AI Roleplay Glossary: 30 Terms From Character Cards to OOC

How to use this glossary

AI roleplay borrows words from tabletop games, fan fiction forums and machine learning, so a single guide can mention a character card, OOC, a lorebook and a context window in one paragraph. This glossary covers the thirty terms you are most likely to meet, each with a one-sentence definition and a short example.

The terms are general community vocabulary. Different apps use slightly different names for the same thing, and not every app has every feature.

Jump to a term: Alt greeting · Asterisks · Author's note · Bot · Character card · char and user · Context window · Continue · Example dialogue · First message · Godmodding · Group chat · IC · Jailbreak · Lorebook · Looping · Memory · NPC · OC · OOC · Persona · POV · Regenerate · Scenario · Slow burn · Summary · Swipe · System prompt · Temperature · Token

A

Alt greeting

An alternative first message saved with a character, so the same character can open a chat in a different scene.

Example: a knight whose usual greeting is at the tournament, with an alt greeting that starts in the infirmary after she lost.

Asterisks (action text)

The common convention of writing actions and narration between asterisks and speech in quotation marks, so the two never blur together.

Example: *She sets the lantern down.* "We wait here until dark."

Author's note

A short steering instruction placed near the end of what the model reads, used to adjust tone or pace without rewriting the character.

Example: "[Keep replies under 100 words. The scene is tense.]"

B

Bot

Community slang for an AI character, especially one shared publicly for others to chat with.

Example: "Found a great detective bot. The opening is a locked-room case."

C

Character card

The package that defines an AI character: name, description, personality, scenario, first message and often example dialogue. In some apps a card is an image file with the character's details stored inside it.

Example: a card for a ship's captain with a two-line description, the scenario "the ship is becalmed and the crew is restless", and a first message spoken from the bridge.

{{char}} and {{user}}

Placeholders in a character card that the app replaces with the character's name and your name when the chat runs, so one card works for every reader.

Example: {{char}} glances at {{user}} and smirks. becomes "Nora glances at Sam and smirks."

Context window

The maximum amount of text, counted in tokens, that a model can read at once: the character's details, the chat so far and your newest message together.

Example: when a long chat outgrows the window, the oldest messages no longer fit, which is one reason a character can forget something from the first day.

Continue

A command that asks the model to carry on writing the reply it just stopped, rather than start a new one.

Example: a reply ends at "She opened the letter and", and continue finishes the sentence.

E

Example dialogue

Sample exchanges written into a character's definition to show the model how the character talks: rhythm, vocabulary and reply length.

Example:

{{user}}: Are you scared?
{{char}}: Of the dark? No. Of what's in it, a little.

F

First message

The character's opening message (also called the greeting) that starts every new chat and sets the scene, the voice and the reply length.

Example: *The train lurches and her coffee goes everywhere.* "Brilliant. Do you have a napkin, or are you just going to watch?"

G

Godmodding

Taking control of another participant's character, or making your own unbeatable, so the other side has no real choices left. When an AI does it to you, people usually call it "speaking for the user".

Example: "I dodge every arrow and disarm all twelve guards" leaves the story nowhere to go.

Group chat

A chat with more than one AI character, where they take turns replying to you and to each other.

Example: a three-person heist crew arguing over the plan while you play the inside contact.

I

In character (IC)

Anything written as part of the story, in a character's voice. It is the opposite of OOC.

Example: "IC, she would never forgive him. OOC, I love this twist."

J

Jailbreak

A prompt written to get a model to ignore the rules set by its maker or by the app. Most services forbid it in their terms, and using one can get an account suspended.

Example: "That jailbreak stopped working after the update," as a forum post might put it.

L

Lorebook (world info)

A collection of entries about a story's world (places, factions, people) that the app adds to what the model reads only when a matching keyword comes up.

Example: an entry for "Thornmere" describing the village, brought in whenever someone mentions it.

Looping

When a model starts repeating the same phrases, actions or reply structure turn after turn.

Example: every reply opening with "She smirks", a sign to edit, regenerate or change the scene.

M

Memory

Any way an app keeps facts available beyond the context window, such as saved notes, automatic summaries or looking up relevant past messages.

Example: a pinned note saying "Sam is allergic to cats", so the character still knows it three hundred messages later.

N

NPC (non-player character)

Any character in the story who is neither you nor the main character, voiced by the AI as needed.

Example: the innkeeper, the guard captain and the stranger in the corner of a fantasy tavern scene.

O

OC (original character)

A character someone invented themselves, as opposed to one from an existing book, game or show.

Example: "My OC is a retired cartographer who maps cities that do not exist yet."

OOC (out of character)

A note written outside the story, usually in brackets or after "OOC:", to talk directly about the roleplay.

Example: "(OOC: can we skip ahead to the next morning?)"

P

Persona

A short description of you, the user's character, that the app passes to the model so the character knows who it is talking to.

Example: "Sam, 34, a ship's engineer who talks too much when nervous."

POV (point of view)

The grammatical person a story is told in: first ("I"), second ("you") or third ("she", "they").

Example: third person reads "She closes the door"; first person reads "I close the door."

R

Regenerate (reroll)

Asking the model for a new version of its last reply instead of the one you got.

Example: the innkeeper's answer was flat, so you regenerate and get a version where he lies to you.

S

Scenario

The situation a chat starts in: where, when and what has just happened.

Example: "A lighthouse during a storm. The supply boat is two days late."

Slow burn

A relationship that develops gradually over many scenes, with the obstacles left in place long enough to matter.

Example: rival bakers who trade insults for twenty messages before one admits the other's bread is good.

Summary

A condensed recap of earlier parts of a chat, written by hand or by the app, that keeps key events in view after the details have scrolled away.

Example: "Day 3: they reached the coast, Sam lost the map, Nora suspects the guide."

Swipe

Moving between alternative versions of a reply, usually with a sideways swipe or arrow, keeping the earlier versions to compare.

Example: swiping through three versions of the captain's reply and keeping the one where she laughs.

System prompt

The instructions at the very top of what the model reads, usually set by the app and not shown in the chat, describing its role and rules.

Example: "You are the narrator of a mystery story. Write in the third person, past tense."

T

Temperature

A setting that controls how random a model's word choices are: lower is more predictable, higher is more varied and more likely to wander.

Example: at a low temperature the same question gets near-identical answers; at a high one, surprising answers that sometimes lose the thread.

Token

The unit a model reads and writes text in, usually a short word or part of a longer one. Context windows and many usage prices are counted in tokens.

Example: in English, a token averages about three-quarters of a word, so 1,000 tokens is roughly 750 words.

Put the terms to use

Most of these words describe the same few building blocks: who the character is (character card, persona), where the story starts (scenario, first message) and how much the model can keep in view (context window, memory, summary). If you are writing your own character, those are the parts worth your time.

• Our guide on how to write an AI character shows a filled-in scenario and first message, with the reasoning behind each line.
• AI roleplay scenario ideas has twenty premises, each with a first line you can send or adapt.
• Fantasy AI characters and romantic AI characters show what strong openings look like in practice.

When you are ready, put it into practice: SecretCrush AI's character builder has fields for the name, personality, scenario and first message, it is free on a free account, and the account gets 10 messages every day to try your character out. Adult roleplay is allowed for 18+. Premium adds unlimited messages with advanced memory, so the facts in a long story stay in view, plus AI images and videos of your character in the chat; see the pricing page.