Glossary

Welcome to the wiki! This is where you can find resources from Yanfly.moe, Ækashics.moe,
VisuStella, Caz Wolf, Fallen Angel Olivia, Atelier Irina, and other affiliated content creators.

These are a list of commonly used terms and/or abbreviations that you will often see in the community. This page will provide a summary of what they mean but not a full explanation.

A

Ace

See RPG Maker VX Ace.

Action Battle System (ABS)

Refers to a genre of RPG's where the player fights enemies on the map rather than being sent to a different battle scene to fight them.

Closely resembles the battle system in The Legend of Zelda series.

Active Turn Battle (ATB)

See Battle System - ATB.

Ækashics

See Ækashics Librarium.

AGI

Agility

Character speed parameter in RPG Maker MV.

Aggro

Adapted from MMORPG slang.

Refers to the likelihood of a character being targeted for an action, usually from the opposing party.

The more aggro a character has, the more likely it is targeted for an action.

Archeia

Founder of Visustella.

Area of Effect (AOE)

Actions that target multiple battlers at once. This can target either an entire enemy party, entire player party, or perhaps even the entire battlefield of units.

Could also refer to as a small condensed target range based on screen position achieved through the Area of Effect plugin.

Aries

See Aries of Sheratan.

Artist

In the RPG Maker community, this often refers to content creators that make graphical assets.

ATK

Attack

Physical attack parameter in RPG Maker MV.

B

Battle System (BSys)

In the RPG Maker community, refers to how battles work in-game.

Differences in battle systems usually involve how turns interact, actions are performed, and status effects behave.

Broken

When talking about skills and/or items, this means something is incredible inbalanced to the point where it breaks the game.

Buff

A temporary boost to an actor or enemy that increases their stats. Not to be confused with a status effect, which could potentially do the same thing.

C

Charge Turn Battle (CTB)

See Battle System - CTB.

Chrono Trigger (CT)

A super popular RPG that RPG Maker game devs tend to take inspiration off of.

Wikipedia entry.

Coders

In the RPG Maker community, this often refers to content creators that make plugins and/or scripts.

Comment Tag

Similar to Notetags but uses comments instead.

More explained here.

Console

In the RPG Maker community, this refers to the debug console used in RPG Maker MV that's opened by F12.

D

Damage Over Time (DoT)

Adapted from MMORPG slang.

Refers to the damage produced over a period of time.

Usually referencing the damage output of a status effect dedicated to dealing damage to the affected battler.

Damage Per Second (DPS)

Adapted from MMORPG slang.

Refers to the damage output over a set period of time.

In the RPG Maker community, this term is inaccurate as it's also used to determine damage per turn.

Dating Simulator (Dating Sim)

A genre of games where the focus is dating the characters found within the game.

Could also be a subgenre if it's a secondary focus.

Debuff

A temporary downgrade to an actor or enemy that decreases their stats. Not to be confused with a status effect, which could potentially do the same thing.

DEF

Defense

Physical defense parameter in RPG Maker MV.

Default Turn Battle (DTB)

The default battle system that comes with the majority of the RPG Maker series.

RPG Maker 2003 is the exception as it was ATB.

Heavily inspired by the old Dragon Quest games.

Dev

Short for developer.

Usually refers to game developers (game devs).

Discord

A online chatroom hosted through Discord.

You can join the RPG Maker Portal Discord here.

DMG

Damage

Doodad

Referred to a graphical entity created by Yanfly's Grid-Free Doodads.

E

Eroge

Japanese slang for Erotic Game.

A game that focuses on erotic content.

EXP

Experience Points

Used in RPG Maker to represent the amount of progress a character has made.

Usually earned through battles.

Also abbreviated as "XP"

F

Final Fantasy (FF)

A super popular RPG series that RPG Maker game devs tend to take inspiration off of.

Wikipedia entry.

G

Gacha

Short for Gachapon.

Used in the RPG Maker community as a system that grants randomized items to the player.

Generator

Refers to the in-editor face/sprite generator found in RPG Maker VX and RPG Maker MV.

Never click the randomize button.

Grind

Refers to the act of repeatedly doing an action over and over to achieve a particular result.

Not in the fun sense.

H

Harvest Moon (HM)

A farming simulator game that's often used as a source of inspiration in RPG Maker.

Healer

Refers to a class or enemy type that focuses primarily on healing.

Hentai Game

A game that revolves around hentai. Usually more intense than eroge.

Horror Game

A genre of games made in RPG Maker dedicated to spooking the player.

Doesn't usually have a battle system.

HP

Health Points

Used in RPG's to represent a character's current life total.

Once it reaches 0, the character is knocked out/dead.

I

itch

A free host for games.

Link to itch.io

Iconset

Refers to a system graphic that's used as a spritesheet for all the icons used in a RPG Maker project.

Irina

See Atelier Irina.

J

JavaScript (JS)

The scripting language used in RPG Maker MV.

Not to be confused with Java.

Call it Java to tilt some coders.

JRPG

Japanese Role Playing Game

A genre of RPG's labeled after Japanese-style RPG's.

Arguable whether or not it has to be of Japanese origin.

K

Knock Out (KO)

Refers to an incapacitated character.

Usually by reaching 0 HP.

L

Librarium

See Ækashics Librarium.

Limit Break

Refers to a type of skill that requires filling up a specific gauge (in RPG Maker, this is usually the TP gauge) before it can be used.

Loot Box

Used in the RPG Maker community as a system that grants randomized items to the player.

Also known as "Loot Crate".

LUK

Luck

Status resistance parameter in RPG Maker MV.

Luna Engine (Luna)

A plugin made by Visustella dedicated towards the creation of custom menus.

Made for artists by artists.

Lunatic Mode

A term coined by Yanfly and used by the majority of the community to refer to advanced techniques.

More explained here.

LV

Level

Represents a character's progression in RPG Maker.

M

Mage

Refers to a class or enemy type that focuses primarily on casting magic.

Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG)

See the Wikipedia entry.

Something you can't make in RPG Maker without a lot of difficulty.

MAT

Magic Attack

Magical attack parameter in RPG Maker MV.

MDF

Magic Defense

Magical defense parameter in RPG Maker MV.

Mobage

Japanese slang for "mobile game"

Refers to a genre of games that use RPG-like elements which are played on mobile devices.

Usually features a gacha system of some sort.

MP

Magic/Mana Points

The resource used commonly in RPG's for characters to perform special skills.

Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA)

A subgenre of strategy video games that originated as a subgenre of real-time strategy, in which a player controls a single character in a team who compete versus another team of players.

Examples include League of Legends and DOTA2.

Often used by RPG Maker game devs as inspiration for various skills and/or items.

N

Non-Playable Character (NPC)

Characters inside a game that aren't actively playable but can be interacted with.

Notetag

A technique originally used in RPG Maker VX to bypass the inability to add new data entries to the database.

More explained here.

O

On Screen Encounters

Refers to a setup where the player character has to come in contact with an enemy NPC on a map before entering battle.

Also known as "Touch Encounters"

Olivia

See Fallen Angel Olivia.

Order Turn Battle (OTB)

See Order Turn Battle.

Overpowered (OP)

When talking about characters, enemies, items, skills, and/or status effects, this is talking about a near game-breaking effect that is above the norm and is potentially game-breaking.

P

Parallax Mapping

The process of creating a map on an editable image and used as a parallax background on an otherwise empty map with transparent tiles.

Party

In the RPG Maker community, this refers to the cast of playable characters actively available to the player.

Persona

A super popular RPG series that RPG Maker game devs tend to take inspiration off of.

Wikipedia entry.

Pixel Movement

In the RPG Maker community, this means grid-free movement, allowing the player to move outside of designated tiles and standing in multiple at a time while idle.

PixiJS

The graphics creation engine used in RPG Maker MV.

Playable Character (PC)

Characters inside a game that are active playable and can be controlled by the player.

Poison

Refers to a status effect that causes the affected character to periodically lose HP.

R

Random Number Generation (RNG)

Often referred to skills, items, and other effects that have a percent chance of succeeding.

Rougelike

Of a computer game sharing certain characteristics similar to the original game Rogue. Especially involving a single character in a large dungeon/tower, with a key focus on inventory management and stat-building.

Often randomized content in the form of dungeon layouts and items.

RPG Maker (RM)

A software series that allows its users to create games specialized in the Role Playing Game (RPG) genre.

RPG Maker 95 (RM95) (95)

The first release of RPG Maker for a Windows platform.

RPG Maker 2000 (RM2k) (2k)

The second release of RPG Maker for a Windows platform.

RPG Maker 2003 (RM2k3) (2k3)

The iteration of RPG Maker that released in 2003.

A large improvement over RPG Maker 2000.

RPG Maker MV (RMMV) (MV)

The iteration of RPG Maker that released in 2015.

The first iteration of RPG Maker that uses JavaScript.

RPG Maker VX (RMVX) (VX)

The iteration of RPG Maker that released in 2007/2008.

RPG Maker VX Ace (RMVXA) (VXA) (Ace)

The iteration of RPG Maker that released in 2011/2012.

RPG Maker XP (RMXP) (XP)

The first iteration of RPG Maker that uses Ruby.

Ruby

The scripting language used in RPG Maker XP, RPG Maker VX, and RPG Maker VX Ace.

Ruby Game Scripting System (RGSS)

The specialized scripting made for the RPG Maker Windows series.

Run Time Package (RTP)

An asset pack that comes with each RPG Maker iteration providing stock assets.

S

Scope

Inside the RPG Maker software, this refers to the target range of a skill or item.

In the RPG Maker community, this refers to the projected time length and scale of a game project.

Script Call

An event command that allows you to insert code to produce effects that are normally not available through event commands.

More explained here.

Shin Megami Tensei (SMT)

A super popular RPG series that RPG Maker game devs tend to take inspiration off of.

Wikipedia entry.

Silence

Refers to a status effect that prevents the affected character from being able to use magic and/or sometimes skills in general.

Sleep

Refers to a status effect that prevents the affected character from being able to act until the character is dealt damage (either physical, magical, and/or both) to wake them up.

Standard Turn Battle (STB)

See Battle System - STB.

State

In RPG Maker, this refers to what's common known as "status effects" in other RPG's.

Status Effect

In RPG's, this refers to a (usually temporary) condition that changes the affected actor or enemy's behavior.

Examples would include poison, silence, stun, and more.

Steam

A platform used for distributing games.

Link to Steam

Stun

Refers to a status effect that prevents the affected character from being able to act.

T

Tank

Refers to a class or enemy type that focuses primarily on defense.

Text Code

A text format used for changing the way text looks in the in-game message system.

More explained here.

TileD

A tool used to create more customized maps than what's possible through RPG Maker MV.

Also see the plugin made by Visustella.

Tips & Tricks (T&T)

Usually refers to various techniques that game devs can in RPG Maker.

In certain RPG Maker communities, this refers to Yanfly's Tips & Tricks.

Touch Encounters

Refers to a setup where the player character has to come in contact with an enemy NPC on a map before entering battle.

Also known as "On Screen Encounters"

TP

Tech Points

We're actually not sure what the T stands for but "Tech" is our guess.

Used in RPG Maker as a resource gauge that fills up by dealing damage and receiving damage.

Troop

Enemy party

V

Visual Novel (VN)

A Japanese novel read as an game-like application on a computer. A term to distinguish itself from a "Game" because there is usually no gameplay involved, and the only interaction that the player can make with the game is making certain choices at specific points in the game that decides which branch of the storyline that the player will take.

Visual Novel Maker (VNM)

See Visual Novel Maker.

W

Warrior

Refers to a class or enemy type that focuses primarily on physical attacks.

Writers

In the RPG Maker community, this often refers to content creators that specialize in writing stories and/or dialogue.

WRPG

Western Role Playing Game

A genre of RPG's labeled after Western-style RPG's.

Arguable whether or not it has to be of Western origin.

X

XP

Experience Points

Used in RPG Maker to represent the amount of progress a character has made.

Usually earned through battles.

Also abbreviated as "EXP"

Y

Yanfly Engine Ace (YEA)

The plugin library made by Yanfly for RPG Maker VX Ace.

Yanfly Engine Melody (YEM)

One of the plugin libraries made by Yanfly for RPG Maker VX.

Yanfly Engine Plugins (YEP)

The plugin library made by Yanfly for RPG Maker MV.

Yanfly Engine ReDux (YERD)

One of the plugin libraries made by Yanfly for RPG Maker VX.

Yanfly Engine Zealous (YEZ)

One of the plugin libraries made by Yanfly for RPG Maker VX.