DDO Terms Revealed

You Can Walk the Walk...But Can You Talk the Talk?



When it comes to games, Dungeons & Dragons is arguably one of the more jargon-loaded. It's time to demystify some of those terms...at least the ones that apply to Dungeons & Dragons Online (DDO).

“Give me a DC25 UMD check.”



“Make an opposed grapple check.”



I asked Zed, one of DDO @ Ten Ton Hammer’s resident D&D aficionados, for some examples of D&D jargon. Those were the examples he gave me. My response was a slack-jawed, “Huh?”



I learned that “Give me a DC25 UMD check” is something a dungeon master might say to ask a player to make a Use Magic Device roll versus a Difficulty Class of 25. (I don’t know about you, but I’m still saying, “Huh?”) An “opposed grapple check” is, according to Zed, “A combat option. Essentially a creature/player is attempting to grapple and pin another creature. Opposed checks are made. Each character/creature has a basic grapple score (BAB + Str +Other) and they add that to a d20.”



Yeah, that makes sense. (I think.)