Dice Info

Explanation

d4

A 4 sided dice.

d6

A 6 sided dice.

d8

An 8 sided dice.

d10

A 10 sided dice.

d12

A 12 sided dice.

d20

A 20 sided dice.

d% or d100

A percentile roll normally produced by rolling 2 d10s with acting as the tens number and the other as the units number.  A result of 00 on the dice is 100.

xdy+z

The x infront of the d refers to the number of dice rolled, the y after the d refers to the type of dice rolled and the z refers to the bonus or penalty applied to the result.

Acronym

Explanation

CoC

Call Of Cthulhu.  A RPG based on the works of HP Lovecraft.  Published by Chaosium - http://www.chaosium.com/

D&D

Dungeons & Dragons - The worlds most popular RPG and classed as the one that started it all.  Published by Wizards Of The Coast - http://www.wizards.com/

d20

This is the system used to power Dungeons & Dragons which has been made 'free' to use by other manufacturers and of course Wizards Of The Coast themselves.

GM / DM

Game Master or Dungeon Master.  This is the person who facilitates the game, sets the scene and controls all the NPCs/Monsters etc.  DM tends to be used exclusively for D&D.  For WoD games this is normally referred to as Storyteller but in essence it's the same job.

GURPS

Generic Universal Role Playing System - One of the first game systems explicitly designed to be able to be used in ANY genre.

ICC

In Character Chat - A forum or chat environment where players are acting in character.

LARP

Live Action Role Play - A RPG where people dress up and act out their role sometimes with rules and sometimes without.

NPC

Non Player Character.  A character used by the GM/DM during the game.

One shot

A game that only lasts a single session, often a playtest or a filler game for folk to play. Sometimes called one-offs too.

PC

Player Character.  The character used by a player during the game.

RPG

Roleplaying Game - Yes I know it looks odd but be assured that it's Roleplaying Game and NOT Role Playing Game or Role-playing Game.  Not going to provide a definition of RPGs here.  Maybe a topic for another FAQ.

SJG

Steve Jackson Games - Not the same Steve Jackson behind Fighting Fantasy books but another Steve Jackson altogether.  Responsible for GURPS, Munchkin and many many other games (including Toon!).

WoD

Sometimes shown as OWoD or NWoD.  This refers to the World Of Darkness series of games produced by White Wolf - http://www.white-wolf.com/   The O or N in front of the acronym refers to Old or New.  White Wolf did a re-launch of their World Of Darkness setting and wiped the slate clean leading to a New World Of Darkness.  The relaunch has led to a bit of a split in the fanbase with many people sticking to the OWoD content refusing to move over to the NWoD.

WotC

Wizards Of The Coast - Publishers of D&D and Magic The Gathering and all round gaming company.  They bought the original publishers of D&D (TSR) when that company went into financial difficulties and brought D&D 3rd Edition to our doorstep along with the d20 system.