Glossary

Over the course of White Raccoon, you may come across words or phrases that you are unfamiliar with. Most of these terms are Out of Character terminology, meaning they refer to the game itself and the roleplaying styles within it.

Roleplay (RP): What the RPG Society does. It's a mix of improvised acting and collaborative storytelling where each player plays out the actions and conversations of their characters. In a Discord game like White Raccoon, this will occur over text messages sent on Discord.

In Character (IC): Information, events, places and characters which exist in the game.

Out of Character (OC): Information, events, places and characters which exist in the real world.

Game Master (GM): The people who moderate the Discord Uptime sessions, write Turnsheet responses, keep the Wiki up to date, and generally run the game. Please get in touch with us if you have any questions, or take a look at our page if you'd like to learn more about us!

Player Character (PC): A character played by you, the players, as opposed to the GMs.

Non-Player Character (NPC): A character played by the GMs, as opposed to another player.

Society Game: What White Raccoon is. Each term (ish) a GM team will create and run a term-long (ish) roleplaying game for members of the RPG Society called a Society Game.

Player vs Player (PvP): When two or more PCs come into direct conflict, either physically or socially. We expect more of the latter in this game.

Player vs Environment/Enemy (PvE): When PCs come into conflict with obstacles set up by the GMs, whether that's in the form of dangerous places and events, or opposing NPCs.

Uptime: The three hour period on Tuesday from 19:00-22:00 BST, during which players will use the Discord server to act out scenes with other PCs and NPCs. For more information on Uptimes, see Uptimes and Downtimes.

Downtime: The period of time between Uptimes, which will last two weeks OC and one month IC. During Downtime, players can email other PCs and NPCs, then they will tell the GMs what their character will be doing for the Downtime period. The GMs will then write a Turnsheet describing what happens in the Downtime period. For more information on Downtimes, see Uptimes and Downtimes.

Turnsheet: A short piece of writing completed by players each week, used to let the GMs know what each player character is doing during Downtime. You can find templates for each Turnsheet at the bottom of your user page, and will need to create and then edit the template according to tell the GMs what your character is getting up to during Downtime. Your Turnsheet can be freely edited up until 23:59 on the Thursday after an Uptime session, at which point – unless a GM has agreed to give you a Turnsheet extension – it will be taken as final. The GM team will then read each Turnsheet, discuss what happens during Downtime, and write up a response for each player. You can find examples of Turnsheets here.

Eternity: After the final session of White Raccoon, players will be asked to submit an Eternity instead of a conventional Turnsheet. In Eternity, players will describe what they want their characters to be doing for a longer period of time into the future. The GMs will then write a response that concludes the character's story.

Ballgowning: A term for roleplaying romantic or similarly emotionally intense relationships between characters. If you're interested in ballgowning with someone, be sure to get their OC consent first, and pay attention to their communication and comfort as ballgowning can be particularly intense.

Linear: A short roleplaying session held during Uptime in which a GM will take a small group of players and let them tell the GM what their characters are doing to overcome an obstacle or explore a new location, followed by the GM narrating the outcome of their actions.

Region: Refers to the five terrain types located in and around the City, each with their own page on the Wiki: the Plains, the Forest, the Underground, the Waterways, the Suburbs and the City Centre.

A list of words which a player or GM may use at any time during Uptimes to convey OC information to the other players quickly. If you see these Calls being used, please respect them to ensure everyone has a safe and fun playing experience, particularly the last four, which are referred to as Safety Calls:

• Time in: A Call used by GMs at the start of Uptimes, or after “time out” has been called to indicate that everyone should begin acting in character.
• Time out: A Call used by GMs to indicate that everyone should stop acting in character and pay attention to the caller. This may be used at the end of a session, or during a session if GMs need to get the whole playerbase's attention or address a problem OC.
• [GTG]: Got to go, indicates the player or GM needs to leave for OC reasons, but is happy for other PCs to continue roleplaying.
• [BACK]: Indicates the player or GM has returned to their computer and is ready to continue roleplaying.
• [DOWN]: Indicates the player or GM wants to tone down an intense interaction without shutting down roleplay entirely. Other PCs should immediately tone down the intensity of the roleplaying.
• [OUT]: Indicates the player or GM is not comfortable with an interaction and will leave it, but is happy for other PCs to continue roleplaying. Other PCs should treat the player character or NPC as having left/never having been there.
• [STOP]: Indicates the player or GM is not comfortable with an interaction and wants it to stop, or that the interaction has strayed into forbidden themes. Other PCs should immediately stop whatever they're currently roleplaying.
• [PAUSE]: Indicates that a player would like to pause a high-stress or time-sensitive situation in order to look something up or ask a GM about something. This Call will hold for a maximum of 5 minutes, after which it is automatically void, or can be ended early with a [DONE] Call.