Previous Topics

12/19/2005 Bret Gillan: "Guest Stars"
Has anyone run a regular campaign of Capes, and occasionally had people who wanted to participate for a single session? This seems very easy to do, but I'm wondering if…
In Muse of Fire Games
Participants: Bret Gillan, Vaxalon, Sydney Freedberg.

12/19/2005 Bret Gillan: [Capes] Finally, a campaign
I am pumped. For the first time I will be playing multiple sessions of Capes in a short-term campaign. My friend Jere is home from college from break, so while…
In Actual Play
Participants: Bret Gillan, Sydney Freedberg, Paka, TonyLB, Jeremiah Lahnum, TheCzech.

11/28/2005 Bret Gillan: [Polaris] The Fall of the Knights
My friends and I exchanged Christmas presents last week (yeah, we're not very patient) and my friend Jere got me Polaris. I'd heard about it, and I thought the gameplay…
In Actual Play
Participants: Bret Gillan, jasonm, Ben Lehman, Hermes3.

11/24/2005 Bret Gillan: Posting in Mid-Game
The guys just ran for soda, and I had to hop on the computer to tell you that your game is exquisite. My friend Jere got it for me for…
In These Are Our Games
Participants: Bret Gillan, Ben Lehman.

10/30/2005 Bret Gillan: [Age of Gods] First Ever Session of AoG
Previous thread: First thread - basic concepts Myself and my friends Tom and Jeremy got together to playtest what are currently what I've called my "alpha rules" - rules…
In Actual Play
Participants: Bret Gillan, Joshua BishopRoby.

10/20/2005 Bret Gillan: Questions Regarding Conflict Resolution
Hey Tony, I've played a few one-shots of Capes and love it. I really think it would shine in long-term play but just haven't been able to get a campaign…
In Muse of Fire Games
Participants: Bret Gillan, TonyLB, Gaerik.

10/17/2005 Bret Gillan: A PTA Session is Born, Shudders, and Dies
So I tried to run some of my pals through a session PTA the other night. It was aborted three scenes in due to communal frustration and a dislike of…
In Dog Eared Designs
Participants: Bret Gillan, Paka, Tim Alexander, Matthew Glover, TonyLB, John Harper, Jeremiah Lahnum, Frank T, pfischer, Landon Darkwood.

10/6/2005 Bret Gillan: [Gods] First thread - basic concepts
Using the guidelines posted in "What's the best way to present a mechanic for discussion?", I'm trying to nail down a game concept I've had for about a decade or…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Bret Gillan, Paka, Jasper, Arturo G., Hans, resistor, Joshua BishopRoby.

8/10/2005 Bret Gillan: Sorcerer: The Flesh Market First Session
Previous threads: Homecoming, Forming a Gaming Group, and Sorcerer The Flesh Market One-Sheet My players, Chadd, Josh, and Tom came over to my apartment for our first night…
In Actual Play
Participants: Bret Gillan, James Holloway, bcook1971, pfischer.

6/29/2005 Bret Gillan: [Sorcerer]The Flesh Market One-Sheet
This is the game I'm preparing for the player group detailed in Homecoming, Forming a Gaming Group, and Sorcerer. I'm worried that it might be a bit "heavy" but I…
In Adept Press
Participants: Bret Gillan, Old_Scratch, sirogit.

6/27/2005 Bret Gillan: Homecoming, Forming a Gaming Group, and Sorcerer
Hey folks. I'm moving back to my hometown, and this last weekend I touched base with some old gaming buddies that I've kept in touch with and still live in…
In Actual Play
Participants: Bret Gillan, Paul Czege.

6/10/2005 Bret Gillan: [Paladin] Abilities
Hey folks. I was reading through the free online version of Paladin, and it mentions Abilities and buying up Abilities, but as far as I could see there's no mention…
In CRN Games
Participants: Bret Gillan, Clinton R. Nixon.

5/9/2005 Bret Gillan: Increased Power Through Contact Successes
Short question: Using the option to add exta Power to a Demon for successes gained on a Contact roll (pg. 92) should you use the modified power for the subsequent…
In Adept Press
Participants: Bret Gillan, Ron Edwards, Michael S. Miller.

5/9/2005 Bret Gillan: Uses for Mark
I was wondering what uses for the demonic power Mark have (pg. 54) have arisen in the course of gameplay in your campaigns. I think it's an interesting power, but…
In Adept Press
Participants: Bret Gillan, Ron Edwards.

2/22/2005 Bret Gillan: [Capes] Metahuman Detectives
The night before last I got together two other players to try out Capes so I could give it a test run and see if I wanted to run it…
In Actual Play
Participants: Bret Gillan, Andrew Morris, TonyLB, Stickman.

2/14/2005 Bret Gillan: [Sorcerer] New Roleplayer's First Session
Hey there. I'm going to try and write up some of my notes and thoughts on my first game session for a new roleplayer, Sarah. Some prep work and fishing…
In Actual Play
Participants: Bret Gillan, GreatWolf, Rob MacDougall, Paka, Eero Tuovinen, Trevis Martin, James Holloway, jagardner, Ron Edwards.

2/2/2005 Bret Gillan: [Sorcerer] Introducing a New Player
My girlfriend Sarah is interested in checking out roleplaying games. She's a long-time writer who dabbled in some collaborative writing that sounds very much to me to be a roleplaying…
In Adept Press
Participants: Bret Gillan, Paka, Eero Tuovinen, Ron Edwards.

6/24/2004 Bret Gillan: [Sorcerer] The Unnecessary Mentor View
So, I have Sorcerer. I've gathered my players, and I've done some character creation. A problem that I keep encountering is that the players keep getting drawn to Solitary Adepts,…
In Adept Press
Participants: Bret Gillan, sirogit, Bailywolf, Christopher Weeks, Ron Edwards.

4/6/2004 Bret Gillan: My Game: Pundits & Pollsters
Hey folks. Cranked out a mini-game of sorts on my website - Pundits & Pollsters. Nothing special. It basically came about after some pondering on my part about whether a…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Bret Gillan, Jasper, quozl.

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Subsequent Topics

1/9/2006 Bret Gillan: Forcing Heart Actions
Okay, a long time ago I asked about the sanctity of the Heart, and affecting the Heart's emotions, thoughts, and actions. In response Ben said the following. Similarly, it is…
In These Are Our Games
Participants: Bret Gillan, Ben Lehman.

1/18/2006 Bret Gillan: [TSOY] Buyoff XP Amount
Wouldn't it be better to make a Key's Buyoff equal to two Advances of XP rather than a flat 10 XP? In a 5XP Advance game, buying off a Key…
In CRN Games
Participants: Bret Gillan, Clinton R. Nixon, Tancred, Eero Tuovinen.

1/25/2006 Bret Gillan: Format for Small Game
Hey guys. I'm considering putting my Pundits and Pollsters game on the market. It's real small, approximately 2500 words, and is a simple but fun game with simple mechanics. An…
In Publishing
Participants: Bret Gillan, Andrew Morris, MatrixGamer, Jared A. Sorensen, Paul Czege, Nathan P., Joshua BishopRoby, Blankshield, nikola, abzu, CSBone.

1/26/2006 Bret Gillan: Screen Presence?
So in the main book, Screen Presence gets mentioned as a part of the Series Bible, along with the different types of Screen Presence a character can have in a…
In Bob Goat Press
Participants: Bret Gillan, Keith Senkowski, Matt-M-McElroy.

4/25/2006 Bret Gillan: [Charnel Gods] The Irthan Epoch
I've moved to a new city, into a new apartment, paid for with money from my new job. College is over, and I feel like I'm stepping into life as…
In Adept Press
Participants: Bret Gillan, Valamir, Paka, Eric J-D.

5/4/2006 Bret Gillan: Gods - A Capes Hack
For a long time I've wanted to create a game about world-building, and struggles between competing deities for control over events and creations. I've batted around quite a few ideas…
In Muse of Fire Games
Participants: Bret Gillan, Vaxalon, TonyLB, Gaerik, Hans, cpeterso, Zamiel, Paka, dunlaing, Kai_lord, TheCzech, Sindyr, nicolasfueyo.

5/5/2006 Bret Gillan: [Sorcerer] Charnel Gods - The Irthan Epoch
Last night was the first night of my Charnel Gods campaign, and it rocked. After my previous Sorcerer campaign left me feeling a little cold, I really wanted this one…
In Actual Play
Participants: Bret Gillan, Ron Edwards, Paka, Eric J-D, greyorm.

5/17/2006 Bret Gillan: [Gods] The Labyrinth, the Tuskers, and the King of the Black Citadel
Last night was supposed to be Charnel Gods night, but after some bullshitting and a couple of beers, we opted to playtest my Capes supplement/mod - Gods. It was just…
In Playtesting
Participants: Bret Gillan, Emily Care, Valamir.

7/19/2006 Bret Gillan: [Burning Wheel] The Face-off
I ran my first Burning Wheel session, and it basically leapt right off the character sheets. I did no prep whatsoever, and it was one of the best first sessions…
In Actual Play
Participants: Bret Gillan, coffeestain, Iskander, Jeremiah Lahnum, abzu.

7/24/2006 Bret Gillan: Gods: The New Ideas
Because there really needs to be a thread in this forum where we don't argue with Sindyr. ;) So I came away from Dreamation with some cool ideas for Gods,…
In Muse of Fire Games
Participants: Bret Gillan, Hans, TonyLB, Tuxboy.

7/26/2006 Bret Gillan: [DitV] "Send 'em to Four Bridal Falls!"
This is a spin-off of a conversation I had with Jeremy Lahnum about his game, but I'm a little bothered by the "Send 'em to Four Bridal Falls" judgment that…
In lumpley games
Participants: Bret Gillan, lumpley, baron samedi, Paka, Blankshield, Vaxalon, Liminaut, JMendes, Claudia Cangini, Valamir, Wolfen.

7/26/2006 Bret Gillan: The Capes Dojo
For reference for this thread, the capes Tournament formula for scoring is: ((Story Tokens Earned x 2) - Debt Remaining) x Inspirations Earned) So since Capes has officially gone competitive…
In Muse of Fire Games
Participants: Bret Gillan, TonyLB, Vaxalon, Hans, TheCzech, drnuncheon.

8/1/2006 Bret Gillan: [Gods] The Myth Cycle
The following is the rough Myth Cycle I've come up with. The Myth Cycle covers the Comics Code that will be followed in the various Ages, and the Ages that…
In Muse of Fire Games
Participants: Bret Gillan, Andrew Morris, TonyLB, Ben Lehman, xeperi, Hans, TheCzech, Threlicus, oreso, newsalor.

8/11/2006 Bret Gillan: [The Roach] Gameplay Observations
So I got to play Shab Al-Hiri Roach last night and it was a blast. We were only able to play for two hours so we only made it through…
In Bully Pulpit Games
Participants: Bret Gillan, oliof, segedy, jasonm.

8/22/2006 Bret Gillan: [The Apostles] Setting Good Stakes
The basic notion: this game is supposed to reward good stakes-setting. That's sort of the point of it. To take a scene, dig down beneath the layers of what's going…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Bret Gillan, Joshua BishopRoby, TonyLB, Bill_White, LordRahvin.

1/31/2007 Bret Gillan: [Mortal Coil] Contested Magical Facts
So I got a quick question from Actual Play. An American sorcerer-spy (NPC) is trapped in a magical prison created for him by a Knight Templar (Bob). A Russian sorcerer-spy…
In Galileo Games
Participants: Bret Gillan, inthisstyle.

3/2/2007 Bret Gillan: Character Creation Praise
So I've participated in character creation for Spirit of the Century and Don't Rest Your Head, and I believe you guys have perfected character creation in some way. Not only…
In Evilhat Productions
Participants: Bret Gillan, iago, C.W.Richeson, Rob Donoghue, Valamir, BastardToadflax.

3/3/2007 Bret Gillan: [Capes] The Greater of Two Evils - Con Scenario
After playing in Tony's badass Earth Prime con scenario, I came away with a new perspective on running con scenarios. Previously I'd let players create their own characters and frame…
In Muse of Fire Games
Participants: Bret Gillan, TonyLB, Matthew Glover, hix.

6/18/2007 Bret Gillan: [Gods] More Eyes and Playtesters
So it's been awhile, and I've been running it at cons and whatnot. Amusingly but not surprisingly, most of my "addon rules" ended up being confusing to players so they…
In Muse of Fire Games
Participants: Bret Gillan, Gaerik, oreso.

6/21/2007 Bret Gillan: [TSOY] Don't Make Me Fuck You Up With My Crane Style
Hey guys. I wanted a game that I could play while I listened to rap, so I tinkered with The Shadow of Yesterday (for its brilliance, tinkerability, and consistently awesome…
In CRN Games
Participants: Bret Gillan, xjermx, Eero Tuovinen.

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