Glossary

Use the following list to demystify the various (mostly wesnoth specific) terms and acronyms you may run into.

Gaming Terms

ability 

A special game rule or capability applied to all units of the given unit type - for example every Elvish Shaman has the ability "heal". (See AbilitiesWML for creating abilities.)

campaign

A sequence of scenarios with a connecting storyline. (MainlineCampaigns, Guide_to_UMC_Content, CampaignWML)

creeping biggerism

the tendency for sprite artists to make new sprites bigger and more detailed than the existing ones, leading to issues of scale.

era

A set of factions available in multiplayer. You can download additional eras from the add-on server. (EraWML)

faction

A set of units available to be plated as a side in multiplayer games. (multiplayer_side WML tag)

fog of war

A scenario option; enemy units are displayed only when close to player's units

mainline

A campaign, multiplayer map, era, faction, image, or other resource that ships with the Wesnoth distribution. The opposite of "UMC".

scenario

A sequence of turns played on one map. (ScenarioWML)

shroud

A scenario option; the whole map is black at the beginning, only parts already "discovered" by the player are visible.

team color (TColor, TC)

A unit graphic done so that color of some unit part (e.g. clothes) reflects the team where unit belongs (Team Color Shifting)

trait

A random minor modification of a unit; it makes a unit different from other units of the same type. (the trait tag)

UMC

"User-Made content" or "User-Maintained Content", campaigns and other material that does not ship with the game but is available for download from the Wesnoth add-on server.

Wescamp

The (former) project for translating unofficial user-made campaigns

zone of control (ZoC)

game rule; when a unit moves to a hex adjacent to enemy unit, it usually cannot move further.

zone-locked

said of a unit that has entered an enemy ZoC and therefore cannot move further (often just "zoced" for short).

Wesnothian Acronyms

• AI - Artificial Intelligence (An 'AI side' is a side controlled by the computer)
• AMLA - After Maximum Level Advancement
• AoH - Age of Heroes
• BfM - Battle for Meridia
• BfW - Battle for Wesnoth (the name of the game)
• BWH - Been suggested before. We think it's a good idea. Hope to add it eventually.
• CABD - Can Already Be Done, e.g., you can already create custom unit abilities via WML.
• CtH - Chance to Hit (also C2H)
• CtBH - Chance to Be Hit (also C2BH)
• CtK - Chance to Kill (also C2K)
• CtBK - Chance to Be Killed (also C2BK)
• FoW - Fog of War (i.e. fog)
• FFA - Free For All (playing a map with >2 players without teams)
• FPI - Frequently Posted Idea (read the Post from the Ideas Forum)
• HANE—EtH - Hexes Are Not Evil - Embrace the Hex
• HAPMA - Hexes Are Possibly Miles Across
• HP - Hit points
• IIRWIIR - It Is Ready When It Is Ready
• IPF - Image Path Function
• KISS - Keep It Simple, Stupid: Applies to coding, not game rules (although indirectly it does): see WesnothPhilosophy
• MAI - Micro AI: see: Micro_AIs
• MP - Multiplayer or Movement Points
• MUB - Massive Unit Blobs
• N3T - No 3-Teams; A belief stating that contests between three equal and opposing forces are inherently unbalanced
• OAB - Options Are Bad; In reference to gameplay, not user interface options. Mostly used by Turin.
• OFWRA - Old Flame War Revival Alert; In other words, we have discussed this before and have no interest in discussing it again, especially if it got ugly
• OOS - Out Of Sync - an error generated by Wesnoth. OOS errors occur when game data for one player is different/incompatible from the others
• PoD - Paths of Daggers, the name of a 2v2 multiplayer map.
• RiPLIB - Reduction in Power when Leveling Is Bad: means that when a unit upgrades, at least one of its options should be strictly superior to the original unit. Reference 1 / Reference 2
• RNG - Random Number Generator
• RPG - Role Playing Game - 1) Wesnoth's experience system. 2) An "RPG-style" game on the MP server means the primary focus will be walking your leader-units through a scripted storyline involving map exploration and lots of WML.
• RTS - Real Time Strategy Game - as opposed to a turn-based game like Wesnoth
• SLF - StandardLocationFilter
• SP - Single Player (Campaigns)
• SSF - StandardSideFilter
• SUF - StandardUnitFilter
• TBS - Turn Based Strategy Game, like Wesnoth
• ToD - Time of Day
• TTK - Time To Kill
• TWP - The Wesnoth Philosophy: WesnothPhilosophy
• UAPEB - Units Are Possibly Entire Battalions
• WICOT - WML is capable of this (the requested feature is already possible to script, so no need to hard-code it in C++)
• WINR - Wesnoth Is Not Realistic
• WIN_ - Wesnoth Is Not... (Warcraft, Lord of the Rings, medieval Europe, an RPG, a wargame, a war simulation, Fire Emblem, etc.)
• WML - Wesnoth Markup Language: ReferenceWML
• XP - Experience (EXP may also be used)
• ZoC - Zone of Control

Names of Mainline Campaigns and Scenarios

• AOI - An Orcish Incursion (Removed from Mainline on 1.15)
• DiD - Descent into Darkness
• DM - Delfador's Memoirs
• DW - Dead Water
• EI - The Eastern Invasion
• HttT - Heir to the Throne
  • BoP - Bay of Pearls
  • DD - Dwarven Doors
  • HotNE - Home of the North Elves
  • IotD - Isle of the Damned
  • RtW - Return to Wesnoth
  • SoE - Siege of Elensefar
  • SoF - Sceptre of Fire
  • TotC - Test of the Clans
• IoM - Isle of Mists (MP, mainlined in 1.15)
• LoW - Legend of Wesmere
• NR - Northern Rebirth
• SoF - Sceptre of Fire
• SotA - Secrets of the Ancient
• SotBE - Son of the Black Eye
• TB (or AToTB) - A Tale of Two Brothers
• THoT - The Hammer of Thursagan
• TRoW - The Rise of Wesnoth
• TSG - The South Guard
• UtBS - Under the Burning Suns
• WC - World Conquest (MP, mainlined in 1.15)
• WoF - Winds of Fate (formerly WoV for Wings of Victory or Wings of Valor)

Unofficial Campaigns

• ANO - A New Order
• AotDS - Aria of the Dragon Slayer
• ARL - A Rough Life
• ASoF - A Song of Fire
• AtS - After the Storm
• BCoA - Black Cross of Aleron
• BMR - Bad Moon Rising
• BW - Brave Wings
• CCamp - Custom Campaign
• FoaP - Fate of a Princess
• FTC - Forward They Cried
• FtF - Flight to Freedom
• Gns - Genesis
• HoI1 - Hero of Irdya - Book I
• IftU - Invasion from the Unknown
• IQ - Inky's Quest
• LotI - Legend of the Invincibles
• SE - Saving Elensefar
• SfF - Struggle for Freedom
• TBC - The Beautiful Child
• TDH - The Dark Hordes
• TEG - The Earth's Gut
• TFE - The Final Exam
• TLU - To Lands Unknown
• TSL - The Silver Lands
• TSoG - The Sojournings of Grog
• WotJ - War of the Jewel

Unofficial MP Eras

• AE - Ageless Era/Archaic Era
• ANLE - A New Land Era
• EEaW - 17th Century Eastern Europe at War
• EoM - Era of Myths
• EoMa - Era of Magic
• GSE - Great Steppe Era
• IE - Imperial Era
• RE - Rashy Era
• RotL/Rotl - Reign of The Lords
• WoL - War of Legends

Unit Jargon

• bird - usually Gryphon Rider/Master (knalgans), or occasionally a Falcon or Eagle Rider from the Extended Era Aragwaith and Kalifa factions.
• DA - Dark Adept (undead)
• DF - Dunefolk
• fish - Merman (loyalists or rebels) or Naga Fighter (northerners)
• frog - a Saurian, especially "magic frog" for an Augur
• gobo - An affectionate, if somewhat derogatory term for the Goblin Spearman
• gunner - Dwarvish Thunderer/Thunderguard/Dragonguard (knalgans)
• HI - Heavy Infantryman (loyalists)
• KA - Knalgan Alliance
• MoL - Mage of Light (loyalists or rebels)
• pyro - Unit in the Drake Burner line
• UD - Undead
• Ulf - Dwarvish Ulfserker (knalgans)
• WC - Walking Corpse (undead)
• zombie - Walking Corpse

General Acronyms

• AFaICT - As Far as I Can Tell (A statement with a disclaimer on truthfulness)
• AFaIK - As Far as I Know (A statement with a disclaimer on truthfulness)
• AFaIU - As Far as I Understand (likewise)
• AfK - Away from the Keyboard
• ASaP - As Soon as Possible
• BRB - Be Right Back
• BtW - By the Way (A statement with a disclaimer on relevance)
• DTRT - Do The Right Thing (expectation for how something should work)
• EV - Expected Value
• FTR - For The Record
• FUBAR - F***ed up beyond all repair / reason
• FWIW - For what it's worth
• FYI - For Your Information
• GG - Good Game (a common courtesy to say after a multiplayer game; alternatively "GGWP" for "Good Game, Well Played")
• GtG - Got to Go
• IANAL - I Am Not A Lawyer (A disclaimer that a statement may not constitute legal advice.)
• IDK - I Don't Know
• IIRC - If I Recall/Remember Correctly (A statement with a disclaimer on truthfulness)
• IIUC - If I Understand Correctly (Similar to IIRC, but not implying that the speaker once knew with certainty.)
• IMHO - In My Humble Opinion (A statement with a disclaimer on objectiveness) (can also be read as "In My Honest Opinion")
• IMO - In My Opinion
• IYSWIM - If You See What I Mean (A statement seeking agreement)
• LGTM - Looks Good To Me (used by maintainers when approving Pull Requests on GitHub)
• LMAO - Laughing My A** Off
• LTNS - Long Time No See
• OMG - oh my god(s)
• OP - either "OverPowered", "Original Post", or "Original Poster", depending on context.
• OT - Off Topic: can refer either to the forum category ([1]) or to spam
• OtOH - On the Other Hand (A contrast)
• PR - Pull Request (in the context of contributing to a project like Wesnoth on GitHub; other projects that use other issue trackers use it to mean Problem Report instead)
• QFT - Quote For Truth
• RotFL - Rolling on the Floor Laughing; also RoFL
• RtFM - Read the F***ing Manual
• TTYL - Talk To You Later
• YMMV - Your Mileage May Vary (a disclaimer allowing for subjectivity)