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In RPG Theory

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..

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.

1/11/2005 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.

1/10/2005 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.

1/8/2005 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.

1/7/2005 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.

1/7/2005 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.

1/6/2005 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.

1/6/2005 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.

1/5/2005 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.

1/3/2005 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.

1/1/2005 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.

1/1/2005 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 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.

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.

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.

12/28/2004 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.

12/27/2004 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.

12/27/2004 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 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.

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Subsequent Topics
In RPG Theory

1/14/2005 Doctor Xero: Pattern Recognition, Metaphor, and Continuity
ENRICHING ONE’S LIFE, HONING PATTERN RECOGNITION ABILITIES, MYTH AND FANTASTICAL LITERATURE We live in an increasingly complex and dangerous world. To survive in it, we need think that…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Doctor Xero, Bankuei, M. J. Young, Emily Care, ADGBoss, Alan, clehrich, Christopher Kubasik, contracycle, John Kim, Marco.

1/15/2005 Wysardry: Realistic landmass and landscape formation?
Can any of you point me towards resources describing how to, or aiding in, creating realistic islands and continents, and/or landscapes for Earth-like planets? Basically, I'd like to create a…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Wysardry, Vaxalon, James_Nostack, contracycle.

1/15/2005 Terrektwo: Wat is the difference between RPG and adventure games?
I've always wondered what the difference is between RPG and Adventure games, can anyone field this one?
In RPG Theory
Participants: Terrektwo, daMoose_Neo, Ron Edwards, Eero Tuovinen.

1/15/2005 HereticalFaction: Human Psychology versus PC Psychology
I have been trying to effectively mine this forum for the past few weeks, but the sheer mass of archived material is defeating me. What I want is to explore…
In RPG Theory
Participants: HereticalFaction, zephyr_cirrus, Christopher Kubasik, jdagna, Dantai, Marco, M. J. Young.

1/16/2005 FzGhouL: Slow versus fast.
Reading alot of posts here about Combat systems seems to give me the impression most game creators aim for a logical and quick system, resolving many things in a few…
In RPG Theory
Participants: FzGhouL, Wolfen, daMoose_Neo, ADGBoss, Bankuei, Nathan P., Noon, Storn, TonyLB, ffilz, zephyr_cirrus, M. J. Young.

1/19/2005 C. Edwards: The Tyranny of Structurelessness
The following is part of an article written on a topic other than gaming. Reading the article I was struck by the similarity to healthy, functional social contracts that I've…
In RPG Theory
Participants: C. Edwards, LordSmerf, TonyLB, Noon, bcook1971, contracycle, Emily Care, Ron Edwards, Roger, Mike Holmes, Marco, xiombarg, pfischer.

1/21/2005 clehrich: Transcript: Terminological suggestion
I would like to propose a consistent alteration or expansion of terminology. This started in Marco's thread on retroactive story. Standing Definitions this post I"]I propose that "transcript" be…
In RPG Theory
Participants: clehrich, Marco, LordSmerf, John Kim, ffilz, Silmenume.

1/22/2005 Green: fantasy settings and cultural pluralism
This is not going to be a thread that talks about how Eurocentric a lot of fantasy settings are. I think it's fairly obvious. With the exception of games based…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Green, Jasper, Ben Lehman, Bankuei, ffilz, Mark D. Eddy, clehrich, NN, greyorm, Mark Woodhouse, apparition13, CPXB.

1/24/2005 LordSmerf: Classifying Techniques
I'm working on an article in which I try to lay out some of the major role playing techniques that have been identified here and elsewhere. My first major task…
In RPG Theory
Participants: LordSmerf, Marco, TonyLB, Bankuei, M. J. Young.

1/24/2005 Ben Lehman: Toy Quality
I have been thinking recently about some non-resolution aspects of game design. With luck, this will be the first post in a bit of a series which examines a…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Ben Lehman, LordSmerf, TonyLB, inky, Noon, Dantai, Paganini, nellist, Rich Forest, ffilz, M. J. Young, C. Edwards.

1/24/2005 Astrivian: The Dead Game and RPG mortality
Reading through the various essays, something occurred to me: games can die. To start, I need to define what I mean by "death," and by contrast "life," in terms of…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Astrivian, LordSmerf, Nathan P., lumpley, Noon, timfire, bcook1971, Dantai.

1/25/2005 Kedamono: Event Driven Adventure Design
One of the main complaints about commercial adventure modules for RPGs is that they either follow a linear design, or they are a list of encounters, where each encounter must…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Kedamono, LordSmerf, M. J. Young, Vaxalon, Noon, shlo, daMoose_Neo, Marco, komradebob, contracycle, John Kim, NN, clehrich, Dantai.

1/26/2005 Wormwood: [Deceit] Self-Deception as a Design Consideration
Caveat: This stems from a post by Lisa, here. For the purposes of these threads the moral implications of deceit should be ignored. This is really the only way to…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Wormwood, Marco, M. J. Young, Wolfen, contracycle, John Kim, Dantai, xiombarg, clehrich, ffilz, Doctor Xero.

1/26/2005 Uccisore: Mechanism for the 'Hard Core'
In my Magic And Martial Arts Horror Game, one theme that I envision the coming up in the game is the players becoming distant from society because of their exposure…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Uccisore, Noon, LordSmerf, Ron Edwards, Paul Czege, apparition13, Lee Short, gains.

1/27/2005 ffilz: Non-combat mechanics - design issues
In preparing to run my Cold Iron campaign, I have never been satisfied with how non-combat situations are resolved. First some description of the original system: The original game system…
In RPG Theory
Participants: ffilz, Sydney Freedberg, Roger, clehrich, NN, Grover, Ron Edwards.

1/27/2005 LordSmerf: Toy Quality (Take 2)
Ben Lehman proposed that we discuss Toy Quality, which he defines as "Any part of the game that is enjoyable when divorced from the SIS" . I quickly derailed the…
In RPG Theory
Participants: LordSmerf.

1/27/2005 LordSmerf: Toy Quality (A fresh start)
Ben Lehman proposed that we discuss Toy Quality, which he defines as "Any part of the game that is enjoyable when divorced from the SIS" . I quickly derailed the…
In RPG Theory
Participants: LordSmerf, Nathan P., Dantai, Noon, Rich Forest, bcook1971, daMoose_Neo, Caldis, matthijs, M. J. Young, contracycle.

1/30/2005 sirogit: Showcasing NPCs for players.
Ran into a little spat with a player, talking about my TSOY game, Khalien Moons: Me: Using a relationship map. Him: Cool. Could you tell me what's on it, so…
In RPG Theory
Participants: sirogit, bcook1971, Doctor Xero, M. J. Young.

1/30/2005 Marco: Storytelling, GM-Control, and Drift
In the Deception Thread Chris said this: If you ditch story and play WoD games Sim, you'll be happy. And the self-deception comes in if you tell yourself that…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Marco, John Kim, clehrich, M. J. Young, contracycle, Storn, Silmenume, Walt Freitag, Mark Woodhouse, Ian Charvill, Doctor Xero.

1/31/2005 Brendan: Intentional Vagueness (split)
Split from Early role-playing. Virtually all games have moved away from this model. Even Fantasy Heartbreakers tend to have 'more unified' mechanics. It's certainly more manageable for designers to create…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Brendan, TonyLB, timfire, ffilz, komradebob, Noon, Kesher, Ron Edwards, Sean.

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