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In RPG Theory

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.

4/16/2004 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.

4/16/2004 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 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 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.

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

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.

4/13/2004 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.

4/13/2004 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 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.

4/12/2004 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.

4/12/2004 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 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.

4/10/2004 clehrich: GM Technique and Teaching
As some of you know, I teach in college classrooms, usually small seminars. And the more I think about classic problems that arise in teaching, the more I think that…
In RPG Theory
Participants: clehrich, Eero Tuovinen, M. J. Young, Christopher Weeks, Mike Holmes.

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.

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In RPG Theory

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.

4/21/2004 Zoetrope10: Plausible NPCs
A while back I was going to post a query seeking views as to how to improve the plausibility of NPC's and their behaviours. Rather than posting such a query…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Zoetrope10, BPetroff93, orbsmatt.

4/22/2004 Paka: Kickers and Spiritual Attributes - Brothers? Cousins?
I've been re-reading Sorcerer, getting ready to play after I put together a group in the coming weeks. The last game I've been running lately has been TROS, and the…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Paka, Ron Edwards, Akamaru.

4/22/2004 Jonathan Walton: Fine Art #7: Chris Lehrich's "Ritual Discourse"
Hey Folks, The newest article in my "Fine Art of Roleplaying" column is finally up, after a two week break. We decided to abandon the article I was going to…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jonathan Walton, Cemendur, contracycle.

4/22/2004 Asrogoth: God Games -- Who, What, Where, When????
[i]I wasn't sure where to put this post, but I believe this is the correct place.[/i] For those of you who have read my submission to the Son of Iron…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Asrogoth, Paul Czege, anonymouse, greyorm, pete_darby, Simon W, Jere, Marhault, M. J. Young, contracycle.

4/24/2004 TonyLB: Deep Immersion
In the Group Ownership of Players thread, Valamir expressed his frustration with misinterpretation of his argument, and recommended that the discussion had exceeded the bounds of the original thread, and…
In RPG Theory
Participants: TonyLB, Valamir, Ron Edwards, neelk, greyorm, Halzebier, clehrich, Jack Spencer Jr, Peter Hollinghurst, John Kim, GreatWolf, talysman, Maarzan, Sean, contracycle, montag, RaconteurX, Rob Carriere, pete_darby, Eric J-D, MR. Analytical, Russell Impagliazzo.

4/24/2004 lpsmith: The RPG Basement
So, Christopher Lehrich's 'Ritual' essay, and Jonathan Walton's essay at RPG.net about it made me think about the RPG basement, to wit, the collection of tools and pieces we've collected…
In RPG Theory
Participants: lpsmith.

4/25/2004 cruciel: I Don't Know, Just 'Cause
So, I'm having a conversation with one of our players. We're talking about how his run is going so far, and I ask him, "Why do you like that?" I…
In RPG Theory
Participants: cruciel, C. Edwards, Noon, greyorm, Bankuei, beingfrank, clehrich.

4/25/2004 Jonathan Walton: The Handbook Project: Give Us a Hand
Many of you may remember this thread from a month ago, when I proposed a "Player's Guide" that actually explained how to roleplay: i.e. put forth the theories and practices…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jonathan Walton, neelk, Ben Lehman, clehrich, Emily Care, Trevis Martin.

4/25/2004 anonymouse: sketched mechanic: choice of words = Influencing Force
It would basically work like this: * Write up a list of the forces that are in work in your game. * Assign a few words, concepts, phrases, et cetera…
In RPG Theory
Participants: anonymouse, TonyLB, Noon, C. Edwards, Shreyas Sampat.

4/26/2004 bcook1971: Force and Vice
It’s my understanding that the use of Force is dysfunctional by definition. I wanted to get some feedback as to the dividing line between proper GM play and the use…
In RPG Theory
Participants: bcook1971, clehrich, Ron Edwards.

4/26/2004 Simon W: BBC ACKNOWLEDGES 30 YEARS OF D&D
I know this does not really belong here but we wouldn't all be designing games if it wasn't for D&D, so I thought this might be of passing interest to…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Simon W, Mike Holmes, pete_darby.

4/26/2004 xiombarg: metaplot footnote 2
Well, as of today I feel that someone was listening to my my rant. I mean, the cynical part of me "knows" that the main White Wolf people aren't reading…
In RPG Theory
Participants: xiombarg, DannyK, Matt, eyebeams.

4/27/2004 Sydney Freedberg: Fear & confusion - do all RPG combat systems miss the po
[Pull pin; count one, two, throw; and...] Proposition: Pretty much every RPG fails to capture the true essence of combat, which is terror, confusion, and chaos. This goes double for…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Sydney Freedberg, Valamir, lumpley, Bob McNamee, TonyLB, Noon, Jack Spencer Jr, cruciel, Andrew Martin, neelk, timfire, Sean, Maarzan, Ron Edwards, Marhault, Mike Holmes, Artanis, talysman, M. J. Young, Walt Freitag, Vaxalon1, Itse.

4/28/2004 ghostwolf: Sci-Fi Heartbreakers?
I just finished reading Ron's Fantasy Heartbreakers articles (again) and noticed this time around at the end of the second article that he mentioned Sci-Fi heartbreakers. Being a huge fan…
In RPG Theory
Participants: ghostwolf, Ron Edwards, Shreyas Sampat, John Kim, Paka, AdAstraGames, Rob Carriere, Matt, simon_hibbs.

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