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In Dog Eared Designs

8/3/2005 Andy Kitkowski: A PTA game that went horrible south, but not for the expected reasons...
I declared that I wanted a drama. We batted ideas around, and settled on an exciting Roman epic in the decline of the empire. As the producer, I demanded that…
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: Andy Kitkowski, IMAGinES, bcook1971.

7/29/2005 StalkingBlue: Rules questions: No cooperation?
"If more than one protagonist is involved in the conflict, each player should compare his or her dice results separately with the producer." (p. 49) I read the above to…
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: StalkingBlue, Joe Dizzy, Matt Wilson, Frank T, Ben Lehman, Rob Donoghue, John Harper, demiurgeastaroth, MarcoBrucale, Ron Edwards.

7/28/2005 Chris Goodwin: Connections
How exactly do you bring in a connection?  Can it be something like this:  "Pete remembers some advice Father Joe gave him.  Flashback to Pete and Father Joe discussing..."  Or…
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: Chris Goodwin, ashmoo, Matt Wilson, IMAGinES.

7/28/2005 demiurgeastaroth: Timing
In a typical session of 3-4 hours, with 4-5 players, how many scenes can I expect to get through? How many times will the Producer get a scene (that is,…
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: demiurgeastaroth, Alan, Jasper Polane, Frank T, Ron Edwards.

7/25/2005 Matt Wilson: the next printing
I'm a hair's breadth from getting the next books printed. Just waiting on a couple edits to the cover. Any actual 'rules' changes will be available on the web site…
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: Matt Wilson, Miskatonic, xenopulse, John Harper, Bob Goat.

7/22/2005 Frank T: Spicing old shows up, PtA style
I really love the new Battlestar Galactica show. I was sceptical about it because I always watched the old show as a kid. But the new one is just so…
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: Frank T, Chris Goodwin, Matt Wilson, IMAGinES.

7/20/2005 Rob Donoghue: Quick Dice Questions
Is there any particular reason to count odds rather than, say, count 6+, or whatever number happens to give you a 50% outcome?  I ask because I was considering switching…
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: Rob Donoghue, Ron Edwards, BlackSheep, Chris Goodwin, johnmarron, demiurgeastaroth.

7/14/2005 mofarme: Yet another dumb question... (this time about the PTA PDF)
Hi, I recently got PTA (probably just before it sold out!), and while I am positively delighted about the game, I would like to have a PDF version, so, even…
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: mofarme, Matt Wilson, KingOfFarPoint, John Harper.

7/5/2005 James Holloway: Probably kind of a dumb question
But when resolving a conflict, what happens when participants have an equal number of successes? I can't seem to find the reference, and it's very likely (we're only in our…
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: James Holloway, StalkingBlue.

6/29/2005 dyjoots: How to prepare an episode
I've run and played in a couple of PTA games, but I've always had trouble figuring out exactly how to prepare for an episode as the Producer. There is so…
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: dyjoots, Alan.

6/29/2005 ashmoo: Audience Pool & Budget Questions
In playing my first season of PTA (see 'The Z' in the Actual Play forum), and having an absolute blast. I have a couple of questions about the dice economy:…
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: ashmoo, Chris Goodwin.

6/28/2005 Smithy: RPGNet PTA Discussion
For those interested, here's a link to a discussion of PTA on RPGNet. PTA's got quite a number of defenders chiming in already (myself among them), but more discussion never…
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: Smithy, Matt Wilson, rafial.

6/28/2005 Warren: Sold Out!
Just as I my resolve weakened enough (and my resources grew enough) for me to order another Indie-RPG, I go to the site to discover that PtA is sold out!…
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: Warren, BlackSheep, Matt Wilson, rafial, Bob Goat, ScottM, Chris Goodwin.

6/27/2005 Joe Dizzy: Help me design a Star Trek show
I'll be running a Star Trek one-shot at the next gaming convention using PtA with pre-gen characters. The game will be just like TNG in tone and structure, but on…
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: Joe Dizzy, Alan, Matt Wilson, ashmoo, azrianni, dyjoots, Chris Goodwin.

6/15/2005 Lord_Steelhand: PTA - Guest Players Idea
I have read several posts where there was some question on how to include guests in on a PTA game without setting them up with permanent characters. The preferred solution…
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: Lord_Steelhand.

6/14/2005 Alan: Show Issue and Screen Presence
Here's an idea for the second edition: Give the Show itself an "Issue" and Screen Presence rating. The show's SP deterined the Producer's base dice in a conflict. Show SP…
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: Alan, Lord_Steelhand.

6/14/2005 Kenway: PTA episode flow
I'm am a particpant in the 2 pbp games of PTA that DannyK has been discussing. In the first game (a supernatural crime family) we sort of kind of got…
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: Kenway, Alan, Danny_K.

6/9/2005 CCW: producer and one protagonist?
Has anyone tried playing PTA with only two people? Are there any special techniques for making this work? I ask because I may have the opportunity to play with only…
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: CCW, Mike Holmes, Victor Gijsbers, Danny_K, Kenway.

6/9/2005 Danny_K: How big a Cast can you have?
A quick question here. I'm re-booting the PTA game on RPG.net, this time using superheroes and making it much lighter and more anime-like. Thing is, there are a whole bunch…
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: Danny_K, TonyLB, Ron Edwards, Trevis Martin, BlackSheep, Frank T.

6/5/2005 BlackSheep: PTA for wuxia? PTA for supers? PTA for everything?
I was thinking that PTA might work well for wuxia. Even though it's a genre more traditionally connected with movies than with television, I think it'd work. There's a lot…
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: BlackSheep, KingstonC, Matt Wilson, Danny_K, Doc Blue.

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In Dog Eared Designs

8/5/2005 Norbert Matausch: Hong Kong Action PTA
As a longtime fan of HK action movies, and as a longtime GM of very freestyle HK action movie roleplaying, I find the idea of a HK action PTA series…
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: Norbert Matausch, dyjoots.

8/11/2005 demiurgeastaroth: Using Traits
Can a single player, in a single conflict, use multiple Traits. Example: if the player could someho justify it, could Nate Spisak use both of his Trained Paramedic and Underworld…
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: demiurgeastaroth, Eero Tuovinen, Matt Wilson.

8/23/2005 Yokiboy: PtA Revised?
Hi Matt, How do I go about purchasing a copy of the revised PtA? TTFN, Yoki
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: Yokiboy, Matt Wilson.

8/24/2005 Judaicdiablo: Non-standard Scene Settings
I am curious what peoples experiences have been with unusual scene settings and I am also looking for some suggestions on ones that I haven't thought of. Examples of the…
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: Judaicdiablo, hix, John Harper.

8/25/2005 iago: The Tower over on Actual Play
I'm starting a thread over in Actual Play about the game I was in last night, The Tower: http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=16523.0
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: iago, John Harper.

8/25/2005 Judaicdiablo: Scene Structure - length and structure
I come from a D&D background and thus have a much more Task oriented frame of reference.  That being said, I have been reading PTA and I am a little…
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: Judaicdiablo, Matt Wilson.

8/26/2005 Matt Wilson: Revised Edition: Preorders
New books will be available to ship starting September 1. The price is $20 plus shipping and handling. However, if you can't wait until then to give me money, I'm…
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: Matt Wilson.

8/27/2005 ricmadeira: Multiple Conflicts in one scene
I've just posted this on Actual Play: Dirtside - A moment to remember It describes one scene where I used simultaneous multiple conflicts to force a player to divide…
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: ricmadeira.

8/29/2005 Lisa Padol: Questions on Revised PTA
I picked up a few copies of 2nd ed PTA at GenCon and emailed Matt a couple of questions which he said to post here. (Note that my experience with…
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: Lisa Padol, Matt Wilson, demiurgeastaroth, ricmadeira, Chris Goodwin, avram, John Harper.

8/29/2005 Matt Wilson: this mysterious 'multi-flip ' thing.
In the revised book I suggest an option for handling those big long tense conflicts, like chases, negotiations, etc. In order for it to work, the producer and at least…
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: Matt Wilson, IMAGinES.

8/30/2005 Judaicdiablo: PTA Revised "Depowered?"
Hey Matt,     I notice in the update for PTA Revised that it looks like you have "depowered" the game a bit. Examples:  Players now have 3 Edges/Connections rather…
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: Judaicdiablo, Matt Wilson.

9/5/2005 demiurgeastaroth: Producer Scenes and Big Groups
Let's say you have 6 or 7 players (inc. Producer). Would it make much difference (a bad difference, that is) to give the Producer a scene every time half the…
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: demiurgeastaroth, Matt Wilson.

9/6/2005 Lisa Padol: More Questions
Okay, so, Avram, Beth, Josh, and I played 2 pilot eps of PTA this past weekend, with me as the producer both times. When 2 or more people have their…
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: Lisa Padol, Matt Wilson, mneme, demiurgeastaroth, MarcoBrucale, John Harper, Blankshield, Rob Donoghue, Landon Darkwood, iago, Andrew Norris, Alan, avram.

9/8/2005 Matthew Glover: Handing Out Fanmail Before The First Conflict
Hi!  I couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy of the new edition, so I had a friend of a friend pick one up at Gencon and got…
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: Matthew Glover, Meguey, Matt Wilson.

9/9/2005 TonyLB: Have I got the math of the economy right?
It seems to me that, since the producer only gets back half of spent fan-mail as more budget, there is a statistically finite amount of budget available for an episode. …
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: TonyLB, dyjoots, Matt Wilson, Ron Edwards, Yokiboy, demiurgeastaroth.

9/12/2005 BlackSheep: Another alternate resolution system
Dominoes. Instead of rolling dice or flipping cards, draw dominoes. Each domino can be read in two ways.  The 2:3, for example, can be 23 or 32. Highest domino wins…
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: BlackSheep.

9/14/2005 Judaicdiablo: Can a Producer Split his Budget for one Conflict?
Here is the situation: There is a conflict with multiple Protagonists.  The conflict is determined and the stakes have been set.  I am the Producer and I decide that I…
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: Judaicdiablo, John Harper.

9/14/2005 demiurgeastaroth: [PtA] Scope of Narration, Scene Requests, and other questions
In our recent play, we experienced a few problems. The game was still fun, but questions were raised. Scene Requests: how much authority do the players have here? Can they…
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: demiurgeastaroth, Matt Wilson, Lisa Padol, iago, Rob Donoghue, Blankshield, Alan, John Harper.

9/15/2005 Rob Donoghue: Revised Colophon
And on a completely non-mechanical note, what were the fonts used for the revised edition? -Rob D.
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: Rob Donoghue, Matt Wilson.

9/16/2005 demiurgeastaroth: [PtA] Entering a Scene
You can join a scene in progress by spending a fan mail. At one point in our first session, we were just beginning a conflict (that is, we were about…
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: demiurgeastaroth, Matt Wilson.

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