Previous Topics
In RPG Theory

6/18/2005 epweissengruber: (OT) "Nomic" Games and Rule Governed Self-Amendmen
A while back I posted a speculative note] regarding rule-governed transformation of play space. I got a number of useful responses. Recently, I have uncovered a type of game that…
In RPG Theory
Participants: epweissengruber, Walt Freitag, Jeph, Noon, Adam Dray, Doug Ruff, MatrixGamer.

6/16/2005 Darcy Burgess: Strong Foundations: Good games where PCs are v.similar
I'm trauling for some ideas, sounds pretty theoretical to me. I'm currently wrestling with finding a way to make a game "interesting" when all of the PCs are essentially identical…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Darcy Burgess, GB Steve, TonyLB, timfire, Andrew Morris, gsoylent, Jasper, Troy_Costisick, Harlequin, Chad Sonderberg.

6/16/2005 Resonantg: [Orion's Arm] Too many skills?
An issue that's been popping up in my game design for OA has been making me wonder if I'm in the minority. I just wanted to get a survey of…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Resonantg, Eero Tuovinen, Andrew Morris, Valamir, Troy_Costisick.

6/14/2005 Sean: One More Mainstream Note
I totally agree with the idea of bringing RPGs to new, underexplored mainstream areas, and selling RPGs to 'non-roleplayers' through mainstream venues. I think it's great that a lot of…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Sean, xenopulse, Andrew Morris, Brand_Robins, gsoylent, Andrew Norris.

6/14/2005 mjstahl: To write as fiction, or as a manual.
Hello again everyone, I have been thinking about a lot of things since I started 'physically' working on Good Intentions, and one of them is how the text should be…
In RPG Theory
Participants: mjstahl, Mike Holmes, Brand_Robins, Alan, MarkMeredith, Troy_Costisick, Kriegsaffe No. 9, Eva Deinum, Danny_K.

6/14/2005 Andrew Morris: Side thought on mainstreaming RPGs
Sparked by the What is Main Stream gaming? Another Look. thread, I started wondering if the content is the only issue, or even the main one. Perhaps it's more a…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Andrew Morris, Technocrat13, Gaerik, Sean, Mike Holmes, contracycle.

6/13/2005 John Kim: Known Cause and Conflict Resolution
OK, per Simon's request, I'm splitting this out of the recent thread Between-the-lines Conflict Resolution . What I'd like to talk about is the case of resolution which…
In RPG Theory
Participants: John Kim, Valamir, xenopulse, Sean, TonyLB, Silmenume, Mike Holmes.

6/13/2005 TonyLB: I want to roll more dice!
You know what I've heard an awful lot? "Why would you roll dice to argue / manipulate / race / whatever if it's possible to resolve the same conflict between…
In RPG Theory
Participants: TonyLB, Gaerik, Matt Wilson, Warren, C. Edwards, Alan, John Kim, GB Steve, Noon, Remko, Sean, Technocrat13, ErrathofKosh, Andrew Norris, CCW, M. J. Young.

6/13/2005 Sean: Conflict v. Task Resolution: An Outmoded Distinction?
I tend to think that it is lately. I'm happy to be smacked down though. I think that they're just examples of different kinds of stakes-input into the resolution mechanics.…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Sean, GB Steve, Andrew Morris, Valamir, xenopulse, Bankuei, Emily Care, Gordon C. Landis.

6/12/2005 Frank T: A tackle at immersion
This thread is a more abstract sequel to my Actual Play thread On immersion, fascination, and precious moments. While the term “immersion” is used with a variety of meanings, there…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Frank T, Mikko Lehtinen, lumpley, ErrathofKosh.

6/11/2005 Technocrat13: Setting and the SIS
As part of my own personal Fantasy Heartbreaker, I've been working on formalizing collaborative setting creation. I've had a few thoughts that I'd like to present here for discussion &…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Technocrat13, Jasper, Noon, Justin A Hamilton, Marco, xenopulse, Mike Holmes, contracycle.

6/10/2005 Resonantg: Immersive vs. Immedeate Character Creation
G'day people :c) A question came up with the game I currently have in development regarding character creation (CC). The issue is whether gamers prefer Immersive (read as Long) processes,…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Resonantg, Jasper, Troy_Costisick, John Kim, Selene Tan, M. J. Young.

6/10/2005 Simon Kamber: Between-the-lines Conflict Resolution
We had a discussion on a danish forum about conflict resolution and task resolution (on the what-is-it level). And as part of that, I've thought about something. In many games…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Simon Kamber, TonyLB, Gaerik, Marco, Harlequin, Valamir, John Kim, ErrathofKosh, Noon, Yokiboy, Troy_Costisick, M. J. Young.

6/8/2005 mjstahl: Experience Point Simulations
After reading the 'Indie Game Design' notes concerning posting policy, I decided to err on the side of caution, since there is no specific game to which this applies. As…
In RPG Theory
Participants: mjstahl, Andrew Morris, FzGhouL, komradebob, Ron Edwards, Warren, Troy_Costisick, M. J. Young, Mike Holmes.

6/8/2005 ejh: Fiduciary responsibility (split)
Holy cow. I never realized that 'james_west' wasn't 'James V. West.' Big brainshift reading that. I have a small and tangentially related response at my gaming blog, which references a…
In RPG Theory
Participants: ejh, Ron Edwards, pete_darby, contracycle, Mike Holmes, John Kim, groundhog, Marco, Ben Lehman, Walt Freitag, cruciel.

6/8/2005 Valamir: Setting as Rules
In This Thread Its this sort of point of view that makes me think that certain setting elements are tantamount to system. If introducing elements into setting implies or compels,…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Valamir, xenopulse, Ben Lehman, Ron Edwards, FzGhouL, Noon, Dauntless, SlurpeeMoney, M. J. Young, Mike Holmes, pete_darby, Marhault.

6/7/2005 Vaxalon: A word for "what do the PC's do?"
http://www.livejournal.com/users/mearls/97347.html#cutid1 "Core Story" What's the core story of YOUR game?
In RPG Theory
Participants: Vaxalon, pete_darby, Victor Gijsbers, Gaerik, Ron Edwards, TonyLB, contracycle, Brendan, mearls, xenopulse, Mike Holmes, paulkdad, Ben Lehman, PlotDevice, Lee Short, Paganini, Noon, Melinglor, Lord Shield, Valamir, hix.

6/7/2005 John Kim: Types of Narrative Power
So I'd like to talk about narrative power. I'll break it down into different types and then discuss the impact of each. 1) Control of Characters 2) Influence over Resolution…
In RPG Theory
Participants: John Kim, TonyLB.

6/7/2005 Noon: Beyond crediblity
I'm going to cut straight to the chase: If you declare to a player you are pushing a vase off a balcony in game and that player then continues playing…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Noon, Alan, TonyLB, Valamir, Ron Edwards, Sean, Marco, Harlequin, Silmenume, M. J. Young, Mike Holmes, C. Edwards, Walt Freitag, Gordon C. Landis.

6/2/2005 Dauntless: Problem defining martial arts
I've been trying to come up with an extremely detailed martial arts system for a fantasy game I've been cooking up. The martial arts system will be extremely detailed since…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Dauntless, TonyLB, Jasper, xenopulse, TheTris, Mike Holmes, Shreyas Sampat, Harlequin, yesala, Mortaneus, M. J. Young.

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Subsequent Topics
In RPG Theory

6/21/2005 Simon Marks: Reward Systems in LRP
Ok, after taking some time to think abouty it, I'm going to punt this one out to the field. In Ron's article "GNS and other matters of roleplay theory", he…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Simon Marks, Andrew Morris, Albert of Feh, Noon, Harlequin, J. Tuomas Harviainen, M. J. Young, Vaxalon.

6/22/2005 preludetotheend: Seperation anxiety.
Well, folks I figure this would be the forum to go to, you see I want to get rid of stats in my game. I am running off a more…
In RPG Theory
Participants: preludetotheend, TonyLB, Troy_Costisick, contracycle, Noon.

6/22/2005 LordCarter: Newbie Designer on the Verge. Looking for Tips...
Hello all, this is my first post on the Forge. From reading Ron's article, seems like he's got a good bead on the industry. I had some ideas for a…
In RPG Theory
Participants: LordCarter, ethan_greer, Troy_Costisick, Jack Aidley, Adam Dray, Victor Gijsbers, Eero Tuovinen, xenopulse, Remko, Erick Wujcik.

6/24/2005 TonyLB: Why adventure at all?
Most RPGs you will ever find have two elements: Adventure and Kewl Powerz. Even games that clearly do not focus on such things most often include them. White Wolf's various…
In RPG Theory
Participants: TonyLB, Andrew Morris, Troy_Costisick, Eva Deinum, Remko, Victor Gijsbers, Andrew Norris, Alan, Noon, Bankuei, John Kim, Eero Tuovinen, Melinglor, Vaxalon, M. J. Young, Itse.

6/24/2005 Gaerik: Collaborative Character Creation
In most of the games my players are used to playing, character creation is strictly a solitary process. In D&D, for example, the creation process is where everyone sits down…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Gaerik, Andrew Morris, timfire, John Harper, Paul Czege, Vaxalon, Andrew Norris, M. J. Young.

6/25/2005 David Bapst: Sim Centralization - Dependency on the GM and Alternatives
So, I've been giving my collection a partial read through lately, partly spurned on by a friend to "fix" a system we used to play (Long story why: I argued…
In RPG Theory
Participants: David Bapst, Noon, komradebob, John Kim, Lee Short, timfire, John Burdick, M. J. Young.

6/26/2005 Troy_Costisick: What is the function of Kewl Powerz
Heya, In this thread Tony wrote this: My argument is that they address something that is hard to address in other ways. Which is why, in fact, games without them…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Troy_Costisick, KingstonC, Jeph, Remko, Andrew Morris, Noon, TonyLB, Doug Ruff, Sydney Freedberg, chadu, HMT, Vaxalon, timfire, John Kim, Simon Marks, Artanis, Brand_Robins, xenopulse, Eero Tuovinen, Itse, cruciel.

6/28/2005 David Bapst: Simulationist Reward Systems
What are the reward systems that support a Simulationist CA? I seem to have found several types that are repeated over and over again, but I’m unsure if they really…
In RPG Theory
Participants: David Bapst, Nathan P., beingfrank, Gaerik, John Kim, Rob Carriere, M. J. Young, Silmenume.

6/28/2005 MrSandman666: one-shots and attachment to character
Hello everybody. Haven't posted in a long while but I've been lurking here pretty frequently. Now finally after a long time of playing around with several different ideas there is…
In RPG Theory
Participants: MrSandman666, Jack Aidley, Trish2, M. J. Young.

6/29/2005 Lonoto: [MAGD] Proposed GM-less play...
I'm working on a martial arts based game design at the moment, (this thread: http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=15793) and after some thinking I came up with the idea of throwing out the GM…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Lonoto, M. J. Young, TonyLB, contracycle.

6/29/2005 sayter: The role of Magic/Magick
While I am sure every person here has a different idea of what magick is, why it exists and how it should function in a game world I thought it…
In RPG Theory
Participants: sayter, Valamir, Lonoto, Troy_Costisick, Tom B, Albert of Feh, John Kim, Noon, Nick, JSDiamond, contracycle, John Wick.

6/29/2005 John Kim: Models of Adventure Structure
So this is cross-posted with my blog. I'm pondering ideas about the development of the RPG adventure. This is something that isn't explicit in character creation and action resolution…
In RPG Theory
Participants: John Kim, TonyLB, Albert of Feh, lumpley, Ben Lehman, Troy_Costisick, Andrew Morris, gsoylent, Sydney Freedberg, Sean.

7/1/2005 M. J. Young: Theory 101: The Impossible Thing Before Breakfast posted
For those following the series, Places to Go, People to Be has released the next issue, containing the second of the theory series, Theory 101: The Impossible Thing Before Breakfast.…
In RPG Theory
Participants: M. J. Young, Albert of Feh, John Kim, Andrew Morris, Ian Charvill, timfire, Sean, Paul Czege, cruciel, ewilen, greyorm, Silmenume, 1of3, contracycle, Marco, Noon, brainwipe, Vaxalon, Mortaneus, Ron Edwards.

7/4/2005 timfire: Equipment as character component.
Over in the thread, this sentiment was repeated a couple of times: Equipment, which is external can be easily lost, and only begs to bear a label saying:…
In RPG Theory
Participants: timfire, Matt Wilson, Noon, Vaxalon, Andrew Morris, Ron Edwards, Artanis, TonyLB, Wolfen, Nogusielkt, Mike Holmes, PlotDevice.

7/5/2005 Damballa: Real-Time RPGs
Hey, what do you guys think of the real-time strategy genre as it applies to roleplaying? I’m taking my lead here from Hakim Bey’s tangential suggestion of a 'Quilting Bee'…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Damballa, Vaxalon, Noon, James Holloway, Mike Holmes.

7/5/2005 Paka: Impossible Thing Before Breakfast Question
[quote]Impossible Thing Before Breakfast, the "The GM is the author of the story and the players direct the actions of the protagonists." Widely repeated across many role-playing texts. Neither sub-clause…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Paka, timfire, Selene Tan, Marco, contracycle, Gaerik, M. J. Young.

7/7/2005 Andrew Morris: What are "kewl powerz?"
Since the discussion over in the What is the function of Kewl Powerz thread seems to be devolving into a discussion of exactly what "kewl powerz" means, I decided to…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Andrew Morris, Mike Holmes, xenopulse, TonyLB, M. J. Young, Miskatonic, indie guy, Marco, cruciel, Remko, Ria, ffilz, Bob McNamee, Adam Dray.

7/8/2005 ADGBoss: Combat: Holy Grail or Sick Obsession
This essay has been in my head for sometime but was kind of brought to the forefront by this thread over in Indie Game Design. - SMH Combat:…
In RPG Theory
Participants: ADGBoss, Nogusielkt, Vaxalon, Ian Charvill, TonyLB, bcook1971, Miskatonic, Thor Olavsrud, Gaerik, Noon, Asen G, John Kim, ewilen, Adam Dray, contracycle, Kaltros, Ria, NN, komradebob, Resonantg, Andrew Norris, Rob Carriere, M. J. Young, Justin Marx.

7/11/2005 loki's wrangling: [Risus]Compelling Cliches a la Fate?
So I'm planning a one-shot space opera, rather like a single episode of Star Trek. Risus, with its ultra-simple character generation, seems a perfect system with which to run one-shots…
In RPG Theory
Participants: loki's wrangling.

7/11/2005 Andrew Morris: [Breaking the Ice]How does it relate to the Czege Principle?
Lately, I've been wondering if Breaking the Ice helps support the Czege Principle ("When one person is the author of both the character's adversity and its resolution, play isn't fun."…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Andrew Morris, Gaerik, Paul Czege, Adam Dray, Ben Lehman, timfire, Emily Care, jaw6.

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