HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: djb6@quads.uchicago.edu (dennis joseph brennan)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: GENERAL: Tactics for a city assault
Date: 8 Apr 92 01:00:25 GMT
Reply-To: djb6@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations

Additional tactics effective in fantasty warfare:

1.  The AD&D "Item" spell.  Cast on things such as green slime, black puddings
or bonfires, the Items could then be fired over the city walls by the Baron's
archers.

2.  You say that the Baron's force has a green dragon.  Three breath weapons
of poison gas per day into crowded areas will cause the King's mages to spend
valuable time and spells running around with "Gust of Wind".  

3.  "Create Food & Water".  Kind of renders a "sit & wait" siege pointless,
doesn't it?  Since you can't starve them out, the only thing to do is wear
them out with combat.

4.  I don't have my Player's Handbook with me, but would "Enlarge" cast on 
individual stones in the city wall and then dispelled cause the walls to 
crumble?  Just a thought.

5.  Assuming the Baron can count on the Dwarf's loyalty, it's probably going
to be nearly impossible to defend the king himself from the vampire.  What
keeps out a vampire in gaseous form?  Holy symbols?  The wererats can deal
with them.  A "Prismatic Sphere"?  I don't know.

I'd put my money on the Baron's forces.
From: unixwiz@mcl.mcl.ucsb.edu (Asimov Fan)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Silly GM tricks
Date: 10 Apr 92 21:10:58 GMT
Distribution: usa


I've thrown some silly ones at my parties sometimes...However, I have one
favorite setting that drives parties nuts....I use Alan Dean Fosters
_Spellsinger_ world....the party is now convinced that every otter is a
thief, that kilts are "for the birds" and that wolverines in plate mail
should *NOT* be messed with.  

Also, they have learned to hate any animal with a prehensile tail...can you
say *6* attacks per round when hasted???  (esp when the tail is holding a
mace...I've got a swashbuckler in the party who's lost 2 points of int and
a point of wis. due to getting clobbered....*evil grin*)

Of course, there are some benefits....the party loves bbq'ed owl.  (they
shoot owls out of trees using flaming arrows...of course, so are the
owls...)


ahhh...the joys of creating your own worlds....:)

unixwiz@mcl.mcl.ucsb.edu
From: drcheng@sales.GBA.NYU.EDU (David R. Cheng)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: SRUN: Cyberware & sanity loss
Date: 12 Apr 92 17:42:08 GMT
Organization: NYU Stern School of Business


At Origins '91, Tom Dowd admitted that they had originally developed 
rules for cyber-psychosis, but did not include them because 
R.Talsorian had gotten there first.

-David Cheng
 drcheng@sales.stern.nyu.edu
From: vanor@vax1.mankato.msus.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Shadowrun
Date: 14 Apr 92 15:46:55 GMT
Article-I.D.: vax1.1992Apr14.094655.1718
Organization: Mankato State University

Hoi chumers, look when I wrote that stuff about a smartgun link and vis.
mag. I assumed everyone had figured that one out allready but insted this 
guy posts all the reasons why this don't work.  In answer to that I have the
following

1) the vision mag. does nothing to the range that you can fire a weapon only 
make it apeare to be closer that it is.  A light pistol has a max range of 
50 meters or about 150 feet.  I personaly know people who can hit somthing
at that range with a .22 pistol

2) The range cat. is asuming a man sized target (NOT A FLY WICH YOU COULDN'T 
HIT WITH ANY KIND OF A GUN) and anyone who knows how to shoot a gun knows about
compsenting for distance, so if you are shooting a man and he is 150 ft. away 
but only looked to be 20 ft you could and would hit him much easer.

also I don't know why everyone is gripeing about Shadowrun armor, true it's
about as realalistic as cartones but who cares it's a game and if I want 
realism I'll play Pheonix comand (which I hear takes a weekend to do one 
combat)  Vanor
"What fools these mundanes be " Presto
From: pentangl@spdcc.com (Scott Moir)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Stupid PC tricks too...
Date: 13 Apr 92 02:35:52 GMT
Organization: First Church of Cthulu, Insmouth MA

A group of 5 AD&D characters are trudging through one of the lower
levels of a dungeon, trying to find a way down to the next level.
They come to this long hallway that extends out of sight. It is 
featureless.. no doors, no torch holders, etc... They walk along 
down the corridor..

they walk

and walk

and walk

They stop and look back up the way they came, and they no longer
see the door they passed through to get in.

Bard: I don't think the corridor is THIS long...

Cleric: What, you think we are on a treadmill or something?

Fighter: I bet a little further up the floor is fine

Fighter turns on boots of levitation and floats up to waist
level. She takes a rope out and ties it around her waist, and
hands the other end to the Cleric. "Hold this". She turns to the
Bard.

Fighter: Okay, I want you to toss me down the corridor. I'll
         touch down, secure the rope to something, and you guys
         can pull yourselves off the treadmill. Sound good?

Party: Sure!

Bard takes the fighter and prepares to toss her down the corridor.

Bard: How far should I throw you?

Fighter: Oh, I dunno.. how about 100 feet or so?

Bard winds up for the throw. (Oh, did I mention that the Bard is
wearing a girdle of Storm Giant Strength?) He hurtles her down the 
corridor..

And into the illusion covered stone wall 20 feet away.

Do you know how hard it was keeping a straight face sitting and 
listening to the preparations for this? Hee Hee. Some of the
best moments in gaming you don't plan for. :)

Scott

-- 
Scott Moir / Pentangle / Satyr ______ # "There's really only one requirement 
pentangl@Ursa-Major.spdcc.com  \ \/ / #  for a Prophet, and you've got it."
B4 f t+ w g k+(+) s+ m r p+     \/\/  # "What's that?"
These are my opinions, not SPDCC's    # "A mouth." - 'God' to J.R.'BoB' Dobbs
From: betel@camelot.bradley.edu (Robert Crawford)
Subject: Re: AD&D Char Death < GURPS Char Death
Organization: Bradley University
Date:  7 Apr 92 16:58:56 GMT



	First session loss of a character from either system wouldn't
matter much to me, altough I admit it takes extra time to make a
character for GURPS.

	It's loss later, after I've built up  the character's persona
that it would, um, annoying.

--
"Maybe Cal can help us.  Cal, did you actually see the wall?"
        --- Professor
"No, I saw them on the Dark Side of the Moon tour."
        --- Tom

Robert Crawford				betel@camelot.bradley.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: B_LUND1@unhh.unh.edu (Marcus Windwalker)
Subject: Re: AD&D Char Death = GURPS Char Death
Organization: Wallston 'Friends'
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1992 22:32:03 GMT
X-News-Reader: VMS NEWS 1.12

In <3427@tronsbox.UUCP> dfrancis@tronsbox.UUCP writes:

| |  Just as a harmless test, ask yourself which would more of a pain in the
| |  butt: losing a GURPS character during the very first session of play, or
| |  losing an AD&D character during the first session of play?
| 
| 	Either one would hack me off.  I don't find the math in GURPS to be
| especially onorous, at least not at the 100-pt level, and I spend more time
| on character background and such than on the math in any case.

	If you include the time it takes to create the character's
personality (People still make personalitiesfor characters, don't they?),
It becomes a moot point.  I rolled up Marcus Windwalker in under 10 min,
developed his personality over a couple of days and the first few games
and, now, after over 6 months of playing him, I would really hate to lose
him.  And not because of the _terrible_ 10-30 minutes it would take for
me to get a new character concept and roll it up ;-)  I "become" the
character when we play and it would be like a part of me died if he died.
I was real glad the cleric had slow poison and herbalism when I blew a
remove traps roll once (too low level for neutralize poison).  PLEASE
don't let this degenerate into a mindless flame-war of "my game is better
than yours", especially on such a pointless but potentially volitale question.
None of us really wants that, I don't think.

| dfrancis@tronsbox.xei.com   ...uunet!tronsbox!dfrancis     GEnie: D.HEFFERNAN1
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| "I don't understand why you make such a big deal out of everything...haven't
| you learned; if it's not happenning to me it's not important?" -Murphy Brown

	Marcus Windwalker, 4th ranking member of the Wallston 'Friends'

Organization: Freshman, Drama, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
From: lis@chaos.cs.brandeis.edu (Elisabeth Riba)
Subject: MIT's Infinite Corridor
Organization: Brandeis University
Date: Mon, 6 Apr 1992 18:05:52 GMT

Supposedly, 2 days out of the year, the sun shines directly through
the IC.  Any idea what days and times these are?  Or is this just
another UL?

-- 
--------------->Elisabeth Anne Riba * lis@chaos.cs.brandeis.edu<--------------
It is said that the gods play games with the lives of men. But what games, and
why, and the identities of the actual pawns, and what the game is, and what the
rules are--who knows? Best not to speculate. Thunder rolled... It rolled a six.
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: AD&D:  So what happens when ...
From: f67709323@violet.ccit.arizona.edu (Ryan Franklin)
Date: 7 Apr 92 15:12:46 MST
Distribution: world,local
Nntp-Posting-User: f67709323

In article <1992Apr7.170841.2859@watserv1.waterloo.edu>, alongley@cape.UWaterloo.ca (Allan Longley) writes:
> Here's some unproductive dribble.
> 
> What happens when you:
> 	(a) Turn a Bag of Holding inside-out?
> 	(b) Cast Chainlightning in a Rope Trick?
> 	(c) Cast Rope Trick inside a Rope Trick and the first one ends?
> 	(d) Eat the horse summoned by Mount?
> 	(e) Feed people Troll pieces?
> 	(f) Are an elf polymorphed into a Fire Giant and are about to have
> 	    children with your new Fire Giant wife?

A.  "You feel a very strong resistance when you attempt this."  Or, 
alternately, you push the outside bottom of the bag through and notice that
the bag looks exactly the same, and still has everything in it that it did
before.  Or if you want to be NASTY, have it rupture as if you tried putting
another bag of holding into it.
 
B. Dunno.  I assume it'll act normally, but only within the extradimensional
cubbyhole (assuming that's where you threw it).  I doubt if it would jump
out of the rope trick cubbyhole to hit someone outside.
 
C.  Treat it like bringing a bag of holding into a Rope Trick cubbyhole.
Not a good thing to do.
 
D.  You feel full until the spell duration would normally expire, then 
suddenly feel very hungry again.  
 
E.  I would assume that if someone ATE raw Troll pieces WITHOUT throwing up,
their stomach acids and digestive system must be so powerful that the Troll
bits would be considered burned beyond regeneration.  Sorry, no Alien effect.
 
F.  You're polymorphed, so you're a full-fledged Fire Giant who'll make lovely
little Fire Giant babies with your exquisite Fire Giant wife.  Oh, and the
kids will think you're insane when you tell them that you're really an elf,
and will probably send you to the Old Fire Giant Nursing Home as soon as 
possible.
 
	Ryan Franklin
	F67709323@ccit.arizona.edu

Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: cleggp@aix.rpi.edu (Paul Jason Clegg)
Subject: Re: CHAMP:  Racial Packages:  Ripoff?
Organization: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 1992 02:09:56 GMT

In article <1992Apr16.172747.16211@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> jhk6@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (John H Kim) writes:
>In article <8x0t-6k@rpi.edu> cleggp@aix.rpi.edu (Paul Jason Clegg) writes:
>>Is it me or are Racial Packages totally bogus when it comes to increasing
>>maximum characteristics values?  I mean, you can pay points equal to the
>>value of the characteristic to increase the maxima. 
>...
>>If you DON'T buy your strength (or whatever you've improved) up, it's 
>>basically a waste of points, yes?
>
>Remember that there are decreased characteristic maxima, too. 
>
>So a race with 25 Max STR and 15 Max INT costs the same as a human 
>(I think). If you want to play a member of this race with a high 
>STR, you save points. If you want to play a member of this race with 
>high INT, you lose points. 
>
The bonus for decreased maxima is only half normal value.  Increasing the
max on STR to 25 and decreasing INT to 15 does not balance out;  You'd have
to decrease INT to 10 before a balance point.

And it still doesn't net you anything.  To play a creature of a race with
a STR max of 25 and an INT max of 10 costs you zero points.  But you still
(apparently) start out with a STR of 10 and an INT of 10.  To bring your
STR up to 25 costs you 15 pts.  So you have to pay 15 points and take the
max of 10 INT for 25 STR.  You could keep the maxes the same, and get your
25 STR for just five points more, and have the max on INT at 20.  I still
think racial packages are a total ripoff, unless, as a previous poster said,
the increased max also give you an increased default score (ie.  buying
increased max on STR to 25 costs 5 points, but also starts your character
out at STR 15).

...Paul

|FQT 1.10| Murphy was an optimist.
From: reanor@speedy.cs.pitt.edu (Jeffrey Getzin)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: SRUN: Heavy weapons as sidearms
Date: 9 Apr 92 03:48:20 GMT
Organization: Computer Science Dept., University of Pittsburgh

In article <1992Apr9.011333.25836@acsu.buffalo.edu> v076jy2p@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (Cosmo Of The Cosmos) writes:
>...
>	Let us review.  You just shot, at point blank range, at a target,
>that didn't even dodge, and you bounced the bullet off his OH-SO-AVERAGE
>SKIN!  Something is wrong here.  Something is very, VERY wrong here.
>Of course this is a Hold-out pistol, but even a heavy pistol with explosive
>ammo won't have a chance of killing a guy on the first shot unless you
>have it smart gunned and at least firearms:9!  God help you if the target
>is wearing any armor! You want a kicker?  The explosive bullets are even
>worse 'cause (by the book) it makes it harder to stage and thus protects 
>the person your shooting.
>

Me and a friend came up with a solution to the staging of explosive ammo
as well as flechette:

   Instead of counting the increased staging when staging both up
   and down, just count it for staging down.

   For example, if I fire a Predator (4M2) with explosive ammo, for
   purposes of staging UP, it's a 4M2.   BUT when it's time for
   the victim to state down, he has to resist a 4M4 wound.

Make sense?

			=*()*()* Jeff *()*()*=
--
					---
Jeffrey Getzin
saintdor@vms.cis.pitt.edu
From: Kevin.Tuttle@f6008.n124.z1.fidonet.org (Kevin Tuttle)
Sender: FredGate@ocitor.fidonet
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: AD%&D: HELP! I'M LOST!
Date: Sat, 11 Apr 1992 08:50:34

Maybe you can give me a heads up on a few of the powers that may be too inexpensive as far as PSP prices go in the new Psionics handbook.  I have just started a campaign in which there is a 1st level psionicist and I told him that we would have to see how all the powers balanced out in game play since I was unfamiliar with most of them.  A friend of mine told me that he thought some of the pyschoportive powers were too cheap (like Dimension Door) so I thought that you could give me an idea of some that you


 found to be unbalancing at their current price.  I have already thrown out disintegration and a few others that I felt were too powerful for a psionicist to posess.  Also, any ideas on magic items for psionicists?  Thanks in advance for any help, 
                                       Kevin

 * Origin: Meridian -=- (214) 235-3164 -=- Dallas, Tx. (1:124/6008)
From: mark@trillian.jsc.nasa.gov (Mark Manning)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Some older Riddles
Date: 7 Apr 1992 20:42:51 GMT
Organization: Simulacron I

Since some of the people can't be reached for some reason - I'm
posting the answers to all of the previous riddles here.

As I was going to St. Ives riddle:

	The answer is one.  In old english, the word "met" implies you were
going in one direction while they were going in another.  Thus, to have
"met" a man as you were going to St. Ives he had to be going away from St.
Ives.  In modern mangled American english the word "met" means nothing about
which way someone was walking.  However, if you get someone who wants to
debate with you over this simply remind them that it was written in old
english and that, had they meant the man with the wives to be going in the
same direction as yourself the poem would have read something like:

	As I was going to St. Ives,
	I came up to a man with seven wives,...

	or maybe

	As I was going to St. Ives,
	I chanced upon a man with seven wives,...

So the reader would have been directed to count everything up.  It is
obvious, once you know the answer, that the person who wrote the riddle
meant to trick the reader into all of that counting and this is what a lot
of people get miffed about.

The Hick-a-more Hack-a-more riddle:

	The answer is:  The Sun.  All of the King's horses and men can not
remove the sun from a door or anything else.  This riddle was a jibe at some
king who must have thought himself omnipotent.

The Little Nancy Etticoat riddle:

	The answer is: A Candle in a chandelier.  The white petticoat is the
stem of the candle, the flame is her one eye.  Being in a chandelier hung
from the ceiling she is way up high.

The Long legs, crooked thighs riddle:

	The answer is: A pair of tongs with the hole in the top to hang it
by.  This is one of the hardest riddles I know of to figure out since we do
not, now-a-days, use these things much.  Also, the form of tongs has changed
in the last century to where tongs are shaped more like salad bowl serving
utensils rather than true tongs.

The underground riddle:

	The answer is:  A gem.  Preferrably a diamond.  The reason for this
is because a diamond in the rough looks oily when it is uncut and looks
shiny when it is cut.  It is also found underground or in volcanic shafts.

The Dawn's away riddle:

	The answer is: The Sun.  Time can also be answered, but the sun is
the better answer as it moves around the earth.

If I have missed any let me know....
From: ratinox@meceng.coe.northeastern.edu (Richard Pieri/Stainless Steel Rat)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: 100-DICE: they don't work.
Date: 16 Apr 92 00:56:36 GMT
	<!25tfmh@rpi.edu> <1992Apr14.151451.22291@odin.diku.dk>
	<647@data.rain.com>
Reply-To: ratinox@meceng.coe.northeastern.edu
Organization: 3WA, Boston Office. Or Nu Meta Chi. Take your pick.
In-reply-to: john@data.rain.com's message of 15 Apr 92 19:11:14 GMT
X-Signature-Virus-Protection: Version 1.51
X-Quote: "How come I get all the hard questions?" -- O. North
X-Posting-Software: GNUS 3.14.1 [ NNTP-based News Reader for GNU Emacs ]

>>>>> On 15 Apr 92 19:11:14 GMT, john@data.rain.com (John Mantey) said:

>Rather than making a d100, it would be much more useful to make a dice
>with the numbers 00,10,20,30,...,90 to avoid the arguments after a
>roll is made over which dice was the tens. I might even have seen such
>dice somewhere?

john> I HAVE a ten sided die with this numbering scheme.  Military Corner
john> in Portland, Or had some, which probably means they are available
john> elsewhere.  I don't know who makes them, but then who really pays
john> attention to who makes the dice they buy?

Chessex makes them, along with a bunch of other, useful die types. Like a
d4 with the numbers rolled at the apex of the tetrahedron (that's the top,
people) instead of along the base. Much easier to read, IMO.

--Rat
--
||||| | | | |  |  |  |   |   |    |    |    |   |   |  |  |  |  | | | | | |||||
                                                   __        ___ 
Richard Pieri, Northeastern's Stainless Steel Rat/   | /| / /   | The Worlds
Internet: ratinox@splinter.coe.northeastern.edu /__  |/ |/ / /| | Welfare Works
    UUCP: ...!northeastern.edu!splinter!ratinox/   | /| / / / | | Association:
  BITNET: UA_RLP@NUHUB{.BITNET}               /__  |/ |/ / /  | | I will solve
  USNail: 14 Westdale RD  Holbrook, MA 02343 /   | /| / / /___| | any problem
 ICBMnet: 42 deg 1 min N, 71 deg 0 min W    /    |/ |/ /_//_____| for you.
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: cg108fai@icogsci1.ucsd.edu (Steerpike)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Shadowrun
Date: 7 Apr 92 18:13:42 GMT
Article-I.D.: sdcc12.31426
Organization: University of California, San Diego

I don't understand the big deal about Shadowrun assault cannons.
Assuming that you WANT to run a Rambo-clone, why not use a HMG? 
Especially if you use the new Rigger autofire rules.

After all, autocannon are single-shot weapons.
A good HMG can do 15D4 or better and reduce armor by 2.

steerpike@ucsd.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: MHART00@ricevm1.rice.edu (mason hart)
Subject: The Undead and level loss
Organization: Rice University, Houston, TX
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1992 21:26:32 GMT

Adventurers have an uncomfortable tendency to lose hard-earned
levels after an encounter with the Undead.  I love it when my
monsters and NPCs do well against the players, but I work as hard
(harder) than they do to advance their characters in level, and I
hate to see those levels lost in a fight with a wight.  Rather
than ignore the more powerful undead completely, I've been toying
with the following options, and would be interested in your opinions.

1)  Characters recover lost levels at the rate of one per week, unless
      they are reduced to less than zero.
2)  Characters may save against Death Magic to avoid level loss.
3)  The Priest spell Restoration is level four or five, rather than
      level seven.

Further suggestions?

-- mason
From: sl7sg@cc.usu.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: anyone posting a REVIEW: ? for Bard's Handbook?
Date: 6 Apr 92 18:29:03 GMT
Article-I.D.: cc.1992Apr6.122903.54231
Organization: Utah State University


	If somebody is so inclined, that has purchased and read the book, would
they post a formal REVIEW?  examining everything from artwork, writing, and
content?  I would do it, but I cannot afford the book right now (quarter just
started, text book money...)

		Shade Pendragon
	
	-"God said, let there be Shade... and there was..."
From: ted4646@zeus.tamu.edu (kid eternity)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Inter-Party Conflicts
Date: 10 Apr 92 15:15:00 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Texas A&M University, Academic Computing Services
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41



*sigh*  nothing like a good inter-party conflict...

my favorite ipc was my friend Craig's Cleric (Chaotic Neutral, Prankster-Boy).
one of the other characters was pissing him off, so the cleric was planning
on casting Fire Trap on Jeff's eyelids when Jeff was sleeping.  unfortunately,
the Cleric was killed before he ever got a chance to do so...

thomas


Newsgroups: rec.games.frp