Previous Topics
In RPG Theory

4/28/2003 Nick Pagnucco: the role of supplements
I read somewhere Ron criticizing a lot of supplements as either working off assumptions of playing a certain way at conventions, or as being disguised fiction. I don't remember for…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Nick Pagnucco, Jack Spencer Jr, Ron Edwards, Felix.

4/28/2003 Chris: Icelandic Saga based campaign
Know how to cut them, know how to read them, Know how to stain them, know how to prove them, Know how to evoke them, know how to score them,…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Chris, James Holloway, greyorm, John Kim, Paul Czege, Ron Edwards, RiP, Jeffrey Miller, jrs, Balbinus, Poenz.

4/28/2003 cruciel: Relationships Between GMing Styles
I've been thinking a little bit about how these different GM styles being discussed as of late relate to each other...so I drew (err, typed actually) a picture. Participationism…
In RPG Theory
Participants: cruciel, Rob MacDougall, Le Joueur, Marco, Mike Holmes.

4/28/2003 soundwave: Defining Genre Expectations
There's been a lot of talk around here lately about Genre Expectations, particularly in relation to Fang's 'No Myth' style. Now, it seems to me that Genre Expectations have to…
In RPG Theory
Participants: soundwave, M. J. Young, MoonHunter, Le Joueur, Bankuei, Mike Holmes.

4/27/2003 DaGreatJL: Do prewritten scenarios=Illusionism/Participationism?
First, I apologize if this is covering old ground; if so, please feel free to direct me to the proper thread. So, when a GM has a fully prewritten story,…
In RPG Theory
Participants: DaGreatJL, John Kim, M. J. Young, cruciel, Jack Spencer Jr, Ron Edwards, clehrich, Mike Holmes, Bob McNamee, Marco.

4/27/2003 Garbanzo: SWM iso unopposed one-roll = one-exchange systems
All- I'm looking for systems to reference as I plow ahead with mine own game. Desired: Games with all-unopposed resolution where that one roll covers an exchange, not a swing.…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Garbanzo, greyorm, Thomas Tamblyn, Bob McNamee.

4/27/2003 Chris: Exhaustion/Strain based Magic . . .
I'm trying to design a magic system for a setting that I'm basing around the Icelandic Sagas (mytho-historical viking setting based on primary medieval source material). To keep magic "realistic"…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Chris, Wolfen, Thomas Tamblyn, damion, John Kim, Ron Edwards, Paganini, Piers Brown, Jay Turner, kregmosier, Mike Holmes, Andrea Gualano.

4/26/2003 Sindyr: HELP! I can't remember which RPG this is...
I am not sure if I have posted this in the right forum(s), but I am trying to remember where I came across an interesting game, and thought this would…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Sindyr, Wolfen, Chris.

4/26/2003 MistHunter: The Modern Wild West
I have this setting idea, and I would like to know other's players opinions on it. The setting makes the RPG itself, highly Gamist, as your goal is to become…
In RPG Theory
Participants: MistHunter, anonymouse, Thomas Tamblyn, Walt Freitag, M. J. Young.

4/26/2003 soundwave: Motivations to design
I'm not exactly sure this is the right forum for this topic, but... I've been looking through a lot of new RPG systems lately, and a question ocurred to me:…
In RPG Theory
Participants: soundwave, anonymouse, hix, cruciel, lumpley, Le Joueur, Bankuei, M. J. Young.

4/25/2003 Jay Turner: Mechanics: How Bad Are Ties?
I'm working on a game that involves drawing cards to resolve who gets to narrate a scene, and I'm wrestling with the significance of ties (the same number drawn by…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jay Turner, C. Edwards, Paul Czege, Mike Holmes, ADGBoss, Bob McNamee, greyorm, M. J. Young, Bankuei, deadpanbob, Jeph.

4/25/2003 szilard: Player Narration and GM Secrets
This is spun off from a post Ron made in the (remarkably interesting) Actual Play thread A demoralising day which highlights a current dilemma I've been having: How do you…
In RPG Theory
Participants: szilard, Kester Pelagius, Jack Spencer Jr, Jay Turner, Valamir, lumpley, Ron Edwards, Mike Holmes, Christopher Kubasik, Walt Freitag, Le Joueur, Buddha Nature, cruciel, Piers Brown, clehrich.

4/24/2003 iago: Stats Heads: What's the math?
I'm trying to write up some quickie perl functions to run some probabilities on several dice methods, and I want to be able to avoid the ugly and memory-consumptive brute…
In RPG Theory
Participants: iago, bowlingm, Mike Holmes, Walt Freitag, J B Bell, M. J. Young.

4/24/2003 Bailywolf: Multi-axis Die mechanics
OK, I was playing with d6's yesterday, and I decided to see how many different kinds of information I could pull out of a pool of plain white sixers in…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Bailywolf, szilard, Jay Turner, Matt Wilson, talysman, dragongrace, M. J. Young, Mike Holmes.

4/24/2003 b_bankhead: Evolve or Die: forces Driving the Evolution of RPGs
Recently a major game store in my area moved three doors down in the same strip mall to new digs. Where the first location was notable by it's large and…
In RPG Theory
Participants: b_bankhead, clehrich, Mike Holmes, M. J. Young.

4/23/2003 Marco: No Myth playing
Feng has been talking about playing without the "myth of reality"--I find the idea interesesting but I'm foggy on some issues. 0. Gener issues? What happens when genre is foggy?…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Marco, Mike Holmes, Le Joueur, clehrich, M. J. Young.

4/23/2003 Jack Spencer Jr: Making the players more proactive
I think I should start that I dislike the word proactive. I side with the Itchy & Scratchy writer on the episode of the Simpson when they created the Poochy…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jack Spencer Jr, Valamir, Mike Holmes, Le Joueur, Fabrice G., damion, John Kim, clehrich, cruciel.

4/23/2003 John Kim: Plotless but Background-based Games
This is a split from another thread in the "Actual Play" forum. The essential problem which the poster was posting was his feeling that: "if they fail, then nothing…
In RPG Theory
Participants: John Kim, Le Joueur, lumpley, Mike Holmes, clehrich, Ron Edwards, Walt Freitag, Bankuei, Emily Care, cruciel.

4/23/2003 Buddha Nature: Necessary Risk
Is risk a necessary part of the roleplaying experience? This is a question I have been grappling with for a bit now. What I mean by this is whether or…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Buddha Nature, AV, Simon W, Le Joueur, Mike Holmes, ADGBoss, damion, Ron Edwards, Wolfen, C. Edwards, M. J. Young, Bruce Baugh.

4/22/2003 fabien: Civilization(TM) RPG game?
In a previous thread about innovation, I ended asking about some kind of Civilization-like mechanics in RPG. By this, I don't mean a RPG where you're playing God-like creatures building…
In RPG Theory
Participants: fabien, Mike Holmes, M. J. Young, talysman.

<< more previous topics

Subsequent Topics
In RPG Theory

4/28/2003 Walt Freitag: A different perspective on the Demoralizing Day
The heart of Hyphz's problem on the Demoralizing Day thread was stated very eloquently in the last few paragraphs of the initial post: But the negative feeling I got afterwards…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Walt Freitag, clehrich, Bob McNamee, Mike Holmes, Le Joueur.

4/29/2003 M. J. Young: Does Module Play Equal Participationism?
Over in the thread, Do prewritten scenarios=Illusionism/Participationism?, M.J., what you describe sounds like straight-head Participation to me. I don't see why or how it's a different category.He was…
In RPG Theory
Participants: M. J. Young, Kester Pelagius, Mike Holmes, Jack Spencer Jr, Ron Edwards, Le Joueur, cruciel, Tim C Koppang, John Kim, deadpanbob.

4/29/2003 Jay Turner: Character Generation: "Splats", Templates, or Kits
I'm working on a game that's a bit more freeform-Gamist (the way I understand the terms), and its skill-system is such that the players are free to create their own…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jay Turner, Mike Holmes, Jeffrey Miller, John Kim.

4/30/2003 Andy Kitkowski: "Indie" as a definition, and Getting Over It. (^.^
Hey, this kinda fell squarely between Theory and Site Discussion, so I'm posting it here. So there's another yearly meltdown over at "My House", RPGNet (don't bother. seriously.) about the…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Andy Kitkowski, Malcolm, Ron Edwards, Wolfen, Valamir.

4/30/2003 Le Joueur: Psychotic (or is It Schizoid) Game Design
Okay, this has been a long time coming, but I only conceived of it this week. It's a rather harsh theory and I need a lot of your experience and…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Le Joueur, John Kim, Bruce Baugh, deadpanbob, Marco, cruciel, Jack Spencer Jr, Mike Holmes.

5/1/2003 Kester Pelagius: What to do when. . .
Greetings All, I guess this belongs here as well as anywhere else so here goes. . . There you are, surfing your favorite forum when someone's post makes you pause,…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Kester Pelagius, Jay Turner, Marco, Jack Spencer Jr, Mike Holmes, jdagna, Jeffrey Miller.

5/1/2003 Jack Spencer Jr: The switches and dials formerly known as Illusionism
I was posting this as a reply to Does Module Play Equal Participationism? when I realised it should split off into it's own thread. #3 (Flexibility) = how flexible the…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jack Spencer Jr, cruciel, Ian Charvill, Mike Holmes.

5/2/2003 clehrich: Aesthetics and Reality
Okay, so I was grading papers or something, and when I turned around, there had been this hugely interesting debate here about aesthetics, reality, emulation, genre, and a…
In RPG Theory
Participants: clehrich, Bankuei, Emily Care, deadpanbob, John Kim, Bruce Baugh, C. Edwards, Le Joueur, Jere, Jack Spencer Jr, cruciel, Marco, Caldis, M. J. Young, jdagna, Sylus Thane, Ron Edwards.

5/2/2003 Felix: Holy 'That's what PCs are' Batman
This was kind of inspired by Fang’s thread Psychotic (or is It Schizoid) Game Design. I’m not advocating what I’m saying here, just musing out loud and making observations. I’ll…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Felix, Clinton R. Nixon, Jeffrey Miller, Matt Wilson, Bankuei, Marco, John Kim, clehrich, Jack Spencer Jr, Valamir, cruciel, M. J. Young, Bruce Baugh, Le Joueur, Ron Edwards, Emily Care, simon_hibbs, Mike Holmes, Emmett, damion.

5/5/2003 Ben Morgan: Volatile and Non-Volatile Traits (for want of better terms)
Had an idea the other day, don't know if anyone else has come up with something similar. It revolves around separating elements of a character into two groups, for purposes…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Ben Morgan, Andrew Martin, Mike Holmes, Bankuei, Ron Edwards, Walt Freitag, Emily Care.

5/5/2003 Le Joueur: Elegance and Deliberateness
[Cracks his knuckles and begins typing...] Okay, today's the first asymptomatic day I've had since I got that cold; I think I'll celebrate by trying to unravel what I've wrought.…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Le Joueur, dragongrace, Shreyas Sampat, deadpanbob, C. Edwards, Mike Holmes, Harlequin, Felix, Stuart DJ Purdie, clehrich, Jack Spencer Jr, Ron Edwards.

5/5/2003 Ben Lehman: Power Distribution in Games
Read some of the things about power dynamics in this forum, and thought I would delurk and post an essay about power in RPGs, and how it relates to system,…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Ben Lehman, Mike Holmes, Emily Care, M. J. Young, Paganini, lumpley.

5/5/2003 SwordofLux: Transparency revisited
Just to put in a couple cents, I think of Transparency as relating to, as mentioned previously, intuitiveness combined with ease-of-use. I like to think of it in video-game terms.…
In RPG Theory
Participants: SwordofLux, Ron Edwards.

5/6/2003 taalyn: point of view?
This may not be the right forum, but thinking it is at the moment... What point of view do you prefer when reading rules? What I mean is do I…
In RPG Theory
Participants: taalyn, Shreyas Sampat, Mike Holmes, Jack Spencer Jr, Ron Edwards, Matt Wilson.

5/7/2003 Jay Turner: Roll/keep probabilities?
I'm toying with an idea for a game that uses a roll/keep system for piloting vehicles, and I'm trying to think of a way to use it for other things,…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jay Turner, Mike Holmes, Matt Wilson.

5/7/2003 Harlequin: Aesthetics and Conveying Reality
If I read the conclusion of the Aesthetics and Reality thread correctly, then Chris and Emily tried to pin down a specific tension, between two things: a Baseline, which is…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Harlequin, Mike Holmes, Matt Snyder, Emily Care, clehrich, John Kim, Ron Edwards, Le Joueur, Mark D. Eddy, Valamir, Bankuei, Jack Spencer Jr.

5/8/2003 Jack Spencer Jr: Content of an RPG
Since the Elegance and Deliberateness thread is now closed, and upon reflection is seems that I was breaking off from the original discussion, I've decided to start my own thread.…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jack Spencer Jr, Bankuei, Harlequin, LordSmerf, Mike Holmes, John Kim, Ron Edwards, Shreyas Sampat.

5/8/2003 LordSmerf: The Three Levels - An introductory thread
This is my first post, so i figured i'd start with something i've already worked on. Please feel free to provide feedback and criticism... Beginning canned essay... I don't know…
In RPG Theory
Participants: LordSmerf, Mike Holmes, Jack Spencer Jr, Jay Turner, Ron Edwards.

5/8/2003 ejh: The Lumpley Principle?
Can someone summarize this for me, and point me to the threads it comes from? It's gotten to the point that Ron is using it without defining it in essays,…
In RPG Theory
Participants: ejh, Ron Edwards, lumpley.

5/9/2003 Jack Spencer Jr: Fighting with the Interface
Those old enough to have played text adventures remember the pleasant frustration (?) of trying to figure out just the right wording for a command to try to figure your…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jack Spencer Jr, LordSmerf, Mike Holmes, Bob McNamee, Ron Edwards.

more subsequent topics >>