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, it is the server which the game is hosted; otherwise, it is an alias for Ravenloft.
2. The Realms of Terror: An alias for Ravenloft and the preferred alias when referring to it fictionally, as to not be confused for the above.
3. The Misty Plane: The plane upon which Ravenloft resides; an alias for Ravenloft. See also the Misty Border.
4. Fictional or Fictionally: Meaning in-universe, in-character, or of the roleplay. Delineates how certain mechanics of the game present in terms of the story.
5. Ravenloft: The overall setting where The Domains of Dread takes place. It in many ways mirrors the Prime Material as a world which stands alone, save for many peculiar and often horrific exceptions.
6. The Prime Material: The plane which any other setting primarily exists. “The Material Plane” in the Forgotten Realms is, for example, the Prime Material. No such world has natural connecting organs to the Misty Plane.
7. The Core: The continent where The Domains of Dread takes place. It is, loosely, a microcosm of Gothic elements inspired from European and other sources.
8. Cluster: Previously, other continents connected to the Core through the Misty Border. After the Grand Upheaval, almost all clusters have had their connections severed, spurning them to fates unknown as they “slide out of 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 exists greater or more mysterious, as no mortal will ever understand the workings of the Mists at their full perspicacity—not while still sane.
11. Mistway: Previously, a travel route between locations as connected through the Mists. None are known to have survived the Grand Upheaval, though the possibility of their rediscovery still yet exist.
12. The Grand Upheaval: A cataclysmic event that occurred in 740 BC that nearly decimated the Misty Plane. Entire domains were shifted, altered, absorbed or seemingly destroyed outright. It is because of this event that the Core has been isolated from most clusters.
13. Domain: In Ravenloft, a domain is a section of the Misty Plane intended to imprison and torment an evil creature known as its darklord. They are the individuals regions upon which The Domains of Dread takes place.
14. Outlander: Anyone non-native to the Misty Plane are considered an Outlander. It may be used descriptively by natives to describe any foreigner or foreign idea, not necessarily only those who originate from the Prime Material.
15. Fiend: A powerful outsider. They are not all infernal in Ravenloft, though those drawn or summoned to the Misty Plane almost always are.
16. Oubliette: Alternatively called a sinkhole of evil, oubliettes are places where the Mists perpetually recreate scenes of grievous sin. Reality itself is uncertain within their boundaries, and those who dare to delve may discover their warping and altering with every expedition.

Game Terms

1. Notoriety: A measure of the character’s acceptability in the eyes of a particular society. Shorthand NR.
2. IRT: Short for in real time.
3. IGT: Short for in game time.
4. Dread Figure: A special designation given to antagonists which are controlled primarily by other players. Not all antagonists are Dread Figures.
5. Mist Tokens: A metacurrency awarded account-wise after the closure of a character or Dread Figure.
6. Closure: When a character is killed or otherwise permanently removed from play.
7. Dread Edition: In reference to the specific, altered-from-canon "edition" that The Domains of Dread occupies, based primarily from Advanced Dungeon and Dragons and Third Edition sources. May also be used as a story term to distinguish tabletop canon from content canon to The Domains of Dread. If a mechanic or lore object is declared "not Dread Edition", then it is not canon to The Domains of Dread. Shorthand DE.