Previous Topics
In RPG Theory

4/12/2002 Blake Hutchins: Werewolf: the Appearance
In another recent thread, Mage: the Descent, Jared asserted that Werewolf is about Humanity, same as Vampire. If you look at the books and White Wolf's marketing of the line,…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Blake Hutchins, Jared A. Sorensen, Seth L. Blumberg, Clinton R. Nixon, Valamir, Ron Edwards, jburneko, Laurel, Gordon C. Landis, Fabrice G..

4/12/2002 Balbinus: When does an idea need a new system?
Hi, Here is a thought I had recently which may be relevant to indie game design. When does an idea start to merit it's own rules set? For example, let's…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Balbinus, Ron Edwards, Le Joueur, Valamir, Bankuei, J B Bell, Wolfen, Seth L. Blumberg, Stivven, Andrew Martin, Misguided Games.

4/10/2002 Ron Edwards: Transparency
Hi Andrew and everyone, This post is a followup to the Transparent Game System thread in Indie Game Design. I figured I shouldn't derail the thread, as my concern is…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Ron Edwards, Blake Hutchins, Mike Holmes, Valamir, J B Bell, Jared A. Sorensen, Walt Freitag, contracycle.

4/7/2002 wyrdlyng: Art Styles
This is more of a curiosity question but how much does the art style in a game affect the way you play it? For example, Rifts is considered a fairly…
In RPG Theory
Participants: wyrdlyng, J B Bell, Ron Edwards, Eugene Zee, Wolfen, joshua neff, Mike Holmes, Gordon C. Landis, contracycle, Fabrice G., Henry Fitch.

4/6/2002 J B Bell: Actor, Author, Director: three Spheres of Magic and more!
My understanding of improvised magic systems (and Champions' various power pools) as a way of exercising Author and Director power occurred only recently with a fuller understanding of what the…
In RPG Theory
Participants: J B Bell, Ron Edwards, contracycle.

4/5/2002 Valamir: Rewarding Color
One of my next projects which is gurgling around in the ooze and muck at the base of my skull is a western game. I've decided that I don't really…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Valamir, contracycle, J B Bell, jburneko, Ron Edwards, Le Joueur, Paul Czege.

4/5/2002 Wolfen: Rewards
For the record, I looked for other threads on this topic within the past few months, as well as the essays. I found nothing there to answer my questions, so…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Wolfen, Bankuei, Valamir, hardcoremoose, Ron Edwards, Mike Holmes, Walt Freitag.

4/2/2002 Clinton R. Nixon: Simple Questions 2: What makes a good GM?
Now that the "why GM" question has been fully hashed out, I want to move on to another question: what makes a good GM? Even more personally, why do you…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Clinton R. Nixon, Mytholder, joshua neff, Bankuei, Petter Sandelin, contracycle, Walt Freitag, Valamir.

3/30/2002 Jared A. Sorensen: Mage: the Descent
(thoughts which occurred while in the shower) Having just revised Schism, it made me realize just what is wrong with Mage: the Ascension. Why it consistently misses the point while…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jared A. Sorensen, joshua neff, contracycle, Seth L. Blumberg, Ron Edwards, Blake Hutchins, J B Bell, eyebeams, Mike Holmes, Gordon C. Landis.

3/28/2002 Steve Dustin: Players, players, I can't stand it anymore
Everyone knows what a GM does. And everyone knows who the Players are (everyone but the GM). But then everyone also knows the GM is a player. But stopping to…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Steve Dustin, Zak Arntson, Ron Edwards, Blake Hutchins, Walt Freitag, Brian Hose, Seth L. Blumberg.

3/27/2002 Clinton R. Nixon: Simple Questions: Why the GM?
Ok - this question dives into the simple. Why do you GM? This question's been rolling around in my head for the longest time. Of all the supposed biases on…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Clinton R. Nixon, Mike Holmes, unodiablo, rafael, xiombarg, Gordon C. Landis, joshua neff, Mytholder, Le Joueur, Sidhain, Bankuei, Jared A. Sorensen, Rich Forest, C. Edwards, Balbinus, J B Bell, wyrdlyng, Seth L. Blumberg, Laurel, Zak Arntson, Steve Dustin, Matt Gwinn, Ace, Kenway, contracycle, JSDiamond, Ron Edwards, Christopher Kubasik, Wolfen, Valamir.

3/26/2002 hardcoremoose: "I know what I want"....player investment in rpgs
Hey guys, I've been thinking a lot about player investment in a game. We discuss it all the time. Some examples: I've championed group character creation in recent months, as…
In RPG Theory
Participants: hardcoremoose, contracycle, Ron Edwards, Mike Holmes, Le Joueur, Walt Freitag.

3/25/2002 Christopher Kubasik: GMs & Players: The Contract
[quote="Rich"][quote]He's a smart guy. You should game Narrativist with him.[/quote] I've seen a couple of Sorcerer One sheets around here. I'm getting the impression that GMs are putting them together…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Christopher Kubasik, Rich Forest, joshua neff, Ron Edwards, Mike Holmes, Emily Care.

3/22/2002 Gordon C. Landis: New/New is better than Familiar/New?
I almost put this in Actual Play, but since it's a game that DIDN'T happen . . . we're here in Theory. I was going to start running a Sorceror…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, Christopher Kubasik, Le Joueur, Mike Holmes.

3/22/2002 Rich Forest: Applied Gamism
I wasn’t sure where to post this… but I think I’m in the right place. First, the disclaimers: I’m not here to debate the GNS. I’m here to apply it…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Rich Forest, Ron Edwards, Paul Czege, Bankuei, Jared A. Sorensen, Laurel, Mike Holmes, Ben Terry, Seth L. Blumberg, contracycle.

3/21/2002 Matt Gwinn: Remaking a Gamer
I've been languishing over how I was going to answer Ron's profile post for nearly a week now. I looked back on my many years of gaming trying to deside…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Matt Gwinn, joshua neff, Clinton R. Nixon, Bankuei, gentrification, Laurel, Fabrice G., Emily Care, Paul Czege, hardcoremoose, Robert Leal, Mike Holmes.

3/17/2002 Fabrice G.: Simulation exploring story vs narativism
Hi everyone, IIRC all act of roleplaying are exploration of some kind. Then, narativism is the exploration of Premise. What is sim. exploraton of story then ? In witch way…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Fabrice G., Ron Edwards.

3/14/2002 Le Joueur: What is Illusionism?
Since I started this, What about the above: "using any illusion to cause the players to believe they caused a story, when they have not."? No subcategories, no planning…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Le Joueur, Steve Dustin, Ron Edwards, Seth L. Blumberg, Walt Freitag, Valamir, Fabrice G., Mike Holmes, Paul Czege, contracycle, Mytholder.

3/14/2002 Gordon C. Landis: Not just-RPG theory
As a result of joe_llama's (Nadav?) recent "We need a more general theory of games" postings, I took a look at a couple old links I had on the subject:…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, Laurel, joe_llama.

3/14/2002 Tim C Koppang: Theory Serves Communication
Has anyone been reading some of the posts over at The Gaming Outpost? I have, and I noticed that Scarlet Jester has become a bit frustrated with himself and the…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Tim C Koppang, Laurel, Christopher Kubasik, Valamir, Ron Edwards.

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Subsequent Topics
In RPG Theory

4/14/2002 Fabrice G.: Company games vs indie ones (premise based)
In a lot of discussion about non-indie games, a common thing pop up again and again : the lack of focus in the premise, or the lack of premise itself.…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Fabrice G., Wolfen, contracycle, Garbanzo, Jared A. Sorensen, Ron Edwards.

4/16/2002 Henry Fitch: Karma Mechanics in Realistic Settings
I've been looking at the Nobilis 2ed promo stuff a bunch lately, and the system just seems... well, beautiful. I love it. It appears to strip away randomness without losing…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Henry Fitch, Valamir, Paul Czege, Fabrice G., Ron Edwards.

4/14/2002 Paul Czege: Horror: Simulationism and Narrativism
Hey bodhi, I've decided for myself that the best chance my game has of capturing a sense of wonder, is to reward the players for trying to instill a…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Paul Czege, Mike Holmes, contracycle, hardcoremoose, Wolfen, Matt Gwinn, Ron Edwards.

4/17/2002 Ron Edwards: Transparency again
Hello, Andrew Martin began this Transparent Game System thread in Indie Design, and I began the Transparency thread in an attempt to address some trouble I am having with that…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Ron Edwards, Mike Holmes, Wolfen, Gordon C. Landis, Blake Hutchins, Jack Spencer Jr, J B Bell, Andrew Martin, Le Joueur.

4/18/2002 jburneko: Group Storytelling vs. Role-playing
Well, in one of Ron's Beef Injection he mentions acknowledging a line between group storytelling and actual roleplaying but doesn't know where that line is. I'm not so sure I…
In RPG Theory
Participants: jburneko, Clinton R. Nixon, angelfromanotherpin, Le Joueur, Mike Holmes, Ron Edwards, Valamir, J B Bell, Tim C Koppang, Wolfen, Gordon C. Landis, joe_llama, Bob McNamee, Paul Czege, Andrew Martin.

4/19/2002 Julian Kelsey: Different goals at different scales of play
I've had two game ideas on the boil for some time, now I'm thinking that although they have different goals they may fit together well in play. System One revolves…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Julian Kelsey, Ron Edwards, contracycle, Gordon C. Landis, Walt Freitag.

4/19/2002 Buddha Nature: Diagnosis and the Road to Narrativism
So through some PM's I have been discussing this but I wanted more opinions: what is the best way to test the waters of you gaming group as to whether…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Buddha Nature, Ron Edwards, Paul Czege.

4/19/2002 Paul Czege: that ain't no right way to play
[B]True or False[/B]: four Simulationists who meet for the first time at a convention are likely to have a mutually satisfying game, because they share the same goals? [B]True or…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Paul Czege, Le Joueur.

4/20/2002 Jack Spencer Jr: Numbers on the character sheet
This may belong in Game Design, but maybe it belongs in both. Ron Edwards wrote in another thread: Andrew wrote, "I dislike character sheets with numbers on them, I'd prefer…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jack Spencer Jr, Wolfen, Fabrice G., Andrew Martin, Mike Holmes, Tim Denee.

4/22/2002 Ace: Points for Flaws (from Sorcerer forum)
[quote="Ron Edwards"]Um. The real answer is, "Balancing benefits and limitations is a destructive element of game design." The aspect you are asking for (in retrospect) is not a desirable aspect.…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Ace, Blake Hutchins, Ron Edwards, Bankuei.

4/22/2002 Valamir: Fortune in the Middle
[b]In the Alyria Forum, Ron Spaketh Thusly: [/b][quote]However, the key ingredient of a true Fortune-in-the-middle system (which is why Sorcerer doesn't quite qualify either) is the ability to affect the…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Valamir, Le Joueur, Ron Edwards.

4/23/2002 Christoffer Lernö: On the abundance of races in Fantasy RPGs
Sorry for starting up a new thread when I'm not really finished with replying to the Ygg thread yet, but I had this thing brought up in a recent e-mail…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Christoffer Lernö, Mike Holmes, Buddha Nature, Paul Czege, Bankuei, contracycle, Balbinus, rafael, wyrdlyng, Ron Edwards, Daredevil, Wolfen, Blake Hutchins, Reimer Behrends, Walt Freitag, xiombarg, Gordon C. Landis, Valamir.

4/23/2002 Andrew Martin: Fortune at the Begining?
I've read about Fortune at the End, and Fortune in the Middle. Is there a Fortune at the Begining? If so, what is it and how does it do it?…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Andrew Martin, Ben Morgan, Le Joueur, lumpley, Mike Holmes, Valamir, Tim C Koppang, Paul Czege, Jack Spencer Jr, Ron Edwards.

4/23/2002 Walt Freitag: Protagonizing Setting (or Situation)
[quote="On Pale Fire's 'Ygg take 3' thread in Indie Game Design, Gareth (contracycle)"]I propose we reconsider a setting thread - an active discussion of manipulating and protagonising setting, and how…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Walt Freitag, Paul Czege, contracycle, Mike Holmes, Christoffer Lernö, Andrew Martin, Philippe Tromeur.

4/23/2002 Jack Spencer Jr: One Page RPGs
This probably isn't a new thing, but it seems to me that one page RPGs are popping up all over. SLUG, GRAPE, REAL and so on. brief RPG rules that…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jack Spencer Jr, Daredevil, Ron Edwards, Paganini, Zak Arntson.

4/24/2002 Rich Ranallo: The Dread Metaplot
After lurking on this board since Ron told me about it, I might finally have something to contribute (though I'm sure the topic has come up before). I'm wrestling with…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Rich Ranallo, contracycle, hardcoremoose, Ron Edwards, amiel, Clay, xiombarg, Jack Spencer Jr, joshua neff, Le Joueur, Valamir, Wolfen, greyorm, AndyGuest, Mike Holmes.

4/27/2002 Paul Czege: not functionally equivalent to handling a protagonist
Hey Walt, I want to go back to something you wrote on the abundance of races in Fantasy RPG's thread: I shouldnt'a called it "protagonizing setting," I should…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Paul Czege, Ron Edwards, Walt Freitag, contracycle, Blake Hutchins, Valamir, Wolfen, GreatWolf, Gordon C. Landis, amiel.

4/29/2002 Laurel: Validating Conflicts
This is a branch off "Not Functionally Equivalent..." based on Paul's last post. I'm beginning to really see and appreciate where Paul is coming from, regarding deprotagonization. I'm going to…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Laurel, Ron Edwards, Le Joueur, Wolfen, Paul Czege, Bankuei, contracycle, Walt Freitag.

4/30/2002 Mike Holmes: Mike's Standard Rant #3: Combat Systems
I post this here because I wanted to link to it from another discussion: http://indie-rpgs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=19344#19344 I didn't want to derail that thread. Besides, I feel like bomb throwing today, and…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Mike Holmes, J B Bell, joshua neff, Ron Edwards, GreatWolf, xiombarg, Fabrice G., Bankuei, joe_llama, Le Joueur, Bailey.

4/30/2002 jburneko: What Do You Think of the 'Living' Campaign Idea?
In another thread Joshua Neff wrote this: It seems to me that the best RPGs will do this--give you the tools (the "instruments", if you will--heh heh) to make…
In RPG Theory
Participants: jburneko, joshua neff, J B Bell, Buddha Nature, Mike Holmes, Ron Edwards, Gordon C. Landis, Jack Spencer Jr, Reimer Behrends.

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