Previous Topics

3/3/2003 Drew Stevens: GNS- Questioning Gamist
Hooray for random shower tangential thoughts! Verification: The primary Gamist goal for playing a game is they want to Win. They are playing to try and beat someone, either the…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Drew Stevens, quozl, Ron Edwards, Valamir, Jack Spencer Jr, Walt Freitag, ethan_greer, Mike Holmes, lumpley, M. J. Young, greyorm, talysman, JMendes.

3/3/2003 Drew Stevens: Central and Secondry Protagonism in Roleplaying
So, I was reflecting a bit today, on previously and presently run Games I Have Known. Specifically, on the nature of the protagonism of the characters. Now, most games I'm…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Drew Stevens, Sylus Thane, M. J. Young, Johannes, Michael S. Miller, Mike Holmes, clehrich.

2/28/2003 Drew Stevens: InSpecteres- Bugs or Features?
So, I ran a lil' InSpecteres one shot a few nights ago, and it went reasonably well. Some of the players much more clearly 'got' the mood and feeling and…
In Memento-Mori Theatricks
Participants: Drew Stevens, Jared A. Sorensen, Michael S. Miller, Tim C Koppang.

2/19/2003 Drew Stevens: InSpecteres question...
Question- Do all the Franchise dice earned from completing a mission go to the Company? Because if they do, it seems like companies grow at a gangbusters rate. I mean,…
In Memento-Mori Theatricks
Participants: Drew Stevens, Jared A. Sorensen, jburneko.

2/19/2003 Drew Stevens: Social Combat
*paces while waiting for his full copy of Riddle* I was pondering recently, specifically about social intrigue and such- given the deadlier nature of combat in Riddle, I rather expect…
In The Riddle of Steel
Participants: Drew Stevens, toli, Valamir, Jake Norwood, Ron Edwards, Clinton R. Nixon, Brian Leybourne, Noon, Mainboard, Mike Holmes, Durgil, svenlein, Fallen_Icarus, arxhon, Ryuuko, John Resotko.

2/19/2003 Drew Stevens: A more formalized Social Contract
So, while I'm sure that several people have already seen this, I imagine some haven't. And in any case, it's an interesting read on a way to formalize a social…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Drew Stevens, Ron Edwards, Mike Holmes.

2/19/2003 Drew Stevens: Shock...
Maybe I'm misunderstanding how it's meant to work, or maybe the Quickstart rules don't explain it right, but Shock seemed to be Really Brutal, and Brawn seemed to make a…
In The Riddle of Steel
Participants: Drew Stevens, Valamir, Stephen, Mike Holmes, Noon, Bankuei.

2/18/2003 Drew Stevens: Shipping alerts?
So, just out of my morbid sense of curiousity, but do ya send out an email with a shipping alert when you post out the games on Monday? :) Oh,…
In The Riddle of Steel
Participants: Drew Stevens, Jake Norwood.

2/17/2003 Drew Stevens: Matron - The Matrix in the Donjon
Whee, brain explosions! So, one of the Persistant Problems of Neuromancer style cyberpunk is that of the Decker- the person who isn't directly in the action, but exists in a…
In CRN Games
Participants: Drew Stevens, Mike Holmes, Bob McNamee, Clinton R. Nixon, John Harper.

2/17/2003 Drew Stevens: Star Wars meandering
So, I'm honestly not sure if this should go here or on the Theory forum, so I'm erring on the side of indie game design. Anywho. I've been tinkering with…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Drew Stevens, Walt Freitag, Mike Holmes, Ron Edwards, szilard, ThreeGee, Clinton R. Nixon, Jack Spencer Jr, clehrich, Jeph, M. J. Young, John Kim, Jeremy Cole, JMendes, erithromycin, contracycle.

2/17/2003 Drew Stevens: Dagger Damage?
First, I'm sold. *copy ordered* Second, I'm confused. So, I've been reading the QuickStart rules, and I noticed that some fairly blunt, usally non-lethal weapons (Quarterstaff, Kick) seemed to be…
In The Riddle of Steel
Participants: Drew Stevens, Mokkurkalfe, Jim DelRosso, Ashren Va'Hale, Jake Norwood, Stephen.

2/15/2003 Drew Stevens: Amazonian Zombies on a Far Distant Desert Planet!
Alright, this game is really weird :) I like it bunches. We started with the tenets 1) The story would involve zombies. 2) Who are all amazonian. 3) And have…
In Universalis
Participants: Drew Stevens, Valamir, Bob McNamee, Mike Holmes, Tony Irwin, Ron Edwards.

2/12/2003 Drew Stevens: Agh! Explaining Universalis!
So, I have an interesting dillimea. I mean, it's a good dillimea, but it's still interesting. How do ya'll explain Universalis to other people? Since my efforts at either 'A…
In Universalis
Participants: Drew Stevens, Michael S. Miller, Mike Holmes, Valamir, Bob McNamee.

2/7/2003 Drew Stevens: Shipping alerts?
Okay, Universalis sounds more cool than English contains words to readily express. Like, whole barrels of fun. So, I ordered it (yay me! yay second printings!) Question, thus- are there…
In Universalis
Participants: Drew Stevens, Valamir, Paganini, James V. West.

1/13/2003 Drew Stevens: Mush/Mux Design- musing at work
Ah, I love when my boss isn't in, leaves me a little to do, and I'm done before noon. Time to muse and await a Muse. Anywho :) I've been…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Drew Stevens, Kiriath, wraeththu, contracycle, Clay.

1/8/2003 Drew Stevens: Magic Speculation
So, in my ongoing Quest of Thinking, I thought a thought. Specifically about magic/super powers/psi abilities in a game. I'm a Mage player of old, and so will fall back…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Drew Stevens, clehrich, M. J. Young, cruciel, Tony Irwin, Ron Edwards, Sidhain, contracycle.

1/8/2003 Drew Stevens: Ponderings on Game Balance
Question: Is game balance an important issue in your games? And if so, what is game balance? Is it neccesary that characters within a party be balanced against one another?…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Drew Stevens, simon_hibbs, Ron Edwards, Sidhain, Marco, Bankuei.

1/4/2003 Drew Stevens: A mechanic idea for dealing with potential
So, I idly mentioned that I really liked the idea of characters not all being equal, even with unlimited experience. And then, a fairly simply means of creating such a…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Drew Stevens, Andrew Martin, ethan_greer, M. J. Young, contracycle, Jamie, James V. West, Michael S. Miller, Ron Edwards, Valamir, Paganini.

12/26/2002 Drew Stevens: Predeterminism vs Free Will - a random smattering of thought
A bit of theme- Imagine that God has a perfect plan, and it's your job to defend it. That's what you've trained for- you're on of the best of the…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Drew Stevens, Shreyas Sampat, Michael S. Miller, szilard, Jonathan Walton.

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Subsequent Topics

4/7/2003 Drew Stevens: What makes an RPG?
Short form- What is the difference between pawn stance, GMless Gamism and a tactical/strategic board game? Long form- Last night, my friend Nigel and I were playtesting a prop-heavy combat…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Drew Stevens, quozl, Ron Edwards, ThreeGee, Mike Holmes, ethan_greer, Clinton R. Nixon, szilard, lumpley, cruciel, John Kim, Shreyas Sampat, Jack Spencer Jr, CplFerro, Bruce Baugh, Rich Forest, M. J. Young, Brian Leybourne, clehrich, C. Edwards, Sindyr, Le Joueur, Valamir, talysman, SrGrvsaLot, Thierry Michel, Walt Freitag.

4/8/2003 Drew Stevens: Partcipationism as a defined mechanic?
Just a thought, inspired by Riddle of Steel. :) What would be the results of a mechanic which defines a Theme (or set of Themes) for both a story arc…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Drew Stevens, Ron Edwards, Marco.

4/20/2003 Drew Stevens: The Means and Ways of Conflict
Question: Is conflict in RPGs inherently limited to binary states (win/lose), a game of diminishing resources (traditional HPs, dice pool) or the question of narrative control? I'm specifically contrasting this…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Drew Stevens, clehrich, Harlequin.

4/21/2003 Drew Stevens: I just saw Six String Samuari...
*whimper* I have a physical need for high octaNe gaming now... Physical, heartfelt need. Which demands instant gratification. But- I like physical books too, and it's twice as long... What…
In Memento-Mori Theatricks
Participants: Drew Stevens, Jared A. Sorensen, Ben Morgan.

3/17/2004 Drew Stevens: Question on running a Sorcerer one shot
So, I've been contemplating running a Sorcerer one shot for mine comrades- part of an ongoing effort to introduce more folks to more varied forms of roleplaying than vanillia immersionism…
In Adept Press
Participants: Drew Stevens, Fabrice G., kwill, angelfromanotherpin.

5/25/2004 Drew Stevens: Handling action at a distance
Okay. A large portion of a game of intrigue is action at a distance- using your web of contacts and influences, allies and minions, to accomplish goals (wither arbitrary or…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Drew Stevens, John Harper, Shreyas Sampat, M. J. Young.

6/3/2004 Drew Stevens: Planning Political Plots
Still working on Touche, the game of courtly intrigue and such. And, I hope to see a way around another major stumbling block. See, the earliest designs of Touche almost…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Drew Stevens, Praetor Judis, Doctor Xero, HMT, teucer, greedo1379, M. J. Young, contracycle.

6/26/2004 Drew Stevens: [Touché] Almost a Playtest Release :)
http://www.prism.gatech.edu/~gte049v/Touche/Touche.html Touché is game I've been working on for a while now- I mentioned it a few weeks ago, in Roleplaying Theory. Well, it's done. Mostly. With my hand written…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Drew Stevens, Jasper, Mark D. Eddy.

7/7/2004 Drew Stevens: Stealing from Sorcerer for RoS Magic
As many others, I'm not terribly thrilled with Riddle's magic system. It feels too clunky, the science speak is jarring, etcetc. I'd like to replace it with something more pulpish.…
In The Riddle of Steel
Participants: Drew Stevens, Stump, Ben, greyorm, Tash, Jay Turner, Brian Leybourne, arxhon, Ron Edwards.

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