Previous Topics
In RPG Theory

7/19/2005 Paka: Discussion with my GMing Mentor
Jim is my gaming Qui-Gon.  He got me to GM when I was 13. But here's the thing, when I told him I didn't know the rules well enough to…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Paka, TonyLB, Technocrat13, LandonSuffered, Valamir, Bankuei, Nathan P., Sydney Freedberg, dyjoots, cruciel, Mencelus, contracycle, Andrew Norris, greyorm, Matt Snyder, Noon, Marco, Alan, Trevis Martin, Ria, Thor Olavsrud, Ron Edwards.

7/18/2005 Biggles: Objective vs. Subjective Difficulty
Hi all, First, very nice site. I've been lurking about for weeks, reading the articles and these forums, and I've been really enjoying myself. Thank you to everyone who wrote…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Biggles, Bankuei, bcook1971, Justin Marx, simon_hibbs.

7/17/2005 Matt Wilson: the balance of power - brainstorming
Hey. So if you've ever played Primetime Adventures, you know about Budget, which is my response to what I always considered a daunting task as GM, which is providing the…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Matt Wilson, xenopulse, matthijs, timfire, Bankuei, Clinton R. Nixon, Nathan P., Sydney Freedberg, bcook1971, Technocrat13, Ron Edwards, Miskatonic, chadu, contracycle, Sean, Adam Dray, spawky, John Harper, M. J. Young.

7/16/2005 Vaxalon: "Gandalf Did It"
[quote="sayter"] I dont see any reason why a mage cant be as good with a sword as a warrior. Gandalf did it, and countless other heroes in fantasy settings have.[/quote]…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Vaxalon, Alan, Noon, Uzzah, LandonSuffered, Silmenume, Clinton R. Nixon, Miskatonic, Ron Edwards, ADGBoss, jaw6, sayter.

7/16/2005 Funksaw: Has anyone put the SRD on a Wiki?
I'm sure everyone wants a crack at improving D&D. I'm just wondering - has anyone put the 3.5 SRD on a Wiki and just letting people go wild on it?
In RPG Theory
Participants: Funksaw, sayter, John Kim, Miskatonic, Vaxalon.

7/15/2005 contracycle: Explicit Goals
A discussion of the use of expicit goals and steps, especially for gamist play. Original post: I agree with Noon's point. Thinking about things like Power/Evil has recently priompted this…
In RPG Theory
Participants: contracycle, Lord Shield, StalkingBlue, Noon, Nogusielkt, GB Steve.

7/14/2005 Jack Aidley: The function of Races in Fantasy RPGS
I'm in the process of developing a Fantasy roleplaying game. One of my aims is to be able justify every aspect of the game in terms of acheiving my goals;…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jack Aidley, Bob Goat, Clinton R. Nixon, Ron Edwards, NN, Emily Care, simon_hibbs, cruciel, greyorm, M. J. Young.

7/14/2005 brand: About DFK - what about a fourth resolution mecanic?
Hello, First of all, let me apologize if this topic was abundandly discussed before, but I would like to ask a few questions about this subpart of the model. I…
In RPG Theory
Participants: brand, Alan, Trevis Martin, ewilen, timfire, Walt Freitag, Artanis, M. J. Young.

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.

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.

7/8/2005 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.

7/7/2005 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.

7/5/2005 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.

7/5/2005 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.

7/4/2005 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.

7/1/2005 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.

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.

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 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.

6/28/2005 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.

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Subsequent Topics
In RPG Theory

7/19/2005 LandonSuffered: Need for Experience/Improvement
For a lot of folks with even a little gamism in their agenda, one of the great enjoyments in role-playing is to see their character grow from a young, inexperienced…
In RPG Theory
Participants: LandonSuffered, Nogusielkt, Sean, Ron Edwards, Miskatonic, Silmenume, M. J. Young, Asen G, sophist, Justin Marx.

7/19/2005 LandonSuffered: Race/Species in Fantasy RPGs: Is It Necessary?
This is another topic of discussion I’ve been aching to have, and I did not find any older threads on the Forge…if anyone has one, please post a link. Race…
In RPG Theory
Participants: LandonSuffered, ewilen, Shreyas Sampat, SlurpeeMoney, Troy_Costisick, simon_hibbs, zircher, Jack Aidley, Rob Carriere, Justin Marx, killacozzy, Green, contracycle, M. J. Young, madelf, RobNJ.

7/20/2005 Resonantg: How important is system complexity?
G'day people; My question may have been asked before, and if so, please refer me to any links I may have missed. :c) During the development of my game, I've…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Resonantg, TonyLB, Alan, FzGhouL.

7/20/2005 Hereward The Wake: RE Problem defining martial arts
This topic went quite while I was away. It is an area that I am very interested as I have been trying to something similar myself. Was anything developed from…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Hereward The Wake, Resonantg, Miskatonic, FzGhouL, Latigo, John Kim.

7/20/2005 Andrew Morris: Turn-based structures in RPGs -- what are they good for?
Someone (RobNJ, I believe) recently pointed out that they dislike turn-based RPGs. Personally, I love 'em. Universalis, Capes, Ganakagok, Breaking the Ice...lots of my favorites use turns, in some form…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Andrew Morris, TonyLB, komradebob, John Kim, John Harper, ewilen, bcook1971, Adam Dray, matthijs, Jack Aidley, Ron Edwards, Miskatonic, Valamir, Damballa.

7/21/2005 Blake T. Deakin: Party split-up
So, I've been running an old pre-written adventure called "Night of a Thousand Screams" for L5R. This is a classic, linear game. Tragically, a lot of players are familiar with…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Blake T. Deakin, Vaxalon, timfire, Andrew Norris, Troy_Costisick, Noon, ewilen.

7/21/2005 Dangerboy: Simplicity to Complexity: can you make a sliding scale rpg?
While working on a generic RPG system I started to think to myself, can you make an RPG system that's built on a sliding scale? Like if you set your…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Dangerboy, Grand_Commander13, Shreyas Sampat.

7/23/2005 Mark Woodhouse: Creator or fan?
This post originated in a thread at rpg.net. I will be posting a parallel thread there as well, as I really want to hear from a few people who won’t…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Mark Woodhouse, SlurpeeMoney, Damballa, Clinton R. Nixon, Sean, Miskatonic, Ron Edwards, greyorm, xenopulse, John Kim, Marco, John, Alan.

7/23/2005 Sean: Immersion and Handling Time
One complaint that theorists here sometimes receive from immersionist tabletop gamers and members of the Scandinavian LARP scene basically boils down to the following argument: 1) I like immersion. 2)…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Sean, Mark Woodhouse, Ron Edwards.

7/24/2005 yesala: Big Setting + Open Character Gen = overwhelming!
I'm having a head scratching problem to do with character creation.  Since this issue can apply to any game, and I'm not looking for responses that are directly related to…
In RPG Theory
Participants: yesala, Ron Edwards, Justin Marx, simon_hibbs, Vaxalon, ragnar, LogicaLunatic.

7/24/2005 Justin Marx: GMless play seems to only work where everyone is a GM?
I have a tentative idea, which combines some of my thoughts that have emerged from other threads. I have noticed that playing styles which advocate a large degree of narrative…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Justin Marx, TonyLB, Vaxalon, Andrew Norris, komradebob.

7/24/2005 Mark Woodhouse: No power for me, thanks
This thread is an attempt to reorganize and elaborate on the proto-idea discussed in 'Creator or Fan?'http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=16088.0 The basic question I am wrestling with is: can players who refuse GM-like…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Mark Woodhouse, Nogusielkt, John Kim, bcook1971, beingfrank, MR. Analytical, Jack Aidley, greyorm, Noon, ScottM.

7/25/2005 haiiro: How did you learn to GM?
I posted a question this morning on Treasure Tables, my weblog for GMs: how did you learn to GM? My rambling answer is there, in the post ("How Did You…
In RPG Theory
Participants: haiiro, GB Steve, Clinton R. Nixon, simon_hibbs, TonyLB, Andrew Morris, Bankuei, Miskatonic, Justin Marx, ADGBoss, Remko, Noon, droog, Damballa.

7/25/2005 GB Steve: When does the conflict start - and why not roleplay it instead?
From this thread Capes Demo at DexCon 8: With the recent profusion of social resolution mechanics I've seen in a lot of indie games, I've been worried that they might…
In RPG Theory
Participants: GB Steve, Jack Aidley, Clinton R. Nixon, Simon Marks, simon_hibbs, greyorm, Gaerik, Matt Snyder, Bankuei, Doug Ruff, TonyLB, Valamir, Mark Woodhouse.

7/26/2005 Clinton R. Nixon: A psychological model of role-playing
I've posted this on my weblog before, but it got about as much response as a newspaper boy at the front door. So, here's the "Clinton R. Nixon Real Deal…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Clinton R. Nixon, Paka, SlurpeeMoney, ewilen, John Kim, Noon, Miskatonic, ethan_greer, ADGBoss, Matt Snyder, Marco, Nathan P., cruciel, cognis.

7/26/2005 simon_hibbs: Resolving social conflicts amicably
Since Steve closed his thread, I'd like to re-orient the debate a little. I'll use this comment by Clinton as a startign point. .....I…
In RPG Theory
Participants: simon_hibbs, Rob Carriere, cruciel, Albert of Feh, Vaxalon, Bankuei, Sydney Freedberg, Ron Edwards, Sean, xenopulse, lumpley, Thor Olavsrud, bcook1971, Resonantg, drnuncheon, TonyLB.

7/26/2005 Vaxalon: Reward systems need not be unified.
In "Narrativist games and "winning"? Ron says: I see reward systems as either being unified (perhaps with many interrelated parts, perhaps hierarchical parts) or broken - either the parts don't…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Vaxalon, TonyLB, timfire, Justin A Hamilton, Sean, Ron Edwards, ewilen, Jack Aidley, Paganini, cruciel, komradebob, Master Marx.

7/26/2005 greyorm: Immersion, Childishness, and Understanding
Over in the Creator or Fan? thread, an idea came up that was discussed (barely) regarding Immersion and whether or not it is healthy. I said something about the idea…
In RPG Theory
Participants: greyorm, John Kim, Thor Olavsrud, Clinton R. Nixon, ewilen, Mark Woodhouse, Ron Edwards, Frank T, Marco, Bankuei, J. Tuomas Harviainen, GB Steve, FroglarTBGE, xenopulse, contracycle, ADGBoss, Simon Marks, M. J. Young, James Holloway, Merten.

7/27/2005 Eero Tuovinen: Initializing the roleplaying experience
So, I'm fiddling with game design a little bit, and I'm thinking on what makes the social and psychological event of roleplaying possible. What, in general terms, are the things…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Eero Tuovinen, matthijs, komradebob, Trevis Martin, Miskatonic, Justin Marx, Jack Aidley, Paul Czege, Levi Kornelsen, rrr, ffilz.

7/28/2005 PrzeSzkoda: Character creation and immersion
Although I am posting this thread because I'm considering incorporating several ideas that I would like to discuss into a game I'm currently working on, I decided to do this…
In RPG Theory
Participants: PrzeSzkoda, Ron Edwards, GB Steve.

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