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In RPG Theory

10/16/2003 Tomas HVM: How do you explore "being another person"?
It is often said that roleplaying games let you explore being another person. However: I've never seen any real discussion on how we do this (other than the gender issue).…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Tomas HVM, RaconteurX, Mike Holmes, AnyaTheBlue, DNAphil.

10/16/2003 M. J. Young: Cross-Gender Play, or Walk a Mile in My Stiletoes
I'm often saying that role play can be a way of coming to understand other people, how they think, why they do what they do. I've also said that I…
In RPG Theory
Participants: M. J. Young, Tomas HVM, contracycle, Clinton R. Nixon, AnyaTheBlue, Emily Care, Ron Edwards, jrs, LordSmerf, JSDiamond, Mike Holmes, Mark Johnson, ADGBoss.

10/15/2003 c_stone_bush: Single Success Systems vs. Multiple Success Systems
I am working on the mechanics for a new game and am trying to decide on a system for task resolution. Which do you think I should use: a) The…
In RPG Theory
Participants: c_stone_bush, John Kim, Valamir, DNAphil, Mike Holmes, Brian Leybourne, M. J. Young, efindel.

10/15/2003 Jonathan Walton: Needed: "What is Roleplaying?" Quotes
Hey folks, I'm thinking of writing a new column for PRGnet called "What is Roleplaying?" that examines what we do from a variety of viewpoints (social, aesthetic, philosophical, historical, etc).…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jonathan Walton, John Kim, AnyaTheBlue, Tomas HVM, redivider, M. J. Young.

10/15/2003 Mark Johnson: The Gender Genie
A while back in Most attractive setting for female players, there was a little consideration of how to make RPG text more palatable to a larger range of people. I…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Mark Johnson, Ian Charvill, Rich Forest, Sylus Thane, Valamir, Emily_Dresner, jrs, AnyaTheBlue, Meredith, Matt Wilson, Sonja.

10/13/2003 ethan_greer: Sample Scenarios
Simple question: Are the sample scenarios that get included in many games actually valuable? Now, the obvious quick and easy answer is, "yes, of course." Mainly because a sample scenario…
In RPG Theory
Participants: ethan_greer, bcook1971, Marco, Ron Edwards, John Kim, Valamir, failrate, Jack Spencer Jr, Mark Johnson, Ian Charvill, Tony Irwin, Tim Alexander, Mike Holmes, rafael.

10/13/2003 Tony Irwin: Men are from Universalis (split Adventure in Impro'd System)
Hey Folks, I split this myself from the Adventures in Improvised System Thread as my questions are quite off topic. Hey Vincent, First off, I agree that Universalis is…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Tony Irwin, simon_hibbs, Jonathan Walton, Valamir, Emily Care, Jack Spencer Jr, LordSmerf, Paul Czege, lumpley, Mike Holmes, Green, hix, Ron Edwards, Bob McNamee, M. J. Young.

10/13/2003 Drifter Bob: Realism in RPG's II
I'm am finishing up the second half of my universailly despised article on realism in rpgs, which will be appearing in in swords edge e-zine (http://www.swordsedge.net) in a day or…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Drifter Bob, Marco, Walt Freitag, xechnao.

10/10/2003 c_stone_bush: Many players, only one character...
Has anyone though about how (and if) a game would work if all the players were controling the actions of a single main character? I stumbled across this idea when…
In RPG Theory
Participants: c_stone_bush, Ron Edwards, Mike Holmes, Harlequin, Czar Fnord, M. J. Young.

10/9/2003 xiombarg: metaplot footnote
As a footnote to my original rant and the thread about using metaplot as a tool, I picked up Orpheus yesterday, and I'm pleased by how they're handling the metaplot…
In RPG Theory
Participants: xiombarg, eyebeams, The Solecist, Mike Holmes, simon_hibbs.

10/9/2003 Jack Spencer Jr: Typecasting or Character Players.
Typecasting or Character players. Yet another limit on the possibilities of roleplaying When reading PC integrity something struck me. In acting there's a phenomenom called "character actor." This means the…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jack Spencer Jr, Mike Holmes, M. J. Young, efindel, Windthin, Tim Alexander, John Kim, C. Edwards, Tomas HVM.

10/9/2003 Tomas HVM: Reality and RPGs
I expect the following notions is to kick in open doors on this forum, but bear with me. Reality There is a lot of talk about "escapism" and "not relating…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Tomas HVM, jdagna, deadpanbob, Jack Spencer Jr, Alan, Mike Holmes, Gordon C. Landis, simon_hibbs.

10/9/2003 C. Edwards: PC Integrity (from Adventures in Improvised System)
[quote="lumpley"]Check this out: Is play really collaborative if it contaminates character integrity? What we're collaborating on [i]is[/i] character integrity.[/quote] [quote="Paul Czege"]When I create my guy, I have a vision for…
In RPG Theory
Participants: C. Edwards, pete_darby, Ian Charvill, AgentFresh, lumpley, Gordon C. Landis, Mike Holmes.

10/8/2003 Thierry Michel: Motif Index for Folktales
I recently heard about the Thompson motif index for folktales. I'm not a folklorist, so I don't know how it's used in practice, but upon reading the desc., it…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Thierry Michel, Mark Johnson, Jonathan Walton.

10/8/2003 Jeph: We know the ends. What about the means? (Kyu-Sei-Sha)
Some of you may know about Andy Kitowski's Kyu-Sei-Sha, a narrativist facilitating post apocalyptic game of kung fu and psychic powers. I've been thinking about it a bit recently, even…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jeph, anonymouse, hanschristianandersen, Ron Edwards.

10/7/2003 Brian T: Task resolution system ideas
Hello all I am new to the board and have seen a bit of good feedback and decided to look for some feed back on a task resolution scheme I…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Brian T, SumDood, Jeph, John Kim, Andrew Martin, Jack Spencer Jr, Jack Aidley, Mike Holmes, M. J. Young, Dr. Velocity.

10/7/2003 xiombarg: concept games footnote, politics in games
As a footnote to the concept games thread and the games as serious art thread, I'd like to note something that's going on in video games, in at least in…
In RPG Theory
Participants: xiombarg, contracycle, John Kim, Tim Alexander, simon_hibbs, Tomas HVM, Jonathan Walton, Mark Johnson, M. J. Young, Rob MacDougall, Mike Holmes, taalyn.

10/6/2003 LordSmerf: The Difference between Published Design and Actual Play?
I was going to post this in another thread, but it was so off topic that i decided to split it before it derailed the previous discussion (again). Ron Edwards…
In RPG Theory
Participants: LordSmerf, Mark Johnson, deadpanbob, Tomas HVM, Ron Edwards, Jonathan Walton, Mike Holmes, RaconteurX.

10/6/2003 Bailywolf: Juxtaploitation- odd couple & buddy gaming
I was thinking about group structures I have experienced which ran amazingly well, and one I remember most fondly is the one GM, two player model. Real odd couple stuff-…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Bailywolf, Ben Morgan, LordSmerf.

10/4/2003 Sonja: Magic systems? (spell points, specific spells vs spheres)
I am researching options for magic in a medieval fantasy RPG. I know I don't like the memorization system in D&D. It doesn't make sense. I like the idea of…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Sonja, HMT, Brian Leybourne, C. Edwards, M. J. Young, gobi, John Kim, Bob McNamee, bigsimon, simon_hibbs, Mike Holmes, SumDood, Cemendur, Windthin, Thanaeon, Umberhulk.

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In RPG Theory

10/20/2003 Sonja: umbrella term for "NPCs and Monsters"?? help
Is there an umbrella term to include both NPCs and Monsters, i.e. a simple word to cover any and all GM-controlled entities? I can think of terms like Supporting Characters…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Sonja, Andrew Martin, Mark Johnson, ethan_greer, Jack Aidley, Czar Fnord, Ron Edwards, Marco, jdagna, Mike Holmes, Lxndr, ADGBoss, M. J. Young, simon_hibbs, apeiron.

10/20/2003 Czar Fnord: Randomizer Gimmicks: Key to Tone or More To Learn/Buy?
What makes a new method of randomizing results worthwhile? Speed, versimilitude, strategic play, capturing the tone of the game world? If a unique randomizing method requires players to purchase a…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Czar Fnord, LordSmerf, Michael S. Miller, Jack Aidley, Ron Edwards, Lxndr, Paul Czege, M. J. Young, Mike Holmes, Tim Alexander, Walt Freitag.

10/20/2003 SumDood: GM as Multi-Character
I'm bringing up this topic because it occurs in games, and I'd like to see how other GMs address this issue. The problem is having the GM play two different…
In RPG Theory
Participants: SumDood, Mike Holmes, Ron Edwards, JSDiamond, M. J. Young, efindel.

10/21/2003 Jack Spencer Jr: Cheating
From over in Randomizer Gimmicks: Key to Tone or More To Learn/Buy? Interesting system, reducing the standard deck. It is susceptable, however, to a general problem with card draws:…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jack Spencer Jr, LordSmerf, Ron Edwards, Harlequin, jrs, ADGBoss, Michael S. Miller, Czar Fnord, David Chunn, Walt Freitag, Valamir, Mike Holmes.

10/22/2003 gobi: Encouraging Cheating
While cooking up Gears & Spears' setting-influenced task resolution, I started thinking about a task resolution appropriate for Take, my criminal underworld/heist side side project formerly titled "Pull." Because the…
In RPG Theory
Participants: gobi, ethan_greer, Christopher Weeks, Jonathan Walton, Tim Alexander, LordSmerf, Harlequin, Mike Holmes, Jeph, Lxndr, M. J. Young.

10/24/2003 b_bankhead: Drifting to R'lyeh:Facing the Problems with Call of Cthulhu
Drifting to R'lyeh: An Autopsy on Call of Cthulu Introduction Call of Cthulhu is one of the simplest rules systems around. The Cthulhu Mythos is popular among the members of…
In RPG Theory
Participants: b_bankhead, Ron Edwards, Andrew Martin, Valamir, jdagna, John Kim, GB Steve, Calithena, M. J. Young, Ian Charvill, Walt Freitag, Rob MacDougall, Lisa Padol, Comte, GreatWolf, Noon, simon_hibbs, Andrew Norris, James Holloway.

10/25/2003 Calithena: D&D Spells and Resource Allocation Problems
Okay, I'm not quite up to speed on all the theory here yet, but I'm a quick study. But I wanted to bounce something off the people here as worth…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Calithena, Walt Freitag, Mike Holmes, Ron Edwards.

10/26/2003 anonymouse: the ShadowRun Dungeon: the Matrix.
So, Paganini has been pondering dungeon-crawl-game design over in #indierpgs (realtime chat is good for game discussion, too!). I've been thinking about SR a bunch lately, and it occured to…
In RPG Theory
Participants: anonymouse, MachMoth.

10/26/2003 Marco: Popular and damaging
Ralph wrote: At any rate, IMO Call of Cthulhu stands with GURPS as what I consider to be the two most damaging games to the development of the hobby…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Marco, Valamir, jdagna, Ian Charvill, Jack Spencer Jr, Calithena, RaconteurX, b_bankhead, John Kim, Jonathan Walton, Dauntless, Mike Holmes, M. J. Young, greyorm, quozl, Walt Freitag, Matt Snyder, Gordon C. Landis, Green, Jack Aidley, Andrew Norris, David Chunn, Minx, Ben Lehman, C. Edwards, Lxndr, damion, Scripty, eyebeams.

10/27/2003 b_bankhead: Cthulhu's Clues: Why failure is not an option
Failure is not an option As I stated in my essay 'Drifting to R'lyeh' most skill rolls in CoC don't matter much. The design of the prototypical CoC scenario makes…
In RPG Theory
Participants: b_bankhead, Ian Charvill, Valamir, jdagna, Ben Lehman, Comte, The Benj, Rob MacDougall, Mike Holmes, gobi, kalyptein, Noon, Scripty, Marco, John Kim.

10/28/2003 C. Edwards: Confirmation of Cool
(From Popular and Damaging) Rules-lite, just pick a few key stats and the rest is description: Unsatisfying. As a mass market newbie role player, it's not enough for the…
In RPG Theory
Participants: C. Edwards, Marco, Walt Freitag, Jonathan Walton, sirogit, Michael S. Miller.

10/29/2003 Jonathan Walton: Sports RPGs: A Match Made in Heaven?
[quote="Marco"]So yeah, a good fantasy ("mmm...rich sports hero") doesn't necessiarily make for a good troop-style game.[/quote] I beg to differ. This has been on my mind for years now. Roleplaying…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jonathan Walton, quozl, Lxndr, Marco, Matt Snyder, Mike Holmes, Valamir, Comte, Jack Spencer Jr, Dev, Ben Lehman, Andrew Norris, Michael S. Miller.

10/29/2003 Paul Czege: Greg Costikyan's list of 300 Games
In his weblog last Sunday, Greg Costikyan wrote:The 300 Games Every Game Developer (and Gamer) Should Know I've been thinking about writing a book with this title. There are several…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Paul Czege, anonymouse, Ian Charvill, AnyaTheBlue, Mike Holmes, jdagna, John Kim, Calithena, Ron Edwards, Adam, Clinton R. Nixon, Cemendur, adamsmith, ross_winn.

10/30/2003 bcook1971: Playtesting a Spatial Mechanic
A few weeks back, my group played the fifth and final session for a 1st ed. D&D module. I've used this opportunity to playtest various rules in a game system…
In RPG Theory
Participants: bcook1971, Mike Holmes, M. J. Young.

10/30/2003 Tomas HVM: The four main forms of roleplaying games
I'm concerned in making criteria that includes all forms of roleplaying. To divide between different forms of roleplaying is another task. So I take these thoughts on the forms from…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Tomas HVM, Lxndr, John Kim, James Holloway, Jack Aidley.

10/30/2003 MachMoth: Shared Action Resolution
To be honest, I never put to much thought into shared narration. I like the idea, but most of the people I play with don't. The seperation of character and…
In RPG Theory
Participants: MachMoth, Ben Lehman, LordSmerf.

10/31/2003 Tim C Koppang: Rule Nebulas
Out of curiosity, I was wondering if anyone has ever done anything like this when designing their game? I call it a rule nebulas. Basically, I think it's a nice…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Tim C Koppang, Andrew Martin, Cemendur, Jasper, Jack Spencer Jr.

10/31/2003 Emily Care: international rpg
In the four main types of role-playing thread: ...and it wouldn't surprise me if this were true in most of the US -- obviously, UK LARP culture is very…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Emily Care, Minx, Eero Tuovinen, matthijs, Jonathan Walton, Rich Forest, Grex, James Holloway, Ben Lehman, herrmess, Andrea Gualano, Ron Edwards, gizem, Valamir, GreatWolf, GB Steve, Mike Holmes, Walt Freitag, Andy Kitkowski, John Kim, contracycle, Dr_Mikenstein, edomaur, kwill, Erick Wujcik.

11/2/2003 John Kim: Story and Narrative Paradigms in RPGs
I have just finished a fairly in-depth essay about the relation of story in static narratives (i.e. books and film) versus story in RPGs. It's a sort of formalist approach…
In RPG Theory
Participants: John Kim, Ben Lehman, RaconteurX, Marco, Emily Care, Mike Holmes, fusangite, Ron Edwards, peejay.

11/2/2003 LordSmerf: GM/PC Play Simultaneously?
So Ron tossed this off in the Adept Press forum, almost anecdotally. I really thought it was a great articulation of something that i wanted to do. After some thought…
In RPG Theory
Participants: LordSmerf, jdagna, lumpley, C. Edwards, Lxndr, Ron Edwards, Emily Care.

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