HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: bkoike@sdcc13.ucsd.edu (Bryce Koike)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: GURPS: Knockback
Date: 15 Sep 92 04:18:05 GMT
Organization: University of California, San Diego

In article <3610@bcstec.ca.boeing.com> hall@bcstec.ca.boeing.com (Robert J. Hall) writes:
>
><u894793@bruny.cc.utas.edu.au> writes:
> > In my last gaming session, I was involved in a high-tech gunfight, and
> > the question came up of how much knockback a laser gun should do.  I voted
> > 'practically none', since the momentum of a laser shot is practically zero.

	Well, the problem is that GURPS isn't crazy enough to
provide knockback rules for every different type of weapons, etc,
and so the existing ones fail in certain situations.  [Ditto the
above for flamethrowers, say, or radiation damage...]
	
>I wonder about this. The laser is going to vaporize a portion of the target,
>producing a gaseous eruption in the direction of the original weapon. This
>eruption should produce some sort of knockback effect, even if it is only a
>small amount. AN ultraviolet laser could even produce a significant amount of
>knockback, depending on the amount of energy involved.
>-- 
> Bob Hall,                 | "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
> Workstation Peripheral    | Then give up. No use being a damn fool about it."
> Boeing Computer Services  |                                     -Groucho Marx

	I'd vote that unless the laser was incredibly powerful,
knockBACK won't have enough of an effect.  A powerful laser hit
could very well knock someone DOWN, though, and the existing rules
work fine for that, I believe.
	[or you can just ignore both...my gamers haven't complained
as of yet...or maybe they just haven't read that section!]
	Same question applies for modern-day weapons.  Should an
AK-47 really be allowed to throw someone back YARDS?  Not really,
unless you're playing mega-cinematic games, but GURPS says,
"Sure...whammo...Buck is tossed into the wall across the room."  I
think that most players and GM's are intelligent enough to figure
that this is unrealistic, though.
From: jacobus@symphony.cc.purdue.edu (Bryan J. Maloney)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: GURPS character questions
Date: 5 Sep 92 15:25:29 GMT
Organization: Purdue University

In article <1992Sep1.161230.58558@cc.usu.edu> sl9b4@cc.usu.edu (Deep Six) writes:
>First, in your campaign, how many points and how much starting money 
>do your players get to build characters? How many characters do the
>players have? Please mention the type of campaign/setting when you 
>answer.


They get 100 points plus up to forty in disadvantages (or one biggie, like 
"Blind") and up to five quirks (which can be filled in during play).  My
campaign is a fantasy setting with technology close to what can be found
in Earth's decade around 1380, Germany.  (Handgonnes, Water Wheels, Horse
Collars, etc.)



>Second, how much experience do you award? Do you award individual 
>experience to players/characters who play well or do something out-
>standing? What do you award experience for? What things do you look 
>for when deciding how much experience you will give?


I tend to award between 1.5 and 3 points per session, although the
distribution is skewed strongly towards 1.5 points.  I tend to give
some extras to unusually good ideas.  I tend to give large extras for
very good roleplaying, especially if it digs the character into an
entertaining hole.  Mostly, I tend to award experience on a relatively 
even scale, so most characters, over time get about the same amounts.


>Finally, when do you give experience? Let's say you begin a sceanrio --
>the players leave on a trip, go into a battle or embark to solve some
>problem. You get half way through the event and the game ends for the
>evening. Do you award experience? Must the characters seek training to
>use their experience points? If you do award experience ``mid-adventure,''
>do you put limits on how the characters can use their points? Limits
>such as they are only able to improve skills they have used during that
>session/game? 


I award experience at the end of every session.  I have some "limits", but
they're more on the order of A)New skills require training.  B)You need
some time to digest what you learn (a day or so, at least).  C)I look at
any experience use anyway.  Also, in my campaign, awarded experience can
only go to skills, attributes and Combat Reflexes.  (Magic counts as
a skill cluster.)  Any purchasing of other Advantages or getting rid of
disadvantages is handled through play.
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: wildcard@nevada.edu ( WildCard !!)
Subject: Re:  Matriarchal Socieites
Organization: Shadowland BBS, InfoDivision
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1992 17:08:47 GMT

In article <BuB5uw.HAq@acsu.buffalo.edu> v054nn84@ubvmsd.cc.buffalo.edu (Foto...Taking pictures again, and Happy for it!) writes:
>I cannot state categorically that there are any matriarchal socieites in
>existance today (despite my housemate leaning over and telling me repeatedly
>about some Arab tribe).

Somehow, I truly doubt your housemate's claim. Mind you I don't have proof
so no flames. It just seems to me that a highly fervent Muslim society
(to my knowledge, most Arabs are Muslim) would not take kindly to having
women in a position of rulership. Fer cryin' out loud, they keep their women
from showing their faces in public!  Not that I doubt your housemate's
conviction, nor am I saying that I *know* any more than your housemate about
the matter. It's just that common sense would dictate...

                                        - WildCard !!


+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+"This is typical retrograde, low-tech, Chevy Impala-type thinking. We non-   +
+ linear, postindustrial children of the Information Age, however, know that  +
+ the important thing is the Big Picture."  - Cecil Adams, _the_Straight_Dope_+
+ ---------------     wildcard@redrock.nevada.edu     ------------------------+
From: wachter@klaava.Helsinki.FI (Markku Kristian Wachter)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: BTech Conversion for MS-DOS Beta ready
Date: 10 Sep 92 15:13:32 GMT
Organization: University of Helsinki

In <BuD4rw.Fn4@news.cso.uiuc.edu> dv52151@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Axly) writes:

>Okay, how do you run it once you get it home?

	U don't... Seems to me that it's corrupted as well... :-(
        Or then there's something wrong with my ARJ.

-- 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Army, n. A class of non-producers who defend   | Markku Kristian Wachter
	the nation by devouring everything     | wachter@cc.helsinki.fi
	likely to tempt an enemy to invade.    | Kind of optimist.
From: dzik@access.digex.com (Joseph Dzikiewicz)
Subject: Re: GURPS: Knockback
Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1992 15:25:14 GMT

In article <u894793.716026298@bruny> u894793@bruny.cc.utas.edu.au (Timothy D Little) writes:
>
>It seemed strange that a gun that exerts no force on the firer's hand should
>knock the target 15 yards down a corridor.  Where is the 'equal and opposite
>reaction'?  In the case of weapons producing 'surface explosion', I can
>understand it, but otherwise the knockback should be proportional to the
>recoil force rather than the damage.

But guns have mechanisms for reducing recoil, including venting to 
allow gases to escape.  This would reduce recoil without reducing
knockback.

>
>This is not limited to high-tech weapons, a sword swing should have a much
>higher 'knockback' for a given amount of damage, than a (cross)bow.
>

For kinetic attacks, basic GURPs damage is a measure of force of blow.  
Therefore, knockback should be a matter of basic damage, and the sword
swing should have the same knockback.  Effect of force is handled
through differences in crushing/impaling/cutting damage.

Joe Dzikiewicz
From: pkontkanen@cc.helsinki.fi
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: <None>
Date: 4 Sep 92 20:52:53 GMT
Organization: University of Helsinki

Does anybody know of any MSDOS GM:ing aids for GURPS? If there are any, please 
tell me where to find them. Thanks in advance.
From: Nick_Janow@mindlink.bc.ca (Nick Janow)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: Let's talk REAL sci-Fi systems
Date: 11 Sep 92 20:13:23 GMT
Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada
Distribution: world

v057qkmm@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (BABBLING SAGE) writes:

>+ What if you don't want psi powers to exist at all in your campaign universe?
>+ Good thing there are other game systems to choose from...
> 
> Simple. Exclude Latent Extraction and remove three races from play.
> Admittedly this would dent the number of races available, but it would be a
> simple matter to add your own race. And of course since by excluding psi from
> the game you'd be changing the background anyhow (most GMs alter the
> background of ANY game to fit you needs) you could add races to your heart's
> content and have no problems.

Ah, so the psionics in Battlelords is very shallow?  It is (I assume from your
postings) relatively powerful, yet has no effect on politics, economics,
science, culture, crime, etc?  If we had proven telepaths here today, they
would likely have major effects on politics, legal proceedings, investment and
R&D, etc.  Is the background for Battlelords so shallow (and thus requiring
much effort from the GM) that psionics can be dropped that easily?

--

Nick_Janow@mindlink.bc.ca
From: swann@acsu.buffalo.edu (Stephen Swann)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: Repartee in Gaming
Date: 13 Sep 92 00:00:12 GMT
Organization: UB

In article <BuBxuF.B4A@acsu.buffalo.edu> v054nn84@ubvmsd.cc.buffalo.edu (Foto...Taking pictures again, and Happy for it!) writes:
>*but* I made one small mistake.  I neglected to define exactly what I refer to
>as repartee in gaming.  For the record, my players have no difficulties in
>engaging in conversation between themselves or with the various NPCs they
>encounter.  What I am seeking to promote is my players engaging in the classic
>'conversation' between themselves such as we saw in Star Wars...
>
>Luke - They're gonna kill her!
>Han  - Better her than me!
>Luke - She's beautiful...
>Han  - So's life.
>Luke - She's rich....

My players got in a "debate" over the love interest of one of the
characters (the player in question had decided that his character had
fallen in love with a vampire woman), and the entire group got in on
it, all of them arguing "in character".  It got so heated that there
was almost bloodletting at the game level; and at the "real world"
level, the players ended up having to apologize to each other the 
next day.

Makes a GM just feel all warm inside.  ;-)

-- 
Steve Swann                 |    Speak to me in many voices; make
swann@acsu.buffalo.edu      |      them all sound like one...  -BOC
From: brian@zooid.guild.org (Brian Misiaszek)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: RPG Fiction
Date:  6 Sep 92 20:18:12 GMT

>(here Jon adds his comments, indicating they are to be considered flames>
>>
>>In general, the writing style is juvenile, the plot derivative, the setting
>>predictable, the characterization cardboard, the dialogue painfully inane, and
>>the overall quality abysmal.  The cover art is usually rather nice.
>>
>I have read some RPG associated fiction.  I have read the Dragonlance 
>Chronicles & the second series, the one about time traveling & the 
>Abyss &c.  I have tried to read the Salvatore Dark Elf series, but
>could not.  I also tried to read the "Avatar" series (after playing
>Anyhow, I think that the only good RPG fiction is that 
>which is published by non game companies, and therefore has to stand
>on its own merits as fiction.  I liked Feist's first Magician novel
>ok, though I don't think it was one of my favorites.  I also liked
>the Paksennarion series by Elizabeth Moon, which is also rpg based.
>Neither were published by TSR or any game company.
>-dana
>
 
  I don't think that TSR and other game companies so much publish rpg books,
as they license them to publishing companies (such as TOR, etc.).
 
  Regardless, from my few aborted attempts to read such book, I have also
found them universally bad.  I suppose one could view the rpg-based novels as
a cheap source book for a campaign world, but one would have to suspend their
critical faculties while reading them (I know I can't.  I tried reading the
first Dragonlance series novel, and fifty pages into it, I hurled it away in
disgust).
 
  I think you are correct that game inspired novels, (as opposed to game
adhered novels where you can hear the dice bounce) are generally more
successful as books.  Besides your examples, I can think of the "Wild Cards"
series edited by George R.R. Martin which was based somewhat on his Champion's
campaign (and has since gone full circle, inspiring the Gurp's superhero
supplement of the same name).


::Brian::
From: v054nn84@ubvmsd.cc.buffalo.edu (Foto...Taking pictures again, and Happy for it!)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Improv vs Prep
Date: 10 Sep 92 10:46:00 GMT
Organization: University at Buffalo
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

chris,

   This is going to be one of those posts...I can already feel it...my space
bar works...someof the time...as does my shift key...makes for funny looking
posts.  makes for stupid looking posts too (except editorial content I am in
charge of making it look that way).

    What about the one poster who stated that he/she had everything plotted and
implied that if he/she had not had it plotted it was of no importance?  There
was a poster who stated out right that unless his/her players couldn't come up
with anything significant that was not plotted because this ref would not let
them?  Now there are twoexamples of these overzealous posts I have been
reacting to that suddenly people claim they don't remember.  Now then, you may
have been in on this thing from the begining, but I wasn't and when I got into
this the thread certainly seemed to have degenerated into pointless bickering
over whether improvisational refs or prep refs could pull it off, somewhat
similar to those interminable ads for lite beer.  Why wasn't I in on this from
the begining?  Because it took me a week to get the net access from a differant
location than the one I had previously and I missed the start of the debate. 
Also, my posts ARE going to look a little funny until I get the hang of the
editor.  So sue me, I am not a NET wizard.  I am also getting a bit ticked off
at the attitude that some people are displaying of, this is our conversation
take a hike.  If it is a private conversation why is it on the NET?
From: maxxon@swob.nullnet.fi (Mikko Kurki-Suonio)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: GURPS Combat - Step & Wait vs. All Out Attack
Date: Sun, 13 Sep 92 16:17:47 EDZ
Distribution: world
Organization: Sweet Oblivion

MRM122@psuvm.psu.edu writes:

> OK, the flaw here is the the combatant who did step and wait did TWO manuever
> in one round:  Step & Wait, which turned into Step & Attack (essentially), an
> THEN did All Out Attack.  
> This is not legal- he already did his action for th
> round.  He could do an All Out Attack in the subsequent round, but then the
> other combatant could have a defense depending on his action of choice, as lo
> as he wasn't All Out Attacking or just running, he could defend.  

Sorry, but you're wrong.

Let's take an example by the numbers:

A chooses wait (his round 1)
B chooses all-out attack - (HIS round 1) He has NO active defense until
  HIS round 2.
A gets his free, out-of-sequence attack against B (still A's round 1)

A does all-out attack against B (A's round 2) B still does not get active 
  defense.
B does whatever he likes. Now the active defense limit no longer
  applies to him.

> I think the
> first combatant was taking advantage of lack of full understanding.  I hope
> this helps.

I think what you're missing is that in GURPS turn numbers are relative
(for lack of a better term). Your turn starts when you decide your action
and ENDS when you decide your NEXT action. This also means that A's and
B's relative move scores bear no relevance to the case. When you do
an all-out attack, _everyone_ gets to do something while you have no active
defenses. Then again, wait lets you attack _out_of_normal_sequence_.

Look at it this way: Suppose A and B started at melee distance. Instead
of waiting, A does attack, B responds with all-out attack, A attacks
again vs. no active defense. Wait just moves A's first attack after B's,
when the hapless soul is without active defenses. It does not rearrange
the whole turn sequence.

If the game played your way, why would anyone choose wait if they could
close in and attack? When waiting, you must roll a quick contest of
weapon skills to attack first (same reach) and thus risk losing the
contest. 

I hope I made myself understood. If you still think you have it right,
would you care to explain it step-by-step?


--------
maxxon@swob.nullnet.fi (Mikko Kurki-Suonio)
Sweet Oblivion (+358 0 8092678, V.32bis 8N1) Official SRP Headquarters


Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: lib1p@rosie.uh.edu (Tammy Stark Blandino)
Subject: Re: Matriarchal Societies...Fact or Fiction
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Organization: University of Houston
Date: Sat, 12 Sep 1992 20:27:00 GMT

In article <Bu99tL.5zx@acsu.buffalo.edu>, v054nn84@ubvmsd.cc.buffalo.edu (Foto...Taking pictures again, and Happy for it!) writes...
>I am not going to debate the value of Matriarchal socieites despite current
>growing trends to claim that they did exists and were without exception
>veritable golden eras while patriarchal societies are hell on earth...all Iwant
..stuff deleted...
>It is ironic, people accept the existance of Atlantis on an off handed remark
>by one philosopher but they seem to run in fear of the idea that
>men were not always in charge????


here,here.....I must concur.

How much do people take for granted as true without really
thinking about it, yet run in fear of anything that smacks of
matriarchal or matrilineal?

Tammy
From: mmoss@csws11.ic.sunysb.edu (Matthew D Moss)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: RM: How about this spell?
Keywords: Chaotic Lord, RMCIII
Date: 7 Sep 92 18:27:39 GMT
Organization: State University of New York at Stony Brook
Originator: mmoss@csws11.ic.sunysb.edu


Ok, I was helping someone generate a Chaotic Lord character
yesterday, and we went and got him his first Chaotic armor.

After glancing at the spell again, I realized: nowhere does
it say that this spell only works on the caster. In fact, the
range is 10 feet.

This being a first level spell (at least for type I demons) 
seems pretty deadly to lower level adversaries. Of course, the
Chaotic Lord and anyone else nearby then has to deal with the
demon, but OUCH to the person who is a target of this spell.

Any comments?

-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Matthew David Moss				mmoss@ic.sunysb.edu
	"Chaos is fun. Order is for those       mmoss@ccmail.sunysb.edu
         don't know where there things are."
From: z_copeab@ccsvax.sfasu.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: GURPS: Paired Weapons?
Date: 13 Sep 92 16:34:55 CST
Organization: Stephen F. Austin State University

In article <sqbqbjhs@cck.coventry.ac.uk>, gdg019@cch.coventry.ac.uk (Ridley McIntyre) writes:
> Does anyone know any workable rules for Paired Weapons in GURPS, such as
> a Samurai using a Katana and a Wakizashi? What happens when you use both
> for an all-out attack?
> 

	This is from memory, and comes from Swashbucklers and Fantasy (which
came from Swashbucklers and Martial Arts...maybe), and the Basic Set:

	A character may wield two weapons at the same time. Parry with the
off-hand weapon is -4 *after* all other modifiers.
	The character may attack once with each weapon, and it is not
considered an all-out attack. The weapon in the 'on' hand is at -4 to-hit, and
the weapon in the 'off' hand is -8 to-hit.
	A character may buy off the off-hand penalty (-4), at a cost of 2
character points per -1 removed. However, the character must choose a specific
weapon (shortsword, bastardsword, large knife, etc.). Any training with one
weapon does not transfer to another one with regards to lessening the penalty.
	Also, note that you loose the 2/3 skill parry with the katana if it is
used one-handed (see Martial Arts, or Roleplayer 22).
	If an all-out attack is made, the character gains only *one* additional
attack.

Brandon Cope
From: badorion@watyew.uwaterloo.ca (Brian A. Dorion)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: Sci-Fi Suggestions
Keywords: battlelords
Date: 10 Sep 92 16:47:58 GMT
Organization: University of Waterloo

In article <BuBGww.Mr0@acsu.buffalo.edu> v054p8yx@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (Daniel J Kowalski) writes:
>only ben and one or two other people, who as i recall seem to have similar 
>connections to the game, ever mention it. has anyone else out there played it?
>or know someone who has? or read it, or looked it over, or saw someone with it,
>or heard of someone who knows someone who thought they heard of someone who's
>seen it? 
>
>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!!!
>
>	thank you for at least reading this because from what i've seen noone
>		will respond!
>				dan
>
Well all I can say is that I looked through a copy of this game 4-6 months
ago for a half an hour at my local store.  Didn't see anything interesting 
to me in it.  Things that interest me in a game are elegant mechanics,
well thought out history and background, interesting adventure potentials.

In general a feeling of life to a game.  I didn't notice any of that in
Battlelords.  But hey... I don't have much interest in D&D either. 

Brian Dorion
From: v054nn84@ubvmsd.cc.buffalo.edu (Foto...Taking pictures again, and Happy for it!)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: RE:  Improvisation
Date: 6 Sep 92 22:57:00 GMT
Organization: University at Buffalo
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

If I wanted to write everything down, I would park my brains in neutral and go
buy a module!  Not even the BEST module covers everything, yet that is just
what some of the posters here are priding themselves on "I thought of
EVERYTHING!"  Oh yeah, what about the breakfast menu at the Slurp n Burp
Canteen on I-90 6 miles from the city lines?  What about the colour of the
socks of the gas station attendant at the Mobil station at the corners of
Lexington and Utica?  Come on folks, the arrogance scales are really begining
to climb off the end of the scale here!

Skeksis - Let me get this straight.  I'm driving a 91 Geo and he's driving a 93
Vette and you want me to drag?  What are you, some kind of optimist?
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: dv52151@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Axly)
Subject: Re: Looking for "women's" rpg.
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1992 20:29:46 GMT

jacobus@symphony.cc.purdue.edu (Bryan J. Maloney) writes:

>More repartee--not just interaction, but witty interaction.  Repartee is
>often the verbal equivalent of combat, and it can be every bit as dramatic,
>especially if the PCs want to avoid combat at any costs.

I can't agree more. On a similar note, I think one of the reasons 
Dave Edding's fantasy novels are so popular are because of the witty
repartee between the characters. Trying to bring this into your games
can be difficult but rewarding if your gamers are up to it. (Having 
them read Falstaff's lines in any of the plays he's in is a good starting
point.)

Axly