Glossary

The following is a best effort glossary for terms specific to either Ravenloft or The Domains of Dread.

Story Terms

1. The Domains of Dread: When italicized, referring to the server from which the game is hosted; speaking to the unit as a whole. When not italicized, it is an alias for Ravenloft.
2. The Realms of Terror: An alias for Ravenloft. The preferred alias when referring to Ravenloft fictionally, as to not be confused with the above.
3. The Misty Plane: The plane which Ravenloft rests; an alias for Ravenloft. See also the Misty Border.
4. fictionally: In-universe, in-character, or of the roleplay. Used to delineate how certain mechanics and other functions of the game present in terms of the story.
5. Ravenloft: The overall setting where The Domains of Dread takes place. An enigmatic plane that in many ways perfectly mirrors the Prime Material as a world of its own, save for its peculiar and often horrible exceptions.
6. Prime Material: The plane from which any other setting primarily exists. For example, the Material Plane on the Forgotten Realms is, to Ravenloft, the Prime Material. It has no natural connective organs to The Misty Plane.
7. The Core: The contiguous continent where The Domains of Dread takes place. It is, loosely, a microcosm of Gothic elements inspired from European sources.
8. Cluster: Previously, other continents connected to the Core by the Misty Border. In wake of the Grand Upheaval these connections have been severed, leaving these Clusters to an unknown fate as knowledge of them or their peoples "slide out from history".
9. The Misty Border: In the Realms of Terror, edges of the known world are expressed by great, endless fonts of the Mists. Their borders, then, are as thus.
10. The Mists: Also known as the Mists of Death, these banks of cloyingly supernatural fog may appear at any time and in any place within Ravenloft. No force is greater or more mysterious, with no mortal hopeful to ever understand them at full perspicacity - even but a glimpse would be the conclusion of a lifetime spent both dead and undying.
11. Mistway: Previously, a travel route between locations connected through the Mists. None are known to have survived the Grand Upheaval, forcing greater reliance on overland borders.
12. The Grand Upheaval: A cataclysm which occurred in 740 and nearly destroyed the fabric of the Misty Plane. Entire Domains were shifted, altered, absorbed or seemingly destroyed. It is because of this event that The Core has been either isolated from other Clusters or is the sole surviving inheritor of the Misty Plane.
13. Domain: In Ravenloft, a domain is a section of the Misty Plane meant to imprison and torment an evil creature known as its Darklord. They are individual regions where many of the stories in The Domains of Dread take place.
14. Outlander: Anyone non-native to the Misty Plane are themselves an Outlander. May be used descriptively to describe foreigners or foreign ideas.
15. Fiend: A powerful outsider. Not necessarily infernal, though those drawn or summoned to the Misty Plane almost always are.
16. Oubliette: Alternatively called a sinkhole of evil, oubliettes are where The Mists perpetually recreate scenes of grievous sin. Reality itself is uncertain within these dark places, and those who delve may find that they warp and alter with every visit.

Game Terms

1. Outcast Rating: A measure of a character's acceptability in the eyes of a particular group or authority. "Outcast" describes a person that cannot be seen in polite company and many be chased or otherwise penalized by institutions or non-player characters. See the linked article for full details and potential consequences for a too high rating. Shorthand is OR.
2. IRT: Short for "in real time". The inverse is IGT, or "in game time". For more details regarding time units as they are used in the The Domains of Dread, see the linked article.
3. Dread Figure: The special designation given to antagonists controlled by players. Not all player antagonists are Dread Figures, but those who are enjoy some exceptions and additional tools provided by the Game Masters. Dread Figures have a template applied to their base character that modifies that character both fictionally and mechanically. For more information, see the linked article.
4. Mist Tokens: A metacurrency awarded to a player's account when a character or Dread Figure they play is closured - i.e., removed from play. Mist Tokens may be spent on certain options during character creation on future characters; for a full list, see the linked article.