25 sure-fire ways to get kicked out of a game

RPG map, rulebooks and dice
Image from pexels.com

A few years back, I did a post called 27 sure-fire ways to get kicked out of a game. Since it’s been a while, I thought I’d do an update of the list, particularly since the actual list only contained 25 items (mea culpa).

Even the most die-hard GMs will change sides of the table occasionally, even if it’s a pick-up game at a con. You’d think we’d make the perfect players, right? Wrong. Unfortunately, all too often GMs-turned-players are the most difficult players in a group. Here’s a tongue-in-cheek list of how exactly not to play.

  1. Repeatedly arrive extremely late to a game session without calling to let people know.
  2. Repeatedly miss a game session after assuring the GM you’d be there.
  3. Refuse to learn the basics of the rules of the system you’re playing.
  4. Hog the spotlight.
  5. Give long lectures on how the game you run is better than this one; tell the GM what he’s doing wrong and offer frequent unsolicited advice on how to run the way you would.
  6. Recite a Monty Python or Princess Bride quote for everything that happens during the game.
  7. Insist on roleplaying every moment of an extremely boring supply run. (Interesting, RP-focused supply runs are great).
  8. Turn everything said into a sexual innuendo.
  9. Make overt sexual advances to every eligible PC in the party.
  10. Make overt sexual advances to every eligible player in the group.
  11. Argue for every advantage you can squeeze out of the system, even if it takes an hour to win a +1 bonus.
  12. Insist that the GM look up an obscure rule in the middle of combat.
  13. Expect everything to go your way because the GM is your significant other.
  14. Loudly and frequently complain about how your favorite rules system is better than the one the GM is currently using.
  15. Constantly brag about your über-character in another game and how she would wipe the floor in this one.
  16. Refuse to get dice of your own and insist on rolling other people’s favorites.
  17. Continuously forget to bring your character sheet so you can make up numbers on the fly.
  18. Play while drunk (or high)–unless your entire group enjoys drinking to excess while gaming.
  19. Deliberately and/or constantly ignore the rules of the house you’re playing in (such as putting your feet on the coffee table, not using a coaster, etc.)
  20. Torment your host’s pet(s).
  21. Play computer games while you’re in session to point it distracts other players
  22. Repeatedly charm members of your own party.
  23. Repeatedly steal from members of your own party.
  24. Insist on going off on your own on a regular basis.
  25. Claim every useful bit of treasure as your own.

How about you? What have I forgotten that really raises your hackles? Please share!

How To Explain Tabletop RPGs To Other People

Man writing explanations on a whiteboard

At some point in your roleplaying career, someone will ask “What is this roleplaying thing you do?” If you’re like most of us, your brain freezes up and you’re really not sure even where to begin. Tabletop RPGs can be difficult to explain to the uninitiated. Below is a four-step method for explaining tabletop RPGs to someone who’s never played before.

1. It’s a game

Surprisingly, this is something people need to be told. You’d think that the name of the hobby (“roleplaying game”) would give them a clue, but sometimes you just need to say it. Because of the “Satanic Panic” of the ’80s and ’90s, (which is a post all to itself), some people have formed an idea of roleplaying that is so far from reality, you wonder how they got there.

Explain that tabletop RPGs are cooperative games, ones that are not about winning or losing. Tell them that these are games where the players work together to meet a pre-determined victory condition. Or tell them it’s like Game of Thrones, where they get to be one of the characters. Or that it’s a story where the players get to decide what happens. Or it’s a ‘choose your own adventure’ story, only multiplayer. Or, yes, that it’s like ‘Cops and Robbers’, with rules to resolve arguments, if you must.

Emphasize this point that it’s a game. Flat out tell them that you’re not performing magic rituals in the basement or playing with Ouija boards, and no one gets to learn real magic spells when they reach fourth level. You’re just playing a game.

2. Why do you play?

Many people have a hard time understanding why someone would want to play a game without winners or losers. Explain that there is winning and losing, it’s just that you do it as a cooperative group. Even games where the characters may be playing against one another, such as Amber Diceless Roleplaying or Vampire: the Masquerade, you still come together to solve a problem set by the game master (or dungeon master) that no one character can solve alone.

Stress that these games are fun. Who’d want to play a game that wasn’t fun? No one. You may get some push back on this, especially from those who are closest to you. “But last week you came home sad because another character had died” or “you were really furious last time,” they may say. Explain that while individual sessions may have you angry, sad, or some other feeling, the overall game itself is still fun.

3. There’s a game for everybody

Most people who aren’t tabletop gamers don’t understand that there’s more to RPGs than D&D. They don’t know that there is literally a game out there for everyone. Let them know that there are RPGs for people who like science fiction (Traveller, Firefly, Star Wars), history (Boot Hill, Ars Magica, Legend of the Five Rings), modern military (Modern War, FIST), steampunk (Castle Falkenstein, Space 1889), cyberpunk (Cyberpunk, Carbon 2185), kids (Hero Kids, Starport, My Little Pony), horror (Call of Cthulhu, World of Darkness, Chill)…if you can imagine it, someone has written an RPG for it. There are even RPGs specifically for Christians (Holy Lands, DragonRaid, Testament).

4. Invite them in

Invite them to watch a game session. If you don’t want them watching your game (it can make some people incredibly self-conscious), suggest they watch one of the online games, such as Critical Role. But there are others and it’s particularly helpful if you can find one of these broadcasts that’s using the system you’re playing. If you want something other than D&D, check out Relics and Reliquaries, which shows how versatile the 5e system is. Geek and Sundry’s “Starter Kit” series features a mini-campaign of various systems, including 7th Sea, for those who like pirates and other sea-faring adventures. Also, check out Encounter Roleplay which has professionally produced multiple campaigns from multiple systems, including Call of Cthulhu, Star Wars, and Vampire: the Masquerade.

If you’re up to it, you can even take the people or person you’re talking to through a mini-session right there and then. Tell them to imagine they’ve wandered into a town (or dungeon, or castle, or spooky forest). Describe their setting in detail, let them wander, and react to the world for a little while, then give them an encounter and ask them what they want to do. Don’t force them into combat–just let them respond as they want to. Then have them walk back to where they actually are. Tell them they’ve played their first RPG.

It’s a game?

Finally, one of the best descriptions I’ve seen is What is a Roleplaying Game? by Epidiah Ravachol. It’s actually a mini roleplaying game you can run in an instant to explain to someone what roleplaying it. If you reformat the text, you might be able to fit it on a folding business card. Feel free to distribute this, as long as you credit Ravachol.

If you liked this, also check out:

Beyond Fred: Ancient Celtic Names

Finding a character’s name can sometimes be the hardest part of building a character. If you’re looking for something different from the usual fantasy sources and more pronounceable that a random name generator, you may find something here you like.

celtic dog image
Celtic dog image from the Book of Kells

Beyond ‘Fred’ is an occasional series that provides lists of names from real-world cultures, both past, and present. In other posts, I’ve covered everything from Italian to Ancient Egyptian. This time, we’re covering ancient Celtic names. I’ve included pronunciations where I could find them, since it can be very difficult to figure that out from the spellings.

An important note: I’m listing names that I think sound cool for RPG game purposes. I’m not worried about historical accuracy. If you’re looking for a name for historical re-enactment, please check out my list of sources at the end of this post. I also don’t usually cover name meanings, but again, most of my sources list those. Finally, I tend to stay away from names that are currently in common usage. I figure if you were interested in those, you wouldn’t be looking at this list.

These names are broken into names that are traditionally male and traditionally female. I chose to retain these distinctions in all of my Beyond Fred posts. Use these names however you want. There is no reason you can’t name a female character “Drest” or a male character “Brigit.”

Male Names

Áed
Ailill
Airril
Aodh
Aonghus
Bedwyr
Blàthan
Bréandan
Cadeyrn
Cáel
Caradoc
Cian
Cuconnacht
Cumaighe
Dáire
Dathi
Diarmait
Drest
Dubhalethe
Éibhir
Elisedd
Eònan
Fachtna
Fáelán
Ferdorach
Fiachra
Galchobhar
Gwalchmei
Gwydion
Haerviu
Heremon
Iudicael
Laise
Lleu
Lóegaire
Lughaidh
Lugus
Máedóc
Máel Sechnaill
Melaghlin
Morcant
Murchadh
Neas
Ninian
Nilidh
Odhran
Oisín
Onchu
Pryderi
Pwyll
Ruadhri
Ruairidh
Sealbhach
Sláine
Sluaghadhán
Taog
Toirdelbach
Tomoltach
Tristan
Ualraig
Uthyr

Female Names

Agrona
Angharad
Bébinn
Beathag
Bláthnat
Brigit
Caoimhe
Caitir
Céibhfhionn
Clíodhna
Daireann
Derdriu
Doirend
Dolidh
Éimhear
Eithne
Emer
Fedelmid
Finola
Fionnuala
Flanna
Gormal
Graine
Granya
Gwenhwyfar
Latharna
Lewella
Luigsech
Maeve
Meadhbh
Mór Ríoghain
Morag
Muirenn
Mùirne
Neasa
Niamh
Oighrig
Rhiannon
Ríghnach
Ròs
Sadhbh
Seàrlaid
Sionann
Sláine
Slàinidh
Teàrlag
Una

References

Other ‘Beyond Fred’ Posts

New Beginnings

dry-spellYou may have noticed that I haven’t updated this blog in over a year and a half. Frankly, I’ve been burned out  on gaming. Well, not on gaming entirely, just on writing about it. This has been one huge dry spell and there’s no rain in sight.

Truth is, most of my creative work has gone into learning to write fiction. It hasn’t been an easy road for me, but that’s where my current interest lies. To that end, I’ve started a new blog, rpg+fiction=?. There I’m exploring the green area where fiction and RPGs meet.

So, basically, I’m closing this blog. I’m hosting it myself, so it will remain here because it still gets hits several times a day and I think there’s information here people use. But it won’t be updated any time in the near future. But who knows? Maybe I’ll feel that urge to take up the game writing mantle again at some point. Meanwhile, if you’re interested, check out my new blog, rpg+fiction=?. There’s only a couple of posts right now, but more are being added as I have the inspiration.

How to create a Player Packet for Your New Campaign

carnival-logoUnless your game is a simple series of published dungeon crawls  with little to no storyline, it’s a good idea to create a player packet (also commonly called a campaign pack or game packet) for your players. This packet should contain all the information players need to create their characters.

You need to know what you want your campaign to before you create your player packet. Use your elevator pitch, if you created one. If not, you want to express your campaign idea as simply as you can. This version of the campaign idea is for the players: it may differ from the version in your notes. After all, you don’t want to give away any secrets in advance. Still, reveal as much as you can; think of this as a commercial or preview of your game and make it as exciting as you can. Some GMs  even create video “trailers” for their game. This is a great idea if you have the time, skill, and software to produce it. Don’t worry if you don’t; a printed packet is more than sufficient.

Your packet should tell players what to expect from your game. You want to highlight the parts of your game that make it different from the “typical” game of that system and from other campaigns you’ve run. The second job of your player packet is to entice your players and make them as excited about the game as you are. (if you aren’t excited about your game, you need to retool your campaign concept until you are. Because if you’re not excited about this idea, your players won’t be, either.) There’s no wrong way to write a campaign packet, but try to match the tone you want for your game. Use active verbs, possibly even second person viewpoint. Anything you can think of that will build interest.

Divide your player packet into three sections:

  1. Information players need to create their characters. Be sure to include any house rules or character restrictions in this section.
  2. A brief introduction to your game world. This part should be a quick, general overview of the most important points. Just include a basic overview of the most important parts of your setting that are of direct importance to starting characters. Keep it short.  Don’t expect them to read a 200 page description detailing every piece of cultural information you can cram in there and expect them to skim (if you’re lucky) the information you do include.
  3. A brief summary of game mechanics. Don’t copy pages of the book—just provide a summary in note form. You just want to give them a cheat sheet to the most important and commonly used mechanics. Even if you don’t include a mechanics cheat sheet, you still need to detail any house rules and any table rules you want the players to follow. It’s also a good idea to make a list of any game books you’ll be using beyond the core rules.

Even if your players are die-hard setting junkies who will eagerly pounce on every tidbit of information you provide, you should still weed your information down to the most important points for your player packet. You can give them the rest of the information just before it becomes important. Or you can provide them with a separate setting booklet, describing your world in full detail. Again, include only the things of most  importance to the players. By sorting your campaign ideas into core ideas versus side issues, you can tighten up your own notes and have a better idea of what are the central points of your campaign and what can be dropped if necessary.

Consider adding maps and illustrations to help jazz your pack up. If you’re not an artist yourself, check out stock art sites. Many time even paid stock art sites  will have some free images you can use. Or you can often get a few images for a nominal fee. Here are some places to get stock art:

The important thing about a player packet is that it’s for the players. It’s not to show off your writing skills, or to detail every last inch of your game world. Keep your player packet short and useful.

Enhanced by Zemanta

August Blog Carnival: Campaign Creation

carnival-logoThis month, rpgGM.com is hosting the RPG Bloggers Blog Carnival and we’re talking campaign creation. Do you have a method you use to create your campaigns, or do you just “wing it”? How would you like to create your campaigns? Is there something specific you do that you think would help other GMs create better campaigns? What’s the best campaign you ever ran and why do you think it was so successful? Or what campaign went horribly wrong and what would you did differently? If you’re a player, what would you like to see your GM do when he sets up a new campaign?

Campaign creation is a big topic, so your posts can be as broad or as narrow as you like. Talk about the whole process of campaign creation or just one small part of it, like making antagonists or choosing a game system. Or discuss the player’s responsibilities regarding campaign creation. To participate, write a post relating to campaign creation. Then leave a comment containing a link to that post. At the end of the month, I’ll do a round-up post listing all the sites that participated. Have fun with this, guys. I looking forward to seeing your ideas.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Where I’ve Been

bookshelvesI know this blog has been dormant for the past several months. The truth is, I’m running through a gaming dry spell. My GMing is off and I’m having trouble getting myself enthused about my game or writing here. I think that’s largely because my creative energies have been going in a completely new direction.

Like probably a lot of you, I’ve had a dream of writing fiction. A year ago, I decided to stop dreaming and start writing. Up to this point, my forays in fiction have been…well, “terrible” would be a generous description. I’d get a page or two in and then *pwffft*. No more ideas. This time I determined I’d keep at it until I got a first draft and set out with the goal of writing the suckiest first draft I could possibly managed. And because I knew I couldn’t create plots well, I decided to do what many of us did in high school (large warning bells here), I decided to write a story about my current favorite PC. I know, bad, bad, bad. I got permission from my GM to use his homebrew world and many of the NPCs as a starting point for my setting and permission from the other players to use their characters as well (with big warnings that these would be my versions of their characters, so not to expect them to be the same). I did that, thinking that if nothing else, I could use events as the game for my plot.

This is, of course, generally where things go wrong with game fiction. But I wasn’t married to the game events. Just used them as a starting point. I wrote about 200-300 pages of character development, world setting, three or four plot outlines, even a few scenes, but the story was going nowhere. Even when I completely stripped out the game events, the story still went nowhere. I gave myself permission to change anything to make it work as a fiction piece (which actually, I’d done at the beginning of this adventure) and threw out all the game events, all the other PCs and most of the NPCs, except for my main antagonist and his primary agent. That helped. I could tell there was a real story in there, I just wasn’t sure how to get it out. I vetted my PC, my main character, out on a couple of writing boards (“Would you read a story about this character?”) and got a very positive response, so I knew there was  a story to be told, I just needed to keep digging.

A year out from my first start I’m now about a quarter of the way into the new first draft and it’s working. I mean, really working. I’m averaging about 2000 words a week on the rough draft alone. That’s slow going, but it’s taking shape. I’m finding surprises as I write constantly and I’m starting to see the complete picture of the story. What changed? Well, I won’t go into detail here, since this is a gaming blog, but I’ll briefly say How to Think Sideways, a fiction-writing course from Holly Lisle (author of Talyn, Hunting the Corrigan’s Blood, Fire in the Mist and about fourteen other novels) that reminds me of Gamer Lifestyle for fiction writers (having taken both courses now, I can say that 😉 ). I’m not an affiliate, just a very satisfied student. I highly recommend the course for anyone with the dream of writing fiction.

I’ve still got some gaming projects in the works. I need to take a day or two and force myself away from the story to finish revising The Adventure Creation Handbook. It’s almost complete. Just needs an edit of the new appendix I added on quick adventure ideas and then some packaging and it’ll be done and out. And I’m still wanting to finish the The Campaign Creation Handbook, but that’s till in first draft. I just need to make myself work on it. Maybe with the reboot of Gamer Lifestyle, I’ll get more inspiration to do it.

I’m starting a writing blog to share my journey (and–I admit it–start promoting the book, since I plan to self-publish). I’m not going to be talking about it here, because this is a gaming blog and I’d guess that most of my readers here probably don’t care about how my novel is going. For those of you who do, my fiction blog is currently titled “Jade’s Fiction” (though I’m going to come up with a better title). There’s nothing up there yet; that’s one of my goals to do tonight. I’m going to try and continue posting here, but if you don’t hear from me, now you know where I am 🙂 .

Enhanced by Zemanta

Beyond ‘Fred’: Sumerian Names

Sumerian necklaces and headgear discovered in ...

Sumerian necklaces and headgear discovered in the royal (and individual) graves, showing the way they may have been worn. British Museum. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Finding a character’s name can sometimes be the hardest part of building a character. If you’re looking for something different from the usual fantasy sources and more pronounceable that a random name generator, you may find something here you like.

Beyond ‘Fred’ is an occasional series that provides lists of names from real-world cultures, both past and present. In other posts, I’ve covered everything from Italian to Ancient Egyptian. This time, we’re covering names from ancient Sumer. Some of these names are names of gods and goddesses, some are names of kings, and some are names of ordinary people. A few lists didn’t even have names broken down by gender or seemed to be used for either gender. For that reason, I’m including a third category I don’t normally use: unknown gender or gender-neutral names.

An important note: I’m listing names that I think sound cool for rpg game purposes. I’m not worrying about historical accuracy. If you’re looking for a name for historical re-enactment, please check out my list of sources at the end of this post. I also don’t usually cover name meanings, but again, most of my sources list those. Finally, I tend to stay away from names that are currently in common usage. I figure if you were interested in those, you wouldn’t be looking at this list. ;)

Male Sumerian Names

  • Aradegi
  • Aradlugal
  • Babum
  • Balih
  • Dadazig
  • Dumuzid
  • Entana
  • Enki
  • Gilgamesh
  • Gudea
  • Hablum
  • Hadanish
  • Ibranum
  • Iltasadum
  • Kalbum
  • Ludari
  • Luninni
  • Mageshgetil
  • Nanni
  • Puzur-Suen
  • Tuge
  • Undalulu
  • Yarlangab
  • Zizi

Female Sumerian Names

  • Aea
  • Anunit
  • Bau
  • Elutil
  • Ereshkigal
  • Gemekala
  • Gesthinanna
  • Inanna
  • Ishtar
  • Kishar
  • Lahamu
  • Mesh-he
  • Nammu
  • Nigbau
  • Puzur-Nirah
  • Uttu

Sumerian names of unknown gender (or gender-neutral)

  • Bauninsheg
  • Meania
  • Sheshkala
  • Urusilim
  • Zimu

Sources

Enhanced by Zemanta

5 Great Podcasts for Game Inspiration

podcast-logoThere are a number of RPG-related podcasts, everything from RPG news and GM tips to recorded play sessions. But there five non-gaming podcasts that regularly give me game ideas and I thought I’d list them here:

  • Stuff to Blow Your Mind: The stranger side of science. Really, the real world is much stranger than anything I could come up with in-game. Topics have included everything from teenage angst to the shadow side of the mind to slime in the animal kingdom.
  • Stuff You Missed in History Class: The interesting bits of history that classes tend to leave out. Recent topics have included Nikola Tesla and the current war, John Wilkes Booth, D.B. Cooper, and historical hoaxes.
  • The History Chicks: The real lives of famous women in history. The hosts Beckett and  Susan do a great job of bringing the world of the women to life. The also have fairy tale episodes where they discuss the origins and history of fictional heroines such as Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood. If you thought you knew these stories, think again. Also check out the website, including the show notes. It’s got links to other history resources that bring each of the time periods alive.
  • Stuff They Don’t Want You to Know: Video podcasts of conspiracy theories. You could watch an entire episode while waiting in the grocery line. Take two, they’re small.
  • The Podcast History of Our World: Having trouble remembering the Assyrians from the Sumerians? The history of our world from the dawn of man. They’re only up to Assyrian Empire right now (episode 22), so you don’t have an excessive amount of episodes to catch up on if you decide to start from the beginning. The site also has links to a musician who recreates ancient music, just in case you really need some background music from Ancient Rome.

How about you? What non-gaming podcasts give you idea? Let us know in the comments!

[Graphic courtesy of derrickkwa via Flickr Creative Commons]

Enhanced by Zemanta

Tabletop RPG Games by Genre

A D&D game session in progress

A D&D game session in progress (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Here’s a list of several RPGs and the genres fit into. Some games are harder to classify than others, so you may not agree with my placement; as always, YMMV. Also, a few games fit more than one genre. In this case, I’ve placed them in all genres I feel are appropriate.

Animals (You play animals)

  • Bunnies and Burrows
  • Critter Commandos
  • Furry Pirates
  • Justifiers
  • Mouseguard
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Anime

  • Big Eyes, Small Mouths
  • In Nomine: Anime
  • Teenagers From Outer Space

Cartoon

  • Bullwinkle and Rocky Role-Playing Party Game
  • Elfquest
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
  • Toon

Fantasy (also called “High Fantasy”, “Straight Fantasy”)

  • 7th Sea
  • AGE
  • Amber Diceless RPG
  • Arcanum
  • Arduin
  • Aria
  • Ars Magica
  • Burning Wheel
  • Castles & Crusades
  • Chivalry and Sorcery
  • Conan
  • Dangerous Journeys
  • DragonQuest
  • DragonRaid
  • Dungeons and Dragons (all editions)
  • Earth Dawn
  • Elfquest
  • Elric
  • Empire of the Petal Throne
  • Everway
  • Exalted
  • Fantasy Hero
  • Furry Pirates
  • HackMaster
  • Harn
  • Iron Claw
  • Lace and Steel
  • Lord of the Rings
  • One Ring
  • OSRIC
  • Man, Myth, and Magic
  • Middle Earth Role Play
  • Palladium
  • Pathfinder
  • Pendragon
  • RoleMaster
  • RuneQuest
  • Talislantia
  • Top Secret
  • Tunnels and Trolls
  • Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay
  • Ysgarth

Historical (includes SF and fantasy firmly grounded in a historical periods)

  • Adventure (1920’s)
  • Ars Magica (Medieval; Fantasy)
  • Bushido (Feudal Japan)
  • Call of Cthulhu (1920’s; Horror)
  • Castle Falkenstein (Victorian; Fantasy)
  • Gangbusters (1920’s)
  • Gaslight (Victorian)
  • Indiana Jones (1920’s)
  • Lace and Steel (Cavalier)
  • Legend of the Five Rings (Feudal Japan)
  • Mouseguard (Medieval)
  • Pendragon (Medieval)
  • Qin (China, Warring States period)
  • Space 1889 (Victorian; SF)
  • Vampire: Dark Ages
  • various GURPS supplements, including Japan, Russia, China, etc.
  • Victoriana (Victorian)
  • Werewolf: Wild West

Horror

  • All Flesh Must Be Eaten
  • Call of Cthulhu (and it’s off-shoots such as Cthulhu by Gaslight, Cthulhupunk, etc.)
  • Chill
  • Deadlands
  • GURPS Horror
  • It Came From the Late, Late Show
  • Kult
  • Little Fears
  • Necroscope
  • Nephilim
  • Nocture
  • Ravenloft (AD&D and d20)
  • Unknown Armies
  • Whispering Vault
  • World of Darkness
  • Zombi

Humor

  • Bullwinkleand Rocky Role-Playing Party Game
  • Bureau 13
  • Ghostbusters RPG
  • HoL
  • Macho Women with Guns
  • Murphy’s World
  • Pandemonium
  • Paranoia
  • SLUG
  • Stuporpowers
  • Tales of the Floating Vagabond
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
  • Teenagers From Outer Space
  • Toon

Modern

  • Bureau 13
  • Dream Park
  • Dresdan Files
  • Etherscope
  • Feng Shui
  • Gumshoe
  • Immortal
  • In Nomine
  • James Bond 007
  • Macho Women with Guns
  • Mercenaries, Spies, and Private Eyes
  • Ninjas and Superspies
  • Nobilis
  • Over the Edge
  • Pandemonium
  • Scion
  • Stargate SG-1
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
  • Twilight 2000
  • World of Darkness (Vampire, Werewolf, Mage, Wraith/Ghost, Changeling, Hunter, etc.)
  • Unknown Armies
  • X-Crawl

Near Future

  • Aberrant
  • Cybergenereation
  • Cyberpunk
  • Judge Dredd
  • Shadowrun
  • Teenagers From Outer Space
  • Trinity
  • Underground

Post-Apocolyptic

  • Aftermath!
  • Darwin’s World
  • Gamma World

Science Fiction

  • 2300 AD
  • Alternity
  • Blue Planet
  • Darwin’s World
  • Dr. Who
  • Fading Suns (D&D)
  • Gamma World
  • HoL
  • Jovian Chronicles
  • Justifiers
  • Mekton
  • Murphy’s World
  • Paranoia
  • Serenity
  • Skyrealms of Jorune
  • SpellJammer (D&D)
  • Star Trek
  • Star Wars
  • Tales of the Floating Vagabond
  • Traveller
  • Trinity
  • Universe

Spies (Espionage)

  • James Bond 007
  • Mercenaries, Spies, and Private Eyes
  • Ninjas and Superspies
  • Top Secret

Steampunk/Victorian

  • Castle Falkenstein
  • Cthulhu by Gaslight
  • Gaslight
  • Space 1889

Superhero

  • Aberrant
  • Champions
  • DC Heroes
  • DC Universe Roleplaying Game
  • Marvel Superheros
  • Mutants and Masterminds
  • Stuporpowers
  • Villians and Vigilantes

Westerns

  • Boot Hill
  • Deadlands

Licensed Games (based on books, movies, or TV shows)

  • Amber Diceless RPG (Amber series by Roger Zelazny)
  • Bullwinkle and Rocky Role-Playing Party Game
  • Conan
  • Dr. Who (Dr. Who TV series)
  • Dresdan Files (Dresdan Files books and TV)
  • Elfquest
  • Elric
  • Ghostbusters RPG
  • Lord of the Rings
  • Middle Earth Role Play
  • One Ring (Lord of the Rings)
  • Serenity (Firefly TV series and Serenity movie)
  • Space Opera
  • Star Frontiers
  • Stargate SG-1
  • Star Trek
  • Star Wars (Star Wars franchise)
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
  • TWERPS

Generic or multiple genres

  • d20
  • Amazing Engine
  • Dream Park
  • FATE
  • FUDGE
  • GURPS
  • Hero System
  • Rifts
  • Savage Worlds
  • SLUG
  • TORG
  • TWERPS

Of course, this is by no means and exhaustive list. I concentrated on games available in the US, mostly because I’m not familiar with any others. Even so, I’m sure I’ve forgotten someone’s favorite game; if so, leave me a comment and I’ll include it in a revised list.

Enhanced by Zemanta