Previous Topics

3/19/2005 James_Nostack: [Sorcerer] Defending: with penalties, or without?
While trying to familiarize myself with the combat system, I ran into a question: Let's say you have Stamina 5 but have taken 8 lasting penalties. You flub your Will…
In Adept Press
Participants: James_Nostack, Trevis Martin, Ron Edwards.

3/16/2005 James_Nostack: Conflict Resolution and Conspiracies
Split from this thread about Conflict Resolution: How do you handle risk in the "free and clear" phase, when the GM would like the some of the risk to be…
In Actual Play
Participants: James_Nostack, Stickman.

3/15/2005 James_Nostack: [Sorcerer] Pro-Social Demons?
Is it possible to have demons with a "socially helpful" Desire or Needs? I'm reading through the Sorcerer core rules for the first time, and they seem to take a…
In Adept Press
Participants: James_Nostack, pete_darby, Ron Edwards, Bankuei.

3/3/2005 James_Nostack: [Paladin] Math
During a dull moment at work I tried to calculate how Paladin's dice mechanics work. Essentially each dice in a pool has an expected value of 0.5. You can spend…
In CRN Games
Participants: James_Nostack.

3/3/2005 James_Nostack: [Paladin] Illuminated GM Wanted!
(cross posted from RPG.Net) Play Location/Method: via IRC Game/System: Paladin http://www.anvilwerks.com/paladin/ Player or GM: I'm a player. There are two more players as well. Time/Frequency: Mondays, 9 PM Eastern Time;…
In Connections
Participants: James_Nostack.

3/1/2005 James_Nostack: [Paladin] Writing a Code?
Does anyone have any advice on how to write a satisfying Code for this game? We're trying to figure out how to this. It sounds like the Code has to…
In CRN Games
Participants: James_Nostack, Joshua Tompkins, b_bankhead, Thierry Michel.

2/26/2005 James_Nostack: [TSoY] Culture/Species Crunch: Exclusive?
Can people who aren't from a particular culture or species take the crunchy bits from those groups if it fits the character concept? Like, in the World of Near, Boating…
In CRN Games
Participants: James_Nostack, Clinton R. Nixon.

2/24/2005 James_Nostack: [Paladin] Enlightenment setting thread
In the Masonic Snipers thread, Joshua and I were beginning to thrash out a setting, but I didn't want to clog up Actual Play with stuff that, properly…
In CRN Games
Participants: James_Nostack, b_bankhead, Joshua Tompkins, xenopulse, Zubon-do.

2/22/2005 James_Nostack: [Paladin Xe] Masonic Snipers
(this is crossposted from the Indie Netgaming Yahoo Group) We're going with a secret order of Gnostic heretics operating under the shadow of the Church and the Monarchy during the…
In Actual Play
Participants: James_Nostack, Joshua Tompkins, Roger, LordSmerf, Bob McNamee.

2/20/2005 James_Nostack: [Alternity] Conflict Resolution saved my game!
My campaign was dying a slow, slow death... until Conflict Resolution brought it back to life! Hallelujah! Examples to follow, when I have time. My campaign has mostly been a…
In Actual Play
Participants: James_Nostack, TonyLB, Jasper, Noon, Scripty.

1/22/2005 James_Nostack: [Donjon] Framing the Question
As I understand it, players in Donjon can say, "I roll to do x," and if they roll well, not only do they succeed in the task but they get…
In CRN Games
Participants: James_Nostack, Clinton R. Nixon, Grover, timfire.

1/21/2005 James_Nostack: [TSOY] Optional BDP Rules, posted 1/19/05
For anyone who missed it: optional rules on Bringing Down the Pain have been posted to the Shadow of Yesterday Wiki. I already have a question: according to the optional…
In CRN Games
Participants: James_Nostack, Clinton R. Nixon.

1/7/2005 James_Nostack: TSoY Reviewed at RPG.Net
I wrote a brief playtest review of the HTML version of The Shadow of Yesterday at RPG.Net. I hope it results in increased sales/hits. The review is quite favorable, but…
In CRN Games
Participants: James_Nostack, Andy Kitkowski.

12/28/2004 James_Nostack: [TSoY] A Very Brief Engagement - Actual Play
Ran through my first session of The Shadow of Yesterday last night, with four players attending, including Clinton R. Nixon, the game's creator. I assume a log will be posted…
In Actual Play
Participants: James_Nostack, J B Bell, friartuck, rafial, Nyarly.

12/24/2004 James_Nostack: [TSoY] Resolution "scale"?
I don't know the proper RPG Theory Mumbo-Jumbo to ask this question efficiently, but here goes: You're playing some Conan the Barbarian rip-off. The storyguide throws a bunch of thugs…
In CRN Games
Participants: James_Nostack, rafial, Clinton R. Nixon.

12/13/2004 James_Nostack: TSOY: Bringing Down the Pain Question
Every second my boss is away, I've been reading my way through the HTML rulebook. It's so cool, and I can't wait to play! But I have a question about…
In CRN Games
Participants: James_Nostack, rafial, Clinton R. Nixon.

12/12/2004 James_Nostack: [Shadows of Yesterday] Recruiting for Indie-Netgaming
If anyone is interested in trying out Anvilwerks's new fantasy game, The Shadow of Yesterday, we're trying to put together a one-shot chat session over on the Indie-Netgaming Yahoo Group.…
In Connections
Participants: James_Nostack.

11/28/2004 James_Nostack: [Transhuman Alternity] Campaign Post-Mortem
I am posting this because at some point my campaign went terribly, or not-so-terribly, wrong and I'm wondering what the heck happened. We had a lot of fun but it…
In Actual Play
Participants: James_Nostack, Alan, greedo1379, b_bankhead.

11/26/2004 James_Nostack: [Alternity] Dice mechanic
This is my first post to the Forge; forgive me if I'm do anything wrong. In this thread, Ron Edwards wrote... I'm glad you mentioned Alternity - I've always wanted…
In Actual Play
Participants: James_Nostack, Ron Edwards, Precious Villain, demiurgeastaroth, Matt Wilson, johnzo.

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Subsequent Topics

3/25/2005 James_Nostack: Constructing Good Bangs
While most of the people who post at the Forge are regulars, I expect a lot of the lurkers are newcomers who don't understand all this Bang and Kicker stuff.…
In RPG Theory
Participants: James_Nostack, Paka, TonyLB, bcook1971, Noon, Alan, Ron Edwards, FzGhouL, Christopher Kubasik, Trevis Martin, M. J. Young.

3/29/2005 James_Nostack: [Sorc] Sacrifice Questions
On page 87 of the 2001 printing, it says... Furthermore, performing a sacrifice entails making another Humanity check. If it is a human sacrifice, this check has a penalty equal…
In Adept Press
Participants: James_Nostack, Trevis Martin, Ron Edwards.

4/2/2005 James_Nostack: [& Sword] Liches (again)
Allow me to do some forum necromancy here and bring this thread Becoming Undead back from the grave. But I've got some quick questions on that topic. 1. If you…
In Adept Press
Participants: James_Nostack, Ron Edwards, dyjoots.

4/3/2005 James_Nostack: [Pool] Coldblood & Dr. Mulberry
I ran my first session of the Pool last night! We didn't want to continue our regular science-fiction game because we were short a player, so we decided to explore…
In Actual Play
Participants: James_Nostack, Ron Edwards, aplath.

4/12/2005 James_Nostack: [Capes] Takes Some Getting Used To
So: my first session of Capes Lite, kindly run by Vaxalon with some help from Lxndr. I do not own Capes itself. * Vax ran his energy-blaster hero, Kozmik Ray…
In Actual Play
Participants: James_Nostack, TonyLB, Vaxalon, Doug Ruff, Miskatonic, Sydney Freedberg, Noon, Valamir, John Kim, hyphz, John Harper, Gaerik, C. Edwards.

4/16/2005 James_Nostack: [Capes] What Do I Take Pride In?
You've just been playing Capes with your friends, and the session has wrapped up. Let's say it was a blast, and you had a good time. What do you take…
In Muse of Fire Games
Participants: James_Nostack, Sydney Freedberg, TonyLB, Vaxalon.

4/28/2005 James_Nostack: [TSOY] Three-Corner Magic Questions
I have some questions about the Day focus of Three-Corner magic: Creation, Enhancement, and Divination. 1. Creation - "the character can create a small amount of one of the four…
In CRN Games
Participants: James_Nostack, Clay, Clinton R. Nixon, Ben Lehman, Vaxalon.

5/6/2005 James_Nostack: [Donjon] Streamlining Combat for IRC?
Three characters fight three monsters. Let's assume that for each of these 6 characters, their (Level + Discernment + initiative abilities) give 6 actions per flurry. For each of these…
In CRN Games
Participants: James_Nostack, Selene Tan.

5/14/2005 James_Nostack: Bangs: Am I Doing This Right?
I am struggling to write engaging bangs. I tried my best for this morning's session, with results shown below. ==== Game System - Alternity, modified a bit for Stakes Resolution,…
In Actual Play
Participants: James_Nostack, Eero Tuovinen.

5/23/2005 James_Nostack: [TSOY] Why NOT to Bring It?
Question about the design: Is there any reason why a player wouldn't Bring Down the Pain whenever she doesn't get her way? Like, "Oops, I flubbed that roll. Bring the…
In CRN Games
Participants: James_Nostack, KingstonC, pfischer, aplath, Victor Gijsbers.

5/26/2005 James_Nostack: n00bies: Why, and What Happened Next?
I am curious about why people, particularly adults, choose to participate in roleplaying games for the first time. I am also curious about how they reacted to (a) the game…
In RPG Theory
Participants: James_Nostack, GB Steve, Selene Tan, Mike Holmes, greyorm, Bankuei, M. J. Young, komradebob, GameLoft.

7/11/2005 James_Nostack: [Sorc] Idea for Setting
Here is a loose idea for a Sorcerer setting. I am still trying to figure out... 1. What would Humanity be, in a game like this? and 2. Is it…
In Adept Press
Participants: James_Nostack, TonyLB, Sydney Freedberg.

7/12/2005 James_Nostack: [TSOY] The Mini-Campaign of Mologn
This is an Actual Play thread from the player's point of view, and it covers maybe six game sessions set in the World of Near. Characters and a few logs…
In Actual Play
Participants: James_Nostack, Vaxalon.

7/14/2005 James_Nostack: [Sorc] Ritual Questions
1. Does striking a Pact entail a Humanity roll? I would assume so, as it's a "sub-category of Binding" but I want to make sure. 2. How long does a…
In Adept Press
Participants: James_Nostack, Jeffrey Straszheim, angelfromanotherpin, Ron Edwards.

7/16/2005 James_Nostack: [&Sword] Trading Victories Question
On page 70 of Sorcerer & Sword: On a successful roll you may choose to bump the victories all the way down to an inconclusive tie, to save them for…
In Adept Press
Participants: James_Nostack, Ron Edwards.

8/5/2005 James_Nostack: [Sorc] Demon: the Jar of Goo
I have a question about how to stat up a demon: Player envisions a big jar of protoplasm that can pour goop to form objects out of non-living biological matter. …
In Adept Press
Participants: James_Nostack, Ron Edwards.

8/8/2005 James_Nostack: end of game: All Your Base Pairs Are Belong To Us
On Saturday, July 30 I ended my Alternity campaign, conducted via IRC for 157 weeks.  This thread aims to do three things; skip over the parts that don't interest you:…
In Actual Play
Participants: James_Nostack, Eero Tuovinen, cruciel.

8/13/2005 James_Nostack: [R Map] The Big Lebowski
I am working my way through Sorcerer's Soul, but since I seldom read mystery novels I thought I would use The Big Lebowski instead.  It's a "detective story" though certainly…
In Adept Press
Participants: James_Nostack, Ron Edwards, Miskatonic, Sean, Yokiboy.

9/8/2005 James_Nostack: Indie Supplement Design (?)
For the past three years I had been running an IRC campaign based on TSR's Alternity game.  Now that the game has finished gloriously--thanks in part due to Forge peeps--I'd…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: James_Nostack, MikeSands, Gamskee, Rob Carriere, Troy_Costisick.

9/25/2005 James_Nostack: [& Sword] Humanity = Honor?
I'm putting a "Sorcerer & Sword" game together -- rough notes here--and was trying to narrow down what Humanity means in this genre. In the supplement (which I don't have…
In Adept Press
Participants: James_Nostack, Lisa Padol.

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