Previous Topics
In First Thoughts

7/1/2009 Patrice: Idealized play experience : another look at Heartbreakers
Bumping from the S/lay W/Me playtest forum, I've decided to take another look at designing my own ideal RPG from a different seed. Instead of asking myself "what would my…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Patrice, M. Burrell, Abkajud, Vulpinoid, brianbloodaxe, Ron Edwards, MacLeod, whiteknife, noahtrammell, JoyWriter.

6/30/2009 Zzarchov: Looking for Feedback on a simple introductory "Party Game" RPG
I hope this is the correct forum for this, apologies if not. I was looking to get some general design feedback from a simple "Party Game" RPG of mine. The…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Zzarchov, M. Burrell, MacLeod, Noon, Mike Sugarbaker, Selene Tan.

6/30/2009 Marshall Burns: [MADCorp] buddy mechanics?
[i]MADCorp[/i] is the game of corporate dungeoncrawling horror. (You heard me). You work for MADCorp, the Mercenary/Adventurer/Dungeoneer Corporation. You do the dirty work of going into the dungeons, and MADCorp…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Marshall Burns, M. Burrell, David C.

6/30/2009 kingkaius: education for game design?
As a college student finishing up his undergraduate degree in film production, I'm wondering whether there are any programs/degrees which would allow for the academic study of rpg design and…
In First Thoughts
Participants: kingkaius, David Artman, chance.thirteen, Eero Tuovinen, whiteknife, mjbauer, HeTeleports, Ron Edwards, jasonm, Jonathan Walton, Mike Sugarbaker, kleenestar, J. Tuomas Harviainen.

6/30/2009 Zombie Cylon: D&D Mechanics: To Use, or Not to Use
I was wondering if anyone knows: Are there any legal restrictions on incorporating (into a new system) the simple D&D mechanic of rolling 3d6 for six attributes and rolling a…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Zombie Cylon, David C, Vulpinoid, greyorm, Eero Tuovinen.

6/29/2009 Kalandri: Generic, simple, card-based narrativist drama
The details of this game were inspired by and stolen from so many other things I can't possibly list them. Standard GM/Player arrangement. Deck of cards (with two jokers) and…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Kalandri, Grimgor, noahtrammell, Bill_White.

6/28/2009 adeniro: help with meta-game for novel
Hi there, I hope this is the right place to post these very embryonic thoughts of mine. I write fiction, and my first novel called Total Oblivion, More or Less…
In First Thoughts
Participants: adeniro, chance.thirteen, JoyWriter.

6/28/2009 Grimgor: Gorrum's Children
Hello everyone. I have been working for the past year or so on an rpg i call Dosro: Gorrum's Children, an orcish rpg. The basic idea is that the orcs…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Grimgor, Abkajud.

6/26/2009 Charlie Gilb: [the Waste] Resolution Mechanics Revisited
Hey folks, About a month ago, I posted here (and on Story Games) regarding my post-apocalyptic game called 'the Waste'. I wanted to get some insights into my resolution mechanics.…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Charlie Gilb, Abkajud.

6/26/2009 M. Burrell: Content and Conflict Generation for Instant Narrative
One frustrating experience I've had as both game-master and player is the length and style of set-up that certain 'classic' RPGs require. Players must generate characters (often insulated from the…
In First Thoughts
Participants: M. Burrell, Adam Dray, whiteknife.

6/26/2009 chronoplasm: The D&D Edition Wars in my Game's Setting
I'm thinking of making fun of the edition wars in my games default setting. There used to be an ancient and wondrous empire called Tee'essar, but after it fell into…
In First Thoughts
Participants: chronoplasm, David C, Adam Dray, ShallowThoughts, whiteknife.

6/26/2009 Abkajud: Hitting a wall with my Greek adventure design
[cross-posted at story-games.com] Hey, gang, I'm working on a mechanic for my Greek adventure game, The Hellenes. I've been tinkering with it quite a bit, trying to achieve Story Now,…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Abkajud, chronoplasm, JoyWriter, jasonm, Jonathan Walton, Darcy Burgess.

6/26/2009 robotsunshine: Hide 'n Seek
I'm planning a short book on live-action games. Not necessarily LARP, but games you have to go out and about to play, and games that utilize mechanics in such a…
In First Thoughts
Participants: robotsunshine.

6/25/2009 Vulpinoid: [Rajah Spiny Rat] Revelation of a newly finished game contest entry...
A few months ago, an idea was proposed over on Story Games for a "Random RPG Cover" contest. Each contestant was given three titles, three pictures, and three quotes from…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Vulpinoid, Patrice, JoyWriter, Bret Gillan.

6/24/2009 Klaus Graziade: How You Use It...
Dear Forge, Well, I've been sitting on several ideas for a while, and I'd love some input on a particular idea that's been giving me trouble.  In my current project,…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Klaus Graziade, Adam Dray, David Artman, Ron Edwards, JoyWriter, Luke.

6/24/2009 Ben Lehman: Thoughts on Psychological Survival Horror
I want to write a game that occupies a space I think of in my head as Psychological Survival Horror: basically things which are like Silent Hill, or Braid. Basically,…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Ben Lehman, Elizabeth, greyorm, Rafu, Charlie Gilb, jburneko, chronoplasm, sirogit, noahtrammell.

6/24/2009 henricius: Bet with markers.
I have some ideas on a little conflict system. Right now i am using skills between 1 and 12 and two D6 dice that are added together. In a fight…
In First Thoughts
Participants: henricius, David Artman, trick, mjbauer, JoyWriter.

6/24/2009 Tyler.Tinsley: writing exercise, practice?
Any of you writers out there have any tips about getting better at writing? Like methods of practice or something? good books? I think my concepts are strong but my…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Tyler.Tinsley, Eero Tuovinen, Adam Dray, Warrior Monk, Grimgor, trick, ShallowThoughts, JoyWriter.

6/23/2009 chronoplasm: Random Musings: Overthrow the Dungeon Master!
Player: "OK, so what number do I have to roll?" DM: "Don't ask me how high you have to roll; just roll the dice and I'll tell you whether you…
In First Thoughts
Participants: chronoplasm, Abkajud, whiteknife.

6/22/2009 Zzarchov: Choosing between two different Social Conflict Mechanics
So, Im looking for opinions from anyone who likes mechanics involved in resolving social conflicts (debates, arguments etc). If you prefer to purely talk it out, thats fine, just not…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Zzarchov, M. Burrell, chance.thirteen.

<< more previous topics

Subsequent Topics
In First Thoughts

7/3/2009 EvilCat: Survival and lethality in a Sinking City setting.
Imagine a sci-fi dome city in an open ocean. For some reason, all computers go crazy, monsters spawn everywhere, and the city begins to sink. There is a hundred or…
In First Thoughts
Participants: EvilCat, JMendes, M. Burrell, Noon, David C, Ron Edwards.

7/4/2009 Garbados: Dice-less Systems: feedback on and experiences with
I'm creating a setting-independent highly-extensible dice-less system called Ex Deus, and was looking for feedback or play experience with systems that didn't use dice. So guys, what're they like? What…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Garbados, M. Burrell, Jasper Flick, Tyler.Tinsley.

7/4/2009 JMendes: Competitive Story Overlay
Ahey, all, :) I'd like to share with you an insight that a friend of mine had, and an insight that I had that builds on top of his. The…
In First Thoughts
Participants: JMendes, Jasper Flick.

7/7/2009 Ayyavazi: Need Help with Genre examples
Hello all, You may remember my discussions earlier about the system I was designing with some heavy Dogs influence and morality attributes. That system is still under construction, but it…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Ayyavazi, Brimshack, Vulpinoid, M. Burrell.

7/12/2009 markhaselb: Power 19 for my game and concept discussion
Hello everyone, I am currently in the design phase of a game I want to develop. In the past I tried several settings and ideas for games, but I never…
In First Thoughts
Participants: markhaselb, Jonathan Walton.

7/13/2009 mogunus: [Mayhem] Power 19
1. What is your game about? Mayhem is about the fabric of sentient culture, as expressed through mythology. Normative behavior and mythology evolve together, and influence the course of civilization.…
In First Thoughts
Participants: mogunus, markhaselb, JoyWriter, Adam Dray, Bill_White, Simon C, Noclue.

7/13/2009 mogunus: [Mayhem] Resolution System
I am having a particular problem hashing out how my resolution system is going to work. My resolution system should facilitate simulationist play. I would enjoy some non-trivial Exploration of…
In First Thoughts
Participants: mogunus, markhaselb, Bill_White.

7/14/2009 JadedDemiGod: Setting the Setting
Hi all, Names Ian im a little new (ok first time) but i like the place so ill give it a shot. Im currently working on a Science Fiction P&P…
In First Thoughts
Participants: JadedDemiGod, Eero Tuovinen, Abkajud, Luke, dindenver, Matt Wilson, Adam Dray, lachek, Lance D. Allen, nikola.

7/14/2009 sockmonkey: Presenting New Game Ideas
Hello, all. Longtime lurker, first time poster. :D I know a lot of people present their game ideas in the form of the Power 19, but I've seen others just…
In First Thoughts
Participants: sockmonkey, JadedDemiGod, dindenver, Mike Sugarbaker, JoyWriter, Luke, Patrice, Brimshack, ShallowThoughts, Ben Lehman, Catelf, Ron Edwards.

7/14/2009 ShallowThoughts: Suggestion for addition to lexicon for table-top game design
Nothing big. It comes out of my work on my own RPG. Come to think of it, I can't imagine why it has not been suggested earlier what with the…
In First Thoughts
Participants: ShallowThoughts, trick, Vulpinoid, Lance D. Allen.

7/15/2009 sockmonkey: [Chronoplex] Handling Languages In A Time Travel Setting
The working title of the game I'm writing is Chronoplex. It is a time travel game that emphasizes the 'travel' element. I'm happy to share more details of the game,…
In First Thoughts
Participants: sockmonkey, Vulpinoid, Luke, HeTeleports, MacLeod, chance.thirteen, David Artman, billvolk, Castlin, 7VII7.

7/18/2009 Luke: Kill Power 19
The so-called "Power 19" have been clogging up the design pipes here for too long. I'm here to kill the Power 19. These questions purport to consolidate nine years of…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Luke, Vulpinoid, Lance D. Allen, Jonathan Walton, ShallowThoughts, mjbauer, anders_larsen, opsneakie, Paul Czege, Andy Kitkowski, sockmonkey, Wordman, Thor Olavsrud, Noclue, Garbados, JoyWriter, Librabys, Troy_Costisick, David C, Patrice, Frank Tarcikowski, brianbloodaxe, Ben Lehman, Mike Sugarbaker, Ron Edwards.

7/18/2009 xjermx: question: body or no body?
I'm writing a short amnesia style scenario that I intend to run with a tabletop and/or online group.  I'm torn on a certain piece of the setup, and hoping I…
In First Thoughts
Participants: xjermx, Simon C, Bill_White.

7/16/2009 HeTeleports: Death / start over (split)
[quote author=Mike Sugarbaker link=topic=28307.msg266280#msg266280 date=1247614324] The Power 19 is a great tool for crystallizing your thoughts about a game, but ... [truncation mine]... What works better: intrigue us, then ask…
In First Thoughts
Participants: HeTeleports, Lance D. Allen, Ron Edwards, contracycle, whiteknife.

7/19/2009 John Blaz: Speed and Accuracy, new system thought with example of play
Hey everyone, second time attempting to post this, so I'll be brief. The quicker you want something done, the less accurate it will be. Simple fact. I wanted to make…
In First Thoughts
Participants: John Blaz, Simon C, Bill_White, Noon, Garbados.

7/20/2009 Alokov: New RPG idea Frozen Dawn RPG
Hey. I'm writing my own RPG now. I am only a teenager so please bear with my  teenage silliness. It's a post-apocalyptic game set at the end of the next…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Alokov, Luke, David C, brianbloodaxe, greyorm, Thunder_God, Noclue, Simon C, Noon, contracycle, AcaBerry, dindenver, cocohow, lumpley, Jeff B.

7/20/2009 Garbados: [Ex Deus] System: Simple, Fast, Intuitive, Universal, Compelling
I began work on Ex Deus roughly five months ago, seeking to reconcile GURPS' unprecedented universality and detail with White Wolf's compelling simplicity. No single system I knew of accommodated…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Garbados, Alokov, Bill_White, Ron Edwards, Thunder_God, Luke, Lance D. Allen, Alex Abate, SAW, Mike Sugarbaker, Fatespinner, Noclue, Tyler.Tinsley, Simon C.

7/20/2009 flossy: New Game - Pearly Gates
I have an idea for a game called 'Pearly Gates'. The premise is that you have just died and you are justifying whether you go up to heaven or down…
In First Thoughts
Participants: flossy, Alokov, jasonm.

7/20/2009 sockmonkey: Editorial Timeline Samples?
I'm not sure if this is where this belongs. It seems to me there is a step missing between First Thoughts and Playtesting. Perhaps a Development forum could be considered?…
In First Thoughts
Participants: sockmonkey, Luke, Lance D. Allen.

7/20/2009 HeTeleports: Design from the other end of the games industry
While the Forge is a role-playing design community, any amount of theory is worth investigating how it applies to our design. This is an hour-long lecture on design -- but…
In First Thoughts
Participants: HeTeleports, greyorm, Noon, ShallowThoughts, RabbitHoleGames, Ralek, Wordman, David C, AzaLiN.

more subsequent topics >>