Navigating the world of music, video games, and the overarching geek culture often fels like learning a new language; there are numerous acronyms, jargon, and references that may be indecipherable for beginners—and even veterans! In our studio, these worlds collide; and through this comprehensive glossary we'll help you understand these concepts and terms.
Glossary: Geek Culture
Geek culture encompasses many different spheres of entertainment: from tabletop to video games, from fantasy books to epic movies. In this section, we'll guide you through relevant terms that you'll likely stumble upon a lot in our content.
5E: 5th Edition; refers to the fifth installment of Dungeons & Dragons released in 2014
AC: Armor Class; baseline defensive capability; enemies need to roll equal to or greater than a character's AC.
ability check: sum of rolled dice and modifiers to determine the success of an intended action
ability score: indicates a fundamental capacity of a character (e.g. Intelligence, Wisdom, etc.)
actual play: a gaming group in a professional context, often with professional gamemasters, voice actors, and production
advantage: rolling two dice and picking the highest number; as opposed to disadvantage.
BBEG: Big Bad Evil Guy/Gal; main villain of a campaign
Big Bad: main villain of a campaign
campaign: complete playthrough and storyline; series of sessions
cantrip: a magical effect that can be repeated indefinitely
character sheet: page detailing a character's attributes, backstory, spells, etc
class: character archetypes that defines their in-game capabilities (e.g. Barbarian, Wizard, etc.)
critical roll: rolling a 20 (critical success) or a 1 (critical fail) on a d20; not to be confused with Critical Role.
D&D: Dungeons & Dragons
d2: "two-sided die," often a simple coin toss; uncommon term.
d4: four-sided die in the shape of a tetrahedron.
d6: six-sided die in the shape of a cube; the most common and popular die worldwide.
d8: eight-sided die in the shape of an octahedron
d10: ten-sided die in the shape of a decahedron
d12: twelve-sided die in the shape of a dodecahedron
d20: twenty-sided die in the shape an icosahedron; often the most used die in TTRPG.
d100: "hundred-sided die," almost a sphere; may refer to 2d10
die: singular of dice; there's no plural "dices"
disadvantage: rolling two dice and picking the lowest number; as opposed to advantage.
DM: Dungeon Master; a game master on Dungeons & Dragons.
DMG: Dungeon Master's Guide; core rulebook for D&D
DND: Dungeons & Dragons
fireball: the only spell that a Wizard can cast.
GM: gamemaster or game master; the referee and storyteller in a TTRPG.
grimoire: book that lists magical spells; a spellbook
HP: Hit Points; Health Points; the amount of damage that a character can sustain
inventory: list of items owned by a character
LARP: live-action role-playing; acting and dressing as your character.
LFG: looking for group; people seeking TTRPG groups
loot: grabbing items from defeated enemies or treasure chests; alternatively, the items themselves
natural 1: rolling 1 on a d20; "natural" because modifiers aren't added to the roll.
natural 20: rolling 20 on a d20; "natural" because modifiers aren't added to the roll.
NPC: non-playable character; non-player character; character controlled by the GM (TTRPG) or computer (video games).
mana: a character's magic reserve
MM: Monster Manual; core rulebook for D&D
MTG: Magic: The Gathering, a popular tabletop card game
PC: playable character; player character; as opposed to NPC
party: the group of players
PHB: Player's Handbook; core rulebook for D&D
PnP: pen and paper; an older term for TTRPG
professional DM/GM: a person paid to be a Dungeon Master or gamemaster
quest: mission or objective
quest-giver: character that gives quests to the players
race: an older term for species
RPG: role-playing game; a game in which the player interprets a specific role
rail-roading: forcing the story through a rigid, inflexible path; disallowing player agency
roll: the result of rolling a die
saving throw: sum of rolls and modifiers to determine potential consequence (i.e. dodging a trap).
soloplay: playing TTRPG by oneself; as opposed to a gaming group
session: a single gaming event that often lasts a few hours; part of a greater campaign
spell: a magical effect
spellbook: book that lists different spells; grimoire
spellcasting: the act or art of creating a magical effect
table: gaming group
tabletop: abbreviation of tabletop role-playing game
TPK: total party kill; the death of every player character
TTRPG: tabletop role-playing game
worldbuilding: creating a fictional setting often in thorough detail by encompassing biology, geography, politics, religion, and more.
WoTC: Wizard of the Coast, parent company of D&D, MTG, and more.
X card: a card that players can show during a session if they want to skip an uncomfortable scene
Glossary: Michael Ghelfi Studios
Due to our community-driven history, plenty of terms and inside jokes have emerged in our midst. Here are a few of them:
Astarrys: name of our official mascot; a magical raven from Michaël's worldbuilding.
bard: endearing term for our composers
Discord: popular instant messaging app and the most used communication tool in our team; an alternative to any questions you might send through email or social media.
meadow: an inside-joke on the MGS community because an ambience titled "Meadow" was never chosen after appearing in multiple polls
Opus: online platform for TTRPG
The Eyrie: name of our Discord server
Glossary: Audio
Audio is our craft, and if you wish to understand it thoroughly, consider the following terms:
Adventure Theme: exclusive, 20 minutes non-looping music track, released monthly to patrons
ambiance: looping ambient track that depicts an environment (e.g. rainy forest)
ambience: alternative spelling of ambiance
curated playlist: carefully selected playlist; as opposed to automatic or random playlists
Patreon: a subscription platform to get access to exclusive audio
patron: a subscriber to our Patreon
SFX: sound effects; often short, immediate sounds
Short Theme: a short song that depicts a class (e.g. Barbarian) or theme (e.g. Gothic).
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