Previous Topics

11/15/2008 ShallowThoughts: MMORPGs; totally alien from P&PRPGs??
Hi folks, this is a continuation of a topic brought up in "First Thoughts" but I'll repost the key points so you don't have to go hunting. I had posted…
In Actual Play
Participants: ShallowThoughts, soundmasterj, Ron Edwards, jag, Noon, Eliarhiman6, Caldis, Vulpinoid, DWeird, Marshall Burns.

11/14/2008 ShallowThoughts: Alternative theory (or .. brother theory?) to GNS
Hi folks, I see the "Game Design" forum is closed, so I apologize if this post shouldn't be here. I haven't posted much on the Forge but am keenly interested…
In First Thoughts
Participants: ShallowThoughts, Rauðbjørn, Ron Edwards, soundmasterj.

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Subsequent Topics

12/18/2008 ShallowThoughts: Experience Points - what's the point? Alternatives?
Hi all, in the system I'm designing with buddies, we had initially taken it as given that the PCs must adventure to gain experience points in order to facilitate character…
In First Thoughts
Participants: ShallowThoughts, Patrice, David C, greyorm, dindenver, Creatures of Destiny, Erudite, jerry.

12/31/2008 ShallowThoughts: Zooming - our Philosophy
To people who are curious about what spawned this post, check out the thread entitled "Experience Points - what's the point?" This can be done mid-game:…
In First Thoughts
Participants: ShallowThoughts, Erudite, greyorm.

12/31/2008 ShallowThoughts: The Social Domain - why's it so tough to design?
What's so tough about building social systems? (That social domain is a tough one to deal with.) How so? (I'm imagining in terms of making social…
In First Thoughts
Participants: ShallowThoughts, Vulpinoid, dindenver, Patrice, greyorm, maddman.

2/2/2009 ShallowThoughts: New stab at the old Abilities/Skills split - problems? holes? contradictions?
Hi folks, I first became aware of the huge debates surrounding this topic when I discovered this thread, and the huge number of other threads it points to. Back in…
In First Thoughts
Participants: ShallowThoughts, dindenver, David C.

2/4/2009 ShallowThoughts: Okay FINE .. I'm revealing it. Presenting the Normal Engine!
Oy, it's difficult trying to be cryptic about one's system while discussing it with a community. Okay, I'm going to be a lot more honest in this post, though the…
In First Thoughts
Participants: ShallowThoughts, dindenver, Wordman, lurkingowl.

4/12/2009 ShallowThoughts: Tying PLAYERS together with their CHARACTERS' motivations
(No, this post is not a response or rebuttal to JoyWriter's excellent post, despite the similar titles. It's a whole new thread) The issue of character-group cohesion interests me because,…
In First Thoughts
Participants: ShallowThoughts, Luke, JoyWriter, Selene Tan, Vulpinoid.

4/20/2009 ShallowThoughts: Those imaginary "other kinds" of RPGers
Hello folks, I suppose this is more of an "Actual NOT Played" thread, because I discuss a kind of actual play I've NOT ever found myself in, and I'm curious…
In Actual Play
Participants: ShallowThoughts, Wolfen, greyorm, Greymorn, Ron Edwards, Paul Czege, Paka, Cranewings, Noclue, chance.thirteen, AzaLiN.

4/28/2009 ShallowThoughts: Unbalanced PC groups - is this okay?
Hello again, (I'm beginning to feel like a haunt with all my posts, but I must admit I appreciate the Forge's rules to prevent threads from devolving into meaningless noise..)…
In Actual Play
Participants: ShallowThoughts, Lance D. Allen, greyorm, Jasper Flick, Ron Edwards, LandonSuffered, Cranewings, nikola, Brimshack.

5/10/2009 ShallowThoughts: PDF Writer availability??
Hello folks, excuse me if this is in ignorant question. I hear about a lot of indie companies publishing via PDF. As far as I'm aware, that can only be…
In Publishing
Participants: ShallowThoughts, jerry, Pelgrane, visioNationstudios.

5/21/2009 ShallowThoughts: Funny little anecdote - the players surprised me (GM)
I'm using this anecdote to demonstrate a point I made in the "Challenge the Player, not the Stat Block (D&D)" . I can't circularly link, and since that response already…
In Actual Play
Participants: ShallowThoughts, Caldis, LandonSuffered, wgrzanic, Frank Tarcikowski.

6/18/2009 ShallowThoughts: New Character Growth Mechanic - Chits and the Void
Hi all, as a couple of you out there might remember, I've been struggling with a reward mechanic for a game I'm building. For everyone else, the original post is…
In First Thoughts
Participants: ShallowThoughts, mjbauer, Charlie Gilb, Selene Tan, JoyWriter.

7/2/2009 ShallowThoughts: How do you know when you're designing for your audience or yourself?
Hi folks, this post might have been more appropriate in "First Thoughts", but I decided to put it here for some grounding. I've met many, and heard about many, many…
In Publishing
Participants: ShallowThoughts, Eero Tuovinen, Ron Edwards, Jake Richmond, Lance D. Allen.

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.

7/24/2009 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.

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.

1/4/2010 ShallowThoughts: I learned about System from Munchkins
My System suddenly grew big. By "big", I do not refer to the number of rules. Instead, I refer to layers of the Big Model. I'm writing this post to…
In Actual Play
Participants: ShallowThoughts, Jasper Flick, lumpley, Melinglor, contracycle, Caldis, Noon.

2/24/2010 ShallowThoughts: How can Narrativism moderate an entirely open-ended situation?
I'm splitting this post off of one in the Actual Play forum, entitled " Hot elves, morality, and the missing initiative roll". The comments made in it (especially those by…
In First Thoughts
Participants: ShallowThoughts, Ar Kayon, Eero Tuovinen, Noon, Excalibur, contracycle, Falc.

3/24/2010 ShallowThoughts: [ BD&D ] Half done Social System
The BD&D stands for "Bastardized D&D" because I'm changing the base system of D&D v3.5 to experiment with some ideas. In this version, I want a much deeper Social system.…
In First Thoughts
Participants: ShallowThoughts, Locke, Necromantis, Finarvyn, Luminous.

3/26/2010 ShallowThoughts: Mucking with Social Contract - an *Inter-Player* Social System??
I hope I'm not getting too obnoxious on this Forum what with this and my earlier post (which I have since utterly abandoned). I just really, really want to get…
In First Thoughts
Participants: ShallowThoughts, Noon, davidberg.

9/20/2010 ShallowThoughts: Ruminations on the Impossible Dream Before Breakfast
I have no expectations of anyone responding to this post, but I'll gladly reply to anyone who does. I'm really more expressing a conclusion I've come to, because I thought…
In Actual Play
Participants: ShallowThoughts, Adam Dray, contracycle, masqueradeball, Noon, Vulpinoid, Ron Edwards, Motipha, Roger, Caldis.

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