Previous Topics

1/23/2002 Zak Arntson: Operant Conditioning & RPG System
Okay, my wife has a degree in Psych, so I've got a layman's view of the field. I've often thought about how gambling psychology plays into video games: The most…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Zak Arntson, hardcoremoose, Bankuei, J B Bell, Le Joueur, Laurel, Blake Hutchins, Ron Edwards.

1/16/2002 Zak Arntson: Harlekin-Maus monthly: Cubes
Roleplaying at the office. Cubes Game design notes: This game came in a flash. I was really sick of work, so I wrote a quickie on Cubes (you can…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson, contracycle.

1/15/2002 Zak Arntson: D/F/K and the Unknown Factor
I've been thinking about mechanics for some time now. I'm trying to come up with a good vocabulary for working out systems in games. This applies only to rpgs with…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Zak Arntson, Bankuei, Garbanzo, Epoch.

1/11/2002 Zak Arntson: S&S Praise & semi-Actual Play
First off, huge amounts of props (prizops, even) go to you, Ron. I got Sorcerer & Sword from my mother on Christmas (!!), and immediately began reading the thing. It's…
In Adept Press
Participants: Zak Arntson, Ron Edwards, Clay.

1/9/2002 Zak Arntson: www.harlekin-maus.com
Okay, the only way I can justify posting basically an ad ... is that I'm taking down my old site and putting it up (with some revamping) at www.harlekin-maus.com…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson.

1/4/2002 Zak Arntson: One-Shot Gaming
I've been thinking about the way our (about to be rekindled) group plays games, and the intent is to play a single indie game for a weekend or two. Thing…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson, unodiablo, Mike Holmes, Paul Czege, Julian Kelsey, Garbanzo, hardcoremoose, James V. West.

12/31/2001 Zak Arntson: Harlekin-Maus monthly: Fungeon
I'm officially releasing my GM-less Dungeon Crawling game. Fungeon The holidays kicked me upside the head, so I wasn't able to make it super-amazing by the end of the…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson, James V. West.

12/27/2001 Zak Arntson: Preliminary Design - Gamist Cubes & Narrativist Fate
Two different game ideas: Cubes Competitive roleplaying corporate drones, a la Office Space (the movie). I wanted a game that uses cards, is competitive, and a commentary on my…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson, Clinton R. Nixon.

12/10/2001 Zak Arntson: Robot GNS - Preliminary Design
Okay, I wrote an RPG about Robots. Well, I wrote 3 of them. I tried to carry them along the lines of GNS, just to see how it would work.…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson.

12/7/2001 Zak Arntson: Successful RPG Line
In another thread (http://indie-rpgs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?topic=972&forum=4&4), Ron Edwards sez, The common plan of releasing supplements which are both (a) setting details and (b) metaplot continuance does NOT, ultimately, serve a…
In Publishing
Participants: Zak Arntson, Nathan, Le Joueur, Joe Murphy (Broin), JSDiamond, Ron Edwards, Dav, Paul Czege, mearls, Mike Holmes, Clinton R. Nixon, GMSkarka, Jack Spencer Jr, Ian O'Rourke, Anon LeBlanc, Ryan Ary.

12/1/2001 Zak Arntson: Superpets - Harlekin-Maus November RPG
[A HREF="http://zaknet.tripod.com/hmouse/index.html"]Superpets[/A] The RPG of Animal Super Heroes, with pictures! Indie Game Design notes: * Check out the forceful use of Fortune in the Beginning and a single narrator for…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson, lumpley, Mike Holmes.

11/24/2001 Zak Arntson: Fungeon - Secret Webpage
Okay, I've since hammered out the Preliminary Game design (thanks, Mike!), and put the thing up at a webpage. I haven't linked to it from my main site, so it's…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson, xiombarg, James V. West.

11/16/2001 Zak Arntson: Chill Companion - Worth Buying?
I've heard that the old Chill (with the crazy covers) is an amazing product, especially it's sense of horror. I saw the Chill Companion book at the store, by Ray…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson, hardcoremoose, Ron Edwards.

11/13/2001 Zak Arntson: Fungeon - GMless Dungeon Crawling (Preliminary Design)
Okay, over at livejournal, I've put up a sneaky peek at Fungeon. http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?itemid=15027185 Simple currency, Room by Room play, resolution builds in a fun way of narrating events. In a…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson, Jared A. Sorensen, Mike Holmes, Nathan.

11/9/2001 Zak Arntson: Superpets - Preliminary Game Design
[A HREF="http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?itemid=14709655"]Superpets[/A] It's in the LiveJournal phase, which is somewhere between Idea & Initial Notes and Harlekin-Maus Freebie. So now is the best time to provide input. It's a simple…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson.

11/7/2001 Zak Arntson: Call for Probability Formulas
Okay, this was spurred by numerous questions (a few on here, tons on rpg.net) about dice probabilities. Is there some way we can just collect a bunch of formulas and…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson, Don Lag, Mike Holmes, kwill.

11/1/2001 Zak Arntson: SLURPS - Harlekin-Maus Monthly RPG
[H3][A HREF="http://zaknet.tripod.com/hmouse/"]SLURPS[/A][/H3] This the Simplest Little Unitarian Role Playing System. This one's kind of hard to explain. What if you played a Character [I]and[/I] the manifestation of your Character's monotheism?…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson, Matt.

10/19/2001 Zak Arntson: How to Design a Bad Game
Okay, as you can see from my Harlekin-Maus site, I design short games. Usually with a ridiculous Premise (for a serious Premise, wait for my Chthonian redux). So, a short…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson, Mike Holmes, Jason L Blair, unodiablo.

9/30/2001 Zak Arntson: Sitcom - Freebie RPG
[H3][A HREF="http://zaknet.tripod.com/hmouse/games/sitcom.html"]Sitcom - roleplaying in tv hell[/A][/H3] Okay, it's a silly game where you play a part in a Sitcom. I'd love to hear opinions and get custom-variations from y'all.…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson, James V. West, hardcoremoose, Matt, Jack Spencer Jr.

9/26/2001 Zak Arntson: Indie Gaming - Red Box D&D
Okay, so our Sunday Indie Gaming went a little odd this weekend. I had to step out while the gang played Chez Geek ... One of our players had never…
In Actual Play
Participants: Zak Arntson, Ben Morgan, J B Bell, Bankuei, Jared A. Sorensen, Clinton R. Nixon.

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Subsequent Topics

2/20/2002 Zak Arntson: In-Progress - Alien Descent Team
Talking with Clinton about a space-age Donjon (which might become my Donjon supplement, we'll see), coupled with an inspiring mention from Jon Morris (of Ape-Law) about "Alien school", and…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson, Bailywolf, Jared A. Sorensen, Ron Edwards, Garbanzo.

2/20/2002 Zak Arntson: Donjon in Space
Okay, I don't know if Clinton or I will be writing Donjon in Space (or both of us), but it's something that will eventually happen. It's too cool not to.…
In CRN Games
Participants: Zak Arntson, Bailywolf, Grex, Valamir, gizem, xiombarg.

2/25/2002 Zak Arntson: Sorcerer's Soul in Lynnwood, Washington!
I saw (and bought) Sorcerer's Soul here in Lynnwood, Washinton. A store called Fantastic Games & Toys. I've been going there since um, 1980-something, and it's had the same owner…
In Adept Press
Participants: Zak Arntson, AndyGuest, Valamir, Thor Olavsrud, Ron Edwards, Mytholder, Christopher Kubasik, Noble, Robert Leal, jburneko.

3/2/2002 Zak Arntson: Donjon: Apocalypse
I know Donjon isn't finished yet, but I'm already working on a Post-Apocalypse Donjon game. Play mutants! Deal with radiation! Drive cars! Blow cars up with rocket launchers! Anyhow, just…
In CRN Games
Participants: Zak Arntson, Jared A. Sorensen, Mike Holmes.

3/24/2002 Zak Arntson: Sea Monkey RPG - Zak's Published!
I didn't know which forum to stick this in, but I've finally got my Sea Monkey RPG published! It's in a bigger book, the Ultimate Guide to Sea Monkeys. It's…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson, Mike Holmes, Valamir, Ron Edwards.

4/3/2002 Zak Arntson: RPG in Progress - Victorian Monsters
Talking with Jared about Victorian-era Monster Roleplaying, he came upon the name SuperFiends. I am going to use this name for another game, though this game started out as SuperFiends.…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson, Valamir, Matt Steflik, quozl, Blake Hutchins.

4/8/2002 Zak Arntson: S&Sword - Suggested Reading Questions
Okay, I hit the used bookstore again ... and I've got some questions on these books, which I'm hoping Ron (or someone) will be able to answer. Farewell to Lankhmar,…
In Adept Press
Participants: Zak Arntson, Ron Edwards, Robert Leal, jburneko, joshua neff.

4/8/2002 Zak Arntson: Book/RPG - Fantasy Wargaming
I just grabbed this from a used bookstore, and it's pretty interesting. I'm posting this in the Indie Design forum, because it'd make a good reference for how to (and…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson, Valamir.

4/11/2002 Zak Arntson: Shadows - Harlekin-Maus April Game
Took a birthday hiatus in March (though Sea Monkey RPG and In the Works on the website happened then, so I'm guiltless), and am back with an April game! Shadows,…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson, hardcoremoose, Buddha Nature, Nathan, Andrew Martin, Clinton R. Nixon, Ron Edwards, Matt Steflik, Christoffer Lernö, Bob McNamee, Paganini.

4/30/2002 Zak Arntson: Indie Gaming Monday - InSpectres
Well, I had Clinton and my two brothers over for Monday Night Indie Gaming. We started with Munchkin (slow starting game, but wound up pretty awesome by the end. I…
In Actual Play
Participants: Zak Arntson, Ron Edwards, joshua neff, Paul Czege, Jared A. Sorensen, Joe Murphy (Broin), Walt Freitag, Mike Holmes.

5/6/2002 Zak Arntson: Pure Sim is not roleplaying
I was just reading Jared's Beeg Horseshoe Theory and thinking about my talks with him about Sim as a myth (correct me if I'm wrong, Jared!). It got me thinking…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Zak Arntson, Valamir, Ron Edwards, J B Bell, Le Joueur, Jack Spencer Jr, Jared A. Sorensen, Laurel, Walt Freitag, Gordon C. Landis, Mike Holmes, xiombarg, contracycle.

5/7/2002 Zak Arntson: Indie Gaming Monday - InSpectres Again!
Played InSpectres again. Trying to put all this talk into action. Quick synopsis: Three Players (nobody from the Forge this time), me GMing. My adventure hook was randomly picked from…
In Actual Play
Participants: Zak Arntson, Ron Edwards, Jared A. Sorensen.

5/14/2002 Zak Arntson: Indie Gaming Monday, May 13 2002
Okay, we only had three participants this time (myself included). We were going to try out d20 Call of Cthulhu! It's not an Indie game, but after some emails and…
In Actual Play
Participants: Zak Arntson.

5/14/2002 Zak Arntson: Experiment - Sim Space Station Game
Okay, for the sake of experimentation, I tried to design a game with a Sim-supportive System (Exploration of Character and Situation). And by game, I mean there's play structure involved.…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson, Mike Holmes, contracycle, Balbinus, Valamir.

5/15/2002 Zak Arntson: Exisiting Focused Sim Games?
This is in Indie Game Design, because I want to find games to study and help me become a better designer. So ... I know there are tons of Sim…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson, Clinton R. Nixon, Mike Holmes, contracycle, Balbinus, GreatWolf, Le Joueur.

5/19/2002 Zak Arntson: Everett, WA - Sorcerer Sighting
Two copies of Sorcerer in the Everett Mall's Wizards of the Coast store. I grabbed Munchkin and a Nocturnum (Call of Cthulhu) trilogy (50% off). Anyhow, I was very glad…
In Adept Press
Participants: Zak Arntson, Ron Edwards, Joe Murphy (Broin), Ace, Seth L. Blumberg, Jared A. Sorensen, Christopher Kubasik, epweissengruber, Russell Hoyle.

5/21/2002 Zak Arntson: Harlekin Maus May Game - Metal Opera
Alright, I've written up May's game (with art!). Metal Opera Synopsis: You play Rockers, which are the embodiment of freedom versus oppression, using their abilities to rock and kick ass.…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson, Bankuei, mahoux, xiombarg, Jared A. Sorensen, RobMuadib.

5/22/2002 Zak Arntson: Indie Gaming Monday (5/20)
[minor editing for more coherence] We played a ton of Munchkin (5 players makes the game) and played a little d20 Call of Cthulhu. It's not indie, but I've been…
In Actual Play
Participants: Zak Arntson, Clay, Mike Holmes, hardcoremoose, Balbinus, Gordon C. Landis, J B Bell, Tim Denee.

5/26/2002 Zak Arntson: Chthonian Redux
Okay, now that I'm back to playing CoC, it's time to rewrite Chthonian. The working name will be Chthonian Redux, but I do want to eventually make it sound like…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson, RobMuadib, Henry Fitch, Balbinus, Jared A. Sorensen, Valamir, Evan Waters, Ron Edwards, AndyGuest, Matt.

6/5/2002 Zak Arntson: Indie Gaming Monday (06/03)
Not much to report. We played tons of Munchkin. First lesson: Put a cap on non-roleplaying activity. We should've given ourselves a 1 hour time limit. We then played Pantheon,…
In Actual Play
Participants: Zak Arntson.

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