What Are Your Influences?

The Forge
Moderated discussion of independent RPG design, publishing and theory. Discussions here have heavily informed my design work.

Lumpley Games: Roleplaying Theory
by Vincent Baker. A collection of thoughts on RPG theory, more disjointed than Ron Edwards' essays but easier to read. And no less brilliant. Lumpley games also publishes the incredible game Dogs in the Vineyard.

Mind's Eye Theater
from White Wolf Games Studio. These books put White Wolf’s World of Darkness setting into a format for live-action role-playing. I’ve been playing Mind’s Eye Theater games for eight years and counting.

Narrativism: Story Now
by Ron Edwards. I describe my Ends and Means design as Narrativist, and this is an in-depth look at this part of Edwards' big model of RPGs. A difficult read, but very good. Read the articles it references too.

Nobilis: A Game of Greater Powers
by Rebecca Sean Borgstrom. This game uses no dice, and inspired my use of Plot Points. It’s also the most epic, imaginative setting I can think of, wherein you can literally change the world every time you play.

Primetime Adventures
by Matt Wilson. If you've ever wanted to play a game that feels like a TV series, this book will tell you how to do it. What this game is to television, I hope Ends and Means can be to LARP.

The Pool
by James V. West. A fabulous, free, rules-light and Narrativist-friendly RPG system that is my off-the-cuff pickup system of choice.

What Else Do You Do?

Grapevine LARP Administration Utility
I gained a measure of infamy in the Mind's Eye Theater (MET) community by writing this software to help MET Storytellers with their recordkeeping. The new MET line made it obsolete, and I no longer support it.