I've been involved in roleplaying games for about thirty years now, on both sides of the GM screen. While I'm the furthest thing from an expert in the field, I do feel long-term exposure has taught me a few things along the way, and I enjoy passing those on to others. There are tons of topics and options to explore, but I feel that perhaps the most important is remembering that mixture of excitement and fear when playing a game for the first time, when I was still unfamiliar with most of the rules and trying to find my place in the world as a player. With that in mind, I'd like to offer up a few tips for new and novice players that will help you navigate those twists and turns and hurdles you won't realize are in your way until they're almost smacking you in the face. Since D&D is the game I'm most familiar with, the examples I'll use will all come from this particular system, but many of them are applicable across a wide variety of products and systems.

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This should actually be part, like, 1.5 of this series. Since I'm only master of Time (and everything else) as a DM in my campaign world, and merely a fleshy blood-filled pinata in this one, I have to ask you to use your imagination and put this essay back between parts one and two. See? Together we can accomplish great things!

Today's topic isn't a rule piece or suggestions list, it's a glossary meant to define jargon that I and other long-time gamers throw around without realizing how weird it makes us sound. As someone who knows the barest fundamentals of various sportsballs, I know what it's like to witness a conversation in plain English, understand every word, and yet have no blasted idea if the people involved are angry or happy; in some cases, it's not even clear what the outcome was.

If you've ever been baffled by a friend or loved one's excitement/displeasure at a sporting event, asked them to explain what happened, and walked away more confused than you were before, you have some idea what it's like to be an outsider in roleplaying circles. Because in roleplaying circles, you'll hear stuff like this all the time:

"Todd's Barbarian whiffed his THAC0, prompting an attack of opportunity from the tanar'ri fiend who quick-cast a Cone of Cold, hitting everybody in the party for 5d6 HP when we failed our Dex checks."

To me, that sentence makes perfect sense (well, as much sense as one can make when playing Second Edition AD&D, at least).

To most other people, I may as well have invented a language which treats numbers and words the way infants treat diapers. If you're in that group, first of all, I apologize for bringing up Second Edition AD&D in a post with a Fifth Edition Player's Handbook in the thumbnail. Second of all, this article's for you. I'm not going to go over every single abbreviation, acronym, and special term in this piece, just the ones most confusing to new players and those interested in learning. Now, pick up your d20 and let's ace your next DC!

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d(number)

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By far one of the most ubiquitous terms in RPG parlance today is the letter 'd' followed by a number of some kind: d6, d8, d20, and so forth. The 'd' in this case is not texting shorthand for the male genitalia, it means 'die' or 'dice'. The number after it indicates how many sides the die you're rolling has: a d6 is a common six-sided die like you would find in a game of Risk or Axis & Allies, while the d20 is a twenty-sided polyhedron, and the one you'll be using most often in a game of Dungeons & Dragons.

If there's no number in front of the 'd' (say your DM says, "Roll d20 to see if you hit!"), then 1 die of that type is implied. If there's a number before the 'd', that tells you how many of those dice total you will roll: 2d6 thus means "two six-sided dice", 3d4 is "three four-sided dice", and so forth. There may also be a modifier at the end, just like in Algebra: "Roll 1d12 + 2" thus means roll a single 12-sided die and add two to the result, generating a number between 3 and 14, while "1d4 - 1" will generate a number between 0 and 3. Occasionally you may run across a reference to a d100 or d%. While there are 100-sided dice, what this normally means is to use two d10s to generate a number between 1 and 100: the first d10 you roll is the 10's digit, the second is the 1's digit. If you roll a 2 and a 9, then your score would be '29', not '11'. In modern D&D, you'll normally only see this when rolling on long randomized chart, like the 'Trinket' list in the Player's Handbook; in some older editions, it was used to determine success in things like opening stuck doors, picking pockets, and summoning an angry extra-planar being after speaking his name out loud like a moron.

The real confusion comes when certain types of rolls are verbalized, ie: did the dragon hit you for '6d8 damage', or '68 damage' with his fire breath? If you aren't sure, ask for clarification.

You may also hear or read that a game is based on a "d-something" system. This means that particular type of die is the most commonly rolled under that rule set to resolve actions. D&D, for instance, is a "d20 system".

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DM and GM; PC and NPC

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I make a mistake all the time when writing gaming articles. In fact, I've made it in all three of the previous entries in this series. That mistake is assuming my readers know what I'm talking about when I use these abbreviations. You might be able to gather contextually what I'm talking about, but I still shouldn't assume my readers can do this, and it's something I need to work on.

DM is short for "Dungeon Master", ie: the person in charge of running the game and adjudicating the rules. The abbreviation "DM" is specific to Dungeons & Dragons. In other systems, you'll usually find the abbreviation 'GM', for "Game Master", used instead. They're technically interchangeable, and they mean the same thing, but DM is specific to D&D, while GM is a more generic term that can apply to anyone who referees a session.

'PC' in this case is shorthand for 'Player Character'. A "player character" (as the name implies) is a character controlled by a player. My 1st-level Monk is a PC. Your 3rd-level Druid is a PC. Every player sitting at your table will be in control of one or more PCs. A PC is a player's avatar in the virtual world, not a stand-in for the player herself. The words 'player' and 'player character' mean different things in D&D, and the terms are not interchangeable. A group of PCs make up a 'party'--this is true whether they're celebrating anything or not.

'NPC' is shorthand for 'Non-Player Character'. If it's a living being in the world, and it isn't run by a player, then it's an NPC by default: the goblins the party hacked up are NPCs, the denizens of the little town you entered are NPCs, the powerful Necromancer by the cemetery, and all the zombies he's animated to do his dirty work, are NPCs as well. The DM/GM usually runs all NPCs. While players may sometimes be given a degree of control over NPC actions, the DM is always the final arbiter of how those actions are carried out. For instance, the PCs may be placed in charge of planning an attack on an enemy outpost and given command of a small band of soldiers. Those soldiers are still NPCs, and will disregard orders from PCs which they deem suicidal or counter-intuitive. They aren't going to eat a bag of caltrops just because the higher-level Fighter orders them to.

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HP or Hit Points

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HP stands for 'Hit Points'. This mechanic attempts to put a numerical representation on a person or object's ability to take a licking and keep on ticking. They're meant to condense a whole bunch of things (stamina, luck, toughness, ability to 'roll with the punches', etc...) into one number to simplify record keeping. As long as a living (or unliving) creature has at least 1 HP, they're conscious and capable of action, and as long as a physical object like a door or wall has HP, it's still providing some measure of protection or stability.

When a PC, NPC, or physical object takes damage, that damage is subtracted from the Hit Point total. If some effect like a potion or spell cures damage, that amount is added to the Hit Point total, up to its maximum. When a living being reaches 0 hit points, different things happen depending on the rule system you're using. In older editions of D&D, reaching zero HP meant death; in Fifth Edition, PCs fall unconscious at 0 hp and are considered seriously injured--they may not wind up dying, but they'll have difficulty recovering without outside help. Most monsters and NPCs don't get this benefit, so a goblin who takes enough damage to drop it to zero HP is dead as a coffin nail.

When an object with an HP value reaches zero, that item is ruined or destroyed--a door reduced to zero HP has been knocked off its hinges or blown to splinters, for instance. Using these mechanics can allow a party (or devious NPCs) to cause dreadful mischief. Knocking out support beams in a cave can cause a cave-in, destroying a load-bearing wall in a house could partially collapse the building, and cutting through the ropes holding up a bridge...well, I'll let my colleague Professor Jones explain:

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AC

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AC is short for 'Armor Class'. This rating serves in tandem with HP to show just how tough, well-protected, nimble, and otherwise hard to hurt someone or something is. In order to successfully land a hit that damages HP, the roll on a d20 must be equal to or greater than the target's AC. Bigger numbers are better here, since the higher the AC, the harder it is to land a telling blow (though in older editions of D&D this wasn't always the case). Rolling lower than the target number signifies either a completely missed attack, or one that connected but was ineffective: an arrow struck the guard's shield, a punch grazed the defender's body, the armor worn by the orc turned your Fighter's blade, and so forth.

The default AC for most normal, Medium-sized creatures who aren't particularly agile, thick-skinned, magically protected, or armored is 10, but it's rare to find a PC, even at first level, with a rating this low. Most characters will have a higher AC thanks to racial modifiers, ability bonuses, class-based skills, or starting equipment, and this will improve over time as the characters rise in levels.

Inanimate objects also have AC ratings, which reflect the difficulty one faces in damaging them. Particularly sturdy items, like stone walls and reinforced doors, also have a hardness rating, which reflects their innate toughness and ability to withstand sustained assault by improper means. Your Fighter can punch that stone wall for an hour, and all he'll do is get tired thanks to a hardness rating exceeding his potential damage output.

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Level

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A 'level' in D&D can have two different meanings. The first, as it pertains to characters, is a simple numerical representation of that individual's skill, prowess, and experience. PCs begin most games at 1st level and move upward from there. Gaining levels grants more HP, and often opens up new skills and choices for players to make for their characters.

In its other usage, a 'level' pertains to a given floor of a dungeon, tower, cavern system, or other area of exploration. Typically a party will begin exploring the base or ground level of the area, which is commonly called "Level 1" or the "first level". Delving deeper, higher, or further into the area will generally open up more difficult areas with harder encounters, but this isn't a hard and fast rule. If your party has gone down three floors in a cave system, for instance, or up three floors in a Wizard's tower, they'll be on Level 4 either way. Otherwise, a 'level' in a dungeon is just shorthand for how far away from the entrance area a party has moved. The second level of a dungeon is not restricted to second level monsters. :)

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XP, Experience, and Experience Points

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These terms are all used interchangeably to indicate the reward received by a character or a party who overcomes an obstacle of some sort. Often this is related to combat, as XP is distributed for defeating foes, but it can also mean solving a riddle, disarming a trap, or completing a specific goal (like persuading two feuding tribes to lay down their arms and come to the bargaining table). Experience rewards are split evenly between the entire party, so if a group of five PCs earns 100 experience points for an encounter, each character will receive 20 XP. After earning a certain number of XP, a character advances in level.

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PP, GP, EP, SP, and CP

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Platinum pieces, gold pieces, electrum pieces, silver pieces, and copper pieces, respectively.

These are all short-form abbreviations for the currency system employed in the standard D&D realm. The world of D&D is based on the gold piece standard, so prices for most things are given in a 'gold piece' equivalent. Jewelry and gems, for instance, are always graded on their 'gold piece' value, even if they aren't made out of gold. Equipment and services are also given a value in gold pieces, though extremely inexpensive goods or lower-quality services are usually measured in silver or copper pieces. A bucket, for instance, isn't very difficult to craft and is extremely common, so it costs a mere 5 CP.

The exchange rate is as follows: 100 CP = 20 SP = 2 EP = 1 GP = 1/10th PP. Therefore, a single gold coin is sufficient enough to purchase 20 buckets, and a platinum coin could buy 200. What you do with all those buckets afterwards is your problem, but I can think of at least one circumstance where there's no such thing as "having too many buckets".

Incidentally, this is why Experience Points are doled out in "XP", since "EP" is reserved for counting electrum.

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DC (number)

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Not the United States's capital city! 'DC' is short for 'Difficulty Class'. The Difficulty Class is numerical representation of how simple or easy a given task is for a character to accomplish, and it's this number you have to meet or beat on the roll of a d20. In ordinary situations where characters are presumed to have competence, the proper equipment, enough time to devote to the task, and there are no mitigating factors, there's no Difficulty Class involved--if you have a tinderbox, a lantern, and a flask of oil, you're about to have a light source.

On the other hand, when characters attempt something outside the norm, are pitting their skills against a particular obstacle, or the conditions are sub-optimal, that's when a DC will come into play. Examples of this would be a Rogue picking a lock, a Ranger tracking an animal through the forest, or a Wizard maintaining concentration on a spell in the middle of a battle.

The DM generally sets the DC for a given action based on a variety of factors including your character's race, class, equipment, and other things. In the lock picking example, the quality of the lock will determine what's called the 'base DC'. Base DC assumes the person attempting the action has everything they need in order to perform it, so a standard, ordinary lock of average craftsmanship will have a base DC of 10. The Rogue will need to beat that number on a d20, but she'll be able to add one or more bonuses if she has access to a lockpicking kit and also just for being a Rogue.

On the other hand, if you're a Cleric without a set of lockpicks trying to open the door to a prison cell using an old rat bone, your DC will be much higher than this to reflect your lack of training, lack of tools, and a need to be extra sneaky to avoid arousing the guard's suspicions.

DC seems complicated, since it can cascade all over the place, but in reality you as a player will rarely need to worry about it. The DM often won't tell the player an exact numerical target, but may use descriptions to indicate the relative ease or difficulty of an action. In fact, as a DM, this is a great habit to get into: if the Rogue wants to pick a lock, don't tell her she needs to beat DC 8, tell her the lock looks fairly sub-standard in manufacture and rattles loosely when she examines it.

Very easy tasks will have a DC of around 5. Easy tasks, around 8. Average, around 10, and so forth. It's entirely possible to have DCs which exceed 20 if a character attempts something exceptionally difficult; in fact, it's possible for a task to have a DC so high as to be functionally impossible for any given PC or group of PCs. A Sorcerer attempting to locate a source of potable drinking water in the middle of a desert wasteland might roll against a DC of 35 or 40 to indicate the sheer improbability of the action. On the other hand, it's also possible for the DM to assign a DC so low to an action that success is virtually guaranteed, although if this is the case, I'd ignore the dice and just let the character do it to keep the action flowing.

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Thanks for reading! If you're one of those who have been following me wondering what all those crazy letter and number combinations mean, I hope this was enlightening. If you're a player who already knows this stuff, then I apologize for wasting your time--maybe pass it on to a new role-player in your group?

In any case, if there are any topics for new D&D players you'd like to see me cover on this blog, leave a comment and let me know. Otherwise, if I'm doing OK and you like what you're seeing, drop me an upvote and keep on rolling. Until next time, may all your hits be crits!