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The list below is a role-playing lexicon, a list of words and abbreviations that are used in or during role-playing, as well as when talking or writing about role-playing. This includes a number of role-playing games.

Lexicon formatting guide
Example
  • word (wordtype)
    • definition of this word; explanation in other words
  • other word (wordtype1/wordtype2)
    • full meaning, as specific as possible; e.g. a useful example (wordtype1)
    • next full meaning or explanation; e.g. another example or two (wordtype2)
  • third word (wordtype)
    • see: another word
Guidelines
  • sort alphabetically!
  • in italics:
    • word type
    • redirects to another word
    • original meaning: prefix
  • use capitals only when required: for abbreviations, names, etc.
  • internal links:
    • within explanations, refer to the appropriate section in the lexicon
    • word itself may link to the appropriate article on this wiki
    • never add redlinks, but for RPGs
  • use commas or semicolons, avoid fullstops
  • use "e.g." for examples

Contents: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z


A[]

  • advanced (adjective)
    • original meaning: ahead in progress, skill, knowledge
    • with a minimum amount of background knowledge about role-playing; e.g. advanced player, advanced role-play
    • well-developed, thoroughly written or researched; e.g. advanced storyline, advanced rules
  • alignment (noun)
    • original meaning: taking a certain position or stance, arrangement
    • ethic and moral perspective of a person, institution or nation
  • anthropomorphic (adjective)
    • resembling a human or the human form, having human attributes; e.g. anthropomorphic deity
    • with both human (usually anatomical) and animal features; not to be confused with "furry"
  • arc (noun)
    • storyline; one part of a bigger story, however often still divided into chapters or episodes
  • ARPG (abbreviation)
    • action (genre) role-playing (video) game
    • adventure (genre) role-playing (video) game
    • apocalyptic role-playing (video) game; role-playing (video) game taking place in an apocalypse
  • autohit (noun)
    • hit that landed on a character without previous statement of intention
    • role-playing post in which an autohit occurred
  • to autohit (verb)
    • to have a hit automatically land on a character
  • autohitting (adjective/noun)
    • that autohits, in which is or has been autohit; e.g. an autohitting player, an autohitting post (adjective)
    • act or habit of having a hit automatically land on a character (noun)

B[]

  • B&B (abbreviation)
    • Bunnies & Burrows
  • to beta-read (verb)
    • to read up on another character's abilities or background and implementing this (OOC) knowledge in the role-play
  • beta-reading (noun)
    • act or habit of reading up on another character's abilities or background and implementing this (OOC) knowledge in the role-play
  • Bunnies & Burrows (name)

C[]

  • canon (adjective/noun)
    • officially part of the book, movie, series (adjective)
    • that what is canon, a recognized set of canon items; a work with longer history and multiple phases in its evolution (games, adaptations, ...) may have different levels of "canonicity" (noun)
  • charter (noun)
    • original meaning: grant and description of authority or rights, and its related leader roles
    • document used to define the purpose, key roles and organization of a role-playing community
  • constitution (noun)
    • original meaning: rules or fundamental principles in which something is constituted or governed
    • see: charter
  • critical (adjective)
    • that deals more than the normal damage; e.g. critical hit, critical damage
  • cyber (abbreviation/noun)
    • cyber sex
    • cyberpunk role-play (uncommon)
    • derogatory term for erotic role-play (noun)
  • to cyber (abbreviation/verb)
    • to have cyber sex
    • derogatory term for erotic role-playing (verb)
  • cybering (abbreviation/noun)
    • having cyber sex
    • derogatory term for erotic role-playing (noun)

D[]

  • D&D (abbreviation)
  • death match (noun)
    • role-playing fight that is aimed to result in the death of all but one opponent/team
  • DM (abbreviation)
    • death match
    • dungeon master
  • dungeon master (noun)
    • D&D term for game master, person who is in charge of or who organizes the game
  • Dungeons & Dragons (name)

E[]

  • EP (abbreviation, uncommon)
    • experience (points)
  • erotic role-play (noun)
    • genre of role-playing in which the content focuses on erotic or sexual themes
  • ERP (abbreviation)
    • erotic role-play
  • experience (points) (noun)
    • experience or experience points is a way to measure a player's experience throughout their journey, granted usually when they finish tasks successfully or slay opponents

F[]

  • faction (noun)
    • political entity, association or clan/guild; usually either role-played by an individual, or populated by a group of (mostly) player characters who align with it
  • fanon (adjective/noun)
    • influential or widely accepted elements/ideas/concepts of fan fiction; portmanteau of "fan (fiction)" and "canon" (adjective)
    • that what is fanon, a recognized set of fanon items (noun)
  • fantasy (adjective/noun)
    • of the fantasy genre, with fantasy elements (adjective)
    • genre of fiction with supernatural and/or magical elements (noun)
  • FFRP (abbreviation)
  • Final Fantasy (name)
  • Final Fantasy role-play (noun)
  • FL (abbreviation)
    • friend list
  • forum role-play
    • role-play that is performed or played out on a forum
  • freeform (RP) (noun)
    • type of role-play that applies little restrictions to for instance script or plot, usage of characters and their abilities
    • type of role-play with a limited or even no Manual of Style or other style guidelines
  • friend list (noun)
    • contact list; list of people marked as friends on a community (usually to role-play with)
  • FRP (abbreviation)
  • FTF (abbreviation)
    • face to face

G[]

  • game (noun)
  • game master (noun)
    • person who is in charge of or who organizes the game
  • GM (abbreviation)
    • game master
    • god-modding
    • god-moding
  • to god-mod (verb)
    • to modify a character during the role-play, both of the own (adding or altering information from its biography) or the other's character (describing it or its actions different than what is stated or can easily be derived)
  • god-modding (noun)
    • act of modifying a character during the role-play
  • god-mode (noun)
    • state of being invulnerable (of a character or items of its inventory)
    • not to be confused with: autohit or powerplay
  • to god-mode (verb)
    • to go in god-mode
    • to ignore an (offensive) action upon the own character, not explaining how it may have responded or dodged
  • god-moding (noun)
    • act of going in god-mode
    • act of ignoring (offensive) actions upon the own character

H[]

  • H&S (abbreviation)
    • hack and slash
  • hack and slash (noun)
    • type of game or role-play or style of playing it that emphasizes combat or even violence
  • to handwave (verb)
    • to skip or quickly gloss over parts of a story that should not (yet) or can not be explained
    • to skip or quickly gloss over scenes or parts of a storyline with little action (to avoid boredom or time deprivation) or with high risk of breaking rules (sexual or violent themes)
  • handwaving (noun)
    • act of skipping or quickly glossing over scenes or parts of a story or role-play
  • healer (noun)
    • character class, person whose task is to restore health, cure poisons and sometimes revive, in order to delay or avoid defeat
  • health (noun)
    • physical and/or mental condition of a character, including their diseases and corporal quirks
    • value expressing the amount of damage a character can take, usually expressed in hit points (or related terms) and often displayed through a health or life bar; health can decreased by attacking and increased by healing
  • horror (adjective/noun)
    • of the horror genre, with horror or macabre elements (adjective)
    • genre of fiction with macabre elements (noun)
  • house rule (noun)
    • rule used in a community, organization or club, usually specified because it is distinct from the role-play conventions
  • HP (abbreviation)
    • hit points or health points

I[]

  • IC (abbreviation)
  • Inbreeding (noun)
    • Original meaning: reproduction between genetically closely related pairs.
    • Sticking to a core group of role-players to organize and participate in sims, with little to no new players.
    • Keeping relatives and friends of a role-playing character to yourself or to the same select group of people, even though there are enough other role-players available.
  • In character (noun)
  • In-character (adjective)
    • Taking place in character
    • Term used in expressions such as in-character information.

J[]

  • JRPG

K[]

L[]

  • LARP (abbreviation)
  • Level-up (noun)
  • Literate (adjective)
    • With proper grammatical, ortographical and syntactical usage of the language role-played in, which may include paragraph-style or novel-style writing and is sometimes additionally regulated by a Manual of Style.
    • Term used in expressions such as literate role-play and literate style.
  • Live action role-play
    • Form of role-playing where the players dress up and act like their role-playing characters.

M[]

  • Main character (noun)
    • Major or (most) important character in a book, role-play, etc.
  • Manual of Style (noun)
    • Original meaning: set of guidelines to ensure consistency and cohesion.
    • Set of (writing) guidelines defining the style in which one should role-play (e.g. using color codes for characters' words, always using British/American English).
  • Mary Sue (noun)
    • A name to describe a character that is too "perfect" and inexplicably liked by other characters. Often a self-insert character.
  • massively multiplayer online role-playing game (noun)
  • MC (abbreviation)
  • to meta-game
  • meta-gaming
    • Act of implementing OOC knowledge in a role-play when the character in question does not have the knowledge.
  • MMORPG (abbreviation)
  • MoS / MOS (abbreviation)
    • Manual of Style
  • MUD (abbreviation)
    • multi-user dungeon, multi-user domain, multi-user dimension
  • munchkin (noun)

N[]

  • Non-playable character (noun)
    • character that is not or cannot be played by a human player.
  • NPC (abbreviation)
    • non-playable or non-player character

O[]

  • OC
    • Abbreviation of original character.
  • OCC
    • Abbreviation of out (of) character chat.
  • One-liner
    • Original meaning: catch phrase, a one-like joke or slogan of an advertisement.
    • Role-playing post that only exists of one line or sentence.
  • OOC
  • OP
    • Abbreviation of overpowered.
  • Original character
    • Character part of fan fiction or fanon; a fan-made character.
  • Out of character
    • Outside the role-play.

P[]

  • PbE, PBE, PBEM
    • Abbreviation of play-by-email (role-playing).
  • PbI, PBI
    • Abbreviation of play-by-internet.
  • PbP, PBP
    • Abbreviation of play-by-post (role-playing).
  • PbW, PBW
    • Abbreviation of play-by-web.
  • PC
    • Abbreviation of personal computer.
    • Abbreviation of player character.
    • Abbreviation of powered characters.
    • Abbreviation of private chat.
  • Play-by
    • The actor or otherwise whose image is used to represent a character.
  • Play-by-post (role-play)
    • Type of role-play in which the participators play by placing role-playing messages (posts) on for instance bulletin boards or forums.
  • Player character (playable character)
    • Character controlled (controllable) by a human player.
  • Poaching
    • Original meaning: illegal hunting or killing of animals (i.e. outside the hunting season).
    • Soliciting of members from an established role-play, project or community, especially when this is against their rules.
  • Point of view
    • Perspective of the narrator: first, second or third person.
  • PoV, POV
    • Abbreviation of point of view.
  • PvP, PVP
    • Abbreviation of player versus player, or person versus person.
  • PxP
    • Abbreviation of player x player, or person x person.

Q[]

  • Quest
    • Mission for a character or party to complete, sometimes part of a quest sequence and regularly divided into main quests and side quests.
  • Quest item
    • Item used (only) in or for a quest.

R[]

  • RM
    • Abbreviation of realistic melee.
  • Role-player
    • Person who role-plays; person who plays role-playing games.
  • Role-playing character
    • Character used in/for role-playing and wielded by a role-player.
  • Role-playing game
    • Game in which the player role-plays, usually with a minimum of choice and character development.
  • RPC (abbreviation)
  • RPG

S[]

  • science fiction
  • School slump
    • Period of time from around late August to early October, shortly after the start of school/college.
    • The effects of the above on role-play, more specifically the steep decline in activity in role-plays with a (fairly) young audience.
  • Sim
    • A distinguishable whole (storyline, game) or session of simming.
  • Sim-boosting
    • Temporarily joining of a new, inactive or dying role-play to boost its activity or to get it going, usually done by senior players of the community or role-players already active in another sim.
  • Sim Leader (SL)
    • An alternative designation for Commanding Officer, particularly in a non-military sim.
  • Simmer
    • Type of role-player who (mainly/only) participates in simming.
  • Simming
    • Textually role-playing; play-by-post role-playing.

T[]

  • TPK
    • Abbreviation of total party kill.
  • TPO (abbreviation)
    • the player of; e.g. Max tpo Captain Barnes

U[]

  • UM
    • Abbreviation of unrealistic melee.

V[]

W[]

X[]

  • XP
    • Abbreviation of experience (points).

Y[]

Y/N

.Your name,Your OC

Z[]

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