Previous Topics
In RPG Theory

9/15/2004 Mike Holmes: PC Secrets
This topic has been discussed, I'm aware, as part of other related topics, but I couldn't find any threads that were dedicated to this. If you have references please provide…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Mike Holmes, timfire, pete_darby, Blankshield, M. J. Young, John Kim, Paul Czege, contracycle, Shreyas Sampat, Ron Edwards, Alan.

9/15/2004 Frank The Pug: Where does this mechanic break down?
I'm trying to devise the simplest mechanic possible while still playing within a fairly structured ruleset. The basic of this mechanic is Attribute+Trait+Skill+d10 vs TN. There are three attributes: Body,…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Frank The Pug, Mark D. Eddy, TonyLB, John Uckele, timfire, Precious Villain, btrc.

9/14/2004 daMoose_Neo: RP'ing and Acting
Hmmkay, maybe its late and my mind is working in an odd direction, but something just hit me reading Playing two games. My first thought, reading the second post (specifically…
In RPG Theory
Participants: daMoose_Neo, Doug Ruff, Noon, pete_darby, Person, LordSmerf, Doctor Xero, Ron Edwards, clehrich.

9/13/2004 Kit: A basic dice/action mechanic
This probably isn't terribly revolutionary (indeed I know it's not, as the basic concept is simply stolen and generalised from other games), but in the homebrew I'm fiddling with I'm…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Kit, eef, Ron Edwards, John Uckele, zephyr_cirrus, ffilz, TonyLB, M. J. Young.

9/13/2004 Darcy Burgess: Flashbacks & Predetermination
I'm working on a one-shot Godlike adventure as a "going away" present for a friend who's jetting off to Japan for a year. I'd like to structure the adventure as…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Darcy Burgess, Nathaniel, jdagna, John Uckele, neelk, M Jason Parent, teucer, Troy_Costisick, Rob MacDougall.

9/11/2004 Inner Circle Inc: Death and Dying
After contemplating Strife’s combat system, as well as discussing the benefit and disadvantages of said combat system, I’ve come up with the following models of character injury and death, note,…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Inner Circle Inc, Ron Edwards, Doug Ruff, Lathan, Erling Rognli, mindwanders, timfire, Doctor Xero.

9/11/2004 Jonathan Walton: Nighttime Animals is a Revolution
So, I was commenting in another thread about how Vincent Baker's Nighttime Animals Save the World is a great game for beginning roleplayers, which gave me the excuse to go…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jonathan Walton, Noon, Gamskee, Andrew Morris, timfire.

9/10/2004 bcook1971: Mentoring
In Newbie-friendly Indie Games My start in gaming was in a near vaccum. We were introduced to the game by my friends older brother, but he only played with us…
In RPG Theory
Participants: bcook1971, ffilz.

9/10/2004 KorbanDream: Universe - SMS Adventure RPG...
So. Without seeming rude. (Apologies in advance?). We have all dissected the concepts of how to and content matter and the more technical aspects of equipment requirements... Is anyone interested…
In RPG Theory
Participants: KorbanDream, Walt Freitag, Christopher Weeks, erithromycin, M. J. Young.

9/10/2004 Sparky: Playing two games
Something Walt said in the Rapid Deployment thread reminded me of a thought I heard a long time ago. The thought is that in the typical rpg setup, the GM…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Sparky, Noon, ffilz, contracycle, John Uckele, Ron Edwards, timfire, simon_hibbs, M. J. Young.

9/10/2004 Dr. Velocity: Please give me some suggestions on Traits/Ability Scores
I am working on a simple, quick rules-lite system for my own needs. Originally I was going to just assume all characters have a 0 in EVERYTHING and not have…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Dr. Velocity, zephyr_cirrus, ragnar, Mark Johnson, Noon, TonyLB.

9/10/2004 Jonathan Walton: Let's Try This Again (White Wolf)
So here's a new clean thread where we can start over without all of the venom of some of the recent threads about White Wolf, their publishing model, their motivations,…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jonathan Walton, Matt, Inner Circle Inc.

9/9/2004 Noon: The learning appeal and capacity of RP
I was watching an Australian science program the other day and they had an interesting piece on synaptic connectivity. Here's the link to the transcript: http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s1185573.htm And here's the bit…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Noon, Walt Freitag, Tobias.

9/9/2004 John Kim: Newbie-friendly Indie Games
[quote="Matt Snyder"]Malcolm, I'm not sure who's claiming they don't need to do anything in designing a game to make it newbie friendly. I've seen the opposite approach in many, many…
In RPG Theory
Participants: John Kim, Matt Wilson, Jonathan Walton, Ben Lehman, Paul Czege, Noon, eyebeams, TonyLB, Valamir, timfire, joshua neff, Marco, A.Neill, pete_darby, ffilz, neelk, M. J. Young, Andrew Morris, Doctor Xero, Mike Holmes, eef, Rob Carriere, jerry, xiombarg.

9/9/2004 mindwanders: More info on relationsip maps
Hi folks, I'm trying to find some more info on designing and using relationship maps for games. can anyone point me to any good books/threads/sites on the subject? Gordon McDonald
In RPG Theory
Participants: mindwanders, Matt, Ron Edwards, John Kim, Peter Nordstrand.

9/9/2004 John Kim: Terminology Problem: Drift
OK, I'd like to suggest a new term for changing the creative details and focus of a game. Here's the issue: Take games like "Pantheon", "Donjon", and "Great Ork Gods".…
In RPG Theory
Participants: John Kim, M. J. Young, Marco, Precious Villain, Ron Edwards, Noon, DannyK, Blankshield.

9/9/2004 Thor: Drifting D20 again
I have a chance to run a session with a new group. I had been talking about my desire to run a firefly sort of game and several of my…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Thor, Doug Ruff.

9/9/2004 Ron Edwards: Malcolm's points to me - reply
Hello, Because Malcolm has stated that non line-by-line replies are not to his liking, I'm going point by point in this one, against my better judgment. Malcolm, you wrote, Did…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Ron Edwards, John Kim, eyebeams, Matt Snyder, xiombarg, Ben Lehman, rafial, M. J. Young.

9/8/2004 Precious Villain: How do we go about Drifting a game? (Split from White Wolf)
Seriously. When we say that "WOD's incoherence allows players to drift any way they want" how do they do it? I think that there are different levels of drift. Rules…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Precious Villain, Ben Lehman, John Kim, erithromycin, eyebeams, Marco, Matt Wilson, Noon, Matt, joshua neff, Matt Snyder, M. J. Young.

9/8/2004 Frank T: What does guided drift look like?
I think it's better to spin this off from the White Wolf discussion, since it isn't really specific about WW and I find it very interesting indeed. What I'd already…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Frank T, Noon, M. J. Young, Bankuei.

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In RPG Theory

9/16/2004 Homogenized Press: Die Pool Mechanic
I've been struggling to come up with our own "house" mechanic for a while. Our projects are presently constructed around the d20 System & OGL, and I'm finding it increasingly…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Homogenized Press, TonyLB, Walt Freitag, DannyK, Mike Holmes, M. J. Young, btrc, Noon.

9/17/2004 contracycle: Situation and Tension
I've been looking for a structural model of the RPG game again. Note, the actual game played at the table, not the rules text or anything else. So I mean…
In RPG Theory
Participants: contracycle, TonyLB, Marco, M. J. Young, John Kim.

9/19/2004 Noon: Group bonus determination for situations
I was thinking of a system where it isn't left to GM fiat to decide if a bonus is given. On top of that the system wouldn't be crunchy, so…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Noon, Andrew Martin, Doug Ruff, inky, M. J. Young, Doctor Xero.

9/21/2004 Eric J.: Pyron and the Galactic Frenzy
Alright, I admit it. I play computer games. If you've ever played Star control, or Master of Orion you know what I'm talking about. No? Well let's try this: Age…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Eric J., Nathan P., simon_hibbs, xiombarg, Ben Morgan, Vaxalon, Negilent.

9/21/2004 KorbanDream: Universe - (SMS A-RPG) - Continuity...
Hi all. Sorry I've been away. (I've been refining my life). This post is mainly aimed at M. J. Young who offered help on the Universe's Continuity dilemma but it's…
In RPG Theory
Participants: KorbanDream, M. J. Young.

9/21/2004 Marco: Safewords in Gaming
In a thread from Actual Play Ron wrote: 1. No one hoses the bejesus out of a character like his own player. I was thinking about this.…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Marco, Ben Lehman, xiombarg, lumpley, Ron Edwards, Blankshield, John Kim, Noon, clehrich, Madeline, Jinx, Walt Freitag, Erling Rognli, M. J. Young, Jonathan Walton, List, Doug Ruff.

9/25/2004 Sean: IIEE in EABA
This past week, inspired by the Ythrek setting, I bought Greg Porter's EABA rules to see what the underlying mechanics he had in mind for the setting were. My first…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Sean, Noon, ChefKyle, madelf.

9/26/2004 jburneko: Social Contract and Automation
Hello Everyone, It's been a while since I posted. Most of that is due to the fact that I'm getting married at the end of October and because I have…
In RPG Theory
Participants: jburneko, clehrich, Rob MacDougall, Noon.

9/27/2004 Sean: Rehabilitation by New Example
T.S. Eliot once put forward the theory that a serious work of art changes the meaning of the tradition leading up to it. That is, when an artist creates an…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Sean, Noon, DannyK, Mark D. Eddy, Ron Edwards.

9/28/2004 Doyce: Game supplements: using the rules and dropping the Setup
[Originally mis-posted in Lumpley Games -- my bad.] In reading a ton of great one-sheets and "Variation" proposals for everything from Sorcerer to Trollbabe to My Life with Master to…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Doyce, timfire, hanschristianandersen, DannyK, b_bankhead, M. J. Young, lumpley.

9/29/2004 timfire: [Design Theory] Decision-Points?
This is an idea that I've had before, but wasn't able to articulate very well. But now I think I can articulate it better. I'm calling this a 'decision-point' in…
In RPG Theory
Participants: timfire, Michael S. Miller.

9/29/2004 Dauntless: A look at skills
I've been beating my head against a wall trying to decide exactly how I want to implement skills in my game. First off, let me introduce what I call the…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Dauntless, Andrew Martin, Dr. Velocity, TonyLB, M. J. Young.

9/29/2004 Dauntless: When does combat resolution become too slow?
My system currently has quite a few factors to be considered during the play of combat. Most of it also requires quite a bit of record keeping. While I haven't…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Dauntless, TonyLB, Noon, Andrew Martin, Jack Aidley, Vaxalon, Shreyas Sampat, John Kim, DannyK, John Uckele, contracycle, Mike Holmes, M. J. Young, Precious Villain, bcook1971, Doug Ruff, LordSmerf, Ben Lehman.

9/30/2004 madelf: consequences of magic redux
Awhile back I brought up some vague notions in this thread... http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=12009&highlight= where a bunch of you helped me sort through my ideas. I found it very helpful. I've been…
In RPG Theory
Participants: madelf, clehrich, Andrew Martin, Ron Edwards, Vaxalon, Valamir, Jinx, TonyLB.

9/30/2004 LordSmerf: Reasons for cross-gender play
I am a male. I play female characters in roughly 40% of my games. I was idly wondering about that the other day when i realized why i do it.…
In RPG Theory
Participants: LordSmerf, Vaxalon, beingfrank, Ben Lehman, Emily Care, Matt Wilson, Paul Czege, DannyK, Dr. Velocity, M Jason Parent, Sydney Freedberg, Roger, Ron Edwards, jrs, John Kim, M. J. Young, Ravien, List, Baraboo, John Uckele.

9/30/2004 timfire: Design equals... Play?
[quote="Jonathon (ErrathofKosh)"]Players design characters, GM's design settings and situations; those are considered play, so why wouldn't the game designer designing system be play?[/quote] I think this is a good topic…
In RPG Theory
Participants: timfire, TonyLB, DannyK, Ron Edwards, greyorm, Walt Freitag, bcook1971, John Kim, Vaxalon, Wormwood, clehrich, ErrathofKosh, M. J. Young, ffilz, John Kirk, Caldis.

10/1/2004 Paka: What I've taken from different games. Lessons learned.
[b]Dust Devils: [/b]It forced me to loosen my grip on the game and realize that it is our game and not my game that is at the table due to…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Paka, Negilent.

10/1/2004 kwill: D&D documentary
a documentary called "The Dungeons & Dragons Experience" has been released on DVD and is reviewed here: http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=12314 a quick google reveals other reviews also available - http://www.google.com/search?q=dungeons+dragons+experience - including…
In RPG Theory
Participants: kwill.

10/4/2004 Noon: What can rules actually contribute?
Specifically fortune orientated ones here (though quite likely it can apply to all the other types). What can they actually contribute? I'm wondering if there are really only two things:…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Noon, TonyLB, Alan, lumpley, Galwinganoon, timfire, Roger, Doug Ruff, M. J. Young, GB Steve, Technocrat13, Sean, Doctor Xero, Ben Lehman, Mike Holmes, simon_hibbs, clehrich, contracycle, Tomas HVM, John Kim.

10/4/2004 Grex: Elfs & Donjon
[b]Elfs[/b] and [b]Donjon[/b] are what really got me thinking, [i]deeply[/i], over what exactly a role-playing game is, and how it works. Coming from an old-school hack-and-slash RPG background, it really…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Grex.

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