Accessory - see Relic.
Accuracy - your base chance to score a hit in combat. Influenced by Agility.
Action - what a character does during his turn in combat, whether it be attacking, defending, drinking a potion, etc. A character gets only one action during his turn.
Adventure - a single scenario or quest.
Agility - measures your character’s speed and quickness, and affects several factors, including accuracy, evasion, and speed in combat. Abbreviated AGI.
Armor - equipment ranging from enchanted robes to heavy steel plate mail. Armor increases the wearer’s Hit Points and Magic Points, and may have other abilities as well.
Armor Class - Defensive, Enhancing, or Balanced. Used to describe the weight of a particular piece of armor, which affects its HP and MP bonuses.
Attack Power - greatly affects the damage dealt with weapons. Influenced by Strength and the power of your weapon. Abbreviated AP.
Attack Roll - Used to see if a normal attack hits or misses. If (1d100 + Accuracy) is greater than the target's Evade, the attack is a hit.
Base Stat - One of the five statistics (Strength, Magic, Vitality, Spirit, and Agility) that define your character’s strengths and weaknesses.
Blue Magic - the ability to learn and use special skills from one’s enemies. Blue Magic often gives a character access to strange and powerful techniques that he could never learn otherwise.
Bonus Points - discretionary points awarded upon gaining a level that may be used to increase your Base Stats. See Chapter I: Character Creation for more information.
Boss Monster - an extremely tough monster who is much more powerful than ordinary creatures. Boss Monsters are typically plot-related and show up near the end of the adventure.
Campaign - a long series of adventures, often with a continuing storyline.
Chance of Success - the percentage chance of a particular effect or event successfully occurring.
Character - the persona that you, the player, take on in the game world. The difference between a player and a character is that a player is the actual person playing the game, and a character is the player’s representative in the ZODIAC world.
Class - a word or phrase such as Fighter, Thief, or Wizard that describes your character and what he does best. There are no "official" classes that you must choose from - your character's class is unique, created by you.
Class Power - your character’s primary set of special abilities, either Techs or Blue Magic.
Cloned Power - a modification of a Tech the character already knows. The effect is the same, but the elemental affinity or damage type may be different. See Chapter II: Tech Creation.
Counterattack - an attack made immediately in response to being attacked by an opponent.
Critical Chance - your chance to score a double-damage critical hit in combat. Influenced by Agility.
Critical Hit - a lucky or especially powerful blow that deals twice as much damage as usual. Critical hits are scored when the attacker’s Attack Roll is equal to or lower than his Critical Chance.
Damage - injury against a character, subtracted from his Hit Points.
Derived Stat - One of the twelve statistics that are determined by your character’s Base Stats. Derived Stats usually have a more direct effect on the game than Base Stats do.
Drop Item - one or more items sometimes carried by monsters, which the monster may drop when defeated.
Duration - how long a particular special effect will last. Most status durations are measured in rounds, but some may last until the end of combat, or even persist after combat has ended.
Element - one of the eight elemental forces of the world. Fire, water, lightning, and so on are all elements. For information on elements, see Chapter VI: Combat.
Elemental Affinity - the alignment of an attack or piece of equipment with a particular elemental force, be it fire, lightning, wind, etc. For information on elemental affinities, see Chapter VI: Combat.
Enemy Skill - a Tech used by a monster that may be learned by a character with Blue Magic.
Evade - your ability to dodge physical attacks. Influenced by Agility and the armor you wear.
Experience Level - the most general measure of a character’s or monster’s capabilities. The higher the character’s Experience Level, the more powerful he is. Usually abbreviated as Level. See Chapter I: Character Creation for information on the benefits of gaining experience levels.
Experience Points - a running tally that keeps track of how experienced a character is; after gaining sufficient Experience Points, the character’s Experience Level will rise, increasing his strength and confidence. Experience Points are usually gained by defeating monsters. Abbreviated XP.
Free Action - certain actions are classified as Free Actions; characters may take one Free Action per turn in addition to their normal actions.
Gold - the standard unit of currency in the ZODIAC system; the Master may use Dollars, Gilder, Zorkmids, or whatever type of currency he chooses for his game world. Abbreviated G.
Guard - shields, bracers, parrying daggers, and other defensive equipment that helps the wearer dodge enemy attacks.
Hit Points - represent the amount of damage you can withstand. Influenced by Vitality, experience level, and the armor you wear. When your Hit Points drop to zero, you are knocked unconscious. Abbreviated HP.
Level - see Experience Level.
Magic - measures your character’s magical ability, and affects the strength of magical effects as well as the number of special abilities you can learn. Abbreviated MAG.
Magic Accuracy - affects the chance of success of many special effects, such as turning an enemy to stone. Influenced by Magic.
Magic Attack Power - greatly affects the damage dealt with magic. Influenced by Magic and your experience level. Abbreviated MAP.
Magic Attack Roll - Used to see if a special effect such as a status attack succeeds or fails. If (1d100 + Magic Accuracy) is greater than the target's Resist, the attack is successful.
Magic Dice - the base number of dice you roll when casting a magical attack spell. Influenced by Magic. As with Strength Dice, ALL die rolls based on Magic Dice are multiplied by 5.
Magic Points - represent the amount of energy you have available for using spells and special abilities. Influenced by Spirit, experience level, and the armor you wear. Abbreviated MP.
Magical Damage - one of the two types of damage that a character can receive. Magical damage usually either has no physical form, or has a form that has been magically conjured. Fire spells and energy bolts typically inflict magical damage.
Master - the “referee” of the game. The Master writes the story and controls the actions of the monsters and characters that the players will meet over the course of the campaign.
Max Tech Levels - the maximum number of Tech Levels you can learn. In other words, the combined Tech Levels of all the Techs you know cannot be greater than this value. Influenced by Magic.
Minor Ability - a special skill that is not as powerful as a Tech, but may be used for no cost in Magic Points. All characters have one Minor Ability. For information on specific Minor Abilities, see Chapter IV.
Monster - generic name for characters created using the Monster Creation System. Monsters are usually, but not always, hostile to the PCs.
Normal Action - see Action.
Normal Attack - an ordinary attack made with the character’s equipped weapon. Requires an Accuracy roll to succeed.
NPC - non-player character; a character, often with no defined combat stats, controlled by the Master.
PC - player character; a character controlled by a human player.
Physical Damage - one of the two types of damage that a character can receive. Physical damage usually affects a character through direct physical impact, such as damage from weapons or falling rocks.
Player - the person reading this rulebook right now. The difference between a player and a character is that a player is the actual person playing the game, and a character is the player’s representative in the ZODIAC world.
Potion - generic name for expendable, one-shot items that generally restore a character’s health or remove status effects. There is also a potion named “Potion;” whenever the rules refer to potions, they are referring to the potion list as a whole. For information on specific potions, see Chapter V: Equipment.
Power Level - Weak, Medium, or Strong. Used to describe how powerful a Tech is compared to other Techs of its level, and affects the MP cost of the Tech.
Race - more precisely “species,” your character’s race is the type of creature he is, whether it be human, elf, dwarf, imp, sprite, or something even more exotic. Your character’s race has no effect on game play.
Range - a general indicator of how far a target is from its attacker, either short or long. Short-range weapons have difficulty attacking long-range targets.
Relic - rings, boots, amulets, and other magical items that grant a character strange and powerful abilities. A character may equip two Relics at a time.
Resist - is your ability to resist harmful effects, such as poison or paralysis. Influenced by Vitality and Spirit.
Round - one round of combat is defined as all combatants taking a single turn.
Session - a single period of game play, be it thirty minutes or eight hours. A single session is often, but not always, comprised of one complete adventure.
Skills - normal, everyday things that a character knows how to do, such as cooking or swimming. There are normally no set rules for using Skills, but an Optional Skill System is provided for those who wish to use it.
Speed - measures your character’s ability to act and react in combat. Influenced by Agility and experience level. Abbreviated SPD.
Speed Points - a pool of points used during combat to perform actions, such as attacking with weapons or casting spells. Not to be confused with Speed. Abbreviated SP.
Spirit - measures your character’s force of will and inner store of magical energy, and affects your capacity for using magic and other special powers. Abbreviated SPR.
Status Effect - an abnormal, temporary effect placed on a character, which may be positive or negative. For information on specific status effects, see Combat.
Steal Item - one or more items sometimes carried by monsters, which may be captured by characters using the Steal Command Skill.
Strength - One of the five Base Stats, Strength measures your character’s physical power, and affects the damage you deal with weapons. Abbreviated STR.
Strength Dice - the base number of dice you roll when attacking with a weapon. Influenced by Strength. ALL die rolls based on Strength Dice are multiplied by 5; if your Strength Die roll was an 8, you deal 40 points of damage.
Tech - a special ability requiring an expenditure of Magic Points- or, occasionally, other resources - to use. Techs have many varied effects, but the most common type is a special attack that deals much more damage than a normal attack would. For definitions of specific Techs, see Chapter II: Tech Creation.
Tech Level - a number used to describe the general power of a Tech.
Tech Points - special points used to learn new Techs or upgrade old ones. Tech Points can be acquiring by gaining levels or increasing your Magic stat.
Tick - a sub-phase of a combat round, during which all combatants with sufficient Speed Points take one turn and status effects are resolved.
Turn - the space of time during combat in which one combatant takes one action.
Unarmed Attack - an attack made without a weapon equipped. Unarmed attacks receive heavy penalties to damage.
Vitality - measures your character’s toughness and resistance to physical trauma, and affects the amount of damage you can withstand. Abbreviated VIT.
Weapon - equipment used to inflict damage on one’s opponents. Swords, spears, axes, crossbows, and magic wands are all weapons, which increase the wielder’s Attack Power and Magic Attack Power to varying degrees.
Worldbook - a compendium of information pertaining to a specific campaign world. In ZODIAC, online worldbooks will usually be based on one of the Final Fantasy games. Worldbooks detail the events that have occurred in the world, as well as important characters and various towns and other locations.
