"P" is for...

Pulp

One of my favorite genres to run for RPGs, I find that the Pulp genre is also one of the easiest to run. Because RPGs tend to be rather spanning and sometimes random, the loose conventions of Pulp allow a GM to run a game in the same way. It really is a mad lib sort of genre where just about everything that you can think of can happen.

Pulp as a role-playing genre is a really fun time for all involved. Players get to make over-the-top characters and the guy running it can throw out giant robot death machines one day and the next it's a mobster with a bent for power. How many other genres have room enough in them for super science, dinosaurs, hypnotic overlords, costumed heroes, the undead, lost cities, undersea journeys, and everything else that comes with with the word pulp.

Beyond the options, there is also the style. Pulp has a glamour all its own. Women are seductive, sexy, and innocent all at the same time. The men, though usually the heroes, aren't the only ones and  there are plenty of ladies who can dish it out like the boys. The action is fast and simple, the plots are tangled or direct as you need them. The environments are usually colorful and full of exciting denizens and stylish sets.

I don't claim to be an expert on this genre, but I do know that I love it and that some of my best games have been run in RPGs of this sort.

-Eli