RPG Lexica:STU

T

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. (This meaning is similar to meat shield, but with no implied pejorative.); As a noun, also, any strategy for defeating an enemy that is based on resisting that enemy's attacks.

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 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). 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.; This is also a generally accepted abbreviation for 'Tactical Role-Playing Game', a type of electronic RPG which focuses on chess-like or wargame-like mechanics for resolving combats. Examples of this electronic type of TRPG are Shining Force, Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy Tactics, and others.

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 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.

Twink: see Munchkin. Originated in the world of MUSH/MUX/whatever.; Also a verb in CRPGs for the (often time-consuming and difficult) process of manipulating a PC's stats to accomplish a specific goal. The most common forms of twinking are; 1) maximizing the PC's usefulness for a specific gaming function (i.e., PvP combat), in which case the PC's development is generally frozen at a predetermined optimal point, and; 2) artificially enhancing the PC's stats through particular equipment and buffs in a way that is not useful for actually playing the character, for the sole purpose of meeting the stat prerequisite to equipping a specific item or achieving some other in-game benchmark (see, eg., Anarchy Online Character Twinking Guide). After the goal is completed, the enhancements are generally undone and/or allowed to lapse and the character returned to its standard, playable configuration with its new equipment or ability in place.; 3) As a noun, a PC which has been optimized as described above (usually in sense #1).

"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).