| Name | Genre | Complexity | Seriousness | Brief Description | Suitability for a One-Up | Rich's Desire to GM | Campaign Potential (Rich's Desire) |
| Marvel Super Heroes | Superhero | 3 | 3 | Super hero RPG based on Marvel comics characters | Yes, definitely! Easy to come up with some really unique PCs, play once and never look back. | Mid to Low | Nill |
| Diablo RPG | Fantasy | 3 | 4 | RPG based on D&D and Diablo computer game | Yes, but not the best. | Mid to Low | Low |
| Feng Shui | Weird Oriental | 2 | 2 | Hong Kong action theater type RPG with time traveling battle for control of Earth's magic nexi | This is a super one-up system! | High | Mid to Low |
| GURPS | Generic | 3 | 3 | Anything, but more complicated than you might think it would be | Nah! | Nill | Nill |
| Macho Women with Guns | Weird Modern | 2 | 1 | Player characters are women who battle such menaces as fratboys and rednecks; good, tasteless fun. You can pick different settings from Lovecraftian through Dark Nearfuture. | Excellent! If people can avoid feeling offended! | High | Low |
| Dragon's Byte | Fantasy | 3 | 2 | Judge's Guild's attempt to enter the FRP world in the late 70s. What can you say about a game that lets you fight breakfast foods? | Nah! | Nill | Nill |
| Usagi Yojimbo | Anthropomorphic Oriental | 2 | 3 | Player characters are animals playing Japanese shogi-era type archetypes; mix of goofy and serious -- based on a long running comic of the same name | Mid-range! Could be fun, but you would have to be in the right mood. | Mid to Low | Mid to Low |
| Gangbusters | Roaring 20s | 3 | 2 | Player characters are either gangsters or law enforcement officials from the 1920s in the US. Famous for its criminal activity tables that allow you to simulate running gin joints or cat-houses | Mid-range! Could be fun, but you would have to be in the right mood. | Mid to Low | Mid to Low |
| Very Large Creatures | Stuffed Animals | 2 | 1 | Players take the role of stuffed animals. If a character is defeated in combat, they "take a nap." | Could be good. Fun premise and easy to set-up | Nill | Nill |
| Batman RPG | Superhero | 3 | 4 | Dark superheroes game; based on the Batman comics | Nah! | Nill | Nill |
| Lords & Wizards | Fantasy | 2 | 4 | Players control either a Lord or Wizard and search ruins for magical items; half tactical wargame and half FRPG | Could be fun, but would take some set-up on the GM side. | Low | Maybe as a play by e-mail game. |
| Insectia | Weird Science | 4 | 3 | Players take the role of mutated insects and fight such menaces as hive insects, spiders, etc. Some real and much pseudo-science. | Could be fun, but would take some set-up on the GM side. | Mid to Low | Maybe as a summer thing. It would be easy to swap GMs. |
| Pokethulhu | Weird Modern | 2 | 1 | Silly combination of Pokemon and Call of Cthulhu with a surprisingly workable, but simple system. | This is an excellent one-shot system! | High | Low |
| Hero Wars | Fantasy | 5 | 5 | Overly melodramatic adaptation of Gloranthan setting. For the serious gamers that ROLE-play and enjoy endless discussions of rules interpretation. | Are you kidding me? | Nill | Nill |
| Laws of the Hunt | Modern | 4 | 5 | White Wolf's game depicting the humans that fight and lose against the fiendish hordes in their other gaming systems. | Are you kidding me? | Nill | Nill |
| Khymir | Fantasy | 3 | 5 | Dark fantasy game based on best selling author Mark Roger's fantasy world (NR-17 for violence and themes) | Could be fun, but would take some set-up on the GM side. | High | Mid to Low |
| Attack of the Humans | Weird Fantasy | 2 | 1 | The premise for this game is that all those anthropomorphic gods from ancient history were monsters that enslaved the humans. Well, the monsters are still here, but now the humans found out - mayhem and good ol fashion monster bashing. | Fun one-shot system; it's a one-schtick game though. So, it is just a shoot'em up after you figure out in what clever ways the monsters are hiding. | Mid to Low | Nill |
| Incursion | Weird Modern | 4 | 1 | Players take on the role of abducted humans who awaken on an alien ship with all the aliens gone. The game is a spoof with interesting, but relatively complicated mechanics. | Fun, but less fun than some of the other games | Mid to Low | Nill |
| Land of Ninja | Oriental | 3 | 4 | Avalon Hill oriental FRP based on the RQ engine | Good one-up after you know the RQ engine. | Medium | Mid to Low |
| Quest of the Ancients | Fantasy | 4 | 5 | Fantasy game based on the premise that the druids had things right all along and were driven out by evil, civilized folks. Interesting system, but relatively complicated. | Nah! | Nill | Nill |
| Bunnies & Burrows | Anthropomorphic | 2 | 2 | A game based on Watershipdown. Characters are bunnies! Fun combination of flavor rules and mechanics that prevent players from counting higher than four! Got to love it! | Excellent. Easy to learn, fun to play, and just a blast to GM! | High | Low |
| Spies & Private Eyes | Modern | 2 | 4 | Modern game based on Tunnels and Trolls mechanics. Simple rules in a serious setting. | Nah! | Nill | Low |
| Hawkwind | Weird Fantasy | 4 | 5 | Chaosium attempt at capturing Moorecock's strange world where everyone wears masks. | Nah! | Nill | Nill |
| High Fantasy (1978) | Fantasy | 2 | 4 | One of the very first alternatives to D&D. How did it do? Have you ever heard of it? Answer the question yourself! Based on "d100 rolls which are superior to d20 rolls, because there is more variation." Players pick one of five standard character classes including fighters and wizards. Clearly a D&D knockoff. | Could be fun, but would take some set-up on the GM side. | Mid to Low | Nill |
| Top Secret | Modern | 4 | 4 | TSR's modern spy game | Nah! | Nill | Nill |
| Boothill | Old West | 3 | 4 | Players take on the role of characters from the old west. | Fun if folks are in the right mood to play a western. | Mid to Low | Low |
| It Came from the Late, Late Show | Modern | 2 | 1 | Characters are actors taking roles in various types of B-grade films from Fortune Cookie theater to Slasher to … Great rules like "jump cut" and "film break" keep the game always moving and light hearted. | One of the best systems out there to do a one-up in, because you can use any genre! | High | Mid |
| The Fantasy Wargame | Fantasy | 4 | 5 | One of the most spoofed rule sets of all times. Famous mechanics include the "leadership rule" that allows players to boss each others' characters around and the nuclear blast of death from misrolls on the spell table. Must be played to be believed -- or not actually. | Nah! | Nill | Nill |
| Other Suns | Anthropomorphic Sci Fi | 4 | 3 | Characters are animals in a sci fi setting. | Nah! | Nill | Nill |
| Nightlife | Weird Modern | 3 | 3 | Characters are monsters living in the modern world. Precursor for White Wolf's entire series. Even includes a humanity rating! | Nah! | Nill | Nill |
| Paranoia | Weird Sci Fi | 3 | 1 | Players take on the role of clones trying to do the will (or not) of the crazy computer whilst the GM tries to kill the characters. The most fun you can have in a three minute campaign. | A fun one-up about once per decade. I don't think ten years have gone by yet. | Low to Nill | Nill |
| MERC | Modern | 2 | 5 | Characters are mercenaries in less than savory parts of the world. Simple mechanics, interesting topic. | Quite a neat system. Fun as a one-up; no chance for a campaign. | High to Mid | Mid to Low |
| Tunnels & Trolls | Fantasy | 2 | 2 | Fantasy game that does not take itself very seriously. Spells include "take that you fiend" and another that makes your big toe grow to the size of a small house. | A decent one-shot system, but you have to be in the right, silly frame of mind. | Low to Nill | Nill |
| D&D | Fantasy | 3 to 5 | 4 to 5 | Grandfather of them all. | We have played it so much that it would be lots more fun to try other things. | Nill | Mid |
| Palladium RPG | Fantasy | 4 | 4 | Ken Siembieda and his wife Mary left Judge's Guild to form his own company. This game combines T&T, D&D and RQ into a new game. Many interesting concepts, too complex to base a campaign on. | Takes a fair amount to setup a character. So, not really. Not so different than what we normally play. | Nill | Nill |
| Travellers | Sci Fi | 3 | 4 | First popular sci fi RPG. Notable that travel between stars was based on "jump" technology. | Fun, but takes a fair amount of effort to generate characters. A good campaign game, but not so good for one-ups. | Low to Nill | Mid |
| Call of Cthulhu | Horror | 3 | 5 | Based on Lovecraft's writings. Characters opposed the forces of the uncaring, nearly omnipotent Great Old Ones (GOO). Every player character eventually either dies or goes insane. | One of the best systems for a one-shot, because players can take crazy chances with their characters to defeat the GOO! | High | Mid to Low |
| Star Wars | Sci Fi | 3 | 3 | RPG based on George Lucas' Star Wars universe | A good one-shot system, but we did this one as a troupe style and some of the members play this on a regular basis. | Low to Nill | Mid to Low |
| Indiana Jones | Pulp | 4 | 4 | RPG based on Indiana Jones films | A fun one-up, but you have to be in the right, cliffhanger frame of mind to play it and try wacky stunts | Mid to Low | Low |
| Rolemaster | Fantasy | 5 | 4 | Occasionally called "roll-master" or "chart-master" the system is know for the plethora of charts that are often just "silly decorations" as not. | Could be fun, but would take some set-up on the GM side. | Low to Nill | Nill |
| Fuzzy Heroes | Stuffed Animals | 2 | 1 | Players take the role of stuffed animals. If a character is defeated in combat, they "take a nap." | Could be good. Fun premise and easy to set-up | Nill | Nill |
| He-man | Weird Fantasy | 5 | 2 | Based on the He-Man TV show. Rules are garbled and incomplete. | Nah! | Nill | Nill |
| Necroscope | Horror | 4 | 5 | Based on Lumley's Necroscope series. Players opposed the dark forces of the Wampheri, god like vampires. | Relatively complicated system. So, not really suitable for a one-up. | Nill | Low |
| Spartaco | Historical | 2 | 4 | Italian game based on Roman history. Players take on the role of Roman citizens. Limited play value. | Interesting system, but would take some time to understand the Italian method of game play. | Low to Nill | Low |
| Ultimo Templari | Historical | 2 | 4 | Italian game based on the Knights Templar. Limited play value. | Interesting system, but would take some time to understand the Italian method of game play. | Low to Nill | Low |
| Ranger | Modern | 4 | 5 | Players take on the role of US Ranger forces in training and in combat operations. | System would take too long to learn to just do a one-up. | Low to Nill | Mid |
| Zorro | Historical | 2 | 2 | Characters play roles from the Zorro series. Swashbuckling fun! | Easy to learn, fun to play, great one-up system | High to Mid | Mid to Low |
| RuneQuest | Fantasy | 3 | 3 | One of the first distinct games from D&D. Originally based on Greg Stafford's world, Glorantha, later was made generic. Straightforward mechanics and nice world integration made this the most popular RPG for England and France. | Relatively easy system, character generation is fast, and I have a ton of material including some of the "good ol dungeons" from the mid-1970s | High to Mid | Mid |
| The Mega-Role-Playing System | Fantasy | 5 | 4 | Dark atmospheric, nordic role-playing game with rules about everything including working out to avoid loss of strength! A Swedish game. | Nah! | Nill | Nill |
| Basic RPG | Fantasy | 2 | 3 | Chaosium's stripped down game engine. | Really too simple for a one-up unless it is the players' first session ever. | Nill | Nill |
| Hercules & Xena | Fantasy | 2 | 2 | Based on the Xena and Hercules TV series. The game does not take itself too seriously and has mechanics that encourage heroic behavior. | Cute system with cool aspects and easy to learn. | High to Mid | Mid to Low |
| Forge Out of Chaos | Fantasy | 3 | 3 | Nicely integrated world with mechanics. Interesting races, mechanics and character options. Small press production. | Excellent system, but does take a bit to learn it. | Mid to Low | Mid |
| Burros & Banditos | Historical | 5 | 4 | Characters are archetypes from the old west. Boasts the most realistic gun fighting system ever put in a game. Completely unplayable in practice unless you spend sixty minutes reviewing one minute of play. Part meta-game, part tactical game. Some interesting mechanics and interesting setting. | Depends on whether folks are just in a tactical, shoot-em up mode. If so, it is a great system. If you are looking for in-depth role-playing, this is not the system. | High to Mid | Mid to Low |
| OG! | Primitive | 1 | 1 | Players no big words use. Og. Big fun, Og. Hungry. Play Og. | Super system for one-up! | High | Nill |
| Freedom Fighters | Modern | 5 | 5 | Players take on the role of American resistance fighters in a country taken over by (Nazis, Commies, Aliens - you pick). | Nah! | Nill | Nill |
| Kobolds Ate My Baby | Weird Fantasy | 2 | 1 | A spoof game from Ninth gate games that | Fun system, easy to learn, yes definitely! | High | Mid to Low |
| Starcraft the RPG | Sci Fi | 3 | 4 | The computer game Starcraft as a tabletop game. | Nah! | Nill | Nill |
| Wizards Trip | Fantasy | 1 | 3 | Early RPG era fantasy game with one characteristic for everything! Mages go from Hercules to Melvin Milquetoast as they expend strength points to cast spells. | Nah! | Nill | Nill |
| Vikings | Historical | 3 | 4 | Adventures in the days of the Vikings using the RQ engine | Could be fun, but would take some set-up on the GM side. | High to Mid | Mid |
| Ghostbusters | Weird Modern | 2 | 1 | RPG based on Ghostbusters movie and cartoon | Fun and easy to set-up and play! | High to Mid | Low |
| Chivalry & Sorcery | Fantasy | 5 | 4 | Known as the most complex game of all time! | Nah! | Nill | Nill |
| Powers & Perils | Fantasy | 5 | 5 | Avalon Hill's internally developed RPG. You can hear them playing Panzerfaust in the background as you read the rules. | Nah! | Nill | Nill |
| Psiworld | Weird Modern | 3 | 5 | Think of modern day game where the characters are hunted psionics who are trying to do good while avoiding being apprehended. | Nah! | Nill | Nill |
| Josh of the Jungle | Modern | 2 | 2 | Players take on the role of masters of the jungle that marshal their forces to take over the tropics. | Easy to learn, fun to play, great one-up system | High to Mid | Nill |
| TOON | Cartoon | 2 | 2 | Players take on the roles of cartoon characters in a variety of genres from pure cartoon to Cybertoon to Monster Theater to Cartoon Wars to … | One of the best one-up systems! Easy to learn, fun to play! | High | Nill |
| Gangster | Historical | 2 | 5 | The characters are law enforcement trying to stop gangsters and other baddies from the 1920s | Actually quite a good one-shot system. Would be best if we combined watching a film like the Untouchables first. | High | Mid to Low |
| Gatecrasher | Weird Modern | 5 | 4 | Magic was dead but an asteroid miner accidentially completes an ancient spell that brings magic back into the solar system | No! This is a beta-version, and the game was waaaaaaay too complicated for any purpose whatsoever! | Nill | Nill |
| Questworld | Fantasy | 3 | 3 | Fantasy game using the RQ engine, but not set in Glorantha. Goofy cults such as the Erol the Flynn cult and Mikel the Flying Pig of Fate cult. Fun, but with a serious side too. | Could be an OK one-up if you knew the RQ system | Mid to Low | Low |
| Elric | Dark Fantasy | 4 | 5 | Set in Moorecock's Elric setting. Lots of foul sorcery. | Fun system, interesting rules. Some time to learn, but could be fun if we invested the effort. | High to Mid | Low |