Previous Topics

6/8/2003 taalyn: GNS detractors and Social Contract
There was a huge debate this last week on the yahoo group RPGcreate. One particular person was quite vociferous about his opposition to GNS theory (and included standard rants about…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: taalyn, C. Edwards, Alan, Sidhain, jburneko, John Kim, jdagna, ejh, Valamir, Caldis, Bankuei, Marco.

5/21/2003 taalyn: Narrativism and Morality?
It seems that the primary method of explaining Narrativism is in terms of moral and/or ethical decisions. Why is that, and why isn't the style renamed to be less opaque?…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: taalyn, Mike Holmes, talysman, Ron Edwards, Wormwood, M. J. Young.

5/10/2003 taalyn: Real life atrocities?
I'm wondering what the general thought is on incorporating real world nastiness into game history. For example, does anyone have strong thoughts or feelings about incorporating 9/11 into a world…
In RPG Theory
Participants: taalyn, lumpley, Brian Leybourne, Matt Wilson, Jared A. Sorensen, Christopher Kubasik, deadpanbob, clehrich, Bob McNamee, Ron Edwards.

5/10/2003 taalyn: Crux, the game formerly known as Aisling
Announcing: Crux, that game with glass bobblies, has reached a point where playtesting is possible. I'm also hoping that having more of it visible will get me to finish certain…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: taalyn, MathiasJack.

5/6/2003 taalyn: point of view?
This may not be the right forum, but thinking it is at the moment... What point of view do you prefer when reading rules? What I mean is do I…
In RPG Theory
Participants: taalyn, Shreyas Sampat, Mike Holmes, Jack Spencer Jr, Ron Edwards, Matt Wilson.

5/1/2003 taalyn: Aisling Damage and also Magic
Hey all, Two things I could really use your help on, because I keep coming up against a wall. - Damage I've talked about it before, and that helped a…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: taalyn, Mike Holmes, MathiasJack, Shreyas Sampat.

4/19/2003 taalyn: Aisling combat
I'm making slow but steady progress on Aisling, and hope to have something good enough for playtesting in a month or two. That will be the bare basics with a…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: taalyn, Shreyas Sampat, Thomas Tamblyn, clehrich, Green, Wolfen, Felix.

4/16/2003 taalyn: layout design hints, tips, and tricks
This has probably been mentioned, started, or discussed elsewhere, but I swear for the life of me that I can't find them. Are there any good tutorials on layout and…
In Publishing
Participants: taalyn, Christoffer Lernö, ethan_greer, J. Backman, philreed, Jonathan Walton, Jason L Blair, Ron Edwards.

4/13/2003 taalyn: Chargen issues for Aisling
I'm trying to get a basic set of rules together so I can get playtesting results while I work on the fun part (setting). I'm hoping you guys can suggest…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: taalyn, Wolfen.

4/13/2003 taalyn: All-opposed, but...
I've described elsewhere here at the Forge how all of Aisling's 'rolls' are opposed. So-called 'unopposed' draws draw on the Doorness or Carness to determine difficulty. But, what about situations…
In RPG Theory
Participants: taalyn, Kester Pelagius, SrGrvsaLot, Garbanzo, M. J. Young, Ron Edwards, Mike Holmes.

4/10/2003 taalyn: The game formerly known as Aisling
Hey y'all, As I've been typing up the mechanics, and also working on a setting timeline, I've realized that Aislng is too culturally biased. While there are certainly Celtic varieties…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: taalyn, Wolfen, anonymouse, Valamir, szilard, Mike Holmes, Hamshrew, MathiasJack, Thomas Tamblyn, Green, clehrich.

4/4/2003 taalyn: Gay gamers
Just curious - how many gay gamers are there? That you know, or are here at the Forge. A.
In Forge Birthday Forum
Participants: taalyn, Adam, Mike Holmes, Ron Edwards, Jonathan Walton, szilard, Othyem, Anonymous, ADGBoss, Piratecat, Cynthia Celeste Miller.

4/4/2003 taalyn: Probability calculation
I'm not sure this is the right forum, but I'm not sure what would be the right one. Anyhoo, can anyone direct me to wensites, discussion, or books that are…
In RPG Theory
Participants: taalyn, John Kim, bladamson, Bruce Baugh, Thierry Michel, Mike Holmes, Paul Czege.

4/3/2003 taalyn: how much "color terminology" is too much?
I like color terminology (like my motes, caern, hand, etc.) but I wonder if there's any theory or ideas on when it's gone too far. Particularly, does anyone have good…
In RPG Theory
Participants: taalyn, Bruce Baugh, Valamir, Ron Edwards, Matt Wilson.

4/3/2003 taalyn: Probabilities, mechanic tweak, blathering pointlessly
After reading Mike's rant again, I've decided what will happen re DL and my mechanic. Simply draw vs. skill - opposing skill (whether that's Doorness or Joe Bob Spriggan's 'Hurt…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: taalyn, Mike Holmes, Twinsoul, Brian Leybourne, Shreyas Sampat, Wolfen.

4/1/2003 taalyn: Difficulty levels
How do you folks determine difficulties? How do you decide what's a reasonable difficulty for any given task? Do you use probabilities at all, i.e. figure out what the average…
In RPG Theory
Participants: taalyn, Mark Johnson, bladamson, Wolfen, RobMuadib, Thomas Tamblyn, Ron Edwards, Mike Holmes, Bruce Baugh.

3/31/2003 taalyn: Aisling - mechanic review, please? <LONG>
Hey all, Here's my writeup for the Aisling mechanic. Would anyone be willing to critique it? How To Do It Whenever a charactert attempts an action whose outcome is significant…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: taalyn, Wolfen, greyorm.

3/30/2003 taalyn: Rulebook outline?
I've been collecting together my Aisling notes, and have sat down to actually write out the rulebook. I've run into a problem: I'm rather vague on how to arrange things!…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: taalyn, Shreyas Sampat, brainwipe, JSDiamond.

3/28/2003 taalyn: Scott Knipe's Wyrd
Does anyone have a copy? Was it free, so you could forward a copy to me? Or is anyone willing to tell me about it? It no longer has a…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: taalyn, Clinton R. Nixon, greyorm, hardcoremoose, James V. West, Jere, szilard.

3/27/2003 taalyn: new game and guy - mechanic question
Hi guys, I'm a new member to the Forge, but have been reading along for ages now. I've been working on a Nar game with a simple Fortune mechanic, and…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: taalyn, szilard, ThreeGee, Mike Holmes, Shreyas Sampat, Wolfen, Brian Leybourne, Spooky Fanboy, Twinsoul, Hamshrew.

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Subsequent Topics

6/13/2003 taalyn: Aspect distinction in Crux
Mathias Jack and I have been working on Crux, and have revised it a bit. Chargen is prioritized, a la TRoS. Most draws use an aspect + trait. For example,…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: taalyn, MathiasJack, Mike Holmes.

6/16/2003 taalyn: GNS and metagame machanix
Many games have mechanics that support one mode of GNS play. Victory points, hero points, and the like for gamist criteria, and Luck or points to manipulate the story for…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: taalyn, jdagna, Shreyas Sampat, M. J. Young, John Kim, demiurgeastaroth, contracycle, Mike Holmes, Ron Edwards.

6/18/2003 taalyn: Reward factors
I'm just looking for people's ideas for how they reward players with experience points and the like. For example, one factor I've seen is the "cool feat" point, granting the…
In RPG Theory
Participants: taalyn, Lxndr, jdagna, cruciel, M. J. Young, Mad-Eye Moody, Ben Morgan, Matt Wilson, Hunter Logan, Mike Holmes, Jack Spencer Jr.

7/9/2003 taalyn: Conflict in Crux
hey guys and gals and various werebeasts, I'm starting to think about Crux conflict, and have discovered a wall I'm bouncing on. I'm hoping some of you could help me…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: taalyn, Mike Holmes, Paul Czege, Shreyas Sampat, MathiasJack, Thomas Tamblyn, ross_winn, cruciel.

7/16/2003 taalyn: Magic in Crux
Hey folks! So, here are a bunch of our thoughts on magic. We're worried that it's too complex, and still uncertain of how to handle some of the mechanics. These…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: taalyn, MathiasJack, Eric Kimball, Shreyas Sampat.

7/18/2003 taalyn: multiple combatants
I just can't figure this out - how does stance and initiative work if you have several people involved? For example, if Bob hits Carl, and Doug hits Bob, and…
In The Riddle of Steel
Participants: taalyn, Jake Norwood.

7/20/2003 taalyn: Crux in playtest
Hey all, I've been playtesting Crux for about a month now, and introduced some new players last night. Here's what's been going on, and some thoughts sparked as a result:…
In Actual Play
Participants: taalyn.

9/5/2003 taalyn: Crux is seeking: artists, editor, webdesigner
Crux is progressing on schedule, for a May release. While we still have plenty of time, we'd like to get people involved asap to allow for plenty of time to…
In Connections
Participants: taalyn.

9/21/2003 taalyn: Crux - cover image?
Hey everybody! (Hi Dr. Nick!) Crux is progressing along nicely, but I do have one thing that I just can't get through, and Im not having any luck with my…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: taalyn.

9/29/2003 taalyn: PDF publishing
[quote="Back in April of 2002, Ron"]As the pioneer and arguably the expert on selling PDF versions of a role-playing game, I can tell you that this tactic is not valid.…
In Publishing
Participants: taalyn, Matt Snyder, gameskald, Brand_Robins, quozl, Valamir, samdowning, HinterWelt, Michael Hopcroft, Scott_Lynch, Gold Rush Games.

10/5/2003 taalyn: Milehicon
Anyone here going? Um..I dunno what else to say. That's what I want to know. Aidan
In Conventions
Participants: taalyn, Ron Edwards, abzu, jcfiala.

1/16/2004 taalyn: Crux needs you!
Any and all interested in helping me finish Crux are hereby invited to join the team. Mostly, I need a multitude of writers, as my cowriter has gone missing and…
In Connections
Participants: taalyn.

3/9/2004 taalyn: Cruxness in revision
Some of you may remember Crux, an urban fantasy rpg using colored tokens instead of dice. Well, development went on hiatus for about 6 months, but I'm gearing up to…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: taalyn, cruciel, Shreyas Sampat, Darcy Burgess, Strams.

3/10/2004 taalyn: Systematic challenge, or "How the party met an untimely
One of the things that really impressed me with Dunjon was the method for gauging how many or what level to make NPCs so that they would be a consistent…
In RPG Theory
Participants: taalyn, M. J. Young.

3/13/2004 taalyn: ISBN co-op?
Does anyone know if it's possible (and legal) to group together to buy an ISBN block? Anyone interested in doing so? I just can't afford a block of 10 (or…
In Publishing
Participants: taalyn, Valamir, Paul Czege, jdagna, daMoose_Neo, Ron Edwards, xiombarg, Lxndr, madelf, talysman, age_of_dissent, Matt.

3/14/2004 taalyn: Myth of Opposed Rolls in action
This may be more appropriate for the design forum, since I'm talking about a specific manifestation, but I am open to discussing the relevance in other systems as well. So,…
In RPG Theory
Participants: taalyn, talysman, Halzebier, Mike Holmes.

3/25/2004 taalyn: Ability Scope problems in Crux
I am having problems figuring something out, so I'm hoping you all can help. First, a basic run through of relevant details (mechanics only, as I've done setting numerous times):…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: taalyn, Shreyas Sampat, jphannil, Mike Holmes.

3/26/2004 taalyn: Narrativism and Fortune mechanics
Generally, games specifically for Narr playing see to have these few specific characteristics: - no GM, i.e. collaborative - resource management for conflict resolution - conflict resolution is usually between…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: taalyn, xiombarg, Michael S. Miller.

3/30/2004 taalyn: How to determine difficulties
I can't figure them out. They're beingtransparent. I have a huge excel file with all the odds and probabilities for my system, but have no idea how to decide what…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: taalyn, Steve Samson, Jeph, Jasper, orbsmatt, Mike Holmes, Shreyas Sampat.

4/7/2004 taalyn: [Crux] conflict/task resolution method
Having been inspired by Lumpley ramblings here, I've got half of a conflict/task resolution method figured out. I have the system, but could use help with the method. The idea:…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: taalyn, coxcomb, cruciel.

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