Previous Topics

10/20/2003 Jay Turner: [D&D] Actual Play
I ran a game of good ol' (well, it's v3.5... so, "good new"?) D&D last night. All the D&D (all the RPGs in general) I've played in the past few…
In Actual Play
Participants: Jay Turner, Ron Edwards, Valamir, anonymouse, Ben Lehman, eudas.

10/20/2003 Matt Snyder: Simple rules question (masteries)
Help my addled brain recall the mechanic for Masteries.... Suppose we have two opponents with the following ability ratings: 2W1 vs. 3W1. Now, if I recall my reading rightly, Masteries…
In HeroQuest
Participants: Matt Snyder, Deadstop, Mike Holmes, Ron Edwards, Valamir.

10/20/2003 lumpley: Trollbabe Tragedy!
My workplace's netnanny, Websense, just put the boot on Trollbabe: The Websense category "Sex" is filtered. My Mondays are gonna be even lamer than before. Have you ever considered an…
In Adept Press
Participants: lumpley, Ron Edwards, Paul Czege.

10/20/2003 Czar Fnord: Randomizer Gimmicks: Key to Tone or More To Learn/Buy?
What makes a new method of randomizing results worthwhile? Speed, versimilitude, strategic play, capturing the tone of the game world? If a unique randomizing method requires players to purchase a…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Czar Fnord, LordSmerf, Michael S. Miller, Jack Aidley, Ron Edwards, Lxndr, Paul Czege, M. J. Young, Mike Holmes, Tim Alexander, Walt Freitag.

10/20/2003 julien: Bleeding
Is there a rule for handling the effects of loss of blood due to a wound immediately after a fight ? As it stands, if you get cut while fighting,…
In The Riddle of Steel
Participants: julien, Caz, Noon, Thanaeon, Sneaky Git, Valamir, Salamander, Durgil, kenjib, Loki, Mike Holmes, Ithron, Brian Leybourne.

10/20/2003 droog: Masses of followers
Hello, Forge. I've been reading stuff here for a few weeks, mainly on this forum. I'd now like to ask a question, and I hope it's not a silly one.…
In HeroQuest
Participants: droog, Ron Edwards, Peter Nordstrand, Mac Logo, Donald, RaconteurX, Mike Holmes.

10/20/2003 Sonja: umbrella term for "NPCs and Monsters"?? help
Is there an umbrella term to include both NPCs and Monsters, i.e. a simple word to cover any and all GM-controlled entities? I can think of terms like Supporting Characters…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Sonja, Andrew Martin, Mark Johnson, ethan_greer, Jack Aidley, Czar Fnord, Ron Edwards, Marco, jdagna, Mike Holmes, Lxndr, ADGBoss, M. J. Young, simon_hibbs, apeiron.

10/20/2003 abzu: After Ubercon Report for the Forge
So, I'm just back from Ubercon. Very tired, but I wanted to let everyone know how it went. Let's do the tale of the tape, first. Here's how everyone sold:…
In Conventions
Participants: abzu, AdAstraGames.

10/19/2003 Tim Alexander: Acrobatics, evasion, and something I'm missing?
Hey Guys, Under the acrobatics description on pg. 31 it says: Failure or fumble on the roll is equivalent to a failed dodge -- all of the attacker's successes count!…
In The Riddle of Steel
Participants: Tim Alexander, Draigh, Brian Leybourne.

10/19/2003 WyldKarde: First-Time RPG Designer Needs Help
I'd like to start off by thanking you for your patience in this post. I am a writer by trade and have little experience with designing game mechanics. Simply put,…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: WyldKarde, Ben Lehman, Mike Holmes.

10/19/2003 Scripty: A Question About Simple Contest Stalemates -- The Giant Tick
This question should be easy to answer, but (for me) it isn't. In fact, I don't much have an answer to it. It is most likely that I am thinking…
In HeroQuest
Participants: Scripty, Peter Nordstrand, Ron Edwards, kalyptein, Ian Cooper, Valamir, Mike Holmes, soru.

10/19/2003 Paganini: Logic Puzzles
So, we've been doing some dungeon crawling over in indie net-gaming, and we're gonna be doing more. I'm running some of it - a planned BD&D game, and maybe some…
In Actual Play
Participants: Paganini, anonymouse, jdagna, Marco.

10/19/2003 JamesDJIII: When Demons Scheme
Here's another question for Sorcerer GMs out there: The Sorcerer rules mention that sometimes its good to know, as a GM, what the demons are up to or aiming for.…
In Adept Press
Participants: JamesDJIII, Ron Edwards.

10/18/2003 Walt Freitag: Origin of the phrase "Step On Up"
Is there some intrinsic meaning to the phrase "Step On Up" that the GNS usage with regard to Gamism builds on? I understand what the term is defined it to…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Walt Freitag, Ron Edwards, Jeff Klein, Jack Spencer Jr.

10/18/2003 LordSmerf: [Universalis -> Improv.] Who needs a system anyway?
The night after we starte The Dead Can Dance. We picked it back up. About an hour and a half into the session we realized that we didn't really need…
In Actual Play
Participants: LordSmerf.

10/18/2003 aghori: Magic System: Theory
I am trying to give shape to my game's magic system, its the last aspect of the game I need to cover. Please provide feedback about the following ideas (by…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: aghori, Tomas HVM, Mike Holmes.

10/18/2003 RaconteurX: Play Contract "checklist"?
The group with which I have been playing the past year or so is a mixed bag of player types, more or less consisting of two Storytellers, a Method Actor,…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: RaconteurX, gobi, Ron Edwards, Harlequin, The GM, Anthony I, Walt Freitag, A.Neill, Matt Snyder, Mike Holmes, M. J. Young, Mark Johnson, Adam Dray, xiombarg, John Kim.

10/18/2003 AnyaTheBlue: Dumb combat question...
Okay, I'm sure this is answered somewhere already, but I didn't find it while we were dueling, I didn't find it poking around in the rules after we finished the…
In The Riddle of Steel
Participants: AnyaTheBlue, Salamander.

10/18/2003 LordSmerf: [Creeks and Crawdads] Dawson's Creeks and Crawdads
So we just finished a boredom busting session of Creeks and Crawdads. It was pretty dang interesting, though highly fatal for all involved. I don't know if i'd play it…
In Actual Play
Participants: LordSmerf, Lxndr, Dana_mun.

10/18/2003 Palaskar: Accomodating GNS drift: Good or bad?
My post on GNS roles got me thinking about modifying my own game. The sections would look something like this, broken down by role: (I have deliberately excluded Guide, as…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Palaskar, Mike Holmes.

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Subsequent Topics

10/20/2003 SumDood: GM as Multi-Character
I'm bringing up this topic because it occurs in games, and I'd like to see how other GMs address this issue. The problem is having the GM play two different…
In RPG Theory
Participants: SumDood, Mike Holmes, Ron Edwards, JSDiamond, M. J. Young, efindel.

10/20/2003 Cynthia Celeste Miller: {Article} Basic Marketing Strategies
[size=24px][color=red][b]Basic Marketing Strategies[/b][/color][/size] [b]By Cynthia Celeste Miller[/b] Marketing is really little more than the application of common sense. Hopefully, this article will give you some insight on how to turn…
In Publishing
Participants: Cynthia Celeste Miller, abzu, ethan_greer, Jonathan Walton.

10/20/2003 Comte: The importance of Layout
Alright I am more of a concept guy. I'll come up with ideas, and even meat to go with them. I am not really good at important bits and up…
In Publishing
Participants: Comte, Ron Edwards.

10/20/2003 jburneko: Elfs and Modules
Hello, Ron, have you considered opening up a mini-supplement program for Elfs? I was thinking that having a supply of modules for sale would not only allow people to profit…
In Adept Press
Participants: jburneko, Ron Edwards, Rod Anderson, Paganini, greyorm.

10/20/2003 Ben Lehman: My Life with Imperator
Has anyone considered the possibility of using the My Life With Master mechanics for the Nobilis setting? This idea came to me in the shower this morning, and I think…
In Half Meme Press
Participants: Ben Lehman, Jonathan Walton, Michael S. Miller.

10/20/2003 M. J. Young: Game Design Seminar at UNY-con
Dan Brace has agreed that I should run a seminar at UNY-con November 14th-16th in Rochester, New York specifically on game design. I'd like it to be a panel…
In Conventions
Participants: M. J. Young, lumpley, inthisstyle.

10/20/2003 Draigh: Attacking your opponent's weapon
I was watching an episode of Conquest the other night in which they were showing the strengths and weaknesses of the axe in it's many forms. One of the strengths…
In The Riddle of Steel
Participants: Draigh, Caz, Ben Lehman, Salamander, Richard_Strey, BirdMan, Brian Leybourne, Tom, Jake Norwood, Tash, Turin, aaronharmon.

10/20/2003 John Harper: PTA Bridgewater
[b]Primetime Adventures: Bridgewater[/b] My friend Matt Wilson has written a wonderful roleplaying game called Primetime Adventures. Perhaps you've heard of it around the Forge. It's in the late playtesting stages…
In Actual Play
Participants: John Harper, Meredith, hix, Matt Wilson.

10/20/2003 DaGreatJL: Addiction
Okay, I have this problem. There are some people around here who are under the impression I'm a good GM. Whether or not they are correct is not something I…
In Actual Play
Participants: DaGreatJL, Ron Edwards, Piratecat, Bob McNamee, Mike Holmes, Marco.

10/20/2003 Neylana: Random Idea
Something that I just got it in my head to try (and if I actually manage to successfully get it going, I'll let you know), is sortof a mix between…
In Key 20 Publishing
Participants: Neylana, Jason L Blair, Jan_Schattling.

10/21/2003 Jack Spencer Jr: Cheating
From over in Randomizer Gimmicks: Key to Tone or More To Learn/Buy? Interesting system, reducing the standard deck. It is susceptable, however, to a general problem with card draws:…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jack Spencer Jr, LordSmerf, Ron Edwards, Harlequin, jrs, ADGBoss, Michael S. Miller, Czar Fnord, David Chunn, Walt Freitag, Valamir, Mike Holmes.

10/21/2003 hix: Actual Play: A Russian Fairytale
We recently played a five session game of Universalis. Fun, competitive behaviour, stretching the rules, despair, elation and more fun. I experimented with a bunch of different strategies throughout the…
In Universalis
Participants: hix, Valamir, Mike Holmes.

10/21/2003 John Harper: Dice Mechanic: Trading Narration
I came up with a little dice mechanic today, and now I'm starting to think that maybe I didn't invent it after all. I think the odds are good that…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: John Harper, Ron Edwards, Mike Holmes.

10/22/2003 Rico: Movement
This has probably been answered already but i couldn't find anything When doing a senario a character decided to sprint and run up to atack an archer that was 36…
In The Riddle of Steel
Participants: Rico, Durgil, Brian Leybourne, StahlMeister, Ashren Va'Hale, Caz, Wolfen.

10/22/2003 Trevis Martin: MLwM: Meat for the Machine 2: Revenge of the Spider Babies.
Here follows the second session narration log for our MLWM game. Ref: * Ref: * Ref: * Ref: MLWM, Meat for the Machine, Session 2 Ref: * Ref: * Ref:…
In Actual Play
Participants: Trevis Martin, Mike Holmes, AgentFresh, Ron Edwards, Lxndr, anonymouse.

10/22/2003 Heather Manley: Amazon Ninja Space-Pirate Catgirls: The SPANCing
That is, I decided to change the title to Space-Pirate Amazon Ninja Catgirls. After almost every person who I discussed the game with sugggested that acronym. Yes. SPANC. So...erm. I…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Heather Manley, Jack Spencer Jr, Ron Edwards, Drakath, gobi, anonymouse.

10/22/2003 Comte: [How Many Points] Atribute Distribution Question
This is a two part question. First of all I have seen mention of things like probability curves for dice and things like that. I would like to know if…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Comte, Mike Holmes, Lxndr, Jack Aidley.

10/22/2003 ethan_greer: Just a little status update
Hi folks! Well, despite the quietude here, things are going well and moving forward for SimplePhrase Press. I terminated my writer's block concerning the sample scenario for Thugs and Thieves,…
In SimplePhrase Press
Participants: ethan_greer, Ron Edwards, Mike Holmes.

10/22/2003 gobi: [Gears & Spears] New Mythic Task Resolution (long post)
It's been a while since the last update, but I have indeed written a bit more for the game (though nothing ready to be posted on the page itself.) One…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: gobi, anonymouse, raga, Shreyas Sampat, Jonathan Walton.

10/22/2003 gobi: Encouraging Cheating
While cooking up Gears & Spears' setting-influenced task resolution, I started thinking about a task resolution appropriate for Take, my criminal underworld/heist side side project formerly titled "Pull." Because the…
In RPG Theory
Participants: gobi, ethan_greer, Christopher Weeks, Jonathan Walton, Tim Alexander, LordSmerf, Harlequin, Mike Holmes, Jeph, Lxndr, M. J. Young.

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