Previous Topics
In First Thoughts

11/15/2007 Xerxes: Soul mechanics & gameplay
Hi guys, I'm trying to design an rpg where the central conflicted gauge (to use Kirk's term) is that in order to become more proficient at the game's central trades…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Xerxes, monstah, contracycle, Noon, Vulpinoid.

11/14/2007 Raymond Caleatry: Mechanics for "Advanced" Social Encounters
I have been writing a system for about 2 years now, and it has gone through many incarnations.  Recently I started to explore mechanics behind advanced social encounters.  Now I…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Raymond Caleatry, VoidDragon, tymotzues.

11/14/2007 jefgodesky: [Fifth World] Practical concerns about my character sheet
Sgëno! I have an idea I'm really taken with at the moment about using a compass/medicine wheel/mandala as a character sheet (Design Diary entry with full details), where skills/traits/attributes are…
In First Thoughts
Participants: jefgodesky, monstah, Simon C, J Tolson, PlatonicPimp, Selene Tan, Vulpinoid.

11/13/2007 monstah: Mechanic better suited to "lone multiplayer"
I have this project for a computer "role playing experience" (rather than "role playing game"), and I'm not sure how to approach it. Key elements are: * unsettling horror thematic;…
In First Thoughts
Participants: monstah.

11/10/2007 ODDin: A Small Scene Resolution Mechanic
Some time ago I decided to run a fairly standard high-fantasy campaign, but I wanted to go extremely light on rules. At first, I wanted to do it absolutely free-form.…
In First Thoughts
Participants: ODDin, monstah, Noon, BigElvis, Simon C.

11/9/2007 Sivá: No humans in a fantasy world? (and some random other stuff)
The basic question is: "How will a fantasy world do without humans?" Before i go into detail a btw "question": I'm a bit reluctant to post my oh so brilliant,…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Sivá, Phil, Noon, contracycle, davidberg, Age of Fable, Conteur.

11/8/2007 monstah: Conflict resolution using only choices?
Hi all. I have this thing for diceless mechanics, you see. What I'm really interested in seeing is what actions does the player choose to do, and how they affect…
In First Thoughts
Participants: monstah, Paul Czege, Everspinner, David Artman, Filip Luszczyk, dindenver, Raymond Caleatry, masqueradeball.

11/6/2007 Dustin of the Dead: The Dead
Hello, I thought I might pass this along, but Kreg Mosier released a new version of his game called "The Dead," a game about death and relationships....in the zompocalypse. The…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Dustin of the Dead, Eldrad, Ron Edwards.

11/6/2007 Phil: Weight of the world
In college I began to create a world (seriously how many times have I seen something like that posted, apologies for the ubiquity).  The website is http://www.alatha.com/url] for those who…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Phil, Vulpinoid, David Artman, anders_larsen.

11/6/2007 Narf the Mouse: Critique my quickstart playtest rules?
[url=http://www.mouse-producedgames.com/Quickstart_Rules_2.rtf]Quickstart Rules v2[/url] Purpose of the game: Generic, flavourful play in any genre. Play should be quick and effective. Also, death shouldn't be something that 'Just happens'. Thanks.
In First Thoughts
Participants: Narf the Mouse, Filip Luszczyk.

11/5/2007 Limejello: Operator setting
Hi this is a quick rundown of the setting I wrote now this is very poorley written and very rough (in fact I think this is closer to being notes…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Limejello.

11/5/2007 Daztur: Existing rules for emotional/internal conflict?
A friend and I are working on an RPG that started out as a Fate mod but is slowly drifting into "well, it uses FUDGE dice" territory. I recently read…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Daztur, Simon C, Everspinner.

11/4/2007 StrongBadMun: Shaman and the use of spirit favors
I'm working out ideas for how to adapt my system to my game Shaman, and I'm trying to figure out how I want the spirit's abilities to work.  I don't…
In First Thoughts
Participants: StrongBadMun, Filip Luszczyk, monstah, David Artman.

11/4/2007 ChadDubya: [ENOCH] Belated Power 19
Hi Gang, Here is my much belated Power 19 (although had I done it earlier, I would have been talking about a less complete, less interesting game). FYI, ENOCH can…
In First Thoughts
Participants: ChadDubya, Conteur, Everspinner, Rafu.

11/2/2007 Filip Luszczyk: Trait Shop
I've been considering possible ways of combining "shopping list" method of character creation with free-form traits. Here's my current concept. Each player has a number of points/dice/slots/whatever. He or she…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Filip Luszczyk, Paul Czege, MartiniPhilosopher.

11/2/2007 Elizabeth: Does this game need to split into two games?
I've been working on a game tentatively titled Addict, which is about obsession, dependency and recovery. It runs off of a modified version of the twelve-step program, but it does…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Elizabeth, Filip Luszczyk, Paul Czege.

11/1/2007 Reithan: Help with some Damage Mechanics
Ok, to avoid placing a TON of text into this post, a lot of this will be done by linking to posts already up on my personal development forum. As…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Reithan, jag.

10/31/2007 indigonegative: Game Chef practice: Frankenstein, Gettysburg, Fish and King
I found some random words the other day to challenge myself to design a game. I've been reading the popular indie games recently: DRYH, SotC, Dogs, Mountain Witch, etc. I'd…
In First Thoughts
Participants: indigonegative.

10/30/2007 MikeLT: RPG Idea
Hi, name is Michael I have been working on an rpg for a short while, but it has been put on hold thanks to an idea I had. Im not…
In First Thoughts
Participants: MikeLT, Ken, Vulpinoid, phatonin, xenopulse, masqueradeball.

10/30/2007 alexandre santos: Need advice to simplify mechanics and increase randomization obtained from a D20
Hello, I am currently designing a game inspired by the Claymore universe, and I need a rule system that implements the type of stories that I want this game to…
In First Thoughts
Participants: alexandre santos, VoidDragon, Simon C.

<< more previous topics

Subsequent Topics
In First Thoughts

11/15/2007 Tubbybottom: in dire need of help
Hello again guys and girls... My game where the uprising technofreaks(I will come up with a better name for them than that at a later point) is battling the ruling…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Tubbybottom, Xerxes, StrongBadMun.

11/17/2007 WyldKarde: New Mechanic...First Draft
Arright, here's my first attempt at an RPG.  Up until this point, I've been writing descriptions, back stories, and novelizations of my buddy's campaigns.  Granted, aside from being the guy…
In First Thoughts
Participants: WyldKarde, Justin Nichol - BFG, Noon, preludetotheend, Phil.

11/19/2007 Justin Nichol - BFG: [Core Engine: The World Behind] A Second Thread about my Magic system
Several months ago I posted a thread about my magic system. It's for an open content game I'm creating, more specifically for the first setting I'm developing for it. It's…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Justin Nichol - BFG, J Tolson, jag, Noclue, higgins, Valrus, davidberg.

11/19/2007 jefgodesky: [Fifth World] Power 19
I haven't finished even the general idea of the rules for The Fifth World, but answering the Power 19 still helps put a focus on what those rules need to…
In First Thoughts
Participants: jefgodesky, J Tolson, ChadDubya.

11/20/2007 Galdred: skill organization grouping, and cost in a skill based game
I am having some troubles designing a skill system (the game will be skill based). I am trying to build a system in which a PC competent in a domain…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Galdred, Vulpinoid, DracoDruid, Ron Edwards.

11/21/2007 Darcy Burgess: [Squamous] - the unspeakable horror of the thing that should not be!
[i]Squamous[/i] is my take on Lovecraftian exploration.  It's all about ashen shores, unthinkable evils, nefarious cultists, and misshapen appendages.  Its roots are a weird mash-up of the [i]Anti-Pool[/i] and [i]Lacuna[/i].…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Darcy Burgess, Simon C, Noon, Vulpinoid.

11/22/2007 quixoteles: Locke-Spinoza Horoscopy
I looked over a review of Polaris and was reminded of this mechanic I had once long ago. What brought it to my attention was this whole ritual mechanic. This…
In First Thoughts
Participants: quixoteles, Vulpinoid.

11/22/2007 hix: [Soth] It's Call of Cthulu after you've gone mad (and a publishing experiment)
I'm writing an extremely short horror-comedy game, which I want to use to break through my fear of publishing (I've been writing my "big" game - Bad Family, aka The…
In First Thoughts
Participants: hix.

11/23/2007 Peter Nordstrand: [While We Were Fighting] Character Generation
I am designing this game. It is called While We Were Fighting. I've scheduled two playtest sessions next week with different groups. Problem is that character generation is flawed. I'll…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Peter Nordstrand, hix.

11/24/2007 StrongBadMun: [Red Alert!] Sci-Fi Roleplay with a twist!
I've had an idea buzzing in my head that I want people's opinions on, it's something I think would be pretty fun and have already started scribbling out concept notes…
In First Thoughts
Participants: StrongBadMun, Vulpinoid, Darcy Burgess.

11/26/2007 opsneakie: Thoughts on a 'see-saw' or 'push-pull' Magic system
Okay, the rest of the ideas for my system might be in disorganized shambles right now, but I like this idea, so far. Briefly, this game is about telling sweeping,…
In First Thoughts
Participants: opsneakie, Vulpinoid, Grinning Moon, jmhpfan, Narf the Mouse, Xerxes, Capulet, blodwin.

11/26/2007 BubbaBrown: [D10-0] Analysis of purpose
I've been working on this system off to the side for the past few years, trying to find out what to do with it.  I think I've found it with…
In First Thoughts
Participants: BubbaBrown, J Tolson.

11/26/2007 Willow: Articles for Wargame Design?
I've been pondering my next design, a hybrid wargame/rpg.  I'm pretty clear on where I want the rpg mechanics to be, but the wargame part is taking up more of…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Willow, Valamir, J Tolson, Simons.

11/27/2007 Filip Luszczyk: Crow Fortunes & The Awesome Game
So, a while back Kamil ordered some games at Lulu. The package came delayed, though, and instead of Dirty Secrets he received this, possibly due to ordering The Princess Kingdom…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Filip Luszczyk.

11/27/2007 Grinning Moon: [Doomsday] Initial Idea & Character Creation
I don't know if anyone's ever played a computer game called 'Evil Genius'? Brilliant idea, excellent production values... really sloppy execution and boring gameplay. Which is such a shame, since…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Grinning Moon, northerain.

11/27/2007 DracoDruid: I need help on Ability choice for my system
Hi everybody. I recently got her from a friend of mine and I really hope I will get the inspiration I need at the moment. Ok off we go: For…
In First Thoughts
Participants: DracoDruid, Lobo, Darcy Burgess, opsneakie, Conteur, Marshall Burns, Narf the Mouse, Llogres.

11/27/2007 jmhpfan: Dogs in the Tower (a Stephen King hack)
    I am a big fan of Dogs in the Vineyard and of Stephen King's Dark Tower series.  I keep thinking that these two were made for each other. …
In First Thoughts
Participants: jmhpfan, J Tolson, northerain.

11/29/2007 Noon: In the pursuit of shiny objects
I have an idea for keeping play in a certain type of flux, but it needs just a bit more push. Basically I'm imagining a grided map, with an objective…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Noon, jag, contracycle, Simon C, dindenver.

11/29/2007 earwig: System with changing skills
Okay, I'm going to try to be as short with this as possible, since I have a habit of rambling. I am working on an RPG where the players play…
In First Thoughts
Participants: earwig, opsneakie, Simon C, Marshall Burns.

11/29/2007 StrongBadMun: Ember and Magic or "AUGH IT BURNS!!!"
Ok so in my game Ember the laws of magic are stripped away, making it difficult to predict and even more difficult to control.  I don't want the "mages" to…
In First Thoughts
Participants: StrongBadMun, Simon C, Simons, Noon, crackrat, OnnoTasler, Capulet, chronoplasm.

more subsequent topics >>