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: Standard - Allows purchase of game systems and content for personal use and participation within campaigns using content sharing Patron - Same as Standard plus allows content sharing to be enabled within campaigns owned by the user Apprentice - Has no access to self-purchased content but allows participation as a player within campaigns providing shared content Demo - Grants access to limited subset of capabilities and content suitable for taking the product for a test drive when considering purchase
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: Ally - Cast members that have allied themselves with the PCs and are inclined to assist them in some manner Enemy - Cast members that are established enemies of the PCs and will seek to thwart them in some manner Neutral - Cast members that are neither and ally nor enemy of the PCs
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: Inactive - No game session is underway for the campaign Story - Scenes unfold in an organic manner, without the need for strictly sequenced actions between actors Tactical - All actors on the stage must have their actions sequenced, such as through initiative tracking
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: Owner - Has the ultimate say over everything associated with the campaign and whose access rights are applied when content sharing is enabled (typically the campaign creator) GM - Grants the ability to create all the story elements within the campaign and orchestrate play during game sessions (typically the owner) Player - Grants the ability to control (and possibly own) one or more PCs within the campaign Admin - Grants the ability to perform administrative duties within the campaign
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: On-Camera - Actors that are involved in the unfolding scene and can interact with one another Off-Camera - Actors that are "waiting in the wings" for the opportunity to join an unfolding scene Out of Action - Actors that have been killed or otherwise incapacitated during a scene
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: Active - Campaign element is fully available for use Retired - Applied to a campaign element when it is no longer needed for general use but retained for historical purposes; When retired, an element is hidden from normal view and not able to be manipulated Trashed - Campaign element is no longer wanted and has been marked for deletion; Trashed elements have not yet been deleted and can be restored Deleted - Campaign element has been wholly eliminated from use, typically through the irreversible operation of emptying the trash
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