] of [[player character]]s winding up either dead or incapacitated.  May be the result of bad tactics (the party biting off more than it can chew), bad luck (rotten rolls for [[PC]]s combined with excellent rolls for the opposition), or bad [[GM]]ing (say, the GM cheating because he's annoyed at the [[player]]s). The abbreviated form is sometimes used as a verb, as in: "Man, I'm never playing with Ernie again... he had an argument with his girlfriend and retaliated by TPKing the entire group!"

;TRPG:  Abbreviation for ''Tabletop Role Playing Game'' or ''Table Talk Roleplaying Game''.  An alternate abbreviation used in Japan, where the abbreviation RPG is usually taken to mean CRPG.

;Turtle: A [[player]] who avoids taking any action during the game unless it is either clearly necessary for their [[character]]'s safety or obviously prompted by the [[GM]].  This behavior is usually the result of one of several beliefs developed from previous RPGing experience: a) that the GM's job is to subject their characters to adversity, and therefore they must minimize the opportunities the GM has to do so, or b) that the GM is intending to '''[[RPG_Lexica:PQR|railroad]]''' them and thus any proactive action would be doomed to fail as it would disrupt the railroad.  Convincing a player who has learned to turtle to stop doing so is often extremely challenging.

;Twink: see Munchkin. Originated in the world of MUSH/MUX/whatever.

:3) As a noun, a PC which has been optimized as described above (usually in sense #1).