HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: arakins@iastate.edu (Andrew R Akins)
Subject: Re: WFRP: Character Generation
Organization: Iowa State University, Ames, IA
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 1992 18:33:47 GMT

  I have played both ways, rolling and selection.

  I prefer rolling: Note that characters get to CHOOSE their
class, although not their profession. However, they can pass
through their exits or choose a basic career from their
class as soon as they gain 100EP (Wizards and Clerics are exceptions).
So yes, that starting character might end up as a beggar, but as soon
as he gets the 100EP, he can choose from any other Rogue class.

  I think this is realistic: How many people in the Olde World start
out as Tomb Robbers...not many, I would think. But there is no 
reason why you couldn't become one!

  As far as additional books are concerned, the adventures are great,
but of course you don't need them. The Warhammer Companion is OK, but
not great. However, if you want to really use Chaos and Chaos forces,
you HAVE GOT TO GET Realms of Chaos V I and II. I'll warn ya, they are
VERY expensive ($30+ for each, I believe), but the stuff in them is 
Great!

-- Andy Akins
   aka Brother Andrek
   Iowa State University
   arakins@iastate.edu
From: dunning@chainsaw.ecn.purdue.edu (GALACTIC COMMANDER)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: CHAMPS: question on turn sequencing
Date: 6 Apr 92 17:13:16 GMT
Organization: Power-mad lunitics of the Universe, INC.

In article <ro3ojINNnvp@festus.ksu.ksu.edu> khise@festus.ksu.ksu.edu (Martin Andrew Shobe) writes:
>			[stuff deleted]
>
>	No it doesn't.  She can always abort her next action to continue
>dodging.  Also, she can hold action to avoid having to abort in the first
>place.  
>	
>	If you allow the dodge to continue someone with Martial Dodge becomes
>nearly unhittable (unless the attack is area affect.).  And, they only give up 
>half thier attacks to stay that way all the time.  Which is really silly.
>
>Khise@matt.ksu.ksu.edu

Any self-respecting MA that gives up half her actions is the biggest
fool in the universe.  For a minor +5 DCV (assuming M. Dodge) you just
lost 1/2 of your phases.  I would prefer to take those 30 points and buy
+6 all combat DCV only.  More effective as you get these levels even
while attacking.  Now you still get your 3 attacks, but you just ALOT
harder to hit.  Even on the phases I attack I am still +6 DCV (really
nice).

With these rules being a MA would really suck.


--

-----------------------------\_/-----------------------------
 Elwood H Dunning III         |     I am a pirate, I don't
  GALACTIC COMMANDER          |           DO decency!!
From: torbenm@diku.dk (Torben AEgidius Mogensen)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: 100-DICE: they don't work.
Date: 14 Apr 92 15:14:51 GMT
Organization: Department of Computer Science, U of Copenhagen

>>In article <bibaert.702899074@eursus> bibaert@eursus (Hans Baert) writes:
>>>Hello Everybody,
>>>Can anybody supply me with a 100 sided dice?

>They're called "Zocchihedrons", because they were designed and produced by
>Lou Zocchi.  At one point I actually bought two of them for $5 at, of all 
>places, a scientific equipment warehouse place that lots of neat gadgets.
>(Edmund Scientific, in case you've heard of them).  Last time I heard about
>them, Zocchi was trying to make "gem" style d100s; the normal models are 
>hollow plastic with bb's in them to keep them from rolling to far (didn't
>help much).  Flip through a Dragon Magazine and look for a Lou Zocchi ad,
>and you should be able to find a mail-order address.

If you want to make an n-sided dice with polygonar faces, you want the
faces to be identical. Not only being the same shape and size, but
also indistinguishable from context. If this is the case the chance of
any one side facing up (or down, as the case may be) is trivially the
same for all faces. If not, it is impossible to calculate the relative
chances, and they might not even be well-defined (i.e., they may
depend on friction and elasticity).

It can be shown that there are only two ways of making a 100 sided
dice with this property: by putting two 50-sided pyramids base-to-base
or by a generalization of the D10, using 100 kite-shaped faces.
Neither of these roll very well.

Thus I don't think Zocchi will ever succeed in finding a "gem" style
d100. As a corollary, his present d100 cannot have regular spacing of
the "dents" that make up for faces. Thus I do not believe his d100 has
even chances of all outcomes. I seem to recall a magazine (it might be
a local one) testing the d100 by rolling a few thousand times (by
hand!) and counting the number of times each number showed. They found
a statistically significant overweight of the very low and very high
numbers.

Anyway, I would never trust a d100 that wasn't constructed in one of
the two ways I outlined, and I would prefer two d10s over these.

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?

	Torben Mogensen (torbenm@diku.dk)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: silber@m.cs.uiuc.edu (Ami A. Silberman)
Subject: Re: AD%&D: HELP! I'M LOST!
Organization: University of Illinois, Dept. of Comp. Sci., Urbana, IL
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1992 21:02:07 GMT

ken@gbrmpa.gov.au (Ken Dwyer) writes:

>The high level guy had disintegrate, and from what the player told
>me about it, it wasn't all that great.  For a start you need to have
>'contact' with the opponent and then when you make your power roll there
>is a 1 in 20 chance that you disintegrate yourself!
You only need "contact" with telepathic devotions and sciences.  The big
problem with disintegrate is that you might apply it to yourself.  The big
problem with the system is that several of the attacks are effectively instant
death with no saving throw (assuming that they work.)  Ego whip, or id
insinuation, (can't remember which one) renders the target entirely helpless
for 1 to 4 rounds.  Body control is also very nasty, you can make someone
just stand there while you line him up for slitting his throat.  I've ruled
that, with a few possible exceptions, none of the psionic attacks or
abilities are capable of enough fine control to allow a psionicist to set
up a victim for an instant kill.  (Ego whip, for instance, although it
renders the victim incapable of doing anything for 1d4 rounds, only prevents
them from voluntary action.  They still thrash about etc. so you still have
to hit them normaly.

-- 
ami silberman - janitor of lunacy
	silber@cs.uiuc.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: wildcard@nevada.edu ( WildCard !!)
Subject: Re: Shadowrun: Body Looting
Keywords: SR, SRun, shadowrun, etc...
Organization: Shadowland BBS, SimSense Division
Distribution: usa
Date: Mon, 6 Apr 1992 17:12:31 GMT

In article <44083@mentor.cc.purdue.edu> mancinis@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (The Dark Sage) writes:

>> Has anybody tried peddling drugs in 2051,because it strikes me as
>> odd that there is no mention of drugs in shadowrun,both useful and
>> debilitating.We tried to sell some Heroine,but got caught.

No. I came up with a comprehensive set of rules for drug effects/use/politics.
Non of my players want to use them.  Maybe they're just exceptionally moral
or something but they refuse to have anything to do with drugs or BTL chips.
They say that it's not worth the risk (Imagine this coming from shadowrunners)!

>> Nowadays,when we mention it to our Gm,he mumbles something about
>>  Simsense having taken over from drugs.This sounds like Bunk.
>
>>>>>>[ Unfortunately, it ain't all bunk. BTL's seem to be the in thing,
>      but one thing that is kinda forgotten (at least in my game) is 
>      that you can't walk down to yer local Stuffer Shack and get yerself
>      a Datajack. Cyberware in my part of Seattle anyway, is hard to find
>      stuff. We have had a few folks shuttle over to Hong Kong to get
>      the best wares installed. Besides, how many poor street slobs can
>      afford the cyber need for Simsense. I dunno, not many in this
>      Sprawl. As such, drugs are the only other option.]<<<<<
>					-One Eyed Jack(10:01:59/4-6-92)

>>>>[ BZZZZT!  Sorry! Than kyou for playing! :)  You *don't* need
     cyberwear (chip/datjack) to experience the fun and frolic of
     BTLs.  There are such things as "'trodes" which are hightech
     thingamawhatzits that you put on (like a headband) and you can
     receive SimSense(tm) impressions.  Unlike a datajack, the info
     ain't 2-way (ie you can't run a deck off cybernetic command with
     a 'trode, but you could "see" the Matrix - you'd be a "turtle" 
     though.  Cyberwear is for the rich and corporate, SimSense(tm)
     is for the comman man! ]<<<<<
                                    - WildCard !! (**:**.**/*-*-**)
From: n9046319@henson.cc.wwu.edu (Jeremy Corley)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Why do people like D+D/AD+D
Date: 10 Apr 92 05:03:48 GMT
Article-I.D.: henson.1992Apr10.050348.18674
Organization: Western Washington University


	I like AD&D specifically because it is vague.  Some people like the
"skill" based systems because they have "strait forward" rules for everything.
This is not what I want.  Too often have I seen these abused.  These games can
quickly turn into rules fights.  AD&D is much more fluid because the DM usually
makes alot of his own rules (admittedly creating the problems of overbearing
DMs).  The fact is people will use what they like.  I use AD&D because it is
quick and I like to role-play not play with charts all day (and I _am_ a
mathematician ;) ).

--------------------------------------------------------------------
"Senator Kennedy, What are you going to do about the abortion bill?"
"Pay it, I guess."
				J. Corley
			n9046319@henson.cc.wwu.edu
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: akuma@netcom.com (Steven E Barnes)
Subject: Re: HERO New Magic System advice wanted
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 92 07:54:23 GMT
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest) 
Keywords: Hero

>A couple of friends and I were discussing ways to have a workable 
>magic system in Hero that makes the wizards really useful without 
>making them too powerful (at least at first). 
>
>What we've come up with is essentially the following. 

>In order to use magic, you must have a VPP with the advantages 0 phase to 
>change (+1) and doesn't require skill roll (+1), but with the limitations
>that each power must have Gestures, Incantations, and Requires Magic Skill 
>roll (-1).

>Characters must also have an endurance reserve to power all the 
>spells they cast, and the recover _must_ be bought down on the time chart
>(minimum 5 min).

>Characters are only able to cast spells in areas they know. Thus all 
>characters must have Magic Skill plus knowledge skills in various types 
>of magic. 
[...]

This is similar to a system I used.  I would have the mage buy a spell
pool, but rather than use standard VPP mechanics, characters would
apply limitations to their pool which would multiply the effectiveness
of the pool.  Example:

    casting a spell with: gestures (1/4), incantations (1/4), 
    skill roll (1/2), focus (1/2), concentration (1/2) = +2 lim.
    when applied to a 20 point pool, it would allow casting 60
    active point spells.

The skill roll limitation was required; foci limitations required a 
special enchanted focus which would give a foci limitation for the purpose
of spell casting (the more powerfull the item, the higher the limitation
value).  Basically, the limitations that could be applied were the
ones from the "variable limitation" list.

I used something like a END reserve with a slow recharge.  In addition,
reduced END was disallowed.  Instead, mages would apply "increased
duration" advantages, which were a +1/4 per level on the time chart.
The hitch was that you didn't get the END back until the spell ceased
operating (to prevent people from casting long duration spells on every
character in the party).

Rather than try and fit a bunch of spells into a VPP, characters
would use the spell pool at full power each phase, and cast spells
with increased duration.

Another trick was to pre-cast spells (using the "delayed effect" 
advantage), spending extra time, and applying the concentration
limitations in order to get extra power (brave characters could
also apply side-effects).  You didn't want too many of these, since
it would use up all your END, thus limiting your flexibility.

Obviously, there is the potential for abuse here; I kept things
under control by limiting the size of the pool, and how high
a magic skill the character could have.

Oh yeah- I think I fudged the costs of various defensive spells
to keep mages from being invulnerable.  Force fields also did not
add to armor (like in old Fantasy Hero).

-steve

Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: pmwg1641@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Peter M. White)
Subject: Re: The Undead and level loss
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1992 13:20:39 GMT

MHART00@ricevm1.rice.edu (mason hart) writes:

>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.

I would suggest awarding double or triple experience in following adventures,
until the loss is made up.  You could even do this for the experience
difference that is not made up by restoration.  This preserves the horrifying
short term effect, while not hurting their status in the long haul.

p-white@uiuc.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: betel@camelot.bradley.edu (Robert Crawford)
Subject: Re: STEVE JACKSON NOT GONE!!!!
Organization: Bradley University
Date:  9 Apr 92 22:06:25 GMT

loydb@fnordbox.UUCP (Loyd Blankenship) writes:
>IO92668@MAINE.MAINE.EDU writes:
>>I don't know where this all started.  SJG is alive and well.  They just
>>signed on Ral Partha to cast minitures for them for Gurps, Car Wars
>>and others.
>Partha isn't casting for GURPS (yet). They're casting for Ogre, Car Wars,
>and our new miniature system (Christmas release '92) Hot Lead.

	What kind of miniatures system is Hot Lead going to be? Any
specific genre, or a general system? Any chance of there being a
tie-in with the GURPS system?
	I've been looking for something that would let me tie large
scale battles with a GURPS campaign... and would buy SJG's product for
that in a minute.

>>Besides, Partha hates TSR.  As a matter of fact, most casters hate TSR.
>>Thats why they had to start producing their own figs.
>Where'd you hear this? I talk to Chuck Craine (President) and Richard Kerr
>(Head of Sculpting) regularly about all manner of things, and they've
>*never* indicated anything like this.

	Years ago, after TSR first released its figures, I was at a
con in Cincinnati, home of Ral Partha. I saw some people looking of
the TSR figure of what I believe is/was called a roper. One of them
commented that the tentacles looked like flash, looked at it a little
closer, and then said "It is flash!"
	There _were_ Ral Partha people there that day, doesn't mean it
was them.

	Personally, I think Partha produces the best fantasy
miniatures around. Good details, and not too fine to paint.


--
"Oh, I'm not sorry for that one!  That felt wonderful!"
        --- Tom Servo on sound of decompression
"Cough, cough.  I shouldn't do that in a pressure suit!"
        --- Crow

Robert Crawford				betel@camelot.bradley.edu
From: markk@sagredo.West.Sun.COM (Mark Kampe)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: DMing Question: Player/Character IQ differences
Date: 17 Apr 92 17:34:24 GMT
Organization: SunSoft South
NNTP-Posting-Host: sagredo.west.sun.com

I claim the GM errored in getting into this situation.  You should not create
a problem that has only one solution unless the solution is guaranteed to be
achievable by the players.  I often pose riddles to help/tease players.  If
they solve the riddle, the result will help them.  If they do not, there will 
be other opportunites ... but perhaps even more challenging.

Intelligence rolls are things for characters to make to see whether or not
the needed information is within the character's knowledge.  They pose no
challenge to the players (other than the frustration of missing a roll).
This is a fairly random element and should not decide important things.
Adding luck or other fudges just compounds the randomness.  Critical 
factors should not be random.

The purpose of a riddle is to challenge one's mind.  If you can roll for the
solution, then there is no challenge and the riddle serves no purpose other
than window dressing.  You might as well just say "the gate keeper poses a
challenge but you pass it after a little effort".  Where is the player 
involvement?

Pose your riddle, but demand that the PLAYERS solve it.  If they cannot solve
it, let there be other paths to their goal ... but it would be so much easier
if they solved the riddle.  This approach can be used for riddles that directly
reveal needed information.  It can also be used for challenge riddles.  If
they fail the riddle, they have to look for a back door.

On the other hand, I strongly encourage players to discuss the riddle
among themselves, to go to libraries and to lose sleep.  These activities may
have no counterparts in character-space ... but the real goal is to create
challenging fun in player-space.  If the players are doing research and losing
sleep over a character-space problem, that goal has been achieved, and what
started out as fantasy has become reality.  This is where role playing comes
from.  The rest is all dross.


If you let people roll for a crucial riddle, why don't you just let them make
intelligence, dex and combat rolls to see if they are successful in the
campaign.  Then you can roll for who gets killed and who gets what treasure
and you can save everyone months of work. :-)
From: rhr9081@hertz.njit.edu (Ray Rich)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: AD&D Char Death < GURPS Char Death
Date: 7 Apr 92 21:16:58 GMT
Article-I.D.: njitgw.1992Apr7.211658.25817
Organization: New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, N.J.

In article <1992Apr5.201543.25456@ncar.ucar.edu> urban@stout.atd.ucar.edu (Art Urban (PROFS)) writes:
>I would like to hear comments on the following view point; mine, in fact.
>
>Losing a GURPS character due to death is harder than losing an AD&D character
>due to death, because it takes so long to create a GURPS character. 
>
>This statement is not intendend to start a flame war (although it probably
>will...). I have played, for years, both systems, and losing my AD&D characters
>was much easier than GURPS. I spend perhaps 30 minutes making a GURPS
>character (using software!), whereas when I played AD&D, it took about
>five minutes. The ability to quickly put together a new PC, made the 
>attachment to the character less bonding; it was less of a waste of time.
>
>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?
>
	I definitely agree that the Gurps character would be rougher to lose,
but the time factor isn't so much the problem.  Gurps, with advantages and
quirks and such almost forces you to create a 3-dimensional role-playing
personality in the generation process.  With AD&D, you can say "I'm a
fighter" and decide on Joe Warrior's outlook on life later on or not at all.
					IMHO dammit!,
						Raythrax
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: brunner@kazoo.ssd.loral.com (Brian Brunner)
Subject: Re: Ad&d humanoid shamans (hit dice)
Reply-To: brunner@kazoo.ssd.loral.com (Brian Brunner)
Organization: Space Systems/Loral
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1992 00:54:48 GMT

We could look at the religion of these guys...
Gnolls worship Yee-know-who, what does he expect of
his clerics? If it is to keep the followers in line, (Clerics of
Gruumsh) he'd get his Cleric level in d10's from me.
Gnoll Clerics might seek to be emaciated, almost skeletal, to look
like their diety, and have 2hd on d6... but some other benefit given
like Detect Lie or Detect Good or Bestow Curse or an imp familiar
(Burn that rulebook, THEN flame about priests not having familiars)
Ogre/troll shamen/Witchdoctors of Vaprak should have 4+1/6+6
hit dice plus 1 gift/level or one nasty gift at high level like "sharpness"
or "wounding" claw attacks. Pick what fits your campaign.

--
HELP!! Somebody slapped a "stop payment" on my sanity check!!
brunner@kazoo.ssd.loral.com; Space Systems/Loral; Palo Alto, Calif.
Black Holes... the /dev/null of the Universe; the opinion of 65534.
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: thornt_g@cs.uwa.oz.au (Sebastian Nobwit DeLaBler)
Subject: Inspired character names
Organization: Dept. Computer Science, University of Western Australia.
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1992 07:17:00 GMT

Oh yeah, I just remembered the name of my shadowrunner:

Punkthunker
From: ratinox@meceng.coe.northeastern.edu (Richard Pieri/Stainless Steel Rat)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: CHAMPS: question on turn sequencing
Date: 17 Apr 92 18:13:12 GMT
Article-I.D.: splinter.RATINOX.92Apr17141312
	<RATINOX.92Apr17104514@splinter.coe.northeastern.edu>
	<smvu5INNd8q@conquest.ksu.ksu.edu>
Reply-To: ratinox@meceng.coe.northeastern.edu
Organization: 3WA, Boston Office. Or Nu Meta Chi. Take your pick.
In-reply-to: khise@conquest.ksu.ksu.edu's message of 17 Apr 92 16:55:33 GMT
X-Signature-Virus-Protection: Version 1.51
X-Quote: "I'm making this up as I go along." -- I. Jones
X-Posting-Software: GNUS 3.14.1 [ NNTP-based News Reader for GNU Emacs ]

>>>>> On 17 Apr 92 16:55:33 GMT, khise@conquest.ksu.ksu.edu (Martin Andrew Shobe) said:

khise> In article <RATINOX.92Apr17104514@splinter.coe.northeastern.edu>, ratinox@meceng.coe.northeastern.edu (Richard Pieri/Stainless Steel Rat) writes:
>>>>>> On 17 Apr 92 13:30:30 GMT, sasso@flounder.phy.anl.gov (John F. Sasso) said:

>>Under 3rd edition, this is true. Under 4th edition, you keep your combat
>>maneuver bonuses/penalties until you get to take your next action, not when
>>your next action phase comes up.
>
>sasso> Can someone give me a page quote on this one?
>sasso> I've yet to find the rule in Champs4.
>
>HERO System Rulesbook, page 152, section: Combat Maneuvers:
>
>``Combat maneuvers can modify the character's OCV, DCV, damage done, or
>other qualities. Any modifiers from the maneuver are in effect when the
>character performs the maneuver until the beginning of the character's next
>Phase.''

khise> Your next phase is the one you aborted.  Which is not when you get
khise> to take your next action.

Please read my following comment:

>In 4th edition, whenever a character's Segment comes up (the Segments that
>his SPD says he can act), ``he may execute a Phase (perform an action).''
>(pg. 139, Phase). Holding your action counts as executing your Phase for
>the purposes of combat maneuver modifiers and skill levels.

``Executing your Phase'' occours whenever you get to take an action, be it
normally or one you've aborted to.

--Rat
--
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Newsgroups: rec.games.frp