Previous Topics

1/29/2003 xiombarg: YAUU!
YAUU: Yet Another Unsung Update I've made some major changes this time. I've added to virtually every section, modified the Rule of Currency, the Rule of Gifts, and the combat…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: xiombarg, Walt Freitag, Ron Edwards, Mike Holmes.

1/23/2003 xiombarg: Unsung: Playtest At Last [long]
I finally got to playtest Unsung last night. I was using a scenario written for GURPS Cops from Pyramid Magazine, a scenario called Heat Wave. (You won't be able to…
In Actual Play
Participants: xiombarg, Valamir, Ron Edwards, Mike Holmes, ADGBoss.

1/8/2003 xiombarg: Unsung and Jared
Okay, in preparation to actually running it in a couple of weeks, I've re-organized and updated Unsung: http://ivanhoeunbound.com/unsung.html I've moved some of the sections around so they make more sense,…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: xiombarg, Jared A. Sorensen.

1/7/2003 xiombarg: Web Site Down?
Hey, I can't get to the Seraphim Guard website... "This website www.seraphimguard.com is currently unavailable. Please visit again later." Is something wrong?
In Seraphim Guard
Participants: xiombarg, Michael Hopcroft.

1/2/2003 xiombarg: Playtester Begging
While people seem to be begging for playtesters at the moment, I'd like to renew my plea for playtesters for Unsung. The new girlfriend moving in and the holidays have…
In Connections
Participants: xiombarg, James, ADGConscience.

1/2/2003 xiombarg: Boston Irregulars: Questions
I had a couple of questions about the "Boston Irregulars": 1. If only Dark Animus can be used for magic, what is Light Animus used for? 2. Now, doing the…
In Key 20 Publishing
Participants: xiombarg, Jason L Blair.

12/12/2002 xiombarg: We played, and we have questions...
Well, we finally got to play Dust Devils. We had a great time. But some issues came up. 1. What happens if you run out of cards? As I mentioned…
In Chimera Creative
Participants: xiombarg, Matt Snyder.

12/12/2002 xiombarg: f*ckin' Dust Devils
Tonight was our vulgarly-named "F*ck-Around Night" where we try out new games. Tonight we tried Dust Devils. We used the sample scenario -- and since I had six players instead…
In Actual Play
Participants: xiombarg, Matt Snyder.

12/6/2002 xiombarg: d20 Social Issues
Okay, this is sort of spun off from this thread: http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4482 Anyhoo, in this thread I want to talk about the thing we're afraid to discuss regarding d20: D&D 3E's…
In RPG Theory
Participants: xiombarg, Mike Holmes.

12/5/2002 xiombarg: Unsung: Pick Me Apart! Fnord! And, oh, a bit about cops.
Okay, I'm waiting on some research materials so I can do some serious playtesting of Unsung with the idea of adding a couple of settings to it and turning it…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: xiombarg, Mike Holmes, Tony Irwin.

12/5/2002 xiombarg: d20 As Design
Okay, since I'm also interested in "discussing d20 intelligently", I'm starting a thread on what I'm interested in. I want to talk about d20 as a system design. In particular,…
In RPG Theory
Participants: xiombarg, Valamir, Clinton R. Nixon, C. Edwards, contracycle, b_bankhead, Bankuei, damion, wyrdlyng, Ron Edwards, quozl, Cassidy, Ben Lehman, Evan Waters, Steve Dustin, Mark Johnson, Ozymandias, Mike Holmes, M. J. Young, Jack Spencer Jr, Shreyas Sampat, Pramas.

12/3/2002 xiombarg: D&D Fantasy -- Monte Cook version
It's notable that even people who've embraced D20 recognize D&D fantasy as its own distinct form of fantasy. Check this out: http://www.montecook.com/lineos.html Jump down to the "C'mon! Give me something!"…
In RPG Theory
Participants: xiombarg, bluegargantua, Jack Spencer Jr.

11/25/2002 xiombarg: Convention LARP
Okay, the other week I was at MACE 2002, and I (along with several of my friends, all working as GMs) ran a White Wolf Mind's Eye Theatre LARP. It…
In Actual Play
Participants: xiombarg, Valamir.

10/31/2002 xiombarg: S Combat System
For those of you who aren't watching the GNS forum, this thread is spun off from this thread, and refers to the S combat system. Why not both?…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: xiombarg, Andrew Martin, Mike Holmes, Gwen.

9/9/2002 xiombarg: OctaNe and space
Finally got around to reading the rest of OctaNe. Very nice. The system is very InSpectres, which should lure in my players; they liked InSpectres. In fact, we might be…
In Memento-Mori Theatricks
Participants: xiombarg.

9/6/2002 xiombarg: playtest and questions for Clinton
I just ran a quick pick-up game of Paladin with James and Emily (the same couple I ran Wuthering Heights for, the first time I ran it). It underlined something…
In CRN Games
Participants: xiombarg, Clinton R. Nixon, Paul Czege.

9/4/2002 xiombarg: Paladin: Comedy Knights
When I was at a SF con in Minnesota, I saw a comdey troupe called "Soylent Theatre", "A Theatre Troop Made of People". They did a series of sketches on…
In CRN Games
Participants: xiombarg.

9/3/2002 xiombarg: Binding OctaNe
Okay, I just picked up OctaNe, and it's hellva cool, but I have to admit that the "print and fold into a tiny booklet" format was sort of a pain…
In Memento-Mori Theatricks
Participants: xiombarg, Paka, Tim Denee, Jared A. Sorensen, Ferry Bazelmans, mahoux, drake113, Mike Holmes.

9/1/2002 xiombarg: My Life With Maestro
I'll have a more complete report later, but some comments from running the game tonight while it's fresh in my mind. These comments come from both me and my players:…
In My Life With Master Playtest
Participants: xiombarg, Matt Gwinn, Paul Czege, Mike Holmes.

8/29/2002 xiombarg: rules tweaks
I'm going to be running this game this Saturday. With that in mind, I kinda have to decide which rules tweaks to use and which ones not to use, of…
In My Life With Master Playtest
Participants: xiombarg, Paul Czege, Mike Holmes.

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Subsequent Topics

2/3/2003 xiombarg: Simulationism vs. Narrativism: Concrete Example
Okay, after reading Ron's recent essay, I'm starting to wonder if I'm somewhat "behind the curve" here in terms of my understanding of the GNS model. Could someone tell me…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: xiombarg, Ron Edwards, Mike Holmes, Valamir, Balbinus.

2/4/2003 xiombarg: GNS Crisis of Faith
Okay, this is a call to point to old, relevant threads (if any) and for new discussion. Before I get started, a disclaimer: I seem to have the super-power of…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: xiombarg, Clinton R. Nixon, Mike Holmes, clehrich, Cassidy, Ron Edwards, Paganini, M. J. Young, Bankuei, ADGBoss.

2/4/2003 xiombarg: The Impossible
Okay, as y'all know, I've been talking a lot about GNS and myown game, Unsung, as of late. The reason for it is this: In the final version of Unsung,…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: xiombarg, lumpley, Jack Spencer Jr, Ron Edwards, Marco.

2/4/2003 xiombarg: Incoherence is Fun!
Okay, I'm creating a lot of threads lately, ignore me if I'm annoying. What I want to discuss is this: I honestly enjoy all three modes of play. Seriously. I…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: xiombarg, Mike Holmes, Jack Spencer Jr, Ron Edwards, Marco, M. J. Young, clehrich, contracycle, Le Joueur.

2/5/2003 xiombarg: web site
Okay, am I correct that the following is the Dark Omen Games web site? http://darkomengames.mysticages.com/ Given that, it seems there is something wrong with the Alyria link from that page:…
In Dark Omen Games
Participants: xiombarg, GreatWolf.

2/5/2003 xiombarg: Death
Okay, even if you haven't before, please take a look at Unsung. In addition to the optional Enemy system, I've added a section entiled "Death" I particularly want comments on,…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: xiombarg, Mike Holmes, Ron Edwards.

2/14/2003 xiombarg: Faster, Better, Cheaper is Back!
As a break (and to clear my palete, as it were) from Unsung, I finally incorporated Mike's playtest comments into Faster, Better, Cheaper. Everyone, new and old, please check it…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: xiombarg, James V. West.

3/19/2003 xiombarg: Pretender: Setting
Okay, I was thinking last night about a campaign I've wanted to run for a very long time. In essence, it's the same "turf" as the World of Darkness: Mythic…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: xiombarg, Spooky Fanboy, Mike Holmes.

3/19/2003 xiombarg: Pretender: System (based on OtherKind)
Okay, I was thinking last night about a campaign I've wanted to run for a very long time. In essence, it's the same "turf" as the World of Darkness: Mythic…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: xiombarg, Palaskar, Spooky Fanboy, Shreyas Sampat, Valamir, lumpley, Mike Holmes.

3/21/2003 xiombarg: Tropes: An Addition to the Forge Lexicon?
[url]http://www.livejournal.com/users/bruceb/24788.html[/url] Now, general Forge wisdom is genre isn't a useful thing to discuss, but what about Tropes? It's certainly true that we've discussed, in essence, certain Tropes that apply to…
In RPG Theory
Participants: xiombarg, Ron Edwards, clehrich, Bruce Baugh.

4/3/2003 xiombarg: We Hate God, Part I (Pretender Playtest)
A couple members of my local group were very keen on trying out Pretender. Therefore, last night we did chargen, in preperation for playing in two weeks hence. Since a…
In Actual Play
Participants: xiombarg, lumpley, Valamir.

4/3/2003 xiombarg: Small Talk: The Shield
Well, I finally got to see The Shield. It was the season finale. The edgy camerawork made my wife sick but I liked it. Very gritty, very morally ambiguous. I…
In Forge Birthday Forum
Participants: xiombarg.

4/15/2003 xiombarg: We Hate God, Part II (Pretender Playtest)
Okay, I'm actually running Pretender tommorrow, so I figured I'd post about the full chargen session. You may want to look at the original thread to refesh your memory about…
In Actual Play
Participants: xiombarg, ADGBoss, furashgf.

4/23/2003 xiombarg: Lusting After Jesus, Part I (Pretender Playtest)
So, last Wednesday I finally ran Pretender. I'll talk about the general experience, and then make some comments regarding the system in actual play, and some changes I might wanna…
In Actual Play
Participants: xiombarg, Brian Leybourne, lumpley, Enoch.

6/19/2003 xiombarg: Pretender Revised
IIRC, this is the correct forum for "open comments" on a game, because Indie Design is for talking about more specific design questions. Well, I incorporated the proposed changes, and…
In RPG Theory
Participants: xiombarg, lumpley, Mike Holmes.

6/21/2003 xiombarg: Lusting After Jesus, Part II: To Hell (Pretender Playtest)
A while back, I ran a second session of Pretender, with some rules modes I suggested in the previous thread, which you might want to check out to refresh your…
In Actual Play
Participants: xiombarg.

6/23/2003 xiombarg: fantasy heartbreakers: a theory
[url=http://www.rpgnews.com/article.php?sid=2509]Working at rpgnews.com[/url] has gotten me thinking about [url=http://www.indie-rpgs.com/articles/9/]Fantasy Heartbreakers[/url] again. Slap me down if this insight is trivial and/or someone already popped out with it and I missed the…
In RPG Theory
Participants: xiombarg, Valamir, Bankuei, Ron Edwards, WDFlores, Cadriel, Marco, John Kim, M. J. Young.

6/30/2003 xiombarg: I finally got to play Universalis!
Moderator post to note that he deleted Kirt's message accidentally (I am an idiot). Look below to make more sense of the responses. Thanks, Mike
In Universalis
Participants: xiombarg, Mike Holmes, Bob McNamee, Valamir.

7/1/2003 xiombarg: Nomic and Universalis
Are either of you, Mike or Ralph, familiar with Nomic? Were you familiar with it when you designed Universalis? What about anyone else who's played Univeralis -- any of you…
In Universalis
Participants: xiombarg, Valamir, Mike Holmes, Tony Irwin.

7/8/2003 xiombarg: social contract stuff -- another thread
Since people seem to be talking about this sort of thing, check this out: http://www.livejournal.com/users/xiombarg/306814.html Be sure to read the commentary as well. My current plan is to sit the…
In Actual Play
Participants: xiombarg, ADGBoss.

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