Post by Krepta on Nov 16, 2012 17:29:44 GMT -5
Introduction
This is a glossary of words useful to new roleplayers, or to roleplayers that are just getting into this type or level of roleplaying. If you see something on the site that you'd like defined that isn't here or you find a mistake, please PM an admin with your request!
The Glossary
A
AFK: Abbreviation for "Away From Keyboard."
Apocalyptic: Any roleplay with an apocalyptic theme, typically set in a modern or futuristic timeframe. Usually, such roleplays are also realistic, but on occasion may permit things such as biomodifications or magic.
Author Proxy: While they can be confused with Mary Sues/Gary Stu's, a good Author Proxy is a fictional version of the player/typist but contains all the flaws of the person and they have no powers. Often AP's are used to interact with a fictional characters in the actual game, but are not widely used due to the similarity to Mary Sues.
Autohit, also Autohitting:
1.) During a roleplay fight, or text-based fighting, your post includes mention of actions that affect the other character with certainty. (For example, "Peter swung his fist in Jake's direction" is NOT autohitting, but "Peter hit Jake in the face, breaking his nose", is autohitting. The first allows the other player to dodge, or to take the hit, whereas the latter does not.)
2.) The action of writing such posts.
3.) The habit of writing such posts.
Autohitting is also considered a form of godmodding.
B
Bashing: When a group of users gang up on another user in a forum and flame them, usually telling said user to read the rules.
BRB: Abbreviation for "Be Right Back."
C
Canon - Original material, or referring to "official source material"
Character: A fictional character in a role-playing game; a player character or non-player character.
Character Sheet - The document containing a character's basic traits, skills, carried equipment, background, etc.
Character creation: The method used to create a character, especially a player character.
Closed:
1.) A roleplay that is no longer accepting players or characters.
2.) A roleplay between two people.
Cross-genre:
(adj.) Referring to the mix or blend of roleplaying categories
Cyberpunk:
1.) A roleplay characterized by characters that are "marginalized, alienated loners who lived on the edge of society in generally dystopic futures where daily life was impacted by rapid technological change, an ubiquitous datasphere of computerized information, and invasive modification of the human body". (Lawrence Person)
2.) A story characterized in the same manner.
3.) The genre consisting of all fictitious works characterized in such a manner.
D
Despie: A player that is desperate for romance. Usually they are complete newbies.
Dieselpunk:
1.) "Fiction inspired by mid-century pulp and set in a world similar to steampunk though specifically characterized by the rise of petroleum power and technocratic perception, incorporating neo-noir elements and sharing themes more with cyberpunk than steampunk." (Wikipedia)
2.) Roleplay in such a setting.
3.) The broad genre of all such works.
Drama llama: A person who randomly throws their drama on others, in the same way a llama randomly spits.
E
F
Fandom: An existing setting or 'universe' in which writers may create roleplays. For example, the Star Wars fandom, the Harry Potter fandom, the Lord of the Rings fandom, the Naruto fandom.
Fanon - A play on Canon, referring to fan created material that has become so ingrained in the community it is accepted as canon even though it hasn’t been ‘canonized’ by the designer / publisher of the [ Original Cannon ]
Fantasy
1.) Any roleplay in a fantasy setting.
2.) Sometimes also used as a catch all term for any non-realistic roleplay.
Flamers: A person who deliberately starts fights or fuels the fire of a fight that is currently occurring outside of the RP between players.
Freeform:
1.) A type of roleplay where there are no explicit guidelines on length or format of posts, usage of player characters, plot, or determining the success of various actions including combat.
2.) Another term for text based roleplay.
G
Gary Stu: See Mary Sue. ( Male Form )
Genre:
(n.) A distinct category of roleplaying, usually defined by setting elements. Ex.: fantasy, spacer (science fiction), historical fiction, cyberpunk, etc.
Godmoder:
(n.) A player who creates a character with so many powers and defenses, it’s invincible.
H
Handwaving, also Handwave or Hand wave: Skipping a scene either because it violates site rules (such as on romantic or sexual content), an individual roleplay's rules, or because the players involved agree not to write out the details of the scene (i.e. the uninteresting parts of a criminal trial, a speech, or a romantic scene with which one or both roleplayers are not comfortable). The content of the omitted scene is assumed to have happened, and the players whose characters are involved reach a mutual agreement before the handwave as to what occurs.
I
In Character -
1) An action or discussion which is meant to be performed by a character in the story of the game.
2) Character behavior in line with the character's personality.
IC/OOC Confusion:
(n.) The condition of mixing player/character realities or knowledge in either active roleplay or offline circumstances. An undesirable habit, and usually considered poor form.
IC/OOC Separation
(n.) Maintaining the disciplined separation between IC story and OOC reality. Good form in advanced roleplay.
Illiterate: Usually beginners, illiterates are known to use very generic list descriptions like such:
Name: Mister so and so
Gender: Male
Eyes: Green
Clothes: Jeans and a green day shirt ect.
There are usually no depth or substance to these characters and the remainder of the roleplay is played out in one-liners. Usually illiterates have no regards for capitalization or ooc or grammar or spelling or basic roleplaying rules.
J
K
L
Literate, also Literacy:
1.) An in-character post consisting of at least a few good-sized paragraphs, with good grammar and spelling.
2.) The ability on a roleplayer's behalf to make good usage of the English language, with respect to common usage, stylistic choices, grammar, spelling, punctuation, and capitalization, while simultaneously adding coherent posts to an existing roleplay through careful development of character and plot.
3.) May also refer to the capability to write posts consisting of upwards of 500-700 words, although exact parameters differ between roleplayers.
4.) A roleplayer who is capable and willing to write such posts.
M
Mary Sue - A character who is over-the-top perfect and exists to fulfill the fanciful thinking of the player. The original Mary Sue was a fictional character in a set of fan written Star Trek stories where this nothing cadet out-smarted Spock, slept with Kirk, saved the Universe, etc.
Metagaming: Using out-of-character knowledge to solve in-character problems, or to explain in-character behaviour.
Multiverse:
1.) A 'setting' for roleplay where all 'universes' and 'fandoms' and 'characters' simultaneously exist at once. (For example, Obi-Wan Kenobi can hang out with Harry Potter, Gil Grissom, and Napoleon Bonaparte all at once).
2.) The thread where such a setting exists.
3.) Posts made with such a setting in mind.
4.) Relating to such a setting.
N
Newbie, also Newb, Noob, N00b:
1.) Any person with little to no experience with roleplay.
2.) Any person who is a newly registered member of the site.
3.) May also have derogatory connotations, referring to any person with immature behavior either OOC or IC.
Non-Player Character - Any creature in a game that is not controlled exclusively by a player.
NPC - Non-Player Character
O
One-Line, also One line, one liners, or one-liners:
1.) An IC post consisting of one sentence, or one line of text in a very literal sense.
2.) The act of writing such posts.
3.) The habit of writing such posts.
4.) A roleplayer who consistently writes such posts.
One on One, also 1x1, OnexOne: A roleplay exclusively between two players. They may choose to only play one character each, or to play multiple characters each, and write the plot together.
Open:
1.) A roleplay which is still accepting players and characters.
2.) A roleplay without a clearly defined plot, beginning, middle, and end.
3.) A roleplay allowing for freeform play.
4.) A roleplay permitting the players to collaborate to develop their own plotlines and subplots, without the burden of an existing overarching plot.
5.) A roleplay that is not forcing the story to go in one particular direction, or forcing the characters to work towards one specific goal or 'end', or conclusion.
OOC - Out of Character
Out of Character -
1) An action or discussion made between Players not meant to be performed by characters in game.
2) An action that is not in line with the character's personality.
P
Player - The physical person playing the game - i.e. not the character(s) they play.
Plot Hole: A plot hole, or plothole, is a gap or inconsistency in a storyline that goes against the flow of logic established by the story's plot. These include such things as unlikely behaviour or actions of characters, illogical or impossible events, or statements/events that contradict earlier events in the storyline.
Powers - Supernatural abilities possessed by a character.
Powergame:
(v.) To overstep the bounds of freeform roleplaying courtesy and make a decision for or attempt to control another player’s character and/or storyline without his/her consent. Considered very poor form and often leads to disruptive player conflicts.
Private:
1.) A roleplay exclusively between two players. They may choose to only play one character each, or to play multiple characters each, and write the plot together.
2.) A roleplay with all spots already filled, or already collaborated by a specific group of roleplayers in advance of either the OOC or IC thread being posted publicly.
3.) A roleplay that has never been publicly open to signups.
Psionics - Powerful abilities of the mind. May be the same as spell-casting but often used in an otherwise magic-free system. (i.e. mind reading, telekinesis, etc)
Q
R
Race - The biological being the player chooses to play. In typical fantasy role playing games, this can be human, elf, dwarf, gnome etc. The choice of race typically affects the basic traits of the character.
Realistic:
1.) A roleplay set in the real world, whether historical, modern, or futuristic. This last one is very rarely associated with the term 'realistic', except in near future settings.
2.) Any roleplay where there is no form of magic nor of technology which does not exist in real life.
3.) Also sometimes used as a general term referring to any non-fantasy roleplay.
Redshirts - An NPC that has little purpose other than to die. Commonly used in a Sci-Fi RPG setting. Derives from the classic Star Trek television show in which a security detail wearing red uniform shirts accompanied the bridge crew on adventures, almost always to their regret.
Role-play - The act of taking on the role of a character.
S
Semi-Literate, also Semi-Lit:
1.) An in-character post consisting of one to three good-sized paragraphs, with good grammar and spelling. ( Our Minimum Post Length is less. )
2.) An in character post of sizable length, but lacking perfection in terms of grammar and spelling.
3.) Any in-character post shorter than, or with worse mechanics than, a literate post.
4.) A roleplayer who is capable and willing to write such posts.
Setting
(n.) The fictional universe in which a story takes place. A setting may be immediate, such as a room, or broad-based, such as a country or planet.
Skills: Learned capabilities, such as spoken languages, horse riding or computer hacking.
Slash: Romantic relationship in a roleplay between two original characters that is not true to the original storyline. For example, in a Harry Potter Roleplay a slash between Draco and harry would be written as Draco x Harry.
Spammer/SPAM: Stupid Pointless Annoying Messages. Usually someone who writes very little in their posts and often is irrelevant to the RP.
Steampunk:
1.) A roleplay characterized by Neo-Victorianism, where characters exist in a Victorian era, and modern technological devices are modified to fit into such a time period.
2.) A story characterized in the same way.
3.) The genre consisting of such works.
4.) The subculture of fans of this genre.
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
Credits
RPG Geek.com
Dragonsmark.com
Ylanne's Guide to Roleplay Terminology
Roleplaying Wiki
This is a glossary of words useful to new roleplayers, or to roleplayers that are just getting into this type or level of roleplaying. If you see something on the site that you'd like defined that isn't here or you find a mistake, please PM an admin with your request!
The Glossary
A
AFK: Abbreviation for "Away From Keyboard."
Apocalyptic: Any roleplay with an apocalyptic theme, typically set in a modern or futuristic timeframe. Usually, such roleplays are also realistic, but on occasion may permit things such as biomodifications or magic.
Author Proxy: While they can be confused with Mary Sues/Gary Stu's, a good Author Proxy is a fictional version of the player/typist but contains all the flaws of the person and they have no powers. Often AP's are used to interact with a fictional characters in the actual game, but are not widely used due to the similarity to Mary Sues.
Autohit, also Autohitting:
1.) During a roleplay fight, or text-based fighting, your post includes mention of actions that affect the other character with certainty. (For example, "Peter swung his fist in Jake's direction" is NOT autohitting, but "Peter hit Jake in the face, breaking his nose", is autohitting. The first allows the other player to dodge, or to take the hit, whereas the latter does not.)
2.) The action of writing such posts.
3.) The habit of writing such posts.
Autohitting is also considered a form of godmodding.
B
Bashing: When a group of users gang up on another user in a forum and flame them, usually telling said user to read the rules.
BRB: Abbreviation for "Be Right Back."
C
Canon - Original material, or referring to "official source material"
Character: A fictional character in a role-playing game; a player character or non-player character.
Character Sheet - The document containing a character's basic traits, skills, carried equipment, background, etc.
Character creation: The method used to create a character, especially a player character.
Closed:
1.) A roleplay that is no longer accepting players or characters.
2.) A roleplay between two people.
Cross-genre:
(adj.) Referring to the mix or blend of roleplaying categories
Cyberpunk:
1.) A roleplay characterized by characters that are "marginalized, alienated loners who lived on the edge of society in generally dystopic futures where daily life was impacted by rapid technological change, an ubiquitous datasphere of computerized information, and invasive modification of the human body". (Lawrence Person)
2.) A story characterized in the same manner.
3.) The genre consisting of all fictitious works characterized in such a manner.
D
Despie: A player that is desperate for romance. Usually they are complete newbies.
Dieselpunk:
1.) "Fiction inspired by mid-century pulp and set in a world similar to steampunk though specifically characterized by the rise of petroleum power and technocratic perception, incorporating neo-noir elements and sharing themes more with cyberpunk than steampunk." (Wikipedia)
2.) Roleplay in such a setting.
3.) The broad genre of all such works.
Drama llama: A person who randomly throws their drama on others, in the same way a llama randomly spits.
E
F
Fandom: An existing setting or 'universe' in which writers may create roleplays. For example, the Star Wars fandom, the Harry Potter fandom, the Lord of the Rings fandom, the Naruto fandom.
Fanon - A play on Canon, referring to fan created material that has become so ingrained in the community it is accepted as canon even though it hasn’t been ‘canonized’ by the designer / publisher of the [ Original Cannon ]
Fantasy
1.) Any roleplay in a fantasy setting.
2.) Sometimes also used as a catch all term for any non-realistic roleplay.
Flamers: A person who deliberately starts fights or fuels the fire of a fight that is currently occurring outside of the RP between players.
Freeform:
1.) A type of roleplay where there are no explicit guidelines on length or format of posts, usage of player characters, plot, or determining the success of various actions including combat.
2.) Another term for text based roleplay.
G
Gary Stu: See Mary Sue. ( Male Form )
Genre:
(n.) A distinct category of roleplaying, usually defined by setting elements. Ex.: fantasy, spacer (science fiction), historical fiction, cyberpunk, etc.
Godmoder:
(n.) A player who creates a character with so many powers and defenses, it’s invincible.
H
Handwaving, also Handwave or Hand wave: Skipping a scene either because it violates site rules (such as on romantic or sexual content), an individual roleplay's rules, or because the players involved agree not to write out the details of the scene (i.e. the uninteresting parts of a criminal trial, a speech, or a romantic scene with which one or both roleplayers are not comfortable). The content of the omitted scene is assumed to have happened, and the players whose characters are involved reach a mutual agreement before the handwave as to what occurs.
I
In Character -
1) An action or discussion which is meant to be performed by a character in the story of the game.
2) Character behavior in line with the character's personality.
IC/OOC Confusion:
(n.) The condition of mixing player/character realities or knowledge in either active roleplay or offline circumstances. An undesirable habit, and usually considered poor form.
IC/OOC Separation
(n.) Maintaining the disciplined separation between IC story and OOC reality. Good form in advanced roleplay.
Illiterate: Usually beginners, illiterates are known to use very generic list descriptions like such:
Name: Mister so and so
Gender: Male
Eyes: Green
Clothes: Jeans and a green day shirt ect.
There are usually no depth or substance to these characters and the remainder of the roleplay is played out in one-liners. Usually illiterates have no regards for capitalization or ooc or grammar or spelling or basic roleplaying rules.
J
K
L
Literate, also Literacy:
1.) An in-character post consisting of at least a few good-sized paragraphs, with good grammar and spelling.
2.) The ability on a roleplayer's behalf to make good usage of the English language, with respect to common usage, stylistic choices, grammar, spelling, punctuation, and capitalization, while simultaneously adding coherent posts to an existing roleplay through careful development of character and plot.
3.) May also refer to the capability to write posts consisting of upwards of 500-700 words, although exact parameters differ between roleplayers.
4.) A roleplayer who is capable and willing to write such posts.
M
Mary Sue - A character who is over-the-top perfect and exists to fulfill the fanciful thinking of the player. The original Mary Sue was a fictional character in a set of fan written Star Trek stories where this nothing cadet out-smarted Spock, slept with Kirk, saved the Universe, etc.
Metagaming: Using out-of-character knowledge to solve in-character problems, or to explain in-character behaviour.
Multiverse:
1.) A 'setting' for roleplay where all 'universes' and 'fandoms' and 'characters' simultaneously exist at once. (For example, Obi-Wan Kenobi can hang out with Harry Potter, Gil Grissom, and Napoleon Bonaparte all at once).
2.) The thread where such a setting exists.
3.) Posts made with such a setting in mind.
4.) Relating to such a setting.
N
Newbie, also Newb, Noob, N00b:
1.) Any person with little to no experience with roleplay.
2.) Any person who is a newly registered member of the site.
3.) May also have derogatory connotations, referring to any person with immature behavior either OOC or IC.
Non-Player Character - Any creature in a game that is not controlled exclusively by a player.
NPC - Non-Player Character
O
One-Line, also One line, one liners, or one-liners:
1.) An IC post consisting of one sentence, or one line of text in a very literal sense.
2.) The act of writing such posts.
3.) The habit of writing such posts.
4.) A roleplayer who consistently writes such posts.
One on One, also 1x1, OnexOne: A roleplay exclusively between two players. They may choose to only play one character each, or to play multiple characters each, and write the plot together.
Open:
1.) A roleplay which is still accepting players and characters.
2.) A roleplay without a clearly defined plot, beginning, middle, and end.
3.) A roleplay allowing for freeform play.
4.) A roleplay permitting the players to collaborate to develop their own plotlines and subplots, without the burden of an existing overarching plot.
5.) A roleplay that is not forcing the story to go in one particular direction, or forcing the characters to work towards one specific goal or 'end', or conclusion.
OOC - Out of Character
Out of Character -
1) An action or discussion made between Players not meant to be performed by characters in game.
2) An action that is not in line with the character's personality.
P
Player - The physical person playing the game - i.e. not the character(s) they play.
Plot Hole: A plot hole, or plothole, is a gap or inconsistency in a storyline that goes against the flow of logic established by the story's plot. These include such things as unlikely behaviour or actions of characters, illogical or impossible events, or statements/events that contradict earlier events in the storyline.
Powers - Supernatural abilities possessed by a character.
Powergame:
(v.) To overstep the bounds of freeform roleplaying courtesy and make a decision for or attempt to control another player’s character and/or storyline without his/her consent. Considered very poor form and often leads to disruptive player conflicts.
Private:
1.) A roleplay exclusively between two players. They may choose to only play one character each, or to play multiple characters each, and write the plot together.
2.) A roleplay with all spots already filled, or already collaborated by a specific group of roleplayers in advance of either the OOC or IC thread being posted publicly.
3.) A roleplay that has never been publicly open to signups.
Psionics - Powerful abilities of the mind. May be the same as spell-casting but often used in an otherwise magic-free system. (i.e. mind reading, telekinesis, etc)
Q
R
Race - The biological being the player chooses to play. In typical fantasy role playing games, this can be human, elf, dwarf, gnome etc. The choice of race typically affects the basic traits of the character.
Realistic:
1.) A roleplay set in the real world, whether historical, modern, or futuristic. This last one is very rarely associated with the term 'realistic', except in near future settings.
2.) Any roleplay where there is no form of magic nor of technology which does not exist in real life.
3.) Also sometimes used as a general term referring to any non-fantasy roleplay.
Redshirts - An NPC that has little purpose other than to die. Commonly used in a Sci-Fi RPG setting. Derives from the classic Star Trek television show in which a security detail wearing red uniform shirts accompanied the bridge crew on adventures, almost always to their regret.
Role-play - The act of taking on the role of a character.
S
Semi-Literate, also Semi-Lit:
1.) An in-character post consisting of one to three good-sized paragraphs, with good grammar and spelling. ( Our Minimum Post Length is less. )
2.) An in character post of sizable length, but lacking perfection in terms of grammar and spelling.
3.) Any in-character post shorter than, or with worse mechanics than, a literate post.
4.) A roleplayer who is capable and willing to write such posts.
Setting
(n.) The fictional universe in which a story takes place. A setting may be immediate, such as a room, or broad-based, such as a country or planet.
Skills: Learned capabilities, such as spoken languages, horse riding or computer hacking.
Slash: Romantic relationship in a roleplay between two original characters that is not true to the original storyline. For example, in a Harry Potter Roleplay a slash between Draco and harry would be written as Draco x Harry.
Spammer/SPAM: Stupid Pointless Annoying Messages. Usually someone who writes very little in their posts and often is irrelevant to the RP.
Steampunk:
1.) A roleplay characterized by Neo-Victorianism, where characters exist in a Victorian era, and modern technological devices are modified to fit into such a time period.
2.) A story characterized in the same way.
3.) The genre consisting of such works.
4.) The subculture of fans of this genre.
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
Credits
RPG Geek.com
Dragonsmark.com
Ylanne's Guide to Roleplay Terminology
Roleplaying Wiki