Previous Topics
In RPG Theory

10/1/2005 John Kirk: Is Alignment an Anti-pattern?
I recently started a thread here soliciting feedback on a book I am writing: “Design Patterns of Successful Role-Playing Games”, which you can download in a rough draft form from…
In RPG Theory
Participants: John Kirk, 1of3, Artanis, resistor, Bankuei, Jasper Polane, Adam Dray, Arturo G., Shreyas Sampat, c, SicaVolate, Blankshield, Sydney Freedberg, Kintara, M. J. Young, Mike Holmes, Shimeran, brightstar, alejandro.

10/1/2005 WyldKarde: Design Theories behind Action RPG's
While not a fixture, I am ever a disciple of the design theories put forth here.  Mostly because my own means lie along the lines of exploiting the internet for…
In RPG Theory
Participants: WyldKarde, Alan, ghoyle1, Shreyas Sampat, Joshua BishopRoby, gsoylent.

10/1/2005 knicknevin: [No Game} A Floating Rule
I've read a few threads about games where the players not taking part in an action get to decide whether the player taking the action succeeds or nor, or at…
In RPG Theory
Participants: knicknevin, mutex, Vaxalon, Noon.

10/1/2005 pekkok: Allegoric play
[i]Note: The following text is the first of two parts - I've lopped of the second half since the text was getting fairly long, and its structure offered a place…
In RPG Theory
Participants: pekkok, M. J. Young.

9/30/2005 king_yugi2003: Looking for Rpg Systems suitable for Bond
Has anyone done a rpg system that could be used in a James Bond-ish setting?
In RPG Theory
Participants: king_yugi2003, John Kim, Andrew Morris.

9/29/2005 king_yugi2003: Re: How to Host a Deserted Island
[quote author=Don Lag link=topic=4291.msg42883#msg42883 date=1038166526] Sounds interesting, however a few things make it (potentially) an unattractive game to me. 1) I found the Survivor show uninteresting. 2) By design the…
In RPG Theory
Participants: king_yugi2003, rrr, jrs, Ron Edwards.

9/28/2005 Jonathan Walton: SIS: Beyond the Glossary (Help!)
[b]Emergancy theory help needed![/b] I'm in the middle of finishing the first draft of an article called [i]Negotiated Narratives: Roleplaying and the Aesthetics of the Middle Ground[/i], which is a…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jonathan Walton, Valamir, talysman, Ron Edwards, Silmenume, Joshua BishopRoby, John Kim, Artanis, pekkok, contracycle, C. Edwards, Alan.

9/28/2005 Troy_Costisick: Troy's Standard Rant #2: Follow Up
Heya, I suppose I should call these non-rants, but in the end it’s not really important.  This is a follow-up to the rant I wrote here: http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=16809.0 Again, I make…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Troy_Costisick, Jeph, Joshua BishopRoby, Green, Valamir, WhiteRat, Blankshield, demiurgeastaroth, gsoylent, lumpley.

9/28/2005 John Kirk: RPG Design Patterns
Being an engineer by training and a software developer by trade, I have often thought that the tools of the software industry could apply to role-playing game design.  In fact,…
In RPG Theory
Participants: John Kirk, contracycle, pfischer, J. Tuomas Harviainen, Jack Aidley, Tobias, Bankuei, Artanis, xenopulse, nikola, rrr, Blankshield, gsoylent, Adam Dray, Marco, Paul Czege, tj333, Bill_White, Kynn, resistor, Montola, Rob Carriere, 1of3, ffilz, Sydney Freedberg, matthijs, demiurgeastaroth, oreso, cj.23, RenjiKage, oliof, Kesher, Shimeran, M. J. Young, clehrich.

9/26/2005 Negilent: Conflict resolution - varable effect
Right I got a quick one here. Conflict resolution is as far as I understand it a pretty digital affair. You either make it or you don't. You could say…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Negilent, xenopulse, Andrew Morris, TonyLB, timfire, Joshua BishopRoby, Arturo G., lumpley.

9/23/2005 JakeVanDam: New path to Nar/Sim blend?
Jason DeVrieze and I are working on a new game based around an idea I've never seen used before, and I was just wondering if anyone has senn it done…
In RPG Theory
Participants: JakeVanDam, Halzebier, Bankuei, timfire, Joshua BishopRoby, Noon, ewilen.

9/22/2005 Darcy Burgess: Towards a better Toolbox
Here's my idea, or more specifically, the genesis of my idea:  while driving in to work today, I was giving some thought to a couple of potential designs, and found…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Darcy Burgess, Paka, Joshua BishopRoby, timfire.

9/21/2005 Tristana: Player/Character Relationship query
Hello!  I have been playing for about five years, as a player and Gm.  Though new to the Forge, I have used many of your articles in research on role-playing…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Tristana, Alan, J. Tuomas Harviainen, timfire, beingfrank.

9/20/2005 MatrixGamer: Comparing and Contrasting Engle Matrix Games and Narrative RPGs (Long)
The following are two article I put out in my newly resurected newsletter "The Matrix Gamer". These are my thoughts on narrative RPGs. I'd like your thoughts on the subject.…
In RPG Theory
Participants: MatrixGamer, Halzebier, komradebob, Valamir, Sydney Freedberg, Noon, Ron Edwards.

9/19/2005 Eric J-D: Ideology and Games
Recently I have been thinking about whether much consideration has been given to the role that ideology might play in player satisfaction/dissatisfaction and, more generally, in issues of dysfunctional play. …
In RPG Theory
Participants: Eric J-D, Joshua BishopRoby, nikola, droog, timfire, lumpley, MatrixGamer, Blankshield, NN, Paka, demiurgeastaroth, Bandari, RedWick, Emily Care, ScottM, Jasper, tygertyger.

9/19/2005 nikola: The role of fortune
Why do we care about Fortune mechanics? Why does it matter that randomness has an effect on our games? What if it doesn't? For instance, Polaris has indeterminacy without randomness.…
In RPG Theory
Participants: nikola, TonyLB, MrSandman666, Andrew Morris, lumpley, HenryT, Bob Goat, LordSmerf, xenopulse, Green, Emily Care, Halzebier, Mudlock, contracycle, cruciel, simon_hibbs, Valamir, Joshua BishopRoby, talysman, ewilen, jmac, Marco, Garg, Doug Ruff, M. J. Young.

9/19/2005 TonyLB: Orthogonal Preparation
So I love the town creation setup in Dogs in the Vineyard, because it lets me know exactly what to do while preparing.  It's a structure for preparation.  That rocks.…
In RPG Theory
Participants: TonyLB, Joshua BishopRoby, nikola, Emily Care, Sydney Freedberg, TonyPace.

9/17/2005 ewilen: Breaking out bass playing, or credibility distribution sub-classified
Basically, this is an effort at disambiguation, or classifying different gaming styles so as to note their existence and distinguish them from each other. (It may also be worth emphasizing…
In RPG Theory
Participants: ewilen, Marco, Joshua BishopRoby, timfire, John Kim.

9/16/2005 Kesher: Contingent rpgs
I have two purposes with this post.  First, I'd like to find out if anyone knows of other examples of what I'm calling a contingent rpg (defined below); second, I'd…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Kesher, Joshua BishopRoby, ewilen, Noon, Paul Czege.

9/16/2005 Palaskar: Learning from the "DnD for Dummies" ad in terms of game design
I don't know if this should be posted here or in Publishing, so I started here. I've ommited stuff that I know has been obviously talked about, in this case,…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Palaskar, timfire, Joshua BishopRoby, Emily Care, Noon, demiurgeastaroth.

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Subsequent Topics
In RPG Theory

10/2/2005 ghoyle1: How do you draw out a relationship map?
How do you draw out a relationship map? Are there some examples online somewhere? Guy (Hoyle)
In RPG Theory
Participants: ghoyle1, Peter Nordstrand, Joshua BishopRoby, MatrixGamer, Sydney Freedberg, Ron Edwards.

10/5/2005 Ribonucleic: Must the play be the thing?
[i][As always: apologies in advance if this has been covered before. There's more than 100 pages of threads here, and I couldn't think of any useful search keywords.][/i] This question…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Ribonucleic, Joshua BishopRoby, Nogusielkt, simon_hibbs, Mark Johnson, Noon, Vaxalon, talysman, RedWick, timfire.

10/5/2005 JonasB: The ambitions of Dragonbane
In another thread I made the following claim about Dragonbane: If you want to read about the pinnacle of Nordic fantasy larping, check out www.dragonbane.org. It is a pan-European fantasy…
In RPG Theory
Participants: JonasB, Lig.

10/5/2005 MatrixGamer: The Machine Model of Games (long)
I want to put these ideas out for the Forge community to chew on. I first published them in EGG in 1990.  It is a way of analyzing games. I…
In RPG Theory
Participants: MatrixGamer, Joshua BishopRoby, Sydney Freedberg.

10/7/2005 Chasuk: I Hate Dice
I've been playing rpg's of one sort or another since I was 19, and I'm 44 now, so that makes me a fairly experienced player.  However, generally, I hate games…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Chasuk, planetouched, Bankuei, Valamir, jmac, contracycle, nikola, John Kim, ewilen, Sydney Freedberg, Mike Holmes, pells, greyorm, Vaxalon, RedWick, M. J. Young.

10/7/2005 Chasuk: What Kind of a Gamer Am I?
I've read the glossary, and various articles filled with definitions, but I still haven't been able to divine what kind of a gamer I am; what gaming niche I occupy.…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Chasuk, contracycle, Matt, Nogusielkt, Alan, lumpley, Sydney Freedberg.

10/7/2005 lumpley: Procedure of Play, Determined by Nothing but the Group
Spun off from The Role of Fortune Hi Ivan, welcome to the Forge! I'm Vincent. which is why we're discussing the roles…
In RPG Theory
Participants: lumpley, Paka, ewilen, matthijs, cruciel, talysman, jmac, Ron Edwards, Mike Holmes, Joshua BishopRoby.

10/7/2005 lumpley: Whatever Functional Application of the Rules Text I Please
Spun off from The Role of Fortune What none of you've provided yet is the purely procedural function randomness serves in GURPS.…
In RPG Theory
Participants: lumpley.

10/9/2005 Eero Tuovinen: Some help with a lecture
Here's the situation: I've promised to give a lecture in a small convention this month. After a little thought I decided to take formalistic game design (I'll explain what that…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Eero Tuovinen, matthijs, pekkok, cerbie, John Kim, C. Edwards, Rob Carriere, M. J. Young, Joshua BishopRoby.

10/10/2005 TonyLB: How story evolves over time
Let's examine the most bog-standard story-prep imaginable:  A GM says "Okay, they'll come into town and the Mayor will tell them that his daughter has been captured.  Then they'll go…
In RPG Theory
Participants: TonyLB, Troy_Costisick, Sean, timfire, MatrixGamer, LordSmerf, Andrew Norris, Doug Ruff, pells, Sydney Freedberg, Noon, Rob Carriere, Mike Holmes, contracycle, pasoliati, Joshua BishopRoby, M. J. Young.

10/10/2005 pells: About dices, rules and narrative
Hi! I'm new to the forge and this is my first thread. I've been reading posts for a while now, and I believe people do have interesting things to say…
In RPG Theory
Participants: pells, matthijs, RedWick, Joshua BishopRoby, Sydney Freedberg, M. J. Young, greyorm, Mike Holmes, talysman, ewilen, LordCarter, EllePepper, contracycle, komradebob, brightstar, Ron Edwards.

10/11/2005 Eric J-D: Systems and Creating/Extending Conflict
While I have been away from this forum doing some research several threads in this forum have emerged that address an issue I have been thinking about for some time. …
In RPG Theory
Participants: Eric J-D, Bob Goat, Joshua BishopRoby, John Kirk, M. J. Young.

10/11/2005 timfire: "entire game = one system for one multi-session adventure"
I didn't want to drift Ron's Ronnies thread, so I thought I would bring this here. Over there, Jared said this: I think it's telling (in some way that I…
In RPG Theory
Participants: timfire, matthijs, Mike Holmes, James Holloway, contracycle, Frank T, Smithy, Mark Woodhouse, John Kim, Ron Edwards, HenryT.

10/11/2005 muranternet: Controlling Currency Hyper-Inflation II (split)
To clarify, the reason that a closed economy fails has nothing to do with the merits of the closed economic mini-theory, but rather because of player behavior, which is far…
In RPG Theory
Participants: muranternet, Ron Edwards.

10/12/2005 Noon: Play creating notes Vs notes creating play
I got this strange feeling from How story evolves over time and the example of the story evolving via spent resources. Okay, say you have 20 X points. We wont…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Noon, TonyLB, gsoylent, Mike Holmes, Joshua BishopRoby, contracycle.

10/13/2005 Noon: The impossible challenge before breakfast
Address of challenge involves expressing a plan, in anticipation of certain results despite the unknown factors/risks involved. Other players appreciate the address in terms of "Well, despite the unknown factors/risks,…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Noon, Joshua BishopRoby, MatrixGamer, John Kim, M. J. Young, Marco, Troy_Costisick, Mike Holmes, Tony Irwin, contracycle, NN, Justin Marx.

10/13/2005 Eric J.: Device Mechanic For Alchemy
Okay, I've been working on a game for a few months now that I'm pretty excited about. There's this anime I saw that made me go "Gosh, that would be…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Eric J., Troy_Costisick, greyorm.

10/13/2005 Nogusielkt: Super-Powers shift focus of techniques/challenges?
It becomes fairly clear that, when you introduce super powers into a system, that actual play becomes different.  In a mundane game, challenges that are introduced might include solid walls,…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Nogusielkt, Sydney Freedberg, Joshua BishopRoby, Jason Petrasko, M. J. Young, Michael S. Miller, Mike Holmes, Ron Edwards.

10/13/2005 talysman: applied RPG Design Patterns
John Kirk referred us to his work in progress, RPG Design Patterns, a few threads ago. I didn't say anything at the time, although I thought the book is shaping…
In RPG Theory
Participants: talysman, Mike Holmes, John Kirk, Vaxalon.

10/14/2005 jmac: Illusionism etc
I've looked through the forum and found few discussions about this kind of play. The topics found were either old, or opinions expressed were of a recognizable kind. It looks…
In RPG Theory
Participants: jmac, Andrew Morris, WhiteRat, Mike Holmes, Joshua BishopRoby, Marco, timfire, Halzebier, M. J. Young, komradebob.

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