Previous Topics
In Universalis

1/7/2003 quozl: Winning
Since Universalis rules can be developed in play, has anyone devised a rule that would allow a player to "win" a game of Universalis? My wife enjoyed The Extraordinary Adventures…
In Universalis
Participants: quozl, Valamir, Michael S. Miller.

1/3/2003 ejh: scene record keeping
I mentioned this in another thread but would like to see people's input... would anyone care to show off what their "scene records" look like? I'm interested in an idealized,…
In Universalis
Participants: ejh, Shieldage, Bob McNamee, Mike Holmes.

12/30/2002 quozl: D6 instead of D10?
First, I've read the book but haven't played it yet. I wonder if 6-sided dice can be used instead of 10-siders. If so, what adjustments would need to be made?…
In Universalis
Participants: quozl, rafial, Mike Holmes, Paganini, Bob McNamee, Valamir.

12/30/2002 ejh: Uni Light?.... Unisynthesis?
I'm trying to think about directions I could jump from Universalis... I like the game and have had some success playing it but it seems to operate at a fairly…
In Universalis
Participants: ejh, Andrew Martin, Mike Holmes, Valamir, Bob McNamee.

12/28/2002 eef31415: Dice Apocalypse: Bug or feature?
After my first Universalis game, I noticed a big artifact of the rules systems; the dice apocalypse. Once I control a character in a conflict, it makes sense to spend…
In Universalis
Participants: eef31415, rafial, Paganini, Bob McNamee, Tony Irwin, Mike Holmes, Valamir, Michael S. Miller.

12/26/2002 rafial: Avoiding inflation
Well, I've played in two games of Universalis so far, and while I enjoyed both experiences, I did notice that both times, the game eventually degenerated into some final catacylsm…
In Universalis
Participants: rafial, Bob McNamee, Tony Irwin, Alan, Mike Holmes, Valamir.

12/20/2002 GreatWolf: Just a historical note
As far as I can recall, some of the initial Universalis seeds germinated here. I thought that some of you might appreciate the trip through history to see where it…
In Universalis
Participants: GreatWolf, Valamir, Bob McNamee, Jason L Blair.

12/12/2002 Tony Irwin: Universalis: Fellowship of the Coins
With Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, only a few days away I’ve been thinking desperately about how to play in a game like that. I was trying to…
In Universalis
Participants: Tony Irwin, Valamir, Mike Holmes.

12/12/2002 Valamir: Universalis Enters Second Printing
[b]Universalis Enters Second Printing!! [/b] Ramshead Publishing is pleased to announce that the first print run of Universalis: the game of unlimited stories has sold out. Universalis's popularity has exceeded…
In Universalis
Participants: Valamir, Paganini.

12/5/2002 quozl: New printing
From the thread on Civilization RolePlaying, you know I've been looking at Universalis and heard there was only one copy left of the old printing and there will be no…
In Universalis
Participants: quozl, Valamir, Tony Irwin.

11/30/2002 Valamir: Thanksgiving 2002 Actual Play – The Pregnant Pope.
Over the Thanksgiving holiday I had the opportunity to play a game of Universalis with Ron Edwards of Adept Press, Jake Norwood of Driftwood Publishing and Jake’s wife Earta. Unfortunately…
In Universalis
Participants: Valamir, Mike Holmes, Jake Norwood.

11/25/2002 Ron Edwards: Universalis review at the Forge
Review's up!! Best, Ron
In Universalis
Participants: Ron Edwards, Valamir, Mike Holmes, Alan.

11/18/2002 Tony Irwin: Uncontested Complications
Guys what happens when I initiate an event targetting a pc (or in fact any component controlled by another player) and they've no interest in contesting it? Its never actually…
In Universalis
Participants: Tony Irwin, Valamir, Mike Holmes.

11/8/2002 ejh: Quick Complication question
OK, trying to understand the rules here... Basic rules: 1. Complication with two Targets, therefore a total of three Dice Pools. The Targets win, the Complication does not succeed in…
In Universalis
Participants: ejh, J B Bell, Valamir, Bob McNamee, Paganini.

10/26/2002 ejh: first uni game
Just finished playing my first (very short) game of Universalis. Really just did the background design and one scene. Even just doing the background design was a lot of fun…
In Universalis
Participants: ejh, Bob McNamee, Valamir, Mike Holmes.

10/21/2002 Valamir: Support Issues
Just wanted to announce that my home PC has officially died in a most heinous and unrecoverable way. Spent a week with several different tech friends of mine and it…
In Universalis
Participants: Valamir.

10/13/2002 Alan: 3x5 Index Cards for Components
Hi, Had my first game of Universalis yesterday ("The Ghost of Haunted Gulch"). It went really well and the new players had no problem picking up the rules. We used…
In Universalis
Participants: Alan, Bob McNamee, Ron Edwards.

10/12/2002 thoth: "Intellectual Property" ownership?
Here's a probably strange question... If someone actually came up with adventures or even settings with this system, and acknowledged it, would or could you claim any level of "intellectual…
In Universalis
Participants: thoth, Valamir, Mike Holmes.

10/10/2002 Valamir: RPG Net Review
Just noticed JB has review of Universalis up at RPG.Net today. Check it out here. Thanks JB. Much appreciated
In Universalis
Participants: Valamir, J B Bell, Mike Holmes, Tony Irwin.

10/10/2002 Valamir: Need your help and your thoughts
Ok...I'm happy to report that we are officially running low on copies of Universalis. That means Mike and I are actually pretty close (haven't crunched the numbers yet) to break…
In Universalis
Participants: Valamir, quozl, Mike Holmes, Ron Edwards, Tony Durham, ethan_greer, Bankuei, Paganini, ejh, Tony Irwin.

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In Universalis

2/7/2003 Drew Stevens: Shipping alerts?
Okay, Universalis sounds more cool than English contains words to readily express. Like, whole barrels of fun. So, I ordered it (yay me! yay second printings!) Question, thus- are there…
In Universalis
Participants: Drew Stevens, Valamir, Paganini, James V. West.

2/9/2003 Buddha Nature: Universalis Transcripts?
Hey, I just got Universalis and having read through it once woud love to see transcripts of actual games--are there any? I know some people have played online--any transcripts? It…
In Universalis
Participants: Buddha Nature, Bob McNamee, Mike Holmes, Valamir.

2/12/2003 Drew Stevens: Agh! Explaining Universalis!
So, I have an interesting dillimea. I mean, it's a good dillimea, but it's still interesting. How do ya'll explain Universalis to other people? Since my efforts at either 'A…
In Universalis
Participants: Drew Stevens, Michael S. Miller, Mike Holmes, Valamir, Bob McNamee.

2/13/2003 Dave Versace: First game, now with dinosaurs...
At last, at last! Simon, Chris, Linda and I got together for our first game of Universalis last night. Despite the usual uphill battle of explaining concepts and rules, it…
In Universalis
Participants: Dave Versace, Valamir, Mike Holmes.

2/14/2003 Ron Edwards: Universalis in the classroom
Hi Ralph & Mike, I just finished a class session for my course "Evolutionary Biology at the Movies," in which I used a slimmed-down version of Universalis for the 20-person…
In Universalis
Participants: Ron Edwards, Valamir, Mike Holmes.

2/15/2003 Drew Stevens: Amazonian Zombies on a Far Distant Desert Planet!
Alright, this game is really weird :) I like it bunches. We started with the tenets 1) The story would involve zombies. 2) Who are all amazonian. 3) And have…
In Universalis
Participants: Drew Stevens, Valamir, Bob McNamee, Mike Holmes, Tony Irwin, Ron Edwards.

2/15/2003 otherchaz: What do you need to play?
I'm curious about how different groups run Uni. Questions for Uni players about your Uni groups: How many players do you have? What do you use for coins (poker chips?…
In Universalis
Participants: otherchaz, Dave Versace, Bob McNamee, Mike Holmes, Grex.

2/28/2003 Jonathan Walton: Storypunk: The Universalis Mod Version
I was working on getting Storypunk ready for the playtest I'm running in two weeks (at a local Con), when I decided I need some kind of currency for handling…
In Universalis
Participants: Jonathan Walton, Mike Holmes, Shreyas Sampat.

2/28/2003 Mike Holmes: Universalis Wiki
For those who may not be aware, I am starting a game of Universalis using the innovative Wiki web technology. The game is hosted by the inimitable JB Bell. To…
In Universalis
Participants: Mike Holmes, Bob McNamee, Psycho42, Valamir, quozl, dragongrace, hix.

3/3/2003 Dave Versace: Return to the Jungle Frontiers (sans dinosaurs) - LONG
On the weekend my gaming group continued the Universalis story mentioned here:http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=5186 . The results were...interesting. Summarising, the story so far had seemed to be about a noblewoman surveyor, Lady…
In Universalis
Participants: Dave Versace, Valamir, Mike Holmes.

3/10/2003 Shieldage: Universalis & Sleeping Beauty: Traits in Literature
I browsed for this 1919 version of Sleeping Beauty. Most tellings have great examples of the giving of 'traits' as well as a 'challenge' (or is it still a 'complication'?).…
In Universalis
Participants: Shieldage, Mike Holmes, Valamir.

3/12/2003 Paka: Universalis World Building
Has anyone ever built a world with a a copy of Universalis, some tokens and a blank map? Ideas, suggestions, thoughts?
In Universalis
Participants: Paka, Mike Holmes.

3/12/2003 Alan: Challenges: cost up front or afterward
Hi all, In a recent game, we ran into a question about Challenges. Here's the scenario: The acting player declares something. Another player challenges immediately. The Question: has the acting…
In Universalis
Participants: Alan, Mike Holmes, Valamir.

3/12/2003 rafial: Group Traits & Master Components
I've been studying the example at the bottom of page 70/top of page 71 in the rule book, which shows two shock troopers (which draw from a master component), which…
In Universalis
Participants: rafial, Valamir, Mike Holmes.

3/18/2003 Alan: New Gimmicks
Gimmick: No buying new traits during a Complication. The ban covers all components, whether they're in play or not. Once the dice are rolled and results tallied, the ban is…
In Universalis
Participants: Alan, Mike Holmes, Valamir, rafial, Bob McNamee, Shieldage.

3/22/2003 Valamir: Web Site Update
Just completed another update to the site. Added a bunch of Add-ons from Alan's recent thread. Also put up a new essay about keeping the story focused using Traits and…
In Universalis
Participants: Valamir, Tony Irwin, kwill, Buddha Nature, Mike Holmes, REkz.

3/25/2003 Tony Irwin: Universalis with minatures
I'm not joking! I've been ill recently and have used the time (never knew just how bad daytime tv really is) to paint up some old Games Workshop stuff I…
In Universalis
Participants: Tony Irwin, Valamir, Paganini, GreatWolf, Mike Holmes.

4/5/2003 Shieldage: D6 Gimmick
Okay, I gather from the posts that you guys have had past experience with something similiar and gotten sick of the subject. Understood and moving on. Er, I found a…
In Universalis
Participants: Shieldage, Valamir, Mike Holmes, Paganini, rafial.

4/10/2003 Sindyr: Gamist Universalis?
So, what would this be? I ask because I think I may be gamist-leaning, and I just received my copy of Universalis. I love it! It's brilliant! However, as I…
In Universalis
Participants: Sindyr, Mike Holmes, Paganini, Bob McNamee, Valamir, Michael S. Miller, C. Edwards.

4/12/2003 Sindyr: Looking for examples of play with Coin by Coin tracking...
So I found some examples of play on the website, but they do not include a Coin by Coin explanantion of mechanically *how* the story was made... There *are* some…
In Universalis
Participants: Sindyr, Bob McNamee, Paganini, Buddha Nature.

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