Ability Check – when you roll a die or dice to see if you have the skills or knowledge for what you are trying to do.
Campaign – another name for the adventure. Campaigns have a specific end goal that the players are working towards. Depending the story the DM creates or uses and how often the players get together to play campaigns can be any length of time. Some groups play short sessions of one shot campaigns that can be finished in a few hours. Other groups meet every few weeks and their campaigns can last years. Depending on your group and DM, you could have a combat heavy campaign with lots of fighting, or you could have an exploring campaign where you have to find something. Most campaigns are a good mixture of both fighting and exploring.
Character Sheet – the sheet that tells a player all about their character. What their name is, what they look like, what their abilities are, what weapons they use, what their backstory is. It also has all the numbers for these abilities which you will need as you roll for different ability checks.
Class – class defines an adventurer’s skillset, and is more like an occupation or calling rather than a job. There are 12 different classes a player can choose between for their character. Some classes are only magic users, some are only fighters, and some are both. Deciding what class to choose depends on what the player is interested in and also what kind of adventure the group is going to be going on.
Critical Fail – sometimes called a ‘crit fail’ and is when you roll a d20 and get a score of 1 or lower. A roll of 1 or lower is an automatic fail in what you are trying to do.
Critical Hit – sometimes called a ‘crit hit’ and is when you roll a d20 and get a score of 20 or higher. A roll of 20 or higher is an automatic success in what you are trying to do.
The Dice – DnD uses different types of die to decide different things in the game. There are six types of die used in a DnD game though some are used more often than others.
D20 – a20 sided die. This is the most commonly used type in the game to determine things like success, miss, hit, order, and so on.
D12 – a 12 sided die. Usually used for very large weapons by specific types of characters to determine how much damage the weapon does.
D10 – a 10 sided die. There are actually 2 of these in a standard set: one that is 0 to 10 and another that is 00 to 90 by tens. This is used for “percentile” rolls to determine a number between 1 and 100.
D8 – a 8 sided die. This is often used to determine damage by larger weapons when attacking.
D6 – a 6 sided die. Used in multiple types of board games it is also used here to determine damage, often in multiples. If a sheet says “3D6”, it means you should either roll 3 of these or roll one 3 times and add the numbers together.
D4 – a 4 sided die. This is used for very small weapons damage or for things like healing spells. Like the D6, you will sometimes see something like “roll 4D4”, so you again roll multiples or roll one die four times.
Dungeon Master – also called the DM, this is the person who organizes and oversees the playing of the game, especially any characters or events not controlled by the players. They are responsible for the overall story and gently guiding the players through the game. While good storytelling is important, the ability to think fast and react to what players do is even more important. A detailed plan for the adventure is less important than knowing what to do when the party decides to take the left path rather than the right one.
Initiative – the order of play. When the party enters into combat, all players will roll a D20 to determine the order they will go in. The DM will also roll a d20 for each of the NPC enemies that the party is facing. The player with the highest number goes first, then the second highest will go and so on. If two players have the same number, the DM will decide what order they will go in.
Hit points – the amount of health that a character has. This number increases with every level a player rises in the game. Hit points are lost during combat by attacks being made on the characters but they can be regained either by healing spells or potions. Hit points can also be regained if the party is able to take a long rest.
Level – players start their characters on level one with very low or few abilities. As the game progresses, the characters move up the levels and gain more abilities. Magic users can gain more spells or more difficult spells, fighters can gain more weapons or do more damage when they attack. Each class has their own lists of what abilities characters gain as they move to higher levels.
Modifier – an additional number added to dice rolls for specific skills and attributes. This happens with almost every attack roll, ability check, and saving throw.
Non-playable Character – also known as an NPC. This is a character who fulfills a specific roll in the story and to do that they are played by the DM. This could be a character who has some information the party needs or an enemy that the party has to fight. DMs may need to juggle several NPCs at any given time.
Party – the group of characters on the campaign. DMs will often use the phrase “the party” to tell the players that they are doing an action as a group and that everyone sees or experiences the same thing. For example: “the party approaches a rundown castle. They see that the towers are crumbling, the moat is overgrown with algae, and there are no sounds coming from either the castle or the surrounding land. Roll for perception.”
Player – also known as an adventurer, these are the other people in the game who create characters to interact with the story. Players decide who their character is: their name, race, gender, identity, backstory, physical appearance, etc. Some players are very detailed in their characters, knowing everything about them, while others are more casual and only create an overview. You need a good balance of both types in a party to have a successful campaign.
Player’s Handbook – THE book for DnD, abbreviated as PHB. The Player’s Handbook is a compendium of that goes through how to play the game and also has list of every race, class, level, gear, weapons, actions, and a majority of the spells available to players while playing the game.
Race – refers to the ancestry of a character. There are 9 different races a player can make their character with each race has different abilities, rules, and limitations. Many players start their first character as a human and then later try different races as they learn about them or to build a better party for a new campaign.
Roll – the act of rolling a die or dice to determine how successful you are in your attempt. For instance, if you are attacking another character, does that attack hit them or miss them? If you are looking for clues, do you see any? Some? None because you are distracted?
Round of Play – also called a Round of Combat or just a Round. Going from the top of the initiative to the bottom in order of the numbers they rolled. At the end of a round, play returns to the person at the top of the initiative.
Saving Throw – a roll that represents an attempt to resist a spell, trap, a poison, disease, or a similar threat.
