Previous Topics

8/15/2002 Zak Arntson: Paladin - Inquisitor
My Indie Gaming Group is playing Paladin this coming weekend, and I've given them the choice (which I may have to make) between straight up Star Wars (with Jedi and…
In CRN Games
Participants: Zak Arntson, Valamir, Blake Hutchins, Bob McNamee.

8/2/2002 Zak Arntson: Development/Release Cycles
It's frustrating to have a great game that I want to share (at the moment, it's fully playable and fun), but it seems to have so much opportunity for improvement!…
In Publishing
Participants: Zak Arntson, Jared A. Sorensen.

8/2/2002 Zak Arntson: (Chthonian) Campaign Play
[quote="Bailywolf"]Any thoughts on campaign structure? It seems brilliantly suited for one-shots....but what about something more long term? The TV model works pretty well (with source material abounding- Buffy, Angel, X-Files,…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson, Valamir, Bailywolf, Ron Edwards, Blake Hutchins.

8/1/2002 Zak Arntson: Paladin Inspiration - Soul Reaver video game
It occured to me last night how similar the Soul Reaver game's world is to the default Paladin world. Only from the point of view of a semi-repentant Undying. Quick…
In CRN Games
Participants: Zak Arntson, wyrdlyng, Mike Holmes.

7/31/2002 Zak Arntson: (Chthonian) Dilemma - Skill Scores & Character Effective
Chthonian consists of 7 Skills, currently you divide 18 points between them. These skills are Role, Aware, Stamina, Persuade, Research, Shoot and Fight. You can find the current playtest rules…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson, Mike Holmes, damion, Bailywolf, Jared A. Sorensen, Valamir.

7/30/2002 Zak Arntson: Chthonian - Indie Gaming Monday (7/29)
Okay, we finally finished our Chthonian adventure, the first two parts can be found at: http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2439 http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2750 Pregame Well, I didn't have the last section of the adventure as well…
In Actual Play
Participants: Zak Arntson, rabidchyld.

7/25/2002 Zak Arntson: Promo Idea - Prizes for Reviewing
I'm not sure Publishing is the best place for it, but I'm experimenting with a way to pay for "advertising." Basically, I'm offering a 100x100 pixel icon based on a…
In Publishing
Participants: Zak Arntson, Ron Edwards, hive.

7/18/2002 Zak Arntson: Order of Independent Game Forums
I don't know how important this is, but it's a feature request: Ordering the Independent Game Forums by activity. It's a judgement call on what "activity" means, but I'd love…
In Site Discussion
Participants: Zak Arntson, Jason L Blair, Ron Edwards, Mike Holmes.

7/17/2002 Zak Arntson: Chthonian and IIEE
I went and looked up the IIEE (Intent, Initiation, Execution, Effect) thread here. Chthonian is definitely a game where the Characters need to be reasonably competent. When a Player wishes…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson, Bailywolf, rabidchyld.

7/16/2002 Zak Arntson: Chthonian - Indie Gaming Monday (7/15)
Okay, after some Dreamcast Bomberman and general BSing, we got down to business and finished up the middle act of the Chthonian adventure. You can read the first session here.…
In Actual Play
Participants: Zak Arntson, Ron Edwards, Mike Holmes, rabidchyld.

7/12/2002 Zak Arntson: MonkeyWrench Con Edition - Harlekin-Maus Game
Okay, I've totally revamped MonkeyWrench for convention play. Feel free to print up and photocopy and give away: http://www.harlekin-maus.com/cons/monkeywrench_con.html Looking at the original MonkeyWrench, here's what I found lacking and…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson, Andrew Martin, Ron Edwards.

7/12/2002 Zak Arntson: MonkeyWrench - Convention Edition
Not sure where to post this. It's kind of an experiment. I'm toying with a "Convention Edition" flier for publicity: A fully playable game that fits on one piece of…
In Publishing
Participants: Zak Arntson, Ben Morgan.

6/30/2002 Zak Arntson: MonkeyWrench - Harlekin-Maus June-July game
I'm moving to bimonthly games so I can concentrate on Chthonian. Up for June-July: MonkeyWrench! It's a game about crazy, hungry and grumpy monkeys. Basically you are monkeys who've escaped…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson, xiombarg.

6/12/2002 Zak Arntson: Using all a game's Mechanics - Designer responsibility?
Snipped from Math in games: why the stigma? I think moreso than simply math, people are inclined towards certain types of resolution(by nature, by experience, who knows?). But some folks…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson, Seth L. Blumberg, Mike Holmes, Laurel, Bankuei.

6/12/2002 Zak Arntson: Distribution: Email vs. Private Webpage
I'm getting close to releasing Chthonian as a small shareware via email. But would a private webpage be a better route? I know of several people who have had great…
In Publishing
Participants: Zak Arntson, Clinton R. Nixon, Ron Edwards, Cynthia Celeste Miller, Matt Gwinn, Adam, hyphz, Matt, quozl, Valamir, Mike Holmes, xiombarg, Michael Hopcroft.

6/11/2002 Zak Arntson: Chthonian - Indie Gaming Monday (6/10)
Well, spurred mostly by Clinton's evidence that there is a minority of indie play done, and by our group's dissatisfaction with d20 Call of Cthulhu, I went ahead and ran…
In Actual Play
Participants: Zak Arntson.

6/6/2002 Zak Arntson: Real Life InSpectre
[url]http://orlandosentinel.com/features/lifestyle/orl-livghostbuster060502jun05.story[/url] This woman screams InSpectres more than any real life ghost hunters I've ever read about.
In Memento-Mori Theatricks
Participants: Zak Arntson, Ron Edwards, Jared A. Sorensen.

6/5/2002 Zak Arntson: How to get (and keep) an Actual Play group
Okay, there's been some mention at http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2358 about how to get an Actual Play group playing consistently. I figured it would be better to move that particular topic over here.…
In Actual Play
Participants: Zak Arntson.

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.

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.

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Subsequent Topics

8/25/2002 Zak Arntson: Paladin - Inquisitor Setup
I'm not sure if this belongs in Anvilwerks or Actual Play, since it's setting up for Actual Play. I figured I'd pull out Sorcerer & Soul, since I want to…
In Actual Play
Participants: Zak Arntson, Ron Edwards, Matt Gwinn.

8/30/2002 Zak Arntson: [Paladin] Inquisitor help
I'm working on the required Attributes for Inquisitor characters, and I was hoping to get some help from y'all. Here's the rundown: There's three major orders of Inquisitor, each with…
In CRN Games
Participants: Zak Arntson, Bob McNamee, wyrdlyng, Mike Holmes, S.Lonergan, Walt Freitag, Ron Edwards, Valamir.

9/21/2002 Zak Arntson: Donjon - Clinton Sunday (Sep 15, 2002)
Alright, I've been putting off the Actual Play post for too long. Last Sunday I played Donjon with Clinton, Justin and Alan. Alan played a movie-styled Conan the Barbarian type.…
In Actual Play
Participants: Zak Arntson.

9/21/2002 Zak Arntson: Alternate Monster Stats
I'm prepping a little for my Planescape Donjon game on Monday, and wanted to simplify the monsters. Two goals here: + Easier to improvise monsters during play. + Make combat…
In CRN Games
Participants: Zak Arntson, Clinton R. Nixon.

9/23/2002 Zak Arntson: More Pulp Books
Hit the used bookstore again, and found some Howard books! I figured I'd ask Ron (and the other pulp fans) about the validity of these, because (like Lovecraft fiction) you…
In Adept Press
Participants: Zak Arntson, Ron Edwards, Thor Olavsrud, Bailywolf, Mike Holmes, talysman, Blake Hutchins, lumpley, Paka.

10/1/2002 Zak Arntson: Indie Monday (Sep 30, 2002) - Donjon Planescape
Okay, we played Donjon Planescape (at least, a Zak-butchered version of it, not _that_ different from the real thing) last night. Here's a link to the characters: http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=35020 Character Creation…
In Actual Play
Participants: Zak Arntson, Valamir.

10/1/2002 Zak Arntson: More Donjon Characters
Okay, here's the Actual Play thread: http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=35015 And here's our characters: Goro, the Half Human-Dragon Vir: 5, Cer: 4, Dis: 5, Whe: 1, Adr: 5, Soc: 5 Save vs. Poison:…
In CRN Games
Participants: Zak Arntson, Bailywolf, Nick Pagnucco, jdagna, K.R.Peterson, ejh, Clinton R. Nixon, anonymouse, b_bankhead, Chris Kucsera.

10/8/2002 Zak Arntson: Indie Monday (Oct 7, 2002): Fighter-D Alpha Planescape
I wrote up a new system based on Donjon retaining the fact mechanics, but changing nearly everything else. Because my group is so obsessed with fighting games (see the last…
In Actual Play
Participants: Zak Arntson.

10/9/2002 Zak Arntson: Harlekin-Maus: Noche de Los Vampiros
Okay, I wrote my October/November game. Noche de Los Vampiros. You can find it at the secret url: http://www.harlekin-maus.com/games/vampiros/vampiros.html. I've got to add some graphics before publicizing it everywhere. In…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson, Bob McNamee, Mike Holmes, Christoffer Lernö, Paganini.

10/15/2002 Zak Arntson: Indie Monday (Oct 15, 2002): Fighter-D Alpha Planescape (2)
We played Fighter-D Alpha again. You can see the first thread at: http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3744 It takes the Ability & Fact system from Donjon and adopts it for a Street Fighter-style video…
In Actual Play
Participants: Zak Arntson.

10/16/2002 Zak Arntson: Digital Art - Publisher's Expectations
I'm looking into freelance illustration, and was wondering what publishers prefer/require in terms of digital art. Size of piece, dpi, RGB vs. CMYK, file format, that sort of thing.
In Connections
Participants: Zak Arntson, Matt Snyder, Ron Edwards, greyorm, Jon H, Jake Norwood, Drew Baker, Bear with Blades.

10/24/2002 Zak Arntson: Indie Monday (Oct 23, 2002): Fighter-D Alpha Planescape (3)
Okay, so it was really on Wednesday. We continued our ongoing Fighter-D Alpha Planescape saga, the quest in the Impressive Ruins of Gondorr for the Sun Quill. You can read…
In Actual Play
Participants: Zak Arntson, Bankuei.

10/29/2002 Zak Arntson: Hobo RPG Designers - Train riders on the radio!
October 17, 2002, The Next Big Thing (radio show) played Ghosts & Trains. Several modern day hoboes talking about their train-riding experiences (plus ghost stories, but not hobo-related, unless it's…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson, mahoux.

10/29/2002 Zak Arntson: Indie Monday (Oct 28, 2002): Fighter-D Alpha Planescape (4)
Wow, this campaign just keeps on going! I've modified the rules, which you can find here: http://www.harlekin-maus.com/fighterd/fighterd.html. The semi-updated character sheet can be downloaded here. I put the Actual Play…
In Actual Play
Participants: Zak Arntson, rabidchyld.

10/30/2002 Zak Arntson: Fighter-D Alpha - Beta Playtest
Okay, I'm opening up Fighter-D Alpha for playtesting. I've provided the rules-skeleton here: http://www.harlekin-maus.com/fighterd/fighterd.html. It's inspired by Donjon, but has had enough huge changes to be considered it's own game.…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson.

11/20/2002 Zak Arntson: Thord of Relings
Okay, so that's a lousy name for my game, but it's still in development. I'll come up with a good name later. It's a fantasy game inspired by a certain…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson, Valamir, Blake Hutchins, szilard, Tony Irwin.

12/16/2002 Zak Arntson: Cormac Mac Art - Tigers of the Sea
I can't believe how useful Sorcerer & Sword has been for my library. I just picked up Robert E. Howard's Tigers of the Sea and David Drake's Birds of Prey.…
In Adept Press
Participants: Zak Arntson, Ron Edwards, Roy.

3/11/2003 Zak Arntson: Donjon Pak B1 - Monster Stat Calculation
I've got a question on how you determined your monster stats. As an example, the Dragon Wizard. It's an 11th level creature, so it should get 15 + (5/level) points…
In CRN Games
Participants: Zak Arntson, Clinton R. Nixon, jdagna, Bob McNamee, John Harper, TAROT, Matt Wilson.

3/21/2003 Zak Arntson: Deplorable - Victorian "Supers" RPG in progress
I'm working on an RPG called Deplorable. The idea is this: You are a Victorian-era person gifted with commendable powers and deplorable drives. The PC group bands together under a…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson, Spooky Fanboy, Kester Pelagius, Simon W, szilard, simon_hibbs, Coleslaw.

4/2/2003 Zak Arntson: Deplorable - Source Material
While Deplorable concentrates on a Victorian society and the literature of the late 1800's, I am looking for any material that depicts the themes in Deplorable. You can read the…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson, Valamir, Jared A. Sorensen, redcrow, kregmosier, iago, b_bankhead, Walt Freitag, Mike Holmes, simon, simon_hibbs, Thomas Tamblyn.

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