DnD 5E Glossary of Terms

Author: Lilith

This glossary contains frequently used terms and abbreviations of which are not immediately obvious to a reader. We try to minimize the use of them in our writing, but you may still come across many of these terms when reading our articles. This glossary serves to provide an explanation. It also features some abbreviations that are generally not used in our articles, but do come up often when discussing D&D 5E, particularly in an optimization context.

Terminology:

AC: Armor Class

The number an attacker needs to match or beat with a d20 roll plus modifiers to hit a target with an attack.

AE: Absorb Elements

1st level Artificer/Druid/Ranger/Sorcerer/Wizard spell.

ASI: Ability Score Improvement

A class feature all classes get at levels 4, 8, 12, 16, and 19. Some classes get even more of them. They allow you to allocate 2 points to your ability scores or take a feat.

AoE: Area of Effect

Some effect—usually a spell—that affects a group of enemy creatures in an area, either damaging or disabling all of them. Fireball is an example of a damaging AOE.

AoP: Aura of Protection

Level 6 Paladin feature.

BBEG: Big Bad Evil Guy

A term used to describe the main antagonist of the campaign. In terms of gameplay, fights against the Big Bad Evil Guy are characterized by fighting a single, very dangerous enemy in a situation with high stakes, which means you’re willing to use every resource at your disposal.

Bounded Accuracy

A term used to define the fact that the accuracy of attacks and the DC of saving throws doesn’t increase very much in 5e, because there aren’t many effects that give stacking, generic bonuses to attack rolls, saving throws, spell DC, or Armor Class. This means that a good starting AC will stay relevant for a long time, and it also means that any effect that does give a stacking, generic bonus is incredibly valuable.

CA: Conjure Animals

3rd level Druid/Ranger spell. 

CR: Challenge Rating

A monster’s Challenge Rating is a rough indication of its combat prowess.

CWB: Conjure Woodland Beings

4th level Druid/Ranger spell. 

DC: Difficulty Class

The number a creature needs to match or beat with a d20 roll plus modifiers to overcome a certain obstacle. For example, if an enemy mage casts a spell at you, and you need a 15 after bonuses to succeed on the saving throw, then the DC of that spell is 15. 

Dip

Taking just a few levels in a class as a member of a different class. For example, a Paladin with 2 levels in Fighter would be considered to be dipping into Fighter (see Multiclassing).

DM: Dungeon Master

The Dungeon Master is the creative force behind a D&D game. The DM is the player that creates a world for the other players to explore, and also creates and runs adventures that drive the story. The roles of the DM include: inventing, writing, storytelling, improvising, acting and refereeing.

DPR: Damage Per Round

The average damage a character is expected to do each round. Damage per round is calculated by taking the expected total amount of damage done in a number of rounds (usually of a combat or an adventuring day, and never just one), and then dividing by that number of rounds. Expenditure of any resources can be accounted for and can influence DPR. 

Dump (Stat)

An ability score which is unimportant to your character, and thus is generally assigned an 8 at character creation and never raised, in favor of more important ability scores. For example, most paladins dump Intelligence, as it’s the least important ability score for the class.

EBARB: Eldritch Blast with Agonizing and Repelling Blast

The combination of the Eldritch Blast cantrip with the Agonizing Blast and Repelling Blast Warlock invocations.

Gish

Gish is a term that is commonly used to refer to a character that mixes weapon fighting and arcane magic. Paladins and Rangers are typically not considered gishes, but Bladesingers and Valor Bards are. TTB generally doesn’t use this term to characterize builds.

GoA: Gift of Alacrity

1st level Dunamancy spell.

Half-feat

A feat that increases an ability score by 1, in addition to providing other benefits. Fey Touched and Resilient are examples of a half-feat.

LR: Long Rest

An 8 hour break a character can take after completing which they regain all hit points, features, and half their maximum amount of hit dice rounded down.

MAD: Multi-Ability Dependent

A class or build that requires two or more ability scores to be high to function well. Paladins are generally considered MAD because they require Strength and Charisma. Being MAD is considered to be a detriment in DnD because of the limited number of Ability Score Improvement features you have access to. Also see SAD.

MM: Magic Missile

1st level Sorcerer/Wizard spell.

Multiclass

Taking levels in different classes on the same character. When you level up, you can increase the level of your current class by one, or you can gain one level in any class of which you meet the prerequisites. Multiclassing can be strong because many classes get powerful abilities in the early levels, and being able to combine the abilities of two classes can create combinations that aren’t possible with just one, but doing so will delay advancement in your primary class. 

Nova

The average amount of damage a character can do in a single round if they’re willing to expend any amount of resources.

OA: Opportunity Attack

An attack with your reaction on another creature’s turn, generally triggered by that creature moving out of your reach without Disengaging. Some effects let you make one in other circumstances though.

Optimization

Our definition of character optimization refers to selecting character options based on effectiveness: completing adventures akin to the ones published by WOTC with as few permanent deaths and failed objectives as possible, usually under reasonable constraints like playability.
Optimization can also more generally refer to maximizing fulfillment of any goal (greatest character speed, obtaining all skills in the game) or to optimization with extremely specific constraints (most effective sickle-wielding damage dealer, most effective thrown weapon user), but these uses of the term will usually not be relevant on this site.

Optimization Level

To establish a baseline of communication, Tabletop Builds uses optimization levels as standards to provide a general range of the estimated power of the build in question, and its applicability for various tables.

PwT: Pass without Trace

2nd level Druid/Ranger spell.

PB: Proficiency Bonus

A bonus a character adds to rolls when they perform tasks they’re proficient in. It scales with character level.

PF: Phantasmal Force

2nd level Bard/Sorcerer/Wizard spell.

SAD: Single-Ability Dependent

A class or build that requires only one ability score to be high to function well. Wizards are considered SAD because they require only Intelligence. Being SAD is considered to be a benefit in DnD because of the limited number of Ability Score Improvement features you have access to. Also see MAD.

SB: Silvery Barbs

1st level Bard/Sorcerer/Wizard spell.

Scaling

The amount by which a feature improves as you continue to advance in levels. Some spells and abilities are fantastic at low levels, but become less and less useful as you advance. Specifically when discussing spells, this also refers to how much better a spell gets when cast using a higher level spell slot.

SG: Spirit Guardians

3rd level Cleric spell.

SGD: Summon Greater Demon

4th level Warlock/Wizard spell. 

SR: Short Rest

A 1 hour break a character can take to heal themselves using hit dice and possibly regain uses of their features.

Stacking

Two effects that can both be applied at the same time without losing the effectiveness of either of them are said to stack, whereas two effects that override each other or are weaker together than the sum of their individual effects are said to not stack. For example, bless does stack with Aura of Protection; if a character is under both effects, they will add both your Charisma modifier and 1d4 to their saving throws. Two bless spells cast by different characters do not stack however, as characters cannot be under the effect of more than one instance of the same spell.  

Straight Class

Taking 100% of your levels in a single class. A straight Paladin is a character that has levels only in Paladin. Straight Classing means that you’ll access your class’ later abilities earlier, but you’re limited to the abilities of just one class. 

Tiers of Play

Character advancement is divided into four tiers of play. Tier 1 is levels 1 to 4, tier 2 is levels 5 to 10, tier 3 is levels 11 to 16, and tier 4 is levels 17 to 20. Each of these tiers is supposed to represent a major increase in power level for the characters, and a shift in the way the game is played. From an optimization perspective, we often talk about tiers in terms of how quickly a build will be playable; a character that’s incredibly overpowered in tier 4 but useless until then won’t see much play in real games.    

THP: Temporary Hit Points

A special kind of hit points that can be gained through certain effects and spells. They add on top of normal hit points and are depleted first. Note that temporary hit points cannot be stacked. If you have 2 of them and would gain 5, you have 5, not 7. 

WoF: Wall of Force

5th level Wizard spell.

Source Books:

PHB = Player’s Handbook

DMG =  Dungeon Master’s Guide

SCAG = Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide

XGTE =  Xanathar’s Guide to Everything

VGM = Volo’s Guide to Monsters

ERLW = Eberron, Rising from the Last War

MTF = Mordenkainen’s Tomb of Foes

GGR = Guildmaster’s Guide to Ravnica

EGW = Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount

MOT = Mythic Odysseys of Theros

TCE = Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything

LLK = Lost Laboratory of Kwalish

VRGR = Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

FTD = Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons

SCC = Strixhaven, A Curriculum of Chaos

MPMM = Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

AAG = Astral Adventurer’s Guide