Previous Topics
In First Thoughts

8/5/2009 Geethree: "Recipe"-based Magic System - how to resolve/refine?
I am working on a magic system loosely inspired by the novel Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. For those unfamiliar, essentially it is not combat-centric. It is more general folklore-y…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Geethree, Mike Sugarbaker, Creatures of Destiny, JoyWriter, Lance D. Allen, jasonm, Xeven.

8/5/2009 Patrice: [Tales of the Dragon Lords]The Setting
I wasn't planning to post anymore in First Thoughts about Tales of the Dragon Lords but Evan's thread gave me a good motivation to do so when he stated in…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Patrice, Paul Czege, whiteknife, M. Burrell, noahtrammell, Noclue, C. Edwards, JoyWriter.

8/5/2009 Galadrin: Tolkien-esque Storytelling RPG
After taking a BIG break from my hobbies (board games, pen & paper games, wargames etc), my interest in game design seeped back into my life rather naturally.  I was…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Galadrin, jerry, Noclue, chance.thirteen, anders_larsen, Luke, Guy Srinivasan, brianbloodaxe, noahtrammell, 7VII7, RobNJ, contracycle, Alokov.

8/5/2009 Benajmin385: Planing an Wargame RPG kind of Game... Will this be allowed on the forge?
Hey my name is Benjamin aka Benjamin385. I have been trying to make an RPG-war game for quite an while now. I am asking if this will be allowed on…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Benajmin385, Vulpinoid, Simon C, mjbauer, greyorm, David C.

8/4/2009 Silicon God: FIRST POST! - Yet another Homebrew Mecha RPG, but this one's tactical for once
Hello, I've been posting on a number of tabletop/RPG sites a while, trying to get feedback on my creation. So, what's it? Its a tactical RPG. (while I know that…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Silicon God, Noclue, contracycle, MacLeod, Ron Edwards, mjbauer, Simon C, Mike Sugarbaker.

8/3/2009 paddirn: Performance based skill gain?
I'm curious what sorts of things other people have come across when trying to make skill gain more "realistic". The mechanic I'm attempting to incorporate is having players only able…
In First Thoughts
Participants: paddirn, Luke, Simon C, chance.thirteen, 7VII7, Geethree, sockmonkey, Creatures of Destiny, Vulpinoid, JoyWriter.

7/31/2009 DWeird: Napkins, crayons, utter annihilation
Hi! I'm taking a break from my other stuff that's slowly brewing (no! really! there's progress!), and decided to go for something silly and childish instead... You're a crew on…
In First Thoughts
Participants: DWeird, Mike Sugarbaker, Geethree.

7/30/2009 Adam Dray: Get the most out of posting your new game idea to First Thoughts
I have been a Forge member for a long time, with varying degrees of activity. I'm not the forum moderator (Ron Edwards is -- this post is advice, not rules).…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Adam Dray, MacLeod, markhaselb, Lance D. Allen, Librabys, Simon C, Ben Lehman, 7VII7, Luke, greyorm, Vulpinoid, Paka, SeeThirty.

7/29/2009 Lance D. Allen: [Mage Blade]: Spell Building
Okay! Once I have managed to get past this, I will really have no excuse to not finish and begin playtesting the hell out of my game. The magic system…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Lance D. Allen, brianbloodaxe, David C, 7VII7, Simon C, Geethree, Guy Srinivasan, Johnstone.

7/29/2009 agony: Forced goals/conditions on players
  edit  whisperquote# 1 I'm working on a mechanic where damage received is translated to "Scars". Scars may only be healed by buying them off. Each Scar will have its…
In First Thoughts
Participants: agony, Simon C, Mike Sugarbaker, 7VII7, JoyWriter, Thor Olavsrud, Noon, Vladius.

7/29/2009 Tyler.Tinsley: principled play Vs. lawful play and the "players contract"
I'm trying a little experiment with my latest project and it's helped me clear up some issues I have been having. On a lark I thought it would be a…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Tyler.Tinsley, HeTeleports, Luke, JoyWriter, Noon.

7/29/2009 cra2: Vice vs Virtue
Need help with this mechanic idea... I took an old TSR Boot Hill module and replaced the resolution system with something fast - a trimmed down version of the Fuzion…
In First Thoughts
Participants: cra2, Luke, Lance D. Allen, Mike Sugarbaker, Simon C.

7/28/2009 7VII7: TAROT (working title) stuff
Color: Classic fantasy elements with a new take on it, things like magic being a daily part of life, elves being more like aliens, dwarves incased cybernetic suits, etc, for…
In First Thoughts
Participants: 7VII7, markhaselb, Simon C, Adam Dray.

7/28/2009 Wordman: Designing to constraints (airport games)
I can't tell if this post is really intended to design a real game, or just tripping over beehives. I think it is the former, but given my recent ranting…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Wordman, HeTeleports, Librabys, Doplegager, JoyWriter, Vladius, Guy Srinivasan.

7/28/2009 Ayyavazi: What goes into a Genre?
Hello all, I realized that coming up with genres and example movies/books does not help people to craft stories using my game, since Genre is too broad a term. What…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Ayyavazi, dindenver, JoyWriter.

7/28/2009 Ayyavazi: Cyclical World Explosion and Premise
Ok, I'm trying to design a setting so that it encourages premise, that is, encourages narrativist roleplaying and doesn't fall into the "excuse to publish fiction" Ron hates so much.…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Ayyavazi, jasonm.

7/27/2009 7VII7: I can't think of a good subject to go here.
Ok, I've been thinking of making an rpg for awhile now, but so far I only have half-baked ideas and such, however I have several ideas about what I want…
In First Thoughts
Participants: 7VII7, lumpley, Luke, Alex Abate, Bill_White, Selene Tan, greyorm, JoyWriter, Paul Czege, Noon, Simon C.

7/27/2009 Librabys: Aethera and the kill power 19
Hi, I am designing a game, and reading here since few weeks. I've red all the articles and some posts, and I would like to put my concept on the…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Librabys, Noclue, Ron Edwards, markhaselb, Simon C, Ben Lehman.

7/25/2009 Lance D. Allen: [Mage Blade]: Spellcasting
It's laughable to call this a first thought. I've taken magic back to formula almost as many times as character generation. So we'll call this a Born-Again First Thought. As…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Lance D. Allen, Simon C, brianbloodaxe, Bill_White, Johnstone.

7/24/2009 ShallowThoughts: Distinguishing between good-good/bad-good, and simply boring actions
I realize the topic title is mystifying, so I'll explain. I'm working on a character growth/reward system (mentioned in a recent post Chits and the Void) where the PCs are…
In First Thoughts
Participants: ShallowThoughts, Luke, Patrice, dindenver, Lance D. Allen, anders_larsen.

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Subsequent Topics
In First Thoughts

8/6/2009 7VII7: [11:11] Introduction
I've released the game I've previously been working on was partially not what I wanted and mostly over my head so for now it's on the back burner as I…
In First Thoughts
Participants: 7VII7, RobNJ, MacLeod, Luke.

8/6/2009 Charlie Gilb: [the Waste] Resolution: succeeding by getting stabbed in the face
Hello, A few months ago, I posted a few threads both in this forums and on Story-Games about my post-apocalyptic RPG called 'the Waste'. Following that, I have done a…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Charlie Gilb, noahtrammell, RobNJ, Luke, Creatures of Destiny, JoyWriter.

8/6/2009 MacLeod: [Vice & Virtue] My Attempt At Creating Roleplaying Mechanics
For the longest time I have been hating on roleplaying incentives and roleplay controlling mechanics. Recently, however, I've decided that I'd like to try my hand at designing such a…
In First Thoughts
Participants: MacLeod, Dan Maruschak, Guy Srinivasan, Geethree, Steenan, JoyWriter, SeeThirty, Vladius.

8/7/2009 JRSwift: Group made rpg?
So, I have a family member that is trying to get people online to contribute to this "player created" setting for like a d&d or pathfinder game.  I am trying…
In First Thoughts
Participants: JRSwift, Luke, PhoenixFireRPG, GregStolze.

8/8/2009 Elizabeth: How do I make relationships important in my Burn Notice-inspired spy game?
So I've been hard at work on a new game inspired by one of my favorite TV shows, Burn Notice. The premise of my game is that you're all a…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Elizabeth, Alokov, Noclue, Noon, chance.thirteen, Luke, SeeThirty, jasonm, dindenver.

8/9/2009 SeeThirty: New RPG Project: Superhero RPG with a more "light feel.
I'm something of a "veteran" gamer and GM, and I am working on a project now that incorporates a "little rascals" style into a superhero RPG somewhat in the vein…
In First Thoughts
Participants: SeeThirty, Elizabeth, Lance D. Allen, Ken, dindenver, Michael S. Miller.

8/9/2009 Vladius: Grapps
Hi, I'm new here. While I find the GNS system and the whole concept of "indie roleplaying" somewhat pretentious, I'm working on a fairly complex game and I don't want…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Vladius, 7VII7, MacLeod.

8/10/2009 reverse_atomic_roger: Initiative - How simple/complex?
Hi all. I'm working on a simple system. Characters have stats, like strength and dexterity, and skills, like armed combat and computing. For task resolution the players rolls a number…
In First Thoughts
Participants: reverse_atomic_roger, Vladius, MacLeod, JoyWriter, Mike Sugarbaker, David C, tenebrax, Catelf.

8/11/2009 7VII7: 11:11
Ok, I've already introduced 11:11 before but I've thought on it and felt like I should post this, The basic concept of the game is as follows: -Color: It depends…
In First Thoughts
Participants: 7VII7, Vladius.

8/11/2009 John_Elwood: maximum crunchy?
i know this is not the best place for a question like this but i figured it would have the best chance of getting a usable answer. i have no…
In First Thoughts
Participants: John_Elwood, Charlie Gilb, SeeThirty.

8/12/2009 ShallowThoughts: Conundrum: dissimilar assets versus point-built characters
Admittedly, I haven't yet given this question one iota of thought towards an answer; however, that's to be expected, given that the question occurred to me two minutes ago, long…
In First Thoughts
Participants: ShallowThoughts, Mike Sugarbaker, chance.thirteen, Selene Tan, David C, HeTeleports, Vladius.

8/13/2009 Ayyavazi: Need help getting my game ready for playtesting (and a name)
Hello all, So, I am making a game about competing for the rights to collaboratively create stories. It should be able to handle just about any setting, mood, or plot…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Ayyavazi, Mike Sugarbaker, Simon C, JoyWriter, Adam Dray, Ron Edwards, Noon, chance.thirteen.

8/14/2009 7VII7: [TAROT] attributes & such.
for my game Tarot I've planned the following seven attributes; Force: Sort of like strength in a traditional ttrpg system but also includes magical, social, and mental attacks Persuasion: Used…
In First Thoughts
Participants: 7VII7, Vulpinoid, Vladius.

8/15/2009 kris_h: Narrativist game - basic resolution ideas
Hi, My name is Chris. Im a long time lurker, but it’s my first post on the Forge. I’m not a native English speaker, so my language may not be…
In First Thoughts
Participants: kris_h, Simon C, Klaus Graziade.

8/15/2009 Kaj Sotala: Scene framing -focused game about global media attention
For a while now, I've been playing around the idea of a game where the act of scene framing was the main content. Since scene framing tells us the things…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Kaj Sotala, Dan Maruschak, Mike Sugarbaker, Bill_White.

8/16/2009 Galadrin: [There and Back Again] Tolkien Style Roleplay (Take 2)
Ok, I've taken a lot of the easy-to-implement suggestions from the previous thread, cleaned up the game a lot and boiled it down to the essentials.  Where should I go…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Galadrin, Noon, Mike Sugarbaker, tombowings, dindenver, Teataine, Ken, jerry.

8/16/2009 MacLeod: [Fantasy Engine] Faith In Fantasy
This is a relatively simple question that can be presented with a fairly light amount of information... I need two more 'Styles' of Faith-based powers. As it stands I have…
In First Thoughts
Participants: MacLeod, Catelf, Charlie Gilb.

8/17/2009 dmkdesigns: New RPG project: Of Legends and Legacies
Hi there! I've been working on an idea for a little while and wanted to discuss it with other game designers to see if I can get some feedback and…
In First Thoughts
Participants: dmkdesigns, Mike Sugarbaker.

8/17/2009 Gib: Building-Block Magic System
Hi all. I've been tinkering with making a free-form magic system since I've looked at several but none quite do the trick for me. The major factors that can be…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Gib, Mike Sugarbaker, dindenver, HeTeleports, JoyWriter, Tark, Skull, YEAH.

8/17/2009 7VII7: [TAROT] GM vs GMless
I had planned on making TAROT GMless as to common opinion GMing is a thankless, boring task and in my opinion alot of potential RPers are put off by the…
In First Thoughts
Participants: 7VII7, Vladius, Mike Sugarbaker, Adam Dray, dindenver.

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