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11 |
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12 Wind in the Flowers: Re-inventing a Game |
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13 |
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14 |
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15 Treachery |
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16 |
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17 *R. Sean Borgstrom* |
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18 February 6, 2002 |
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19 |
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20 We wanted to make the new *Nobilis* easy to run. As part of this effort, |
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21 I wrote a sample campaign for inclusion in the new edition. This |
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22 campaign, */Treachery/*, shows by example how to build individual |
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23 stories, a grand storyline, and key non-player characters for a |
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24 *Nobilis* game. It's also suitable for immediate use in play. |
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25 |
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26 The standard format for prewritten roleplaying campaigns didn't work, |
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27 for two reasons. First, most players don't like to buy a campaign |
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28 they'll be playing in. It might spoil their fun. However, I expect |
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29 players to buy the main book, and I want them to get full value from the |
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30 campaign. I want them to read */Treachery/* and benefit thereby. I want |
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31 them to use the non-player characters as sample characters, helping them |
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32 design their PCs. I want them to use the stories as benchmarks for their |
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33 understanding of the world. I want them to build their characters to fit |
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34 the grand storyline in interesting or amusing ways. That's one reason |
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35 that the standard format didn't fit. |
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36 |
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37 The other reason standard ideas didn't work is that a sample campaign |
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38 should sit squarely in the middle of the space of possible campaigns. I |
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39 wanted */Treachery/* to be completely playable /but/ also a solid source |
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40 of ideas and material for locally designed campaigns. It had to reflect |
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41 a normal *Nobilis* game, because I can't tell from here which way a |
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42 local campaign deviates from the norm. The problem is, a typical |
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43 *Nobilis* game focuses heavily on PC interaction with their peers. It's |
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44 not easy or even appropriate to script that interaction in advance. |
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45 |
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46 I knew the basic solution to the first problem from the beginning. Most |
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47 of the material needed to be story /components/ -- building blocks for |
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48 stories, rather than prewritten "adventures". I needed some actual story |
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49 writeups, too. /These/ had to be information-rich challenges. That is, |
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50 in each story, the player characters know the core of their problem up |
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51 front -- just like players who peeked would. |
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52 |
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53 Whether they had to resolve a moral dilemma, or unravel a mystery under |
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54 difficult circumstances, or crack a seemingly unsolvable problem, the |
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55 PCs would understand what they had to do. Actually /doing/ it would |
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56 require a complex, carefully-executed plan. The unfolding of the player |
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57 characters' plan, and any complications that arose, would form the core |
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58 of the story. |
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59 |
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60 After I worked these ideas out, building a player-readable campaign was |
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61 more of a craft than an art. It wasn't uniformly successful -- I can see |
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62 someone asking their group not to read the *Stories* section until after |
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63 the first adventure, for example. At the same time, I'm pretty sure that |
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64 if a player sneakily or accidentally reads those sections, it would only |
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65 trim a small bit off of their fun. |
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66 |
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67 The other problem was designing a campaign based on social interaction. |
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68 Here's the key problem, in my mind, with writing up a social campaign |
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69 ahead of time. Most non-player characters have a limited number of |
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70 opportunities to interact with the player characters. /If/ an NPC |
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71 "clicks" with the player characters during one of those opportunities, |
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72 developing a meaningful friendship, rivalry, love, hate, enmity, or even |
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73 a strong relationship based on the exchange of favors, then that NPC |
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74 becomes a "regular" -- a meaningful part of the game. If that doesn't |
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75 happen, then the character fades into the background. A character can |
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76 /easily/ miss all of their opportunities to click, even if they're a |
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77 good match with the game. |
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78 |
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79 In one story, the player characters don't have time to deal with them. |
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80 In another, the person running the game simplifies them right out of the |
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81 storyline. Most of the work in designing a social campaign goes to |
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82 creating good, useful, flexible non-player characters. If even one such |
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83 character shuffles permanently off to the sidelines due to bad luck, |
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84 it's a substantial part of the campaign writeup that that player group |
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85 receives no value from. |
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86 |
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87 To solve this problem, I needed non-player characters with an unlimited |
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88 number of opportunities to interact with the PCs. Such NPCs are hard to |
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89 create -- but fortunately the *Nobilis* setting gave me the perfect |
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90 solution. The PCs and other major characters in *Nobilis* each embody, |
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91 represent, and protect one aspect of the nature of the world. |
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92 |
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93 In stories where a given aspect of reality becomes important, there's a |
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94 minor genre expectation that the relevant character will appear. For |
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95 example, if endless night falls over the world, or a vital ritual must |
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96 take place between dusk and dawn, it's in genre for the story to feature |
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97 the Power of Night. The Power of War often attends mortal battles. |
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98 |
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99 To create an endless series of opportunities to involve the campaign's |
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100 NPCs in the game, I built a set of NPCs tied to the most common |
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101 situations and challenges in roleplaying game stories. A typical story |
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102 then would feature a dozen opportunities to involve these characters. |
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103 The person running the game can pick and choose among them. |
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104 |
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105 Four common social elements of roleplaying scenarios suggested |
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106 themselves. "Conspiracy", including sects, factions, secrets, and |
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107 intrigue. "Debate", covering conversation, debate, and oratory. |
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108 "Festivals", representing celebrations of all sorts. Finally, "Trade" |
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109 and mercantile activity. The associated NPCs became one /Familia |
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110 Caelestis,/ a social/familial unit in the world of the game. |
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111 |
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112 Similarly, I made a Familia from the Nobilis governing three key |
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113 physical challenges: disasters, barriers/obstacles, and strife. A third |
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114 Familia included characters linked to mental challenges. The four Powers |
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115 in this Familia governed Bureaucracy; Mazes and confusing situations; |
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116 Records and research; and Trails -- that is, chains of logic and trails |
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117 of evidence. |
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118 |
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119 This collection of characters suggested a new approach to story design. |
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120 In addition to the story elements that these characters embodied, I |
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121 built each character to evoke a particular mood. Thus, Pandareos |
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122 Panagiotis, Power of Conspiracy, behaves in a manner designed to evoke |
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123 the conventions of romance. You can use Nephele Nikolaidhis, Power of |
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124 Festivals, to create an atmosphere of horror. When a conspiracy becomes |
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125 important to the story, Pandareos might appear. His presence adjusts the |
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126 feel of the story, which could lead to a new story element taking center |
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127 stage. |
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128 |
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129 Completing this design -- although much /writing/ still remained to be |
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130 done -- I gave the PCs and the three NPC Familiae a common purpose. |
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131 Specifically, they would investigate Imperators -- extremely potent |
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132 individuals, a large step above an individual PC in power and authority |
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133 -- accused of treason. This shared purpose made many interesting stories |
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134 possible. More importantly, it made the PCs and NPCs a coherent peer |
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135 group, setting the stage for PC/NPC relationships to develop naturally. |
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136 |
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137 R. Sean |
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138 |
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139 |
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140 What do you think? <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88> |
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141 |
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142 Go to forum! <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88> |
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143 Go to Top <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88> | New Topic |
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144 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/post.php?f=88> | View Threads |
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145 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88&collapse=0> | Search |
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146 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/search.php?f=88> |
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147 |
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148 Topics Author Date Latest Reply |
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149 James and the Small Caps |
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150 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=81&t=81> (2) new Kibo |
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151 08-20-2002 16:29 02-10-2003 01:23 new |
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152 Art <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=77&t=77> (1) new Lxndr |
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153 04-26-2002 07:36 04-26-2002 07:36 new |
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154 The Original Nobilis Club |
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155 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=76&t=76> (3) new Bret Gillan |
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156 04-17-2002 11:28 03-17-2003 17:48 new |
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157 Questions & Thoughts |
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158 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=64&t=64> (3) new Pyske |
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159 03-20-2002 18:31 05-01-2003 13:03 new |
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160 Noble Buddhism? |
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161 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=61&t=61> (9) new Tlaloc |
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162 03-20-2002 12:17 12-10-2004 01:20 new |
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163 Noble Suicide <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=58&t=58> (9) new |
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164 Eric Christian Berg 03-20-2002 07:43 01-18-2005 16:27 new |
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165 Art Notes <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=54&t=54> (4) new R. |
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166 Sean Borgstrom 03-14-2002 16:31 03-21-2002 03:44 new |
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167 Ack...you just lost my sale |
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168 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=45&t=45> (10) new SteveD |
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169 03-14-2002 04:06 03-15-2002 06:29 new |
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170 Onomastikon working URL |
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171 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=36&t=36> (4) new Jorge |
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172 Hernández 03-06-2002 12:51 08-20-2002 16:10 new |
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173 Why do angels change names ? |
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174 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=33&t=33> (10) new philippe |
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175 tromeur 03-06-2002 10:13 12-10-2004 01:34 new |
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176 R. Sean, some examples? |
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177 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=32&t=32> (3) new Arref |
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178 03-05-2002 08:17 03-13-2002 20:28 new |
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179 Sounds great, BUT... |
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180 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=28&t=28> (2) new Kane |
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181 02-27-2002 16:43 02-27-2002 17:30 new |
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182 Sort of backwards? |
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183 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=21&t=21> (8) new Eric Finley |
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184 02-20-2002 14:25 02-28-2002 09:35 new |
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185 Programmer nature slips out! |
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186 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=20&t=20> (2) new Sean |
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187 McCarthy 02-20-2002 13:18 02-21-2002 10:30 new |
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188 Object Lesson Damage |
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189 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=15&t=15> (1) new Darren |
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190 Miguez 02-13-2002 12:45 02-13-2002 12:45 new |
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191 How about this? |
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192 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=12&t=12> (2) new Kristian |
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193 Lund 02-13-2002 11:30 02-14-2002 01:17 new |
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194 Now, this was strange! |
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195 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=9&t=9> (7) new access.denied |
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196 02-13-2002 07:44 02-16-2002 21:44 new |
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197 Briefs on the other two? |
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198 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=5&t=5> (5) new Eric Finley |
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199 01-31-2002 18:39 02-13-2002 10:36 new |
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200 Forum now works <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=4&t=4> (1) new |
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201 Sandy Antunes 01-31-2002 17:36 01-31-2002 17:36 new |
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202 limited series <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=1&t=1> (2) new |
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203 Sandy Antunes 01-21-2002 17:41 01-31-2002 17:36 new |
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204 |
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205 Go to Top <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88> | New Topic |
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206 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/post.php?f=88> | View Threads |
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207 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88&collapse=0> | Search |
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208 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/search.php?f=88> |
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209 |
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210 Newer Messages |
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211 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88&t=81&a=1&> | Older Messages |
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212 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88&t=1&a=2&> |
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213 |
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214 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
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215 |
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216 * Editing, Development, and Production |
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217 </news+reviews/columns/wind27mar02.html> |
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218 March 27, 2002 |
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219 * Affiliations </news+reviews/columns/wind20mar02.html> |
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220 March 20, 2002 |
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221 * How to be a Hollyhock God </news+reviews/columns/wind13mar02.html> |
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222 March 13, 2002 |
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223 * Naming Conventions </news+reviews/columns/wind06mar02.html> |
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224 March 6, 2002 |
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225 * Art Notes </news+reviews/columns/wind27feb02.html> |
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226 February 27, 2002 |
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227 * Dynamic Nobilis </news+reviews/columns/wind20feb02.html> |
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228 February 20, 2002 |
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229 * Systems Change </news+reviews/columns/wind13feb02.html> |
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230 February 13, 2002 |
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231 * Treachery </news+reviews/columns/wind06feb02.html> |
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232 February 6, 2002 |
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233 * The Emperor to Come </news+reviews/columns/wind31jan02.html> |
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234 January 31, 2002 |
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235 * The Changing of the Guard </news+reviews/columns/wind21jan02.html> |
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236 January 21, 2002 |
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237 |
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238 |
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239 Other columns </news+reviews/columns.html> at RPGnet |
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240 |
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