Previous Topics
In RPG Theory

12/20/2001 Joe Murphy (Broin): Fortune in the Middle vs Stunt Rewards
Assuming one is using the Fortune in the Middle approach, is there any way to then offer PCs rewards for well-described actions? In Exalted and Feng Shui, well-described actions get…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Joe Murphy (Broin), Tor Erickson, hardcoremoose, Ron Edwards, Le Joueur, Laurel, Zak Arntson, Blake Hutchins, Gordon C. Landis, Paul Czege, Clinton R. Nixon, Garbanzo.

12/17/2001 greyorm: It Never Fails
So, I've been a movie-watching buff lately. I've sucked down more special-effects-ridden media than I have in years. Other than coming to the realization that all of John Carpenter's movies…
In RPG Theory
Participants: greyorm, Ron Edwards, Paul Czege, Mike Holmes, contracycle, gentrification, Bankuei, hardcoremoose.

12/16/2001 Jack Spencer Jr: What is an RPG supposed to be?
This is a question, and various answers that I've run into when talking RPG w/ people. Invariably I run into a wall of "an RPG is supposed to be (blank)."…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jack Spencer Jr, Armin D. Sykes, Marco, Mike Holmes, Ron Edwards, Mario, Laurel.

12/10/2001 jburneko: Narrativist Missions
Hello All, I've had one of those weekends where I had a lot of ideas that generated nothing but questions. Some of these ideas and questions are a bit unfocused…
In RPG Theory
Participants: jburneko, Mike Holmes, Ron Edwards, gentrification, xiombarg, contracycle, Paul Czege, Le Joueur, Marco, Daredevil.

12/8/2001 Jack Spencer Jr: "Hmm, a thread about magic stuff would be cool,"
[quote] Ron Edwards wrote: "Hmm, a thread about magic stuff would be cool," [/quote] Seems like a good idea to me. The previous Three you never see thread got on…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jack Spencer Jr, Marco, hardcoremoose, mahoux, contracycle, Ranko, James V. West.

12/6/2001 Firbog: Meta-plots, Railroading and Settings
Since I am new to this forum, and not sure if these have been discussed in the way I am bout to ask questions, I hope that you all will…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Firbog, Matt, Tor Erickson, Mike Holmes, Ron Edwards, jburneko, Manu, Ben Morgan.

11/28/2001 Laurel: Romance, Happiness, and Expectation
(building off of Valid Premises thread) Taking as a premise the validity of Gareth's statement "{Romance} has become the default filler of nearly anything made for TV.... as a way…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Laurel, mahoux, Ron Edwards, Mike Holmes.

11/27/2001 jburneko: Valid Premises
This was said down in the "big three you never see thread." I have a question about it that I thought deserved its own thread. I *DO NOT* want this…
In RPG Theory
Participants: jburneko, Epoch, Marco, joshua neff, Ben Morgan, contracycle, Mike Holmes.

11/26/2001 Paul Czege: the big three you never see
Hey everyone, I was sitting last night reading Hardball, by Chris Matthews, and had an awareness that the fiction and nonfiction I read, and the movies and television programs I…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Paul Czege, jburneko, Mike Holmes, Ron Edwards, Blake Hutchins, hardcoremoose, John Wick, joshua neff, Le Joueur, Jack Spencer Jr, Gordon C. Landis, contracycle, Uncle Dark, James V. West, James Holloway, Marco, Ian O'Rourke, Jared A. Sorensen.

11/13/2001 jburneko: An Experiment In The Ordinary
There's an idea I've been mulling over for a while now. It's something that's been brought up before on various game sites but never really addressed in an interesting way.…
In RPG Theory
Participants: jburneko, Mike Holmes, Ron Edwards, Epoch, Laurel, Jared A. Sorensen, joshua neff, hardcoremoose, Marco, Ben Morgan, Bankuei, mahoux, Le Joueur.

11/12/2001 Matt Snyder: "Universal group" systems
I have long loathed systems billed as "universal." There are a number of reasons, not the least of which I admit is ignorance about their actual usefulness in play. By…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Matt Snyder, Mike Holmes, Ron Edwards, Ben Morgan, Marco, Laurel.

11/11/2001 erithromycin: Rewarding Players
Experience points. Do players deserve them? Is it better to reward someone for a successful negotiation with a reputation as a rainmaker or an enhancement to his mechanical character? …
In RPG Theory
Participants: erithromycin, Ron Edwards, hardcoremoose, Marco, Bankuei, Jack Spencer Jr, Mike Holmes, Jared A. Sorensen.

11/9/2001 jburneko: Metaplot and Story Creation
The planets must be aligned funky or something. Today seems to be an idea day for me. Anyway, down in the Immersion & Co-Authoring thread Ron reasserted his claim that…
In RPG Theory
Participants: jburneko, Jared A. Sorensen, Ron Edwards, Zak Arntson, Gordon C. Landis, Blake Hutchins, John Wick, Ian O'Rourke, contracycle, Mytholder, Mike Holmes, Paul Czege, Matt, Ben Morgan, Laurel, joshua neff, Nathan.

11/9/2001 Damocles: Imitating other media
It's pretty much a commonplace that new media start out by imitating other media and then start to develop into new and unique directions. Roleplaying games are strange in that…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Damocles, Mike Holmes, Laurel, Ron Edwards, Epoch, unodiablo.

11/9/2001 jburneko: Incharacter Play vs. co-Author
I have a feeling here that I'm going to open up a huge can of worms. You have been warned. In Ron's new review of Little Fears he talks about…
In RPG Theory
Participants: jburneko, Jared A. Sorensen, lumpley, Ron Edwards, Marco.

11/7/2001 John Wick: A superhero RPG
This is rough stuff. I wrote it at 3 AM last night. I may have had a fever. Anyway, it is what it is. Interested in seeing what you guys…
In RPG Theory
Participants: John Wick, kwill, Mike Holmes, Tim Gray.

11/6/2001 jburneko: Cut-Scenes In RPGs
As I've been watching various TV Shows and Movies I've noticed something that whole exists in those mediums and does not exist in RPGs. That element is that the audience…
In RPG Theory
Participants: jburneko, Bankuei, Ron Edwards, Le Joueur, contracycle, Ian O'Rourke.

11/5/2001 Galfraxas: Suspension Of Reality And Playing Odd Characters
I recently got into an arguement with a friend of mine about RPGs, and how certain things aren't playable as characters, and how people can't suspend reality to a certain…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Galfraxas, 333Chronzon, unodiablo, Mike Holmes, Laurel, Ron Edwards, kwill, Paul Czege, Jared A. Sorensen, James Holloway, Jack Spencer Jr, contracycle, lumpley, gentrification, Jason L Blair, Meguey.

11/5/2001 lumpley: Making Stuff Happen non-Stance
Ron, Cool, I'm there. So let's see, so here's my thing: what happens in the game, happens because everybody agrees it does. Right? Who gets to assert things that happen?…
In RPG Theory
Participants: lumpley, Ron Edwards, Don Lag, kwill.

11/5/2001 lumpley: Making Stuff Happen Stance
In Further On Stances, Ron says: "The arrow has struck Borax the Very Clean Warrior!" This statement is irrelevant to Stance entirely. NOT ALL ROLE-PLAYING STATEMENTS ARE MADE FROM A…
In RPG Theory
Participants: lumpley, Ron Edwards, Don Lag.

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Subsequent Topics
In RPG Theory

12/24/2001 Paul Czege: more than mechanics alone
Hey everyone, Recently, Scott Knipe sent me to RPG.net to see a thread entitled "Top 5 Free Rpg's" on which GB Steve made some very nice comments about A…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Paul Czege, Jared A. Sorensen.

12/26/2001 Jack Spencer Jr: Displacement
[quote] dis plas' ment, [i]n.[/i] 6. in psychiatry, the transference of an emotion to a logically inappropriate object. [/quote] This is a little something that's been gnawing away at me…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jack Spencer Jr, Marco, Ron Edwards, Skippy, joshua neff, Paul Czege, Mike Holmes.

12/27/2001 Bankuei: Suspense in mechanics
I was thinking about game design after playing one of my favorite party/not quite board games…Jenga. For those of you unfamiliar with it, you take a stack of wooden blocks…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Bankuei, Mike Holmes, unodiablo, Ron Edwards, Clinton R. Nixon, Laurel, contracycle, Mytholder, Epoch, Garbanzo, Osric, Le Joueur, Paul Czege, joshua neff, Ian O'Rourke, woodelf.

12/28/2001 James V. West: The Fantasy Role-Playing Gamer's Bible
Ok, anyone familiar with this book? Its written by Sean Patrick Fannon, pubished in 1996 by Prima Publishing. THE FANTASY ROLE-PLAYING GAMER'S BIBLE. I bring this up because I bought…
In RPG Theory
Participants: James V. West, Ron Edwards, jburneko, Jack Spencer Jr, greyorm.

12/28/2001 Joe Murphy (Broin): Three-way Plotting in AvP2 (long)
I *think* this is the best forum for this observation. This post will have some spoilers for the AvP2 game. A dear friend gave me a copy of 'Aliens vs…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Joe Murphy (Broin), Mike Holmes, Paul Czege, Bankuei, Epoch.

12/28/2001 Paul Czege: on making the same character over and over
Hey, On the A Connecticut Narrativist in King Arthur's Simulation thread in GNS Model Discussion, Skippy wrote: I have a current player who always plays a mage. ALWAYS....Kelly…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Paul Czege, Laurel, Clinton R. Nixon, Mike Holmes, Skippy, Ryan Ary, hardcoremoose, Ron Edwards, contracycle, Joe Murphy (Broin), Uncle Dark, Osric, Logan.

12/29/2001 hardcoremoose: Drawing from Experience
This is a companion to the Historical Inaccuracy thread, in the Game Design Forum above. Research is nify, but what about real life experience? Don't novelists always say "write what…
In RPG Theory
Participants: hardcoremoose, Skippy, Ron Edwards, James V. West, Mike Holmes, Osric.

12/29/2001 hardcoremoose: The Road Goes Ever On...
Hey guys, I'm sure everyone's aware of the phenomenon in which a random gathering of casual gamers occurs, and with little to no planning, they decide to play a game.…
In RPG Theory
Participants: hardcoremoose, James V. West, Joe Murphy (Broin), Jared A. Sorensen, Laurel, Ron Edwards.

12/29/2001 Paganini: Outcomes as Plot Devices
I just read Raven's thread on cinematic results where failure results in a success plus a complication. I agree that *always* succeeding removes real tension from the game. No matter…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Paganini.

12/30/2001 contracycle: using R-maps
Hey, I just had a thought about a way to possibly use relationship maps. I'm sitting here with a copy of the L5R GM's survival guide, which includes a breakdown…
In RPG Theory
Participants: contracycle, Ben Morgan, Ron Edwards, Gordon C. Landis.

1/3/2002 contracycle: Using Kickers & Bangs
Question: do kickers strinctlyn have to occor BEFORE PLAY BEGINS? Is the kicker necessarily the fist instance of play? I would say not. Working on an experimental scenario, I was…
In RPG Theory
Participants: contracycle, Paul Czege, jburneko, Ron Edwards, Ben Morgan, hardcoremoose, Mike Holmes, Daredevil.

1/4/2002 furashgf: Cut-Scenes and Narritivist Technique Inventory
There's a good amount of material on starting up a narritivist centered game on the site and, for example, in Ron's book on starting a narritivist game. SOAP gives you…
In RPG Theory
Participants: furashgf, Ron Edwards.

1/11/2002 Joe Murphy (Broin): Character Sheets - Rubbish?
Why are character sheets so ungodly awful? Last year, I had a plan to write a scenario for a games convention. One of the cuter gimmicks for this TransFormers-inspired…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Joe Murphy (Broin), hardcoremoose, contracycle, Mike Holmes, Le Joueur, Ron Edwards.

1/14/2002 lumpley: Fortune-forward Vs. Fortune-backward
So I've been looking at my games, and others' games, and I've been thinking hard about the old Description-Based vs. Quantified thing, which seems to have lost currency, and about…
In RPG Theory
Participants: lumpley, Jared A. Sorensen, Paul Czege, Joe Murphy (Broin), Gordon C. Landis, contracycle, Le Joueur, greyorm.

1/15/2002 Zak Arntson: D/F/K and the Unknown Factor
I've been thinking about mechanics for some time now. I'm trying to come up with a good vocabulary for working out systems in games. This applies only to rpgs with…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Zak Arntson, Bankuei, Garbanzo, Epoch.

1/15/2002 contracycle: Matrix Gaming
Well, I thought that it wasabout time I pushed out another gaming idea I've been tangenmtially working with for a bit. This is the concept of Matrix Games as pioneered…
In RPG Theory
Participants: contracycle, Ron Edwards, Paul Czege, J B Bell.

1/16/2002 Bankuei: Purpose of rules
Inspired by the Shared Power thread, I started thinking, in every roleplaying game I've seen(except Rune), the rules were all intended with the idea that the GM is supposed to…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Bankuei, hardcoremoose, Ron Edwards, Paganini, Gordon C. Landis, Bailey, joshua neff, John Wick, contracycle, erithromycin, lumpley, James V. West, Paul Czege, Skippy.

1/18/2002 Gordon C. Landis: Player Illusionism
OK, Logan mentioned (in one of the GNS/Dramatism threads) that Illusionism is usually a GM "tool". I'm putting this here in Theory, even though it involves Actual Play, because it's…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, Ron Edwards, jburneko.

1/19/2002 Le Joueur: More than Three 'Boxes'
Hi, over in the GNS forum, I mentioned trying to take Simulationism and 'break it out' into more 'boxes.' I am pressed for time so I am going to just…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Le Joueur, Ron Edwards, Logan, jburneko, contracycle, Marco, james_west, Mike Holmes, Gordon C. Landis.

1/20/2002 Manu: On-screen time as a mechanic
Hey all, Has anyone already toyed with the idea of making the amount of "on screen" time a character gets a metagame characteristic, independent of the character's power level or…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Manu, Joe Murphy (Broin), Tim C Koppang, Ron Edwards.

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