Acronym Hell


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So, just noticing another person who, like me, is unfamiliar with the assumed-common-use acronyms.

All you long-service-on-the-boards types, how about posting some lists of your commonly-used acronyms and their translation into the common tongue of westron?

Thanks.

Liberty's Edge

RAW = Rules as written
RAI = Rules as Intended
3pp = Third Party Publisher
SGG = Super Genius Games
PRD = Pathfinder resource document www.paizo.com/prd
AM = Unknown. Started by AM Barbarian and picked up by AM Druid, et al. Theorized to be either anti-magic or am as an "I am a barbarian." (AM Barbarian is a build by one of our own showing how powerful a barbarian can be. Amy is the alchemist power build.)


BBEG = Big Bad Evil Guy
OP = Original Poster (thread author)
MILF = Maiden In Locked Fortress

Shadow Lodge

BaB: Base Attack Bonus
SoD/SoS: Save or Die/Suck
MAD: Multiple Attribute Dependence (needs many high stats)
AoO: Attack of Oppertunity
SA: Sneak Attack
TWF: Two-Weapon Fighting
2HW: wielding a weapon in two hands
AOE: Area of Effect


Spanky the Leprechaun wrote:
You know what MILF is, right?

Let's keep it kid-friendly.


DoT = Damage over Time, a spell/effect that spreads out damage over time
DD = Direct Damage, a spell/effect that does damage all at once
ADPR = Average Damage Per Round, a way of comparing how combat effective some things are


DPR=Damage per round
AoO=Attack of Opportunity
MAD=Multiple Attribute Dependency

edit:removed two duplicated

Dark Archive

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EHP = Evil High Priest (what grognards called 'big bads' before Joss Whedon came along)

Liberty's Edge

SAD: Single Attribute Dependency
YMMV: Your Mileage May Vary
TL;DR: Too Long Didn’t Read
FWIW: For What It's Worth
IMHO: In My Humble / Honest Opinion

Liberty's Edge

ShadowcatX wrote:
AM = Unknown. Started by AM Barbarian and picked up by AM Druid, et al. Theorized to be either anti-magic or am as an "I am a barbarian." (AM Barbarian is a build by one of our own showing how powerful a barbarian can be. Amy is the alchemist power build.)

AM isn’t an acronym – he just likes to shout and not use personal pronouns.

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

AM = Awesome Mighty!!! ;-)

Mothman--thank you for posting YMMV--it's been driving me crazy not knowing what it means!


Thanks everyone! While some of 'em were stuff I'd known or picked up, there are lots here that I was baffled by.

If anyone has more, keep 'em coming; hopefully other people will find this thread as useful as I have.

Again with the thanxfulness!

Grand Lodge

IIRC : If I Remember Correctly
CMB : Combat modifier Bonus (for manoeuvres)
CMD : " " Defense
AFAIK : As Far As I Know


RAMVORD: Rules as my views of reality dictate.

One I came up with in reference for when a martial character is denied something that functions within the rules but the GM disallows it based on realism.

Example: breaking down walls or such in a matter of rounds thanks to high static weapon damage and or adamantine weapons.


IANJ is getting more common (I am not James)

Silver Crusade

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Vrischika111 wrote:

IIRC : If I Remember Correctly

CMB : Combat modifier Bonus (for manoeuvres)
CMD : " " Defense
AFAIK : As Far As I Know

Hmmm....

I thought
CMB = Combat Maneuver Bonus and
CMD = Combat Maneuver Defense.


BTW: WTF FaWTL?


Forums are Way Too Long

Scarab Sages

BttH

Spoiler:
Boobs to the Head

RPG Superstar 2015 Top 8

I don't think I saw these...

PBP = Play-By-Post (in which people play games via posting on the message board)
PrC = Prestige Class
EK = Eldritch Knight (a PrC)
Gish = Not an acronym, but a term many folks use to mean warrior-mage hybrid (such as an EK or a Magus). Literally a warrior-mage build for Githyanki (an extraplanar race) in AD&D (Advanced Dungeons and Dragons).

Also, some people confuse the official PRD (as already noted, the Pathfinder Reference Document) with d20PFSRD (d20 PathFinder System Reference Document) which is a fan-created/run reference site of the PRD and other open content Pathfinder rules.

And a general Internet one...
ETA: Edited to Add

Liberty's Edge

Finn Kveldulfr wrote:
Vrischika111 wrote:

IIRC : If I Remember Correctly

CMB : Combat modifier Bonus (for manoeuvres)
CMD : " " Defense
AFAIK : As Far As I Know

Hmmm....

I thought
CMB = Combat Maneuver Bonus and
CMD = Combat Maneuver Defense.

You were correct - Combat *modifier* Bonus is wrong


Sometimes Caster-Martial Disparity is abbreviated C-M D (with a hyphen!) but to disambiguate I've started calling it Martial-Caster Disparity (MCD).

E6 = Epic 6th, a variant where you stop advancing in level after 6th and start trading XP for feats.


PFS = Pathfinder Society.


ISWG = Inner Sea World Guide (pronounced: Izz-Wig!)

CRB = Core Rulebook

APG = Advanced Players Guide

Bv1, Bv2, BvX = Bestiary Volume 1, Bestiary Volume 2, etc. (not seen on these forums but we use these at my table)

UM = Ultimate Magic

UC = Ultimate Combat

Shadow Lodge

OP means Original Poster, but it also means Over-Powered.


Evil Lincoln wrote:
Bv1, Bv2, BvX = Bestiary Volume 1, Bestiary Volume 2, etc. (not seen on these forums but we use these at my table)

I have seen and used myself B1, B2, B3, when speaking about monsters.

Liberty's Edge

By far, my personal favorite message board acronym is SUA TTAW ...


InVinoVeritas wrote:
OP means Original Poster, but it also means Over-Powered.

Yeah, this is why a lot of internet/text-speak acronyms and abbreviations suck. I find them a lot more accessible if you spell out what you mean by them earlier in the post before using them multiple times.

Too much use of them and I'm sure to send back a reply full of completely opaque ones. ADTIWDIE. Right?


Bill Dunn wrote:
InVinoVeritas wrote:
OP means Original Poster, but it also means Over-Powered.
Yeah, this is why a lot of internet/text-speak acronyms and abbreviations suck. I find them a lot more accessible if you spell out what you mean by them earlier in the post before using them multiple times.

This is why acronyms in general need to be reserved to the groups familiar with them. I used to be an STD analyst, but that only made sense if you knew that I was handling Short Term Disability claims, not Sexually Transmitted Diseases. Being the the military (National Guard) and working for a state agency, I am bombarded with acronyms.

Thank you all for putting up many of the common acronyms used on these boards. I figured most of them out, but there were some that I only now understand (SAD and MAD in particular).

ALIDUAS:
At least I didn't use a spoon.

Scarab Sages

Evil Lincoln wrote:
E6 = Epic 6th, a variant where you stop advancing in level after 6th and start trading XP for feats.

Not to be confused with E7, the shortened version of Emperor7 - a cruel, ruthless poster who regularly assualts people with violently hurled acorns.


Thank you, thank you; try the veal, it's fabulous. I'll be here all week.

:)

Seriously, this is great.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber

IANJ = I am not James (Jacobs), usually followed by but I can answer your question anyway.

Sovereign Court

The Adventure Paths (APs) are often abbreviated:

RotRL Rise of the Runelords
CotCT Curse of the Crimson Throne
SD Second Darkness
LoF Legacy of Fire
CoT Council of Thieves
KM Kingmaker
SS Serpent's Skull
CC Carrion Crown
JR Jade Regent
S&S Skull and Shackles
It will get tricky with the next one
??? Shattered Star


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GeraintElberion wrote:

It will get tricky with the next one

??? Shattered Star

S*.


GeraintElberion wrote:

The Adventure Paths (APs) are often abbreviated:

RotRL Rise of the Runelords
CotCT Curse of the Crimson Throne
SD Second Darkness
LoF Legacy of Fire
CoT Council of Thieves
KM Kingmaker
SS Serpent's Skull
CC Carrion Crown
JR Jade Regent
S&S Skull and Shackles
It will get tricky with the next one
??? Shattered Star

Serpent's Skull could be SSS and/or Shattered Star is S*

edit: Ninja'd

Dark Archive

SSkull and SStar seems 'shorthand' enough.


S'sS shall now been known as "!" (that is pronounced as a tongue-click noise)

S* shall be abbreviated to "A Ham Sandwich"

You are welcome.


InVinoVeritas wrote:
OP means Original Poster, but it also means Over-Powered.

OP can also mean organized play

Scarab Sages

1 person marked this as a favorite.

PMG - Post Monster General. Also known as Lord of All Code, and Our (somewhat) Benevolent Digital Overlord. All hail the PMG!

Dark Archive

ShadowcatX wrote:

RAW = Rules as written

RAI = Rules as Intended
3pp = Third Party Publisher
SGG = Super Genius Games
PRD = Pathfinder resource document www.paizo.com/prd
AM = Unknown. Started by AM Barbarian and picked up by AM Druid, et al. Theorized to be either anti-magic or am as an "I am a barbarian." (AM Barbarian is a build by one of our own showing how powerful a barbarian can be. Amy is the alchemist power build.)

Thanks for clarifying.

Frog God Games

TANSTAAFL = There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch

Owner - House of Books and Games LLC

Shattered Star is actually THE Shattered Star, so the proper acronym is TSS.

And speaking of IANJ and PMG, don't forget SKR, who is, of course Sean K Reynolds, and WAR, who is Wayne A. Reynolds. Both crucially important to Pathfinder.

Plus, don't forget the version translations:

D&D = Dungeons & Dragons, a generic term that could refer to any edition.
OD&D = Original D&D, typically referring to the white box set.
BECMI = Early incarnation of D&D, consisting of Basic, Expert, Companion, Master and Immortals expansions. This version started as the "blue box" set of Basic D&D.
AD&D = Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, the first version with hardcover books; originally it was the DMG, PHB and MM.
1e = Another name for the first incarnation of AD&D.
2e = AD&D second edition. Pretty much entirely compatible with AD&D, it had some minor rule changes but nothing breaking.
3e = Third-edition D&D. A short-lived version of D&D published in 2000 and superceded in 2003 by 3.5e.
3.5e = An overhaul of D&D 3e that was about as compatible with 3e as Pathfinder is with 3.5e.
3.75 = An early name for Pathfinder, not much used any more.
4e = 4th edition D&D published in 2008 IIRC. Completely incompatible with 3.5e.
5e = Next edition of D&D, often called D&D Next. Not yet released.
SRD = System Reference Document. This is the 3.5e equivalent of the Pathfinder PRD. See d20srd.org.

Also, speaking of books, many of these are still used even though they're not Paizo books:

DDG = Deities & Demigods (also D&DG), which was released for AD&D & 3e
DMG = Dungeon Master's Guide (an AD&D or D&D book)
ELH = Epic Level Handbook (a source of endless contention)
FF = Fiend Folio (an AD&D or D&D monster book)
MM = Monster Manual (an AD&D or D&D book, also MM2, MM3, etc.)
PHB = Player's Handbook (AD&D or D&D. Also PHB2, PHB3, etc.)
ToH = Tome of Horrors. There's ToH2 and ToH3, but those are 3.5e.

Dark Archive

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Chuck Wright wrote:
TANSTAAFL = There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch

Ooh, a classic!

Frog God Games

gbonehead wrote:


ToH = Tome of Horrors. There's ToH2 and ToH3, but those are...

We've called that ToHC (Tome of Horrors Complete) internally to differentiate it from the original Tome of Horrors (ToH1 and ToH Revised) since it's all previous rolled into one book for Pathfinder.


wow, can't believe this one has been missed:
IC - In Character

Alignments: LG, LN, LE, NG, N, NE, CG, CN, CE

also:
QFT - Quote For Truth

Shadow Lodge

DILLIGAF: Does It Look Like I Give A F***?

Owner - House of Books and Games LLC

Chuck Wright wrote:
gbonehead wrote:


ToH = Tome of Horrors. There's ToH2 and ToH3, but those are...
We've called that ToHC (Tome of Horrors Complete) internally to differentiate it from the original Tome of Horrors (ToH1 and ToH Revised) since it's all previous rolled into one book for Pathfinder.

Good to know ... I was wondering about that :)

Dark Archive

Not acronym but fitting never the less...

Gish(noun)
- plural gishes
- A magician, or character that is skilled in both physical combat and the use of magic. Most gish characters use their magical abilities to increase their own personal combat abilities (known as "buffing").

*The term originates in the Dungeons & Dragons game, where it originally referred to a Githyanki fighter/wizard combination.


Bump


CH = Critical Hit
0ed or zeroth ed = The Basic D&D that came out in the early 80s with simplified rules. Similar concept to Beginner's Box. (see above for more edition abbreviations)
BBED = Big Bad Evil Dude, variant of BBEG above
Fonzie = Social skills oriented character (Diplomacy, etc)
James Bond = Stealth, Disguise, and Bluff oriented character
Tank = Heavily armed and armored character who holds monsters at bay in the front while archers and casters take shots at it from behind him.
Archer = Any missile weapon using character whether he uses or bow or not.
Meatshield = What the casters and archers call the Tank.
Corpse = Slang term for character who's job it is to scout ahead and disarm traps.
RDA = Revolving Door Afterlife, referring to the game concept that death isn't all that permanent in most games
DM = Dungeonmaster, technically copyrighted term for Dungeon & Dragons
GM = Gamemaster, what Pathfinder and many other games call the DM
PC = Player Character
NPC = Non Player Character
DMPC or GMPC = An NPC that the GM treats as his own PC, often with accusations of bias. Usually used disparagingly.
WWA = Whirlwind Attack feat
MMORPG = Massive Multi-Player Online Role Playing Game
FLGS = Friendly Local Game Store

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