Previous Topics
In Actual Play

11/14/2011 davidberg: [Pitfighter] how I learned to push my GM plots into play
Hello, This post is part background for my other Pitfighter threads, part summary of my take on a classic problem in RPG play, and part response to Jamie's recent encounter…
In Actual Play
Participants: davidberg, Web_Weaver, Roger.

11/12/2011 Web_Weaver: How Glorantha both inspired and frustrated my play.
Story before  Have been reading David's thread: Decoupling Reward Systems from broad-scale Story Arcs And Ron's thread: Incipient Narrativism and its discontents In the latter I asked if Story Before…
In Actual Play
Participants: Web_Weaver, Ron Edwards, Abkajud, Noon, Paul Czege, contracycle, davidberg.

11/9/2011 epweissengruber: FATE Actual Plays: How Differently Does Diaspora Play Out
A recent thread on Dresden Files brought up comments on the paucity of FATE discussion at the Forge.  http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forge/index.php?topic=30851.0 In that thread I outlined what functional FATE/SotC Gm-ing might look…
In Actual Play
Participants: epweissengruber.

11/9/2011 davidberg: [Pitfighter] SBP: is there anything better to roll for than success?
"SBP" stands for Story Before Participationism.  It's basically gaming where (a) the GM makes certain things unavoidably happen in play as a part of getting across a "story" (by which…
In Actual Play
Participants: davidberg, stefoid, Ron Edwards, Frank Tarcikowski, Dan Maruschak, contracycle, Noon, Roger, Jeremy S, Anders Gabrielsson, mael.rimbault.

11/8/2011 lumpley: Lamentations of the Flame Princess: my job as GM
Session 2 was fun. (Here's some about character creation and session 1: Lamentations of the Flame Princess is made of lies. Please don't bring discusson of that thread's topics into…
In Actual Play
Participants: lumpley, stefoid, James_Nostack, Eliarhiman6, Caldis, Eero Tuovinen, davidberg, JasperN., Frank Tarcikowski, Roger, happysmellyfish, Marshall Burns, Joe Dizzy, Noon, rabindranath72, Teataine, Anders Gabrielsson.

11/7/2011 chronoplasm: [Traveler] My First Time As Referee
I got to play facilitate a game of old-school Traveler the other day. I generated a sub sector the day before. I also indexed them in my notebook and wrote…
In Actual Play
Participants: chronoplasm, Marshall Burns, Mel_White, contracycle.

11/5/2011 contracycle: character intros
Per Kyle's request, a little discussion on the character intro vignettes I used. So, as mentioned, this was inspired by the problem that players often "lose visualisation", as it were,…
In Actual Play
Participants: contracycle, kvanpelt, davidberg, Ron Edwards, knudsone.

11/4/2011 kvanpelt: Being a player after being a DM
Hello all. My name is Kyle, and this is my first topic here on the Forge. I'd like to preface this post by saying that, while I have a basic…
In Actual Play
Participants: kvanpelt, contracycle, Frank Tarcikowski, davidberg, Dithmer.

11/4/2011 lumpley: My 11 year old is scarier than me
I'm playing Murderous Ghosts with my 11 year old, Elliot. Playing Murderous Ghosts with a kid is delicate. Elliot's a kid who likes his horror, but still, I want him…
In Actual Play
Participants: lumpley, kvanpelt, Ron Edwards, stefoid.

11/3/2011 Ron Edwards: [Obsidian, Champs, Babylon Project] Incipient Narrativism and its discontents
This is a spinoff thread from decoupling Reward Systems from broad-scale Story Arcs, to address an issue I think lurks alongside the topic of that thread. To summarize, we're talking…
In Actual Play
Participants: Ron Edwards, Chris_Chinn, Abkajud, Noon, James_Nostack, Web_Weaver, davidberg, Tor Erickson, Roger, Frank Tarcikowski, epweissengruber.

11/2/2011 Noon: Situation Generation/Prep.
I'm not really comfortable with the 'counter-factual' requirement of the other thread. Given the subjective way we remember things, it seems a process of simply eliminating certain counter factuals. No?…
In Actual Play
Participants: Noon.

10/30/2011 andrew_kenrick: [Dead of Night] Salford's Lot
I ran a new Dead of Night scenario at Furnace the other week, named Salford's Lot (and yes, the name did come first!). The premise of the scenario was a…
In Actual Play
Participants: andrew_kenrick, Artanis, Ron Edwards.

10/30/2011 Paka: Refugees from the Forgotten Realms
Read Ron's article and it reminded me of the gaming I have done in the Forgotten Realms using the original grey boxed set, a few early supplements and Burning Wheel…
In Actual Play
Participants: Paka, C. Edwards, ffilz, HighmoonMedia.

10/28/2011 James_Nostack: Sandboxing - story before, story now, story after
In his recent essay "Setting and Emergent Stories" (PDF), Ron includes an provocative afterthought about the term "sandbox play," and I'd like to talk about it. Here's Ron: Problematic term:…
In Actual Play
Participants: James_Nostack, C. Edwards, Abkajud, Eero Tuovinen, davidberg, contracycle, Noon, Caldis, Tav_Behemoth, stefoid, Marshall Burns, Ron Edwards.

10/26/2011 Filip Luszczyk: non-play
I like Fluffy Bunny by Emily Care Boss. Not because it's a good game (it's crap). I like it because it so accurately summarizes certain segment of the hobby, and…
In Actual Play
Participants: Filip Luszczyk, Noon, James_Nostack, Ron Edwards, davidberg, contracycle, KevinH, czipeter.

10/22/2011 chronoplasm: [4E] The Adventures of Alice Alucard
So I'm playing in a really fun 4E game right now. Sadly, I was unable to attend the last session to do health problems. I'm hoping that Wade (the minotaur…
In Actual Play
Participants: chronoplasm, Noon.

10/22/2011 Dithmer: Unintential Player-oriented horror in Character-oriented horror systems
I figured that since it'll be Halloween fairly soon, and i recently had a session relevant to the subject, i'd share some things i've noted regarding horror in roleplaying games.…
In Actual Play
Participants: Dithmer, Ron Edwards, Noon, Frank Tarcikowski.

8/20/2011 clukemula: [Sorcerer and more] A whole lot about setting
Ron, just for clarification... Those connotations concern setting as skin, i.e., a completely trivial aspect of scribbling perhaps-elaborate but ultimately inconsequential Color onto a totally-consistent System which has its own…
In Actual Play
Participants: clukemula, Ron Edwards, wholeridge, jburneko.

10/19/2011 RBjakeSpecial: [Fiasco] Dragon Slayers Playset - weekly 4E group tries Fiasco
I play in a weekly 4E group and we played a steady campaign with one DM last year.  This year, because of schedule conflicts and other things going on we…
In Actual Play
Participants: RBjakeSpecial, Ron Edwards, Adam Dray, segedy, pkalata.

10/16/2011 davidberg: decoupling Reward Systems from broad-scale Story Arcs
I've been chatting recently with some GMs who pre-plan all the major plot points in their scenarios, and communicate what they're doing to the players in such a way that…
In Actual Play
Participants: davidberg, Eero Tuovinen, stefoid, happysmellyfish, Noon, contracycle, Paul T, Filip Luszczyk, Ron Edwards, Dan Maruschak, Frank Tarcikowski.

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In Actual Play

11/21/2011 Noon: The Gank Effect and Social Contract Dogmatism
From a post by Zac here. Well, the reason why it (now) looks like we should have rolled is because the character was making a demand of the NPCs. She…
In Actual Play
Participants: Noon.

11/19/2011 Abkajud: [D&D3.0] Zac's examples (split)
I've been run through modules a couple of times, and there's this way in which a hook that's sufficiently open-ended can give a player room to explore theme. But I…
In Actual Play
Participants: Abkajud, Noon, davidberg, stefoid, Ron Edwards.

11/23/2011 Some Gamer666: Using a "Plant"
Hey all, I would like to bring up the notion of using a "plant" within your group or party (cast of characters?).  Is it a viable option?  Should it be…
In Actual Play
Participants: Some Gamer666, Ron Edwards, davidberg, chronoplasm, SaintHax, Michiel Rutte.

11/25/2011 dreamingjohnny: Help: Akward Session Opening
Hello, first time poster, I´ll try to be brief with my bakground here so that I can get to the problem at hand. I've been GMing on and of for…
In Actual Play
Participants: dreamingjohnny, Artanis, Noon, contracycle, stefoid, Michiel Rutte, Neil the Wimp.

11/25/2011 luke6080: Re: What's the worst thing you've ever done as a GM?
Geeze, hmmm. There was that one time I forced my whole group's characters to go balls deep in some twelve year old Japanese schoolgirls in GURPS.
In Actual Play
Participants: luke6080, Ron Edwards.

11/27/2011 Porterhaus: Help me like GMing, please.
I just finished running a nine-month Dresden Files campaign.  It was an awesome one.  The big bad guy cleverly manipulated the elements from behind the scenes.  The characters grew and…
In Actual Play
Participants: Porterhaus, davidberg, Anders Gabrielsson, Ron Edwards, stefoid, Ralls, Roger, Michiel Rutte, czipeter, Motipha, Blackrat, tymotzues.

11/29/2011 Michiel Rutte: Attributes and Duality
I have found in game play that attributes not always live in the imagination of the player. Some attributes are problematic to roleplay. At least I have often forgot for…
In Actual Play
Participants: Michiel Rutte, Some Gamer666, stefoid, Aisha Bennett, thedroid.

11/29/2011 Some Gamer666: Story before, Story Now, Bunch of Crap?
I keep seeing these posts about “Story Before” and “Story Now”.  I’ve read the “official” definitions of both, read some of the discussions, etc.  But I still don’t think I’m…
In Actual Play
Participants: Some Gamer666, davidberg, Ron Edwards, stefoid, Anders Gabrielsson.

12/2/2011 Porterhaus: What does The Best Winner want to play?
So one of my good friends likes to play games, but he likes to always be The Best Winner, a term I made up.  Here's what it means.  In every…
In Actual Play
Participants: Porterhaus, Roger, Ron Edwards, davidberg, Noon, JoyWriter.

12/3/2011 Noon: Not allowed to participate?
There's a campaign, from a premade module the GM downloaded. Very set piece combats, all requiring following A to B to C. Being run at the local game store. It's…
In Actual Play
Participants: Noon, Filip Luszczyk.

12/12/2011 chronoplasm: [AD&D] I Didn't Die :(
I fought a dragon on Sunday, and I am sad to say that I survived the encounter. It was first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. I was a third level…
In Actual Play
Participants: chronoplasm, Abkajud, Michiel Rutte, Chris_Chinn, Noon, rabindranath72, LandonSuffered.

12/13/2011 JoyWriter: [4e] Tonight everyone but Pius will die
I played a fully functioning participationist game the other week! The GM loves his characters and world, and they are his; we do all the pawn stance tactical combat stuff,…
In Actual Play
Participants: JoyWriter.

12/15/2011 Bret Gillan: [HeroQuest 2] System and Story Tug of War
Hey guys. I recently got a Glorantha game going. We're using the HQ2 system and man is it weird. It does this judo on the way we determine obstacle levels…
In Actual Play
Participants: Bret Gillan, Eero Tuovinen, Neil the Wimp, Abkajud, Noon, epweissengruber.

12/15/2011 Porterhaus: How to enjoy Story Before without Participationism
So, I've been playing in a fairly new game of Dresden Files recently.  We've got four sessions under our belts so far.  The game is a spin-off of the Dresden…
In Actual Play
Participants: Porterhaus, stefoid, Alfryd, Chris_Chinn, Noon, davidberg, philipstephen, Dan Maruschak, contracycle, JoyWriter, Frank Tarcikowski, help im a bug, pawsplay.

12/17/2011 davidberg: [Pitfighter] SBP: the GM's role in resolution
"SBP" stands for Story Before Participationism.  It's basically gaming where (a) the GM makes certain things unavoidably happen in play as a part of getting across a "story" (by which…
In Actual Play
Participants: davidberg, contracycle, Anders Gabrielsson, JoyWriter, happysmellyfish, Noon, DWeird, Motipha.

12/18/2011 David Kay: [PTA] Driving Towards Conflict
Hello Forge community, This post is not an actual play report, so much as a request for actual play reports. I'm quite new to indie games, but I'm planning to…
In Actual Play
Participants: David Kay, Chris_Chinn, Ron Edwards, davidberg, czipeter.

12/19/2011 Frank Tarcikowski: [BARBAREN!] Who wants to be an Uber-Macho?
Hi there. This is basically the thread where I try to generate some buzz about the newly published English version of my game BARBAREN!, which is, at long last, available…
In Actual Play
Participants: Frank Tarcikowski, Ron Edwards.

12/20/2011 help im a bug: [DFRPG] Plot-blocked
So I've noticed this interesting phenomenon that's happening in the Dresden Files game I'm playing, and I don't think I've seen it before. Our characters work for a company; we…
In Actual Play
Participants: help im a bug, Frank Tarcikowski, Finarvyn.

1/2/2012 Double_J: Setting expectations, resolving conflicts, and other Rx's for dysfunctional play
Hey all, First-time poster, short-time lurker (though I have put myself through quite a crash course since I first stumbled upon this site a couple of months ago). I've read…
In Actual Play
Participants: Double_J, stefoid, Noon, Chris_Chinn, Caldis, epweissengruber, enderbean, davidberg, dindenver, Motipha.

1/9/2012 epweissengruber: [Heroquest 2] Pass/Fail and Setting-Heavy Story Now
Can it be done? My first thoughts are here: http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/for-clan-kin-and-the-gods/wikis/first-thoughts These are in preparation for an HQ2 campaign I am trying to start up.
In Actual Play
Participants: epweissengruber, Web_Weaver, JoyWriter.

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