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Terminology

Rhys edited this page May 21, 2021 · 6 revisions

This is an incomplete list of the terms that are used both in the generator, and on GitHub. Its purpose is to clarify meaning, and reduce confusion when discussing aspects of the generator, or when filing bug reports.

Generator

The Generator is the application. This is to be used when referring to behind-the-scenes things, such as the Generator's internal logic, and the way things are handled.

Output

The Output is the User facing part of the Generator, which is populated by the data provided by the Generator. It is static, and is only changed when the User does something, typically by prompting a Scenario, or creating something (like an NPC, or another tavern). The Output is intended to be a tool for the User, rather than something that replaces the User; the User must be able to omit any parts of the Output as they please, without it breaking the game.

User

The User is the person that accesses the live build, makes rulings, and reads out text to players. We do not call them the Dungeon Master, DM, Game Master, or any other variation.

Players

The Players are an indeterminate amount of people that interact with the User; they are not PCs, Gamers, or any other variation.

PCs

The PCs are the characters played by the Players that interact with the world created by the User. They are not to be referenced by name, and instructions for information to be conveyed to the PCs should be done by directing the User, not the Players. The Generator only interacts with the User.

Game

The Game (which you just lost) is the environment in which the User interacts with their Players. Through the User, the Output augments the Game, but does not replace or hold precedence over the Game. The Game is not referred to as Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder, or any other trademark. It is important to respect the User's right to balance their Game to their own tastes; no magic +2 Swords of Instakill should be handed out without the User instigating it.


Generator Terms

PRNG

Pseudorandom number generator, used for the deterministic nature of the Generator- a link to the same URL will always generate the same town, no matter the device.

Seed

The part of the URL that the PRNG derives its 'seed' from, the seed is (currently) two adjectives + an animal, since that's a bit more memorable than random gibberish numbers.

Town

The Town is the location which contains all of the buildings and inhabitants of the town. It includes the population of the town.

NPC

NPCs are Non-Player Characters; all of the 'people' in the Generator are NPCs.

Support Value

The support value is the population needed to be able to support one of a profession. If a bartender's support value is 300, then a town of 600 will have 2 bartenders. However, if the town only has 500 people, it will have 1 bartender, and a 200/300 => 66.66% chance of having a second. This can sometimes result in interesting specialised occupations in small towns- that's a feature, not a bug.

Building

A Building is a location that is visitable, much like how the profile pages of NPCs are visitable. They sometimes have NPCs associated with them (a tavern will have a bartender, etc), but not necessarily. There are currently ~18 different building types in Eigengrau's Generator.

Scenario

A Scenario is an event that is intentionally instigated by the User. These stand alone, and do not impact the rest of the Generator. They are more 'man walks into the bar asking for help', rather than 'man walks into the bar with a gun'; the User must be able to ignore the Output as they please, and no Scenario should irrevocably change anything.