HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: leifmk@Lise.Unit.NO (Leif Magnar Kj|nn|y)
Subject: Re: Alignments
Followup-To: Re: Alignments
Organization: Norwegian Institute of Technology
Date: Sat, 5 Sep 92 13:47:32 GMT

In article <79032@ut-emx.uucp>, jmedway@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (johnjmedway) writes:
 > In article <1SEP199219354030@rosie.uh.edu> lib1p@rosie.uh.edu (Tammy Stark Blandino) writes:
 > >I have a new topic if anyone would like to discuss it.  Alignments.
 > >
 > >Remember Alignments from AD&D?  Well my gaming group has often
 > >had heated discussions on alignments.  Now I'm not interested in
 > >a flame war.  I just want some other opinions.
 > >
 > >...
 > >
 > >I am also looking for other ways to devise alignment.  If you have
 > >any other ideas I would appreciate hearing that also.
 > >
 > >...
 > >
 > >I do not subscribe to rec.games.frp.dnd
 > 
 > 
 > Then why are you asking about 'alignments'? I've read and own quite a few
 > game systems (but play far fewer), but as I've seen D&D, AD&D, et al, are 
 > the only systems with any concept of 'alignment'. I view it as a primitive
 > categorization system which long ago should have been discarded/passed by
 > (and has been by most other systems).
 > 
Warhammer FRP has a D&D-influenced alignment system:  There are 5 alignments, 
including Law, Good, Neutrality, Evil, and Chaos.  In this system, almost all
(beginning) PCs are Neutral (except elves, which are Good).  So are the great
bulk of NPCs.  Law and Chaos are seen as extremes, with the other three 
alignments falling in a line between them.  I feel that this works well, if an
alignment system is desired.  Personally, I tired of alignments years ago, but
in the specific case of Warhammer, the Law/Chaos concept fits the campaign world
rather well.  Most creatures with strict Law or Chaos alignments will be other-
worldly gods or demons; mortals are drawn in one or the other direction by their
own actions.  For those that don't know Warhammer, it could be worth a try:  The
medieval fantasy world is rather dirty and unglamorous, with witch burnings,
xenophobia, ignorance, and black plague.  And it's all going to hell.  A very,
very violent system--but I still think the 'Enemy Within' campaign is a real
classic.   :-)

Leif the .sigless
leifmk@lise.unit.no
From: ward1@husc8.harvard.edu (Lester Ward)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: SRUN II Screwups
Date: 12 Sep 92 05:00:01 GMT
Article-I.D.: husc8.ward1.716274001

uplink@cwis.unomaha.edu (John M. Scheibeler) writes:
>Some GM's don't run this way; they figure, "if it's not in the book then
>you can't buy it."  I was hoping they (FASA) would come up with a more
>complete equipment list for SRUN II, but they didn't.

Did someone say "more complete equipment list"?  Well, ask and ye shall
receive!  Give a guy an OCR system and every fucking SR book and a day
and a half, and 30+ pages of equipment will be on the net.

Stay tuned....

Wordman
From: adam@endor.uucp (Adam Shostack)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: SR: Ruthenium(?) Swords
Date: 12 Sep 92 04:49:55 GMT
Article-I.D.: das.1992Sep12.044955.4194
Organization: Aiken Computation Lab, Harvard University

In article <1992Sep11.202741.19457@nevada.edu> wildcard@nevada.edu ( WildCard !!) writes:

>IMO, a ruthenium sword would work until you actualy struck somone with it. 
>After which you will have ruined an expensive item. The fibers aren't 
>indestructable, they'll be crushed/snapped/mangled/whatever.
>
>But if you were to Di-Kote it after the fibers were in place.... :)

You'd melt the fibers.  Dikoting involves nuking a gas until it
becomes a plasma and deposits stuff on the surface.  Probably also
involves high pressure, but I don't remember offhand.  This is not the
kind of environment that ruthenium would appriciate.  Oops.  Expensive
lesson.  :)

Adam

Adam Shostack 					adam@das.harvard.edu

What a terrible thing to have lost one's .sig.  Or not to have a .sig
at all.  How true that is.      
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: nemo@utkvx3.utk.edu (Captain Nemo)
Subject: Re: Werewolf
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Organization: University of Tennessee Computing Center
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1992 14:08:00 GMT

In article <uk02700.715540451@mik.uky.edu>, 
uk02700@mik.uky.edu (mitchell e french) replied to the Rat...
>In <RATINOX.92Sep3122303@splinter.coe.northeastern.edu> 
ratinox@splinter.coe.northeastern.edu (Richard Pieri/Stainless Steel Rat) writes:
> 
>>KJ> Do lupine physicly enter the Umbra?
> 
>>Common sense time: no, of course they don't.
> 
>	Hmmm....that's odd....Then how come it says that the distance
>travelled in the Umbra translates into distance travelled in the "Real
>World" (tm) ?  
>	Personally, I think they *do* physically enter the Umbra.  They've
>already got 'teleporters' (ie the Moon Bridges).  Why shouldn't they be
>able to enter a higher reality?
> 
>Mushroom
> 

According to WW, they *do* enter the Umbra physically, or at least did during 
playtesting "Rite of Passage".  When my Theurge stepped sideways to battle a 
spirit (not TOO much of a spoiler...), the rest of the pack was told I was 
utterly gone, leaving the reflective surface/mirror behind.  The Umbra
can be an interesting method of transportation, to say the least, for those
Garou with the Gnosis and plenty of reflective surfaces to use it, especially
if you don't want to travel overland for whatever reason....

					Capt. Nemo
From: hibschmn@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Johann A. Hibschman)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: Gaming boards
Date: 13 Sep 92 17:07:17 GMT
Organization: Princeton University
Originator: news@nimaster


   If I remember correctly, the charter of rec.games.frp.* defines a
fantasy role playing game to include science fiction.  I believe that
"fantasy" is used in the contrary-to-established-reality or the
fantastic-stuff-going-on-here sense.  So this newsgroup is indeed where
these discussions should be occuring.

---
Johann Hibschman
hibschmn@phoenix.princeton.edu
QUIT
x.princeton.edu
From: thantos@runic.via.mind.org (Paul Williams [SysOp])
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: Improvisation
Date: 7 Sep 92 13:30:10 GMT
Organization: Runic Writings / Lawrenceville, GA

v054nn84@ubvmsd.cc.buffalo.edu (Foto...Taking pictures again, and Happy for it!) writes:

> Jeez, after reading that one quote about the player who would leave if he/she
> thought the referee were putting clues in front of the players...I wouldn't
> WANT that person in the game.  what the hell DOES a referee do?  GO out, buil
> a full size movie set of the office they are going to trash and singlehandedl
> place all the clues and then leave the room?  Good god man/woman. what is wro
> with improvisation?  What is it?  Got screwed over by a bad ref once and afra
> we are all like that?  Come on, why are referees supposed to be restricted?  
> that were the case I would only use modules!

I think the problem is that if you can tell the clues are being dropped
under your nose, its not any fun.  I'll admit, I do a bit of improv with
my clues from time to time, but the PCs have to work for them, and when
they find them they've accomplished something.  However, sometimes its
much better to pre-place the important clues, if only to give the PCs a
chance to *miss* them.

That's right, I don't subscribe to the "The PCs always win" attitude
that so permeates some of the gaming industry.  My players know, and
their characters find out, that sometimes you simply can't win and its
better just to get the hell out with what you got.



---
thantos@runic.via.mind.org (Paul Williams [SysOp])
Runic Writings
From: v076jy2p@ubvmsd.cc.buffalo.edu (Cosmo Of The Cosmos)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: Sci-Fi Suggestions
Summary: has anyone played it?
Keywords: battlelords
Date: 9 Sep 92 16:07:00 GMT
Organization: University at Buffalo
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

>ANYONE WHO THINKS THEY HAVE AN OPINION ON THIS BATTLELORDS GAME,
>	PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!!!
> i would like to see some discussion of this game as everyone seems to 
>ignore it when ben or one of those other guys mentions it
>PLEASE SOMEBODY BESIDES BEN TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!!!

OK,
	Let's see..
	Lot's o' guns
	Lot's o' equipment
	Lot's o' armor
	Lot's o' races
	Lot's o' background
	Lot's o' information
	Easy to understand rules that cover just about everything.

The fourth edition BattleLords is The Edition.  I think that Larry has 
finaly gotten it right.  If your going to get BattleLords, this is the
one.  Lock-n-load is another situation.  Larry's a great game designer,
lousy editor.  However, for the price, and the sheer volume of information
you get for it, I think it's worth a few typos.  _This Is Only A Test_ is
the first (and only) module to come out.  It was made by "The Canadaians".
(Who the hell are The Canadaians anyways?  I hear referances to them all the
time.  I picture this group of people in coon skin caps saying, "This is
a good game, 'eh.  Pass me a beer, 'eh?")  Good design and well made.
An excellent module to start with and even gives some ideas for long time
campaining.  The pullouts even have a page with everything you need to 
keep track of enemy armor damage.  Larry's got a whole slew of modules
on the burner even as I post.  I played in some of them.
(NASTY, NASTY, Larry! We hate's, FOR-EVER!)
	The game does have alot of guns, and I do mean ALOT of guns!
However, I think this is because of Larry's method of operations, not his
style.  He works on one section at a time.  The system first, then the
background, then the guns, then the armor, then the equipment, then...
Wait until he comes out with the new races!  From Furbals to Fotts, he's
got a WIDE selection.
	I'd chat some more but I gotta go.  Psy 302, ya know?



			-Robert "Larry has killed me 13 times" Goodfellow
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc,rec.games.frp.advocacy
From: stedee@auto-trol.com (Steve Deemer)
Subject: Re: 40mm grenades (was Re: Let's talk REAL..)
Organization: Auto-trol Technology Corporation
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1992 17:18:34 GMT

In article <WCALDERW.92Sep14195826@dante.nmsu.EDU> wcalderw@nmsu.EDU (CALDERWOOD) writes:
>
>>	There are a boatload of different munition types for the 40mm grenade.
>>There is either a HEDP or HEAT (I think the first) that has some effectiveness
>>against *light* armor, like a APC. There is (or was, before the M203 launcher)
>>a 'shot' round, which made the grenade launcher (M-79) a big shotgun. There
>>might even be 'stun bags' (sealed first-sized bags filled with sand or
>>something similar) for very special purposes.
>>
>>Brandon Cope
>
>The shot round used by the M-79 or 203 was called a flachette (sp). It
>was made up of small metal darts. Because of the inhumane way it would
>tear flesh from bone it was outlawed by the NATO countries and is thus
>no longer produced by them.
>
>Bill,
>wcalderw@nmsu.edu
>

I don't remember that the 40mm flechette round was outlawed, it just 
wasn't all that effective.  Neither was the 40mm buckshot round.  Note 
that flechette "beehive" anti-personnel rounds are still in use for 
direct fire heavy weapons, and haven't been outlawed.  Also note that 
there really aren't any "humane" ways to kill a person.

The real reason why the flechette/buckshot rounds aren't produced
any more is that if you need a shotgun, it's far more effective
to carry a shotgun.  If you've seen the movie "Predator", pay
attention to the weapons that Arnie and the Indian scout carry.
Arnie has an M-16 with M-203 grenade launcher.  The scout has
an M-16 with a Mossberg 500 12 gauge shotgun attached. 

 
__________________________________________________________________________
Steven Deemer              "They say a boy should tire of being a creep and
stedee@auto-trol.COM        should sit quietly and ask Respectability to
                            lead him away.  But when Respectability comes to
                            me I will fight it and I, Eddie Haskell, I will
                            tear the letters off its very sweater!"
From: jacobus@symphony.cc.purdue.edu (Bryan J. Maloney)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: So-called "dark futures"
Date: 5 Sep 92 15:48:21 GMT
Organization: Purdue University





Ah, yes, the "dark futures" of cyberpunk.  Of course these dark futures
have been dressed up to be sexy, violent, and exciting, unlike the REAL
dark futures in the science fiction of the "New Wave" of the early 1970's.

Those are DARK futures, stories that usually end with the complete 
extinction of the human race, not through war, but through our own simple
incompetence of overpopulation and using up all our resources.  If you
want some seriously dark settings, as opposed to cartoonish dark settings
with killer ninjas around every corner, read some John Brunner, especially
Stand on Zanzibar and Total Eclipse.  I recommend Stand on Zanzibar over
Total Eclipse.  We are talking literature to slash your wrists by here.
None of this girlie-man cyberpunk "darkness".
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: bret@technix.mn.org (Bret Indrelee)
Subject: Re: Covers
Organization: Private System - Saint Paul, MN
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 18:52:37 GMT

In article <BuJtMy.1vG@watdragon.uwaterloo.ca> badorion@watyew.uwaterloo.ca (Brian A. Dorion) writes:
>...    In my experience (14 years of gaming, 7 of them as the owner of a
>game store) covers are very important.  Artwork is extremely important in
>selling games.  Good artwork is an indication that the publisher cared enough
>about the product to spend money on quality artwork that will complement the 
>quality of the game.  A game can be very hurt by bad artwork (cover or
>interior).  

I can agree about the bad art.  A person should not be embarrassed to carry
around the book.  I hate the covers on the GURPS system, and did not even
look at the system until after someone invited me to play.  After observing
a session, I decided to join that group.  Now that I have played it a bit,
it seems a pretty good system.

I would have bought it much sooner if it wasn't for the covers.  They look
silly.  The cover for the magic supplement has improved, though.

-Bret

-- 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bret Indrelee               |   Pretend there is something profound
email: bret@technix.mn.org  |   written here.
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: keith@world.std.com (Keith B Richmond)
Subject: TF2V(Tales From Float Vag.) PBEM
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1992 21:01:07 GMT

I'm going to be setting up and running a Tales from The Floating Vagabond
Email game...thi 'll be my first, and I would really appreciate advice
on how to do one. If you are experienced with the game...you can mail me a 
character or make one with me(If you're not experienced with the game we
can just make a character). You don't need to know the rules...and I'll
handle all of the stuff during play(your ignorance,my blessing)(Now
how did that guy who is the best crackshot in the universe miss that guy
who happens to be a major character?(joke)) For people who've played
before...would you please also mail me what scenarios/modules you've 

played(Excedrin Headache,Bar Wars,Adventure withj no Name,Reich Stuff
...even if you've only read it(which is worse actually)tell me so 
that I won't run the module. For people sending in characters I accept
anything from normal humans and elves to sentient slime molds and
six foot barbie dolls(If you want to play one of these we can make 
a character from scratch too(ANYTHING is playable(automobiles,
talking mice,crash dummies,etc!)) I might change it slightly, of
course... 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Do you want to be one of the few? The deranged? The drunk? the people
who play Tales From The Floating Vagabond?  Your Mission:To go wherever
that beer bottle just went(not lite beer,real)and to cause havoc 
throughout the known and unknown dimensions...
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: v054nn84@ubvmsd.cc.buffalo.edu (Foto...Taking pictures again, and Happy for it!)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Matriarchal socieites
Date: 9 Sep 92 11:21:00 GMT
Organization: University at Buffalo
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

RE:  The difference between matriarchal and matrilineal societies...

Thanks for clearing THAT one up, saves me the time of barking up the wrong
tree!  :) 

Hmmm...begining to wonder about an error in terminology on *my* part during
this whole discussion....

Skeksis
From: mancinis@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (steven mancini)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: SR: Ruthenium(?) Swords & the Astral Plane
Date: 14 Sep 92 21:18:27 GMT
Organization: Purdue University Computing Center

In article <1992Sep14.034614.9347@monu6.cc.monash.edu.au> ins769v@lindblat.cc.monash.edu.au (Veltyen) writes:
>
>Yeah, but then you'd end up with a sword that's very obvious on the astral,
>and can be dispelled.
>

	Which brings up an interesting point. I have heard 2 arguments
	that are both from the books about the Astral Plane:
	(1) That the 'shadows' of non-living things is because of the
	    light in the physical plane.
	(2) That all objects have a shadow, irregardless of light.

	If (1) is correct, and you create a tech sword, you are looking
	at a weapon that is invisible (though also useless) to the
	Astral Plane.... eeeeeewwwww!

	If (2) is correct, you're sword is going to be obvious in the Astral
	plane anyway....

							-Minotaur
-- 

+-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-+
| Steve Mancini (a.k.a. The Minotaur) | mancinis@mentor.cc.purdue.edu   |
|    Grad Student {Dazed & Confused}  | mancinis@vm.cc.purdue.edu       |
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: viktor@mks.com (Viktor Haag)
Subject: Re: Matriarcal Societies
Keywords: South America, Southeast Asia
Organization: Mortice Kern Systems Inc., Waterloo, Ontario, CANADA
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 13:59:01 GMT

In article <16854@ucdavis.ucdavis.edu> good@turing (Joe Good) writes:
>
>	There is a lot of discussion going about discussing the
>possibility of a matriarchal society.  The fact is, that 
>matriarchal societies exist today, in some South American
>tribes especially, and also in some Southeast Asian cultures.
>Admittedly, these tribes are usually quite small and isolated,
>but that fact that you learn about them in a first-year
>anthropology course means that they are by no means unknown.
>	I'm not going to enter into the argument as to whether
>a matriarchal society would be superior, I just thought that
>people should know that such societies do indeed exist, and
>aren't just hypothetical situations.

Pardon me, but I think you confuse the term matriarchal with
matrilineal.  Plenty of matrilineal descent systems exist among the
worlds cultures.  This does not, however, have very much to do
with matriarchiality.  I find it doubtful that the term "matriarchal"
carries any sort of utility.  At the very least, anyone who uses it
should provide some sort of definition for it.

Having said that, I suppose I should provide one myself:

	A society wherein a group of "mother figures" retain the
	positions of authority, and roles traditionally associated
	with power and authority. 

Matrilineal, on the other hand, denotes:

	A means of recording descent and kinship wherein the
	culture expresses an individual's identity in relation
	to the individual who gave birth to him or her.

Allow me to point out here that the language and culture expressing
these definitions has a direct effect on their utility.  What we would
traditionally label as a "mother figure", or the notion of "giving
birth" may have nothing to do with individuals we (in our culture)
think of as female.


-- 
Viktor Haag					viktor@mks.com
Mortice Kern Systems				(519) 884-2251
35 King North, Waterloo, Ontario		ext. 16
"we are not thugs. we are vitamin supplements to justice ..." | a selector
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: phatch@coyote.slc.mentorg.com (Phill Hatch (CONTRACTOR Documentation))
Subject: Re: Legos as props
Organization: Mentor Graphics Corp.,  Murray, Utah
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1992 22:40:26 GMT

In article <1992Sep4.192453.8798@dartvax.dartmouth.edu>, kmitcham@coos.dartmouth.edu (Kevin Mitcham) writes:
> When you use legos to make setups, do yoyu tend to use
> ordinary minatures or the silly little lego-men to represent
> characters and such?
> I found the lego-men to be far to wide to be useful.
> (if the lego-men are 6' tall, they are 3' wide!)
> Can't put too many 3 foot wide men in a corridor.

I use ordinary miniatures.  Besides, Lego men all look a like.
Must be some peculiar racial characteristic.... :)  Besides,
I don't have nearly enough lego figures to run the battles I 
throw at my party.

Phil
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: covin@tartarus.uchicago.edu (David Covin)
Subject: Re: SRUN: Questions from the Minotaur: The Next Generation
Organization: University of Chicago Computer Science
	<ggynatb.boserj@netcom.com> <1992Sep14.234230.42997@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu>
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1992 21:05:54 GMT

In article <1992Sep14.234230.42997@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu> kucloak@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu writes:

   Second Edition also makes it more costly to be a Hermectic mage.  Have
   you seen the cost of Hermectic libraries?  Rating squared times 1000
   (that's for the CD version, which is the cheapest.)  This may have bad
   effects in our campaign.  We already have a problem with people only
   wanting to play shamans.  I guess we are going to have to be real
   sticklers about them role playing their totems.

Well, this is something I've been wondering about.  The GM in the
SR campaign I play in has also greatly increased the cost of Hermetic
libraries (by giving them ratings, bought separately, for all the
possible concentrations, and in some cases specializations, of the 
magical skills); but even without that, Hermetic mages get royally
screwed in the money department.  Shamans require only one magical
tool: a medicine lodge, whose rating is good for *every* situation,
and which is *cheap* to boot!

In addition, shamans may get totem bonuses; make better initiates
(only need 1 astral quest for the Astral Quest ordeal; can learn
or gain bonuses for *any* spell or magic skill by astral quest;
actually get some use out of summoning Great Spirits, and the fact
that it takes no time); and can summon spirits in real time, on-the-
fly.

Further, the Grimoire rules "clarification" that Elementals use up
1 service each day they spend waiting to be told to do something,
means that mages get little use out of the critters they take so
long to summon.  And pay money to summon.  And which don't have
actually useful powers like aiding the team's movement, or concealing
the team from sight.

So I ask: why does anyone play Hermetic Mages?

--
David Covin                           covin@despair.uchicago.edu