Previous Topics
In RPG Theory

8/2/2004 newsalor: What is a roleplaying game?
I know that this is an old question, but it should be the first question to be asked. What is a roleplaying game? What is roleplaying? I know several definitions,…
In RPG Theory
Participants: newsalor, Sean, lumpley, Tim C Koppang, Jack Aidley, Ron Edwards, Jonathan Walton, M. J. Young, Noon, simon_hibbs, Blankshield, timfire, Christopher Weeks, Silmenume.

8/2/2004 ADGBoss: CRPGs, SIS, and SOlo Play: Is it Role Playing?
The subject of CRPG’s was brought up in this thread in Site Discussion and it brought to my mind a few ideas and questions which I thought might be…
In RPG Theory
Participants: ADGBoss, Vaxalon, newsalor, Eero Tuovinen, Blankshield, lumpley, M. J. Young, Noon, ErrathofKosh, Christopher Weeks, contracycle, JamesSterrett, simon_hibbs, Andrew Morris, Ron Edwards.

8/2/2004 Sean: A note on Balance
I just posted this in response to something SteveD wrote on rpg.net and thought it might be of interest here too. ---------- At least two different things get called balance:…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Sean, Vaxalon, Ron Edwards, Marco, ADGBoss, Mike Holmes, NN, PlotDevice, bcook1971, Precious Villain, Doplegager, Doug Ruff, Troy_Costisick.

8/2/2004 JamesDJIII: I Killed the Game?
In reading over http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=12207, I remembered some off-hand comments from last Thursday's game night. One of the people at the table mentioned while looked at a (currently) unused Exalted character…
In RPG Theory
Participants: JamesDJIII, Ron Edwards, Kesher, Bankuei, captain_bateson, Noon, xiombarg, Dr. Velocity.

8/2/2004 Vaxalon: A Mathematician Speaks: Rolling dice
Okay, this is me trying to be helpful and offering what I know. I tried to see if it was covered before, elsewhere, and I don't see it, but I…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Vaxalon, Ron Edwards, newsalor, LordSmerf, GB Steve, Noon, Valamir, Kesher, mindwanders, Mike Holmes, M. J. Young, NN, John Kim, Jay, jphannil, Itse, Christopher Weeks, simon_hibbs, ErrathofKosh, Walt Freitag, Jack Aidley.

8/1/2004 Vaxalon: Hanging out
From the Traveller thread in Actual Play: "Lots of people don't like the pressure of having to come up with their own material. They just want to hang out or…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Vaxalon, xiombarg, Ron Edwards, Valamir, jdagna, LordSmerf, Noon, Lorenzo Rubbo-Ferraro, Mike Holmes, M. J. Young, bcook1971, rdl, DannyK, Doctor Xero.

7/31/2004 Vaxalon: An answer to Mike's Standard Rant #4, stat/skill systems
[quote="Mike Holmes"] What we're looking for is a system that produces characters that are: 1. limited in overall effectiveness by some method. 2. composed of choices that are motivated by…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Vaxalon, TonyLB, Mike Holmes.

7/30/2004 ephemere: traits and skills threads, please
Hi, Newcomer, working on my game -- just wondering if anyone could point me in the direction of threads that deal with the division of character abilities between traits and…
In RPG Theory
Participants: ephemere, Ron Edwards, Mark Johnson.

7/29/2004 jdagna: Making a Game About Survival?
I'm mulling over the seeds of what might be a new game, but I'm running into some mental blocks with it. Since the game isn't even a full seed, I'm…
In RPG Theory
Participants: jdagna, Zak Arntson, Tomas HVM, Michael S. Miller, JamesSterrett, timfire, M. J. Young, anonymouse, contracycle, Ron Edwards, trechriron, Vaxalon, keithn, Doug Ruff, Mandacaru, Bill_White, Mithras.

7/29/2004 Jonathan Chung: What makes a good Adventure?
While the subject is a bit broad I hope to clarify my question shortly. I have been playing for a reasonable amount of time, ~ 10 years or so at…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jonathan Chung, Bankuei, greedo1379, M. J. Young, Negilent, NN, Apocalypse, Comte, Doctor Xero, Troy_Costisick.

7/27/2004 lumpley: Reminder: Credibility
Assent underlies each moment of play. At each moment of play, if any single player doesn't fully assent to the imagined events of the game, play stops and the group…
In RPG Theory
Participants: lumpley, Christopher Weeks, Noon.

7/27/2004 Mike Holmes: The meaning of Big R "Rules"
In Vaxalon's post here: http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=12144 he discussed the term System. I was hoping to get some treatement of the term Rules as it pertains. It seems to me that one…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Mike Holmes, xiombarg, Christopher Weeks, Vaxalon, lumpley, M. J. Young.

7/27/2004 Vaxalon: The meaning of Big-S "System"
Here's a little story about a game group. The lines are numbered for easy reference. Please tell me which of these lines refer to an activity that is part of…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Vaxalon, xiombarg, Christopher Weeks, lumpley, John Kim, Mike Holmes.

7/27/2004 Paganini: System - what it is - a Rant
All this flap about system is really bugging me. So I will commence ranting. Also, last night on IRC, Vaxalon explained to me that he feels frustrated 'cos the Forge…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Paganini, Vaxalon, xiombarg, John Kim, lumpley, contracycle, mindwanders, Nicolas Crost, Valamir, Ron Edwards, Apocalypse.

7/27/2004 mindwanders: Character goal based reward systems
I'm looking for examples of some games that use character goal based reward systems. Unfortunately with my limited knowledge of game systems I'm not aware of any. Ideally I'd prefer…
In RPG Theory
Participants: mindwanders, Vaxalon, xiombarg, Mike Holmes, efindel, Lxndr.

7/27/2004 Jack Aidley: Task, conflict, scene, session and story resolution
I've been thinking a lot lately about Conflict resolution - I've actually been struggling with fitting ranged weapons and magic into it, but that isn't what this thread is about.…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jack Aidley, dewey, Christopher Weeks, Ron Edwards, lumpley.

7/26/2004 mindwanders: Applying the GNS theory to LARP Part 2
Hi folks, I've been doing some thinking About LARPs and GNS. What I've written below is potentially the second in a series of articles about applying GNS ideas to LARP…
In RPG Theory
Participants: mindwanders, PlotDevice, Merten, JamesSterrett, M. J. Young, newsalor, calebros.

7/26/2004 mindwanders: Addressing the problems with Applying the GNS theory to LARP
Hi folks, I've been doing some thinking About LARPs and GNS. What I've written below is potentially the first in a series of articles about applying GNS ideas to LARP…
In RPG Theory
Participants: mindwanders, M. J. Young, Merten, Matt, Andrew Morris.

7/26/2004 Jay: Card-Based Resolution
Hi, I started this thought in another thread, but thought to start a new thread rather than confuse my prior post with other tangents. What are your experiences, thoughts, comments…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jay, JimmyB, Vaxalon, Andrew Morris, M. J. Young, dewey, Zoetrope10, simon_hibbs, TooManyGoddamnOrcs, Ron Edwards, John Kim, calebros, Doug Ruff.

7/26/2004 Jonathan Walton: PUSH keeps pushing
Column #2 is finally out. I've been waiting most of a week for them to post it up there. This one's about the "Player's Guide to Roleplaying" project that Chris…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jonathan Walton.

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Subsequent Topics
In RPG Theory

8/4/2004 hix: Can you recommend: one-shot, Inspectres-esque game?
Hi (and I hope this is the right forum). Our group's had a gaming slot open up for next week. Does anybody know any games that are being (or have…
In RPG Theory
Participants: hix, Trevis Martin, Jack Aidley, timfire, Michael S. Miller, xiombarg, Zak Arntson.

8/4/2004 Vaxalon: Terminology: "Randomness"
Spawned from: This thread on dice In the context of dice mechanics, I put forward the following definition of "randomness": A dice mechanic is considered more random if it is…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Vaxalon, Walt Freitag, ErrathofKosh, Jack Aidley, MarcoBrucale, simon_hibbs, Paganini, Doug Ruff, Bill_White, beingfrank.

8/4/2004 Tomas HVM: Any RPG potential in the wilderness?
In the thread about the "survival-game" we started discussing wilderness and survival in roleplaying games, in more general terms. I'd like to go on with that discussion in this thread.…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Tomas HVM, Vaxalon, ErrathofKosh, contracycle, Noon, Frank T, Thor.

8/4/2004 lumpley: A short rant about "SIS"
"SIS" is broken terminology. I hate it with hate! The SIS is precisely what the players agree happens in the game. A CRPG, a game book, Stratego, they don't have…
In RPG Theory
Participants: lumpley, Christopher Weeks, Sean, Mike Holmes, Ron Edwards, Valamir, timfire, John Kim, Noon, Paganini, ADGBoss, contracycle, Alan, simon_hibbs, ErrathofKosh, Jonathan Walton.

8/4/2004 myripad: Abstracted combat.
A friend of mine recently purchased the AD&D 3.5 PHB. He and the group he organized have asked me to run a game as I'm a fairly experienced referee. The…
In RPG Theory
Participants: myripad, Ron Edwards, timfire, Artanis, adaen, M. J. Young.

8/6/2004 Tomas HVM: Anything goes? Blah!
Frankly, I do not understand gamesmiths who encourage the players to do whatever they want with their game. In my expereience gamers need no encouragment to do this. They will…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Tomas HVM, Ron Edwards, Dev.

8/6/2004 sirogit: Success with RPGs under an hour?
I've always wanted to run a game at the same speed as a tv show. In my expierince, gaming was always very slow. Too much looking up rules, arguements, over-elaborations,…
In RPG Theory
Participants: sirogit, Dev, Mike Holmes, Ravien.

8/6/2004 Christopher Weeks: Are MMORPGs CRPGs?
So I've been following the current threads on CRPGs and whether or not they're RPGs and whether or not the employ an SIS. But I want to know if we're…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Christopher Weeks, Blankshield, Mike Holmes, Eero Tuovinen, Merten, Vaxalon, Andrew Morris, Gamskee, Lxndr, herrmess, JamesSterrett, Eric J., Comte, Troy_Costisick.

8/7/2004 Gamskee: Boffer Based Combat Resolution in LARP
I've played in a boffer based Fantasy Larp for a few years and have found that I personally like the Boffer based combat resolutions. However, I've been thinking of running…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Gamskee, mindwanders, Matt, JamesSterrett, Andrew Morris, calebros, buggy, Jinx, contracycle.

8/7/2004 mindwanders: Dark Ages Political LARP Tools
OK folks, I'm working on a late dark ages based political LARP system. I think I've got all of the main tools that a player will need to actually engage…
In RPG Theory
Participants: mindwanders, Ron Edwards, Walt Freitag.

8/8/2004 mindwanders: Hooks and Kickers
OK, I'm having trouble with the whole "kicker" and "Hook" issue that was brought up in this thread: http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=12268 I think I have a challenge based Kicker system built into…
In RPG Theory
Participants: mindwanders, Matt Wilson, Paul Czege, Doyce.

8/9/2004 Doctor Xero: what causes this?
from http://www.indie-rpgs.com/posting.php?mode=quote&p=130414 Now, what happened was that I played the Exalted game once. I thought that the game was very much like a HERO/MERP game we'd tried before. There was…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Doctor Xero, Bartmoss, bcook1971, contracycle, Noon, jdagna, Mulciber, Ravien, John Kim.

8/11/2004 Montola: Beyond Role and Play available in the web
Beyond Role and Play: Tools, Toys and Theory for Harnessing the imagination is now available as a free electric edition in the Internet. Beyond Role and Play is a collection…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Montola, Ravien, Albert of Feh.

8/12/2004 Mike Holmes: Terminology: Focal Points and Emphasis
In this thread: http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=12222 The terms Focal Point and Emphasis were brought up. I really like these terms, and wanted to see if others thought they were as useful as…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Mike Holmes, John Kim, ErrathofKosh, Paul Czege, Doplegager.

8/14/2004 Troy_Costisick: Balance of Character
Heya, I was reading the thread by Sean (A note on balance) and it sparked a discussion (argument) between myself and a friend of mine (Scott) who was over for…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Troy_Costisick, Ron Edwards, NN, Walt Freitag.

8/15/2004 M. J. Young: Altering the SIS in CRPG
I really should not be starting this thread, because I'm still wading through the stuff I missed when my computer crashed; but in reading Vincent's A short rant about…
In RPG Theory
Participants: M. J. Young, Noon, Rob Carriere, simon_hibbs, Christopher Weeks, contracycle, Inner Circle Inc, Andrew Martin, Blankshield, JamesSterrett, Doug Ruff, Ron Edwards.

8/15/2004 Noon: "It has to make sense" secret bane of the hobby?
What really screws up negotiation? Or bargaining on a deal? Well, I think something like "No, I wont negotiate and anyone who wants to is a fool" would pretty much…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Noon, Marco, John Kim, Tony Irwin, sirogit, DannyK, Madeline, beingfrank, contracycle.

8/12/2004 cfc: Card resolution mechanics (split from older thread)
In terms of minimizing the benefit of blowing low cards on trivial tasks, has anyone tried a draw-under mechanic with blackjack degree-of-success? I'm thinking that to succeed you have to…
In RPG Theory
Participants: cfc, Chris_Fougere, Ron Edwards.

8/15/2004 Doug Ruff: RPG definitions continued (split)
[quote="Ron Edwards"] When seeking a definition, you cannot hold the two following things fixed: 1. A basic principle or descriptive feature 2. A set of individual instances that are supposed…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Doug Ruff, Ron Edwards, neelk.

8/17/2004 anonymouse: [unattached mechanic/rules] Memories modifying characters.
This isn't wedded or designed for anything in particular. Just some stuff I was ruminating on, and thought it might make an interesting set of mechanics for a game. ===…
In RPG Theory
Participants: anonymouse.

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