One World by Night has developed its own jargon over the years. This is a collection of some of the more amusing terms, some gleaned from Chicago Dark Requiem, some sent from other OWBN cities, and some invented for this lexicon. You might notice that many of them refer to various forms of cheating and bad roleplaying, for much the same reason as Eskimos have for inventing a hundred words for snow: when you're up to your ass in something, you come up with a lot of words to call it.
Many of these terms were adapted or outright stolen from pop culture, but I haven't bothered to list the derivations. Like all jokes, they lose much of their impact if explained. I decided to leave out the etymologies and pronuciation guides as well: making them was too much like real work.
My apologies if I omitted your favorite term. Send it in!
Tim Olivas
tolivas@megsinet.net
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bad mojo: n. 1. The practice of Thaumaturgy. "I've heard you teach bad mojo to people with the right kind of money." 2. Anything Clan Tremere does. "The Tremere have been skulking around all night--I think we're in for some bad mojo. " syn. wooj.
beating off: v. 1. A derogatory term for rock-scissors-paper challenges, particularly when used excessively or called for when no one else is gaming. "I knew I shouldn't have invited them to the party. All they did all night was stand around beating off." syn. slapping a fist.
boomerang: n. 1. A player whose character keeps returning from the dead. "Roy's dressed like Rico Giovanni! I thought he was diablerized so he couldn't do the boomerang thing again!" cf. deja vampire, Inigo Montoya.
boot party: n. 1. An ambush on a character by many others, usually arranged by Summoning and usually with intent to kill. Popular with gunbunnies (cf). "When I got forty one-trait Summons, I knew I was in for the mother of all boot parties." syn. Chicago-style boot party.
bong night: n. 1. (archaic) The most likely reason a storyteller or player would miss a game. "Only one other storyteller made it? Must be bong night."
Changeling: n. 1. A player whose characters are indistinguishable from him or herself. "If you're just going to be a Changeling, why roleplay at all?"
cheese: n. 1. Any sequence of in-game events that happen because of storyteller fiat rather than by players' actions. syn. plot cheese. "Bob Ventrue is unstaked now because of some cheese the storytellers cooked up. They need him for a storyline." 2. An attempt to reinterpret the rules of the game in your favor. "What do you mean you can retest with Might if someone shoots you? That's cheese." 3. Any sequence of in-game events that strike the speaker as bad gaming. "Did you hear Bob Ventrue killed Dick Brujah with a rocket launcher? What cheese!"
cheese: v. 1. The act of using storyteller fiat. "The storytellers cheesed us out of our Nectar party last night." 2. The act of distorting the rules. "You can't use performance to retest Mask of a Thousand Faces--don't even try to cheese me like that." 3. The act of bad gaming. "You cheesed that whole scene with the Sabbat! There's no way your character would act like that!"
cheesehead: n. 1. A storyteller who meddles overmuch in the plot. "I've been blood contracted so I can't do anything! I wish Sherry would stop being a cheesehead and let me play my own character." 2) A player who constantly exploits loopholes in the rules. "He's the cheesehead who always Possesses mortals so he can't be killed." 3. A player who constantly makes bad roleplaying decisions. "I hate playing with those cheeseheads...all they ever do is throw boot parties and get in penis- measuring contests."
cheesey: adj. 1. Composed mainly of cheese (cf). "This is a really cheesey way to kill my character."
Chicago-style boot party: See boot party.
chilled out: adj. 1. The condition of a victim of Chill of the Windsaber. "Judging by the condition of the late archon's head, or rather the lack thereof, I would tentatively hypothesize that he was chilled out, and did not commit suicide as previously supposed."
chops: n. 1. What you don't want to get from a gunbunny (cf). "Bob Ventrue laid some chops on a Sabbat pack last night. None survived."
chopsmaster: n. 1. The toughest gunbunny (cf) around. "She's been playing her character for three years...no wonder she's the chopsmaster." syn. munchking.
Clan Ganja: n. 1. An assembly of Brujah and Gangrel gathered to do violence. "Bob Ventrue is tough, but if Clan Ganja comes after him, he's screwed." cf. Clan Troganja.
Clan Troganja: n. 1. A gathering of Brujah, Gangrel, and Toreador assembled to commit mayhem. "Clan Troganja is going to whup ass tonight!" cf. Clan Ganja.
combat wonk: n. 1. A member of the faction (cf) of players who enjoy combat. "How can we get rid of the combat wonks and do some roleplaying?" cf. dead roleplayers, gunbunny, real roleplayers.
Come get some!: ex. 1. A defiant invitation to attempt violence on the speaker; fighting words. Popularized by Jerry Boyd, Chicago chopsmaster (cf). "You think you're tough, Dick Brujah...well, come get some!" 2. An invitation to neck like rabid weasels; a sexual proposition. Popularized by a certain Iowa storyteller. "What do I think of that PVC miniskirt? All I can say is...come get some!"
come shot: n. 1. The cosmetic smear of blood at the corner of a vampire's mouth from recent feeding. Usually made with blood capsules. "Wipe that come shot off your face before you break the Masquerade."
coterie: n. 1. A small, close group of vampires united in a cause, such as oppressing the city. "The Pantheon was probably the most infamous Chicago coterie." 2. Any improbable group of friends with nothing in common. "I don't understand that circle either, but I guess they're a coterie."
cracksmoker: n. 1. A player or storyteller who comes up with particularly ludicrous story ideas. "You have a stamped card for a spaceship? Is your storyteller a cracksmoker or what?"
crashing wall street: n. 1. When a player brags about doing or having something ludicrous that a cracksmoker (cf) storyteller allowed. "Oh, I'm really impressed that you have a Thaumaturgical ritual that allows you to teleport instantaneously out of all danger. I bet you crashed wall street too."
dead roleplayers: n. 1. What you get when combat wonks (cf) and real roleplayers (cf) mix in-character (cf). "How many real roleplayers does it take to screw in a lightbulb? They can't! They're all dead roleplayers now!"
deja vampire: n. 1. The phenomenon induced by a player whose characters die frequently, and whose characters are all related to each other or resemble each other strongly in some respect. "Who has the worst case of deja vampire, Roy or that little bald guy who always makes Assamites and walks around picking fights until he gets whacked?" cf. boomerang, Inigo Montoya. 2. The act of mistaking someone's new character for their last character. "No, this isn't Rico. I'm playing my new character, Bob Ventrue. You must have deja vampire or something."
Doug: n. 1. A recent Sabbat draftee. "What do you call a neonate with a shovel in his head? Doug!"
faction: n. 1. One of the two opposing schools of live-action gaming, combat wonks (cf) and real roleplayers (cf). "You're the chopsmaster, but you roleplay well...which faction are you in?"
Freudian slip: n. 1. The act of joining the Children of Osiris. "Notice that all the Setites have been disappearing? I bet Alex isn't the only one who had a Freudian slip."
ghoulfriend: n. 1. A significant other drafted into playing Vampire live-action, often as a subordinate or ghoul. "Roy's ghoulfriend certainly didn't seem to be having much fun last night; someone should teach her the rules."
gunbunny: n. 1. A player who is deemed to enjoy combat and killing other characters inordinately. "The guy who plays Bob Ventrue is such a gunbunny. He's always looking for new characters to beat up."
heartburn: n. 1. The effect of Night of the Red Heart. "Listen, stoopid, I've got your blood, so you'd better ease off before you end up with heartburn."
in-character: a. (abbrev. IC) 1. Referring to actions undertaken that happen in the fictional world of gaming rather than in the real world. "I said that in-character, so you can Aura-Perceive me if you want."
in-game: See in-character.
Inigo Montoya: n. 1. A new character whose major motivation or reason for existing is to avenge the player's last character. Commonly created by boomerangs. (cf) Illegal by OWBN policy. "If you die, don't come back with some bullshit Inigo Montoya character--move on."
It's hemp taker's legacy: ex. 1. (archaic) The reason given new storytellers by old storytellers to explain any given problem in the game. "Yeah, we've got some screwy characters floating around, like a sixth generation Ravnos with True Faith in paradox. It's hemp taker's legacy."
just a game: ex. 1. What players think all the other players have to remember. "Jeez, so what if I killed his character? It's just a game. Hey, are you driving to NV to play this weekend? I'm skipping work on Friday so I can go."
kewl powerz: n. 1. A derogatory term for abilities bought through experience, implying that good roleplaying should be its own reward. "Roy just shows up to Club X because he's obsessed with getting kewl powerz."
Kindred clutch: n. 1. The odd fingers-on-wrist handshake used by vampires with heightened senses to discover if someone has a pulse. "I knew he was one of us when he gave me the Kindred clutch."
Let's break rule number two!: ex. 1. A phrase referring to Whitewolf's second rule of live action roleplaying, "no touching!", this is an invitation to engage in sexual activity. "Here we are at Concentric, alone in this hotel room...let's break rule number two!"
Let's break rule number three!: ex. 1: A phrase referring to Whitewolf's third rule of live action roleplaying, "no stunts!", this is an invitation to engage in exotic and/or risky sexual activity. "Think you could hang upside down by your knees for a few minutes? Let's break rule number three!"
made one with the shovel: v. 1: To go through the Sabbat creation rites. "Madalyne was made one with the shovel last night, but she put up a good fight first."
metagaming: n. 1. (archaic) Discussing in-character events out-of-character for pleasure or to devise plot. 2. The act of using information gained out-of- character while in-character. "There's no way Bob Ventrue could have figured out Dick Brujah is really an Assamite, but someone told Roy out-of-character and he's metagaming." 3. Cheating in general. "The metagaming has gotten worse since Sherry stopped storytelling."
minimaxer: n. 1. A player who manipulates the character creation rules to produce extremely powerful characters. "Only a minimaxer would give his character Luck *and* Iron Will!" 2. A player who is more interested in building up his character's powers and statistics than in roleplaying. "The guy who plays Bob Ventrue is a total minimaxer, always grubbing for experience points." syn. munchkin.
minimaxed: adj. 1) A character who has been made ridiculously powerful by a minimaxer. "Bob Ventrue is so minimaxed he beat up Petradon and Democritus in a mock combat." cf. munchkin.
munchkin: See minimaxer.
munchking: See chopsmaster.
Murgatroyd: n. 1. A Kindred who dresses in the stereotypical vampire fashions of the 1800's, i.e. capes, vests, ruffled lace sleeves, high collars, etc. "Murgatroyds like to think they look dark and ominous, but mostly they look like Little Lord Fauntelroy."
