RPG Rosetta Stone: Disc Two

Chances are, you’re a gamer. And if you’re not, then you know someone who is. People hunched in a dark room, their eyeballs literally pasted to the glow of the luminous television screen, mashing buttons as if their lives depended on it. That’s the profile the world at large associates with the gamer. Understanding them, however, is not a lost cause. Hopefully this list, like the one before, with offer some clarity with those ever-mystifying games: the RPG.

Turn-Based Gameplay: The de facto system for battling enemies. Upon starting a battle, a menu pops onto the screen. From this menu, the player chooses the action he wants every party character to execute. Once the player finishes, the characters will take turns executing commands varying from restoring the party’s vitality to launching a magic spell. The order of these turns are determined from each character’s speed statistic. The faster characters will act first, followed by the next fastest, and so on. The enemies also operate according to this system.

HP: Short for health points, a numerical value which determines how much damage a character can withstand in battle. If the HP goes to 0, then the character “dies” and is no longer controllable in battle unless the player uses revival items to bring them back to life. If the character is dead upon the battle’s end, he/she does not gain Experience. This number grows through gaining levels.

MP: Short for magic points, a numerical value which determines the use of special abilities/magic spells. Using a spell/ability depletes a certain number of MP. Once all MP is expended, the character cannot use the abilities. MP can be replenished through the use of certain items, though they are far more expensive and less available in shops. Since these spells/abilities deal more damage than normal attacks, the strategic use of MP is a priority tactic. MP numbers increase with higher levels.

*Airships: A flying ship. Traveling in an RPG is an escalating order of vehicles: foot, then boat, submarine (sometimes), and finally airship. The airship allows one to fly to previously inaccessible areas as well as previous locations (which is a big help in engaging side-quests). Who knew flight was so stylish?

(Editor’s Note: While other terms listed are highly prominent in the world of RPGs, this one is more irregular than the rest. It isn’t “rare,” per se, but at the very least one could consider it “specialized.”)

Side-Quest: An optional task that is not required for finishing the game. However, these quests include rewards like extra experience points, extra money, advanced and rare weaponry, armor, and the like.

There you have it. A short list of RPG terms. But this is only the icing on the cake. If you found the two articles insufficient towards having a conversation with your gamer, then wait until you read the third. Until then, happy gaming…or whatever it is you non-gamers actually do.

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