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In RPG Theory

9/14/2002 Jake Norwood: Anti-Combat Bias (kinda long)
Something I'm noticing here and there is an "anti-combat bias." Now, before everyone's breeches start bunching up I want to preface by saying that I both understand and agree that…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jake Norwood, Andrew Martin, deadpanbob, Jack Spencer Jr, Ron Edwards, Christoffer Lernö, Le Joueur, contracycle, Clinton R. Nixon, kevin671, Marco, damion, Jared A. Sorensen, GreatWolf, marknau, Blake Hutchins, Matt Wilson, Valamir, Mike Holmes, M. J. Young.

9/11/2002 Marco: Fault Tolerant Scenario Design
Hi, We have two new articles up on the JAGS Site http://jagsgame.dyndns.org concerning scenario design. They're not written by me. They are related and concern how to construct what are…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Marco, GB Steve, Valamir, Ron Edwards, Mike Holmes.

9/10/2002 Matt Wilson: a couple mechanics ideas
I've got this game setting idea that I dig, and I was considering applying FUDGE rules to it, but man, what's the fun in that? I think I need to…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Matt Wilson, Ron Edwards, M. J. Young, Mike Holmes.

9/9/2002 Valamir: Pendragon, dice, and character actions
[quote="Mike Holmes"] But Pendragon goes one further. It requires the players to "participate" in character decisions through the system. That is, when a player's Bravery trait goes off, they are…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Valamir, GB Steve, Ron Edwards, Mike Holmes, Gordon C. Landis.

9/9/2002 Balbinus: Inspiration
Hi again, I'd like some feedback on the following concept for a game mechanic, which would be used in a Renaissance setting. Inspiration. This would probably be a stat of…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Balbinus, Mike Holmes, Jasper, Jeremy Cole, JSDiamond, kevin671, simon_hibbs, Bjorn Ludvigsen.

9/9/2002 Balbinus: Template based character generation
Hi, I'd like some general views on template based character generation. In this case what I mean specifically is where a character is created by taking a number of templates…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Balbinus, Marco, Ron Edwards, Valamir, Matt Gwinn, Mike Holmes, kevin671.

9/7/2002 Paka: Definitions of Forge Gaming Vocabulary
Could we compile a list of terms that Indie Gamers use such as sim, GNS, and/or narrativist for us newbies. I am intrigued by the gamespeak here but I want…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Paka, kaworuiskool, Christoffer Lernö, Clinton R. Nixon, Ron Edwards, Le Joueur, Paganini.

9/6/2002 Lee Short: The Primacy of Dice
Introduction The release of 1st edition AD&D was the coming-out event for the hobby of roleplaying games. Thousands of people across the nation played the game -- including many future…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Lee Short, Ron Edwards, Le Joueur, Valamir, J B Bell, Mike Holmes, Clinton R. Nixon, Andrew Martin, Christoffer Lernö, Walt Freitag, Paganini, Forlarren, Jeremy Cole.

9/6/2002 Ron Edwards: What "that guy" is called
Hi there, The fellow who goes by "nipfipgip...dip" suggested, in this thread: Is it about time someone drew a list of the names given to the GM role over time?…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Ron Edwards, mahoux, Mike Holmes, Valamir, xiombarg, Walt Freitag, jburneko, Zak Arntson, Clinton R. Nixon, lumpley, Paul Czege, Ian Charvill, hardcoremoose, contracycle, damion, greyorm, Jared A. Sorensen, Tim Denee, Jack Spencer Jr, M. J. Young, Le Joueur, S.Lonergan, hyphz, Mytholder, Seth L. Blumberg, JSDiamond, kevin671.

9/6/2002 Marco: Participationism?
From a quote by Mike Holmes in the Actual Play group. Oh, if this was not participatinism, then I think that most likely it was Illusionism (but, hey, who…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Marco, Ron Edwards, Mike Holmes, contracycle, Le Joueur, GB Steve, damion, Valamir.

9/4/2002 Balbinus: Making Star Wars suck
Or, why simulationism is sometimes an error. Ok, Star Wars is a highly popular universe for gaming. The Star Wars game is a big seller for WotC. I'm willing to…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Balbinus, xiombarg, Mike Holmes, contracycle, Marco, Clinton R. Nixon.

9/4/2002 Christoffer Lernö: De-characterizing Effects of Currency
I've been touching on this in my recent threads. In an attempt to discuss it a little more focuse I start up a new thread here. Let's start with an…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Christoffer Lernö, contracycle, Jasper, Le Joueur, Valamir, ADGBoss, C. Edwards, Bailey, Ace, Robert K Beckett, Jeremy Cole, ks13.

8/31/2002 C. Edwards: Failure=Advancement
There has been some discussion in the Level concerns thread about character advancement through failure. Learning from one’s mistakes takes place in the real world and it seems only natural…
In RPG Theory
Participants: C. Edwards, Ron Edwards, damion, M. J. Young, Robert K Beckett.

8/30/2002 StormBringer: Mechanics question:
Hello, everyone! I just had a quick question about some mechanics I was mulling over. Nothing too elaborate or detailed, just a starter to get my brain going: I wanted…
In RPG Theory
Participants: StormBringer, Mike Holmes, Andrew Martin, M. J. Young, Christoffer Lernö, Jeremy Cole.

8/30/2002 damion: Patrons and social connections-med long
This thought was triggered by the connections-advancement thread, some of the Ygg threads and plain old experiance. A lot of RPG's have mechanics for Patrons, Connections, people one knows, ect.…
In RPG Theory
Participants: damion, Zak Arntson, Balbinus, Mike Holmes, C. Edwards, Ron Edwards, Jeremy Cole, Stuart DJ Purdie, Paul Czege, Jeffrey Straszheim, Gordon C. Landis, M. J. Young, contracycle, Valamir, Walt Freitag, Bob McNamee, Christoffer Lernö, Le Joueur.

8/28/2002 contracycle: the scottish play
Somehow I came across this thought while pondering Rons breakdown of classes - there is a link here somewhere with how character presage, bring about, their own actions as it…
In RPG Theory
Participants: contracycle, Mike Holmes, Le Joueur, Demonspahn, M. J. Young, xiombarg, simon_hibbs, GB Steve.

8/27/2002 Paul Czege: character vs. character: dealer-room demos at GenCon
Hey everyone, I've been thinking a lot about the demos I played at GenCon over the past couple of days, the ones with pre-generated characters, Jake's Riddle of Steel demo,…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Paul Czege, Clinton R. Nixon, Mike Holmes, xiombarg, Ron Edwards, Rich Ranallo.

8/26/2002 kaworuiskool: Question about precursors of my idea?
First of all, any of this may have been done before, and in a way that isn't so hideously impractical. In fact I would prefer if that's so, and then…
In RPG Theory
Participants: kaworuiskool, Jared A. Sorensen, Ron Edwards, Valamir.

8/24/2002 Christoffer Lernö: Defining "realistic" setting & mechanics
I feel I'm lacking some well defined terms to describe consistency in setting and mechanics. Even the term consistency seems to be unclear. In an attempt to contribute a little…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Christoffer Lernö, Le Joueur, M. J. Young.

8/23/2002 Balbinus: Advancement: Effectiveness v. Connectedness
Hi, the following comes out of my thinking on an advancement mechanic for politics heavy games, but is of more general applicability. I posted it initially over at rpg.net then…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Balbinus, Mike Holmes, Valamir, Uncle Dark, Ron Edwards, Tim C Koppang, chaosvoyager, Bob McNamee, Jeremy Cole, contracycle, GB Steve, Seth L. Blumberg.

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In RPG Theory

9/15/2002 Meguey: Romantic Partners who game
Over in Actual Play about Puppies, Paul Czege said:Romantic partners who game, and who are fiercely supportive of your design efforts...despite discomfort from circumstance or subject matter. Don't get no…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Meguey, M. J. Young, Le Joueur, kevin671, Bob McNamee, jdagna, greyorm, Maurice Forrester, wyrdlyng, Ron Edwards, damion, Clinton R. Nixon, hardcoremoose, Paul's Girl, Emily Care, Doc Midnight, Walt Freitag, lumpley.

9/16/2002 contracycle: Yet Another Context Free Mechanic
So, this is an outline of my latest tinkering. Its a system aimed at swordplay, as it happens, rather than generic resolution. Its intended to exploit HW's concept of deferred…
In RPG Theory
Participants: contracycle, Ron Edwards, Walt Freitag, Jeremy Cole, Colin the Riot, Mike Holmes, Garbanzo, M. J. Young.

9/16/2002 simon_hibbs: Gamism in/out of game - Was RE: The Class Issue
[quote="Victor Gijsbers"] [quote]The character's explicitly functional role among the other characters, relative to the metagame goals of play, whether explicit or implicit. If it's a combat-squad game, then we have…
In RPG Theory
Participants: simon_hibbs, jdagna, Jeremy Cole, Ron Edwards, FuzionReactor, deadpanbob, contracycle, Zak Arntson, M. J. Young.

9/16/2002 Matt Wilson: the purpose of system/rules
One of the stronger presences at the Forge is that of developing good narrative-focus games. Good. Most big games out there seem like the anti-narrative to me. I think the…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Matt Wilson, Matt, Mike Holmes, simon_hibbs, Le Joueur, lumpley, Ron Edwards, M. J. Young, GB Steve, Jeremy Cole, Jonathan Walton, Anthony, Alan, Emily Care, Seth L. Blumberg, Jake Norwood, Jack Spencer Jr.

9/16/2002 Jack Spencer Jr: Non-contextual combat system
This is a *very* rough idea, so stick with me. Characters have a pool of dice, we'll say 10d6 for our purposes here. The player has a sheet of paper…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jack Spencer Jr, Ron Edwards.

9/17/2002 greyorm: Gaming Advocacy
Not quite certain where to put this, but considering the "Romantic Partners Who Game" thread is located herein, I'll take that as a sign this might be the correct forum…
In RPG Theory
Participants: greyorm, jdagna, contracycle, Wart, Jared A. Sorensen, erithromycin, jrs, Ron Edwards, Mike Holmes, FuzionReactor, C. Edwards, M. J. Young, simon_hibbs, Walt Freitag, Wolfen, Andrew Martin.

9/17/2002 ADGBoss: Specific-system for combat discussion
I am posting this here at request so it can get out of a different thread so it may look a little out of place... Definitely some good food for…
In RPG Theory
Participants: ADGBoss, Marco, contracycle, Mike Holmes, Ron Edwards, Matt Wilson, Valamir, deadpanbob, Demonspahn.

9/17/2002 Demonspahn: Another post about combat systems, just to get an idea...
Am I the _only_ one that frequents this site that has a group that: a. Is still having fun after almost ten years of playing with the same group of…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Demonspahn, Mike Holmes, Walt Freitag, M. J. Young.

9/18/2002 FuzionReactor: Academia (A long explanation, and a plea)
Academia is a game I have been working on on and off for about two years now (More on than off, actually). I have tired it in several generic systems…
In RPG Theory
Participants: FuzionReactor, marknau, Walt Freitag, C. Edwards, M. J. Young, simon_hibbs, deadpanbob, Mike Holmes, Bjorn Ludvigsen.

9/18/2002 M. J. Young: To fight?
O.K., I can't tell you whether to fight it or not. That's something you're going to have to work out from what you know of him. But I can tell…
In RPG Theory
Participants: M. J. Young, contracycle.

9/18/2002 ThreeGee: LARPs
Okay, I looked carefully and could find nothing saying that we cannot talk about other forms of roleplaying than tabletop, and I searched carefully for any previous threads on the…
In RPG Theory
Participants: ThreeGee, Jared A. Sorensen, Seth L. Blumberg, Ron Edwards, deadpanbob, Walt Freitag, Mike Holmes, Wart, marknau, James Holloway, Matt, Le Joueur, Merten, John Wick.

9/19/2002 Ace: A Theory: System doesn't matter for RPing moments
On the whole I agree with Rons thesis that system does matter, but I think there is an overlooked point there when it comes to those who disagree. Ceratinly System…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Ace, Marco, Mike Holmes, Valamir, C. Edwards, Ron Edwards, Matt Wilson, contracycle, deadpanbob, Gordon C. Landis, Andrew Martin, wyrdlyng, M. J. Young, Christoffer Lernö, greyorm, Walt Freitag.

9/19/2002 joe_llama: Experimental mechanic (context-free)
Here's a half-baked idea that fell on me last night just before I went to sleep. It's quite possible someone else thought about it already, so I apologize in advance.…
In RPG Theory
Participants: joe_llama, Mike Holmes.

9/19/2002 kevin671: Some mechanics I'm toying with...
O.K. Here's an idea I came up with in a flash of inspiration...in the most unusual of places (but we wont get into that) I was thinking that the whole…
In RPG Theory
Participants: kevin671, Matt Wilson, M. J. Young, Christoffer Lernö, Henry Fitch, Ron Edwards.

9/20/2002 kaworuiskool: Another magic thread
Before I go further, lemme say that I did my homework and there have been three threads with magic in the title in this forum. Since Ron said long ago…
In RPG Theory
Participants: kaworuiskool, Mike Holmes, Ron Edwards, Le Joueur, M. J. Young, contracycle, simon_hibbs.

9/21/2002 Christoffer Lernö: What is a beginner-friendly game?
I've got the pieces for Ygg now, more or less. Time to set down the rules. But, doing so I have to weigh in other considerations. Stuff which up to…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Christoffer Lernö, Zak Arntson, Ron Edwards, Wart, damion, Jake Norwood, contracycle, M. J. Young, Le Joueur, Mike Holmes, Valamir, Jeremy Cole.

9/23/2002 Marco: An Objective Standard of Quality for RPG's
In another post the idea of finding a way to grade RPG's was brought it (by Valimir) Since we know that all things produced are NOT of equal quality,…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Marco, C. Edwards, Andrew Martin, deadpanbob, Valamir, Clinton R. Nixon, Mike Holmes, M. J. Young, contracycle, brainwipe, Jeremy Cole, Seth L. Blumberg.

9/23/2002 Alan: immersive authorship (split)
[Since this message has been promoted to a thread lead, I thought I edit it for focus.] I believe there's innate tension between the processes that create dramatic structure and…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Alan, contracycle, Ron Edwards, Andrew Martin, Mike Holmes.

9/24/2002 Jonathan Walton: Designing for a PBeM Format
Hey all, I'm new to these boards and new to the indy-rpg world in general. However, I somehow managed to get under contract to write a GM-less mystery campaign for…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Jonathan Walton, Ron Edwards, Demonspahn, Valamir, wyrdlyng, Mike Holmes, quozl, Colin the Riot, Maurice Forrester, Andrew Martin, M. J. Young, contracycle, deadpanbob, C. Edwards.

9/24/2002 Christoffer Lernö: (Random) narrativist rule idea
Hi, I was watching Resident Evil last night and whenever the cop guy was threatened I was thinking: "oh, they can't kill him yet - they haven't revealed his mysterious…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Christoffer Lernö, simon_hibbs, Le Joueur.

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