HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: imeslsl@Msu.oscs.montana.edu (LEPRICAN~~~)
Subject: Re: Cthulhu: Help Needed
Reply-To: imeslsl@Msu.oscs.montana.edu (LEPRICAN~~~)
Organization: Montana State University
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 21:22:12 GMT

>"What do I get in the 5th ed boxed set"
>"What other materials are necessary/ essential" etc.
>
>Thanks in advance,
>
>Murray.
>Dunedin,
>New Zealand.
>
>traue@otago.ac.nz
>
>P.S Anyone know the address/status of the C.o.C mailing list? The
>address in the FAQ is no longer correct.

I see:"Cthulhu: need help"  and I think, "That goes without saying."
But then again, that's from the point of view of a character..
 he he
As far as I know, there is no Boxed set, just a big thick book.
That and some 10 sided dice are all you need.  (well, paper, writing
utencils, etc...)
Actually, handy things are: a local photocopy store, lots of free time,
a few good tabloids, and a vivid immagination.  These are all usually
assumed.  (The tabloids are just good examples for plot background.)

What you get:  Rules, monster stats, npc stats, character sheets,
limited time-frame-change rules (i.e. Cthulhu 90's), lots of various
little info tidbits, several good scenarios, and some optional rules/
settings.  Basically, a compillation of most of the previous rules
and settings.
If you like some of the other things like the 90's rules, there are
suppliments which flesh out the time better.  Lots of scenarios are 
availiable, and hopfully more is on the way.

Remember, the most experienced characters are the ones with the highest
movement rates.
{-;
	Leprican~~~
From: dunkelza@titan.ucc.umass.edu (KEITH C MCCORMIC)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: Fantasy Tools
Date: 17 Dec 92 23:07:55 GMT
Organization: University of Massachusetts, Amherst

In article <bugs006.724568569@bugs> bugs006@bugs.mty.itesm.mx (Maurice S. Villareal) writes:
>
>                I just develope a program called Fantasy Tools
>
>        Version 2.0, this program was made for the AD&D Dumgeon
>
>        Master, the program runs in Microsoft Windows 3.1 or 
>
>        greater in Standar or Enhanced Mode, The Fantasy Tools
>

    Why doesn't anybody make any good DOS stuff anymore?  I can't run
windows because I have a 40 meg HD and a 286 processor.  I think I've found 
all the DOS ones, but none of them are really any good.  Could someone give
me an ftp site with GOOD mouse based DOS stuff?

Thanks.

Dunkelzahn

P.S.- I have Roller, REACT, ACG, and the other ones from Potemkin and Caltech.



-- 
_____________________________________________________________________________
| Dunkelzahn the Greater Western Dragon | "Eternal vigilance is the price   |
| Dunkelza@titan.ucc.umass.edu          |  of Freedom"                      |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: valentin@husc10.harvard.edu (Brian Valentine)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: SRII Insect Shamans
Date: 17 Dec 92 20:06:56 GMT
Article-I.D.: husc10.valentin.724622816

flindholm@mta.ca writes:
>  On the other hand, these are all hive spirits. I have no idea how things
>work for solitary hunting insects like Mantis and Spider.

>        Cyrus

 See the new Grimoire.  It contains a few more pages of details on Insect
Shamans and Spirits thant the original did.  Still not much info. on 
spider shamans (eclipse), but I assume they work like Mantid Shamans. (cool)
The other example they provide lots of detail on are roach spirits/shamans.

-Brian Valentine
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: cloos@theory.TC.Cornell.EDU (James H. Cloos Jr.)
Subject: Re: GURPS 1/8 and 1/4 Points, & high defaults
Organization: Cornell Information Technologies, Ithaca, NY 14853
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 10:49:13 GMT

>>>>> "David" == David Ripton <dripton@csugrad.cs.vt.edu> writes:

David> Does anybody out there have a solution to the abuse of running
David> skill, other than banning it or charging an Unusual Background?
David> The basic problem, as I see it, is that Running-8 (more or
David> less, depending on the fractional part of your basic speed)
David> gets you +1 to Move, while c. Running-16 gets you +2. The net
David> result is that just about everybody puts a point or two into
David> Running skill.

There was an errata in one of the Roleplayers from last year, or so,
that should be in the current BSIII errata by now.  The rule was
changed so that the speed bonus from the Running skill no longer
effects combat move.  As I understand it, starting with the second
second of running, the character can start adding both the 1 yd/s
straight-line-smooth-surface and the 1/8th-Running-Skill boni (`bonus'
*is* of latin extraction, yes?), as applicable.

-JimC
-- 
James H. Cloos, Jr.		include <std/disclaimers.h>
Cloos@Theory.TC.Cornell.EDU     include <std/qotd>
Cloos@Batcomputer.UUCP 		Phone:  +1 716 866-5249
Cloos@CrnlThry.BITNET 		Snail:  POBox 1111, Amherst, NY 14226-1111
From: adam@endor.uucp (Adam Shostack)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: SRII: Matrix rules
Date: 11 Dec 92 18:50:20 GMT
Article-I.D.: das.1992Dec11.185020.21072
Organization: Aiken Computation Lab, Harvard University

In article <valentin.724094418@husc10> valentin@husc10.harvard.edu (Brian Valentine) writes:

>Lester Ward made an interesting point.
>Are icons data?  They can travel in data flows, but I don't think they are 
>either.

*Everything* is data.  It all boils down to ones and zeros (electrical
states today, flashes of light 20 years from now, but still data).
This includes your email, the program you use to read it, and the OS
that the program runs on.  Icons are sets of data that the simsense
chips interpret in a certain way, probably due to some analogy of the
mac's Type/Creator attributes.

What would an icon be if not data?  (more on this below)

>I never thought about it before Lester brought it up, but icons are the
>virtual representations of the decker.  Is the icon a moveable I/O port?

Yes.  If you assume that the decker is an I/O port (a good
assumption, as data moves in and out), and you assume that he is an
icon, then his icon would be a moveable I/O port.  It might take quite
a bit of effort to move him, but the icon can be moved by someone with
enough control of the system.

You could also build mobile I/O ports in the system, as a defense
against deckers.

>What is an icon in matrix terminology?

I would guess that the matrix does not send around lots of 3D images.
Your deck has a simsence ship in it, and you can program that chip to
create a reality filter.  So an what you see as an icon would probably
be any collection of related data.  It could be a system, say the
Fuchi star, or a node in the system, like a san, or a Ice constuct
sitting in that san asking for ID.

It makes a good deal of sense to create icons for many system tools as
while, such as your sleaze program, or a data pipe.  Each of these is
a collection of related data, and you'll see each as an icon.

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 because of elections.  How true that is.
From: jcarl@jabba.ess.harris.com (Joe Carl Jr.)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: Shadowrun Question -- Auras and Spells
Date: 14 Dec 92 14:11:32 GMT
Organization: Harris Corporation - ISD

In <Bz8Exw.AKE@rice.edu> jimwong@owlnet.rice.edu (Jim Wong) writes:

>In article <1992Dec13.191723.18804@news2.cis.umn.edu> esper@cs35b.cs.umn.edu (Dave Sherohman) writes:
>>
>>Not by me it doesn't.  Since when do you make rolls to hit with (non-
>>manipulation) spells?  You see it, you hit it.  Cover don't help.
>>

>Wrong.  SRII explicitly states that the visibility rules for targeting
>with ranged weapons also apply to spells.  (I don't particularly like
>it, but that's what it says).


What ranges do you use?

>-- 
>Jim Wong (jimwong@owlnet.rice.edu)


--
Joe Carl Jr.               "It ain't what a man don't know that makes him a
jcarl@jabba.ess.harris.com   fool, but what he does know that ain't so."
                                                           -- Josh Billings
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: jwtlai@jeeves.uwaterloo.ca (Jim W "GrimJim" Lai)
Subject: Re: Shadowrun Mages too powerful?
Organization: University of Waterloo
Date: Sun, 20 Dec 1992 10:48:23 GMT

In article <uplink.724759011@cwis> uplink@cwis.unomaha.edu (uplink 2099) writes:
>	In the new game, using the SRII rules, [...]
>Guess which spells the Mages have?  If you guessed Increased Reaction +3,
>Increased Willpower +4, and Control Thoughts, you're right.  
>There is no way my character, or any other of the non-spellcasting
>characters, can compete.

Let's see.  That would be Increase Reflexes +3, since Increased Reaction does
not add initiative dice.  All these spells result in D drain.  The first two
spells are likely spell locked.  Of course, spell locks are valid magical
targets.  To use the Control Thoughts effectively in combat, the caster needs
backup.

Have you ever run across opposition that threw up a mana barrier at, say, Force
4, resulting in a +2 to their target numbers when casting Control Thoughts?  If
Increase Willpower +4 spells are so common, why haven't the magicians
encountered opposition that threw Decrease Strength -4 at them?  The drain is
less nasty than Control Thoughts, and is likely to knock them out (I doubt
most magicians have Strength 5 or greater... most).

Having three magicians in a well-balance campaign suggests that serious
opposition should also be magic-heavy.  Otherwise you will get this
magic-toasting-mundanes syndrome.  Yes, magicians can be godlike in combat...
right until they run up against another magician.  It's there when they earn
their pay.  Wage mages aren't dumb combat grunts; their typically above-average
Intelligence ratings mean they should be played that way.
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: warnold@gossip.urich.edu (William W. Arnold)
Subject: Re: FANTASY HERO: duration for spells
Organization: University of Richmond
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 02:46:58 GMT

In <goodin.724371060@sfu.ca> goodin@fraser.sfu.ca (Charles Frederick Goodin) writes:
>Extra Questions:   Can Missle Deflection deflect flying characters?
Only if the flying character can reasonably be considered a missle.  Usually
this requires that the flyer have shrinking or the deflector to have growth.
(our GM decided that the deflection would go against either DCV or OCV
whichever was worse for the deflector..)
(GM also said that if they KNEW you could missle deflect, and were prepared
for it,  then their OCV and DCV would ADD!!!)  (I still smashed all 3 of them
into the ground...:-)  High powered campaign, I had a missle deflect of ~25
CV :-) :-)

>		   Does a Body Aid heal damage from a Transform?
depends on special effect of Aid and Transform.  ie, does it make sense for
it to do so.

>		   If you buy a Mind Scan which only works on certain types
>of creature/person, do you count all the minds in the area being scanned or
>just the ones that the power can effect, when you are figuring out ECV mods?
I'll have to think on this one,  It's never come up in our group..

>		   And finally,(for this post anyway) are Images automatically
>Invisible (the power effects, that is)?  If not, what good are they? (eg., "I
>make an Image of a horrible monster about to attack the villain." "Villain,
>noticing the purple beams shooting from your eyes and the high-pitched buzz, 
>realizes it is an Image and proceeds to Move Through you.")
no, they're not invisible...  BUT if you're in the area of effect, you can
use the images to mask the power...  And if you're not in the area, you can
still mask any of the powers effects in that area,  ie.  the glowing beams
from your eyes only go out to the area, and are seen to form a portal,
releasing the horrible monster....

-- 
-billy-  warnold@nomad.urich.edu  has8wwa@cabell.vcu.edu
From: wah2@po.CWRU.Edu (William A. Humphrey)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: RoleMaster Companion VI - Where is it?
Date: 18 Dec 1992 14:31:23 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA)
NNTP-Posting-Host: slc12.ins.cwru.edu


Greetings and solicitaions (sic)!

   To anyone and everyone who has RMC-VI:  Where did you get it?!

   I have been to two of the best gaming shops in the PA-OH-WV tri-state
area, and neither of them even knows it's been published yet!!!

   Please e-mail or post where you live and where you got RMC-VI and
WHEN you got it.

   Thanx
-- 
					Bill
50 Years Ago Today (or thereabouts):			     7 December 1942
* The U.S. commemerates the first anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
* * * * December 7, 1992 * * * Fifty-first anniversary of Pearl Harbor * * * *
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: jjohnson@ccscola.Columbia.NCR.COM (Jeffrey H. Johnson)
Subject: Re: Anyone seen/played DarkUrthe Legends?
Organization: NCR CCSD Columbia SC
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 92 19:23:04 GMT

In article <1992Dec7.161238.13443@odin.diku.dk> torbenm@diku.dk (Torben AEgidius Mogensen) writes:
>A few months past a start-up company called Black Dragon Press
>announced a new RPG called DarkUrthe Legends. It was said to be out by
>Novemberm, so some people should have seen it in the stores by now. My
>local game shop had not even heard of the game when last I was there a
>few weeks back, but this is in Europe, so a slight delay is to be
>expected. Anyway, I thought the announcement sounded interesting, so I
>was wondering if anyone out there who have seen or even tried to play
>the game will share their opinion/impression of it?

I played with a pre-release version of DarkUrthe Legends.  My impressions
of the game system: quick random-character generation system, easy-to-use
tables and charts for determining successful actions, and a mixture
of class- and skill-based systems.  There was no elegance in the rules, or
even a whole lot of coherence.  I have been told that the newer rules
are a good bit cleaner and elegant, but I haven't seen them yet.

The strong point of this system is the world.  There is a good bit of
background on all the cultures of DarkUrthe.  The continent is small enough
to be dropped as-is into whatever game-world you use currently, or to
use as a small separate plane.  I suspect many of the sales of this book will
be to people who use their favorite rules with this background.  I myself
will fall into this category.

>
>	Torben Mogensen (torbenm@diku.dk)

Jeff
--
Jeffrey H. Johnson
jjohnson@ccscola.columbiasc.ncr.com

		"More human than human is our motto."
			-- Dr. Eldon Tyrell
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: hall@bcstec.ca.boeing.com (Robert J. Hall)
Subject: Group Split Group
Organization: Boeing
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 18:05:24 GMT

dunkelza@titan.ucc.umass.edu (KEITH C MCCORMIC) writes:
>   I figure, with all the GURPS articles that show up here, that a newsgroup:
>Rec.games.rpg.GURPS should be added.  This would cut down on traffic on Rec.
>games.frp.misc, and give GURPS players a place to discuss rules and stuff with
>other people who enjoy it, rather than them having to put up with all sorts of
>anti-GURPS comments and stuff.
>I know nobody else will like the idea, but I figure what the hell...

I think this not a viable idea. If you create a group for GURPS, you also need
a group for Shadowrun, HERO, and all the other RPG systems that enjoy heavy
traffic.

Since a group split seems to be a reoccuring theme that occupies much of the
volume in this group, I suggest we create a rec.games.frp.split group just
so everybody can discuss group splits to their heart's content.
 
-- 
 Bob Hall                   |  if [ -bs message ]; then
 Boeing Computer Services   |      mv message /compost/heap/$$
 root@chicken.ca.boeing.com |  fi
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: rudolph@Informatik.TU-Muenchen.DE (Juergen Rudolph)
Subject: Re: Gurps
Originator: rudolph@hphalle2a.informatik.tu-muenchen.de
Organization: Technische Universitaet Muenchen, Germany
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 11:32:18 GMT


> From: dunkelza@titan.ucc.umass.edu (KEITH C MCCORMIC)
> Subject: Gurps
> Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 00:14:49 GMT

> Rec.games.rpg.GURPS should be added.  This would cut down on traffic on Rec.

Great idea! I'm with you!

J"urgen
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: gal502@huxley.anu.edu.au (Graeme Lindsell)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: RQ III - Spirit Magic
Followup-To: rec.games.frp.misc
Date: 17 Dec 1992 07:43:52 GMT
Organization: Australian National University
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: 150.203.36.75

  Yet another suggested rules change for RQ! I asked a couple of people
what they thought of this idea and received one positive and one negative
response. In the grand old tradition of posting to News before youve 
thought it through, here it is:

 The current chance of success for spirit magic in RQIII is equal to POWx5
minus encumbrance. This leads to what I see as a problem: a Rune-Lord with
20 years experience casting spirit magic reduces his POW to 14 buying some
Rune Magic; a new initiate learning his first spell has a POW of 14: they
have an identical chance to cast a spell. Given that there seems to be some
effort in casting a spirit magic spell -it requires time, concentration, a
focus- why does experience have no effect?

 I propose that the POWx5 chance be replaced by a single skill, Cast Spirit
Magic, a Magic skill with a base of 30 (obviously casting spirit magic
isnt too difficult). A single skill is justified, as opposed to a skill
for each spell, if one assumes that the actions required for casting a
spirit magic spell are pretty similar no matter what spell is cast ( a
skill for each spell is also very harsh on the character). I can make this
assumption since  a) the chance of casting all spirit magic spells is
currently identical and b) I have never cast any spirit magic, and dont
know anyone who has :-).

 I consider this a superior mechanism to the current system because:

i) It uses the RQ skill system: I prefer systems that use a single
mechanism as much as possible).

ii) It allows for experience in casting spells. While one could argue that
this happens with the current POW based system, since POW increases during
play, it also drops when people buy Rune Spells, enchant items, make
fetches, fail to attune crystals etc.

iii) It reduces the importance of POW in the game: it is currently too
important IMHO: in spirit magic, it determines chance of success, chance of
overcoming  a foes resistance and the number of times one can cast a spell
(assuming you dont have an exterior source of magic points). For initiates
and above, it determines the chance of getting Divine Intervention as well
as being the coin with which one buys rune magic.

 One of the people I suggested this to thought that the RQII method was
superior: success on 1-95. I just dont like that method: it reduces the
difference between characters (and having unique characters is part of a
good roleplaying game IMHO). I also dont see why magic should be extremely
reliable, rather the opposite I think (rune magic is a different story: its
reliability is part of its power). I feel that the near automatic chance of
success in RQII was simply because thats how it was done in D&D: RQII is a
fairly old game.

 What are your reactions? Good, Bad or Ugly?

Graeme Lindsell a.k.a gal502@huxley.anu.edu.au
Research School of Chemistry,
Australian National University
From: mcwalla@afterlife.ncsc.mil (Mark Wallace)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: RQ: reversing skill multiplication
Date: 12 Dec 92 11:04:44 GMT
Organization: The Great Beyond


Loren Miller proposes a revision to the RQ skills to eliminate confusion
about exactly which communications skill is appropriate in which
circumstance.  I disagree philosophically with his position (I like a
system to have an exteremely robust set of skills), but I concur that
the specific examples he offered are confusing.

I've toyed with the idea of adapting the concept of "specialization"
which is used in shadowrun and Ars Magica.  A player may specialize in 
speech/rhetoric/communication/language skill.  COS in the specialized
area is 150% of the normal COS.  

THis is fairly generous, but automatically limiting; you can have only
one specialization per skill.  At low skill levels, it raises the
specialist into the average category.  At high levels, it renders the
skill an automatic success (which roleplaying does anyway).

The only way to change a specialization is to study the new
specialization for longer than your skill in the old (i.e. to change my
Mineral Lore (Bronzework)@35%, to Mineral Lore (silversmith), I'd have
to study until my mineral lore were at 70%, which would result in my
Mineral Lore(silversmith) being 105%.

Comments? Flames?
 
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: jacobus@symphony.cc.purdue.edu (Bryan J. Maloney)
Subject: Re: RQ: Runelords and Heroes question (still LONG)
Organization: Purdue University
Date: Sun, 20 Dec 1992 22:45:10 GMT




The key to running heroquesting is to make it VERY difficult and VERY rare.
Then you won't have the Bill&Ted's Bogus Journey phenomenon (wherein the
end of the movie becomes a sort of "Oh yeah?  Well WE went back and 
counteracted your counteraction...).

Second, any "changes" do not "occur retroactively"--the NEVER occurred,
actually.  That's right!!!!  Heroquesting changes NOTHING!!!!!!


What I mean by this is that Yelmalio has ALWAYS been allied with the
solar cults and not the storm cults.  You can check the legends of
Godtime to be sure of this.  If someone heroquests and "alters" this,
then Elmalio was NEVER been allied with solar cults and was always a
storm god.

The practical limits on such diddling is that it has to be EXTREMELY 
difficult.  Also, Heroquesting is a collective activity--remember I Fought,
We Won.  In fact, the recent discussions of Heroquesting seem to ignore
I Fought, We Won.  I had thought that this was central to Heroquesting.

I could be wrong.

Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: mason
Subject: Re: Shadowrun Question -- Auras and Spells
Organization: Rice University  
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 04:14:18 GMT

In article <Bz6x9x.5o9@rice.edu>
hyatt@owlnet.rice.edu (David Waterman Hyatt) writes:
 
>You get the drift.  What I want to know, especially from anyone who
>gamemasters Shadowrun, is how you handle this contradiction.  A spell
>has to ground through an aura to affect something, but we know that
>inanimate objects (with the exception of vehicles, snort) have
>no auras.  What do you guys do?
>
>Can a mage hurl a power bolt at a maglock?  Or do you just allow
>physical combat spells to affect things with auras?
 
I'm a player in Mr. Hyatt's game, so he's already aware of my
opinion, but I thought I'd share it with the board.  It is my
belief that the rules should be re-written to the following
extent:
 
Inanimate objects have limited auras on the astral plane, allowing
for their visible presence there, and their ability to disturb the
flow of astral energy.  That they are not tangible implies that their
astral presence is not as strong as that of a living being.  The more
technologically advanced the object in question, the more difficult
it is to target its aura, according to the rules for spell targeting.
 
An area-effect physical combat spell will first target the stronger,
more accessible auras of the living beings in its range, and affect
the inanimate objects in its area according to the success (or lack
thereof) it has with the principal targets.  Alternatively, a spell
could specifically target one or more inanimate objects, and affect
surrounding objects in its area of effect in a similar fashion.
 
Inanimate objects that are assembled to form a larger whole would
contribute to form a larger, gestalt aura, while at the same time
retaining their own individual auras.  Under this definition, it
would be possible to target an entire vehicle, or a specific portion
of it (a tire or gun turret).
 
The Shadowrun rules contradict each other directly on this subject,
and no interpretation can satisfy all of them.  You have to decide
which you find most agreeable and ignore or rewrite the others.
 
-- mason
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc