The Lantern Hall
Painting: an ancient lexicon open on a carved lectern in a dark chapel of books, glowing runes and symbols lifting off its pages like fireflies.
TermGeneral term

Metagaming

Using out-of-character knowledge, such as a monster's statistics from the rulebook or what another player overheard, to guide a character who could not know it. In competitive games the metagame also means the prevailing strategies players expect from each other.

Using out-of-character knowledge, such as a monster's statistics from the rulebook or what another player overheard, to guide a character who could not know it. In competitive games the metagame also means the prevailing strategies players expect from each other.

Quick answers

What does "Metagaming" mean?
Using out-of-character knowledge, such as a monster's statistics from the rulebook or what another player overheard, to guide a character who could not know it. In competitive games the metagame also means the prevailing strategies players expect from each other.

Nearby in the archive

Rules lawyer

Tabletop term

A player who argues the letter of the rules, often to their own advantage, and treats the rulebook as a legal code. Every table has one; sometimes it is the Game Master.

Min-maxing

General term

Building a character to maximize strengths and minimize whatever the rules let you neglect, sometimes to absurd effect. Admired as system mastery by some players and derided as munchkinism by others, it applies equally to tabletop builds and online games.

Theater of the mind

Tabletop term

Running scenes, including combat, through description alone, without maps or miniatures, leaving positions and distances to shared imagination. The phrase comes from radio drama.