Previous Topics
In RPG Theory

4/10/2004 sirogit: Creating characters as relationships
I'm considering using this technique during my next character creation session. Give players the details of what is expected of their individual characters(Combat readiness, likability, protagonist-material), but tell them to…
In RPG Theory
Participants: sirogit, Shreyas Sampat, Ron Edwards, neelk.

4/9/2004 Tomas HVM: Beware the academic jabberwocky!
Seth L. Blumberg wrote on the style of communication at the Forge in the "Railroading"-thread. I've commented on the use of terms here before, and did so again in that…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Tomas HVM, lumpley, Kester Pelagius, M. J. Young, Eero Tuovinen, Bankuei, Shreyas Sampat, clehrich, John Kim, Walt Freitag, neelk, Seth L. Blumberg, Bill_White, Peter Hollinghurst, Mike Holmes, Valamir, Varis_Rising, matthijs, BPetroff93, FredGarber, eyebeams, greyorm, Ron Edwards.

4/9/2004 Tomas HVM: Players never have a "free choice"
Players are often said to have a "free choice" of action in roleplaying games, or at least much more free than in any other game. This is not true. The…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Tomas HVM, Jonathan Walton, greyorm, Caldis, Gaerik, Henri, Christopher Kubasik, Bob McNamee, Umberhulk, M. J. Young, Ben Lehman, clehrich, Rob Carriere, simon_hibbs, Valamir, Seth L. Blumberg, Ron Edwards, Silmenume, BPetroff93, pete_darby, Halzebier, Eero Tuovinen, Walt Freitag, contracycle, Andrew Norris, joshua neff.

4/8/2004 Henri: Probability Curves
It may be that someone has already done this (and if so could someone point me to it), but I was thinking it might be useful to have some sort…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Henri, John Kim, b_bankhead, Jasper, Rob Carriere, Mike Holmes, M. J. Young, Gaerik, Thierry Michel.

4/8/2004 Alan: Acting as Gamist Play
Hi all, Recently I've read two threads, Regarding the nature of roleplaying and Immersive Story Essay. They've triggered several ideas, but here's…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Alan.

4/8/2004 John Kim: Immersive Story Essay
So I have posted my essay from the "Beyond Role and Play" book up on my website, along with book information. So first of all, here is the…
In RPG Theory
Participants: John Kim, contracycle, Alan, Eero Tuovinen, Mike Holmes, clehrich, RDU Neil, Jack Spencer Jr, Russell Impagliazzo, matthijs, Daredevil, Storn, Revontuli, Noon.

4/8/2004 Jasper: Questioning Deprotagonization and Railroading
In the Railroading Fun thread, One of the commonly accepted rules in roleplaying is that what a PC thinks, feels, and decides to do is completely up to the player.…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jasper, Shreyas Sampat, CPXB, montag, Ron Edwards, clehrich, Mike Holmes, Paul Czege, Andrew Norris, Seth L. Blumberg, Walt Freitag, contracycle, Noon, FredGarber.

4/7/2004 Gaerik: Railroading Fun
My question at it's simplest is "What constitutes Railroading?" Does any overarching plotline by the GM mean the players are being railroaded? If railroading is defined as the GM forcing…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Gaerik, Alan, timfire, Nick Pagnucco, DannyK, Tomas HVM, Domhnall, Ron Edwards, M. J. Young, jrs, contracycle, Henri, Seth L. Blumberg, Eero Tuovinen, clehrich, Noon, Valamir, Walt Freitag.

4/7/2004 Jere: What is a Scene
Is there a good guide to scenes. What they are, how to handle them, various tools? It seems the type of thing someone on or affiliated with the Forge would…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jere, greyorm, John Kim, contracycle, Paganini, xiombarg.

4/6/2004 Domhnall: Mystery-- Essay
Hello all. I've just joined. I had no idea a group of like-minded players were out here this whole time! The following is an essay that I have in my…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Domhnall, Valamir, montag, Noon, contracycle, Jack Aidley, Rob Carriere, Argetlamh, Doyce, timfire, GreatWolf, Gaerik, Alan, Mourglin, John Kim, M. J. Young, clehrich, Sean, Ron Edwards, Gordon C. Landis, Walt Freitag, Andrew Norris, Cemendur.

4/1/2004 beingfrank: Designing Your Team the Scooby Way
Ok, so it's silly, but is it useful? I've certainly seen a number of situations where it's given insight into why a group dynamic wasn't working. Designing your team the…
In RPG Theory
Participants: beingfrank, Jasper, John Kim, Itse, neelk, Ron Edwards, DannyK, Argetlamh, M. J. Young, brainwipe.

3/31/2004 Philomousos: Regarding the nature of roleplaying
I'm a new poster to this site. I recently ran up against an alarming reaction at the site I normally frequent, which has rather depressed me about the state of…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Philomousos, quozl, coxcomb, Jack Spencer Jr, Alan, Valamir, clehrich, Rich Forest, Ron Edwards, Vishanti, Ravien, M. J. Young, Ian Charvill, Thierry Michel, pete_darby, Walt Freitag, Christopher Weeks, BPetroff93, talysman, Tomas HVM, joshua neff, aplath, contracycle, brainwipe, Blankshield.

3/31/2004 coxcomb: Should character control hurt?
I broke this off from Zak's Survey, as I don't want to inject my own query into his thread. Here are some highlights to get us started: Something that I…
In RPG Theory
Participants: coxcomb, Jasper, Alan, Technocrat13, Bankuei, John Kim, pete_darby, Ian Charvill, HMT, TonyLB, Garbanzo.

3/31/2004 Andrew Morris: Speed vs. Realism ... where do you draw the line?
Hey, everyone. I'm still new to the Forge, so if this post is on the wrong forum, I apologize. What I'd like to know is whether or not you'd be…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Andrew Morris, clehrich, Sean, coxcomb, ethan_greer, Mike Holmes, b_bankhead, Noon, Jack Aidley, M. J. Young, Tomas HVM, CPXB, simon_hibbs, Shreyas Sampat, Domhnall.

3/31/2004 Zak Arntson: Fate Points - Their history & implementation
Something I've been thinking of, after playing Jay's Gallant and reading Mongoose Publishing's Conan, are Fate Points. I remember them first appearing in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay with the sole purpose…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Zak Arntson, Matt Wilson, Sean, Michael S. Miller, Mike Holmes, coxcomb, Scourge108, rafial, montag, M. J. Young, John Kim, talysman, hanschristianandersen.

3/31/2004 Jonathan Moyer: "Space" in Non-Physical Combat
Hi all, I finally have a free moment from work, and I'm itching to discuss this with everyone. Games like HeroQuest handle non-physical "combat" in the same way as physical…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jonathan Moyer, Dr. Velocity, Ron Edwards, TonyLB, Noon, Mike Holmes, JDJarvis, timfire, taalyn, simon_hibbs, contracycle, Shreyas Sampat, M. J. Young.

3/30/2004 sirogit: Perception narration: Authorship & Honesty
In TroS game, I've noticed myself accidently using the phrases "You see..." "You feel..." "You know..." etc. as a result of, say, an inspection of an object or a character…
In RPG Theory
Participants: sirogit, Valamir, Blankshield, clehrich, WDFlores, Rich Forest, M. J. Young.

3/29/2004 Ravien: Character Generation: An Idea of Mine...
Ok, I have this idea for chargen, which I'd like to just "throw out there" and see what you guys think. For starters, alot of people seem to like "qualitative"…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Ravien, Green, Trevis Martin, Ron Edwards, Shreyas Sampat, ChefKyle, M. J. Young, Bluve Oak.

3/27/2004 coxcomb: What is system?
I have committed a crime. It is a crime that I am certain is common among long-time role-players such as myself. I have judged games on a brief look at…
In RPG Theory
Participants: coxcomb, clehrich, Jack Spencer Jr, matthijs, Tomas HVM, Noon, Ron Edwards, WDFlores, John Kim, Umberhulk, M. J. Young, Ravien.

3/26/2004 Rexfelis: Defining "epic" for purposes of an rpg
This is a split from the other epic threads (the first one, and the one on abilities). I want to suggest that, when defining "epic" for the purposes of an…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Rexfelis, Ian Charvill, Steven Bishop.

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Subsequent Topics
In RPG Theory

4/12/2004 sirogit: What does and doesn't constituite "Force"
I'd like to include the paragraphs in which Force is discussed in Ron Edward's Narrativist Essay as a basic definition. Force: the final authority that any person who is…
In RPG Theory
Participants: sirogit, Andrew Martin, Henri, Ron Edwards, clehrich.

4/12/2004 hatheg-kla: Deciding scope for conflict-based resolution.
Hi there. For a while now I've been struggling to marry these two ideas: 1. Characters defined by a list number of skills (that have various levels of aptitude). 2.…
In RPG Theory
Participants: hatheg-kla, Shreyas Sampat, lumpley, Ron Edwards, coxcomb, Jasper, RDU Neil, Storn, Valamir, Mike Holmes.

4/12/2004 jeffd: Scene Framing?
I'm sure this has been covered - but unfortunately I'm a piss poor search engine user. :( Are there any good Forge threads on the concepts behind scene framing? I'm…
In RPG Theory
Participants: jeffd, C. Edwards, John Kim.

4/13/2004 Paganini: Pag's Standard Rant - Scene Framing
It seems like we're always getting posts in the various forums about Scene Framing. What it is, how to do it. These questions are invariably met with links to old…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Paganini, coxcomb, FredGarber, C. Edwards, Mike Holmes, Jonathan Walton.

4/13/2004 Zak Arntson: Design - What does the player/character/gm do?
Just in case someone isn't familiar with it, I'll open with one of the standard questions you give a designer: The idea's great and all, but what do you do?…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Zak Arntson, Astrivian.

4/13/2004 Tomas HVM: Force, feeding techniques and scene framing
Walt Freitag wrote: I'm one of the Forge's most outspoken advocates and (if I do say so myself) innovative practitioners of high-Force techniques. I'd love to participate in discussion such…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Tomas HVM, M. J. Young, Walt Freitag, Eero Tuovinen, Bankuei, hanschristianandersen.

4/14/2004 Palaskar: The next stages in RPG evolution? (longish)
After reading the post on game evolution at rpg-create, I've tried to extrapolate the next stages in RPG evolution. I would appreciate it if people could critique and help me…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Palaskar.

4/15/2004 orbsmatt: Bangs
At the risk of sounding ignorant, what are bangs?
In RPG Theory
Participants: orbsmatt, Mike Holmes.

4/16/2004 Noon: Group player ownership of all PC's
This is from 'Players never have a "free choice"' http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=10707&start=15&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight= No character is the sole ownership of any one player. I would agree with this part anyway.…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Noon, Rob Carriere, FredGarber, BPetroff93, Ron Edwards, Valamir, SrGrvsaLot, John Kim, pete_darby, contracycle, Mike Holmes, Eero Tuovinen, Jonathan Walton, C. Edwards, beingfrank, Halzebier.

4/16/2004 rylen dreskin: Canonical Texts
Hey, I've been reading the HeroQuest pages. From there I hunted terms like "bangs," "narrativist," and "social contract" to this forum. Hope I'm in the right place. I've found some…
In RPG Theory
Participants: rylen dreskin, Alan.

4/16/2004 eyebeams: The Feel of the Dice
One thing that's often ignored in game design is what players are actually doing when they roll the dice (or draw cards, or what have you). I think this resolves…
In RPG Theory
Participants: eyebeams, talysman, Dr. Velocity, Eero Tuovinen, Noon, Seth L. Blumberg, BPetroff93, Lxndr, Jack Spencer Jr, Bankuei, Ron Edwards, cruciel, Aman the Rejected.

4/16/2004 Malechi: Sci-Fi Narr-based with some healthy doses of Situation
Straight to the point.. we're looking for a low $ investment sci-fi rpg. It needn't be an actual Sci-Fi rpg but should definitely allow for some nice background setting, situation…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Malechi, Dev, Lxndr, b_bankhead.

4/17/2004 The Fiendish Dr. Samsara: A Categorization of Magic Systems (long)
This is a first stab at trying to map out the possible metaphysics of magic in gaming. This list is in no way normative and if anyone comes up with…
In RPG Theory
Participants: The Fiendish Dr. Samsara, Ravien, M. J. Young, greyorm, Ben Lehman, simon_hibbs, FredGarber, clehrich, BPetroff93, redwalker.

4/18/2004 drimitz: Getting started.
Greetings all, I am new here and I have a very simple question, though I expect the answers to be complex. What is the best way to get started in…
In RPG Theory
Participants: drimitz, Domhnall, Ben Lehman, Jack Spencer Jr, Ron Edwards, ethan_greer.

4/19/2004 Ben Lehman: System Typing
I have an idea. Now, as I begin to lay this idea out, I think people are going to instantly relate it to another set of three categories which have…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Ben Lehman, Eero Tuovinen, BPetroff93, lumpley, John Kim, cruciel, FredGarber, M. J. Young, Emily Care.

4/19/2004 Gaerik: Earth of the Fourth Sun
I was just wondering if anyone had actually tried out The Earth of the Fourth Sun rpg by Thomas Slaughter. It looked interesting. He's got a pdf playtest version of…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Gaerik, M. J. Young.

4/19/2004 Valamir: Lessons from Iron Chef
Eero asked such a great question at the end of the Son of Iron Chef thread that I took the liberty of transposing it over here where it won't get…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Valamir, Jonathan Walton, quozl, hanschristianandersen, Shreyas Sampat, talysman, Bill_White, John Kim, Eero Tuovinen, Emily Care, Bob McNamee, Dav, Jack Spencer Jr, Asrogoth, Ben Lehman, Ron Edwards, JamesSterrett, Zak Arntson, John Harper, Noon, Lxndr, Jack Aidley, dalek_of_god, Alan.

4/20/2004 SrGrvsaLot: Rethinking Randomness
Randomness, in the form of die rolls, is an essential element of many games, but is it necessary? Can it be eliminated? Can a game be fun and exciting without…
In RPG Theory
Participants: SrGrvsaLot, Mark Johnson, talysman, M. J. Young, Ben Lehman, Domhnall, pete_darby, Jonathan Walton, simon_hibbs, orbsmatt, Noon, TonyLB, lumpley.

4/20/2004 SrGrvsaLot: Unworkable Concepts
Is there such a thing as a concept that absolutely cannot be made into a playable game? If so, has anyone run into such an animal? If these unworkable concepts…
In RPG Theory
Participants: SrGrvsaLot, quozl, Jack Aidley, Valamir, Ron Edwards, simon_hibbs, Shreyas Sampat, timfire, Gaerik, Gelasma, Mark Johnson, Cemendur, M. J. Young.

4/20/2004 Mike Holmes: Iron Game Chef - AAR
I'd like to conduct an after action review of the contest. I'll personally chime in with more notes later, but I wanted to start out with Eero's thoughts so that…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Mike Holmes, C. Edwards, Dav, Eero Tuovinen, Ron Edwards, quozl, Walt Freitag, talysman, timfire, Lxndr.

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