RP Terminology

This refers to the terms applied to Characters, Weapons, Ideas, and Equipment for Role Play purposes.

Popular Acronyms
 OOC:  Out of character; anything that is done not within role play.

 IC:  In Character; anything that is done within role play.

 IRL:  In Real Life; anything that is within the physical human world, the one the player lives in, not the character.

 RP:  Role play

 PC:  Player Character; the character that which you, the player, controls.

 DM:  Dungeon Master; a staff member that runs event who may also be called an EM (Event Manager).

 NPC:  Non-player character; any character that one of the players does not control.

 AFK:  Away from Keyboard; when a player is away from his keyboard

Combat Terminology
 AE:  Area Effect; usually an attack that does damage within a given range.

 AR:  Armor Rating; the total defense against physical forces.

 DoT:  Damage over Time; damage that is done over a set amount of time.

 Crit:  Critical; an attack that goes above and beyond its requirements and may cause extra damage.

 LOS:  Line of sight; the area that a character can see.

 PvE:  Player versus Environment; when the characters have to fight or struggle against an environment, including any monsters or enemies within that area.

 PvP:  Player versus Player; when two characters, both controlled by players, fight against each other.

Character Terminology
 OC:  Original Character; a character created by any person, can also be used when referring to a player's first RP character.

 Avatar:  The in game representation of your PC.

 Experience Points:  Also EXP or XP, these are points that you earn from things like killing NPCs, completing quests, or other tasks. XP is most often used to gain levels and get new skills or to track a characters growth.

 Player Faction:  That faction that the PC belongs to, or even owns.

 Race:  Some games only have humans, but many have a wide variety of other playable races. Fallout races include, but are not limited too: Humans, Super Mutants, and Ghouls.