Game title abbreviations

Overview

This is a guide to the many abbreviations for game books and game lines that you may encounter on the RPG.net forums.

Numbers at the end of an abbreviation usually indicate the edition. UA2 or UA2E, for example, would mean 'Unknown armies second edition'.

A very useful resource for publication histories and brief descriptions of these games (and many others) is the online Encyclopedia of Role-Playing Games: Encyclopedia of Role-Playing Games

#

• 3.5 - Dungeons & Dragons Edition 3.5
• 3E or 3.x - Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition
• 3.75E - common nickname for Pathfinder (First Edition)
• 4E - Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition
• 5E - Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. By far the most popular RPG. In rare cases, context of Shadowrun, "5E" can refer to it's 5th Edition.
• 7S - 7th Sea
• 5ER - Hero System 5th edition Revised rulebook

A

• A&8 - Aces & Eights
• ACKS - Adventurer Conqueror King System
• AD&D - Advanced Dungeons and Dragons
• ADRPG - Amber Diceless RPG
• AE - Amazing Engine or Arcana Evolved
• AFF - Advanced Fighting Fantasy
• AFMBE - All Flesh Must Be Eaten
• AGOT - A Game Of Thrones
• AM or ArM - Ars Magica
• AtSA - Atlantis: the Second Age
• AU - Arcana Unearthed
• AW - Apocalypse World

B

• B&B - Bunnies and Burrows
• BD&D - Basic Dungeons & Dragons
• BESM - Big Eyes Small Mouth (official acronym)
• BECMI - The 1983 version of D&D that vas published for 5 tiers of parities (Beginner(lvl.1-3), Expert(lvl.4-14) Companion(lvl.15-25 Master(lvl.16-36) Immortal(lvl. 36->))
• BG - Blood Games
• BGC - Bubblegum Crisis
• BNW - Brave New World
• BoJ - Book of Jalan
• BoL - Barbarians of Lemuria
• BotA - Barbarians of the Aftermath
• BP - Blue Planet
• BR - Blue Rose or Birthright
• BRP - Basic Roleplaying
• BRPG - Battleaxe Roleplaying Game
• BTS - Beyond the Supernatural (Palladium Books)
• BtVS - Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• BW - Burning Wheel
• BWc - Burning Wheel Classic, first edition
• BWr - Burning Wheel Revised, current edition
• B/X, BX - The Basic D&D edition from 1981, short for Basic/Expert

C

• C&C - Castles and Crusades
• C&S - Chivalry and Sorcery
• CAH - Cartoon Action Hour
• CAH: S2 - Cartoon Action Hour: Season Two
• CC - Core Command
• CoC - Call of Cthulhu
• CoD - Chonicles of Darkness, also know as New World of Darkness
• ConX - Conspiracy X
• CP - Cyberpunk
• CP2020 - Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0.
• CS - Cold Space
• CT - Classic Traveller or CthulhuTech
• CTD or C:tD - Changeling: The Dreaming
• C:tL - Changeling: The Lost
• CWOD, cWOD or cWoD - Classic World of Darkness
• CwS - Commonwealth Space

D

• D&D - Dungeons & Dragons
• D&DN - Dungeons & Dragons Next
• DA:F - Dark Ages: Fae
• DA:I - Dark Ages: Inquisitor
• DA:M - Dark Ages: Mage
• DA:V - Dark Ages: Vampire
• DA:WW - Dark Ages: Werewolf
• DC - Dark Conspiracy or DC Heroes
• DCC - Dungeon Crawl Classics
• DG - Delta Green
• DG:C - Delta Green: Countdown
• DH - Dark Heresy (set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe)
• DitV - Dogs in the Vineyard
• DMG - Dungeon Master's Guide (usually in reference to Dungeons & Dragons)
• DnD or D&D - Dungeons & Dragons
• DQ - Dragonquest
• DS - Dawning Star or Dark Sun
• DTF or D:TF - Demon: The Fallen
• DW - Dungeon World or Deathwatch
• DWAITS - Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space

E

• ED - Earthdawn
• EGtW - Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount, D&D 5E
• ERftW - Eberron: Rising from the Last War, D&D 5E
• E:tA - Exalted: The Abyssals
• E:tAu - Exalted: The Autochthonians
• E:tDB - Exalted: The Dragon-Blooded
• E:tFF - Exalted: The Fair Folk
• E:tL - Exalted: The Lunars
• E:tS - Exalted: The Sidereals
• EP - Eclipse Phase
• EPT - Empire of the Petal Throne

F

• F.A.T.A.L. Fantasy Adventure To Adult Lechery A.K.A. From Another Time; Another Land (official acronym)
• FATE - Fantastic Adventures in Tabletop Entertainment (official acronym), or the Fate RPG by Evil Hat
• FB - Fireborn
• FF - Forgotten Futures
• FR - Forgotten Realms
• FRED - Hero System Fifth Revised Edition
• FS - Feng Shui or Fading Suns
• FU - Freeform Universal RPG
• FUDGE - Freeform Universal Do-It-Yourself Gaming Engine (official acronym)

G

• GB - Gangbusters or Ghostbusters
• GBI - Ghostbusters International
• GH - Greyhawk or Golden Heroes
• GK - Gear Krieg
• GoO - Guardians of Order
• GURPS - Generic Universal Role-Playing System (official acronym)
• GT - GURPS Traveller
• GW - Gamma World

H

• HEX - Hollow Earth Expedition
• HG - Heavy Gear
• H+I - Honor + Intrigue
• HKAT - Hong Kong Action Theatre
• HKAT2 - Hong Kong Action Theatre 2nd Edition
• HM - High Medieval
• HOL - Human Occupied Landfill
• HSD - Hc Svnt Dracones
• HQ - HeroQuest
• HTR or H:TR - Hunter: The Reckoning
• H:tV - Hunter: The Vigil

I

• IC - Ironclaw
• IH - Iron Heroes
• IK - Iron Kingdoms
• IN - In Nomine
• IHW - In Harm's Way series

J

• JAGS - Just Another Generic System (official acronym)
• JC - Jovian Chronicles or Jadeclaw
• JD - Judge Dredd

L

• L&S - Lace and Steel
• L5R - Legend of the Five Rings
• LBS - Legend of the Burning Sands
• LL - Labyrinth Lord
• LoA - Legends of Anglerre
• LOTR - Lord of the Rings
• LS - Lost Souls

M

• M&M - Mutants & Masterminds or Mazes & Minotaurs
• M:YZ - Mutant:Year Zero, a game by Free League with many derivatives using the same rules
• M2 - Mekton II
• MA - Metamorphosis Alpha
• MEGS - Mayfair Exponential Gaming System (official acronym)
• MERP - Middle-Earth Roleplaying
• MET - Mind's Eye Theatre
• MF - Mutant Future
• MHR - Marvel Heroic Roleplaying
• MII - Mekton II
• MLWM - My Life With Master
• MM - Monster Manual (usually in reference to Dungeons & Dragons)
• MotW - Monster of the Week, a "Powered by the Apocalypse(PbtA)"-game
• MRQ - Mongoose Runequest
• MSH - Marvel Super Heroes
• MSPE - Mercenaries, Spies, and Private-Eyes
• MT - MegaTraveller
• MTA or M:TA - Mage: The Ascension or Mage: The Awakening
• MTAs or M:TAs - Mage: The Ascension
• MTAw or M:TAw- Mage: The Awakening
• MTDA or M:TDA - Mage: The Dark Ages
• MTSC or M:TSC- Mage: The Sorcerers' Crusade
• MTR or M:TR- Mummy: The Resurrection
• MURPG - Marvel Universe RPG
• MW - Mechwarrior
• MWWG - Macho Women With Guns
• MZ - Mekton Zeta

N

• N&S - Ninjas and Superspies
• NB - Ninja Burger
• NBA - Night's Black Agents
• NWOD, NWoD or nWoD - New World of Darkness

O

• OD&D - Original Dungeons and Dragons
• ORE - One Roll Engine
• OSE - Old School Essentials (D&D retroclone)
• OSR - Old School Revival/Renaissance, a category of games aiming for an old-school D&D gameplay
• OSRIC - Old School Reference and Index Compilation (official acronym)
• OTE - Over the Edge
• OotA - Out of the Abyss, D&D 5E
• OVA - Open Versatile Anime Role-Playing Game (official acronym)
• OWOD, OWoD or oWoD - Old World of Darkness
• OHMAS - On Her Majesty's Arcane Service

P

• PbtA - Powered by the Apocalypse (i.e. based on the mechanics in Apocalypse World)
• PD - Pendragon
• PF - Pathfinder
• PHB - Player's Handbook (usually in reference to Dungeons & Dragons)
• PotA - Princes of the Apocalypse, D&D 5E
• PTA - Primetime Adventures

Q

• QAGS - Quick Ass Game System (official acronym)

R

• RA - Random Anime
• RC - Rules Cyclopedia (Dungeons & Dragons)
• RD - Red Dwarf
• RL - Ravenloft
• RM - Rolemaster
  • RMC (Classic)
  • RMSS (Standard System)
  • RMU (Unity)
• RQ - Runequest
• RT - Rogue Trader
• RW - Ringworld

S

• S7S - Swashbucklers of the 7 Skies
• S&W - Swords and Wizardry
• SA - Starblazer Adventures
• SAS - Silver Age Sentinels
• SB - Stormbringer
• SC - StarCluster or Sweet Chariot
• SCAG - Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, D&D5E
• SF - Star Frontiers
• SLA - SLA Industries
• SoF - Strands of Fate
• SotC - Spirit of the Century
• SoJ - Skyrealms of Jorune or Secrets of Japan (Call of Cthulhu supplement)
• SR - Shadowrun
• SS&SS - Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells
• ST - Star Trek or Storyteller
• SW - Savage Worlds or Star Wars or Superworld
• STNF - Stalking the Night Fantastic

T

• T&J - Truth & Justice
• T&T - Tunnels and Trolls
• T20 - Traveller 20 or True20
• T4 - Marc Miller's Traveller
• T5 - Traveller 5th Edition
• T8 - Tribe 8
• Tal - Talislanta
• TCoE, TCE - Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, D&D 5E
• TF2V - Tales from the Floating Vagabond
• THS - Transhuman Space
• TINS - There Is No Spoon
• TMNT - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness
• TNE - Traveller: The New Era
• ToC - Trail of Cthulhu
• TOJ - Time of judgement
• ToMN - Tribes of Mother Night
• TOR - The One Ring
• TROS - The Riddle of Steel
• TS - Transhuman Space or The Terran Story or Top Secret
• TSOY - The Shadow of Yesterday
• Tw2k - Twilight 2000
• TWERPS - The World's Easiest Role-Playing System (official acronym)

U

• UA - Unknown Armies or Unearthed Arcana or Urban Arcana
• Univ - Universe, The Sci-Fi RPG
• UnMet - Unhallowed Metropolis

V

• V&V - Villains and Vigilantes
• VAV or VA:V - Victorian Age: Vampire
• VGtM - Volo's Guide to Monsters, D&D 5E
• VTDA or V:TDA - Vampire: The Dark Ages
• VTM or V:TM - Vampire: The Masquerade
• VTR or V:TR - Vampire: The Requiem

W

• WC - Witchcraft
• WFRP or WHFRP - Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay
• WH40K - Warhammer 40,000
• WLD - World's Largest Dungeon
• WOD - World of Darkness
• WoT - The Wheel of Time
• WOTG - Weapons of the Gods
• WoW - Worlds of Wonder
• WTA, W:TA, WWTA or WW:TA - Werewolf: The Apocalypse
• WTF, W:TF, WWTF or WW:TF - Werewolf: The Forsaken
• WTGW or W:TGW - Wraith: The Great War
• WTO or W:TO - Wraith: The Oblivion
• WWTWW or WW:WW or WW:TWW - Werewolf: The Wild West

X

• XGE - Xanathar's Guide To Everything, D&D 5E

Z

• ZoZ - The Zorcerer of Zo