Tabletop RPG glossary for new players

The words tabletop players use, in plain language. You don't need any of them to play Orpheus, but they help when you read about the hobby.

Game master (GM)

The player who runs the game: describes the world, plays everyone the characters meet, and applies the rules. Some games use another name for the role.

Player character (PC)

A character controlled by a player. In a solo game, that is yours.

Non-player character (NPC)

Any character run by the game master: the innkeeper, the rival, the villain.

Campaign

A long story played over many sessions with the same characters.

One-shot

A complete adventure meant to be finished in a single session.

Session

One sitting of play, usually a few hours at a table. Solo and online play can be much shorter.

Session Zero

A conversation before the campaign starts about tone, limits, characters and expectations.

Lines and veils

Two kinds of content limit. A line is something that never appears in the game. A veil is something that can happen but is not described in detail.

Ability check

A dice roll to see whether a character succeeds at something uncertain, such as climbing a wall or telling a convincing lie.

Difficulty class (DC)

The number a roll has to meet or beat to succeed. Harder tasks have a higher one.

d20

A twenty-sided die. In many systems, including the SRD 5.2 rules, it decides most uncertain actions. Dice are named by their sides: d6, d8, d12.

Modifier

A number added to or subtracted from a roll, reflecting what the character is good or bad at.

Advantage and disadvantage

Rolling two d20s and keeping the higher (advantage) or the lower (disadvantage), when circumstances help or hinder.

Saving throw

A roll made to resist or avoid something happening to your character, such as a poison or a trap.

Initiative

The order in which everyone acts in a fight, usually set by a roll at the start.

Hit points (HP)

A measure of how much harm a character can take before going down.

Death saves

Rolls made by a character who has dropped to zero hit points, to see whether they stabilize or die.

Armor class (AC)

The number an attack roll has to meet or beat to hit a character.

Condition

A lasting state that changes what a character can do, such as being frightened, poisoned or restrained.

Party

The group of characters adventuring together. In solo play, your character and any companions.

Encounter

A single scene of challenge: a fight, a negotiation, a trap, a chase.

Theater of the mind

Playing out a scene through description alone, with no map or miniatures.

Battle map

A grid or drawn map on which a fight is played out with tokens or miniatures.

Railroading

When the story goes one way no matter what the players choose. Usually a complaint.

Sandbox

A game where the players choose where to go and what to pursue, and the world responds.

Metagaming

Using knowledge the player has but the character would not.

Homebrew

Rules, settings or content made by the people playing, not taken from a published book.

Oracle

In solo play, a table or tool that answers questions a game master normally would, often yes or no with a twist.

Solo RPG

A role-playing game played by one person, with a journal, an oracle, or an AI game master standing in for the rest of the table.

System Reference Document (SRD)

A published set of core rules that other creators may use under an open license. Orpheus uses SRD 5.2, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.

Visual novel

A story game presented as backdrops, character portraits and text, usually with choices.

AI game master

Software that does the game master's job using an AI model: setting scenes, playing NPCs and applying rules.