A

ALEA:  The association behind Fastaval. Read more about ALEA here.

B

Banquet: Old term for the Otto Party from back when the Otto Party consisted of a three-course dinner followed by a party.

Boardgame Coordinators: The organizers that select the year’s designer board games and facilitate the process for the board game designers.

The Bunker: An old term for Fastaval’s central command group. They are now called the Main Organizers.

C

The Café: What the Oasis used to be called.

The Consulate: Logistical organizer group driving things around during Fastaval as well as shopping for the sale venues. Read more here.

The Copenhagen Bus: Bus from Copenhagen to Fastaval, arranged by volunteers every year. Read more about the bus here.

D

DB: Abbreviation of Dirtbusters. Fastaval’s coverall-clad cleaners. Read more about DB here.

Designer: A person who has designed a board game for this year’s Fastaval.

Designer boardgame: Boardgame designed especially for this year’s Fastaval.

DIT: Stands for “Do It Together”. It has changed the name to The Hero Force.

E

The Egg: Prize that is handed out to the winners of Game Rush and the scenario writing competition.

F

Fasta-app: Fastaval has an official app that can be downloaded from the App Store and Google Play. Just search for “Fastaval”. In this app you can view your program, food tickets, maps, etc.

Fasta-blues: Sociale occasions immediately after Fastaval, where you can talk about the year’s convention and reminisce about the good times.

Fastaval Junior: Mini-Fastaval during Fastaval, for children and adolescents.

Fasta Plague: Term for the infection that (some) Fastaval participants catch during or just after the convention. In general English usage, “con crud”.

The Fire Watch: An old term for The Night Watch. 

Food queue: There may be a queue for the delivery of dinner in the common area. We therefore encourage our participants to spread out and pick up food at different times during the dinner time.

G

Game Guides: A Game Guide explains the rules of a designer board game to the players. If you would like to explain designer board games, you can sign up as a Game Guide when you sign up for Fastaval. 

Game Master: (spilleder): Fastaval term for the facilitator, who is the person guiding the players through a scenario. If you would like to facilitate a scenario, you can sign up as a game master when you sign up for Fastaval. 

Game Rush: Competition where the participants build their board game during Fastaval. Read more about Game Rush here.

The General: Fastaval’s main organizer, who selects the Main Organizer group members.

General on duty: The Main Organizer member in charge at any given time at Fastaval. This person can be contacted 24/7 throughout Fastaval on the duty phone. Read more about the General on duty here.

Guest of Honour: International person invited to visit the year’s Fastaval. The person must in some way have contributed to roleplaying games, board games, or geekdom in general.

H

Head Judge: The leading member of either the boardgame jury, the scenario jury, or the Honorary Otto jury. In the Honorary Otto jury, the head judge is always last year’s winner.

Hero Force: A network of participants who help out around Fastaval, to keep the kongres running. Read more about the Hero Force here.

Herring salad / herring: A slang for the colorful ribbons given in the military for service and medals earned. At Fastaval, similar pins are made for Fastaval organizers, showing the different areas and tasks they have had over the years.

The Honorary Otto: Prize that is handed out every Fastaval to a person who has put in a special effort for Fastaval or the roleplaying scene in general.

Honorary Otto Judge: Member of the jury handing out the year’s Honorary Otto.

I

The Info: Fastaval’s information center. Read more about the Info here.

Info Boss: The person in charge of the Info.

Infonaut: A person serving in the Info. If they are not in the Info Desk, they can be seen rolling around on scooters with orange fezzes.

Internationals: International participants at Fastaval. Every year, people come from Sweden, Norway, Finland, Germany, England, the US, and other countries.

International table: Table at the Otto Show for non-Danish-speaking participants who have the show interpreted simultaneously by Danish-speaking volunteers.

J

James: A small group of volunteers who have previously acted as waiters at the Otto Show and various receptions.

M

The Main Organizers: The group in charge of Fastaval. They get selected by the General. Read more about the Main Organizers here.

N

The Night Watch: A former organizer group that kept a watchful eye over the entrance to the general dormitory at Fastaval.

O

The Oasis: Drinks and events venue at Fastaval. Read more about the Oasis here.

Organizers room: Room for the Organizers to relax and take a break from their organizer work.

Otto: Fastaval’s mascot. Otto is a penguin (not a rhino, and no, this makes no sense outside a Danish cultural context) and has existed since 1992. The Otto Prize is awarded to the best of the year’s premiere scenarios and designer board games.

Otto’s Coffee Inn: This is Fastaval’s sales point where participants can buy hot drinks such as coffee, tea, hot chocolate, etc. and cake and sit on cozy sofas. Right next to the Coffee Inn is the Board Game Café, where you can borrow a board game.

Otto Judge: Member of the jury handing out the year’s Ottos. There’s both a board game jury and a scenario jury.

The Otto Party: The final party after the Otto show, which takes place in the Bar. Come celebrate a fantastic Fastaval!

The Otto Show: Stage show where the Ottos are handed out, the organizers are celebrated, the Guest of Honour speaks and next year’s General is proclaimed. 

P

Participant’s sheet/player sheet: Sheet of paper with your program, food and other information. You’ll receive it by email a few days before Fastaval, you can view it in the Fastaval app or you can get a paper copy in the Information.

Pitch: A brief, written explanation of how your board game is to work if you want to be a designer for next year’s Fastaval. The Boardgame Coordinators select the pitches to become boardgames at Fastaval. Read more about designer board games at Fastaval here.

Play startup: Introduction and playgroup distribution for a scenario. Every scenario runs multiple times in one timeslot, and for this reason, all the players for a given scenario gather before it starts. Here, players and facilitators are sorted into groups. Your participant’s sheets tell you where to go for play startup.

Play timeslot: Times at which scenarios, board games, and other activities at Fastaval run. Wednesday has an evening time slot. Thursday-Saturday has three timeslots (AM, lunch, and evening), and Sunday has an AM timeslot.

Players: Participants in a scenario or board game.

Previews: Brief introductions to the year’s scenarios and board games. Here, you can read what the scenario/board game is about, what genre it is, and what type of players would enjoy it.

R

Reserve queue: A number system for participants wanting to play a premiere scenario that they haven’t signed up for in advance.

S

Safety Hosts: A group of volunteers who are always ready to talk with participants who need it. Read more about the Safety Hosts here.

Scenario Coordinators: The organizers that select the year’s premiere scenarios and facilitate the process for the scenario writers.

Scenarios: Also called premiere scenarios. Roleplaying games selected and designed especially for the year’s Fastaval.

Scenario writing competition: Competition that involves writing a scenario during the year’s Fastaval. Read more about the scenario writing competition here.

The Shadow General: Some years, the General selects a right-hand man to be the second-in-command at Fastaval.

Short story (/novella): A roleplaying scenario that takes at most two hours to play.

Synopsis: A brief, written explanation of what your scenario is about and how it is played if you would like to be a writer for next year’s Fastaval. The scenario coordinators select the synopses that get to be scenarios at the year’s Fastaval.

T

Translatørs: Volunteers that translate for non-Danish-speaking participants.

Truckers: An old term for the Consulate.

TV: A volunteer group making TV shows for the year’s Fastaval. Read more about the year’s TV crew here.

V

Valley of the Lord of the Mists: The smoking area at Mariagerfjord Gymnasium.

Val/the Val: Abbreviation of Fastaval. 

W

Wear: Fastaval’s merchandise. This can be added in your sign-up.

Writer: Person who has written a premiere scenario for this year’s Fastaval.