Overused DnD words for 2005 (it's that time again) [merged]

[Nebt Bhakau]

I nominate 'cheese' and 'broken'. If you are not a game designer, under no circumstances should you say 'broken' or 'unbalanced' or 'versimilitude'. And 'cheese', when used to refer to anything other than a food product, is, like 'munchkin', largely meaningless.

It might just be me, but I never heard of 'character builds' as pertaining to D&D until after hearing them pertaining to Diablo. It certainly makes sense when applied to D&D, but only because the 3.+ char. creation system is rather more Diabloesque (there's a word) than previous editions.

Likewise, I think 'broken' started with Magic players and migrated. It was overused enough then without RPGers appropriating it.

Also, I think we ought allow an exemption for native German speakers. They should be allowed to say uber whenever they please. No one else, though.

 

[Kashell]

Calling your character a 'toon' gets on my nerves.

 

[Doug McCrae]

Calling your character a 'toon' gets on my nerves.

I've not seen that one before. What characters get called toons?

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Ummm, the ones in Toon by Steve Jackson?

http://www.sjgames.com/toon/deluxe_edition.html

The Auld Grump, she's married to Roger Rabbit?

 

[Verequus]

Also, I think we ought allow an exemption for native German speakers. They should be allowed to say uber whenever they please. No one else, though.

It's nice to think of us Germans! Really! ... The only problem is, that I don't know, why I should ever use über on the boards - I don't use it IRL much anyway.

 

[Raging Epistaxis]

I've not seen that one before. What characters get called toons?

I'v only hard that on onc, from a frind who playd Ashron's Call alot. Mayb it's a MMORG thing? Buggd the Hll outta m, though.

Übr, vrisimilitud, vn crpuscular ar all ok by m, as long as thy ar usd in th corrct contxt.

Fluff and crunch nd to di a suddn dath. I'd lov to raliz in about six months that I had nithr hard nor rad thm, and did not miss thm.

Raging pistaxis.

 

[Arnwyn]

Crunch, when used is usually correctly applied.

 

[maddman75]

Broken did indeed come from Magic, though most RPGers don't use it quite right. Generally they mean overpowered or unbalanced. I've even seen it for 'doesn't work', though that's pretty much the opposite meaning. In Magic, a broken card is one that is so good, you want four of them (the max) in any deck you play. They are not just powerful or undercosted, they so overpower the game that everyone uses them, and rather than a game its a 'race to see who can get their broken combo out first'. It isn't so much that it ruins the game, but it makes it boring.

So for D&D, something that is broken would be say, a Feat that added +3 to your BAB, no prerequisites. It is so good that pretty much every warrior, cleric, and rogue would take it right off. Many wizards and sorcerers may well do the same - rays and touch attacks could sure use the boost.

One could argue that Magic Missile is broken by this definition. Most wizards and virtually all sorcerers take this spell. Most people agree its overpowered, but keep it in for historical reasons.

As far as the e's, can w3 still us3 3's instead of 3's. If w3'r3 l33t, that is.

 

[Remathilis]

You know, didn't someone once do a "dictionary" of commonly used words and phrases for this messageboard?

If not, someone ought to...

I'll begin once I know there isn't one arleady.

 

[jmucchiello]

Broken did indeed come from Magic, though most RPGers don't use it quite right. Generally they mean overpowered or unbalanced. I've even seen it for 'doesn't work', though that's pretty much the opposite meaning. In Magic, a broken card is one that is so good, you want four of them (the max) in any deck you play. They are not just powerful or undercosted, they so overpower the game that everyone uses them, and rather than a game its a 'race to see who can get their broken combo out first'. It isn't so much that it ruins the game, but it makes it boring.

If everyone wants four in their deck, doesn't that imply the card is overpowered or unbalanced, thus broken? Broken means overpowered/unbalanced. You might say the second definition of broken is "causes the game to become less fun for others." But the primary definition is definitely overpowered/unbalanced.

At first I was only going to list RAW but I just read another post not a minute after submitting this and was struck by "video-game-like". Ugh. Just because something's like a video game doesn't make it bad. And of course it's always a derogatory. Some people does need large amount of consistency or continuity to enjoy their role-playing. Deal with it.