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Puppetmaster: A term for someone who basically take control of others' characters, often to extremes. It is usually okay to make tiny little changes to another person's character; for example if your own character launches a fireball at a tree, it is safe to assume that other characters will probably watch the tree get hit, and thus you can comment on that.Depending upon the extent to which they puppetmaster, this is not necessarily a form of munching.
A: I step carefully into the room, peering around for occupants.
B: Suddenly a dragon pokes you in the eye. You run screaming from the room, whereafter you go home, make a pickle sandwich, and call your mother to cry about how she ruined your life.
-In cases with a GM, it is usually fine and necessary for them to puppetmaster.
Quaker: They can magically 'spawn' anything. Having a character which can retreive things from pocket dimensions is not an excuse, unless said pocket dimension has a previously listed inventory which can be checked.
A: My character is wearing a form of armour only vulnerable to a drop of water from a holy well in South Dakota.
B: *He pulls out the vial of water from a holy well in South Dakota* "I don't know why I always carried this, but I knew it would come in useful one day."
-Also covered by the blanket term Meta-Gaming.
Revisionist: A player who edits their post after someone has already replied to it, usually done in a way to be harmful to the other player. This shouldn't ever really be an issue in forums where is notes revision times to the posts.
A: You chose the blue pill? Ooh, tough luck.
B: Red! I said red!
Don't go pulling that "I can read your previous post" mind game crap, either!
-Another example would be a character saying something to another character, waiting until after they respond, and then editing their post so that they stabbed them instead of saying something.
Shoe elf: A person who waits for another player not to be around so that they can perform actions without a reaction from the other player.
A: ((OOC: Well, gotta go to bed. Big neurosurgery test tomorrow.))
B: Ho, ho, ho! Now that the loser's gone to bed, I can strap his character to a cross and peg him with rotten fruit!
Speedhacker: Refers to a player who forces the passing of time at an abnormal rate, or a person who performs way more actions then conceivable in a normal post.
A: I walk to the door and step outside.
B: Suddenly, twelve men grab you, carry you off to my secret lair in Tibet, and torture you for weeks. When you finally die from the agony, we bury you in the frozen wastes. Hundreds of years later, archaeologists discover your frozen body and try to determine if you're another Lucy.
Trinity: A player that can suddenly gain knowledge of certain things when the situation is needed, or characters who have knowledge that they have no reason of history for having,
A: My character was raised by a gang leader in the harsh conditions of a slum. From this, he learned to wield small firearms fairly effectively and has limited driving abilities.
B: My character was born on a remote jungle island and can fly or drive anything and use any gun with perfect aim.
-Again, covered by the Meta-Gaming term.
Twink: Incredibly overpowerd characters, especially ones who are inexplicably powerful.
A: A punch coming, eh? Well, seeing as you're a seven-year-old child and I'm riding in a twenty-meter mecha, I won't bother dodging.
B: Fooled you! I have the power to DESTROY EVERYTHING when I punch it! I'm just like an X-Man, and therefore require you to suspend all logic when RPing with me! Oh, and I have the power to steal your girlfriend, too.
Now that these terms are identifiable and explained with examples, hopefully everyone can be benefited from this post.
Let me start off by saying that this thread is related to text based roleplaying, and if you have no interest in this then you need to read no further. Additionally I would like to state that this is not my creation, this is something that has been around for years. It was originally posted on a roleplaying website called Gaia by the user Tanasha. There is alot of fluff in this guide that I have removed as it is not really relevant to the guide as a whole, if you have interest in finding the unedited version, good luck. The original was lost on the website it was posted on and since then it has been reposted in several places, usually with minor revisions or additions most likely based on new problems encountered on that specific website. And a final note, I will be adding notes to terms that may have changed since the original conception of this guide and changing descriptions that don't quite word things right for here.
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Types of Roleplayer
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Oldbies: Are veterans of roleplaying. They generally know best after years of experience. Becoming an oldbie, however, is not necessarily the ultimate goal; many people are fine just settling down as Literate.
-This type of roleplayer is usually now referred to as a Veterans.
Elites: Elites are on their way to becoming Oldbies, but somehow veer off-course and become asshats instead. Elites can be recognised by their "Elites only" policy, with no lee-way whatsoever. They are generally quite cocky, think they are better, and insist on using reams and reams of detail. This can be particularly true for magic users, who are convinced that their descriptions of the traits and limits of magic are unquestionable.
-This type of roleplayer is usually now referred to as an Elitist. I have observed that many Elitists call themselves "Advanced Literate"
Literates: Literate roleplayers are just that. Literate. They use correct punctuation and grammar, and roleplay fairly. Literates often refer to, and follow the AMP (Anti-Munch Project). A common flaw in being Literate is that you can be too fair, but that is by no means a totally end of the world drama oh the horror bad thing.
Newbie/Newb: A Newbie can at first seem to be a n00b, they can though, learn to correctly roleplay fairly and adequately. Newbies are to be encouraged and treated well, and will often grow into skilled Literates.
ne0 n00b: ne0s (never use a capital 'n' for them!) at first appear to be Literates. This falsehood becomes apparent after a few posts however, as they tend to break the AMP a lot, and are actually just n00bs who can spell.
n00b: (Don't use a capital 'n' for these either!) n00bs are the worst roleplayer available. A sad and terribly derogatory approach to take, but the simple fact of the matter is that they just cannot and will not roleplay fairly, even when outnumbered, outgunned, and obviously dead in character.
They will often resort to flaming, leading to eventual bans, new accounts, and new bans.
Intermediates: The midway point between Newbies and Literates, Intermediates have improved grammar and are better at avoiding Munching, but still slip up fairly often. It’s okay, though, because these problems can be remedied with practice. With some work and support from other role-players, they can become Literates very easily.
-This type of roleplayer is sometimes called Semi-Lit or Semi-Literate.
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Anti Munch Project Terms
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Aimbotter: This term is used generally to refer people who never miss an attack. This is frowned upon when done against both PCs and NPCs and is often done against the latter as some players tend to use NPCs as helpless cannon fodder and never have them put up any kind of fight or stand any sort of chance against them what so ever.
A: Three hundred seventy of my trained assassin gymnasts crest the hill, sight you, and rush toward you.
B: Luckily, I have three hundred sixty-nine bullets in my chain gun! I quickly mow them all down, each taking a single bullet to the head, and peg the last one with a rock in the sternum.
Augustine: This term refers to when people bring things from one thread to another even if the thing in question is explicitly banned in the rules. I really don't see this one ever really being a problem here, but it could happen.
A: Given that this RP's technology base is medieval, I happily drive my cart to the market to buy some maggot-ridden meat.
B: Too late! I already got there in my Gundam and blew up everything with my insanely overpowered weapons! And don't start whining, because my Gundam's already pre-approved in the "This Is Not a Medieval Technology Base RP" thread.
Baghdad Bobbit: This refers to people who leave the thread when encountering a player that is more skilled then themselves or when dropping out of a fight that they don't think they can win.
A: I fire at the stationary target, hitting twice but missing with my remaining four rounds.
B: I get tired of your realistic RPing style and poke you in the neck, collapsing your trachea. You die writhing in torment.
Boa Constrictor: Threads that have a long list of rules that prevent any characters except their own from roleplaying in that thread. No example will be given here, since that would be suggesting rules that shouldn't be used at all, and used separately these rules would be fine.
Boa Constrictors most commonly like to ban most forms of magic, guns, NPCs, technology, 'special' abilities etc. The result is, as I said, a thread in which very few characters can venture.
I do emphasise that threads should have whichever rules they want, within fairness to other roleplayers. Lists of rules which prevent too much are too, let's face it, n00bish.
Daydreamer: Not exactly munch, per se, but it does get annoying. They manage to turn seemingly coherent RP into a mad ramble about totally unrelated things. Which is not to say that adding a little insight in the middle of an RP is bad; but try to make it only a few lines, three at the most, as anything else just distracts from the current events taking place.
A: In the middle of the intense shootout, I dash across the narrow alley, ducking and weaving in hopes to avoid getting hit. I'm unsuccessful; two bullets peg me in the shoulder, throwing me back into a Dumpster.
B: The bullets make me think back to my days as a youth, when I had to melt down tin soldiers to use as musket balls against the Redcoats... or was it redskins? I can't remember. Anyway, I had to walk uphill all three ways to school and back, running from glaciers all the while. It was torture, lemme tell ya. And then there's the story of how I met my first wife...
Gaseous Snake: This term refers to people who do preemptive actions to affect something that has already taken place.
A: I walk to the door and open it.
B: Being a fellow with a bit of foresight, I hooked that doorknob to a car battery an hour ago. You're thrown across the room.
Godmoder: A rather broad term, basically covering a character/roleplayer who can overcome any situation. They will often have flashy powers, ignore just about anything you say and do, and somehow manage to be completely unaware of their own unfairness (otherwise known as stupidity).
A: Now that you're strapped to the end of a naval cannon, I fire it.
B: Whoosh! I nimbly dodge, somehow forgetting the fact that I'm restrained by three-hundred-pound chain!
-This term is also used as a blanket term for any of these other terms.
Hi-jacker: This is a term used to describe people who take the duties of the GM into their own hands, adding plot elements or changing plot devices without permission. This can range from fairly harmless to extremely disruptive and annoying.
A: Ok! Our base is under attack and we have to defend it!
B: *Goes and activates the base's self destruct* Everybody run you have three minutes!
Hiver: This is a term used to refer to a player that has control of way too many NPCs; especially but not limited to when those NPCs are extremely well equipped, loyal, tireless, etc.
A: *He silently approached the enemy position, knowing himself to be outnumbered yet confident enough in his ability*
B: *The camp was over ten thousand strong and each man was alert and ready, watching the perimeter for intruders*
IDKFA: This is a term that refers to players that either never run out of ammunition or weapons, or are carrying a vast amount of weapons and ammunition that does not seem conceivably possible.
A: You're all out of ammo for all five of your Ingram submachine guns. Since you're buck-naked, I know I can now safely step into the open and begin returning fire.
B: Ha! Little did you know, I have twelve shuriken hidden within my pubic hair!
-Another example would be carrying 100 arrows in a small quiver.
McFly: This term refers to players who alter a situation drastically so that it is in their favor, usually with little to no effort from their character.
A: Ha! Now that the force field is down, I run inside your evil lair!
B: Um... um... there's also a super-secret second force field which causes you to die instantly! I just didn't say anything about it because... um... I had to do my laundry! Not because I just thought of it now! Honestly!
Min-maxer: Usually refers to characters who have many powers, and few weaknesses that are ridiculously specific and/or inaccessible.
A: I've successfully broken into the facility which gave you your incredibly 1337 power armor. Now I pull up the file on it. What does it say about weak points?
B: The metal of my armor is... um... allergic to praying mantis urine.
Miss Cleo: Refers to when a player who uses knowledge unavailable to the character. Usually but not always this knowledge is gained in an OOC post.
A: ((OOC: There's a secret switch hidden in the lamp.))
B: I suddenly think to myself-- why not check the lamp for hidden switches? Call me now for your free reading!
-This is now also referred called by the blanket term Meta-Gaming.
NIMBY: Referes to when people quite readily attack others' threads, but then stop all attacks on their own thread. This is also not likely to be a problem here.
A: They attacked us! Let's go and get them!
B: *Deletes any posts related to an attack and/or bitches to a moderator*
Oblivious Oaf: Used to describe people who don't explain how what they are using, works. Now this is fine to an extent; you're not expected to know the exact functioning procedure for a gravity-spewing railgun, but at least give a vague idea behind the mechanism because at times it can help your opponent to formulate an adequate response.
A: Haha my ultra shield deflects any projectile weapon
B: ((Dude, how does that work? I need some info))
A: ((Ahhhhh uhhhhhh.......it....uses......some... weird substance... that like... does something... and then it like... just deflects all projectiles! ))
Oxymoron: A character that is contradictory or a player that is contradictory in his/her posts.
A: I'm a farmer with a shotgun.
B: I'm a black hole which emits blinding pulses of visible light!