Previous Topics
In RPG Theory

12/26/2004 d3nial: Blackjack Mechanic Probabilities
Trying to figure the probabilities of a modified blackjack mechanic: Am I right in assuming that the average value of a single card drawn from a 52 card deck is:…
In RPG Theory
Participants: d3nial, NN, M. J. Young.

12/22/2004 M. J. Young: Defining Game Mechanic
Over in Ramblings on the role of Mechanics in CA's (fishing), somewhere on the second page,My understanding is that a mechanic is a specific feature of system…
In RPG Theory
Participants: M. J. Young, lumpley.

12/21/2004 Bankuei: Initial investment
Hi folks, I'm not sure if there is an official term for this, so I'm just calling it "Initial Investment"*- basically how much effort folks need to undertake before actually…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Bankuei, jc_madden, Andrew Morris, komradebob, bcook1971, Ron Edwards, Keith Perhac, M. J. Young.

12/21/2004 Dev: A Firefly LARP in the making: What do they want?
(This fits better here, rather that in Game Design, due to the IP content and also because I'm talking more about expectations rather than mechanics here. Mechanics later!) I'm slated…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Dev, randomling, Sydney Freedberg, Black Iris Dancer, TonyLB.

12/21/2004 Noon: Design phase and run phase
I was PM'ing Vincent recently, and rambled on about something in regards to the A Design Checklist for FitM Conflict Resolution Rules You might want to skip down, as I…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Noon, TonyLB, lumpley, M. J. Young.

12/20/2004 DagdaMor: So what's my motivation?
Hi, I am relatively new here. I have been lurking for a while seeing how this place works, and I finally have my first point to make, I hope this…
In RPG Theory
Participants: DagdaMor, Michael S. Miller, clehrich, Roger, M. J. Young, Trevis Martin, John Kim, Dr. Velocity, shlo, Doctor Xero, Ron Edwards, J. Tuomas Harviainen.

12/17/2004 b_bankhead: Breaking the Heart of the Universe
[b]Breaking the Heart of the Universe: Life and times of the Science Fiction Heartbreaker[/b] Ron Edward's concept of the 'Fantasy Heartbreaker' has really caught on, it's become the dominant epithet…
In RPG Theory
Participants: b_bankhead, clehrich, daMoose_Neo, komradebob, Ben Lehman, Halzebier, greyorm, Noon, Kedamono, timfire, Marco, John Kim, Ron Edwards, contracycle, jc_madden, M. J. Young, Caldis, Valamir, John Burdick, Storn, NN, HereticalFaction, Roger, Ian Charvill, Alan, Snowden, epweissengruber.

12/15/2004 jknevitt: Wiki-based game design
Okay, I had a crazy idea. You (the hypothetical you-reading-this-post you) set up a wiki, and state a basic framework of a setting (trad fantasy, tribal, hard sci-fi, modern horror…
In RPG Theory
Participants: jknevitt, John Kim, timfire, Trevis Martin, Gelasma, neelk, Mike Holmes, Vaxalon, The_Nomad.

12/14/2004 Akamaru: Rules for social interaction
Hello, I'm working on a system & setting where the primary means of resolving conflict is not combat, but social interaction. Talking that is. But I'd like a conversation to…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Akamaru, Technocrat13, Snowden, Michael S. Miller, M. J. Young, TonyLB, Paul Czege.

12/14/2004 geminidomino: Inverse dice probability?
(I hope this is the right forum to post this question in. Pardon my newness.) There are countless tools out there now that you can plug in an XdY+Z formula…
In RPG Theory
Participants: geminidomino, Akamaru, Eero Tuovinen, Walt Freitag, timfire, ffilz, M. J. Young.

12/14/2004 greedo1379: Maneuvering Emotions on a Relationship Map
This is split from the Minis and RPGS thread (http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?p=145632#145632) One thing I heard that did seem interesting was the use of a character interaction map. That would involve spatial…
In RPG Theory
Participants: greedo1379, timfire, contracycle, Emily Care, epweissengruber, Noon, Shreyas Sampat, nellist.

12/9/2004 Shadetree: Experiment idea
[quote="Noon in another thread"] Isn't it sort of like a group of people all pushing at a block of clay, each always applying some level of pressure to shape it?…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Shadetree.

12/8/2004 jknevitt: Does Rules-Light Equal Speed of Play?
I'm on a gaming speed bender at the moment. I'm trying to squeeze that last ounce of fast play out of any system I get my hands on. I want…
In RPG Theory
Participants: jknevitt, jdagna, John Kim, Marco, Alan, Kensan_Oni, ffilz, Vaxalon, Noon, GB Steve, neelk, ssfsx17, FzGhouL, bcook1971.

12/7/2004 lumpley: A Design Checklist for FitM Conflict Resolution Rules
For Conflict Resolution - What does the winner get? - What does the loser get? - How do we know who's the winner and who's the loser? - What do…
In RPG Theory
Participants: lumpley, Ron Edwards, Michael S. Miller, timfire, Eero Tuovinen, Matt Wilson, Emily Care, Sydney Freedberg, Noon, Troy_Costisick.

12/7/2004 swdevlin: 'Evil' in an urban setting and the ability to Detect
My group has decided that they would like to play a 'hunt the undead' game (fantasy). I am not sure if they have been seeing too many horror movies as…
In RPG Theory
Participants: swdevlin, Lathan, hanschristianandersen, Vaxalon, Eero Tuovinen, MisterPoppet, jdagna, M. J. Young, Sydney Freedberg, shaheddy, Dr. Velocity, Paganini, contracycle, GB Steve.

12/7/2004 GB Steve: Theory, or anecdotally supported opinion?
How much data is used to support roleplaying theory? And what level of proof is required? There's possibly some discussion about this here which I may have missed but I…
In RPG Theory
Participants: GB Steve, Rich Forest, Matt Wilson, Ron Edwards, Eero Tuovinen, clehrich, John Kim, Vaxalon, beingfrank.

12/7/2004 jknevitt: Hybridisation of the RPG and CCG model
As I see it, there has been very little discourse on the hybridisation of CCGs and RPGs. The CCG, the bastard cousin of the RPG, is a veritable treasure trove…
In RPG Theory
Participants: jknevitt, inky, Nathan P., greedo1379, Shadetree, Matt Snyder, ethan_greer, daMoose_Neo, Simon Kamber, Noon, TonyLB, kaotmus, Tobias, contracycle, Storn, Walt Freitag, Mike Holmes, Gamskee, komradebob, M. J. Young, Dantai.

12/6/2004 Dangerboy: [System] The Quality System
I've been working on a system to use for some online settings to put on our website. The idea is that they're quick 'one shots', but each setting will use…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Dangerboy.

12/4/2004 John Kim: Role-playing Adapted Worlds
This is a sub-thread off of A wild and an untamed thing - how literature refuses gaming. There have been related discussions On RPGs and Text and…
In RPG Theory
Participants: John Kim, GaryTP, Marco, clehrich, Noon, komradebob, Caldis, Christopher Kubasik, Cemendur, Chris Goodwin, M. J. Young, greedo1379, contracycle, GB Steve, Ron Edwards.

12/3/2004 madelf: Character creation during play
I'm at it again, fishing for information. I know I've heard reference to games where character creation takes place during play, but I can't think what they were. Maybe you…
In RPG Theory
Participants: madelf, Ben Morgan, Trevis Martin, Marhault, komradebob, tj333, timfire, Nathan P., jerry, M. J. Young, contracycle, Wormwood, Shadetree, Tim C Koppang, clehrich.

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Subsequent Topics
In RPG Theory

12/27/2004 M. J. Young: Sim approach to speculative, short story-based sci-fi?
[quote="In the [a href="http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=13725"][i]Breaking the Heart of the Universe[/i][/a] thread, Snowden"]I'd be curious to hear more about your Multiverser experience, which sounds like you were taking a sim approach to…
In RPG Theory
Participants: M. J. Young, Snowden, Jeph, Caldis, contracycle, Ron Edwards, Marco, b_bankhead.

12/27/2004 Space Cowboy: What are the best point-build CharGen systems for RPGs?
Hey all, I'm in the process of further refining Wild Sphere's character generation system and wanted to take a look at how WS' system compares to other point-build CharGen systems.…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Space Cowboy.

12/27/2004 Space Cowboy: What are the best skill-based RPGs and why?
Hey all, I'm in the process of further refining Wild Sphere's game mechanic and wanted to take a look at how WS' mechanic compares to other skill-based systems. So, does…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Space Cowboy, Bankuei, M. J. Young, Tomas HVM.

12/28/2004 John Kim: New TheoryTopics Wiki
Hi, So I thought I would mention that there is a "Theory Topics" section at Doyce's RandomWiki site which is gathering momentum. It is at: http://random.average-bear.com/TheoryTopics/HomePage It's got a pretty…
In RPG Theory
Participants: John Kim, Marco, clehrich, inky.

12/29/2004 Snowden: Technology as color in science fiction
Split from Breaking The Heart Of The Universe, which has been expanding at a geometrically increasing rate. I'm sorry. I can't think of a single story in all of Star…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Snowden, xenopulse, Storn, daMoose_Neo, Noon, NN, Marco, Kedamono, M. J. Young, Rob Carriere, contracycle, Harlequin.

12/31/2004 Black Iris Dancer: A game whose name you thought you'd probably never see here
This is vaguely related to some thoughts I had over here about the whole G/N/S triumvirate. You may or may not want to read that first. It is long…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Black Iris Dancer, Dev, Noon, Sydney Freedberg, contracycle.

1/1/2005 Noon: Finding gamism design hard
Awhile ago I said I'd just go and design a gamist game. I've found it's actually pretty damn hard and I probably look all talk and no walk now. Anyway,…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Noon, daMoose_Neo, Mike Holmes, Bankuei, Ron Edwards, Brendan, Wolfen, nathan404, Harlequin.

1/1/2005 Michael S. Miller: The Components of Setting
What components make up Setting? In the Gamism essay, Ron notes that many people think "Oh, Gamism, I know what that is!" and never give it a second glance. I…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Michael S. Miller, GaryTP, daMoose_Neo, Troy_Costisick, xenopulse, neelk, M. J. Young, Bankuei, contracycle, Valamir, John Kim, Nick Pagnucco, Marco, Lee Short, ffilz.

1/1/2005 daMoose_Neo: The Great Fantasy Cliche
I'm assembling some notes on something I call "The Great Fantasy Cliche" for a game project of mine. The aim is for the game to use this list or mini-essay,…
In RPG Theory
Participants: daMoose_Neo, neelk.

1/3/2005 Rob Carriere: Non-stock fantasy
[url=http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?p=147031#147031]In this post[/url], [quote="Snowden"]This may be something that belongs in a new thread, but I would [i]really[/i] like to hear more about such "non-stock" fantasy; I for one haven't read…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Rob Carriere, Black Iris Dancer, John Kim, Snowden, clehrich, Tomas HVM, neelk, M. J. Young, contracycle.

1/5/2005 Emily Care: how else to introduce setting
In his thread The Components of Setting To restate my problem with Setting in these new terms: Many RPGs provide a great deal of Potential Setting with no…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Emily Care, Ron Edwards, Bob Goat, Roger, Matt Snyder.

1/6/2005 xenopulse: Game Theory -- Can it help Game Design?
This post is inspired by an exchange I've had with Mike Holmes. Game Theory is often taught in political science and business classes as one way of representing how actors…
In RPG Theory
Participants: xenopulse, Mike Holmes, Michael S. Miller, Tobias, CplFerro, Marco, Brendan, Roger, John Kim, Wormwood, Erick Wujcik.

1/6/2005 Sir Gawain: A limitless GM?
Some weeks ago I was trying to understand why my usual gaming group (i.e. my friends and I) wasn't able to enjoy RPGs anymore; after deciding to experiment a bit…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Sir Gawain, xenopulse, Bankuei, CplFerro, Jason E Leigh, John Kim, Rob Carriere, Noon, M. J. Young, Nicolas Crost.

1/7/2005 daMoose_Neo: Milking one mechanic - Just how far can you go?
For my Imp Game, I devised a neat little mechanic for the system using 2d6. Its very simple: Players roll less than or equal to the Target Number to succeed,…
In RPG Theory
Participants: daMoose_Neo, timfire, Brendan, chadu, bcook1971.

1/7/2005 Tim Alexander: RPGs, Fear, and the Social Contract
Hey Folks, In RPG Theory and Horror gaming I ran across the following quote: But as I read this thread, my mind is taking a step back from…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Tim Alexander, Marco, xenopulse, Ron Edwards, Uccisore, hardcoremoose, beingfrank.

1/8/2005 George the Flea: Classic versus learning: a computerized RPG system
This may not be an appropriate post to the Forge, since it seems to be mainly focused on pencil and paper RPG design. However, people here obviously have well considered…
In RPG Theory
Participants: George the Flea, Mark D. Eddy, Simon Kamber, Silmenume, Noon, xenopulse, daMoose_Neo, M. J. Young, Tobias, HereticalFaction, contracycle, Mike Holmes.

1/10/2005 Stupendous Press: Literary and Trigonometric Game Design
I just discovered these boards, and I can't express my excitement at the prospect of an RPG Theory board. Time to dive in! Potential, Skill, and Advancement I started brewing…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Stupendous Press, M. J. Young, Rob Carriere, Selene Tan.

1/11/2005 tikki_tikki2000: Women, sexism, and gaming
There have been many issues and discussions on the topic of women and rpgs. There are some who feel that most games out there are sexist and are completely targeted…
In RPG Theory
Participants: tikki_tikki2000, Ron Edwards, Ben Lehman, ffilz, daMoose_Neo, kaikatsu, xenopulse, Noon, Doctor Xero, contracycle.

1/12/2005 maxuser: Advice on the best "off-the-shelf" RPG creator
Any thoughts from the group as to what the best commercially available and profession RPG engine may be? I prefer one that follows a gold-standard such as the AD&D ruleset.…
In RPG Theory
Participants: maxuser, TonyLB, timfire, Vaxalon, Eero Tuovinen, daMoose_Neo, M. J. Young, HereticalFaction, Argetlamh.

1/13/2005 Roger: Example First
A typical RPG manual consists primarily of rules, with some examples of play used to illustrate and clarify them. However, there's no reason why this relationship couldn't be reversed. I'm…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Roger, xenopulse, Bankuei, FzGhouL, Darcy Burgess, Mark D. Eddy, daMoose_Neo, kaikatsu, HereticalFaction, Noon, Brendan, Umberhulk, contracycle, Mike Holmes, Nathan P..

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