Glossary of Terms
Last modified by Rob B on 2020/05/04 08:28
Hero Lab introduces the use of many new terms to reference different aspects of characters, campaigns, and the product in general. These are summarized below.
Account Level | Type of Hero Lab Online user account that governs what access is granted to campaigns and content, with the values:
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Active | See Status |
Actor | General term that encompasses both PCs and supporting cast members |
Admin | See Member Role |
Allegiance | General attitude of a supporting cast member towards the PCs, with the values:
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Ally | See Allegiance |
Apprentice Level | See Account Level |
Approve | Action taken on a newly joined campaign member to grant access to the campaign or to return the member from suspension |
Auto-Retire | Optional designation on certain campaign elements that automatically advances the element to the Retired Status once it has been used in some way, such as with scripts being auto-retired when enacted onto the stage |
Campaign | The game world and everything that takes place within it |
Campaign Element | Generic reference to the various types of elements that are manipulated as part of Campaign Theater, including: campaigns, cast members, scenes, scripts, sessions, etc. |
Campaign Member | Hero Lab user that has been invited into a campaign and has an assigned member role (or roles) within it |
Campaign Mode | Current state in which a campaign behaves, with the values:
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Campaign Owner | See Member Role |
Cast Member | Character within a campaign that is not a PC; Typically controlled by the GM; Cast members can also include monsters, vehicles, or any other character-like construct that takes part within the story |
Character Content | Encompassing term for all of the game systems and add-on packages that have been purchased by a user and that can be utilized by characters owned by that user |
Content Sharing | Feature that allows qualified campaign owners to grant access to all their purchased character content to the players within their campaigns |
Controller | Hero Lab user that controls a cast member within the story (typically only applicable to PCs) |
Deleted | See Status |
Demo Mode | Restricted level of product access that enables a user to test drive the product when considering purchase |
Drop | Action taken on a campaign member to permanently remove them from the campaign |
Enact | Action performed on a scene script that adds all the cast members defined within that script to the stage |
Enemy | See Allegiance |
Event/Trigger | Special "character" type designed to let GMs control non-character participants within a scene, such as traps and other timed/triggered occurrences |
Folder | A hierarchy of folders can be created as a means of organizing certain collections of elements, similar to managing files on most computers; Folders can be created for characters, cast members, and scene scripts |
GM | See Member Role |
Introduce | Action of bringing an existing character from outside of a campaign into the campaign |
Invitation Code | Unique code that identifies a campaign and is provided by the GM to other Hero Lab users, enabling them to join the campaign as members |
Jersey Number | Value automatically assigned to every non-unique actor when it is added to the stage, ensuring they can always be clearly distinguished (e.g. "Goblin #1", "Goblin #2", etc.) |
Loot | Material resources that PCs can acquire during play and transfer between the PCs |
Main Panel | Within Hero Lab Online's three-panel interface, the main panel is in the middle and where the primary editing of content takes place |
Member Role | Campaign members can be assigned various roles that grant certain privileges within the campaign, with the values:
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Navigation Panel | Within Hero Lab Online's three-panel interface, the navigation panel is on the left and is the primary means of moving through different aspects of the content |
Neutral | See Allegiance |
Note | Arbitrary text that members can attach to campaign elements |
NPC | Cast member that is controlled by the GM within a campaign (Non-Player Character) |
Owner | Used in two different ways, depending on context - See Campaign Owner and PC Owner, as appropriate |
Off-Camera | See Placement |
On-Camera | See Placement |
Out of Action | See Placement |
Package | Refers to a game system, book, or other purchased content for use with Hero Lab Online |
Patron Level | See Account Level |
PC | Cast member that is controlled by a player within a campaign (Player Character) |
PC Owner | Campaign member that owns a given PC; Only the owner can take certain actions on the PC; Ownership dictates which content can be utilized by the PC |
Persistent | Proxies on the stage for persistent actors will have all accrued changes committed back to the underlying PC or cast member when a scene is resolved; Non-persistent actors always discard accrued changes |
Placement | Where an actor resides on the stage in relation to the current scene, with the values:
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Play Tab | Navigation tab for characters that provides an optimized presentation of the character for use during game play, making everything that's typically needed during a game readily accessible |
Player | See Member Role |
Proxy | Temporary version of an actor that is created when that actor is on the stage; Changes are accrued to the proxy and then either officially saved or discarded when a scene is resolved |
Recommission | Action that converts a campaign element from the Retired Status to the Active Status |
Resolution | Act of resolving a scene, which ends any combat, commits accrued changes to persistent actors, discards non-sticky actors from the stage, and creates an historical record of the scene |
Retired | See Status |
Rights | Refers to what actions a user is allowed to perform and what content is available to be used within characters |
Root Folder | When folders are supported for an element type, the root folder is the initial folder at the top, with all user-created folders existing beneath the root |
Scene | The action taking place on the stage is the active scene; Can also refer to the historical record of a resolved scene |
Scene Script | A prepared collection of cast members and notes that can be enacted onto the stage as a single unit (aka an encounter) |
Script | See Scene Script |
Session | Period of game-play bounded by time, as determined by the GM; Also used to reference the collection of scenes that were completed during that period |
Shared Content | Collective reference to all of the game systems and add-on packages that have been purchased by the owner of a campaign and made available for use by the players within their PCs |
Side-Panel | Within Hero Lab Online's three-panel interface, the side-panel is on the right and provides convenient access to supplemental details and alternate content |
Stage | Where PCs and cast members are placed to actively participate in the story and interact with each other |
Stand-In PC | Special character type to enable tracking of PCs within campaigns for players that don’t actively use Hero Lab Online |
Standard Level | See Account Level |
Status | Designates the accessibility of a campaign element, with the values:
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Sticky | Proxies on the stage for sticky actors will remain on the stage when a scene is resolved, while non-sticky actors are always removed from the stage |
Story Mode | See Campaign Mode |
Supporting Cast | Collective term for cast members within the campaign |
Suspend | Action taken on a campaign member to temporarily deny access to the campaign |
Tactical Mode | See Campaign Mode |
Trashed | See Status |
Vault | Repository where stock resources can be copied from, such as characters, monsters, images, etc. |
Withdraw | Action taken by the owner of a PC to remove that PC from the campaign, although a copy is retained within the campaign |