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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 Affiliations |
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16 |
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17 *R. Sean Borgstrom* |
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18 March 20, 2002 |
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19 *Rated an A+ by 20 RPGnet readers!* |
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20 |
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21 Rate this column! |
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22 |
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23 |
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24 |
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25 For the sake of those who choose to adopt them, *Nobilis* presents five |
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26 key philosophies woven into the nature of the world. Heaven's Code |
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27 defines the angels' commitment to Creation. Hell's Code provides the |
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28 justification and the interpretation of Lucifer's philosophy. Other |
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29 Codes derive from the Light, which embodies the principle of human |
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30 survival; the Dark, an incarnation of the human tendency towards |
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31 suicide; and the Wild, a thread of free will and madness running through |
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32 Creation. |
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33 |
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34 To avoid regimenting player character behavior, these Codes boil down to |
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35 three simple principles and some expository text later in the book. |
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36 Characters can freely have their own independent philosophy, but most |
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37 align to one of these five axes. |
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38 |
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39 One goal of the new edition was to make these philosophies more |
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40 accessible. In particular, I wanted to make it clear how characters |
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41 following the Code of Hell or the Dark could fit into a group with more |
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42 human or humane morality. In *Nobilis*, Hell endorses both corruption |
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43 and suffering as virtues; the Dark, of course, seeks to arrange both |
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44 personal and communal human suicide. There was some concern among |
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45 readers of the first edition that such characters would prove unpleasant |
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46 companions. |
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47 |
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48 One of the simplest steps taken here was assertion. In the newer |
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49 discussions of Noble lives and in the occasional excerpts from those |
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50 lives that appeared as quotes, characters of the darker affiliations |
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51 interacted freely with those of more beneficent morality. Assertion is a |
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52 marvelous tool, since, after all, the setting material defines how |
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53 people envision the game world. |
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54 |
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55 To ensure that this led to a consistent world, however, I burned some |
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56 words laying out how this actually happens in practice. For the Code of |
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57 Hell, this begins with acknowledgment of its philosophical origins. In |
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58 *Nobilis'* Creation, the "physical" Hell embodies both corruption and |
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59 suffering; it is viable to assume that these things exist in every other |
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60 world only because Hell exists. |
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61 |
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62 Hell also occupies a peculiar place in the cosmology, existing beneath |
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63 the roots of the World Ash. It is the only place in Creation not |
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64 directly affected by the glories raining down from Heaven. The theory |
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65 underlying the Code of Hell is simply that Hell---not the beauty of |
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66 Heaven, and not the ambiguous essence of the worlds in |
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67 between---represents the fundamental truth of Creation. In short, Hell |
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68 is the foundation stone on which everything else is built. |
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69 |
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70 To proceed from here and create a sympathetic character in service to |
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71 Hell, one has two choices. First, one can make an obvious demonstration |
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72 that the character's motivations are philosophical. The key |
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73 recommendation here was self-abnegation. A character who inflicts |
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74 suffering to advance their personal agenda is classically "evil". A |
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75 character who embraces corruption and suffering but gains nothing from |
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76 it has a clear, if twisted, morality. |
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77 |
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78 In addition, I recommended an exemplary career of service to Creation; |
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79 like its brighter allies in the setting, Hell wants Creation to survive. |
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80 Finally, I noted that one can minimize the "shock value" of the |
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81 character's service by inflicting suffering primarily on the deserving. |
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82 This hopefully laid out one path that allows characters in service to |
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83 Hell to coexist with a more humane group. |
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84 |
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85 A second option for sympathetic characters serving Hell is a focus on |
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86 the less important aspects of Code. Treating its precepts as decadence |
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87 rather than corruption and harshness rather than cruelty makes the |
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88 character seem ruthless but not /monstrous/. This option was not fully |
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89 developed in *Nobilis* but is influencing several infernal NPCs in the |
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90 supplements. |
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91 |
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92 The Code of the Dark---basically, the Code of helping humans destroy |
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93 themselves---has its own problems. Like the Code of Hell, it has a basic |
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94 philosophical orientation. *Nobilis* has always presented several |
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95 justifications for the basic idea of the Dark. My personal favorite is |
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96 the idea that the capacity for self-destruction must exist in humanity |
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97 to permit the capacity for growth. I'm not sure that it's true, but it's |
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98 a feasible and defensible philosophy, and that's all a character in an |
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99 RPG needs. Still, it's understandable if people feel a little concerned |
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100 about integrating a character serving the Dark into their game. |
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101 |
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102 One of the steps taken here was establishing why the Light---the |
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103 principle of human survival---and the Dark can ally at all, even for the |
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104 purpose of protecting the world both live in. If you looked hard enough, |
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105 this has always been in the book to find, but the new edition makes it |
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106 explicit. The foremost principle of the Light is protecting /humanity/. |
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107 The foremost principle of the Dark is encouraging /individual/ suicide. |
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108 |
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109 Even though the Light wants individual humans to live, and the Dark |
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110 wants humanity to destroy itself, the two are not diametrically opposed. |
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111 This also explains, more generally, why humane Nobilis can tolerate the |
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112 Dark. The actions of the Dark can lead to human death, but generally on |
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113 a fairly small scale; not one that a compassionate Noble /likes/ to |
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114 ignore, but one that many compassionate Nobles, principally concerned |
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115 with global affairs, /can/. |
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116 |
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117 Naturally, serving the Dark from a clear position of philosophical |
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118 integrity has the same benefits as thusly serving the Code of Hell. A |
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119 Noble serving the Dark who clearly isn't getting any personal benefit |
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120 from it has a better chance of integrating into a group. |
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121 |
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122 In addition, the new edition contains a modest number of excerpts from |
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123 "Principles of the Dark", a book written in-setting to explain said |
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124 principles. Some of the key notions presented here---few of which I |
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125 agree with, but all of which I consider feasibly arguable by a Power of |
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126 the Dark---include: |
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127 |
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128 * Human success rests on subverting the natural order; human |
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129 existence derives from the natural order. Self-destruction is |
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130 therefore intrinsic to the human way of life. |
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131 * One can hurt or kill others, such as humans, without ceasing to |
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132 love them. "Love inspires greatness; it does not prevent venality." |
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133 * Suicide and self-preservation arise from the same aspect of human |
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134 nature. |
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135 * In suicide, a human achieves absolute control over their life. Any |
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136 other form of death robs them of this. |
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137 |
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138 With these principles, and others, I hoped to make the Dark---if not |
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139 well-loved by its peers---a philosophy that one can argue with rather |
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140 than hate. |
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141 |
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142 R. Sean |
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143 |
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144 |
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145 What do you think? <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88> |
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146 |
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147 Go to forum! <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88> |
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148 Go to Top <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88> | New Topic |
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149 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/post.php?f=88> | View Threads |
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150 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88&collapse=0> | Search |
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151 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/search.php?f=88> |
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152 |
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153 Topics Author Date Latest Reply |
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154 James and the Small Caps |
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155 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=81&t=81> (2) new Kibo |
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156 08-20-2002 16:29 02-10-2003 01:23 new |
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157 Art <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=77&t=77> (1) new Lxndr |
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158 04-26-2002 07:36 04-26-2002 07:36 new |
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159 The Original Nobilis Club |
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160 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=76&t=76> (3) new Bret Gillan |
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161 04-17-2002 11:28 03-17-2003 17:48 new |
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162 Questions & Thoughts |
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163 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=64&t=64> (3) new Pyske |
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164 03-20-2002 18:31 05-01-2003 13:03 new |
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165 Noble Buddhism? |
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166 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=61&t=61> (9) new Tlaloc |
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167 03-20-2002 12:17 12-10-2004 01:20 new |
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168 Noble Suicide <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=58&t=58> (9) new |
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169 Eric Christian Berg 03-20-2002 07:43 01-18-2005 16:27 new |
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170 Art Notes <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=54&t=54> (4) new R. |
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171 Sean Borgstrom 03-14-2002 16:31 03-21-2002 03:44 new |
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172 Ack...you just lost my sale |
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173 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=45&t=45> (10) new SteveD |
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174 03-14-2002 04:06 03-15-2002 06:29 new |
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175 Onomastikon working URL |
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176 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=36&t=36> (4) new Jorge |
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177 Hernández 03-06-2002 12:51 08-20-2002 16:10 new |
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178 Why do angels change names ? |
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179 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=33&t=33> (10) new philippe |
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180 tromeur 03-06-2002 10:13 12-10-2004 01:34 new |
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181 R. Sean, some examples? |
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182 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=32&t=32> (3) new Arref |
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183 03-05-2002 08:17 03-13-2002 20:28 new |
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184 Sounds great, BUT... |
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185 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=28&t=28> (2) new Kane |
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186 02-27-2002 16:43 02-27-2002 17:30 new |
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187 Sort of backwards? |
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188 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=21&t=21> (8) new Eric Finley |
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189 02-20-2002 14:25 02-28-2002 09:35 new |
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190 Programmer nature slips out! |
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191 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=20&t=20> (2) new Sean |
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192 McCarthy 02-20-2002 13:18 02-21-2002 10:30 new |
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193 Object Lesson Damage |
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194 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=15&t=15> (1) new Darren |
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195 Miguez 02-13-2002 12:45 02-13-2002 12:45 new |
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196 How about this? |
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197 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=12&t=12> (2) new Kristian |
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198 Lund 02-13-2002 11:30 02-14-2002 01:17 new |
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199 Now, this was strange! |
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200 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=9&t=9> (7) new access.denied |
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201 02-13-2002 07:44 02-16-2002 21:44 new |
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202 Briefs on the other two? |
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203 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=5&t=5> (5) new Eric Finley |
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204 01-31-2002 18:39 02-13-2002 10:36 new |
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205 Forum now works <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=4&t=4> (1) new |
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206 Sandy Antunes 01-31-2002 17:36 01-31-2002 17:36 new |
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207 limited series <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=1&t=1> (2) new |
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208 Sandy Antunes 01-21-2002 17:41 01-31-2002 17:36 new |
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209 |
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210 Go to Top <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88> | New Topic |
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211 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/post.php?f=88> | View Threads |
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212 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88&collapse=0> | Search |
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213 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/search.php?f=88> |
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214 |
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215 Newer Messages |
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216 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88&t=81&a=1&> | Older Messages |
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217 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88&t=1&a=2&> |
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218 |
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219 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
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220 |
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221 * Editing, Development, and Production |
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222 </news+reviews/columns/wind27mar02.html> |
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223 March 27, 2002 |
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224 * Affiliations </news+reviews/columns/wind20mar02.html> |
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225 March 20, 2002 |
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226 * How to be a Hollyhock God </news+reviews/columns/wind13mar02.html> |
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227 March 13, 2002 |
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228 * Naming Conventions </news+reviews/columns/wind06mar02.html> |
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229 March 6, 2002 |
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230 * Art Notes </news+reviews/columns/wind27feb02.html> |
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231 February 27, 2002 |
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232 * Dynamic Nobilis </news+reviews/columns/wind20feb02.html> |
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233 February 20, 2002 |
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234 * Systems Change </news+reviews/columns/wind13feb02.html> |
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235 February 13, 2002 |
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236 * Treachery </news+reviews/columns/wind06feb02.html> |
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237 February 6, 2002 |
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238 * The Emperor to Come </news+reviews/columns/wind31jan02.html> |
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239 January 31, 2002 |
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240 * The Changing of the Guard </news+reviews/columns/wind21jan02.html> |
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241 January 21, 2002 |
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242 |
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243 |
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244 Other columns </news+reviews/columns.html> at RPGnet |
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245 |
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