The Ultimate D&D Glossary | 100+ Words You Should Know

Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) is the world’s most popular tabletop role-playing game, but its rich ruleset and unique terminology can feel intimidating, especially for new players.

From core concepts like Dungeon Master (DM), character sheets, and ability scores to advanced mechanics such as saving throws, spell slots, and challenge rating, understanding key D&D terms is essential for enjoying the game.

That’s why we’ve created the ultimate D&D glossary, featuring 100+ essential Dungeons & Dragons words every player should know!

The Ultimate D&D Glossary

Ability Check

A d20 roll determined by the DM to see if a character succeeds at a specific task that has a chance of failure.

Ability Score

A numerical value representing a character's innate physical and mental capabilities, such as Strength or Wisdom.

Action Economy

The strategic balance of how many actions, bonus actions, and reactions a party can take compared to their enemies during a combat round.

Advantage

A mechanic where you roll two d20s and take the higher result, typically granted by clever positioning or magical effects.

Alignment

A moral and ethical compass for a character, ranging from Lawful Good to Chaotic Evil, used to define their outlook on the world.

Area of Effect (AoE)

Spells or abilities that target a specific zone on the map, affecting multiple creatures within its radius or shape.

Armor Class (AC)

The target number an attacker must meet or beat with an attack roll to successfully land a physical hit on a creature.

Artifact

An incredibly powerful and unique magic item, often possessing its own history, personality, and world-shaping capabilities.

Attack Roll

A d20 roll made to determine if a character’s strike with a weapon or spell successfully hits a target's Armor Class.

Attunement

A mystical bond required to gain the benefits of certain powerful magic items, limited to three slots per character in 5e.

Background

A component of character creation that describes a character’s life before adventuring, granting specific skills and roleplay features.

BBEG (Big Bad Evil Guy)

The primary antagonist of a campaign, often a central figure of power and malice.

Bestiary

A reference book or section of a sourcebook containing stat blocks and lore for various creatures and monsters.

Bonus Action

A secondary, faster action that can be taken on a turn if granted by a specific class feature, spell, or ability.

Boxed Text

Pre-written descriptive narrative passages in an adventure module meant to be read aloud by the DM to the players.

Campaign

A long-term series of connected gaming sessions where a group of characters pursues a grand, evolving narrative.

Campaign Setting

The fictional world or universe where the game takes place, such as the ash-laden and myth-rich landscapes of Odsire: Pyres of Cappadocia.

Cantrip

A basic spell that can be cast an unlimited number of times without consuming a valuable spell slot.

Challenge Rating (CR)

A numerical value used to gauge the power level of a monster and determine if it is a fair fight for a party of a certain level.

Character Sheet

The document used to track a character's stats, abilities, equipment, and personal history throughout a game.

Class

The primary vocation of a character, such as Fighter or Wizard, which dictates their mechanical abilities and role in the party.

Concentration

A state required to maintain certain long-lasting spells, which can be broken if the caster takes damage or casts another concentration spell.

Conditions

Temporary effects like "Blinded" or "Prone" that alter a character's capabilities and interactions for a set duration.

Critical Hit (Natural 20)

A roll of 20 on a d20, usually resulting in automatic success and doubled damage in combat.

d20

The iconic twenty-sided die used for most action resolutions and skill checks in Dungeons & Dragons and similar systems.

Damage Type

Categorizations of damage, such as Fire, Cold, or Necrotic, which interact with a creature's resistances or vulnerabilities.

DC (Difficulty Class)

The target number set by the DM that a player must meet or beat to succeed in a specific task or saving throw.

Deck-Building

A gameplay mechanic where players start with a small set of cards and strategically add new cards to their personal deck throughout the game.

Deities

Powerful divine beings that grant spells and guidance to Clerics and Paladins within a campaign world.

Disadvantage

A mechanic where you roll two d20s and take the lower result, typically caused by difficult conditions or debuffs.

Downtime

The period between adventures where characters can craft items, perform research, or pursue personal goals within the world.

Dungeon Crawl

A type of scenario where players navigate a labyrinthine environment, much like the vertical underground cities featured in Odsire.

Dungeon Master (DM)

The person who organizes the game, acts as the narrator, and adjudicates the rules for the players.

Encumbrance

A rule representing the physical weight a character can carry before their movement speed and abilities are hindered.

Encounter

A specific event in a game, usually involving combat, a social interaction, or a complex trap/puzzle.

Experience Points (XP)

A numerical reward given to characters for overcoming challenges, used to track progress toward the next level.

Exploration

The pillar of gameplay focused on discovering new locations, solving mysteries, and interacting with the environment.

Faction

A political or social organization within the campaign world that players can join, fight, or bargain with.

Familiar

A magical spirit in animal form that serves a caster, providing utility, scouting, and minor assistance in combat.

Feat

An optional talent or area of expertise that gives a character special capabilities outside of their standard class features.

Flanking

A tactical position where two allies are on opposite sides of an enemy, often granting a bonus to attack rolls.

Flavor Text

Descriptive text meant to provide atmosphere, sensory details, and lore rather than specific mechanical rules.

Fumble (Natural 1)

Rolling a 1 on a d20, often resulting in an automatic failure and sometimes a humorous or detrimental complication.

Game Master (GM)

A gender-neutral term for the Dungeon Master, commonly used in TTRPG systems outside of Dungeons & Dragons.

Grappled

A condition where a creature's movement is reduced to zero because they are being held by another creature.

Grimdark

A subgenre of fantasy characterized by a dark, gritty atmosphere and moral ambiguity.

Half-Caster

A class that gains spellcasting abilities more slowly than full casters, such as the Paladin or Ranger.

Handout

A physical or digital prop, such as a map or letter, given to players to enhance immersion and provide clues.

Hex Crawl

A type of wilderness exploration where players move across a map divided into hexagonal tiles to discover hidden locations.

Hit Dice

A pool of dice determined by class that characters can spend during a short rest to regain lost health.

Hit Points (HP)

A numerical representation of a creature’s physical health and its ability to stay in the fight before falling unconscious.

Homebrew

Custom-made content not found in official books; Odsire is a perfect foundation for DMs looking to enhance their homebrew worlds.

Hybrid Class

A character class that combines elements of two different roles, such as a mix of martial prowess and magical ability.

Initiative

A check made at the start of combat to determine the turn order of all participants involved in the fight.

Inspiration

A reward granted by the DM for good roleplaying or clever thinking, allowing a player to reroll a d20 or gain advantage.

Insight Check

A skill check used to determine if a character can sense the true intentions or emotional state of an NPC.

Inventory

The list of all items, weapons, and armor currently carried by a player character.

Investigation

A skill check used to deduce information from clues, find hidden objects, or solve complex intellectual puzzles.

Leveling Up

The process of increasing a character's level after gaining enough experience, resulting in new abilities and increased health.

Long Rest

A period of extended downtime, usually 8 hours, that allows characters to fully recover HP, spell slots, and hit dice.

Lore

The history, culture, and background stories that give a campaign setting its depth and distinct identity.

Magic Item

A rare or wondrous object imbued with magical properties, ranging from simple glowing swords to world-altering relics.

Martial Class

Classes that focus primarily on physical combat and weapon proficiency, such as the Fighter, Barbarian, or Monk.

Metagaming

Using out-of-character knowledge to influence in-character decisions, which is generally discouraged in immersive play.

Milestone Leveling

A system where characters gain levels after completing significant story objectives rather than tracking individual XP.

Min-Maxing

The act of maximizing a character's primary strengths while minimizing their weaknesses for the best mechanical outcome.

Miniature (Mini)

A small figure used on a tactical map to represent a character, monster, or environmental object during gameplay.

Modifier

The positive or negative number derived from an ability score that is added to rolls associated with that ability.

Multiclassing

A mechanic that allows a character to gain levels in more than one class, combining their features and abilities.

Narrative Arc

The overarching story structure that connects individual sessions and adventures into a cohesive, grand tale.

NPC (Non-Player Character)

Any character in the game world controlled by the DM, from minor shopkeepers to the main villain.

One-Shot

A self-contained TTRPG adventure designed to be completed in a single session, perfect for testing new settings.

OSR (Old School Renaissance)

A movement in TTRPGs that focuses on high lethality, player ingenuity, and simplified rules reminiscent of early gaming.

Passive Perception

A character's innate ability to notice hidden things when they aren't actively searching, calculated as 10 + their Perception modifier.

PC (Player Character)

A character created and controlled by a player rather than the Dungeon Master.

Perception

A skill check used to see, hear, or otherwise notice things in the immediate environment.

Plane of Existence

A different dimension or reality within the game's multiverse, such as the Elemental Plane of Fire or the Shadowfell.

Player Interaction

The degree to which players' decisions and actions affect one another, ranging from direct conflict to collaborative strategy.

Pointcrawl

A navigation method where players travel between specific points of interest rather than exploring every inch of a map.

Powergaming

A playstyle focused on making a character as mechanically efficient and powerful as possible, often prioritizing stats over roleplay.

Proficiency Bonus

A bonus added to checks, saves, and attacks for tasks a character is specifically trained in, increasing as they level up.

Race / Species

The biological lineage of a character, such as Elf, Dwarf, or Human, which grants specific traits and abilities.

Railroading

A GMing style where players are forced down a specific narrative path, often disregarding their choices or agency.

Reaction

An action taken in response to a trigger, such as an "Opportunity Attack" when an enemy moves out of reach.

Replayability

A measure of how different or engaging a game remains after being played multiple times with different choices.

Resistance

A trait that halves the damage a creature takes from a specific source, such as fire or bludgeoning damage.

Roleplay (RP)

The act of speaking and acting as your character would, based on their personality, history, and current situation.

Rule of Cool

A philosophy where a DM allows a player to succeed at an unlikely action simply because it is creative or cinematically awesome.

Sandbox

A style of play where players have the freedom to explore the world and choose their own goals without a set path.

Saving Throw

A roll made to resist or avoid the effects of a spell, trap, poison, or other dangerous environmental hazard.

Session 0

A preliminary meeting where players and DMs discuss expectations, safety tools, and character creation before the game starts.

Short Rest

A period of downtime, at least 1 hour long, that allows characters to spend hit dice to heal and recover certain abilities.

Skill Check

A d20 roll plus modifiers used to determine if a character succeeds at a task like climbing, lying, or tracking.

Slot-Based Encumbrance

A simplified inventory system where items take up "slots" rather than using exact weight in pounds.

Sourcebook

A book containing rules, lore, and information for a specific setting; Odsire serves as a premium sourcebook for 5e.

Spell Slot

A resource representing the number of spells of a certain level a character can cast before needing a long rest.

Stat Block

A concise summary of a creature's or NPC's abilities, health, and special actions used by the DM.

Subclass

A specialized path for a character class that grants unique abilities, such as the fire-themed options in Odsire.

Survival Mechanics

Rules governing hunger, thirst, and environmental dangers, such as the unique hazards found in Odsire.

Tabletop RPG (TTRPG)

A role-playing game played socially on a table (or virtually) using imagination, dice, and a set of rules. Click here for TTRPG glossary (featuring over 50 definitions!).

Target Number

The specific number a player must roll to succeed, such as an enemy's AC or a trap's DC.

Theater of the Mind

A style of play that relies entirely on verbal description and imagination rather than physical maps and miniatures.

TPK (Total Party Kill)

A situation where every player character in the group dies during a single encounter, ending the campaign prematurely.

Turn Order

The specific sequence in which players and monsters take their actions during a combat round.

Versatile Weapon

A weapon that can be used with either one or two hands, usually dealing more damage when used with both.

Victory Points (VP)

A metric used in certain systems to track progress toward a win condition or a successful campaign outcome.

VTT (Virtual Tabletop)

Online software like Roll20 or Foundry used to play TTRPGs with digital maps, character sheets, and dice.

Vulnerability

A trait that causes a creature to take double damage from a specific source, such as fire or radiant damage.

Wargaming

A tactical style of TTRPG play that emphasizes grid-based combat, precise movement, and strategic resource management.

Worldbuilding

The process of creating the history, geography, and cultures of a fictional setting to make it feel lived-in and real.