Understanding the playground's lingo

[laeZ1]

I can hide my ignorance no longer! There are some things that I need to know what they mean!
Abbreviations the playground uses often:
RAI: no idea
RAW: Seems to mean "by the rules". Does it stand for something?
PEACH: Please Examine And Comment Honestly (mostly in the homebrew forums)
BBEG: Seems to be the vilian (Big Bad Evil Guy?)
4e: 4th edition d&d
e6: not 6th edition... not really sure of what it is...

There's probably more I can't remember. I'll post again if I think of more.

[TheIronGolem]

RAI: Rules As Intended; the "spirit" of the rules as opposed to RAW's "letter" of the rules.

BBEG is indeed Big Bad Evil Guy.

E6 is a 3.x variant where you stop "levelling" at 6th level and all future progression is based on just gaining extra feats, intended for low-magic, "gritty" games and keeping the balance between magic and martial classes from getting out of hand.

[Frozen_Feet]

RAI = "Rules as intended". Essentially, refers to the spirit in which the rules were made. Often used as a counter-argument against wacky rules.

RAW = "Rules as written". How the rules are portrayed, down to the letter, ignoring their spirit or intention of the writer. Look up "death of the author" in wikipedia or TV tropes.

BBEG is indeed "big bad evil guy". Usually refers to the main antagonist of a game scenario or storyline.

E6 refers to D&D 3.5 variant, where player characters stop advancing after effective character level 6. Past that point, they only get feats at certain intervals, but no other benefits associated with leveling.

[snoopy13a]

RAI means "rules as intended." If someone uses this phrase they are arguing an interpretation of the rules that might contradict the written rules. Or they are interpreting a point that the rules are silent on by making analogies from other rules.

RAW means "rules as written." Basically self-explanatory.

BBEG is "big bad evil guy."

e6 is a variant of 3.5 D&D which imposes a soft cap on leveling at level 6. Once a character reaches level 6, they may still somewhat advance by gaining feats--I'm not sure of the exact details.

[BlckDv]

I can hide my ignorance no longer! There are some things that I need to know what they mean!
Abbreviations the playground uses often:
RAI: no idea
RAW: Seems to mean "by the rules". Does it stand for something?
PEACH: Please Examine And Comment Honestly (mostly in the homebrew forums)
BBEG: Seems to be the vilian (Big Bad Evil Guy?)
4e: 4th edition d&d
e6: not 6th edition... not really sure of what it is...

There's probably more I can't remember. I'll post again if I think of more.

RAI: Rules As Intended
RAW: Rules As Written
PEACH: Other than the C usually being "Critique" you got this one.
BBEG: You guessed right.
4e: You guessed right
e6: I *think* this started on EnWorld, Epic 6, a very major revamp of 3rd Edition D&D with Level 6 as the "Epic" level.

[Razanir]

I can hide my ignorance no longer! There are some things that I need to know what they mean!
Abbreviations the playground uses often:
RAI: no idea
RAW: Seems to mean "by the rules". Does it stand for something?
PEACH: Please Examine And Comment Honestly (mostly in the homebrew forums)
BBEG: Seems to be the vilian (Big Bad Evil Guy?)
4e: 4th edition d&d
e6: not 6th edition... not really sure of what it is...

There's probably more I can't remember. I'll post again if I think of more.

RAI v RAW– Rules as Interpreted v Rules as Written.
PEACH– I've always said it as Please Evaluate and Critique Honestly, but the idea's the same. It means come in with complements and/or constructive criticism
BBEG– Big Bad Evil Guy (don't click on the link if you don't want TV Tropes to ruin your life)
4e– 4th edition. Other editions are 1e, 2e, 3e and 3.5
PF– Pathfinder. Like 3.5, but better
3.X– Arbitrary 3rd edition (3e, 3.5, PF)
e6– Epic 6. It's a variant system for 3.5 where epic levels begin at level 6 instead of level 20
Swordsage'd/Ninja'd– Someone commented with the same thing while you were typing

EDIT: I think I set a new record. Swordsage'd by 4 people.

[tyckspoon]

RAI: Rules as Intended/Interpreted, used when a rule is applied in a fashion that was probably what it was supposed to do instead of what it strictly says it does (for example, Drowning sets your HP to 0, no matter what it was before. But there is also no given way to stop drowning. RAI would say that A: drowning can not *increase* your HP if you are already in negatives, and B: you stop drowning when you get access to air again.) Contrast with -

RAW: Rules As Written, the rules as applied exactly how the written text is. Gives us oddities like Monks being non-proficient with Unarmed Strikes and being able to cast a Teleport spell to remove yourself from an AMF.

BBEG: Big Bad Evil Guy indeed.

E6: Epic 6th, a rules variant where characters become Epic (end standard level progression) after 6th level. Often recommended for people who dislike the Fantasy Superheroes aspects D&D 3.5 has at higher levels.

[laeZ1]

Thanks for all the responses so quickly. I'll dig this thread up again if I find more things I don't understand.

[Verte]

RAI stands for Rules As Interpreted, RAW stands for Rules As Written, and BBEG does stand for Big Bad Evil Guy (or Gal). E6 is a variant way to play 3.5 where all the PCs stop leveling up at level 6, instead gaining feats every so often after 6th level in order to represent smaller increases in power. It's supposed to cause the game to be more lower-powered and lower-magic, since most of the really flamboyant stuff comes with 4th level and higher spells. I'm not super familiar with it, so someone else could probably elaborate more.

[laeZ1]

Can somebody tell me what MAD means?

[Verte]

MAD stands for Multiple Ability Dependency. It means that a class needs more than two or three abilities with large positive modifiers to be effective. The monk in 3.5 is an example because it requires Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, all at or above 15 or 16 to be good at its expected role. This is important because a lot of groups use point systems where such an array of ability scores would be impossible.

EDIT: Also, the Common Acronyms, Abbreviations, and Terms thread has a huge list of acronyms and terms that are commonly used here.

[Anterean]

BBEG : Am I the only one who thinks "Big Bad Evil Girl" ?

[laeZ1]

BBEG : Am I the only one who thinks "Big Bad Evil Girl" ?

mind = blown

[snoopy13a]

BBEG : Am I the only one who thinks "Big Bad Evil Girl" ?

Ha

To be fair, "guy" is slowly becoming unisex, at least in American English. It's to the point that a group of girls or women can be referred to as "guys."

[Verte]

Hey, I said it could stand for either before.

BBEG does stand for Big Bad Evil Guy (or Gal).

[Razanir]

Can somebody tell me what MAD means?

MAD stands for Multiple Ability Dependency. It means that a class needs more than two or three abilities with large positive modifiers to be effective. The monk in 3.5 is an example because it requires Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, all at or above 15 or 16 to be good at its expected role. This is important because a lot of groups use point systems where such an array of ability scores would be impossible.

EDIT: Also, the Common Acronyms, Abbreviations, and Terms thread has a huge list of acronyms and terms that are commonly used here.

MAD is in contrast to SAD, which is Single Ability Dependency. (Or dependent, if used as an adjective)

[tomandtish]

BBEG : Am I the only one who thinks "Big Bad Evil Girl" ?

I've been married 18 years, and saying that for at least 17 of them.

...and now I'm gonna go hide.

[Rhynn]

I feel compelled to point out this sticky thread at the top of the forum...

... which links this thread.

Edit: Which was already linked. Well, the second one.

[JusticeZero]

MAD, SAD: The sweet spot for balance seems to be to have two key attributes and one 'shouldnt dump', usually con.MAD you need too many high attributes to function and are probably weak as a result, SAD characters can pump one stat and dump everything else and are often overpowered as a result.

E6 (and Pathfinder version P6) is a variant where after level 6, advancement is 'one feat every 5000 XP'. Spellcasters dont get spells over level 3 without workarounds, and higher level spells may not even exist, etc.

[Jay R]

"Big, Bad Evil Girl" carries connotations that "Big, Bad Evil Guy" - of either sex - doesn't.

[Anterean]

Ha

To be fair, "guy" is slowly becoming unisex, at least in American English. It's to the point that a group of girls or women can be referred to as "guys."

I actually wasn't aware of that.
Last time we referred to a girl as one of the guys she was less than amused

[huttj509]

I actually wasn't aware of that.
Last time we referred to a girl as one of the guys she was less than amused

Depends on context. "One of the guys" I could definitely see as offensive, but if you come upon a group of friends and greet them with "hey guys" it would probably be taken as gender neutral, even if everyone you were addressing were female.

English really sucks in terms of gender neutral pronouns. Since we don't assign objects gender (unlike many other languages), "it" demotes someone to an object, and "they" isn't correct when referring to one person, though it's often used.

You could use Big Bad Evil Person, but that leaves out monsters.

BBE AFGNCAAP? ("Ageless, Faceless, Gender-Neutral, Culturally Ambiguous Adventure Person")

[JusticeZero]

"they" isn't correct when referring to one person...

..though even Shakespeare used the singular "they/them/their", and it has been defined as legal and proper English by law in Australia, and possibly other places.

[Jeff the Green]

"Big Bad Evil Entity"

[Water_Bear]

What about leaving the G as ambiguous, Guy or Gal depending on situation?

I'm pretty sure Gal is fairly inoffensive, and BBEG is a really good acronym.

[Jay R]

..though even Shakespeare used the singular "they/them/their", and it has been defined as legal and proper English by law in Australia, and possibly other places.

Lots of Shakespeare's grammar is no longer correct.

[JusticeZero]

Mmmhm. But singular they is accepted English today too, in spite of what certain people like to irrationally flip out over.

[Bogardan_Mage]

Lots of Shakespeare's grammar is no longer correct.

So you're saying that correct grammar can change over time? Which pretty much undermines any claim that popular usage (or even increasingly popular usage) is incorrect?

[BobVosh]

Surprised none of the books came up. Especially confusing for me was when ToB alternated with Bo9S.

For clarity sake: Tome of Battle and Book of 9 Swords. Refers to the same book.

[KillianHawkeye]

Surprised none of the books came up. Especially confusing for me was when ToB alternated with Bo9S.

For clarity sake: Tome of Battle and Book of 9 Swords. Refers to the same book.

You mean the book which carries the title "Tome of Battle: The Book of Nine Swords"?

Yeah. Right there on the cover.