Glossary

One of the six core traits defining a character: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. Scores are generated at creation and drive most success/failure checks.

A 1d20 roll against one of your ability scores. The roll succeeds if the result is equal to or less than the score (after any modifiers).

A character's basic moral and ethical outlook, chosen at creation, on two axes: law-chaos and good-evil, for nine categories total. Some classes restrict allowed alignments.

A gill-breathing elf subrace with 360-foot infravision and no racial bow bonus. Out of water it survives a number of days equal to its initial Constitution, losing 1 from every ability score and proficiency every 2 days until it is immersed again.

The region a spell or breath weapon affects. Creatures inside are affected unless a successful saving throw applies.

A rating of how hard a character is to hit, from 10 (unarmored) down to 0 and into negatives (better). Lower AC is better.

The 1d20 roll that determines whether an attack hits, compared against the target's AC using the attacker's THAC0.

A percentile feat-of-strength check to bend metal bars, lift a portcullis, or perform a similar heavy exertion. The chance is set by Strength.

The elven fighter/mage discipline of fencing and spellcasting as one dance. A bladesinger takes +1 to hit and +1 damage with one chosen weapon and no other, and while casting improves armor class against melee by her level divided by 2, plus 1.

Extra priest spells granted for high Wisdom, added on top of the normal per-level allotment.

An exhaled attack (such as a dragon's) that affects an area without an attack roll; targets in the area roll a saving throw.

The percentage chance a priest's spell fails when cast, derived from Wisdom.

A wizard's percentage chance to successfully learn a new spell, derived from Intelligence.

The ability score for force of personality, persuasiveness, and leadership. Governs henchman limits and NPC reactions.

A ninja of levels 6-9: the middle rank, which relays orders and leads small operations.

A ninja clan's secret language of hand signs and ideograms, which replaces thieves' cant. It conveys full instructions but no poetry and no technical vocabulary, and another clan's signs are unintelligible. The Detect Signing proficiency reveals that signing is happening, never what it means.

A character's profession (Fighter, Mage, Cleric, Thief, etc.), which sets Hit Dice, allowed weapons/armor, abilities, and advancement.

The shared trade language all player characters speak. Other languages may cost proficiency slots to learn.

The ability score for health, stamina, and physique. Affects hit points, system shock, and resurrection survival.

The hit-point loss from a successful attack or other harmful effect, expressed in points.

A non-human player race: dwarf, elf, gnome, half-elf, or halfling.

The ability score for agility, reflexes, and hand-eye coordination. Affects missile attacks, AC, and initiative.

Shorthand for dice rolls: the number after 'd' is the die's faces (d6 = six-sided). A leading number means that many dice (2d6). A d3 is read off a d6 (1-2=1, 3-4=2, 5-6=3); a d100 uses two d10s as percentile dice.

Abbreviation for the Dungeon Master Guide, the companion rulebook for the person running the game.

The Underdark elf subrace: +2 Dexterity and +1 Intelligence against -1 Constitution and -2 Charisma, 90-foot infravision, innate dancing lights, faerie fire and darkness, and a magic resistance of 50% rising 2% per level to a maximum of 80%. Bright light penalises it, and prolonged time on the surface fades its powers.

A human who advances in one class, then switches to a second class and starts over in it. Only humans can dual-class.

The gray dwarf: a dwarf subrace of the deep places, with 120-ft infravision, immunity to paralysis, illusions and manufactured poisons, and innate enlarge and invisibility once each per day. It loses the dwarf's attack bonus against orcs and goblins, suffers in bright light, and owes an experience surcharge.

The total weight a character carries, in pounds. Heavier loads reduce movement rate; based on Strength. (Optional rule.)

An attack (often by undead) that strips experience levels from a character in addition to hit-point loss.

Points awarded by the DM for completing adventures, class-appropriate deeds, and solving problems. Accumulated XP raises a character's level.

An addition to the experience a character needs for each level, charged by some subraces and kits for the abilities they bring. The app states what is owed and shows the breakdown; whether the table enforces it is the DM's call, as with racial level limits.

An NPC drawn to a character's reputation who serves for pay, often arriving at higher levels (e.g., a fighter's troops).

An attack (such as a basilisk's) that takes effect simply by making eye contact with the victim.

A ninja of levels 1-5: the clan's field agent, who takes assignments rather than giving them.

A scholarly elf subrace: +2 Intelligence and +1 Dexterity against -2 Constitution and -1 Strength, with library and sage access and a poor reaction from non-elves. Costs a 15% experience surcharge.

A dwarf subrace of Krynn, small and much put upon, whose signature ability is to grovel: an attacker not already in melee with it must save or find itself unable to strike the gully dwarf for 1d6 rounds. Magic items fail in a gully dwarf's hands twice as often as in another dwarf's.

Loyal NPCs who follow a character out of loyalty and love of adventure rather than pay. The number allowed is set by Charisma; player and DM share control.

The default player-character elf: +1 Dexterity, -1 Constitution, 60-foot infravision, and the standard elf package with no further advantages, disadvantages, or experience surcharge.

An NPC who works purely for money and is entirely under the DM's control.

The dice rolled to determine a character's hit points, gained per level up to a class-dependent cap. A fighter uses d10s, a wizard d4s, and so on.

A number tracking how much damage a character can take before death, set by Hit Dice. Lost hit points are usually regained by rest or healing.

The ability to see heat in the dark, common to demihumans, typically out to 60 feet.

The determination of who acts first in a combat round, usually a d10 roll modified by Dexterity, weapon speed, and circumstances.

The ability score for reasoning and memory. Sets a wizard's spell capacity, chance to learn spells, and number of languages.

In the rules, italic text marks the names of magical items and spells.

A ninja of level 10 or above. On reaching the rank the clan assigns 2d6 blood-relative followers of 1d6 level each; half, rounded up, are ninja and the rest carry a shinobi kit.

A halfling subrace of Krynn: fearless to the point of total immunity, able to taunt an enemy into attacking wildly, and possessed of a small knack for every thieving skill whether or not it is a thief. A campaign-setting race, offered only where the DM runs that setting.

A themed package of bonus proficiencies, benefits, and hindrances taken at creation, from one of the Complete Handbooks. A character takes at most one kit, ever, and dropping it loses everything it gave.

The ninja spell list: finger-exercise magic with a somatic component only, no words and no materials. Learnable by the Spirit Warrior kit (its Illusion-school entries), the Shinobi Illusionist and the Shinobi Mage.

A female Consort — the ninja kit specialising in social infiltration under a long-running false identity.

A measure of a character's power and experience within a class, starting at 1st and rising as experience points accumulate.

A Charisma-derived modifier to the loyalty of a character's henchmen and followers.

A percentage chance for a creature to ignore magic that targets it, checked before any saving throw.

A Wisdom-based bonus or penalty to saving throws against mind-affecting magic (charm, hold, fear, and the like).

A rating (A-E) describing how tightly a flying creature can turn and maneuver.

A physical substance a spell consumes or requires when cast; abbreviated M in spell descriptions.

The greatest weight a character can lift overhead, determined by Strength.

Hand-to-hand combat at close range, as opposed to missile combat.

Ranged combat using thrown or fired weapons (bows, slings, hurled spears), affected by range and Dexterity.

How far a character can travel in a given time, reduced by encumbrance. Used for both exploration and combat positioning.

A demihuman who advances in two or more classes at once, splitting experience among them and using the best combat and saving-throw values.

The deity, religion, or pantheon a priest serves, which defines that priest's powers, allowed weapons, spheres, and ethos.

On the law-chaos axis, indifference to order versus chaos; on the good-evil axis, unwillingness to commit to either. True Neutral seeks balance among all forces. Unintelligent creatures are treated as neutral by default.

PHBR15 rogue-group class: a clan-raised infiltrator and spy with thief-adjacent skills, any-weapon access, and absolute obligation to the clan. Requires Dexterity 13 and Intelligence 10; Dexterity is the prime requisite. Open to humans, dwarves and halflings raised by a human ninja clan.

The ninja's short, straight-bladed sword. Required weapon proficiency for most ninja kits and for several shinobi kits.

Any character or creature that is not human; demihumans are the playable nonhuman races.

Any character controlled by the DM rather than a player, including henchmen, hirelings, and followers.

A Strength-based check to force open a stuck or barred door.

The school(s) of magic a specialist wizard is barred from, opposite their chosen school on the schools diagram.

A probability expressed out of 100, resolved by rolling percentile dice.

Two ten-sided dice (or one d100) read together to produce a result from 1 to 100; one die is the tens, the other the ones.

A character controlled by a player, as opposed to one run by the DM.

A saving throw to resist or reduce the effect of a poison.

The ability score(s) most important to a class. Scoring 16+ in all of a class's prime requisites grants a +10% experience bonus.

A learned capability bought with proficiency slots: weapon proficiencies (which weapons you use without penalty) and nonweapon proficiencies (skills like swimming or cooking). Optional rules.

A check to use a nonweapon proficiency: roll 1d20 against the governing ability score plus any proficiency modifier, succeeding on equal or lower.

A character's species - human or one of the demihuman peoples - which adjusts ability scores and may limit class and level choices.

How many times a missile weapon can be used per combat round (e.g., a bow may fire twice).

A Charisma-derived modifier to how NPCs and creatures initially respond to a character.

The ability to recover lost hit points rapidly and automatically, sometimes regrowing limbs.

A reduced vulnerability to a type of attack or energy, often expressed as halved damage or a saving-throw bonus.

A Constitution-based percentage chance to survive being raised or resurrected from death.

A spell that can be cast in an opposite form (for example, a healing spell reversed to cause harm).

The basic unit of combat time, about one minute, in which each combatant gets to act. Ten rounds make a turn.

A d20 roll to avoid or reduce a harmful effect (spell, poison, breath weapon, etc.); rolling the target number or higher succeeds.

One of the categories wizard spells are grouped into (Abjuration, Alteration, Conjuration/Summoning, and so on). A specialist wizard concentrates in one school.

A member of a ninja clan who is not of the ninja class. No more than half a clan is ninja, and every other class member must take their shinobi kit, which carries the same clan obligations along with a small set of thieving skills.

A required gesture or hand motion for casting a spell; abbreviated S. Casting can fail if the hands are bound or the caster is armored.

A wizard who focuses on a single school of magic, gaining extra spells and save bonuses within it but barred from opposition schools. (Also used for specialty priests of a mythos.)

Complete protection from a specific spell or category of magic, which automatically has no effect.

A thematic group of priest spells (Healing, Combat, Plant, etc.). A priest's deity grants major or minor access to particular spheres.

The magic-touched ninja kit: water walking from 5th level, Illusion-school and kuji-kiri spells from 9th at a casting level of ninja level minus 8, scroll use, and passage through solid walls from 13th. Paid for with a wizard's experience ladder, a narrow weapon list, and leather or padded armor only.

The ability score for muscle and physical power. Affects melee attack and damage, weight allowance, and feats like forcing doors.

A variant of a race with its own ability adjustments, languages, and special abilities, sharing everything else with its parent race. The Complete Book of Elves prints five for the elf: aquatic, drow, grey, high, and sylvan.

A check at the start of an encounter to see whether one side is caught off guard, granting the surprising side a free moment to act.

The deep gnome: a gnome subrace of the deep earth, with 120-ft infravision, magic resistance that grows with level, saving-throw bonuses against everything but poison at a lesser rate, a natural armor class that improves as it advances, and stun darts. Rarely a player character without the DM's agreement.

The forest elf subrace: +1 Strength and +1 Dexterity against -1 Constitution and -1 Charisma, an automatic two-category reaction shift with natural woodland creatures, and no secret-door detection at all. It will not willingly leave the forest.

A Constitution-based percentage roll to survive a major physical stress such as being petrified, polymorphed, or magically aged.

"To Hit Armor Class 0" - the attack-roll number a character needs to hit AC 0. Subtract the target's AC from your THAC0 to get the roll you need. Lower THAC0 is better.

A unit of game time equal to ten combat rounds, about ten minutes, used mainly for exploration and spell durations.

A priest's (or paladin's) granted power to drive off or destroy undead and certain evil creatures by presenting a holy symbol.

Required spoken words or sounds for casting a spell; abbreviated V. A silenced or gagged caster cannot provide it.

A rating of how quickly a weapon can be used, applied as a modifier to initiative; lower is faster.

The ability score for insight, willpower, and intuition. Sets a priest's bonus spells and chance of spell failure, and adjusts saves against mind magic.