Previous Topics
In RPG Theory

5/18/2005 MatrixGamer: What is Main Stream gaming? Another look.
One of the most intriguing ideas in the "Infamous Five" threads was the look at how D+D fantasy and superhero genres are not mainstream - instead things like horror, sex,…
In RPG Theory
Participants: MatrixGamer, Jasper, Mike Holmes, Paul Czege, John Kim, quozl, Trevis Martin, Noon, Caldis, Brendan, M. J. Young, Remko, komradebob, gsoylent, cerbie, Valamir.

5/18/2005 Noon: Nar turns out to be a good gamist penalty to evade?
I was recently talking with my friends girlfriend, about her role playing past. I was curious as to what she enjoyed back then and why she hadn't continued now. I…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Noon, TonyLB, Alan.

5/17/2005 Darcy Burgess: Suggestions on running my first truly Narr game
Or, "switching gears for fun and profit" :) Here's a little background to the situation: - up until recently, I've been running a game set in the Star Wars universe…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Darcy Burgess, Gaerik, Bankuei, jburneko.

5/16/2005 foucalt: Gaming at the Senior Citizens Center?
Recently there was some attention paid to the fact that staying "mentally active" helps ward off Alzheimer's disease. I remember wondering whether roleplaying games might be a good way…
In RPG Theory
Participants: foucalt, Adam Dray, Mike Holmes, Andrew Morris, TonyLB, komradebob.

5/16/2005 zephyr_cirrus: Time - Battle Mechanic
Well, here's a time mechanic I came up with for use in the RPG that I'm currently working on. Just tell me what you think of it and what could…
In RPG Theory
Participants: zephyr_cirrus, Jasper, Lee Short, Albert of Feh.

5/13/2005 Thierry Michel: Random numbers (split)
Apologies for resurrecting an old thread, but I found recently exactly the type of thing I was thinking of here: Chance and wargames So if you had any interest…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Thierry Michel, Ron Edwards, Mike Holmes, Bowen Simmons.

5/13/2005 Selene Tan: Meta-information/systems and Narrativism in CRPGs
This is something I've been thinking about, but haven't managed to collect my thoughts enough to write an organized essay on. So yay, semi-coherent post. One of the things I've…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Selene Tan, pete_darby, Valamir, Noon.

5/12/2005 M. J. Young: Perpetuating Sing-Sex Play Groups
[quote="In [a href="http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=15305"]Do RPGS allow for diverse participation/discourse?[/a] Julie"]One of these days I'd like to see someone address the issue of why gamers perpetuate the existance of single sex play…
In RPG Theory
Participants: M. J. Young, Mike Holmes, xenopulse, Noon, jrs, James Holloway, Bret Gillan, Gordon C. Landis, Paka, komradebob, BrennaLaRosa, Emily Care, GameLoft, Andrew Morris, Ron Edwards, contracycle, Walt Freitag.

5/12/2005 afray: Japanese-style computer-rpg mechanics? [ot?]
First off, I realise this may be out of your area of expertise, but thought I'd ask anyway. :-) I'm a video games developer who's trying to develop a new…
In RPG Theory
Participants: afray, Bankuei, Mike Holmes, Miskatonic, contracycle, Selene Tan, Noon.

5/12/2005 johnzo: Renouncing the agenda-driven NPC
From this thread: I've encountered this very situation with many instances of Sorcerer and HeroQuest, in which playing an agenda-driven NPC has resulted in very clear cues from…
In RPG Theory
Participants: johnzo, TonyLB, Domhnall, Noon, Troy_Costisick, Danny_K, MatrixGamer.

5/12/2005 List: Larps?
I noticed that there is very little discussion of larps and larp theory... Is this because larps are not generally Forge domain? If not, could somebody point me to some…
In RPG Theory
Participants: List, Andrew Morris, komradebob.

5/11/2005 Andrew Morris: Mechanical limitations to the scope of conflict resolution
Reading the recent threads on conflict resolution (here and here) reminded me of a question I have about defining stakes in conflict resolution. What mechanical methods currently exist for limiting…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Andrew Morris, Ron Edwards, Jasper, MatrixGamer, Gaerik, Bankuei, Harlequin, TonyLB.

5/10/2005 MatrixGamer: Role Playing as it is done in Historical Miniatures Games
I live in that part of the gaming world that crosses over between miniatures gaming and RPGs. Role playing is it is done now grew out of miniatures but the…
In RPG Theory
Participants: MatrixGamer, komradebob, Vaxalon, Noon, contracycle, Ron Edwards, Mike Holmes, Hereward The Wake.

5/10/2005 Ben Lehman: [Vocab] Task versus Conflict
Hi. Boy, there are a lot of threads about Task Resolution vs. Conflict resolution. Gee whiz. I think a lot of these are stumbling over the meanings of the terms,…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Ben Lehman, Adam Dray, timfire, Valamir, Gordon C. Landis, xenopulse, John Kim, Jinx, Noon, Ron Edwards, lumpley, Matt Snyder, Troy_Costisick, Andrew Morris, Walt Freitag, Caldis, Alephnul, Alan, Warren, WhiteRat, M. J. Young, GB Steve, greyorm.

5/10/2005 Troy_Costisick: Using Task Reso to get Conflict Reso
Heya, This is loosely related to another thread over in the GNS forum: http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=15369. I hope I'm not honking off anyone by asking this sort of question here about a…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Troy_Costisick, pete_darby, paulkdad, timfire, Ron Edwards, John Burdick, Doug Ruff, Yokiboy, Valamir, M. J. Young, Alephnul.

5/7/2005 Jason Petrasko: Classifying general classes of goals for conflict resolution
Alright, so I've finally made the jump from task based resolution to conflict based resolution. Now I'm trying to classify the types of goals (the intent) of PCs seek out.…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jason Petrasko, TonyLB, MatrixGamer, contracycle.

5/6/2005 M. J. Young: Character, Sheet, and Play Revisited
In The relationship between character, sheet, and play Fred (Vaxalon) wrote of character secrets not being part of the shared imagined space. I disagree. I'm very sorry I missed this…
In RPG Theory
Participants: M. J. Young, Troy_Costisick, 1of3, MatrixGamer, Valamir, pete_darby, Mike Holmes, John Kim, C. Edwards, xenopulse, contracycle.

5/4/2005 am: Do RPGS allow for diverse participation/discourse?
Hello, my name is Anna. I've been gaming for around 2 years. I am working on my masters degree, & I plan on analyzing role playing games from a performance/literary/rhetorical…
In RPG Theory
Participants: am, Bankuei, Ben Lehman, John Kim, greyorm, jrs, TonyLB, Michael S. Miller, Ron Edwards, Christopher Kubasik, Matt Wilson, Danny_K, xenopulse, WhiteRat, paulkdad, zephyr_cirrus, Miskatonic, Wysardry, J. Tuomas Harviainen, Mike Holmes, GameLoft, komradebob, contracycle, BrennaLaRosa.

5/2/2005 Adam Dray: Giving players control of risk
In David Bapst's Difficulty/Success Needed as it relates to GM Fiat, people posted a variety of ways to remove GM Fiat from setting difficulty levels. In my Verge game (in…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Adam Dray, Mike Holmes, Lxndr, Jasper, Noon.

5/2/2005 Valamir: Fun with math
So I was noodling around with some mechanics (I'll spare you the boring details) and hit upon an interesting relationship I thought some might find useful. We're all familiar with…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Valamir, Technocrat13, Victor Gijsbers, TonyLB, Mike Holmes, bcook1971, Ben Lehman, Eva Deinum.

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In RPG Theory

5/20/2005 tj333: Success to Dice ratios
For affecting another character I’m looking at having a target number that must be reached on one roll. The player rolls a die pool(The die pool is the same for…
In RPG Theory
Participants: tj333, Eric J., Walt Freitag, Valamir, JMendes, HereticalFaction.

5/20/2005 M. J. Young: Stance as Credibility Distribution
O.K., I'm actually sort of puzzling over something I wrote, and I thought I'd initiate some discussion on this to see if I'm off my rocker. I took a long…
In RPG Theory
Participants: M. J. Young, TonyLB, timfire, lumpley, Ron Edwards, Gaerik, John Kim, Mike Holmes.

5/20/2005 Eric J.: Telling a Story, Conveying a Theme: What does it mean?
Hey, everybody. This is Pyron. That's right. You will never get rid of me. Ever. I know I haven't posted in a long time (I almost posted once but a…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Eric J., bcook1971.

5/20/2005 Yokiboy: Games with Conflict Resolution
All the threads regarding Conflict Resolution offer widely differing views on what it really is, and how it differs from Task Resolution. We all know of tons of games with…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Yokiboy, Gaerik, Andrew Morris, Valamir, greyorm, Mike Holmes, M. J. Young, GameLoft.

5/20/2005 TonyLB: Oracle Stance?
[quote="Ron Edwards"]I think it's crucial to understand there are two variables: in-character vs. out-of-character knowledge/perspective as starting constraint (yes or no); character motions/dialogue vs. objects/events external to the character. These…
In RPG Theory
Participants: TonyLB, Ron Edwards, John Burdick, neelk, Troy_Costisick.

5/23/2005 Noon: Idea: Delayed GM
I was reading a thread on the palladium boards where someone asked about games with just one player and one GM (they can never get all three friends together). To…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Noon, Andrew Morris, contracycle, John Kim.

5/23/2005 Remko: Aaaaahhhhh, or: the need for simulationism in Horror RPG's
Hi all, This is my first thread here on the Forge. I'm currently lurking about and I'm not sure whether this subject is already discussed, but still... Situation: I like…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Remko, Mike Holmes, xenopulse, GB Steve.

5/24/2005 Zachary The First: Is D20 Dead/Dying?
This is one of those little blurbs you see all around fringe gaming sites on the Net--the claim that d20 is infirmed, dead, or dying. Yet, according to WoTC, D&D…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Zachary The First, Remko, Miskatonic, Bankuei, timfire, John Kim, Mike Holmes.

5/24/2005 Remko: Simulative Western RPG
Hi all, I'm searching for a simulative western RPG, basically one aimed at historical basis. I'm trying to create a system myself, because I haven't found a system created well…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Remko, Valamir, Ron Edwards, Troy_Costisick, kennin, Gaerik.

5/25/2005 daMoose_Neo: Enticing drawback vs. weaker-but-desireable Traits
Hmmkay, as I'm unsure how to summarize this in a couple words to search by, I'd like to ask the assistance of Forgites. A system/setting sprung to mind earlier today…
In RPG Theory
Participants: daMoose_Neo, TonyLB, GB Steve, Noon, Mike Holmes.

5/24/2005 Rodger Thorm: Fear and confusion II (split)
[quote="Sydney Freedberg"] And the more I think about it, the more I think the solution is something along TonyLB's lines -- limiting the PLAYER'S knowledge of the situation to force…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Rodger Thorm, Thierry Michel, Yokiboy, Ron Edwards.

5/25/2005 lev_lafayette: Real Time Enforcement
[quote="Walt Freitag"] .... This is a deliberately extreme example, going as far in the direction of "unimmersed (dispassionate) author stance" as the realtime technique ("Suddenly three bullets buzz past your…
In RPG Theory
Participants: lev_lafayette, Ron Edwards, Rodger Thorm.

5/25/2005 Ian Charvill: An alternative to 'the System is the Physics of the World'
The System is the Grammar of the World. I'm posting this from the point of view of starting up a new gaming group and explaining how I'm looking at things.…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Ian Charvill, Ben Lehman, John Burdick, epweissengruber, lumpley, Bill_White, MikeSands, Mike Holmes, Shreyas Sampat, Simon Marks, Marco.

5/26/2005 James_Nostack: n00bies: Why, and What Happened Next?
I am curious about why people, particularly adults, choose to participate in roleplaying games for the first time. I am also curious about how they reacted to (a) the game…
In RPG Theory
Participants: James_Nostack, GB Steve, Selene Tan, Mike Holmes, greyorm, Bankuei, M. J. Young, komradebob, GameLoft.

5/26/2005 timfire: Emotional Engagement
Hi y'all, In the Indie forum, apparition13 asked how he can generate an emotional reponse from the players. This was my response: How do I set things up so that,…
In RPG Theory
Participants: timfire, Brendan, Matt Wilson, GB Steve, pasoliati, Michael S. Miller, Valamir.

5/26/2005 Mike Holmes: Narrative Voice
This is a topic that interests me a lot for some reason. I think it's been covered before, but mostly in parts of other threads (if you have a link…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Mike Holmes, Andrew Morris, Harlequin, Danny_K, PlotDevice, John Kim, Victor Gijsbers, Trish2, M. J. Young.

5/26/2005 anonymouse: [dice-snippit-mechanic-dealy] Expected success vs actual
So I was re-reading Neuromancer the other day, and there's a passage pretty early on which got my attention this time. It's describing the social atmosphere of this city, and…
In RPG Theory
Participants: anonymouse.

5/27/2005 Remko: Using music to support emotions
Are there some persons familiar with this technique? I'm willing to try it, but I don't know how I shoud adress this and which type of music I should use...…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Remko, GameLoft, Domhnall.

5/28/2005 TonyLB: Tony's Standard Rant #2: Disagreement != Dysfunction
Reading Ben Lehman's excellent blog-post on Social Agenda I came upon this statement:In terms of grief players, well, we don't have anyone at the Forge claiming to…
In RPG Theory
Participants: TonyLB, Ben Lehman, Jasper, Grover, Shreyas Sampat, James Holloway, Sydney Freedberg, Blankshield, John Burdick, Noon, bcook1971, contracycle, hyphz, Madeline, WhiteRat, John Kim, Brand_Robins, immlass, Ron Edwards.

5/30/2005 Roger: Recommended Exercises
I find it interesting that numerous people have seen the Fantasy Heartbreakers essay to be a sort of call-to-arms to create their own, as a learning exercise. I'm guessing this…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Roger, Remko, TonyLB, Ben Lehman, Jasper, FzGhouL, Valamir, Paka, PlotDevice, Troy_Costisick, GB Steve, Noon, paulkdad, Justin A Hamilton, M. J. Young, Mike Holmes, hix.

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