Acronyms

a guide to what in the hell I'm talking about

AD&D

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons
AD&D is a roleplaying game which takes place in a series of fantasy worlds. It is often criticized for being levels and class based, and for being badly organized. Also it tends toward the Hack n' Slash school of roleplaying, rather than meaningful story telling. But it can be really fun to play with the right DM.

B5

Babylon 5
Babylon 5 was a science fiction television show that had a 5 year story arc. It was about the only show I watched. For more information, try these sites:
  • The Official Babylon 5 website
  • The Lurker's Guide

    • CS

    Computer Science
    Geeky stuff about computers, such as programming and understanding how they work.

    DM

    Dungeon Master
    A term used only in AD&D as far as I know. See GM.

    ICQ

    I Seek You (cute, huh?)
    An internet chat and messaging service. I'm #6886878.

    GM

    Game Master
    A reasonably generic term for the person who runs a roleplaying group. The person in change of coming up with the story and figuring out what happens next.

    GURPS

    Generic Universal RolePlaying System
    My favorite roleplaying game. It really is a system that allows you to play in pretty much any setting, provided you are willing to do the work to come up with it. But the rules are both flexible and reasonbly realistic, which is a rare combination.

    LC

    Lewis and Clark College
    My current school. I'm a sophmore.

    LHM

    The Last Herald-Mage Books. (Techically, the Books of the Last Herald-Mage, but no one calls them that.)
    Magic's Pawn, Magic's Promise and Magic's Price. Three absolutely wonderful books by Mercedes Lackey. I highly recommend them. Be sure to read them in order, and the back covers have nothing to do with the books, just for the record.

    MLC

    Metropolitan Learning Center
    My old high school. And one of my old middle schools, for that matter. A k-12 alternative school. Only about 500 students. A pretty neat place when I started going there, but I think Sue Brent and Pam Shelly (the vice-principal and principal) are ruining it.

    MLML

    Mercedes Lackey Mailing List
    A UK-based discussion list that discusses the fantasy and science fiction author Mercedes Lackey.

    NPC

    Non Player Character
    A character in a roleplaying game who is not controlled by one of the players. Generally, an NPC is controlled by the GM.

    OATAG

    Not sure exactly. Oregon Talented and Gifted something or other.
    A group of parents who are upset about the lack of TAG stuff in the schools, I think. My parents used to be into it when I was younger.

    PC

    Player Character
    A character who is controlled by one of the players in a roleplaying game. Generally, each player will control one character.

    PCC

    Portland Community College
    The local community college. I took math there over the summer.

    RPG

    RolePlaying Game
    A game in which one plays a character and tries to react as they would in given circumstances. See GURPS, AD&D, V:TM for more info.

    TAG

    Talented And Gifted
    The school program for smart kids. It used to be good, before the budget cuts basically killed it.

    TMBG

    They Might Be Giants
    a band I like.
  • Official website
  • Unofficial website

    • VFC

    The Vanyel Fan Club
    A fan club for Vanyel, the main character in LHM. Click here for more information. It's not as pathetic as it sounds, really.

    V:TM

    Vampire: The Masquerade
    another roleplaying game, this one's about vampires in a modern setting. Not one of my favorites, but everyone else here at college seems to really love it.