Terms and Abbreviations

[AmethystKat]

There are a lot of terms with which I am not familiar and I was wondering if there was a list of terms and abbreviations? I have played for over 20 years, but never online or playbypost.
I'm trying to find a game, but not sure what some of the abbreviations and terms mean. I did a search, and nothing came up, so I thought I'd start here.

First...what does "Gestalt" mean in these forums?

[OracleofWuffing]

Gestalt, in terms of Dungeons and Dragons 3.5, is an optional supplemental rule (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/gestaltCharacters.htm) where characters advance in two classes at the same time. In contrast to multiclassing, such characters get the "best" options at level-ups and are generally much more powerful overall. It's not GitP-native term, though I suppose some might find some more esoteric ways to use it.

There is a Common Acronyms, Abbreviations, and Terms (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?18512-Common-Acronyms-Abbreviations-and-Terms) that might help if you have other questions about other terms.

[AmethystKat]

Thank you, I was looking for that type of thread and didn't find it.

[Jama7301]

I wonder if that thread could use any updates to the main post. Due to lack of knowledge, the only ones I can fathom at this time are RAI and PbtA for Rules As Intended and Powered by the Apocalypse. It seems mostly comprehensive though, which is nice.

Also, is Gish a shorthand for Gestalt? Contextually, it seems like it is, but I just wanted to make sure.

[Khedrac]

I wonder if that thread could use any updates to the main post. Due to lack of knowledge, the only ones I can fathom at this time are RAI and PbtA for Rules As Intended and Powered by the Apocalypse. It seems mostly comprehensive though, which is nice.

Also, is Gish a shorthand for Gestalt? Contextually, it seems like it is, but I just wanted to make sure.
Nope, Gish comes from the 1st Ed AD&D Fiend Folio where the githyanki fighter/magic users were called 'gishes' and it now servers as a term meaning a melee/caster type (particularly arcane casters). A gestalt fighter-type / wizard-type would be a gish, but many non-gestalt characters can be gishes by multi-classing (or some classes like 3.5's duskblade are reckoned to be gishes without multiclassing).

One point of notation on gestalt:
A character with levels in more than one class is nromally written with the classes separated by slashes, e.g. fighter 4 / magic user 4 - an 8th level non-gestalt character (in 3rd Ed).
A gestalt character (who has two classes per level) is usually written with double slashes between the classes, e.g. fighter 4 // magic user 4 - a 4th level gestalt character.
When characts are multiclassing within gestalt you get a combination, e.g. fighter 4 // magic user 2 / rogue 2 - a 4th level gestalt character.

[Jama7301]

Nope, Gish comes from the 1st Ed AD&D Fiend Folio where the githyanki fighter/magic users were called 'gishes' and it now servers as a term meaning a melee/caster type (particularly arcane casters). A gestalt fighter-type / wizard-type would be a gish, but many non-gestalt characters can be gishes by multi-classing (or some classes like 3.5's duskblade are reckoned to be gishes without multiclassing).


Hey hey, thanks for the clarification!