Previous Topics
In Actual Play

3/7/2010 ThoughtBubble: Trying to figure out the anatomy of challenges I like
This is all inspired by the "Challenge the player" thread from last year. I've fallen into a pretty heavy "planned to showcase ability x" rut in my dungeon/encounter design. So…
In Actual Play
Participants: ThoughtBubble, Jeff B, Noon, Filip Luszczyk, Excalibur, JoyWriter, contracycle, Ron Edwards.

3/3/2010 Filip Luszczyk: I hate compromises
I hate compromises. I immediately started to hate compromises the first and the last time I played Burning Empires. We've spent 40 minutes or so playing out DoW. Then, we…
In Actual Play
Participants: Filip Luszczyk, Frank Tarcikowski, jburneko, Luke, Noon, Paka, greyorm, JoyWriter, Ben Lehman, Brendan Day, contracycle, ThoughtBubble, CedricP, Eliarhiman6, Noclue, Jeff B, ShallowThoughts, Ron Edwards.

2/24/2010 Frank Tarcikowski: [TRoS] Destiny Spiritual Attribute
No, I don't have an actual play account (yet) where the Destiny spiritual attribute played a role. I will be running a game on Friday in which several characters have…
In Actual Play
Participants: Frank Tarcikowski, Noon, Paka, Ben Lehman, Ron Edwards.

2/21/2010 Gregor Hutton: [S/Lay w/Me] O'er Plains of Ice the Sky-Ship Sails
So, at WarpCon in Cork, Ireland I got in some gaming as well as enjoying the odd refreshment (ahem) at the Old Bar at University College Cork. Most of my…
In Actual Play
Participants: Gregor Hutton, Lance D. Allen, Ron Edwards, contracycle, greyorm.

2/20/2010 grigori777: 3.5 to 2
Good day.  I am finding numerous character generator programs and sites to create characters in 3.5, but none for 2.0 that accept any race other than elf, 1/2 elf, human,…
In Actual Play
Participants: grigori777, Vulpinoid, Miskatonic, CaptainImpressive.

2/11/2010 Paiku: [Sorcerer]Sorcerers in Casablanca - AP
[b]Sorcerers in Casablanca[/b] hit the ground last Thursday night! The group of four veteran 20- and 30-something gamers has been playing story-now games together for over a year now, but…
In Actual Play
Participants: Paiku, Ron Edwards, Roger, rycanada, Andrew Norris, Paul T, Karl.

2/11/2010 John Stephens: [Tunnels & Trolls] From the Lair of the Wyrm to Florinburg and Back
[b]Background[/b] My daughter and I have been experimenting with storytelling and roleplaying games off and on since she was four years old. She is nine now, and she loves fantasy…
In Actual Play
Participants: John Stephens, Eero Tuovinen, Finarvyn.

2/2/2010 Meramec: [D&D] Hot elves, morality, and the missing initiative roll
So I gather three friends for an impromptu session of D&D.  They’ve all played the first WOTC edition of the game extensively and one has significant experience with the second…
In Actual Play
Participants: Meramec, Noon, Ar Kayon, Ron Edwards, Tim C Koppang, JoyWriter, NN, ShallowThoughts, athornton, contracycle, LostSoul, Jeff B, Jasper Flick.

1/29/2010 David C: [GURPS Traveller] What type of play is this?
I was invited by a friend to play some GURPS Traveller. I wasn't particularly interested (ughhh, GURPS...) but I always like meeting new people.  The game was mostly dominated by…
In Actual Play
Participants: David C, Ar Kayon, Ron Edwards, Noon, contracycle, davidberg, athornton.

1/22/2010 jburneko: [Burning Empires/Primetime Adventures] RPG Weight Training
Hello Everyone, So right now I'm GMing Burning Empires.  It's a massive undertaking and it's very demanding.  We're four maneuvers into the Infiltration phase.  I'm really struggling with the game…
In Actual Play
Participants: jburneko, pfischer, davidberg, Welkerfan.

1/22/2010 jlhburnett: [octaNe] "Hey buddy, watch the tentacle!"
This past weekend, my Skype group decided to give octaNe a whirl.  It didn't go as smoothly as we'd hoped, although things got better towards the end of the session.…
In Actual Play
Participants: jlhburnett, Ron Edwards.

1/18/2010 drhoover: [Fiasco] In a Nice Southern Town
My group tried Fiasco for the first time this weekend and had a blast. There were four of us, 3 lifelong roleplayers and 1 a more recent convert. We used…
In Actual Play
Participants: drhoover, jasonm, Tim C Koppang, segedy.

1/11/2010 Dionysus: How to make sessions/scenes stop dragging?
Howdy all. Been a while. Our little group of players has finally taken the plunge and is enjoying the waters of new games. We were a very strong WoD/Exalted group,…
In Actual Play
Participants: Dionysus, Falc, jburneko, Noon, davidberg, greyorm, FredGarber, Noclue, JoyWriter.

1/10/2010 trick: Combat molasses
I've been reading an earlier thread titled Warhammer; Chaos! Order! Molasses!. It's about the dullness of just going from place to place and trivial conflicts. In the games I've been…
In Actual Play
Participants: trick, contracycle, Noon, JoyWriter, Hereward The Wake, Meramec, Locke, Jeff B, ShallowThoughts, FetusCommander.

1/9/2010 Solarsaurus: Online play
I was just wondering how many of you folks here ever did pen-and-paper role-playing online, whether it be on a forum, through an instant messenger, or otherwise! Using the internet…
In Actual Play
Participants: Solarsaurus, Noon, greyorm, Dan Maruschak, Filip Luszczyk, chronoplasm, Adam Dray.

1/4/2010 AzaLiN: [S&W] Keep on Borderlands- Oldschool experiment
Swords and Wizardry is a "retro clone" RPG, of 0d&d. Tonight I ran my first game using those rules- I used the famous Keep on Borderlands as a test module.…
In Actual Play
Participants: AzaLiN, Roger, Noon, FredGarber, contracycle, Finarvyn.

1/4/2010 ShallowThoughts: I learned about System from Munchkins
My System suddenly grew big. By "big", I do not refer to the number of rules. Instead, I refer to layers of the Big Model. I'm writing this post to…
In Actual Play
Participants: ShallowThoughts, Jasper Flick, lumpley, Melinglor, contracycle, Caldis, Noon.

1/3/2010 Darcy Burgess: [Agon] - So-so'ing our way around the Island of Lycophon
Hi, Last week, I got together with Glenn W, Glenn H and Jason S to get muddy, bloody and dusty in the Mediterranean. A few years back, we'd pulled together…
In Actual Play
Participants: Darcy Burgess, Filip Luszczyk, Noclue, Noon, Ron Edwards, lumpley, RedPissLegion, Nathan P..

12/31/2009 Abkajud: [yet another LONG Polaris thread] a therapist tries Story Now
Hey, gang! Connor, a friend of mine is visiting from San Francisco; he's in school out there, studying drama therapy. He's played WoW and other video games in the past,…
In Actual Play
Participants: Abkajud, 5niper9.

12/26/2009 Filip Luszczyk: The GM should stop me!
I've found this situation intriguing. The game in question handles character effectiveness primarily via player <-> player permissions. I'm in the middle of running a campaign, and our last session…
In Actual Play
Participants: Filip Luszczyk, Eliarhiman6, Noon, contracycle, ShallowThoughts.

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Subsequent Topics
In Actual Play

3/9/2010 Jeff B: (D&D2e) Bringing in the new guy
Below is an account of a game I played in and my observations about bringing new characters into an existing roleplaying campaign, a maneuver which fails more often than it…
In Actual Play
Participants: Jeff B, Ron Edwards, Noon, James_Nostack, Aelwyn.

3/10/2010 greyorm: Dysfunction at the Magic Tourney [D&D 3.5]
Weirdly, this is going to tie into at least two other current threads happening right now... For our last session we took a break from 3:16 to play in our…
In Actual Play
Participants: greyorm, Noon, Ron Edwards, JoyWriter, Aelwyn.

3/18/2010 Simon C: What is Right to Dream for?
Probably one of the most successful "traditional" games I've played was about seven or eight years ago.  It was a Traveller-inspired home-brew science fiction game.  It went through several iterations,…
In Actual Play
Participants: Simon C, Noon, contracycle, Jeff B, davidberg, Motipha, FredGarber, Eero Tuovinen, ThoughtBubble, Caldis, anders_larsen, Lance D. Allen, Frank Tarcikowski, Silmenume.

3/21/2010 Aelwyn: What's the worst thing you've ever done as a GM?
True confessions time: what's the worst thing you've ever done as a GM? I'll start. I was running a Morrow Project campaign. Characters were paramilitary mercenaries cryogenically frozen and awakened…
In Actual Play
Participants: Aelwyn, Noon, Locke, LostSoul, Anekanta, Luminous, darthfodder, Ron Edwards, Adam Dray.

3/22/2010 Willow: [D&D] Religious & Cultural Diversity in D&D's Middle East
So, I was talking to a couple of folks at Forge Midwest about something I'm going to be doing in my D&D game- the party is going to the world's…
In Actual Play
Participants: Willow, Eero Tuovinen, Noon, Excalibur, Ron Edwards, Kallisti, Paka.

3/24/2010 Anekanta: [Rifts] -- Who's responsible for fun?
Hey all...  Something ironic happened today, in that I was invited to join a Rifts group.  It was ironic because, while I got my first real start in role-playing with…
In Actual Play
Participants: Anekanta, Ron Edwards, Noon, Excalibur, Andrew Norris, Locke.

3/24/2010 Ron Edwards: [Legendary Lives] Three games to talk about
Hi there, I've written about Legendary Lives in both Fantasy Heartbreakers and More Fantasy Heartbreakers, and as time went on since those essays were placed, I finally got around to…
In Actual Play
Participants: Ron Edwards, davidberg, Miskatonic, Artanis, Lance D. Allen, Noon, Trevis Martin, Millsy, Paul T, Willow, JoyWriter.

3/24/2010 Ron Edwards: [Bliss Stage] Men and girls
I’d hoped to get a chance to play this, partly because I’m working on a pretty big project regarding science fiction role-playing, and partly because Ben was available at Forge…
In Actual Play
Participants: Ron Edwards, Frank Tarcikowski, CedricP, Simon C, hix, Filip Luszczyk, Nev the Deranged, Ben Lehman.

3/27/2010 Simon C: What is Step on Up for?
I ignored D&D4E when it first came out.  I know from experience that the kind of play it encourages isn't what I want from a roleplaying game.  I didn't need…
In Actual Play
Participants: Simon C, Noon, Jasper Flick, greyorm, ThoughtBubble, Caldis, davidberg, Motipha, Roger, Frank Tarcikowski.

3/29/2010 jburneko: [S/lay w/ Me] The Cowboy and The Clockwork Hacker
So I had the opportunity to play S/lay w/ Me.  For a while I had been trying to convince Laura to the play the game with me but she found…
In Actual Play
Participants: jburneko, Savage Slacker, Ron Edwards, Eliarhiman6, Noon, Eero Tuovinen, Jasper Flick, bayonder, hix.

3/31/2010 Paka: In which we head out into the Sorcerer's Solar System
Bret, Christine and I are all buddies who don't game together.  Realizing this was silly, we got together to game.  We agreed that we wanted a finite game, 3 session…
In Actual Play
Participants: Paka, Bret Gillan, Ron Edwards, Roger, davidberg.

4/2/2010 Paul T: [Dogs in the Vineyard] Chinese immigrants from Out West
I just started up a Dogs game with four other players, and I think it's going to be a blast. We all met for dinner, hung out a bit, then…
In Actual Play
Participants: Paul T, Paiku, rycanada.

4/6/2010 JB: Making the transition from mission based play?
[url=http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=of734dlu4p338e246v3ajn2qb4apksc7&topic=29547.msg275043#msg275043]http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=of734dlu4p338e246v3ajn2qb4apksc7&topic=29547.msg275043#msg275043[/url]
In Actual Play
Participants: JB, Eero Tuovinen, contracycle, epweissengruber, Paka, Noon, Frank Tarcikowski, Jasper Flick, Aelwyn, Paul T.

4/8/2010 Simon C: Thematic Play
This is a continuation of the other threads I've been writing, expressing dissatisfaction with GNS, because I don't think it usefully describes inherant differences in how people play rpgs, and…
In Actual Play
Participants: Simon C, Frank Tarcikowski, Caldis, FredGarber, contracycle, Roger, Eero Tuovinen.

4/8/2010 jburneko: Differences between Cyberpunk 2013 and Cyberpunk 2020
So, I feel like this should be a legitimate Forge question but I'm uncertain how to ground it in AP.  So I'll ask my question then share some experiences and…
In Actual Play
Participants: jburneko, Eero Tuovinen, d.anderson, Darcy Burgess, Ron Edwards, Gregor Hutton, contracycle.

4/13/2010 Darcy Burgess: [In A Wicked Age] - Getting our feet under us
Hi, Last night, our haphazard group kicked off an In a Wicked Age game.  I pitched it as "old, pulpy sword & sorcery lasting between 4 and 8 sessions, but…
In Actual Play
Participants: Darcy Burgess, Noclue, Ron Edwards.

4/15/2010 darthfodder: [Mutants and Masterminds 1e] Super-hero Battles Similar to Comics
For those who aren't familiar with it, Mutants and Masterminds is a super-hero rpg published by Green Ronin with modified d20 mechanics. If you aren't familiar with Dungeons and Dragons…
In Actual Play
Participants: darthfodder, Noon, Mackie, Nocker.

4/15/2010 kris_h: [Vampire: the Requiem] White Wolf crap at its best
Hi, I’m disillusioned with the campaign I’ve been playing in for some time (about 3 years), so I thought that Forge is a good place to share my thoughts. We’ve…
In Actual Play
Participants: kris_h, Miskatonic, Noon, Mobius, JoyWriter, Aaron Baker.

4/16/2010 greyorm: [3:16] Does It Encourage "We didn't roll the dice for three sessions!" Behavior?
We don't play as much as I'd like, probably once or twice a month on average, but 3:16 has been the "go to" game for our group for quite a…
In Actual Play
Participants: greyorm, Noon, Gregor Hutton, Paul Czege, Ron Edwards, jkantor, JoyWriter.

4/18/2010 JB: Encouraging Player Involvement Outside ‘Their Turn’
Some comments from the ‘Making the Transition from Mission Based Play” thread: Eero: To be more useful, I think that the party and mission are a big obstacle to dramatic…
In Actual Play
Participants: JB, legion329, Adam Dray, Eero Tuovinen, help im a bug, jprussell, Paka, Ron Edwards, Anthony Sheets, Falc, Brimshack.

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