Words and terms that I learned from D&D

My last blogs were, well, a bit of a dowen. So, I thought I would start things for 2025 with something on the lighter side. As you probably know now, I am tall in TTRPG, especially D&D. I have been playing this kind of games since I was about 13 years old, and I really never stopped. It is one of my favorite hobbies, just up there with reading, video games, etc.

Today, I would like to share with you a list of ten words and terms that have entered my vocabulary by specifically playing TTRPGS and D&D. Let’s dive directly.

1.)

While the more modern D&D versions use the encoming to indicate how much your character can carry, I originally learned this word in the context of the reason why you could not do backflips or launch spells in a complete plaque armor. It happened early enough in my game career when a sorcerer’s character tried to put a heavy armor only to discover that he could barely maneuver during his stay and could not launch any of his spells. Needless to say, he abandoned the heavy armor fairly quickly afterwards and started to shoot again magic missile to practically any opponent as a opening gambit.

2.) PC / NPC

I count these two as one because they are closely linked. If you don’t know them, we have Pcor “player character” and NPCor “not player character”. The PCs are the characters that people play in a TTRPG, and the NPCs are everyone. These terms finally migrated to video games. The central idea of ​​the film Free guy It depends on the public knowing that Guy (played by Ryan Reynolds) is a digital character in an online video game. When I hear the expression “energy of the main character”, my mind always says “oh, so they are a PC, understood it”.

3.) Gamemaster / Dungeon Master

Table table role games have many names for this role at the table: Gamemaster (or GM), judge, referee, storyteller and dungeon. As I played D&D, I already knew the RPG Palladium and Rolemaster system, so I was already aware with someone being a GM and a GM game. Dungeon Master (or DM) was something that I recovered from D&D because it is a term specific to this game system (although I know it first of the cartoon instead of the game). Even today, I tend to use the term “GM” more generic, even by referring to D&D. It could also have something to do with the fact that it is easier to explain to family members who do not know TTRPG that you are a master dungeon.

4.) Metagame

At the beginning, this concept came to me as the difference between the “knowledge of the players” and the “knowledge of the characters”. So, if you play Grog, a 2nd level barbarian, you (the player) can know how fast the speed of light is, but there is a good chance that grog (the character) Don’t go Have an idea about it. Thus, those who would use their player’s knowledge in place of their knowledge of their character (that is to say grog suddenly understanding advanced physics). This is something that GMS / DMS sometimes has in the police, although the players I play with are very demanding on this point.

5.) Wards / Runes / Sigils

Again, I bring them together because they are similar in nature. I knew the runes before playing D&D from learning the runic alphabet of the real world. Thanks to the game, I learned them as something intrinsically magical. Thus, a sorcerer or a magic user can scribe or cut a symbol in something, then impregnate this symbol with a kind of spell or magic effect. Sigils often operated in the same way, even if I always had the impression that the seals were more elevated, while the runes were more a dwarf thing (your fantastic mileage can vary). The districts, although not necessarily a symbol, were magic protections which could be placed on an object or an area to prevent intrusion, theft or the general Skullduggery. However, the two runes And The seals could act as neighborhoods. Magic!

6.) Dweomer

Often pronounced “dwimmer”, in terms of play, it is often used to describe the inherent aura, an object or a magical place releases. Although this word is no longer used, a more common expression is “enchantment” of something. An enchanted sword, an enchanted forest, you get it – a dweomer is a kind of effect or magic property in progress or semi -permanent. I was also delighted to see that the dwarfs in the Elder scrolls The series of video games (which are in fact elves) are called the “dwemer”, which is suitable if their knowledge of magic had light years before anyone in this world.

7.) Somatic

D&D spell descriptions generally have three types of components: vocalSo the magic words pronounced by the spellbinding launcher; materialor the small pieces of things that the launcher must have on their person (the proverbial eye of the news and the toe of the frog), and finally the somatic component. The latter represents the wavy bits that magical users make with their hands, the gestures and the complex movements that they must cross to put the spell. Until I read the Player For the first time at the time, I had never met this term before.

8.) Caltrops

Honestly, the first time I heard this term used, I thought the person had said “the drop of the drops”. NOW I know that these are small pieces of pointed metal that you can throw on the floor. The design of Caltrops is such that it does not matter in which direction they land, they have a point of staying directly. They are used to hinder the movement of an opponent, because the opponent in question should either slow down to avoid walking on them or crossing them and risking facing the anger of what could be described as Lego tactical blocks.

9.)

It sometimes surprises me how well this term is known and referenced. I saw the other day both the gap and the old navy talk about leveling your experience. It is probably to call on players, especially video Players. However, the term as I understand has really come from the table space, and it was certainly there that it came for the first time in my own personal player lexicon. There is just a cool thing to finish a game session and to learn that your character has increased. The Music of Victoire Final Fantasy almost always comes to mind when it happens.

10.) Psionics

I met this term for the first time in the RPG Fantasy Palladium parameter when I played a “mind mage”, a user of psionics or mind magic. Later, when I played the RPG traveler (which would eventually lead to my first novel), I discovered the Zhodani which was a company of Pionists. So, I suppose that it did not technically come from D&D as the title of this blog suggests, but D&D also had a psionic which also cemented the concept … (wait) … my mind.

Honorable mentions

Playing TTRPGS has a way to reclass your brain with regard to certain things. I include this section because there are five words in particular which have changed permanently in my vocabulary in version of the game. When words not Used in a context of play, I have to go ahead of my initial play reaction. You know, it’s like a song that the bizarre al Yankovic has parodied occurs, but you find yourself singing the bizarre lyrics. Just me?

• Initiative
• Campaign
• Critical
• Encounter
• Module

Final reflections

I have always believed that reading TTRPGs exerts many parts of your mind. I am better in mathematics, by managing money, tactical and strategic thought, theater and improvisation, funny voices and the construction of the world because I play these games. On top of that, it is great for vocabulary. The words and terms I presented here are only the tip of the Iceberg Proverbial.

If you are already a player of these games, you probably know what I am talking about. If you are interested but you have never tried them, I strongly recommend that you do it. The adventures and worlds that you can barely imagine await you.

Thank you for reading!