Previous Topics
In RPG Theory

4/7/2003 Drew Stevens: What makes an RPG?
Short form- What is the difference between pawn stance, GMless Gamism and a tactical/strategic board game? Long form- Last night, my friend Nigel and I were playtesting a prop-heavy combat…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Drew Stevens, quozl, Ron Edwards, ThreeGee, Mike Holmes, ethan_greer, Clinton R. Nixon, szilard, lumpley, cruciel, John Kim, Shreyas Sampat, Jack Spencer Jr, CplFerro, Bruce Baugh, Rich Forest, M. J. Young, Brian Leybourne, clehrich, C. Edwards, Sindyr, Le Joueur, Valamir, talysman, SrGrvsaLot, Thierry Michel, Walt Freitag.

4/7/2003 Ben Morgan: Character Levels and Non-Chronological Play
Hey, had a thought kicking around for a couple of days now, and I've got to see if there are any opinions on it. It's related to a project that's…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Ben Morgan, Bruce Baugh, Mike Holmes, AmarPK, Clinton R. Nixon, Paul Czege.

4/6/2003 Ron Edwards: The Impossible Thing - textual examples
Hello, I urge everyone to recognize that pacing of internet discussions is a serious social problem. Time your input relative to the needs of the person you're addressing. It may…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Ron Edwards, Ian Charvill, Valamir, Mike Holmes, Blake Hutchins, Marco, John Kim, Jack Spencer Jr.

4/6/2003 Bruce Baugh: Limiting Character Types
I've just noticed a recurring element in discussion of The Impossible Thing that seems to me to reflect an unsupported and perhaps unexamined assumption. Implicit in most games is the…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Bruce Baugh, Jack Spencer Jr, Clinton R. Nixon, M. J. Young, Harlequin, Gordon C. Landis.

4/6/2003 Bruce Baugh: Alternative Definitions: Desire, Outcome, Play, Story
Ever since several games of the late '80s and early '90s made an issue of it, there's been a fair amount of talk in gaming circles about where the "story"…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Bruce Baugh, Ian Charvill, M. J. Young, deadpanbob, cruciel, Zamiel, Mike Holmes, Johannes, Blake Hutchins, Matt, Gordon C. Landis, John Kim, Matt Snyder, Valamir.

4/6/2003 John Kim: Is player-as-world-author needed for stories?
[quote="Gordon C. Landis"] For me, the key insight of TITBB is that if you are interested in Story (specific-definition), this is NOT true. It is NOT possible for everyone to…
In RPG Theory
Participants: John Kim, cruciel, M. J. Young, Ron Edwards, Bruce Baugh, Marco, Mike Holmes, Gordon C. Landis.

4/5/2003 blaze_axis: Try this commands
http://www.outwar.com/page.php?x=468091
In RPG Theory
Participants: blaze_axis, Ron Edwards.

4/4/2003 hyphz: Now, the men's 50x50 Tactics and the Mixed Creativity...
A bizarre thought I had which I thought might bear a little discussion. We all know the "bass line" metaphor, but (IMHO at least) that's a little tricky to actually…
In RPG Theory
Participants: hyphz.

4/4/2003 Ron Edwards: The Impossible Thing
Hi everyone, It's so much easier than everyone makes it. Work with me on one thing only: by "story," just for purposes of this one issue, we're talking about stuff…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Ron Edwards, Bruce Baugh, Valamir, Alan, greyorm, John Kim, dragongrace, Sylus Thane, JSDiamond, Mike Holmes, Sindyr, bladamson, taalyn, JMendes, Gordon C. Landis, cruciel, M. J. Young, Jack Spencer Jr, Marco, Green, Ian Charvill, simon_hibbs.

4/4/2003 taalyn: Probability calculation
I'm not sure this is the right forum, but I'm not sure what would be the right one. Anyhoo, can anyone direct me to wensites, discussion, or books that are…
In RPG Theory
Participants: taalyn, John Kim, bladamson, Bruce Baugh, Thierry Michel, Mike Holmes, Paul Czege.

4/4/2003 Eric Kimball: Mental combat
Has any game ever dealt with arguments and social relations in the same way most rpg deal with combat? What I mean when you are trying to persuade some one…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Eric Kimball, Brian Leybourne, simon_hibbs, Ron Edwards, talysman, M. J. Young, Mike Holmes, Harlequin.

4/3/2003 taalyn: how much "color terminology" is too much?
I like color terminology (like my motes, caern, hand, etc.) but I wonder if there's any theory or ideas on when it's gone too far. Particularly, does anyone have good…
In RPG Theory
Participants: taalyn, Bruce Baugh, Valamir, Ron Edwards, Matt Wilson.

4/3/2003 Michael Hopcroft: 100% Subjective Character Creation
I was wondering if anyone can recall a game in which charatcers were created using neither dice nor points. How would someone make that work?
In RPG Theory
Participants: Michael Hopcroft, RpgAlexWyld, Alan, Mark Johnson, b_bankhead, Andrew Martin, Ron Edwards, Mike Holmes, xiombarg, The_Confessor, M. J. Young.

4/3/2003 DaGreatJL: Cheezy Cracksmoking
Something I've noticed y'all like to do a lot/ have done a lot in the past is dissect popular terms and ideas in gaming. Therfore, I'm going to through one…
In RPG Theory
Participants: DaGreatJL, ethan_greer, Ron Edwards, Mike Holmes, Bruce Baugh, ThreeGee, Ben Morgan, Jack Spencer Jr, John Kim, Othyem, deadpanbob.

4/2/2003 Sindyr: Is the "Great Impossible Thing" truly impossible?
I have a question about a phrase I have recently been exposed to. Let me repeat the phrase in context: "All of these games are based on The Great Impossible…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Sindyr, Mike Holmes, Valamir, Jack Spencer Jr, Jonathan Walton, DaGreatJL, Paganini, M. J. Young, simon_hibbs, Ron Edwards, Bruce Baugh, Marco, John Kim, bladamson.

4/2/2003 GameAddict224: Here is a good RPG
http://www.outwar.com/page.php?x=101630
In RPG Theory
Participants: GameAddict224, Valamir, Ron Edwards.

4/2/2003 redcrow: Applying Modifiers
Recently while writing up some situational modifiers for combat and difficulty levels for skills I came up with a bit of a conundrum. Is it better for a modifier to…
In RPG Theory
Participants: redcrow, Bruce Baugh, szilard, Mike Holmes, xiombarg, Jason Kottler, M. J. Young.

4/1/2003 Thierry Michel: Character Generation and Literary Portrait
I'm aware of a few systems (for instance HeroWars or the Pool) that allow players to write a short portrait of their character and use it to derive traits and…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Thierry Michel, Ron Edwards, ethan_greer, Paganini, Bruce Baugh, Mike Holmes, szilard, M. J. Young, bladamson.

4/1/2003 Jonathan Walton: Microfiction-Style Roleplaying
Hopefully, most of you are familiar with the relatively recent writing form known as "microfiction." I don't mean the stuff that's just really brief short stories, but the stuff that's…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jonathan Walton, Jack Spencer Jr, Stuart DJ Purdie, szilard, Bob McNamee, ScottM, talysman, Mike Holmes, Paganini, Ron Edwards, ThreeGee.

4/1/2003 taalyn: Difficulty levels
How do you folks determine difficulties? How do you decide what's a reasonable difficulty for any given task? Do you use probabilities at all, i.e. figure out what the average…
In RPG Theory
Participants: taalyn, Mark Johnson, bladamson, Wolfen, RobMuadib, Thomas Tamblyn, Ron Edwards, Mike Holmes, Bruce Baugh.

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Subsequent Topics
In RPG Theory

4/8/2003 clehrich: Pre-Breakfast Possibilities
I've put this as a separate thread for several reasons: 1. I don't think it's a direct address to Sindyr's original question; 2. I don't think the discussion is really…
In RPG Theory
Participants: clehrich, redcrow, Ian Charvill, Marco, Mike Holmes, Gordon C. Landis, greyorm, John Kim, Ron Edwards.

4/8/2003 Paul Czege: non-narrativist "protagonized" forms of play
Hey Marco, On the Pre-Breakfast Possibilities thread, you wrote: The Impossible Thing was (IIRC) created when there was much debate about whether non-narrativist "protagonized" forms of play were…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Paul Czege, clehrich, Marco, Ian Charvill, Mike Holmes, Bruce Baugh, Ron Edwards, Gordon C. Landis.

4/8/2003 Drew Stevens: Partcipationism as a defined mechanic?
Just a thought, inspired by Riddle of Steel. :) What would be the results of a mechanic which defines a Theme (or set of Themes) for both a story arc…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Drew Stevens, Ron Edwards, Marco.

4/9/2003 bladamson: so I had this crazy idea (noir)...
(This might be the wrong forum for this, please move it if so) So I was thinking today (dangerous, that), and I thought, "Gee, wouldn't a Film Noir RPG be…
In RPG Theory
Participants: bladamson, deadpanbob, Rob MacDougall, ethan_greer, Mike Holmes, Ron Edwards, James Holloway, talysman, Dotan Dimet.

4/9/2003 Marco: Marco's View of Gaming
Marco's Gaming Manifesto Here is my take on gaming. I'm not saying this is all it can be. I'm not saying this way or these terms are "the best" or…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Marco, Mike Holmes, Valamir, Ron Edwards, Gordon C. Landis, Walt Freitag, Bruce Baugh, Ian Charvill, Matt, Harlequin, Paul Czege, cruciel, Le Joueur.

4/10/2003 Kester Pelagius: What is the next great evolution in RPG design?
Greetings All, Since the infancy of role-playing, way back when the term 'Fantasy Wargaming' was considered synonymous with 'RPG', there have been preconceived notions of what constitutes a proper game.…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Kester Pelagius, Bruce Baugh, quozl, Mike Holmes, Walt Freitag, Ron Edwards, C. Edwards, Paul Czege, Valamir, Jared A. Sorensen, greyorm, Le Joueur, b_bankhead, M. J. Young, hix, talysman, Thierry Michel, clehrich, kaiza.

4/10/2003 jburneko: Social Conflict Resolution
I've been wanting to discuss this for a while but haven't been able to construct a working example that demonstrated my question yet. Then, about a week ago, I was…
In RPG Theory
Participants: jburneko, Matt Wilson, M. J. Young, quozl, Harlequin, Mike Holmes, Ron Edwards, Ben Morgan.

4/11/2003 Matt: Mainstream Roleplaying (almost)
Wasn't sure where to post this, but I'm sure it'll get moved if Theory isn't the place. While looking for a brithday present I found Whatever You Want (Amazon UK…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Matt, quozl.

4/11/2003 b_bankhead: RPG Structure and Issues of Recruitment
[size=18px][b]Introduction[/b][/size] The last decade has been problematic for the rpg hobby. While standards of production continue to increase growth has stagnated particularly when compared against new gaming forms such as…
In RPG Theory
Participants: b_bankhead, Clinton R. Nixon, Le Joueur, Valamir, Mike Holmes, quozl, Bankuei, clehrich, M. J. Young, Kester Pelagius, Christoffer Lernö, Bruce Baugh, John Kim, Brendan Litton.

4/12/2003 clehrich: RPGs and Soap Operas [LONG]
In the RPG Structure and Recruitment Problems thread, there have been some mentions of soap operas and RPGs. So I’m finally going to post a draft version of…
In RPG Theory
Participants: clehrich, Bruce Baugh, Palaskar, Ron Edwards, szilard, John Kim, M. J. Young, Matt Wilson, Ryan Chaddock.

4/13/2003 taalyn: All-opposed, but...
I've described elsewhere here at the Forge how all of Aisling's 'rolls' are opposed. So-called 'unopposed' draws draw on the Doorness or Carness to determine difficulty. But, what about situations…
In RPG Theory
Participants: taalyn, Kester Pelagius, SrGrvsaLot, Garbanzo, M. J. Young, Ron Edwards, Mike Holmes.

4/13/2003 quozl: Monopoly: The Most Popular Roleplaying Game?
I hope this helps show others what I mean when i say that Monopoly is an RPG. Please let me know what you think. Monopoly: The Most Popular Roleplaying Game?…
In RPG Theory
Participants: quozl, Eric J., M. J. Young, Valamir, CplFerro, Marco, Le Joueur, Ron Edwards, simon_hibbs, Jack Spencer Jr, Mike Holmes, John Kim, Walt Freitag.

4/14/2003 redcrow: Separating Weapon Skills
What is the best break-up of weapon skills based on similarity? I'm hoping for some educated/expert opinions on what a reasonable break-up for medieval fantasy weapons would be. Is the…
In RPG Theory
Participants: redcrow, SrGrvsaLot, Ron Edwards, Marco, ThreeGee, Shreyas Sampat, Harlequin, cruciel, M. J. Young, Thomas Tamblyn, John Kim, Jake Norwood, epweissengruber, simon_hibbs, Eamon Voss.

4/14/2003 redcrow: Maneuvering in Armor
To go along with my other post on weapons, I'm hoping to get some input on Armor. Specifically, maneuvering in armor. Many games include a skill for learning to maneuver…
In RPG Theory
Participants: redcrow, Mike Holmes, ThreeGee, SrGrvsaLot, Valamir, Sylus Thane.

4/15/2003 CplFerro: To Mr. Langford: Special Theory of Roleplaying
Dear Mr. Langford: As a coda to the previous thread, I offer a pithier explanation of the fundamental difference between an axiomatic game like Monopoly, and a principled one like…
In RPG Theory
Participants: CplFerro, Mark Johnson, Mike Holmes, Le Joueur, Ron Edwards, clehrich, ross_winn.

4/16/2003 ThreeGee: Firearms Resources
Hey all, In the spirit of asking impossibly broad questions in the hopes of getting someone else to do my homework for me: What resources would you recommend for understanding…
In RPG Theory
Participants: ThreeGee, Mike Holmes, Walt Freitag, Bankuei, CplFerro, RobMuadib, M. J. Young, Sylus Thane, Tonic.

4/17/2003 SrGrvsaLot: The Role of Names in Roleplaying Games
The Storypunk thread on the indie games forum got me to thinking, how much of a role does the title of an RPG play in creating the mood and theme…
In RPG Theory
Participants: SrGrvsaLot, Jack Spencer Jr, ThreeGee, Felix, M. J. Young, Heather Manley, talysman, Ron Edwards, John Kim, Thomas Tamblyn, Jared A. Sorensen.

4/18/2003 Jack Spencer Jr: Pinball comparison
After reading through the Monopoly: The Most Popular Roleplaying Game? thread, something occured to me about that whole discussion. Rather than muddy the waters further in that thread, I'll post…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jack Spencer Jr, clehrich, Bankuei, C. Edwards, Le Joueur, John Kim, Jeph.

4/18/2003 clehrich: On Definitions In General
Given the recent threads on Monopoly the RPG and other related topics, it seems as though the old definitions problem has raised its ugly head once again. Having been trained…
In RPG Theory
Participants: clehrich, Ian Charvill, Adam Dray, Nick Pagnucco.

4/18/2003 John Kim: Soap Opera Test Session
WARNING: Liz or any of my players -- DON'T READ THIS. OK, I was intrigued by Chris Lehrich's thread on soap opera structure, and going to go over my…
In RPG Theory
Participants: John Kim, Blake Hutchins, Ian Charvill.

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