A to Z of style

Overview

This A to Z includes is a quick reference to conventions and best practices that you should adopt when you write for Epic Remastered.

Legend
  • Italics indicate an expansion of an abbreviation.

  • Bold provides emphasis where it may be helpful.

  • Green text highlights good examples.

  • Red text highlights bad examples.

  • Hyperlinks will take you to related terms elsewhere in this A to Z, or to other helpful resources.

Navigation

Use the table of contents for this page or click on a link below to jump to the corresponding section; or press CTRL+F to open your web browser’s text search tool.

Symbols | Numbers | A | B | C | D | E | F |G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

Other useful resources

Symbols

& (ampersand)

Avoid, except where it is specifically used in a brand name or trademark, or in rare cases where we are limited by the available space.

/ (forward slash)

Where you use this symbol to mean either (as in and/or), do not surround it with spaces.

% (percent)

Use the % symbol, not the word percent. If you are compelled to spell it out for some reason then note that both percent and per cent are acceptable — but let’s favour percent, to be consistent.

Numbers

0 to 10, and beyond

Numerals or words?

Use numerals, except in these cases in prose where you should use words:

  • Where you use a common expression (one or two of them; three’s company).

  • Where you start a sentence with a number (Twenty Land Raiders? That’s a lot of firepower!).

  • Where you state a simple fraction (one half; two thirds).

  • Ordinals one through nine (first; ninth); thereafter, use the numeral with 'st', 'nd', 'rd' or 'th' as appropriate, in superscript (8th army; 41st millennium; 33rd regiment).

Contractions and units

In general prose, you can use contractions 'k' (thousands), 'm' (millions) and 'bn' (billions) for items and money — but only with numerals, and never for people or distances. * When you use a contraction, place it next to the numeral (no space).

For units, use the appropriate abbreviations or symbols in most cases (10 cm, not 10 centimetres). And in general, use a space to separate these from the numeral just as you would for the full term. Some exceptions where you should not use a space include:

  • ° (degrees); °C (degrees Centigrade)

  • " (inches)

  • % (percent)

Note that the plural of an abbreviated unit is the same as the singular (25 cm, not 25 cms).

Example 1. Contractions and units

two billion of the Emperor’s subjects, not two bn

4,200 km, not 4.2k km

22.5 MB, not 22.5MB

7bn credits, not 7 bn credits

Other rules for numbers

  • For decimal values of less than 1, always include the leading '0' (0.3, not .3).

  • For numerals over 999, insert commas for clarity (1,000; 2,500,000).

  • Use to in number ranges, or use en dash if you must , not hyphen - or em dash (8 to 12 vehicles; 8–12 vehicles).

Example 2. More examples for numbers
  • We fired 7,043 rounds of ammunition

  • There are three million barrels of fuel at stake — or, There are 3m barrels of fuel at stake

  • There are 7 million people in that one hive city

  • A quarter of a million Guardsmen

  • At a cost of 10bn credits

  • The first wave of the attack

  • The 11th planet in the system

  • Two-thirds of the enemy’s total strength

  • On average, five D6 rolls that require a 4+ result will yield 2.5 hits

A

a; an

Before an acronym, let pronunciation be your guide:

  • an SHT (ess-aytch-tee), not a SHT; a CCW (see-see-double-yoo), not an CCW.

  • Before a silent h use 'an' (it’s an honest mistake) but where the h is pronounced use 'a' (we found a heretic).

abbreviations

Use abbreviations with care. Don’t take it for granted that all readers are familiar with an abbreviation.

  • Do give the full expansion the first time you use the term in a topic. If you will use the abbreviation of the term later in the topic, then first put it in brackets immediately after the full expansion. A super-heavy tank (SHT) is a fearsome machine. It’s common for several SHTs to work together…​

  • Don’t use an unfamiliar abbreviation if it won’t be used again in the text.

  • Don’t use an abbreviation as a verb (Use SHWs against prime targets, not SHW prime targets).

  • Don’t include full stops in abbreviations.

  • Don’t use an apostrophe to pluralise abbreviations unless the abbreviation ends in an s (the titan destroyed two SHTs; Epic 40,000 was published in the late 1990s).

acronyms and initialisms

See also abbreviations.

We define an acronym as a set of initial letters of words, which we then pronounce as a word (PIN; NASA).

We define an initialism as a set of initial letters of words, which we do not pronounce as a word (SHT; GW).

In general, you should use upper case for both acronyms and initialisms. But note the common exceptions:

  • Where an acronym is used as a proper name then you may capitalise just the first letter, to avoid an excess of capital letters (Nasa). But in general, aim to follow whatever convention the organisation itself uses.

  • Some words that started out as acronyms are now treated as orthodox nouns (as with laser).

Take extra care with a and an before an acronym or initialism (see a; an).

admonitions; notices

Asciidoc includes five built-in admonition types: NOTE; TIP; IMPORTANT; CAUTION; WARNING.

We also use custom admonitions, based on the built-in types. You can only use these with the block markup — you can’t use them with the inline markup.

  • For 'Epic 40,000 difference' notes, use footnotes in the form footnote:[{e40k-diff}].

ALPHA; BETA

When you mean to refer to an early product release in prose, use upper case. This is an ALPHA release. Don’t use This is in ALPHA.

and/or

Do not place spaces around the forward slash.

anthropomorphism (humanising inanimate objects)

Use your judgement here. Words like allows, needs, offers and permits are anthropomorphic, but generally acceptable. See Anthropomorphism.

Also, choose your words such that you don’t conflate things that the player does or that happen as game effects with things that happen 'in universe'.

apostrophes

  • Use the normal possessive ending ('s) after singular words or names that end in s (Warboss’s retinue; Saint Scythus’s fame), and after plurals that do not end in s (Gretchin’s; Eldar’s; Guardsmen’s).

  • Use the ending s' on plurals that end in s (the Orks' warlike nature; the Warbosses' armies converged.

  • Do not insert apostrophes into decades or centuries (the 1990s; the 2000s).

asides

Asciidoc includes 'sidebar' markup that is suitable to hold content that is an 'aside' from the main content.

  • We define our usage in this project at How to use this publication. Sometimes an aside is a better fit than an admonition. Either way, don’t overdo it.

  • Learn about the markup at Sidebars.

B

block titles

Asciidoc includes markup that you can use to apply a title to a block element.

  • We haven’t fully defined our usage yet, but in general: Use a block title to provide clarity or sub-structure where the content doesn’t warrant a full heading (and built-in anchor).

  • Learn about the markup at Add a Title to a Block.

brackets

Aside from Asciidoc markup, use brackets in the content as follows:

  • Default to round brackets ( ) for most use cases. Where you use them for parenthesis, try to do this only at the end of a sentence, or — where appropriate — consider em dashes instead, as in this sentence.

  • Use square brackets [ ] where you need to insert a comment or clarification as an editor. You will also need to type an empty attribute in front, such as {blank}, to 'escape' them from the normal Asciidoc processing (you could use + at each end, but this will escape everything inside, so then URLs and such won’t work either).

  • Avoid curly brackets { }, except where you have a special use case — and then you’ll need to escape them in the same way as for square brackets.

bullets (unordered lists)

  • If you introduce the list with a lead-in sentence, end that sentence with a colon.

  • If the bullets are a continuation of a lead-in sentence like this, then:

    • ensure that each bullet is a single sentence, with no full stops

    • ensure that every sentence makes sense as a continuation of the lead-in sentence

    • do not capitalise the first word of each bullet (unless it is a proper noun or acronym of course, as usual)

    • do not add a full stop or other punctuation at the end of any sentence — not even to the last one

    • if you really need to create a sentence with more than one (related) clause then use a semi-colon or an em dash — but don’t overdo it

  • If the bullets are not a continuation of a lead-in sentence, write the sentences or paragraphs as normal.

C

cannon; cannons

Cannon as a plural is a bit archaic and can appear odd, as in this statement:

Distortion cannon bore an unstable warp hole in the fabric of reality.
— Epic 40,000 Rule Book

So, use cannon for the singular and cannons for plural.

capitalisation

Do capitalise
  • Proper nouns (people, places, names, brands): Ancient Terra; the Imperium of Man.

  • Titles of publications. See also citations.

  • Names of computer languages, protocols and reference standards: File Transfer Protocol.

  • Special keywords in this project, when you use them in their special sense:

    • Keywords for special abilities and super-heavy weapons, such as Death Ray. Though in most cases, in the Asciidoc source, you should use a defined attribute which outputs with the correct capitalisation and formatting anyway (in this case, you’d type {death-ray} to invoke the correct attribute).

    • Unit characteristics, such as Firepower value and Damage Capacity value.

    • Unit types, such as War Engine unit.

      The correct way to pluralise a keyword like War Engine is to add the correct plural noun: War Engine units, not War Engines.
Do not capitalise
  • Compass directions and derivations (north, east, south and west; southern Necromunda; the north-western wastelands) — unless they form part of an actual or implied proper name for a region.

  • Expansions of initialisms, except where the expansion includes words that we would normally capitalise anyway: super-heavy tank (SHT), not Super-Heavy Tank (SHT).

  • Terms that also happen to be special keywords, when we don’t use them as such: The Space Marines put up a stubborn resistance, not The Space Marines put up a Stubborn resistance.

  • Terms that can have a particular meaning in the rules, but which do not act as special keywords: detachment; unit type; unit.

    Take extra care with terms that can have a particular meaning, to avoid ambiguity in the rules — don’t mix terms like 'detachment' and 'unit', and don’t use synonyms like 'formation'.

Do not use UPPER CASE for emphasis.

citations

In the absence of other guidance for a particular case, give citations in the following format: <article title>, <publication, in italics>, <issue, or date>. For example: Path of the Eldar, White Dwarf, issue 214.

Use the same words and capitalisation as in the target publication.

contractions

Some contractions are okay, as we don’t want to sound too formal — such as they’ve, we’ll, can’t and don’t.

Avoid others like should’ve, could’ve and would’ve, and don’t use incorrect perversions of these contractions such as should of or coulda. Similarly, avoid they’re — or at least use the correct homophone for the context (they’re/their/there).

D

dates and times

There’s no one 'right way', but here are some good conventions:

  • For a long date format, use {day name in full} {day number, with ordinals} {month in full} {year, four digits} with no commas and no 'of' (Monday 3rd of September 2020).

  • For a short date format, use {day number, two digits}-{month number, two digits}-{year number, four digits} (22-09-2019). Or, use the reverse order format when the 'sort order' is important or when there may be confusion with the US 'month first' date format (2019-09-22).

  • For 12-hour format, always use a colon and am or pm — no full stops, and no spaces (6:30am).

  • For 24-hour format, omit the colon, always use the leading zero for the single-digit hours, and append 'h' (0630h). These rules help to avoid the doubt that can arise from 12:30 or 1230.

  • Use midnight and midday — not 12pm, noon, 12 noon.

  • For a range of time, use the word to — or failing that, use an en dash as stated at Numbers.

  • In prose, avoid abbreviation of dates. If abbreviations are necessary because of space limitations, then use the common three/four letter abbreviations (Mon; Thur; Jan; Sept).

Example 3. Dates and times

Long form: Monday 4th of September 2020 from 10:30am to 12:30pm.

Shorter form: Mon 04 Sept 2020, 10:30am–12:30pm.

Shortest form: 2020-09-04 1030h–1230h.

dice; die

Dice = plural of die. Die = singular of dice. Use the correct form — just because some manufacturers can’t seem to get it right doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t!

E

e-words

These are contractions of 'electronic <something>'. Do not hyphenate everyday examples like email and ebook — and do not insert needless capital letters (eBook).

Earth

Capitalise as normal if you mean the proper noun, and not if you don’t (None now remember Earth as it was; just a mess of earth and craters.

eg

A contraction of a Latin term that we use to mean for example or such as. Lower case. No stops.

However, avoid this term and use plain English instead.

If you really must use it for some reason, then use it at the start of a new sentence or parenthesis, with a comma. Eg, like this or (eg, like this).

Do not confuse with ie, which has a different meaning.

emphasis

Use bold styling for emphasis, not UPPER CASE or italics.

etc

If you must use this abbreviation of the Latin term then do not end it with a full stop (unless it is at the end of a sentence of course!) — but see etcetera.

etcetera

A Latin term that we use to mean and so on.

However, avoid this term and use plain English instead. Better yet, consider whether you can make a more concise and complete statement rather than leave the reader with questions about what the 'other stuff' you allude to might be.

F

farther; further

Farther refers to length or distance — it is the comparative form of the word 'far'. Use this word in relation to physical distance.

Further can mean 'to a greater degree', 'additional', or 'also', in reference to time, amount or continuation. Use this word for metaphorical or figurative distance or degree. Avoid continuations with this word — use 'also' or consider whether you can make a simpler sentence.

file extensions; file formats; file types

  • Where the focus in on a particular file extension, use the monospace/code text format, precede with a full stop, and type the extension in lower case unless this is not usual (Check the names of all .pdf files in the list).

  • Where the focus is on the actual file format itself, or on the type of file in general, type the abbreviation in its standard form — usually upper case (use the JPEG format for photos; PDF files are good for archival).

  • If the extension/format/type is unusual and likely to be unfamiliar to the reader, introduce it at the first mention in much the same way as for initialisms — or even with a short explanation if it is important.

fire; shoot

Writers often use 'fire' as a synonym for 'shoot'. Needless variation can lead to ambiguity, so be consistent and use 'shoot' throughout the rules. Outside of the rules context, it is okay to use 'fire' where it is a more 'natural' match for your prose.

G

H

headings

Use only standard capitalisation, also known as sentence case. Never use title case or full upper case for headings. Get some tips on how to construct good headings at Titles and headings.

It can be tricky to use hyperlinks well in documentation. Get some tips at Write effective hyperlinks.

hyphens

  • Hyphenate two-part words where it makes sense to separate repeated vowels (co-operate; pre-eminent; pre-empt; re-entry).

  • Do not use a hyphen where you should use a semi-colon, colon, em dash or en dash — each has its own purpose, so learn to use them as outlined in this guide.

See also e-words.

I

-ing words

Be careful with words that end with ing, especially gerunds (that is, verb forms which function as nouns, such as 'shooting').

It is all too easy to use such words in ways that weaken the text and create more room for doubt. Use more descriptive verbs or more plain and powerful phrases instead.

For more information, see Are -ing words really that bad?.

Example 4. -ing words

You measured, and then shot with the Vehicle unit, not You were measuring and shooting the Vehicle unit.

Use a phrase like Shoot with a super-heavy weapon, not Shooting a super-heavy weapon (and not Shoot a super-heavy weapon either).

Use a phrase like We plan to improve the shooting rules, not We are planning on improving the shooting rules.

ie

A contraction of a Latin term that we use to mean that is. No full stops. Lower case. Use it with a comma either side, ie, like this — or comma after in parenthesis (ie, like this). Do not confuse with eg, which has a different meaning.

However, avoid this term and use plain English instead.

internet

The worldwide collection of networks that offer a number of services, one of which is the Web. In general, use lower case (internet access; internet service provider). It isn’t wrong to capitalise when you use the word as a proper noun — the Internet — but it can be tricky. Be consistent, and if you want to know more see When Should I Capitalise 'Internet'?.

it’s; its

It’s is a contraction of it is. Its means belonging to, much like his and hers — no apostrophe. Its' is meaningless.

italics

Do not use italics for emphasis. Use italics to reference the title of an article, document or publication, or for defined keywords where appropriate. [TODO: Rationalise use of italics in this A to Z.]

J

K

L

Latin

In general, avoid Latin terms and their contractions like etcetera, ad hoc, ie and eg. They may be obscure to some readers. Use plain English alternatives instead.

localisation and internationalisation

Use UK English word choices and phrases — but avoid terms that can confuse readers who are more familiar with other varieties of English, or for whom English may not be their first language.

That said, there is a difference between informative content such as rules, and entertainment content such as short stories. This style guide is mostly concerned with standards for informative content, to make the rules as clear as possible. For entertainment content, it is okay to add interest through a more varied use of UK English, just as Games Workshop does.

There are no plans to translate this project into other languages or to adapt it to other locales.

See also spelling.

log in; login

Log in = verb. Login = noun. (To log in, enter your username and password in the login form; If you’ve forgotten your login details, contact support)

M

N

none; non-

none = pronoun that means not one or not any (they checked the floor for dice, but there were none). non- = a prefix that we add to a term to mean not or the opposite of that term (non-human; non-functional).

numbers; numerals

See Numbers.

O

OK

Upper case. Okay is also acceptable.

open source

Lower case. open source = noun (this software is open source). open-source = adjective (open-source software). Don’t use open-sourced as an adjective.

ongoing

One word, no hyphen.

online; offline

One word, no hyphen.

ordinals

See Numbers.

OS

operating system. Don’t use O-S or O/S or O.S. Note that Apple devices use iOS or MacOS, and Google Android-based devices use Android OS.

P

passive case

Do not use passive case, except where there really is no better way — which there usually is unless you have a specific need to be vague about agency. Instead, use the active case, usually in the imperative, and in the first or second person.

It should always be clear who or what is the 'actor' in the sentence. For rules, assume that the reader is the primary actor even though they might actually read the rules to check what their opponent may or may not do.

Example 5. Active case, not passive case

First person: We will release, not It will be released.

Second person, imperative: Check that there are no dice on the floor, not It is recommended that the player checks underfoot for dice.

Second person as the primary actor: When you shoot with this weapon, not When a player shoots with this weapon.

percent

plugin; plug in

plugin = noun, as in a software component that extends functionality (I like the flow chart plugin).

plug in = phrasal verb. Avoid phrasal verbs, and use a clearer alternative (plug your charger into your phone, not plug in your charger).

plurals

Don’t use an apostrophe to pluralise an abbreviation — unless the abbreviation ends with an s. Even then, it is often better to add the appropriate plural noun (Automated SOS messages, not Automated SOS’s). See also abbreviations.

For the possessive on a plural, see [apostrophes].

practice; practise

practice = noun (with regular practice, the rules become easy to remember). practise = verb (you can practise a variety of tactics).

Q

quotation marks; quote marks; quotes

In brief: Use double quote marks only to quote passages of text or actual speech; use single quote marks for unusual phrases.

Double quote marks in more detail
  • Use double quote marks to quote passages of text or direct speech (Wazdagga said "Oi, wossat over dere").

  • If the quote is a full sentence, place terminal punctuation — such as a full stop — before the closing mark. Otherwise, punctuate after the closing mark.

  • When you start a new paragraph within a quote, close the paragraph with terminal punctuation only (such as a full stop) — skip the closing double quote mark, but start the new paragraph with an opening mark.

  • For long or engaging quotes, consider Blockquotes.

Single quotes in more detail
  • When you refer to events and unusual phrases, use only single quotes.

R

S

setup; set up

setup = noun (Terrain setup). set up = verb (Set up the terrain). Don’t hyphenate.

spelling

Use modern UK English spellings. So: immobilised, not immobilized; colour, not color.

spaces

Do not use double spaces after a full stop or other punctuation — this became redundant when computers and proportional fonts replaced typewriters and monospace fonts. Use only a single space.

steps (ordered lists)

Use steps to guide a reader through a process.

  1. Use alphanumeric sequences, not bullets.

  2. Use a lead-in or stem sentence where appropriate, but try to structure the content so that it is not necessary.

  3. Punctuate each step normally, to include a full stop at the end of each step. If you need to include a sub-sequence within a step, use indented lowercase letters.

    1. Like this.

    2. And like this.

  4. If you need to provide choices or points in which the order is unimportant, use indented bullets (unordered list).

    • Like this.

    • And like this.

  5. And then continue with the next step like this.

super-heavy

Two words, hyphenated.

T

titles (for documents and topics)

toward; towards

Either is acceptable, but favour towards as it is more common in UK English.

trademarks

Check the spelling and capitalisation of trademarks and brands, and use them correctly. Do not use a trademark as a verb (search for it, not google it).

Symbols like ™ and ® can be useful where appropriate, but don’t overdo it — on the first mention should be enough in most cases.

U

up-to-date

Hyphenate when you use the term like an adjective to describe the operative noun, but not when you use it as the focus of a statement (we always use the up-to-date version; the publication is up to date).

units

See Numbers.

URI

uniform resource indicator. There is a technical difference between URL and URI, but URL is in common use even where URI would be more accurate. Favour URL except where the distinction is important.

See also hyperlinks (usage).

URL

uniform resource locator. See also hyperlinks (usage).

V

versus

A Latin term that we use to mean against or perhaps compared with. Commonly abbreviated to vs.

However, it is usually better to avoid this term and use plain English instead.

vs

See versus.

W

web; Web

  • When you use the word as a modifier, use lower case and separate words (web address; web page; web application; web services).

  • However, it is usual to write some terms as single words: website; webcam; webmaster; webcast.

  • If you refer to the Web, capitalise as you would for any other pronoun — and by extension, capitalise concepts like Web 2.0.

  • Note that 'the Web' is not interchangeable with 'the Internet' — the Web (formally, the World Wide Web) depends upon the Internet, but the reverse is not true.

while; whilst

Use while to convey activities that happen in parallel. Use whilst to acknowledge opposing or contrasting viewpoints. (My opponent gritted his teeth while I rolled my dice; Whilst I do like enamel paint, I much prefer acrylic)

X

Y

Z