Glossary
In-Character Terms
B
Baby-Blue - Pejorative. Cowardly, weak, fake, poser. A term used by Azure Union hardliners to refer to someone they deem to be an appeaser, not dedicated to the cause, not willing to go far enough.
Big Bad - Slang. A person or thing that is particularly nasty. The ‘Big Bad’ of the Police Force could be a particularly brutal cop. Generally used as a noun, not an adjective (‘he’s a big bad cop’ would be improper)
Biz - Slang. Business of the illegal variety.
Black Ice - The most advanced type of electronic security software, the big bad of the Cortex, the stuff that gives even the most daring console cowboys nightmares. Can permanently disable or kill hackers by creating a deadly biofeedback loop that fries their brains. Literally. Technically illegal, but who’s gonna enforce that? See: IC/Ice
BLISS - Brain-Link Immersive Sensory Stimulation. A fully-immersive entertainment medium that allows the user to see, hear, feel, smell, and taste everything.
Bloodbag - Pejorative. A vampire term for humans.
Bluecaps - The Seelie Court’s special forces, known by their distinctive blue headgear.
Broker - A well-connected repository of underworld information. More importantly, a middleman responsible for matching up mercenaries with clients, for a fee. Any broker worth their salt will vet both client and merc before setting up a job, thus acting as a slight insurance policy against a bad deal. Some brokers have a small list of mercs they work with regularly, while others seek out any notable talents.
C
Clans, The - The seven vampire clans of the Prime Strain (Primul). For more information, click here.
Cobalts - A local (cell/faction) of the Azure Union that operates in the Zone, focusing on providing aid to the downtrodden.
Console Cowboy - Slang. An archaic term for a hacker. Generally reserved for what’s left of the older generation. A younger hacker being called a Cowboy by an older hacker is seen as a sign of great respect.
Corpo - Corporation. Noun. Corporate. Adjective. A person can look corpo, act corpo, be a corpo boy, etc meaning they give the impression of working for one of the corporations. Suit-wearing, style-less, lifeless.
Cortex - The new Internet, rebuilt from the ashes of the old. A distributed, global information and communication network used for all things. The collective global mind made digital. Colloquially, ‘the core’. Click here for more information.
D
Deck - A specialized electronic device used for hacking, usually in the form of a suped-up laptop or tablet with additional processing power and jack points. Generally only used by hackers. An ordinary laptop or tablet without modification would not be referred to as a deck.
Derm - Shorthand for a dermal patch, a method of administering drugs through the skin. The patch is usually a small circle or square about the size of a fingertip and applied to the neck or inside of the wrist or forearm.
E
Earthrealm - The name for this dimension, first coined by the Fae, later adopted into wide use.
ExFor - MCDF Expeditionary Forces, responsible for military operations.
G
GA - Gordian-Allod International, one of the largest megacorporations in the world. Headquartered in Midcity. They have their hands in too many industries to name. At any given moment you’re probably surrounded by no less than 20 items manufactured by their subsidiaries.
G-Men - Agents of Gordian-Allod. If you’ve got G-Men on your ass, it’s because you’re a loose end that needs to be tied up.
I
IC/Ice - Intrusion Countermeasures. Security software designed to detect and halt intrusions into protected data cores. Comes in many varieties.
Icebreaker - Software designed to defeat Ice. Also technically illegal, but it’s hackers who are writing it, so...
L
Ley Line - an area of magical ‘flow’, usually leading from one Nexus rift to another, where the energy is especially strong, though not enough to cause mutation. Ley lines allow magic users to channel magical energy that is much more potent and concentrated than usual, allowing for stronger spells. Ley lines can be felt by adept casters (Mages), but not ordinary magic users.
Ludd - a human with neither magical nor technological augmentation; someone opposed to technology. Pejorative, with the implication of that person being dumb or old-fashioned.
M
Mag Duinn - The original name of Midnight City, in Faetongue. Most people couldn't pronounce it properly.
Meatspace - hacker slang for the real world, outside of the core.
Midcity - Shorthand for Midnight City.
N
Navy Blues - A hardline splinter group of the Azure Union. The Navy has a reputation for violence and a penchant for explosives
N-Day - The day of the nuclear exchange that destroyed the old world, caused the nexus points to burst, and triggered the flood of magic that changed the world forever.
Nexite - Nexus energy/magic concentrated into a physical form. Occurs in both liquid and solid states.
Nexus Gate - A genuine break in the barriers between worlds, usually found at nexus rifts. Gates allow beings to travel between dimensions, but they are fundamentally unstable and thus pose an incredible risk. Attempts have been made to stabilize gates in and around New Tairngire, but even the most powerful magic users have been unsuccessful.
Nexus Rift - A place where the barriers between worlds are thin and magical energy is abundant to the point of causing mutations and strange anomalies.
Nexer - Pejorative. A "magic junkie", someone obsessed with using or studying magic.
NullEarth - The world that was, before N-Day.
P
Primul - The Prime Strain vampires’ name for themselves
R
Redcaps - The Unseelie Court’s hit squad, so named for their distinctive red berets rumoured to be dyed with the blood of their enemies.
Rotmouth - Pejorative. A slur against Wayfarers
RPZ - Resident Protection Zone. See also Zone, the.
S
Sabai sabai - A multi-purpose expression of Thai origin, meaning everything is good, no problems, no worries. Can be used as a reply ("How are we looking?" "Sabai sabai, boss." - everything is fine. "Can you fix this?" "Sabai sabai." - no problem.) or as a command. ("Sabai sabai, bro." - take it easy, bro.)
SecFor - MCDF Security Forces, responsible for law enforcement.
Septarchy, The - The ruling council of the Primul clans, comprised of each of the seven Clan Chiefs
Sev's - Lucky Sevens, notable mercenary bar in Midcity’s Zone.
Shades of Blue - A reference to the many splinter groups of the Azure Union. “There are many shades of blue” is a saying roughly meaning there are many different types of Union members, some moderate and some extreme
Skal - Pejorative. Savage, animal-like, uncivilized, filthy. A term for Second Strain vampires used by Primul (Prime Strain)
Strigoi - Members of a Primul Clan who are high ranking assassins/operatives
T
Theriadine - A powerful drug with opiate-like qualities that suppresses werecreature transformations. While not marketed to non-werecreatures, it is still consumed by them as a recreational drug. Can be consumed in pill form, crushed and snorted, or cooked and injected. Highly addictive.
W
Wirehead - Pejorative. A tech junkie, someone who spends all their time connected to the Cortex or using BLISS.
Z
Zone - The Resident Protection Zone, a collective name for the districts of Fraser, Uniontown, and Lowertown in Midnight City. A brutal, lawless, impoverished area still feeling the effects of the Quake. Black markets and gang wars abound. Home to Lucky Sevens.
Out Of Character Terms
A
AFK - Away From Keyboard. If you need to step away from the computer for a moment but will remain in the chat room, you should either announce it or mark yourself AFK.
B
BBEG - Big Bad Evil Guy. The final boss or ultimate villain in a quest/campaign.
Black Trenchcoat - A cyberpunk RP term referring to a style of mission/play. Black Trenchcoat play is generally more serious, realistic, and lethal than its counterparts. Black Trenchcoat missions usually focus on espionage and legwork in order to execute a plan smoothly and without notice. Combat is a last resort and highly lethal. See Pink Mohawk and Mirrorshades for comparison.
D
DC - Difficulty Class, the number you need to roll at or over to succeed in an action.
Duel - A fight between player characters. May be one on one, two on one, two on two, or whatever configuration the GM and players agree upon. Duels are run slightly differently than quests and are completely combat focused. Duels may be only to KO (no lives lost), to death (loser is resurrected but has a life taken from their sheet), or a ‘Reaper duel’ where the loser is killed permanently regardless of how many lives remain on their sheet.
dX - Dice notation. A d20 is a 20 sided die, a d6 is a six sided die, and so on.
F
FFRP - Freeform Roleplay. Roleplaying without the use of dice and GM moderation.
G
GM - Game Master. Senior staff member in charge of watching the rooms, running quests and duels, answering questions, and general site upkeep.
God-moding - Taking control of another player’s character by assuming their action or reaction. Example: Jane punches Bobby and watches as Bobby falls down. This is god-moding because Jane is dictating Bobby’s reaction. This is a violation of the rules.
I
IC - In-Character. Referring to actions, thoughts, etc. done by the characters, not the players.
Logs - A record of what is typed in a chat room. Generally a log file is a text file that contains date- and time-stamped lines of chat. Logs are necessary for GMs to review certain RP and give out rewards.
M
Metagaming - Taking knowledge that you the player have OOC and using it in-character despite your character not having that knowledge. For example, you watching the RP in the room know that Jane and Bobby are fighting. But your character is across the city and cannot know that without being there. If your character inexplicably knew they were fighting, that is metagaming.
Mirrorshades - A cyberpunk RP term referring to a style of mission/play. Mirrorshades is a balance between style and realism, with a blend of cool action and careful planning. It's the middle ground between Pink Mohawk and Black Trenchcoat.
N
Nick - Short for nickname. This is the name you use when logged in to the chat. GM nick refers to a GM’s name (eg GM Whistler), char nick refers to your character’s name (eg Boone) and player nick refers to your OOC/player name (eg Rez)
NPC - Non-Player Character. These are characters that are not actively played by individual players. They are usually staff controlled (not always) and exist to flesh out the world and the story. An NPC can be anything from a broker handing out a mission to a nameless bartender casually mentioned in a post.
P
PC - Player Character. The stars of the game. Refers to characters with registered profiles, actively played and controlled by individual players, not staff members.
Permadeath - Permanent death, meaning your character has run out of lives and can no longer be resurrected.
Pink Mohawk - A cyberpunk RP term referring to a style of mission/play. Pink Mohawk is 100% rule of cool, with play centred on being stylish, loud, and badass. The laws of physics are mere suggestions, and combat is the first resort most of the time.
Power Playing - Portraying your character as unbeatable, impossible to hurt or hit, the best and strongest, independent of what their character sheet dictates. This term can also apply to efforts made to exploit loopholes or bugs in the game system to benefit your character at the expense of game balance and everyone else’s fun.
Q
Quest - An adventure, mission, job, etc. Run similarly to a D&D session, where several characters are presented with a scenario by a GM and must RP and roll dice to advance through it. Some quests may have a lot of combat, some may be purely RP, and some may be a mix. Most quests run from 1.5 to 3 hours and may be split into multiple parts over multiple sessions. At the end of a quest (or quest session), the player characters are awarded EXP and money.
S
Sheet - Your character sheet, which contains all the information about your character relevant to the game mechanics, including their stats, experience points, inventory, skills, and so on.