Previous Topics
In Universalis

4/1/2007 Valvorik: Adding traits during complication and elimination costs
If a complication is about eliminating a component (e.g., character), and during the resolution the component is narrated as having additional traits (the controller seeking to give them traits resisting…
In Universalis
Participants: Valvorik, Valamir.

3/22/2007 Robotech_Master: Ficlets!
I've recently started writing on ficlets.com. You get to write stories in 64-to-1024-character chunks ("ficlets"), then someone else gets to write a follow-up sequel or prequel chunk. And multiple people…
In Universalis
Participants: Robotech_Master, Mike Holmes.

3/4/2007 Thor Olavsrud: [Robots & Rapiers Playtest] A Simple Letter
Hi Ralph, Some thoughts following our first session of Robots & Rapiers: 1. We had a good deal of fun, which is unusual and a pleasant surprise for a playtest.…
In Universalis
Participants: Thor Olavsrud, Valamir, drozdal, Robotech_Master, Iskander, Mike Holmes, jenskot, GreatWolf, mtiru.

2/14/2007 Robotech_Master: Mini-scenes vs. interruptions
It says in the rules that a mini-scene only lasts until the end of the turn of the person who created it. What if he's interrupted?
In Universalis
Participants: Robotech_Master, Valamir.

2/14/2007 Robotech_Master: Unclear on groups
I'm having a little trouble understanding the groups trait. On page 33, in the mini-scene example, it mentions the creation of a "team of Slytheran" and that it's "1 Coin…
In Universalis
Participants: Robotech_Master, Valamir, Mike Holmes.

2/12/2007 unexpected: Another way to start a Confrontation?
Hello! I'm quite new to Universalis (one session so far), I really like it, but - of course - my gaming group has encountered a situation, were we are not…
In Universalis
Participants: unexpected, hix, Valamir, Mike Holmes.

2/7/2007 Robotech_Master: Ideas for Rules Gimmicks for Chatserver Play
I was just thinking about possible rules gimmicks for chatserver play, made necessary by the lack of visual contact. For instance, a shorthand for making clear how many coins you…
In Universalis
Participants: Robotech_Master, Mike Holmes, David Artman.

2/4/2007 Robotech_Master: First game: Slaves of Springfield
My first session of Universalis went pretty well, for all that there were only two players in it. I had arranged to give a "demo" at MetaGames, the local gaming…
In Universalis
Participants: Robotech_Master, Mike Holmes, Valvorik, Valamir.

1/23/2007 Robotech_Master: Seeing Universalis everywhere I look...
It's funny--I've been so immersing myself in Universalis over the last couple of days that I'm starting to think of movies and TV shows and things in Universalis terms. "Luke…
In Universalis
Participants: Robotech_Master, Mike Holmes.

1/23/2007 Robotech_Master: Looking to start chatserver game
I'm looking at starting a chatserver game of Universalis, to get better acquainted with the rules in the hope of running some live demos soon. In order to play, you'd…
In Universalis
Participants: Robotech_Master.

1/21/2007 Robotech_Master: 2-page Play Aid: Free Dialog?
I was glancing at the 2-Page Play Aid on the Resources page, and happened to notice, under its list of things you could do at any time, it says that…
In Universalis
Participants: Robotech_Master.

1/20/2007 Robotech_Master: Interrupt interrogative
I was reading through the rules on Interrupts and something wasn't quite clear to me. Say there are four players, A, B, C, and D. It is player A's turn,…
In Universalis
Participants: Robotech_Master, Valamir, Mike Holmes.

1/8/2007 TheGroog: My First Impression
Hello I first met Universalis about 2 years ago, with the first (?) edition. Myself, son and buddy merely dipped our feet but we had an underwater laugh with dolphins…
In Universalis
Participants: TheGroog, Valamir, Robotech_Master, hix.

12/19/2006 Zatt: Using pre-made scenes.
One thing that I thought of while I've been readying myself for my upcoming Universalis story arc for our Warhammer 40,000 campaign was the idea of readying scenes. Here's the…
In Universalis
Participants: Zatt, Mike Holmes.

12/5/2006 Zatt: Laptops with Universalis
Just a question: How many of you use a laptop when you're acting as the recorder? It came to me that I type much faster than I can write, and…
In Universalis
Participants: Zatt, Mike Holmes, demiurgeastaroth, Curufea, Robotech_Master, David Artman.

12/5/2006 Zatt: First game's lessons…
Well, I played my first game of Universalis tonight, and was highly entertained to say the least. A couple of things that I learned from the experience: When framing a…
In Universalis
Participants: Zatt, demiurgeastaroth, Mike Holmes, Valamir.

11/13/2006 aedaren: More Complication Questions
Hey guys, I have a couple of questions about complications.  I read the rules (revised) thoroughly, and as far as I can tell, once the complication has started, anyone can…
In Universalis
Participants: aedaren, Mike Holmes, kayl.

10/23/2006 GB Steve: Universalis spotted in Forbidden Planet
I was browsing in Forbidden Planet on Friday night. It's the largest comic book, DVD and genre fiction outlet in London. They have a selection of RPGs, about 3 IKEA…
In Universalis
Participants: GB Steve, Salar, Tony Irwin, Valamir, Mike Holmes, Alex Fradera.

10/20/2006 GreatWolf: New Universalis review...on Boardgamegeek?
Weird but true.  Here is the link.
In Universalis
Participants: GreatWolf.

10/17/2006 aedaren: My First Uni Game + Confusion about complications
Hey everybody, I've been having a good time playing Universalis for the first time with some guys from the indie net gaming group.  We're using a wiki to play, and…
In Universalis
Participants: aedaren, Valamir, Trevis Martin.

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In Universalis

4/7/2007 Valamir: ROBOTS & RAPIERS BETA V2.3 NOW AVAILABLE
At long last, Robots & Rapiers is nearing completion of the design stage.  The game has gone through major revisions the last couple of years but is now at a…
In Universalis
Participants: Valamir.

4/22/2007 Robotech_Master: Second Game: Zombies of Orion
This game had four players, at a gaming-group picnic a friend put on. I proposed as the the first tenet, "Orion needs to be rescued." The guy to my left…
In Universalis
Participants: Robotech_Master, Valamir, Mike Holmes.

4/24/2007 LukeSineath: Idea for a Conflict-based historical game
I'm interested in roleplaying in historical periods.  I started to think about a way to run a game based on the fall of the Roman monarchy using Burning Wheel, but…
In Universalis
Participants: LukeSineath, Mike Holmes.

5/14/2007 Thor Olavsrud: [Robots & Rapiers v2.3] Session I
Due to a logistical error, John took the notes for this last session and is now in Hawaii, so I’m just going to touch on some of our major findings…
In Universalis
Participants: Thor Olavsrud, Valamir, Ron Edwards, ( o Y o ), Iskander, mtiru, Matt Wilson.

5/21/2007 epweissengruber: Universalis and IndieRPG Toronto: Against the 13th Reich
The full details of our tenents, etc. can be found here: http://roleplayers.meetup.com/261/messages/boards/view/viewthread?thread=3087998 - feel: Buck Rodgers Raygun Sci-Fi Tenents * Science-fictiony space adventure * Buck Rodgers Rockets and tight 1-piece…
In Universalis
Participants: epweissengruber, Mike Holmes, rycanada, Tony Irwin, Valvorik.

5/21/2007 ( o Y o ): Re: [Robots & Rapiers v2.3] some questions
Hi Valamir, I mean the Difficulty. Your comment on RAM9 suggests that the "other way" round (Bonus is my Bonus and Difficulty is my Difficulty) it would be more intuitive.…
In Universalis
Participants: ( o Y o ), Valamir.

5/23/2007 epweissengruber: Indie RPG Toronto Takes on Universalis: AGAINST THE 13th REICH!
http://roleplayers.meetup.com/261/messages/boards/view/viewthread?thread=3087998 We had a good experience with the game and I hope to pull it out again for our next social meeting.
In Universalis
Participants: epweissengruber.

8/25/2007 rycanada: Rules Gimmicks for a scribe?
My wife, who loves to host and listen in on games but hates playing them (strange and wonderful at the same time) is very interested in scribing for a game…
In Universalis
Participants: rycanada, Mike Holmes.

9/3/2007 rycanada: Shut up and Tenet
I finally (finally finally finally) got a physical copy of Universalis (so I don't have to go off of my recollections of others games and a few handouts anymore).  I…
In Universalis
Participants: rycanada, Valamir, Mike Holmes, Valvorik.

9/6/2007 Valvorik: Complication question
Sorry if this was answered (went back 6 pages and couldn't find something). Once a complication is declared, it is the case that you can "buy dice" narrating and get…
In Universalis
Participants: Valvorik, Valamir, rycanada, epweissengruber, Robotech_Master.

9/7/2007 rycanada: Two questions
Does there exist a master flowchart for the game?  I'm working on one to get my head around the flow, it's going to be quite large (but helpful for my…
In Universalis
Participants: rycanada, hix, Trevis Martin, Valamir.

9/14/2007 rycanada: Universalis Flow Charts
Well, here they are.  This is as far as I'm going to take the concept until I have an actual play session coming up. I hereby pass yon torch to…
In Universalis
Participants: rycanada, Mike Holmes.

9/16/2007 rycanada: Card-based
I did the search and read the old thread on this, but I have a different idea for making Coins and Dice into cards. Here's the deal:  Facedown cards are…
In Universalis
Participants: rycanada, twilight, Valvorik, Mike Holmes.

9/16/2007 Shane Boone: iChat Universalis
I recently started playing Universalis with my wife and son and I love the game.  I am thinking of playing using iChat on a Mac, but have a couple of…
In Universalis
Participants: Shane Boone, demiurgeastaroth, Trevis Martin, Mike Holmes.

9/19/2007 Robotech_Master: Wholescale RPG conversions: who pays?
Say that I wanted to do a Robotech roleplaying game. And that I wrote up the master-class templates for all the various mecha. Who pays for all these things? And…
In Universalis
Participants: Robotech_Master, Eero Tuovinen, Mike Holmes, Valamir.

10/14/2007 Robotech_Master: Third Game: "Sid Loves Nancy"
Today at a local geek picnic fest, I started a game of Universalis. Four of us hadn't played it before, two of us had. My friend Sandy, the other one…
In Universalis
Participants: Robotech_Master.

10/15/2007 Robotech_Master: Counter suggestion: party money
My brother first suggested this to me, and I tried it out today and found it works pretty well. A local party supply store has a pack of 144 shiny…
In Universalis
Participants: Robotech_Master, David Artman.

10/15/2007 Robotech_Master: "Orion needs to be rescued"—1 coin or 2?
Elsewhere, the tenet "Orion needs to be rescued" has been proposed as a good seed tenet, a starter to get people thinking about what the game will be about. But…
In Universalis
Participants: Robotech_Master, Valamir.

10/15/2007 David Artman: Alternate Ideas for Coins
A recent thread has me wondering (ALERT! POLL THREAD!).... Coins are fairly common and are easy to acquire and cost relatively little (as low as 1¢ per coin--or even lower,…
In Universalis
Participants: David Artman, rycanada, Valvorik, Robotech_Master.

11/6/2007 rycanada: Lots of questions
1)  What happens when you tightly limit the number of Traits a Component can have?  (I'm thinking 5 for a non-named, 10 for a named character, max 3 named characters…
In Universalis
Participants: rycanada, David Artman, Valamir.

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