Glossary and Definitions

This glossary provides quick reference for key terms used throughout the Multiverse system.

Core Game Concepts

Ability Points (AP) - The energy reservoir characters use to fuel supernatural abilities. AP refreshes after long rests and represents mental, physical, or spiritual energy required for extraordinary feats.

Bloodline - Your character’s inherited traits, cultural background, or supernatural heritage that provides thematic guidance and mechanical benefits through associated abilities.

Campaign - The ongoing series of connected adventures your group experiences together, often spanning months or years of real time.

Character Concept - The core idea that defines who your character is, what they do, and what drives them. This guides all mechanical choices during creation.

Game Master (GM) - The participant who serves as narrator, facilitator, and referee, helping weave individual character stories into compelling shared adventures.

Player Character (PC) - The protagonist controlled by a player, as distinct from Non-Player Characters (NPCs) controlled by the GM.

Rule of Fun - The guiding principle that when rules are unclear or situations are ambiguous, choose the option that creates the most engaging experience for everyone at the table.

Session Zero - The foundational meeting before actual play begins where the group establishes boundaries, expectations, setting details, and safety tools.

Setting - The world, time period, and thematic context in which your adventures take place, including technology level, supernatural elements, and social structures.

Character Mechanics

Abilities - Specialized powers, training, or techniques that set your character apart from ordinary people. These range from supernatural gifts to exceptional skills.

Armor/Damage Soak - Protective equipment that reduces incoming damage, measured in points of damage reduction.

Contested Roll - When two characters oppose each other directly, both roll and compare results. The higher total wins the contest.

Exploding Dice - When you roll the maximum value on a die, roll it again and add the results together. Continue until you don’t roll maximum.

Flaw - A significant personal weakness or character defect that creates complications but rewards interesting roleplay with Heroic Tokens.

Heroic Tokens - Rewards earned through failure or compelling roleplay that can be spent to add bonuses to future rolls or fuel certain abilities.

Lasting Injuries - Persistent damage from severe trauma, categorized as Physical, Mental, or Spiritual and ranging from Minor to Severe in intensity.

Milestone - Significant story achievements that trigger character advancement, granting new abilities, increased traits, or expanded AP pools.

Motivation - The core drive or principle that compels your character to take heroic action and get involved in adventures.

Primary Traits - The six fundamental capabilities that define what your character can accomplish: Fight, Athleticism, Agility, Brains, Charm, and Spirit.

Resilience - Your character’s capacity to absorb damage and continue functioning, calculated as your maximum Spirit value minus current injuries.

Secondary Traits - Additional characteristics like Resilience, AP Max, Motivation, and Flaws that add depth and mechanical complexity to your character.

Skill Check - Rolling your trait die plus modifiers against a difficulty number to determine success or failure in uncertain situations.

Snap Decision - Quick actions under pressure where you roll only your basic trait die without ability bonuses, representing pure instinct.

Combat and Conflict

Agility Penalty - The negative modifier heavy armor imposes on all Agility-based skill checks, representing restricted movement.

Blaze of Glory - A final desperate action available to critically wounded characters that guarantees success but results in the character’s death.

Critical Success/Failure - Exceptional results determined by how much your roll exceeds or falls short of the target difficulty.

Damage Threshold - The minimum roll required to damage an object, representing its basic resistance to harm.

Initiative - The turn order in structured conflicts, determining when each participant can act.

Tiered Checks - Extended challenges requiring multiple successful rolls over time to represent complex or lengthy tasks.

Weapon Properties - Special qualities that modify how weapons function: Light (can use Agility), Crushing (double damage to objects), Wounding (causes bleeding), etc.

Advanced Systems

Artifice - The process of creating enhanced items by combining masterwork craftsmanship with supernatural imbuing rituals.

Charges - The internal energy that powers enhanced items, either renewable (restore daily) or expendable (consumed when used).

Imbuing - The ritual process of binding supernatural effects into crafted items to create permanent artifacts.

Ritual Magic - Extended supernatural workings that achieve effects beyond normal abilities through accumulated effort over time.

The Veil - A phenomenon that makes characters appear as members of the dominant local race when traveling between different settings.

Universal vs Bonded Artifacts - Enhanced items that either function for anyone (universal) or only work for their creator (bonded).

Setting and Worldbuilding

Campaign Power Level - How quickly characters advance and how significant their eventual capabilities become: Low, Moderate, High, or Heroic.

Magitech - Settings or items that blend magical and technological elements into hybrid systems.

Technology Level - The available tools and devices in your setting, from Stone Age through Far Future possibilities.