Difference between revisions of "RPG Lexica:STU"

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;Total Party Kill: 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).
 
 
  
 
;Tank:  As a noun, an extremely tough character capable of taking lots of damage.
 
;Tank:  As a noun, an extremely tough character capable of taking lots of damage.
 
:As a verb, for a character to deliberately place themselves in harm's way on the basis that if they didn't do so, another more vulnerable character would be there instead.  This is a critical technique for protecting weaker party members in most RPGs.
 
:As a verb, for a character to deliberately place themselves in harm's way on the basis that if they didn't do so, another more vulnerable character would be there instead.  This is a critical technique for protecting weaker party members in most RPGs.
 
:As a noun, also, any strategy for defeating an enemy that is based on resisting that enemy's attacks.
 
:As a noun, also, any strategy for defeating an enemy that is based on resisting that enemy's attacks.
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;Total Party Kill: 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).
  
  

Revision as of 15:04, 1 September 2005

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skillmonster
A character with high skill, usually considerably over and above the skills of other characters. Implies that these skills are the main thrust of the character. Often concentrated in a particular area; for example, he may be very good at thief skills, enabling him to steal almost anything with impunity, or at social skills, making him a master con man.


SLF
A german expression (SpielLeiterFicken) that is used when it becomes obvious that the GM's "Significant Other" is getting an advantage of being the significant other. Also used when a player tries to charm a GM of the opposite sex into doing as they wish.


Snowflake
A player who attempts to ensure their character has abilities that are unique or rare in the setting, usually writing a character background focused on attempting to justify this. Taken from the classic children's observation that "every snowflake is unique", or possibly from the movie Fight Club, in which Tyler Durden tells recruits that ".. you are not a beautiful and unique snowflake.."


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 responsibilites of the players 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 RPGs where social skills are modelled 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 players 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.


Splat
The general term for a subgroup of characters, especially one that player characters are expected to belong to. Origin: back-construction from "splatbook".


Splatbook
Any of a series of books going into extensive detail on a small subgroup of characters in a RPG, especially a group that player characters are expected to belong to. The implication is that the series of books are similar enough that their titles are interchangeable except for one word. White Wolf makes several of these, such as the various "Clanbook: ______" books for Vampire: The Masquerade, each of which details one specific Clan.
Origin: From "splat" as a name for the asterisk (*) character (which itself is because of the squashed-bug appearance of the asterisk on early dot-matrix printers), and the fact that the asterisk usually means "Match with anything" when used in searches in computer documents or on the command-line. (For example, the above books could be found by searching for "Clanbook: *" in some editor programs.)


Stat
A numeric value representing a character's competence at something. A shortening of statistic, used in reference to player statistics in sports which are used to retroactively measure the sportsperson's performance in terms of what they have previously achieved. In RPGs, the numbers are set by other methods and then used to calculate the character's performance and achievements in the future. Thus they are technically parameters rather than statistics, but the name has stuck.


Stinking Cloud
An infamous Dungeons & Dragons magic spell which causes clouds of caustic green vapor to be emitted by the spell caster. Also, sarcastically, the aftereffects of the typical game-table diet.


Superheroes, types of
Superhero RPGs enable players to play characters with any of several types of powers, like the characters in comic books. Certain combinations of powers and abilities occur frequently enough that shorthand terms have been created for them.
The following are some of the more common terms:
  • 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 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”, and is often quicker than other characters (though not as quick as a speedster, below).
  • Egoist: A Hero term for a Mentalist, below, since the main statistic they use in Hero is called “Ego”.
  • 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.
  • Gadgeteer: A character that relies on technical ability and machines. May be applied to characters from other genres as well.
  • Martial Artist: A character that relies on hand-to-hand combat skill without necessarily having high strength. Usually skilled in Eastern martial arts (or fake pseudo-Eastern super martial arts).
  • Mentalist: A character that uses “mental powers” such as Telepathy or Telekinesis; in RPGs, often has a mental attack power that hurts someone they can contact telepathically. Also called a Psi, Psionic or Psychic. (Examples: Professor X, Jean Grey)
  • Powersuit: A character whose powers are granted by a powered suit of some sort, which provides protection, increased strength, and often other powers such as flight. Implies the person in the suit is either “normal” or comparatively weak without it (i.e., it's the suit that has the powers, not the pilot). Also called a Powered Armor, Battlesuit, or Suitguy. (Examples: Iron Man, M.A.N.T.I.S. from the short-lived TV show of the same name)
  • Speedster: A character whose primary power is high speed, often fast enough to be invisible when moving at full speed. Classic examples: The Flash, Impulse.
Note that these can be combined... Batman, for example, is a Gadgeteer/Martial Artist (and, in the movies, a Suitguy... sort of).

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Tank
As a noun, an extremely tough character capable of taking lots of damage.
As a verb, for a character to deliberately place themselves in harm's way on the basis that if they didn't do so, another more vulnerable character would be there instead. This is a critical technique for protecting weaker party members in most RPGs.
As a noun, also, any strategy for defeating an enemy that is based on resisting that enemy's attacks.


Total Party Kill
Any course of action in a RPG that results in the entire party of player characters 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 PCs combined with excellent rolls for the opposition), or bad GMing (say, the GM cheating because he's annoyed at the players).


TPK
Abbreviation for Total Party Kill. Sometimes verbed: "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 abbrevation 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 behaviour 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 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.
Also, v. Turtling, to refer to this behavior.

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"Use the force, Luke!"
(movie quote) usu. spoken to someone about to try something extremely difficult or that cannot be done under normal conditions.
Addendum: From George Lucas' 1977 magnum opus Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope. Spoken by the recently deceased Obi-Wan Kenobi (Sir Alec Guinness) to the young Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill).


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