RPG Forum Acronyms & Abbreviations
Gamers love acronyms and one encounters a multitude of acronyms and abbreviations while reading though gaming forums and their meanings aren't always entirely clear and even Google doesn't always provide ready answers. On this page I'll be collecting as many of these terms as I can. The fine folks at the RPG Pub have been exceedingly helpful with suggestions for inclusions.
0-9
- 1PG
- One Page System
- 3PP
- Third Party Publisher
- 40K
- Warhammer 40,000
A-C
- AC
- Armor Class, Air Conditioning, Alternating Current, Alien: Covenant, take your pick.
- AD&D
- Advanced Dungeons & Dragons
- AFAIK
- As Far As I Know
- AFF
- Advanced Fighting Fantasy
- AFMBE
- All Flesh Must Be Eaten
- AiME
- Adventures in Middle-Earth, a setting for the fifth edition of Dungeons and Dragons based on Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. It is published by Cubicle 7.
- AS&SH
- Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea
- AW
- Apocalypse World
- B&B
- Bunnies and Burrows
- BAB
- Base Attack Bonus
This is the chief attack modifier used in Third Edition D&D and the various D20 System games that derived from it. - BBB
- Big Blue Book a.k.a. Champions 4th edition
- BBF
- BareBones Fantasy
- BECMI
- Refers to the set of D&D box sets beginning with Basic and continuing through Expert, Companion, Master, & Immortal
- BGG
- Boardgamegeek
I think this is an online forum. - BESM
- Big Eyes, Small Mouth; an RPG published by Guardians of Order
- BGB
- Big Gold Book for BRP ISBN-13: 978-1568823478
- BOH
- Bundle of Holding
- BoL
- Barbarians of Lemuria
- BRP
- Basic Roleplaying, the system behind most Chaosium RPGs such as Runequest, Pendragon, & Call of Cthulhu
- BTW
- By the way
- BtW
- Beyond the Wall (and Other Adventures)
- B/X D&D or BX D&D
- This is a reference to the 1981 edition of D&D written by Tom Moldvay
- C&C
- Castles & Crusades
- C&S
- Chivalry and Sorcery
- C&T
- Crypts & Things
- C&W
- Cakebread & Walton
- CC
- Creative Commons
- CG
- Colonial Gothic
- Chargen
- Character Generation
- CoC
- Call of Cthulhu
- ConX
- Conspiracy X
- CYOA
- Choose Your Own Adventure
D-H
- D&D
- Dungeons & Dragons
- DCC
- Dungeon Crawl Classics an RPG published by Goodman Games
- DCH
- DC Heroes roleplaying game by Mayfair
You will also see this referred to as MEGS - DIY
- Do-It-Yourself
- DP9
- Dream Pod 9
- DPR
- Damage Per Round
- DPS
- Damage Per Second
- DTRPG
- DriveThruRPG
- DW
- Doctor Who
- DW
- Dungeon World
- F2F
- Face to Face
- FAQ
- Frequently Asked Questions
- FASERIP
- TSR's Marvel Superheroes RPG. The acronym is formed from the first letter of the seven attributes used in the game
- FF
- Fighting Fantasy
- FFG
- Fantasy Flight Games
- GM
- Game Master
- GNS
- Gamist, Narrativist, Simulationist. This is a reference to GNS theory.
- GURPS
- Generic Universal Role Playing System
An RPG published by Steve Jackson Games - HEX
- Hollow Earth Expedition
- HP
- Hit Points
- HQ
- HeroQuest
I-N
- IANAL
- I am not a lawyer
- ICE
- Iron Crown Enterprises
- IDHMBIFOM
- I Don't Have My Book In Front Of Me
- IIRC
- If I Recall Correctly
- IMHO
- In my humble opinion
- IMNSHO
- In my not so humble opinion
- IP
- Intellectual Property
On gaming forums this often comes up in relation to the OGL. Sometimes incorrectly used interchangeably with "Product Identity" - ISTM
- It seems to me
- ITYM
- I Think You Mean
- LARP
- Live Action Role Playing
- LBB
- Little Black Books referring to the original Traveller books
- LBB
- Little Brown Books referring to the original edition of D&D from the early 70s
- LJ
- Live Journal
- LL
- Labyrinth Lord
- LMAO
- Laughing My Ass Off
- LOL
- Lauging Out Loud
- LotFP
- Lamentations of the Flame Princess
- LOTR
- Lord Of The Rings
- LRP
- Live Roleplaying
- LTTP
- Late To The Party
- LWAG
- Lone Wolf Adventure Game
- M&M
- Mazes and Minotaurs
- M&M
- Mutants & Masterminds
- MEGS
- Mayfair Exponential Game System
See DCH above. - MERP
- Middle Earth Role Playing
- MST3K
- Mystery Science Theater 3000
- MYZ/MY0
- Mutant: Year Zero
- NPC
- Non-Player Character
- nWoD
- New World of Darkness
O-R
- OD&D
- Original Dungeons & Dragons
Refers to the original edition of the game published in 1974. - OGC
- Open Game Content
Material released under the OGL - OGL
- Open Game License
- OQ
- OpenQuest
- OSR
- Old School Revival or Old School Renaissance
- PBEM
- Play By E-Mail
- PbF
- Play by Forum
- PbP
- Play by Post
- PbtA
- Powered by the Apocalypse; the system developed for Apocalypse World
- PC
- Player Character
- PvP
- Player Vs Player
- PWYW
- Pay What You Want
- RAI
- Rules As Intended
- RAW
- Rules As Written
- RC
- Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia
A compilation and revision of the BECM portion of the BECMI rules. - RIP
- Rules In Play
- RNR
- Rulings Not Rules
- ROFL
- Rolling On Floor, Laughing
- RoH
- River of Heaven
- RoR
- Raiders of R'lyeh
- RPG
- Role Playing Game
- RPGG
- RPGGeek
I think this is an online forum. - RQ
- Runequest
S-Z
- SBVD
- Small but Vicious Dog
- SJG
- Steve Jackson Games
- SotDL
- Shadow of the Demon Lord
- S&W
- Swords & Wizardry
- SW
- Savage Worlds
- SW
- Star Wars
- TBH
- to be honest
- TBP
- The Big Purple aka rpg.net
- TFOS
- Teenagers from Outer Space
A comedy RPG published by R. Talsorian Games - TGD
- The Gaming Den
I think this is an online forum. - THAC0
- To Hit Armor Class 0; used in certain versions of D&D to determine chance to hit on attack roles. Primarily found in AD&D Second Edition.
- TLA
- Three Letter Acronym
Frequently seen in the plural form as TLAs - TL;DR
- Too Long; Didn't Read
- TMW
- That moment when...
- TOR
- The One Ring, an RPG published by Cubicle 7
- TotM
- Theater of the Mind
- TPK
- Total Party Kill
- TSoY
- The Shadow of Yesterday
An RPG by Clinton R. Nixon - T&T
- Tunnels and Trolls
- TTRPG
- Table Top Roleplaying Game
Used to distinguish pen and paper games from computer roleplaying games. - TWERPS
- The Worlds Easiest Role Playing System
This was a game published by Reindeer Games in 1987 and distributed by Gamescience. It is notable for having precisely one stat. - UA
- Unearthed Arcana
- UA
- Unknown Armies
- V&V
- Villains and Vigilantes
- VtM
- Vampire: The Masquerade
- VTT
- Virtual Table Top
- WEG
- West End Games
- WEG SW
- West End Games' Star Wars
May also be rendered as WEGSW - WFRP
- Warhammer Fantasy Role-Playing
- WLC
- World's Largest City
- WoD
- World of Darkness
- WtA
- Werewolf: the Apocalypse
- WTF
- What the... (I leave it as an exercise for the reader to figure out what the F stands for.)
Used as an expression of shocked puzzlement. - WTH
- See WTF
- YMMV
- Your Mileage May Vary
- XP
- Experience Points