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

Min-maxing

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.

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.

Quick answers

What does "Min-maxing" mean?
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.

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.

Character class

Tabletop term1974

A package of abilities that defines what a character does, such as fighter, wizard, cleric or thief. Classes make roles distinct and parties interdependent, and they became a backbone of computer and online RPGs, from Wizardry to World of Warcraft.

Multiclassing

Tabletop term

Combining the abilities of more than one Character class in a single character. Early D&D reserved true multiclassing for demihumans such as elves and dwarves and allowed humans only a restrictive dual-class option; later editions opened it to all.

Metagaming

General term

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.

Mentioned in 6 other exhibits