This list is not a complete list of all terms, merely a list of commonly used slang, abbreviations, and meta-terms. For explanations and/or definitions for actual game terminology, please view the index starting on page 317 of the Dungeon Master's Guide, on page 304 of the Player's Handbook, or consult the System Resource Document.
All abbreviations are as I have seen them commonly. Other abbreviations may exist. Please feel free to respond with any items I may have missed, or with new items as they are released, and I will update them.
D20 Modern Base Class Abbreviations- Str- Strong Hero Tgh- Tough Hero Fas- Fast Hero Smt- Smart Hero Ded- Dedicated Hero Cha- Charismatic Hero
Common Game Mechanic Abbreviations- HP- Hit/Health Points SPD- Spells per Day PP- Power Points AC- Armor Class Def- Defense FF- Flat-footed BAB- Base Attack Bonus Grap- Grapple DC- Difficulty Check d2- 2 sided die d3- 3 sided die d4- 4 sided die d6- 6 sided die d8- 8 sided die d10- 10 sided die d12- 12 sided die d20- 20 sided die CR- Challenge rating CL- Class level ECL- Effective character level LA- Level Adjustment STR- Strength DEX- Dexterity CON- Constitution INT- Intelligence WIS- Wisdom CHA- Charisma Spd- Speed AoO- Attack of Opportunity Fort- Fortitude Save Ref- Reflex Save Wil/Will- Will Save GP- Gold piece SP- Silver piece CP- Copper piece AoE- Area of Effect SoD- Save or Die XP- Experience, Experience points AP- Action Points PrC- Prestige Class HD- Hit die/hit dice SLA- Spell-like ability PLA- Psi-like ability SQ- Special Qualities Rep- Reputation AL- Alignment/Allegiance LG- Lawful Good NG- Neutral Good CG- Chaotic Good TN- True Neutral LE- Lawful Evil NE- Neutral Evil CE- Chaotic Evil (Ex)- Extraordinary Ability (Sp)- Spell-like Ability (Su)- Supernatural Ability Mas- Massive Damage Threshhold DM- Dungeon Master GM- Game Master
Common Supplement/Book Abbreviations- PHB- Players Handbook DMG- Dungeon Master's Guide MM- Monster Manual MMII- Monster Manual II MMIII- Monster Manual III MMIV- Monster Manual IV XPH- Expanded Psionics Handbook CW- Complete Warrior CD- Complete Divine CA- Complete Arcane CV- Complete Adventurer CP- Complete Psionic CM- Complete Mage FRCS- Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting DLCS- Dragonlance Campaign Setting ECS- Eberron Campaign Setting RVCS- Ravenloft Campaign Setting DSCS- Dark Sun Campaign Setting PSCS- Planescape Campaign Setting SJCS- Spelljammer Campaign Setting DD/DmDe- Demigods and Deities MoI- Magic of Incarnum ToM- Tome of Magic FB- Frostburn SS- Sandstorm SW- Stormwrack CSc- Cityscape WoL- Weapons of Legacy OA- Oriental Adventures Drc- Draconomicon LM- Libras Mortis GW- Ghostwalk RoW- Races of the Wild RoD- Races of Destiny RoS- Races of Stone RoDr- Races of Dragon RoE- Races of Eberron BoED- Book of Exalted Deeds BoVD- Book of Vile Darkness FF- Fiend Folio MttP- Manual to the Planes AE- Arms and Equipment Guide HoH- Herrors of Horror HoB- Herrors of Battle MHB- Miniatures Handbook SpCm- Spell Compendium ELH- Epic Level Handbook PoR- Pool of Radiance RttToEE- Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil EtCR- Expedition to Castle Ravenloft UA- Unearthed Arcana dMOD- D20 Modern dFut- D20 Future dPast- D20 Past dCyb- D20 Cyberscape dApoc- D20 Apocalypse dWL- D20 Weapons Locker dMM- D20 Menace Manual CoC- Call of Cthulu DMCS- Dark Matter Campaign Setting UACS- Urban Arcana Campaign Setting
Common Slang and Meta-terminology- Nerf- To power down a class unfairly Magic-Psionic Transparency- A subset of optional rules that allows an interaction between 3.5 Psionics rules and the 3.5 magic rules. Tank- A character designed to soak up the brunt of the enemy offensive as a defensive measure for the rest of the party. Blaster- A character designed to deal severe amounts of damage via magic or special abilities. Broken- Any class, feat, spell, etc that is notably overpowered and disrupts game balance. Twink- A player that exploits loopholes to make his character more powerful than the current power level allows. Also called a min-maxer or a power-gamer. Save or Die- An effect that causes a character to make a saving throw or be completely debilitated, possibly slain (but not always). Temp-Inf- Short for "Temple of Infinite Lives", as in "I'm praying at the Temple of Infinite Lives", an expression used to convey one of two meanings- 1. A game in which the power level has scaled so greatly that PCs enjoy a sense of nigh invincibility, or 2. A character with a player that is recieving undue favoritism from the DM, ensuring they will never experience any real danger. Skill Monkey- A character (traditionally a rogue) that has an abundance of skills that allow him to work his way out of most situations. Dice Jesus- A player who routinely rolls high on dice rolls, without cheating. TPK- Short for Total Party Kill, or a situation in which an entire play group of characters is killed in a single encounter. Rocks Fall- A nod to a line from the webcomic, Something Positive, in which a character who is DMing says "Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies". It became popular for DMs who have become frustrated to repeat the line, typically to cause problematic players to bring an end to whatever behaviors irritated the DM in the first place. Hammer-gun- A term started on the Wizards Community D&D boards. To hammer-gun something is to call out it's state of blatant stupidity, often used in regards to awful house rules, bad DMing habits, or questionable character concepts. Build- A specific set up for a character concept. Monty Haul- A DM who is too permissible, often handing rewards to his players for little reason whatsoever. Bag o Rats- A reference to the infamous Bags of Rats Fighter build in D&D v.3.0. The build exploited the Great Cleave feat, as the fighter would release a bag of rats he carried on his person at all times, kill a single rat with his attack action, and then proceed to make nigh unlimited attacks in a single round. To call something a Bag of Rats is to state that it is abusing a known rules loophole. Core- A book that is accepted to be part of the canon game. Core Books for D&D include The PHB, DMG, and MM. Core Books for d20 Modern include the D20 Modern Handbook and Menace Manual. Splatbooks- Any book that is not core. The name originates from the fact that optional supplements would often sport an asterisk alongside the product title on order forms, which caused people to know them as "splatbooks", since they were the books with little "splats" next to their titles. Pooped a Hammer- An expression meaning that you rolled a natural 1 on a crucial d20 roll. Munchkin- A player who tries to play competively against the other players Powergamer- A player who focuses more on creating the most powerful character, within the rules, rather than creating a balance between statistics and roleplaying. Or something along those lines. Rules-lawyer- A player who tries to use his knowledge of the rules to gain an unfair advantage. Natural 20- Rolling a 20 on a 20 sided die, before adding any modifiers. Natural 1- Rolling a 1 on a 20 sided die, before adding any modifiers. Going Nova- To expend the majority of your resources in a single encounter. Common among psionic characters and spontaneous casters.
Munchkin - a player who tries to play competively against the other players
Powergamer - A player who focuses more on creating the most powerful character, within the rules, rather than creating a balance between statistics and roleplaying. Or something along those lines.
Rules-lawyer - A player who tries to use his knowledge of the rules to gain an unfair advantage
You might also wanna add "DM - Dungeon Master" and "GM - Game Master"
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Winner of the SCG Invitational, Somerset, NJ, Jul 26-28, 2013
Top 8 of SCG Invitational, Las Vegas, NV, Dec 13-15, 2013
Top 8 of SCG Invitational, Somerset, NJ, Aug 28-30, 2015
Winner of SCG Worcester Team Sealed Open with Gerard Fabiano and Curtis Sheu, September 28, 2013
What the heck does RAW mean? it has something to do with the rules, or the core rule books...
here is a post from WOTC's D&D boards that uses it
what do you think happens if its an Awakened Ooze pc?
At that point you've already gone well outside of RAW, but the best way to handle it would be to treat one of the new oozes as the actual PC and the other as an NPC with an attitude of helpful, since they are two completely separate entities, and rule that the NPC ooze does not have any class features, feats, skill, or the like - it would essentially just be a regular black pudding. Otherwise every time it split the PC would essentially get another character with all of the same abilities - albeit half as many hit points - and would eventually be able to form its own party just using miniature versions of itself.
Winner of the SCG Invitational, Somerset, NJ, Jul 26-28, 2013
Top 8 of SCG Invitational, Las Vegas, NV, Dec 13-15, 2013
Top 8 of SCG Invitational, Somerset, NJ, Aug 28-30, 2015
Winner of SCG Worcester Team Sealed Open with Gerard Fabiano and Curtis Sheu, September 28, 2013
Winner of the SCG Invitational, Somerset, NJ, Jul 26-28, 2013
Top 8 of SCG Invitational, Las Vegas, NV, Dec 13-15, 2013
Top 8 of SCG Invitational, Somerset, NJ, Aug 28-30, 2015
Winner of SCG Worcester Team Sealed Open with Gerard Fabiano and Curtis Sheu, September 28, 2013
All abbreviations are as I have seen them commonly. Other abbreviations may exist. Please feel free to respond with any items I may have missed, or with new items as they are released, and I will update them.
Core/SRD Class Abbreviations-
Bbn/Brb- Barbarian
Bar/Brd- Bard
Clr- Cleric
Dru/Drd- Druid
Ftr- Fighter
Mnk- Monk
Pal- Paladin
Rgr- Ranger
Rog- Rogue
Sor/Sorc- Sorcerer
Wiz- Wizard
Abj- Abjurer
Evo- Evoker
Cnj- Conjurer
Nec- Necromancer
Ill- Illusionist
Trn- Transmuter
Div- Diviner
Enc- Enchanter
Psi- Psion
See- Seer
Kin- Kineticist
Nom- Nomad
Ego- Egoist
Tel- Telepath
Sha- Shaper
PsW/PsyWar- Psychic Warrior
Wil- Wilder
SKn- Soulknife
Common Supplemental Class Abbreviations-
Hex- Hexblade
Sam- Samurai
Swa- Swashbuckler
Wrl/War- Warlock
WuJ- Wu Jen
WMg- Warmage
FSo- Favored Soul
SSh- Spirit Shaman
Shu- Shugenja
Sct- Scout
Nin- Ninja
STh- Spellthief
Ard- Ardent
DMn- Divine Mind
Lrk- Lurk
Art- Artificer
Arc- Archivist
Eru- Erudite
Hlr- Healer
Mar- Marshall
Wit/Wch- Witch
DBl- Duskblade
DSh- Dragon Shaman
Beg- Beguiler
Kni- Knight
Mys- Mystic
SBn- Soulborn
Inc- Incarnate
Tot- Totemist
D20 Modern Base Class Abbreviations-
Str- Strong Hero
Tgh- Tough Hero
Fas- Fast Hero
Smt- Smart Hero
Ded- Dedicated Hero
Cha- Charismatic Hero
Common Game Mechanic Abbreviations-
HP- Hit/Health Points
SPD- Spells per Day
PP- Power Points
AC- Armor Class
Def- Defense
FF- Flat-footed
BAB- Base Attack Bonus
Grap- Grapple
DC- Difficulty Check
d2- 2 sided die
d3- 3 sided die
d4- 4 sided die
d6- 6 sided die
d8- 8 sided die
d10- 10 sided die
d12- 12 sided die
d20- 20 sided die
CR- Challenge rating
CL- Class level
ECL- Effective character level
LA- Level Adjustment
STR- Strength
DEX- Dexterity
CON- Constitution
INT- Intelligence
WIS- Wisdom
CHA- Charisma
Spd- Speed
AoO- Attack of Opportunity
Fort- Fortitude Save
Ref- Reflex Save
Wil/Will- Will Save
GP- Gold piece
SP- Silver piece
CP- Copper piece
AoE- Area of Effect
SoD- Save or Die
XP- Experience, Experience points
AP- Action Points
PrC- Prestige Class
HD- Hit die/hit dice
SLA- Spell-like ability
PLA- Psi-like ability
SQ- Special Qualities
Rep- Reputation
AL- Alignment/Allegiance
LG- Lawful Good
NG- Neutral Good
CG- Chaotic Good
TN- True Neutral
LE- Lawful Evil
NE- Neutral Evil
CE- Chaotic Evil
(Ex)- Extraordinary Ability
(Sp)- Spell-like Ability
(Su)- Supernatural Ability
Mas- Massive Damage Threshhold
DM- Dungeon Master
GM- Game Master
Common Supplement/Book Abbreviations-
PHB- Players Handbook
DMG- Dungeon Master's Guide
MM- Monster Manual
MMII- Monster Manual II
MMIII- Monster Manual III
MMIV- Monster Manual IV
XPH- Expanded Psionics Handbook
CW- Complete Warrior
CD- Complete Divine
CA- Complete Arcane
CV- Complete Adventurer
CP- Complete Psionic
CM- Complete Mage
FRCS- Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting
DLCS- Dragonlance Campaign Setting
ECS- Eberron Campaign Setting
RVCS- Ravenloft Campaign Setting
DSCS- Dark Sun Campaign Setting
PSCS- Planescape Campaign Setting
SJCS- Spelljammer Campaign Setting
DD/DmDe- Demigods and Deities
MoI- Magic of Incarnum
ToM- Tome of Magic
FB- Frostburn
SS- Sandstorm
SW- Stormwrack
CSc- Cityscape
WoL- Weapons of Legacy
OA- Oriental Adventures
Drc- Draconomicon
LM- Libras Mortis
GW- Ghostwalk
RoW- Races of the Wild
RoD- Races of Destiny
RoS- Races of Stone
RoDr- Races of Dragon
RoE- Races of Eberron
BoED- Book of Exalted Deeds
BoVD- Book of Vile Darkness
FF- Fiend Folio
MttP- Manual to the Planes
AE- Arms and Equipment Guide
HoH- Herrors of Horror
HoB- Herrors of Battle
MHB- Miniatures Handbook
SpCm- Spell Compendium
ELH- Epic Level Handbook
PoR- Pool of Radiance
RttToEE- Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil
EtCR- Expedition to Castle Ravenloft
UA- Unearthed Arcana
dMOD- D20 Modern
dFut- D20 Future
dPast- D20 Past
dCyb- D20 Cyberscape
dApoc- D20 Apocalypse
dWL- D20 Weapons Locker
dMM- D20 Menace Manual
CoC- Call of Cthulu
DMCS- Dark Matter Campaign Setting
UACS- Urban Arcana Campaign Setting
Common Slang and Meta-terminology-
Nerf- To power down a class unfairly
Magic-Psionic Transparency- A subset of optional rules that allows an interaction between 3.5 Psionics rules and the 3.5 magic rules.
Tank- A character designed to soak up the brunt of the enemy offensive as a defensive measure for the rest of the party.
Blaster- A character designed to deal severe amounts of damage via magic or special abilities.
Broken- Any class, feat, spell, etc that is notably overpowered and disrupts game balance.
Twink- A player that exploits loopholes to make his character more powerful than the current power level allows. Also called a min-maxer or a power-gamer.
Save or Die- An effect that causes a character to make a saving throw or be completely debilitated, possibly slain (but not always).
Temp-Inf- Short for "Temple of Infinite Lives", as in "I'm praying at the Temple of Infinite Lives", an expression used to convey one of two meanings- 1. A game in which the power level has scaled so greatly that PCs enjoy a sense of nigh invincibility, or 2. A character with a player that is recieving undue favoritism from the DM, ensuring they will never experience any real danger.
Skill Monkey- A character (traditionally a rogue) that has an abundance of skills that allow him to work his way out of most situations.
Dice Jesus- A player who routinely rolls high on dice rolls, without cheating.
TPK- Short for Total Party Kill, or a situation in which an entire play group of characters is killed in a single encounter.
Rocks Fall- A nod to a line from the webcomic, Something Positive, in which a character who is DMing says "Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies". It became popular for DMs who have become frustrated to repeat the line, typically to cause problematic players to bring an end to whatever behaviors irritated the DM in the first place.
Hammer-gun- A term started on the Wizards Community D&D boards. To hammer-gun something is to call out it's state of blatant stupidity, often used in regards to awful house rules, bad DMing habits, or questionable character concepts.
Build- A specific set up for a character concept.
Monty Haul- A DM who is too permissible, often handing rewards to his players for little reason whatsoever.
Bag o Rats- A reference to the infamous Bags of Rats Fighter build in D&D v.3.0. The build exploited the Great Cleave feat, as the fighter would release a bag of rats he carried on his person at all times, kill a single rat with his attack action, and then proceed to make nigh unlimited attacks in a single round. To call something a Bag of Rats is to state that it is abusing a known rules loophole.
Core- A book that is accepted to be part of the canon game. Core Books for D&D include The PHB, DMG, and MM. Core Books for d20 Modern include the D20 Modern Handbook and Menace Manual.
Splatbooks- Any book that is not core. The name originates from the fact that optional supplements would often sport an asterisk alongside the product title on order forms, which caused people to know them as "splatbooks", since they were the books with little "splats" next to their titles.
Pooped a Hammer- An expression meaning that you rolled a natural 1 on a crucial d20 roll.
Munchkin- A player who tries to play competively against the other players
Powergamer- A player who focuses more on creating the most powerful character, within the rules, rather than creating a balance between statistics and roleplaying. Or something along those lines.
Rules-lawyer- A player who tries to use his knowledge of the rules to gain an unfair advantage.
Natural 20- Rolling a 20 on a 20 sided die, before adding any modifiers.
Natural 1- Rolling a 1 on a 20 sided die, before adding any modifiers.
Going Nova- To expend the majority of your resources in a single encounter. Common among psionic characters and spontaneous casters.
Powergamer - A player who focuses more on creating the most powerful character, within the rules, rather than creating a balance between statistics and roleplaying. Or something along those lines.
Rules-lawyer - A player who tries to use his knowledge of the rules to gain an unfair advantage
You might also wanna add "DM - Dungeon Master" and "GM - Game Master"
Top 8 of SCG Invitational, Las Vegas, NV, Dec 13-15, 2013
Top 8 of SCG Invitational, Somerset, NJ, Aug 28-30, 2015
Winner of SCG Worcester Team Sealed Open with Gerard Fabiano and Curtis Sheu, September 28, 2013
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Pooped a Hammer -- Rolled a natural 1 on a crucial d20 roll.
Like freeform roleplaying? Try Darkness Befalls Us
Ryttare Kelasin Luna Orelinalei
Booster - Mage who focuses on enchanting your allies.
Controller - Mage who focuses on Enchanting and controlling the minds of others.
Generalist - Mage who tries to be EVERYTHING at once. Well rounded.
Necromancer *Not the class* - A mage who likes to raise dead, and control dead.
Sniper - Mage who focuses on utilizing high damage, single target spells to kill specific targets really quickly.
Spy - Mage who uses subterfuge, illusion and invisibility to learn many things, steal objects, or plant evidence.
Strategist - Mage who likes to use large scale enchantment/Illusion spells to alter the entire field of battle or confuse many enemies at once.
Summoner - Mage who summons monsters to fight FOR him.
Warrior - Mage who uses spells like Bulls Strength, and Tensers transformation to become powerful combat fighters. Often Distained.
(Although in my playgroup, Unearthed Arcana's Variant rules is almost always included because of it's accesability in the 'net)
here is a post from WOTC's D&D boards that uses it
Top 8 of SCG Invitational, Las Vegas, NV, Dec 13-15, 2013
Top 8 of SCG Invitational, Somerset, NJ, Aug 28-30, 2015
Winner of SCG Worcester Team Sealed Open with Gerard Fabiano and Curtis Sheu, September 28, 2013
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There was once [The Pack], but no more.
This should help: http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/UA:Gestalt_Characters
Top 8 of SCG Invitational, Las Vegas, NV, Dec 13-15, 2013
Top 8 of SCG Invitational, Somerset, NJ, Aug 28-30, 2015
Winner of SCG Worcester Team Sealed Open with Gerard Fabiano and Curtis Sheu, September 28, 2013
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