Previous Topics
In RPG Theory

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.

1/24/2005 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 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.

1/22/2005 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.

1/21/2005 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.

1/19/2005 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.

1/16/2005 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.

1/15/2005 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.

1/15/2005 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 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.

1/14/2005 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.

1/13/2005 GB Steve: Narrative Engineering?
Has anyone ever heard of this? The Operational Research Society is offering a one day course in "Introduction to Story Telling" which includes:Narrative engineering changing organisations through storytelling promoting ideas…
In RPG Theory
Participants: GB Steve, Mike Holmes.

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.

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In RPG Theory

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.

2/1/2005 M. J. Young: On Story in CRPG Design
I followed a link earlier today to an article in Slate entitled Oughtta Stay Out of Pictures: Why video games shouldn't be like the movies.. Clive Thompson was complaining…
In RPG Theory
Participants: M. J. Young, inky, Marco, shlo, contracycle, Wysardry, Noon, NN.

2/1/2005 Bryan_T: Scenarios presented in modular format for greater utility
This is a presentation of some ideas I had to maximize scenario utility. I start with some background, but if you want to get right to the ideas part, jump…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Bryan_T, NN, M. J. Young, Mike Holmes, Donald, John Burdick.

2/2/2005 John Kim: How to design System for pre-determined Theme?
OK, So the recent talk on GNS has got me thinking about pre-determined Theme. So now I'm pondering about how to design a system to support playing to a pre-determined…
In RPG Theory
Participants: John Kim, timfire, komradebob, Marco, Alan.

2/2/2005 Vaxalon: Loser roleplaying
Dimestore Katanas Kill Puppies for Satan I'm sure there's others... Am I the only one that feels a little... squicked by this? I mean, if playing heroes invokes our aspirations…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Vaxalon, TonyLB, jrs, Jason Petrasko, lumpley, Roger, pete_darby, Paka, Ron Edwards, Christopher Kubasik, inthisstyle, Bankuei, bcook1971, clehrich, Paganini, Marco.

2/2/2005 lumpley: Roleplaying Theory In Person
This is more Dreamation 2005 writeup. I had two hours on Sunday afternoon to talk about roleplaying theory. There were 3-6 other people there, depending on which bit of the…
In RPG Theory
Participants: lumpley, ffilz, xenopulse, inthisstyle, Ben Lehman, clehrich, timfire, Noon, Shawn De Arment, M. J. Young, Jonathan Walton, J. Tuomas Harviainen, Clinton R. Nixon, Christopher Weeks, Storn, pete_darby, Ron Edwards.

2/3/2005 lumpley: Theory Seminar [cont'd]
In my thread Roleplaying Theory in Person...Vincent, this isn't the first time you've done this sort of thing, right? Do you feel that non-Forgies 'get-it'? What types of questions do…
In RPG Theory
Participants: lumpley, Christopher Weeks, timfire, Harlequin, Andrew Morris, TonyLB, Bob Goat, M. J. Young.

2/3/2005 caeman: The Big Numbers Fantasy System
Greetings. I have had an idea on paper for yet another way of handling RPG mechanics. I like the idea of many attributes. I also like using multiple types of…
In RPG Theory
Participants: caeman, M. J. Young, lev_lafayette.

2/3/2005 Storn: What Purpose?
[quote]The problem I have with your point 3 is that I don't think the Forge ever set out to teach, or preach, but to explore and discuss. The practice of…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Storn, Ron Edwards, Bob Goat, lumpley, Bankuei, Paganini.

2/3/2005 Ben Lehman: Lessons for Designers
I do not know if this post goes in the RPG Theory board or in the Indie RPG Design board. Move if necessary. Since people recently have been talking about…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Ben Lehman, Rob Donoghue, TonyLB, LordSmerf.

2/4/2005 Phil Levis: The role of dice
I'm new to the Forge. I've perused some of the articles and recent threads with a good deal of interest. On one hand, the precise vocabulary and terminology used suggests…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Phil Levis, LordSmerf, Bankuei, contracycle, Valamir, Doctor Xero, Erick Wujcik, Marco, lumpley, M. J. Young, Paganini, Noon.

2/4/2005 Silmenume: Thoughts on the role of game design - musings
This is post of musings, so if it doesn’t make any sense to any one – mea culpa. Not too long ago I wrote a post where I posited a…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Silmenume, clehrich, Doctor Xero.

2/4/2005 lev_lafayette: Pro-Forma Against..
Please excuse the lateness of my response. I'm new here. Seeming that everyone has said "right on", I'm going to try to take the best possible negative argument. Combat systems…
In RPG Theory
Participants: lev_lafayette, Mike Holmes, Ron Edwards, Jinx, Marco, Wolfen, xiombarg, CPXB, LordSmerf, b_bankhead, M. J. Young, komradebob, Dauntless.

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