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In Indie Game Design

5/29/2002 J B Bell: Announcing Self System semi-generic Narrativist RPG
Mike Holmes and J B Bell are pleased to announce the first release version of Self System, our role-playing game of personal struggle and conflict with the inner and outer…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: J B Bell, xiombarg, Paganini, Blake Hutchins, Seth L. Blumberg, Bankuei, Mike Holmes, C. Edwards.

5/29/2002 unheilig: Paging Matt Snyder
umm, hello? does Matt Snyder still exist? has he been abducted by the hounds of tindalos? has he descended into shadow to do battle with the balrog? does he still…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: unheilig, Ron Edwards.

5/29/2002 unheilig: Wyrd?
pardon ther pun, but what is the fate of wyrd? what's going on? unheilig.
In Indie Game Design
Participants: unheilig, hardcoremoose.

5/28/2002 Judas: Is this a game?
I have a simple "add-on system" for abstract space combat which could be used for any RPG in which vehicle combat does not play a large role and/or rules do…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Judas, Jared A. Sorensen, Fabrice G., Joe Murphy (Broin), Walt Freitag, Eric J..

5/27/2002 Seth L. Blumberg: Game designing is infectious
You people are like a disease, you know that? I never wanted to be a game designer, and now here I am designing games in my sleep. Literally. Last night…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Seth L. Blumberg, Zak Arntson, Valamir, Paganini, J B Bell, Tim Gray.

5/26/2002 Paganini: Freeform Design
So, I thought I'd do a couple of freeform games to show how they can be different. #1. Illusion - The One-page Freeform Game for the Authorial Narrator Meta Introduction…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Paganini, Jack Spencer Jr.

5/26/2002 Zak Arntson: Chthonian Redux
Okay, now that I'm back to playing CoC, it's time to rewrite Chthonian. The working name will be Chthonian Redux, but I do want to eventually make it sound like…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson, RobMuadib, Henry Fitch, Balbinus, Jared A. Sorensen, Valamir, Evan Waters, Ron Edwards, AndyGuest, Matt.

5/21/2002 Jared A. Sorensen: Basics.
Engineers have math problems. Artists have still lifes and figure drawing. Musicians have scales. What do you guys see as the "basics" of game design? What tools, methods or exercises…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Jared A. Sorensen, Paganini, Laurel, Ron Edwards, Paul Czege, Bailey, Matt Snyder, Bankuei, Zak Arntson.

5/21/2002 Paganini: Inspiration
In another thread Ron asked this question: "My question is very basic: what do the main characters actually do in play?" It's a very good question, and his following examples…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Paganini, Jared A. Sorensen, Paul Czege, Zak Arntson, Seth L. Blumberg, Le Joueur, Jack Spencer Jr, Mike Holmes, hardcoremoose.

5/21/2002 Zak Arntson: Harlekin Maus May Game - Metal Opera
Alright, I've written up May's game (with art!). Metal Opera Synopsis: You play Rockers, which are the embodiment of freedom versus oppression, using their abilities to rock and kick ass.…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson, Bankuei, mahoux, xiombarg, Jared A. Sorensen, RobMuadib.

5/20/2002 Eric J.: "No name, steriotypical, fantasy, RPG"
I'm creating an RPG without a name. Being of relativilley young age, my experience is very small. This is my third try, where every try seemed like moving through the…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Eric J., Clinton R. Nixon, Paul Czege, Paganini, Ron Edwards, Bankuei, JSDiamond, Valamir, Zak Arntson, Matt, Joe Murphy (Broin), Mike Holmes, Jared A. Sorensen, Jack Spencer Jr.

5/20/2002 Jack Spencer Jr: Developing the other stuff.
[i][size=9px]Note: I agonized a bit over whether to post this in Design or Theory. There is cross-pollenation, as there should be. In the end, I decided to post in Design…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Jack Spencer Jr, Le Joueur, Ron Edwards, wyrdlyng.

5/18/2002 Michael Hopcroft: USing Open Licenced Systems
I'm wondering how many people prefer to deesign their own systems from scratch and how many prefer to use systems with open licences that have already been designed. MY upcoming…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Michael Hopcroft, Jack Spencer Jr, Ron Edwards, Bailey, Clinton R. Nixon, Valamir, Adam.

5/16/2002 Le Joueur: Ideal to Application: Examining a Technique [Long]
How about another 'ideal game' example? For the sake of brevity, I'll use the movie Ghostbusters as the in-game dialogue of play (saves you the trouble of having to read…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Le Joueur, Mike Holmes.

5/15/2002 Zak Arntson: Exisiting Focused Sim Games?
This is in Indie Game Design, because I want to find games to study and help me become a better designer. So ... I know there are tons of Sim…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson, Clinton R. Nixon, Mike Holmes, contracycle, Balbinus, GreatWolf, Le Joueur.

5/15/2002 Tim Denee: Tim's new game - "Hotel"
[url=http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/timdenee/hotel.pdf]Hotel.[/url] Believe it or not, it actually took me a while to finish this (the basic rules, that is). I'm quite fond of it. I think perhaps it lacks focus.…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Tim Denee, Ben Morgan, Mike Holmes.

5/15/2002 Ace: Narrative Tool Kit
It occured to me that a lot of Narrative gaming tricks can be used with any system. Things like The Confessional in InSpecters, Directors stance, Scene Bidding and that sort…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Ace, Ron Edwards, joshua neff, Le Joueur.

5/14/2002 xiombarg: Narrativist Diplomacy (long)
Really more of a Narrativist/Gamist mix, but what can you do? This comes from this thread. I'm looking for feedback and tweaks, especially from people who, like me, both enjoy…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: xiombarg, Mike Holmes, Le Joueur, contracycle.

5/14/2002 Zak Arntson: Experiment - Sim Space Station Game
Okay, for the sake of experimentation, I tried to design a game with a Sim-supportive System (Exploration of Character and Situation). And by game, I mean there's play structure involved.…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson, Mike Holmes, contracycle, Balbinus, Valamir.

5/9/2002 Le Joueur: Ideal to Application: Turning an Example into System [Long]
In the spirit of presenting 'ideal play' situations to bring rules up to par with, I'd like to present this little vignette. While I was reviewing some of my favorites…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Le Joueur.

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Subsequent Topics
In Indie Game Design

5/29/2002 mearls: Self-Serving Eunuchs Go Hiking
I've been bouncing around an idea for a game and I thought I'd post it here to see if y'all can poke some holes in it. Here are the basics:…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: mearls, Ron Edwards, Zak Arntson, hardcoremoose, Clinton R. Nixon, joshua neff, Buddha Nature, Evan Waters, RobMuadib, Balbinus, contracycle, Mike Holmes, Knight, Mytholder, Walt Freitag, Henry Fitch.

5/30/2002 Cadriel: A Psionics-oriented game and Surrealism.
Hi. My name's Wayne, and you may have seen some of my posts on the RPGnet GNS thread. I think I've mentioned this game in this forum before, but it…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Cadriel, Zak Arntson, Clinton R. Nixon, Tim Denee.

5/31/2002 lumpley: OtherKind
Hey. So I'm working on this fantasy game, and it's in a good shareable state: OtherKind My goal was to make a fantasy game where the fantasy peoples mean something,…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: lumpley, Valamir, Jared A. Sorensen, Blake Hutchins, Clinton R. Nixon, hardcoremoose, Jake Norwood, xiombarg, Ron Edwards, Bankuei, Andrew Martin, Xeno, Zak Arntson, Seth L. Blumberg.

5/31/2002 xiombarg: Draconic
I wanted to split off and talk about Draconic, which got mentioned in passing in another thread... I like the looks of Draconic, and the mechanic is similar to Otherkind,…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: xiombarg, hardcoremoose, lumpley, Bankuei, Zak Arntson, DaR.

6/2/2002 Moochava: Broken Space: Space Opera with a Lemon Twist
Hello all. Time to help an aspiring game designer whose ideas are too big for his britches, if he were wearing britches instead of plaid comfy pants. I have here…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Moochava, Ben Morgan, Bankuei, Jack Spencer Jr, Ron Edwards, Jared A. Sorensen, Matt.

6/2/2002 ks13: another fantasy RPG - destined for failure?
Hello all! Let me say that this forum would have been a great thing to have 12 years ago when I got into RPGs (and game design). I started working…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: ks13, Jack Spencer Jr, Walt Freitag, Wolfen, Ron Edwards, Bailey, Valamir, Paul Czege, Jake Norwood, Bankuei, Mike Holmes.

6/3/2002 Paganini: Good vs. Evil
One of the other threads got me thinking about this. So, it's a cliche, yeah, but IMO it's a good one. The simple idea of "good vs. evil" is great…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Paganini, Eric J., C. Edwards, Wolfen, Ron Edwards, xiombarg, mahoux, ks13, Le Joueur, Mike Holmes, Tim Gray, contracycle.

6/4/2002 Christoffer Lernö: Ygg Magic (and wake me up someone!)
Ok, Ygg stuff has been kinda dead lately. Not very surprisingly considering I've been extremely busy this last month. I do want to get myself started again though, so I'm…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Christoffer Lernö, Andrew Martin, Wolfen, Le Joueur, Valamir.

6/4/2002 rafael: Dread
I've been working on Dread for some time now. Playtesters have pointed out a bunch of flaws that I've tried to remedy, and I've also had some time to reflect…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: rafael, Clinton R. Nixon.

6/6/2002 ks13: Game mechanics rebuild
First off, I want to thank everyone that offered opinions on my homebrew fantasy rpg. There is already a number of elements that I will want to expand that I…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: ks13, Mike Holmes, Jake Norwood.

6/6/2002 Paul Czege: return to the island of misfit games
Well...some of the more controversial thoughts I raised for discussion on the island of misfit games thread got eclipsed by conversation about how the Forge might better promote actual…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Paul Czege, xiombarg, Nathan, Cynthia Celeste Miller, Gordon C. Landis, Bankuei, Le Joueur, rafael, Clinton R. Nixon, Zak Arntson, Ron Edwards, Jared A. Sorensen, Ring Kichard, Mike Holmes, greyorm, Wolfen.

6/6/2002 Matt Gwinn: Getting People to Play Your Games
Paul asked me to write a post about how I got people to play Kayfabe. I'm not sure if it belongs here or in actual play, but I'll take a…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Matt Gwinn, Ron Edwards, Paul Czege.

6/7/2002 Christoffer Lernö: Ygg in combat (trying to get comments) + initiative thoughts
Now this is essentially the same stuff I already posted in the Theory forum. I guess I still naively hope someone will take a look at it and trash it.…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Christoffer Lernö, Le Joueur.

6/8/2002 Fabrice G.: Design Tools...what kind do you use ?
Hi all, As a closet game designer (I'm trying, but to no good so far...), I was interested by a suggestion Nathan made here. He suggests that we make…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Fabrice G., Paul Czege.

6/9/2002 Paganini: FRPG Dungeon Crawl (Whee! Actual Play! Actual Play!)
Please comment on all parts of this post, reasoning, motivation, execution in mechanics, everything. :) Okay, so I've been playing some dungeon crawl games with my brother and sister, using…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Paganini, Andrew Martin, Jack Spencer Jr, Christoffer Lernö.

6/9/2002 Reality Aberrant: Game mechanics of dice!
Hi all, I am new here so i am sorry if i am posting this in the wrong section. I have been playing with the idea of creating a setting…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Reality Aberrant, Paganini, J B Bell, Eric J., Le Joueur.

6/10/2002 bluekabuto: Need playtesters/advice on our new release
Hello all - Bryan Kowalski from Blue Kabuto here. I am not sure where this goes, so please don't flame ok? If I am posting to the wrong place let…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: bluekabuto, Eric J., Ron Edwards.

6/10/2002 lumpley: OtherKind Non-Combat Results
Over in Actual Play, Andrew Martin suggests that I give OtherKind non-combat mechanics. I personally don't think that the mechanics as they exist are only and exclusively combat mechanics, but…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: lumpley, Nathan, Jared A. Sorensen, Blake Hutchins, Bankuei, Mike Holmes, Valamir.

6/11/2002 Nathan: A Christian RPG?
Okay. Warning: What you may encounter below could be life changing, opinion altering, or healthy! :) There - my warning is out of the way. One of my projects that…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Nathan, Ron Edwards, Wolfen, Laurel, Fabrice G., Clinton R. Nixon, Jake Norwood, Walt Freitag, J B Bell, Bankuei, sdemory, Clay, Victor Gijsbers.

6/11/2002 Le Joueur: Who's in Charge Here?
I am preparing the next "Emergent Techniques" article for the Scattershot forum and I think I'm having problems. I want to 'capture' more of the usual unspoken dynamic that drives…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Le Joueur, Paul Czege, Laurel.

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