Previous Topics
In First Thoughts

6/3/2007 Noon: Conflict of design goals or: THACO - To Hit Adesign Class 0
I'm trying to get over some writers block at the moment ('moment' as used here could include several years, actually). Specifically for this thread, there's something I've been thinking about…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Noon, Thenomain, Eero Tuovinen, Noclue, Filip Luszczyk, Aaron Blain, Dan Maruschak, David C, contracycle, Rafu, Simon C, OleOneEye.

6/2/2007 TwoCrows: Second Thoughts
For my second First Thoughts I’ve chosen to take Mike Holme’s advice, reinforced by Ron’s admonitions in More Fantasy Heartbreakers. “Everyone should write a Heartbreaker.” Everyone seems a broad enough…
In First Thoughts
Participants: TwoCrows, C.W.Richeson, Eero Tuovinen, brainwipe, Valamir.

6/2/2007 earwig: The Return of my Amnesia Game
I've been busy with pre-production of a film, so I have not posted in awhile, but I wanted to touch base with the community again, for some basic feedback. I…
In First Thoughts
Participants: earwig, brainwipe, chris_moore.

6/1/2007 JasonWalters: [You Brought This On Yourself] The First Three Chapters
Since several of you were kind enough to provide me with suggestions for my YBTOY Maniac "laundry lists," I though that I might provide a work-in- progress link to the…
In First Thoughts
Participants: JasonWalters, jasonm.

6/1/2007 Sovem: Universalis-like game mechanic?
I really like the way the Universalis game mechanic makes you spend coins for everything that you do in game. I was thinking about making a similar game mechanic in…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Sovem, Andrew Morris, Valamir, xiombarg.

6/1/2007 sambearpoet: Quanta: the game of interstellar vacations
You play an existentially bored, nearly immortal energy being who, in order to escape its ennui, has been transmitted into one of many of the invisible crystalline orbital Quanta Stations…
In First Thoughts
Participants: sambearpoet, anders_larsen, Ron Edwards, c, brainwipe, HighmoonMedia.

5/31/2007 Narf the Mouse: Road Trip RPG?
I'm not sure if this is the right place for it, but I was just thinking... Anyway, I've never been on a road trip, so I wouldn't be the best…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Narf the Mouse, brainwipe, Aaron Blain.

5/31/2007 mjstahl: Live-Action "Powers" Mechanic
Hello everyone. I must be honest I wasn't too sure how to post to this particular forum, but I also would like some feedback on a game I have been…
In First Thoughts
Participants: mjstahl, James_Nostack, KickAssClown.

5/31/2007 Zach Walton: [Sudden Light] Pre-Alpha Release for Download and Gen Con Beer
Hello All, After a year of setting it aside, I've been inspired by the Ashcan Project to return to Sudden Light (if your search-fu is strong, you can find my…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Zach Walton, vertigo25, northerain.

5/29/2007 Temple: [Downtown] A request for input and insight from more experienced game designers.
Im currently picking up two projects that I have been neglecting for some time now. The first is Downtown, my first project and the one I am most hopeful for…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Temple, Malcolm.

5/28/2007 asdfff: Why are dice pools a favored idea here?
I heard it mentioned on the wizards D&D boards that indie rpgs look favorably upon dice pools instead of straight up percentage modifiers. Can someone tell me why this is?…
In First Thoughts
Participants: asdfff, northerain, Narf the Mouse, Ron Edwards.

5/28/2007 CSBone: Power 19: One Roll Narrative Role Playing System (Long)
Lordy, lordy I've been gone a long time! Based on the comments of people on this forum I realise that what I was working for Space Ranger was just not…
In First Thoughts
Participants: CSBone, northerain, anders_larsen.

5/26/2007 Jarx: The magics of doom
Hello, I was thinking of talking more about Fatum but now with the light on magic. If you havent read the topic, go read it first as it contains important…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Jarx, Narf the Mouse, greyorm.

5/24/2007 mathx314: Bugged: 1984 meets The Matrix
First of all, this is my first post and I just wanted to say hello to everyone here.  I've lurked for a while and finally wanted to get in on…
In First Thoughts
Participants: mathx314, Noclue, Narf the Mouse, joepub.

5/24/2007 TwoCrows: (Resurrected) Magic(k), Meaning & Mechanics
This post is a rez from The Meaning of Magic(k) Hope I did that bolded url thingy right…no edit button…copied from Ron’s references to a split post…not good at BBCode…we’ll…
In First Thoughts
Participants: TwoCrows.

5/23/2007 anubis9: The currency of "Fame" in a competitive superhero game
OK, so after sitting on the fence, and lurking for awhile, I’ve decided to stick my head out. You see, I heard about this really cool contest called “game chef,”…
In First Thoughts
Participants: anubis9, Mike Sugarbaker, Narf the Mouse, Ken, Noon, boswok.

5/22/2007 Hereward The Wake: A New System for Martial Arts Fighting (split)
I too would have liked to see more on it. From my point, it seemed that it was going from a very specific approach whiich while intersting was outside of…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Hereward The Wake, Ron Edwards.

5/23/2007 gds: [Quest] Comments on this game concept?
So I’m thinking about a new game, and I thought I’d float some mechanics out here to see what people think. Note that this is completely untried and unplaytested, so…
In First Thoughts
Participants: gds.

5/22/2007 TwoCrows: The Product I thought of while thinking about Indie RPG products
Greetings, After days of lurking, reading, and ruminating (…and certainly there’s enough material here that an admission of only having barely skimmed the surface should be a forgivable sin…) I’ve…
In First Thoughts
Participants: TwoCrows, Paul Czege, KickAssClown, Noon, pells, Ron Edwards.

5/22/2007 sirconis: Open-ended player-created spells / abilities ???
I was wondering if anyone has come across a system that allows players to create their own spells / abilities?  I'm working on a game system that incorporates this and…
In First Thoughts
Participants: sirconis, KickAssClown, Eero Tuovinen, gooderguy, darquelf.

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In First Thoughts

6/4/2007 Justin Nichol - BFG: Resolution Mechanic- Need help with the use of descriptors
I'm currently trying to develop a Universal, Extensible, Open Source game engine for use with community developed settings. I want it to draw upon some narrativist game mechanics, while still…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Justin Nichol - BFG, TwoCrows, Noon, Aaron Blain, Noclue, anders_larsen.

6/5/2007 Sovem: A new method for combat?
AJ's post of several weeks ago about a new system for martial arts has really got me thinking about alternative ways to run combat. Her suggestion was that instead of…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Sovem, Justin Nichol - BFG, Noon, hix, Noclue, VoidDragon, brainwipe, Aaron Blain, contracycle, boswok.

6/6/2007 Eldrad: The Olde Realm
This is a possible intro to the Olde Realm RPG/Novel It is a genre called swordpunk. Take the cyberpunk model and  reniassance level technology mixed with a bit of magic…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Eldrad, Sovem, brainwipe, Adam Dray, TwoCrows, Vanoj.

6/6/2007 MatrixGamer: [Engle Matrix Game] I need some help seeing if buying arguments is good mechanic
I want some help finding the bugs in a new rules mechanic I'm playing around with. The basic rule of Matrix Games now is that each turn a player makes…
In First Thoughts
Participants: MatrixGamer.

6/6/2007 Justin Nichol - BFG: Contest and Combat Brainstorm
So I'm currently interested in designing an interesting combat system around the open source game engine I'm developing, CORE, and I've seena couple interesting ideas here on the fourms, so…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Justin Nichol - BFG, anders_larsen, Sovem.

6/7/2007 Xeriar: What's in a name?
Well, I've been mulling over my setting, and have decided to split it in two.  I'm going to make 'Solar Storms' the sortof timeline-setting aspect, while the end result... an…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Xeriar, Justin Nichol - BFG, VoidDragon, Ron Edwards.

6/7/2007 JasonWalters: [You Brought This On Yourself] Pivots
A big part of the slasher film/morality rpg I'm working on involves Narrative Control. A PC can attempt to seize control of the storytelling process for himself at certain specific…
In First Thoughts
Participants: JasonWalters, TwoCrows, Brimshack.

6/7/2007 Jarx: New ideas about FATUM
[center]I think I've iritated many with my constant yapping about my "cool" game... So this will be my final topic. If nobody posts, I declarate it dead. Wanting my game…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Jarx, Spooky Fanboy, Filip Luszczyk, Adam Dray.

6/8/2007 natfrobinson: Resist the Sunne [Steampunk/Space Opera]
G'day all. My names Nat and I am from Melbourne, Australia. I thought I'd jump right into things with an idea of my own - My own take on the…
In First Thoughts
Participants: natfrobinson, CommonDialog, Sovem, Reprobus, Everspinner, TwoCrows, Thenomain, Nuthael, Alan, xiombarg.

6/8/2007 Brimshack: Ethno-Fantasy Setting (Ramble Warning)
Notes Toward a Campaign Setting or Two: Okay, so I've been interested in working concepts from non-standard cultural backgrounds into fantasy gaming for some time. Roughly speaking, I am talking…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Brimshack, Ron Edwards, Age of Fable.

6/8/2007 brainwipe: [Icar] Should I go from Percentiles to D10?
Something that's been bugging me for some time is the skill percentile system in Icar. Generally, it's not very easy to use. For the uninitiated, every skill has a percentage…
In First Thoughts
Participants: brainwipe, Temple, chriscrouch, Eldrad, sid.raphael, Noon, Sydney Freedberg.

6/8/2007 jasonm: [Ashes] Modeling Fight-or-Flight
So I'm working on this project that requires characters to constantly either run for their lives or fight tooth and nail.  Here's what I'm thinking: I’m imagining this as a…
In First Thoughts
Participants: jasonm, hix, Darcy Burgess, David Artman.

6/8/2007 Aman the Rejected: [The Devil's Advocates] Alpha Design
Mark Causey here. I have been tinkering with game design for quite a while. I have often (temporarily) concluded that I'm not good at it. However, I finally found something…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Aman the Rejected, jasonm, Anemone, Tymen.

6/10/2007 Darcy Burgess: [Gathering Storm] -- can't shake the war!
So, here's the deal:  I just can't shake war as a theme.  It's in all of my design ideas -- it just won't go away. And here's its latest iteration. …
In First Thoughts
Participants: Darcy Burgess, jasonm, Noclue.

6/10/2007 Mister Hoppe: need a place to play ..
Hi guys RCEHoppe here i have friends of mine that are trying to start up a LARP game in Ottawa and they need a place to play, if anyone…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Mister Hoppe, Ron Edwards.

6/11/2007 JoystickJunkies: Ideas for the Fate based Starblazer RPG
Hi all, I'm currently working on the new Fate space opera  RPG called Starblazer. I'd love to know if you've thought of any sci-fi related ideas for Fate or used…
In First Thoughts
Participants: JoystickJunkies, epweissengruber, TwoCrows, C.W.Richeson.

6/11/2007 jeffmoore: The Abnormal RPG ...
Vincent Baker, owner of lumpley games and author of "Dogs in the Vineyard" said, "Don't make another normal RPG. There are plenty and more than plenty, there are too many…
In First Thoughts
Participants: jeffmoore, Adam Dray.

6/12/2007 CSBone: One Roll "High" School
This started as Power 19: One Roll Narrative Role Playing System (Long). This is the first of three concepts. My goal is to get the One Roll system ready…
In First Thoughts
Participants: CSBone.

6/12/2007 Simon C: [Fir Bolg] Fortune (near or maybe at) the Start, and GM Fiat.
Fir Bolg is this project that I'm kind of unable to let go, even though I don't really think of myself as a game designer.  It's a mostly gamist supporting…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Simon C, Noon, Rafu, contracycle, Eero Tuovinen, HighmoonMedia.

6/13/2007 RiverofTearsJvL: Looking for a program for Tree Graphs
Anyone know of a program that will let me run long Tree Graphs? Im converting notes and rules i wrote over the last few years to my laptop, and i…
In First Thoughts
Participants: RiverofTearsJvL, SpazMan.

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