HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: at731@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Troy L. Nothnagel)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: Srun 2: Vampires
Date: 18 Nov 1992 20:39:38 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Reply-To: at731@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Troy L. Nothnagel)
NNTP-Posting-Host: hela.ins.cwru.edu


In a previous article, flindholm@mta.ca () says:

>>Good question. The thing is is the virus simply endowing the 'host' with
>>additional abilities or is it a virus animating a dead body?
>>        if its the first choice, then yes the vampire can reproduce. AND there
>>is a chance that any children can get the virus and simularly be endowed.
>>        On the other hand, if the virus is 'simply' animating a corpse that
>>believes itself to be the original individual, then it can't possibly
>>reproduce.
>>        All in all, a good question....
>>                                                The Anderson
>
>    I think the second of your two ideas is the right one. Vampires are only
>formed after a vampire has killed a person by draining all of his essance.
>If you don't get drained all the way you don't become a vampire, you just
>have less essance.
>                      Cyrus

    I don't think that jibes with the way paranormals are set up in
Shadowrun.  From everything I've read it seems all forms of the HMHVV
are simply infections to life hosts.  A magical infection, certainly.
You could argue that a character doesn't die from essence loss unless
his/her essence drops BELOW 0.  Therefore it is more likely that when a
vampire drains your essence to 0, it merely destroys completely your
body's natural resistance to the HMHVV, and thus turning you into a
vampire.
From: betel@camelot.bradley.edu (Robert Crawford)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: SJ Games Licenses White Wolf's Vampire
Date: 15 Nov 92 19:18:46 GMT
Article-I.D.: camelot.betel.721855126
Organization: Bradley University

durrell@pinball.arcade.uiowa.edu (Bryant Durrell) writes:
>Returning this to the original topic of discussion, I don't think 
>GURPS Vampire is going to provide you with more flexibility than the
>original system.  It'll change the feel of the mechanics a lot, but
>remember, SJG is buying the background.  There are still going to be
>clans and all.  It's possible that you'll feel more comfortable 
>scrapping the clan rules in GURPS, for whatever reason, and it will
>certainly make it easier to do cross-genre work.

	And, probably, there will be some sections of the book giving
ideas for vampire adventuring in other settings. They've done it with
other books, so why not this one?

--
Get a shot off fast. This upsets him long enough to make your second shot 
perfect.
			-Lazarus Long

Robert Crawford 			betel@camelot.bradley.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: mancinis@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (steven mancini)
Subject: Re: Shadowrun-Trid
Organization: Purdue University Computing Center
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 01:46:11 GMT

In article <BxnHDK.2M3@cck.coventry.ac.uk> sba@cch.coventry.ac.uk (Blade) writes:
>
>another point is the magic well in fact trid spectacle. The rules do not 
>go into this spell in enough detail. So by the rules you can use trid to give
>an image(or lack of one!)and this can fool all senses so you could say right
>I use trid and i want to make myself look invisible(or incredibly small) and
>nobody has a chance of seeing this. So what is the point of invisibility??
>You could trid spec yourself as a great dragon and surely everyone would run!
>not the case is it!
>Blade signing off(Dont have decent logoff screen)

	Technically, if you trace the references for Trid Spectacle, you
	would find it is based on Entertainment, which is voluntary.
	Since Trid is M2 drain, converting it to Non-voluntary would
	raise the drain to S2. Since Invisibility is L2, I think this
	could be a very good reason. 

							-Minotaur

-- 

+-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-+
| Steve Mancini (a.k.a. The Minotaur) | mancinis@mentor.cc.purdue.edu   |
|    Grad Student {Dazed & Confused}  | mancinis@vm.cc.purdue.edu       |
From: u894793@bruny.cc.utas.edu.au (T. Little)
Subject: Re: Role Master Physics question
Organization: University of Tasmania, Australia.
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 15:33:37 GMT

jasonr@syma.sussex.ac.uk (Jason F Ralph) writes:

>What is all this discussion of physics doing in rec.games.frp.misc?

... because someone asked a good question about the side-effects of a spell,
and physics provides a reasonable starting-point for investigation of such
effects.

>Physics is a science and should therefore be confined to obscure places
>of little or no interest.

":-)" when you say that, or I'll jump down this datalink and eat your
newsreader!  (semi :-)

(In light of my voluntary confinement to obscure places of little or no
interest - like this computer room - maybe I should have said "Hey!  I
resemble that!" :-)

> No gamer should have to endure the rigourous
>analysis of physics as it applies to any gaming system! Games should be
>fun NOT science!!!

Hey!  I resent that!  I enjoy role-playing, computer games, and physics.
(Other interests as well, of course, ...)  Especially when I can combine
the lot into one big relativistic role-playing computer game.  :-)

I note that your statement does not exclude science from being fun, but it
makes a very strong implication in that direction, and without any
qualification, either.

>Remember gaming isn't 'real' and doesn't therefore have to conform to
>anyones preconceived ideas about reality... and that's magic!

In Fantasy gaming, I use physics as a tool;  it is (one of) the most 
coherent and powerful 'models of reality', and as such it can be a basis 
for inventing other such models.  Besides, if you use it as a model you
get the advantages of having all the work done for you, and you can just
define the rest as 'magic'.  (Recalling a quote from Douglas Adams, "We
demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty!")

(I am a completely unbiased observer, and any partiality to one view or
another can be attributed to the 4am local time  |-O  )
--
T. Little   a.k.a.   u894793@bruny.cc.utas.edu.au
From: tgt33358@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Thanatos)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: Here's something to consider for Vampire...
Date: 17 Nov 92 10:15:52 GMT
Article-I.D.: news.Bxuv6H.DIK
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana

In article <19305@ucdavis.ucdavis.edu> ez005523@cassatt.ucdavis.edu (David Lucey) writes:
>
>Now for the real topic of discussion/debate:  as I was perusing through my
>Scandinavian literature (like any good Comp. Lit. student who is currently
reading the Saga of the Volsungs and the Ring of the Nieberlungs - sp? - would),
>I came across a long, forgotten copy of Beowulf.  Deciding to re-re-re-re-read 
>it, I encountered Grendel, Beowulf's antagonist for the first quarter of the 
>story:  it seems Grendel's parents were a she-beast and Caine...
>
>To anyone (and especially, to the folks at WW):  does this mean that we'll be
seeing a future supplement which includes stats and a short history for Grendel?
Stats for Grendel and Beowulf appear in the latest White Wolf Magazine.  Both 
are vampires, Beowulf the Get of Grendel.  This would explain his toastness 
against the dragon's flame...

>P.S.  Where can I find information on the two Sabbat families listed in V:TM?
>      (Lasombra and Tzimisces in case you've forgotten...)
It will appear in the Player's Guide to the Sabbat, due in January, and The 
ST Guide to the Sabbat, due sometime after. 

-- 
I don't mind being the smartest	    / Thanatos, DeathUrge, Master of Unknown
man in the world...I just wish it   \ Time and Space tgt33358@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu 
wasn't this one...	       	    / It's a Zen thing... 
	-Ozymandias 		    \	 you wouldn't understand...  
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: dunkelza@titan.ucc.umass.edu (KEITH C MCCORMIC)
Subject: Re: SURVEY RESULTS - Point All. vs Random Gen. (PLEASE READ)
Organization: University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 18:40:34 GMT

In article <BxtMuF.93y@acsu.buffalo.edu> v116qhth@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (I'm not evil...I'm just good looking) writes:
>
>  Here are the results of the survey I have been taking for the last
>  few weeks...
>
>	In favor of Point Allocation : 15
>	In favor of Random Generation : 0!!!
>	No preferance : 1
>
>  I think this shows that either those in favor of random generation
>  don't care to answer surveys (NOT!) or the overwhelming majority (being
>  very liberal) of net readers are in favor of point allocation. I
>  hope that this little bit of info will help squelch the ongoing 
>  debate.
>
>				ShadowSlayer

   No, all of us Random Gen people merely rolled badly on our responses.

Dunkelzahn


-- 
_____________________________________________________________________________
| Dunkelzahn the Greater Western Dragon | "Eternal vigilance is the price   |
| Dunkelza@titan.ucc.umass.edu          |  of Freedom"                      |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: joshua@Veritas.COM (Joshua Levy)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Converting a book into a world
Date: 17 Nov 92 22:28:54 GMT
Reply-To: joshua@homespace.mtview.ca.us
Organization: very little

I have found a work of fiction which (almost :-) exactly describes a
world I want to run an RPG in.  I'm planning on "converting" this
book into a game world.  

Does anyone have any good ideas on how this should be done?
Has anyone done this?  If so, what were your experiances?

To start off the discussion, I'll tell you what I am doing and what
I plan to do.  I'm in the process of reading the book for the first
time.  As I read it, I'm keeping two lists of page numbers.  The
first contains cool quotes which I hope to use to set the mood.  The
second list contains people, organizations, or things which need to 
be "translated".

When I finish, I'll write up a few pages of world overview, and then 
translate all the things which I'll need.  Then I'll reread the book 
to look for things I've missed, and make sure that my translations 
are not contradicted by things in the book.

Does this sound like a good way of translating a book into a world?

Note: I'm specifically not mentioning the book or rule system(s), 
because I want a more generic discussion: what is the best way to
turn a book into a RPG world?

Joshua Levy  (joshua@homespace.mtview.ca.us)  408-727-1222x253
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: sn@phoenix.oulu.fi (Sami Nieminen)
Subject: Testing, please ignore
Organization: University of Oulu, Finland
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 09:11:17 GMT


This is a test.
Xref: sparky rec.games.frp.misc:8546 rec.games.frp.marketplace:889 rec.games.frp.dnd:6339 rec.games.frp.advocacy:3250 rec.games.frp:25289
From: cudep@csv.warwick.ac.uk (Ian Dickinson)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc,rec.games.frp.marketplace,rec.games.frp.dnd,rec.games.frp.advocacy,rec.games.frp
Subject: Trying to contact John Hughes
Date: 17 Nov 1992 22:24:07 -0000
Organization: Team Limpid's Meathead With Aptitude - Kunst und Wahnsinn
Distribution: world
Reply-To: vato@csv.warwick.ac.uk (Ian Dickinson)
NNTP-Posting-Host: violet.csv.warwick.ac.uk

Apologies for the wide cross-posting....

I have some friends who run a "commercial" rpg 'zine in the UK.
They are netwise, but currently without net access.
A mutual friend gave them an article a couple of months ago,
but stripped the headers, from John Hughes, an Australian
(from Sydney/Melbourne?). The article subject was something along the lines
of "Free form roleplaying" or "New directions in Australian roleplaying:
style, innovation & responsability in convention roleplaying".
Please contact me if you a) are the John hughes in question, or b) know
how to contact him.

As a plug - The 'zine in question should have worldwide distribution -
ask your local shop about "The Last Province" or, in desperation,
write (including Internation Reply Coupons if necessary) to:

The Last Province
TFR 45 Duke Street
Edinburgh
EH6 8HH
UK

It's a quality rag about roleplaying rather than winning (my description).

Cheers,
-- 
\/ato - Ian Dickinson - NIC handle: ID17                   No-one is to molest
vato@csv.warwick.ac.uk  ...!mcsun!uknet!warwick!vato           the wombat when
/I=I/S=Dickinson/OU=CSV/O=Warwick/PRMD=UK.AC/ADMD= /C=GB/            anyone is
@c=GB@o=University of Warwick@ou=Computing Services@cn=Ian Dickinson  watching.
From: gobeski8618@iscsvax.uni.edu (Steve 'Gobes' Gobeski)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: Hero Question: Move Through Vehicles
Date: 18 Nov 92 19:23:26 -0600
Organization: University of Northern Iowa

In article <1e998tINN428@charnel.ecst.csuchico.edu>, tdunn@ecst.csuchico.edu (Tim Dunn) writes:
> 
> Given:
> Any object can be used to deal damage up to (BOD + DEF) in d6, any 
> more an the object breaks.
> 
> A move through will do 1/2 damage to the attacker, full damage if no
> knockback happens in the target.
> 
> Query:
> If a Vehicle of say, 15 total DEF and BOD does a move through, can 
> it do 15d6, or 30d6?  If it can only do 15d6 and does knockback,
> then it is not close to it's breaking point.  If it can do 30d6
> then it will be close to it's breaking point after impact.

First off, I thought that limit generally only applied to when you were
swinging an object around; in the case of a vehicle doing a move-through the
vehicle should be treated like a character doing a move through, otherwise them
bricks and speedsters with 10 BODY can't do nearly as much damage as they are
doing when they do move throughs.  Moot point, though, really...

Hm.  Can't remember if the v part of move-thru damage is v/2, v/3, or v/5. 
Assuming it were v/2, said vehicle would have a move rate of 60" if it were
to do 30d6, assuming a vehicle SPD of 3 this would put it at about 75mph
(higher if you take into account NC mults.).  In any case a vehicle hitting
something going this fast is very likely to be totaled if it hits something
(depending of course, on the relative masses of the two objects, but then if
what it hits is smaller, it probably isn't going to take the full damage back
to itself, is it?).

So, where's the problem?

-- Steve 'Gobes' Gobeski // GOBESKI8618@iscsvax.uni.edu
 
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: acarlson@cup.hp.com (Amelia L. Carlson)
Subject: Rolemaster
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 05:19:33 GMT
Distribution: ba
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Cupertino, CA

Are there any RM games in the San Jose area with openings? I am 28, experienced witn the system, and interested in a mature game. If you have an opening, please call 292-2348 and ask for Brad.
										Thanks! 
Brad


Organization: Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc,rec.games.design
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1992 17:49:55 -0500 
From: William Henry Timmins <wt0b+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: Stars (Sources for 'real-world' data)
	<168A3F509.PLAY@RICEVM1.RICE.EDU>

Well, I've found about 10 useful stars within 24 light years... I'll
probably make the others up. (Considering that it is hard to detect
stars of the population I am looking for much past that distance)

If anyone cares for the list, I can send it.

-Me
 
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: durrant@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (unknown)
Subject: Vampire and GURPS
Keywords: Vampire, GURPS, stereotypes
Organization: Purdue University
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 04:37:35 GMT


	I'll admit, I'm really having trouble understanding why some people
feel the Storyteller system is so limited and stereotypical.  The clans were
meant to be guides, not absolutes.  In Hero system terms, they are packages,
nothing more.  If you don't like them, creat your own.  One of the things I
enjoy most about the system is that you can create your own clans, disciplines,
ect. without a major time input involved or relying on the game company to
put out the expensive suppliment on it.  I also don't need a master's degree
in math or physics to understand what I'm trying to create.

	Also, the Catiff class isn't that bad.  You don't get the Clan disicplines at a cheaper price, but you don't have the clan flaws, either.  Also, the
higher price for non-clan disciplines isn't there.  Be whatever you want, be
creative with his/her background, create a chronicle around finding the sire who
abandoned you, ect. ect.  Use your imagination and don't rely on a rulebook or aprinted module to tell you what to do!

As for the White Wolf suppliments putting out stereotypical non-player character--just look at Chicago by Night.  There is a Brujah who upholds the system, a
Ventrue who is an anarch, a Tremere who isn't interested in power and acts like
a Torreador (just leave me alone to play my music) to name a few.

Let's take the Tremere for example.  Aren't all Tremere supposed to be mystical,power-hungry, manipulative, back-stabbing assholes?  Take a look at Garwood
Marshall in Chicago by Night.  He's about as far from that as you can get.  One
of my favorite character ideas is the engineer who was embraced by the Tremere--he doesn't believe in magic or Thamaturgy or anything that remotely resembles
that--his logical mind cannot bring him to accept it.  He constantly fights whathe is--a catch-22 to last for an eternity.  Not your average Tremere, eh?

The Storyteller system can be expanded to whatever you want it to be--just use
your mind and not your calculator to do it.

Christine
	Until you've played Vampire the Masquerade, all you've
	been doing is rolling some dice.
		--Me
From: dunkelza@titan.ucc.umass.edu (KEITH C MCCORMIC)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: SURVEY RESULTS - Point All. vs Random Gen. (PLEASE READ)
Date: 16 Nov 92 18:51:57 GMT
Organization: University of Massachusetts, Amherst


Random response table for survey (Secrets of Random Gen People Revealed!!)

1d20

1     Hate Point Allocation, Love Random!!!!!!
2-3   Love Random Generation!!
4-6   Like Random Generation.
7-10  Don't Care.
11-14 No Comment.
15-17 Like Point Allocation.
18-19 Love Point Allocation!!
20    Hate Random, Love Point Allocation!!!!!!

Dunkelzahn
-- 
_____________________________________________________________________________
| Dunkelzahn the Greater Western Dragon | "Eternal vigilance is the price   |
| Dunkelza@titan.ucc.umass.edu          |  of Freedom"                      |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: npalmer@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Nicholas P Palmer)
Subject: Re: Armor vs. Martial artists (was Re: GURPS: Armor / Martial-Arts / Guts / Glory)
Keywords: martial arts, reality
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 05:06:36 GMT

In article <1992Nov16.213559.28313@crd.ge.com> (Spike) writes:
>You're all assuming the realistic approach, right?

It appears that way.  I have some martial arts NPC/PC people.  They usually
don't last too long in my campaign (A super heroes campaign where the players
are all villians, not that MANY people have lasted, damned inter-party
conflicts!).  BUT! There are some seriouslly devastation moves/abilities
one can develop as a martial artists.  
Chi powers, Various arts/Katas/Abilities (Atemi/Joints, Falling, Chi Awareness
etc etc)  There is various training styles that can give you neat advantages
also.  Amazing what training in winter to develop cold tolerance does against
a cold based power user.  Or Dessert training against a fire elementalist.

Still though... The characters who usually last the longest are those with
weapons or distance abilities (some chi powers)

Peace.
>Spike
  Nik
From: bkoike@sdcc13.ucsd.edu (Bryce Koike)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: Marketing of the Generic
Date: 20 Nov 92 15:54:57 GMT
Organization: University of California, San Diego

In article <2B0B443B.16337@ics.uci.edu> mmadsen@ics.uci.edu (Matt Madsen) writes:
>I've noticed that one complaint against multi-genre systems (like GURPS) is
>that things are...well, generic.  What could GURPS, Hero, and others do to make
>their products more palatable to people who really like the feel of a game
>tailor-made for one genre.

	Uh, for starts, you could use another gaming system...  But
seriously, that IS the drawback of such generic systems.  You're
unable to stick Genre-Specific statistics and the like in because
they'd either conflict with other genres, be useless in them, or
whatever.  This is also a problem when it comes to converting a
single-genre game into a multiple genre game.  (Depends, of course,
on how genre-specific the stats and mechanics are, etc.)
	What exactly would you like to make the games more palatable
and for what genres?

>What could be done in general, and what could be done specifically for,
>say, Vampire (hot topic!) and other settings.

	A lot of vampire deals with super power-style effects and
GURPS advantages (well, Hero advantages too...).  Yeah, too generic,
but writing up new and strange rules just to get an Alternate Genre
Feel would violate the supposed integrity which HERO and GURPS are
supposed to have.  (Your own house rules can ignore this, of
course.)
	Basically all you want to do (or need to do) is determine
what sections of the game you're converting don't already fit in.
For Vampire this is celerity and the like, certain special powers,
etc.  Most of these are either advantages or super powers (in GURPS
terms...haven't played HERO for a long, long time) and all you
really need to do is determine how they'd work in GURPS/HERO
(remember that the rules in one system won't operate in the same way
as they would in another), how much they'd cost, etc.
	Yes, more artificial, but that's what seperates GURPS from
Vampire or GURPS from Shadowrun, etc.  If you're going to switch to
another game system, you should do it because that system offers
something you want, not just for the sake of switching.  And never
expect the alternate gaming system to work exactly the same as they
one you're leaving (again, why switch?)...

>
>Should they have special character sheets, less generic source books (world
>books)?
>
>Matt Madsen
>mmadsen@ics.uci.edu


Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: thom@access.digex.com (The Elf-Lad)
Subject: Re: Srun 2: Vampires
Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, Maryland USA
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 17:31:57 GMT

GAYNOR@agvax2.ag.ohio-state.edu (Jim Gaynor) writes:
>In reference to post that FASA intends to write the history of HMHVV
>as being dragon-created, and that dwarves with HMHVV become "Goblins". 
>Ick.  There's one part of the FASA-written SR background I won't
>incorporate into my own worlds...

I agree. Ooh, ick. If HMHVV is dragon-created, how do we explain the
existence of pre-Awakening vampires? The mana level certainly hasn't been
high enough in modern scientific times for a dragon to have manifested,
and we know there have been vampires for a while.

-- 
Thom Watson, the Elf-Lad         elf-lad@access.digex.com <-----preferred
                                 elflad0@aol.com         elf-lad@glib.org
                                 GEmail=T.WATSON7
"What sane person could live in this world and not be crazy?"--U.K.LeGuin
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc