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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ooshrooms" data-source="post: 8982772" data-attributes="member: 7041243">That's an exaggeration. They de-emphasized jargon partly to make it more accessible to new players, but they didn't eliminate it. That's not possible. Jargon is a natural result of specialized interests. Even without any authority creating concrete definitions, various industries and special interests organically develop jargon as a necessary way of communicating specialized concepts that common vernacular doesn't do succinctly.If I told you I made an attack roll, you'd know that I rolled a 20 sided die, adjusted with any relevant modifiers, and compared it to the target's AC to see if I hit. People with no exposure to roll playing would not know what I meant by attack roll. That's jargon. We still constantly use it especially for the very core rules. Whenever abilities use phrases like "when you make a weapon attack" they're using technical jargon. They didn't abolish it. Things are just more accessible.I agree that the description part of spells and other types of information is intended to be understood in plain English as the words generally mean. The other parts are not written out like that. A casting time of an action or bonus action is jargon. Target and range aren't supposed to be up to common English interpretation either. They're specific. In accord with this, I contend that a spell duration of "instantaneous" is still jargon meaning the magic exists until its resolved and no longer, but if the body of the written description used the same word, there it would be common English, however we would interpret it in that context.Even if I were wrong, and that we are supposed to interpret it as the common meaning of the word even as a standalone word to give the duration, most words have multiple meanings, and the first one in a dictionary isn't always the most appropriate one. I pointed out acid splash, because the casting time of instantaneous only makes sense for the written description if the word is used in a broader sense than the most common definition. It wouldn't mean for an infinitesimal period but rather for the time of the current action. That is a common English usage. It would be the best one for that spell, so how could someone contend that it is a completely inappropriate usage for a different spell rather than being up for interpretation?</blockquote>

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