HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: appel@xcf.Berkeley.EDU (Shannon D. Appel)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: STEVE JACKSON NOT GONE!!!!
Date: 7 Apr 92 20:14:58 GMT
Organization: xcf
NNTP-Posting-Host: con.berkeley.edu
In-reply-to: IO92668@MAINE.MAINE.EDU's message of 7 Apr 92 03:36:36 GMT

In article <92097.233636IO92668@MAINE.MAINE.EDU> 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.
->
->Besides, Partha hates TSR.  As a matter of fact, most casters hate TSR.
->Thats why they had to start producing their own figs.

You're actually right.  It looks like GSN got it screwed up.  Turns out
SJG bought out TSR, not vice-versa, and they're trying [and failing] to
keep it hush-hush for a few months for copyright reasons.

Shannon
From: pmwg1641@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Peter M. White)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: SR: waiting for the falmes :-)
Date: 10 Apr 92 20:44:39 GMT
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana

vanor@vax1.mankato.msus.edu writes:

>Also has any one ever thoght about posting stuf about Shadowrun tricks
>like when you have both a smartgun link and vission mag. that you can shot
>at any rage and still have a target number of 2 

I was thinking about using that one while idling considering how
I might proceed if I felt the urge to kill off fellow team members.
(I never considered it seriously.  Honest.  Hee hee.)  I believe
the mag scope description says explicitly that no other targetting
enhancements could be used simultaneously, i.e. no lasersights
or smartlinks.  Darn.

p-white@uiuc.edu
From: jcurrie@ccu.umanitoba.ca (James Gordon Currie)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: miniatures for Palladium games?
Date: 14 Apr 92 01:03:14 GMT
Organization: University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada


          I don't know if they are still available, or even if they are, who
produces them; but, there is/used to be a line of _Robotech_ minitures. They
are just slightly larger than the minis put out for _Battletech_. I have one
each of the 3 forms a VF can take.

Ciao
J G Currie
Organization: Penn State University
Date: Friday, 10 Apr 1992 11:44:15 EDT
From: Brian Panulla <BJP108@psuvm.psu.edu>
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Stupid adventures
 <9APR199216411401@rigel.tamu.edu> <9APR199219262004@rigel.tamu.edu>

The stupidest adventure I ever ran had to be with out a doubt, Fluffy
Goes to Heck from the first year of Dungeon magazine. I'm not sure if
my playeres EVER forgave me.

YOU try to tell players that they're being attacked by a bunch of
Beatnik Zombies with bongo drums (boom diddy-boom boom boom)....
While keeping a straight face. It AIN'T easy.

____
Brian Panull BJP108 @ psuvm.psu.edu
"Moooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" -- cry of the Cow of Ill Omen
From: huber@zodiac.rutgers.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Herb List Needed
Date: 9 Apr 92 17:18:56 GMT
Organization: Rutgers University Computing Services

In article <1992Apr8.151035.1447@ccc.govt.nz>, vanhalewyns@ccc.govt.nz writes:
> Hi there all you fine upstanding citizens.
> 
> I'm aftr a list of herbs for roleplaying games, anybody know where I can
> pick up some such thing.
> 
> 	- Shaun van Halewyn
> 	- vanhalewyns@ccc.govt.nz


     Rolemaster has just such a list.  The list is in Character Law and
Campaign Law.  It covers about 150 - 200 herbs used from healing to euphorics
(sp?).  Also it has an extensive table of poisons.
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: jenkins@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Kent Jenkins)
Subject: Re: SRUN: Magicalness and Dianetics
Organization: The Ohio State University Cyberdeck Research
Date: Sat, 11 Apr 1992 20:50:02 GMT

In article <1992Apr9.212527.13698@nic.unh.edu> E_MCCOY@unhh.unh.edu (Elizabeth   Mccoy) writes:
>In <92097.133320UD137927@NDSUVM1.BITNET> <UD137927@NDSUVM1.BITNET> writes: 
>>People who want a good real-world basis to fit their SRUN Universal Brother-
>>hood scenarios around could do worse than to study L. Ron Hubbard's Dianetics
>>and Scientology. Here is a scary bunch of people, folks, and they
>>don't need no silly insect spirits to make them so.

You want to know who are really scary?  Christians, Pagans, Athiests,
Buhdists, Taoists and especially anybody who believes this line.

Hey, if it helps you out and you're willing to spend the yen (erm,
bucks), then who cares if you think it's "really scary".

[Deleted: E_McCoy's Pretty Good Ideas.]

Unforunately, Mr. U238 <erm...> is right.  The Universal Brotherhood
seems to be based on Dianetics.  (Also unfortunately, I agree with him
in that it's bunk.  For me.  Maybe not for some of y'all out there, but
it is for me.)

Anyway, that's my point.  That you can't say the Universal Brotherhood
is All Evil.  Look at what good its doing to Seatle.  Ethics are not all
Black And White, and it especially shouldn't be for Shadowrunners.

>Individuals will be calm and collected in the face of chaos and confusion,
>and may be so strange as to perform first-aid on random bystanders at
>the scene of a firefight.

Unless they're the ones being attacked.  I don't care how much "calming
mind whatever" I've had, if someone sticks a .45 my way, I'm going to do
exactly what they say.  I'm also not going to willingly jump into a
firefight to pull a complete stranger out.

I might be calm-minded, but that doesn't mean I don't know my
limitations.

>Now, isn't that more interesting than a totally "evil conspiriacy"?

What?  You mean a gray shift of morals instead of Good or Evil?  How
dare you?  This is Shadowrun, after all, not a game where the players
are expected to /Think!/ Not like AD&D.

[Ah, mea sarcasm.]

>--E_McCoy

			-Kent Jenkins
			("Thenomain")

["I don't care for the UB.  But I don't hate 'em, either."]
["But... but they control people!"]
["Have you asked one?"]
From: laurence@cco.caltech.edu (Dustin Lee Laurence)
Subject: Re: Insipid character names 
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 1992 07:10:21 GMT

sl9b4@cc.usu.edu (Deep Six) writes:

>I used to play in a AD&D campaign with about eight other people. Before I got 
>into this campaign, I didn't know what to expect. Turns out they were very 
>serious about the game. Every player had extensive histories of their 
>character(s). Most had detailed sketches of their characters, one of which was 
>the player himself in costume (they'd sometimes play in costume during very 
>climactic games). They played in character ALL the time, and most of them did 
>the old pseudo-British accent whilst speaking.

>Of course, all this was to me was a very generous invitation to make a 
>mockery of their little fantasy world.

Very nice.  If I'd been GM, I'd have tossed you back out as fast as you
came.  Courtesy requires that you have some respect for the mores of an
established campaign, especially one which the players clearly cared a
great deal about.

-- 
Dustin Laurence            "Someone please stop me, before I net again."

laurence@alice.wonderland.caltech.edu
From: grex@world.std.com (Mark J Urbin)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Shadowrun security (Re: Shadowrun: Controlling magicians)
Date: 16 Apr 92 19:26:15 GMT
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA

In article <1992Apr15.204145.6742@watdragon.waterloo.edu> jwtlai@jeeves.waterloo.edu (Jim W Lai) writes:
>Large corporations who provide on-site living spaces for their employees also
>kindly provide location detectors, in case anything untoward may happen to
>them, of course.  (This is suggested in the novels and sounds about right.)
>How thoughtful.
   In one of the novels, a corper had a `squealer' braclet locked on him.  It
was supposed warn security if he got too near areas he didn't have the security
rating for.  It's a good bet that it could be used to trace him as well.
   An article was posted on another newsgroup about a current piece of tech.
A subdermal transponder.  It would respond to a signal on a set frequency.
Range was given as `several blocks'.  Current use is to track down lost pets.
The article claimed that it was to be marketed at a way to keep track of kids.
Take this tech to 2050...



-- 
Mark Urbin  grex@world.std.com     These opinions are mine.
"Justice Department studies show that armed citizens are much less likely to 
suffer losses or personal injury from thieves" -- Washington Post 1/7/92
From: marcs@yang.earlham.edu (Marc Seebass(Thunderbolt))
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: CHAMPS: Creating Spider-Tracers for Spider-Man
Date: 6 Apr 92 15:27:55 GMT
Organization: Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana

I have a question about the Champions system. I was trying to do 
Spider-Man in Champions, and I managed to get most of his powers and 
abilities down, but his Spider-Tracers, those little red spider shaped 
things he uses to track people with his Spider-Sence, confounded me. There 
were several suggestions, and ideas that might work, but none were quite right.

1) The easiest is a cop out. It's a special effect of the danger sense, it 
can be set off by technilogical means, Chamelion used it to comunciate with him 
in Amazing Spider-Man #1. This has advantages, but they are countered by 
the fact that people could make devices that would give Spider-Man a 
false alarm, or even a flash attact verses danger sense.

2) Buy the Danger Sense with the trigger advantage, triggered by tracers. 
Simple and it only costs him 10 points. Unfortunately it means, that the 
spider tracers are pure special affect, and the number of tracers and 
thier range and diration are up in the air.

3) Buy Detect Spider-Tracers 360 Degrees Ranged. Unfortunately the detect 
power gives no guidelines for limitations based on usefullness. So detect 
my puppy costs as much as detect evil Mutants. This cost 30 points to 
detect the tracers on a 18 or less. The charges limitation doesn't work 
because it would mean he could detect the tracers X number of times, 
rather than giving him X number of tracers. A focus disadvantage won't work
because the power itself can't be taken away, just the things he detects.

4) Tracking Sent, limited to tracking spider tracers, increased range advatage
increased perception chance, limited to tracking spider tracers, Special 
effect works through danger sense not smell. This may cost the least depending
on the value of the disadvantage only works on spider tracers. This one 
seems to fit the way the tracers are used best, but it seems uncertain 
weather it works within the game mechanics. It may be the cheepest.

If you have any ideas on how the spider-tracers could be created, the types of 
disadvantages that actualy apply to my existing ideas, or the applicablity 
of my proposed sollutions, post them or send me an E-Mail. I am interested 
in hearing new ideas. 2 and 4 are my favorites, because 1 is a cop out, 
and 3 is way to expensive.  

   ____      ___      _______________________________________________
  /    \    /   \    /  _________/"Imagination is more important     \
 /      \  /     \  /  /____/    than knowledge." -Albert Einstein    \
/   /\   \/  /\   \ \____   \-----------------------------------------/
\   \ \     / /   /______/  / "Success is the best revenge."-Unknown /
 \___\ \___/ /___/_________/________________________________________/
       Marc        Seebass        MARCS@YANG.EARLHAM.EDU
Organization: Senior, Music, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Organization: Penn State University
Date: Friday, 10 Apr 1992 11:06:10 EDT
From: Brian Panulla <BJP108@psuvm.psu.edu>
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Inter-Party Conflicts
Distribution: usa

Huh? I'm sorry, but I've played in games like that, where everybody
backstabbed and got pissed at someone else. The biggest reason I've heard
for playing an evil character is to be able to do anything you want; which in
almost every case caused the destruction of fellow party members.

In fact, I experimented with an evil cleric once (Lawful, cleric of Wee Jas).
everything was going well until one of the other players (an evil mage named
"Gargamel") began to needle me about me being in charge. I couldn't take it
after a while, and pulled the same stunt the their did in the earlier post:
I found a chest full of yellow mold. I didn't tell Gargamel about it. He opened
the chest. I had already taken precautions, so I didn't die with half of the
party.

This incident prompted a 6-month long feud, which ended with Gargamel's player
moving to Florida (didn't have anything to do with this though). Eventually,
our game returned to normal.

Do you thin that evil characters should be the rule in a campaign. When
played correctly (read: within alignment) they will most probably destroy the
party. A single evil character can add much flavor to a game, but the entire
group?

But then, I guess what it comes down to is: It's your game. Enjoy your
character.  I wouldn't.

_____
Brian Panulla BJP108 @ psuvm.psu.edu
"Hey Launcelot! Could you turn off that brestplate? You're blinding half the
 party!"
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: weidns@vccnorthe.its.rpi.edu (Steven Henry Weidner)
Subject: miniatures for Palladium games?
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1992 09:06:55 GMT

Okay, I know that Dark Horse used to do minis for TMNT... even have most
of them.  However, after seeing some of the more interesting "killer
death robots" that Alternative Armies is doing, I have to wonder if Palladium
is working to get any miniatures contracts, especially considering how neat
some of _their_ robots are... any rumors?

"BIG" Steve Weidner
weidns@rpi.edu

**************************************************************************

"Lay dem down an' smackum yackum!"
(translation: Golly gee whiz!)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: mkelly@sneezy.helios.nd.edu (michael kelly)
Subject: Re: 100-DICE: they don't work.
Reply-To: mkelly@sneezy.helios.nd.edu (michael kelly)
Organization: University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1992 19:03:12 GMT

 torbenm@diku.dk (Torben AEgidius Mogensen) writes:


	[A really good article, with just one weak point]



|> 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.


	You mean two 51-hedrons base-to-base, no? Two 50-sided pyramids
base-to-base bive you a 98-hedron.

|> 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?

	Good idea. In most of my games, I've used a crystal for the tens,
a solid for the ones. Or is that vice-versa? ;)


-- 
+               Mike Kelly, Notre Dame Department of Physics                +
+                                                                           +
+ mkelly@happy.helios.nd.edu       If you crumple your money into little    +
+ mkelly@undhe5.hep.nd.edu           balls, it will never stick together.   +
From: sl7sg@cc.usu.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Stormbringer 4th ed. review wanted
Date: 10 Apr 92 08:46:45 MDT
Organization: Utah State University

In article <9W=L_9=@ais.org>, impster@ais.org (Charles Budensiek) writes:

> I am thinking about buying an RPG called Stormbringer and would like to get
> some sort of review as to its workings and general playability. Anyone care
> to enlighten me?
> 
> impster@ais.org
> 

	Most everything is percentiles, magic items are really demons, the
gorier and higher death rate means the best campaign.  If the entire world and
multiverse instantaneously combusts, you win the game.

		Shade Pendragon

	-Really, I love the game, I just cannot find anybody demented enough to
play it anymore...
From: Loball@cup.portal.com (Bill - Vitro)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: GAME SYSTEMS
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 92 18:34:35 PDT
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
  <1992Apr13.204220.17834@athena.cs.uga.edu>

For the ultimate in Combat Complexity you need look no farther than the
original, first, and ultimate Beer and Pretzel Roleplaying Game(tm) - 
Creeks and Crawdads(also tm).  Someone get ahold of Martin Costa and
ask him if he's still selling this, or if has died and gone to Crawdad
Heaven.
			TTFN
			Billy

.sig follows:
From: urbano@ll.mit.edu (John Urbano)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: The Undead and level loss (ADND)
Date: 16 Apr 92 15:45:51 GMT
Article-I.D.: ll.1992Apr16.154551.16176
Organization: MIT Lincoln Laboratory


 Instead of having certain undead drain levels, I have them
 drain a percentage of a PCs experience points.  Wights and
 wraiths drain 5%, spectres and vampires 10%.  I also sometimes
 allow a saving throw vs Death Magic, but the players can never
 count on it.  If I do allow a save, then sometimes I also split
 the 10% into two 5%, with a save on each.

 Anyway, draining a percentage of experience is still enough to
 instill great fear in players, but it doesn't mean that a one
 or two lucky swipes of some undead monster will negate an entire
 year of playing time (in my campaign, we advance about 2 levels per 
 year (real time)).  It also means the DM can use undead monsters a
 little more often without ruining his player's characters.

                                        John
 --------------------------------------------------------------
 Who knows what eveil lurks in the hearts of men?  The Shadow...
From: cms@mse.cmu.edu (Curtis M Scott)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: NPCs Weaker than PC's?
Keywords: GDW, Twilight, Dark Conspiracy
Date: 8 Apr 92 19:15:38 GMT
Organization: CMU/SEI Master of Software Engineering Program

In article <11122@gazette.bcm.tmc.edu>, albert@chain.ssctr.bcm.tmc.edu (Rick Jones) writes:
|> In article <1992Apr8.144455.27941@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> c9e-al@danube.Berkeley.EDU (Chua Hak Lien) writes:
|> >What do you guys think? Are there any other games that give PC's such
|> >an advantage?

In old Tunnels and Trolls (boy am I showing MY age!), the monsters got
progressively weaker as they got injured, while the PCs didn't. Thus, you
typically started with a monster who was a little tougher than you were,
but once you had hit him a couple of times it was easy to wipe him out fast.

|> 	Well, in TORG, people are either 'Ords' or 'Stormers'.  Stormers
|> have a better damage table and can spend 'possibilities' on rolls and
|> to reduce damage.
|> 
|> 	However, there are NPC Stormers.  In storytelling terms, there are
|> the minor characters, that are easily defeated, and the important
|> ones that take time and energy to defeat.

In my brief abortive attempt at running TORG (the Possibility Chalice
adventure), I discovered that West End had countered the Stormer abilities
of the PCs by making all the NPCs (including guards) have
higher stats than the PCs so they wouldn't tear through them like
corn through a duck.  I don't know if they changed this in later TORG
stuff (I haven't bought it), but my players became noticeably irritated
that they couldn't outdo the low-level NPCs unless they spent Possibilities.
(Combat was special, in that Stormers get a "kinder, gentler" damage table,
but for non-combat actions the bad guys always seemed to win.)

While I have no objection to a game system which makes the PCs have above
average capabilities, I prefer that this be handled as a boost to their
stats/skills/points, etc., rather than by using special rules which say
"just for PCs."

Curtis Scott
From: bjames@bagpipe.reed.edu (Bronson D. James)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: SRUN (Shadotech Sourcebook)
Keywords: SR, Shadowrun
Date: 9 Apr 92 18:11:43 GMT
Article-I.D.: reed.1992Apr9.181143.21303
Reply-To: bjames@reed.edu
Organization: Reed College, Portland, OR

In article <1992Apr9.163946.9600@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>  
npearl@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Nathan Y Pearlstein) writes:
> I heard that the Shadowtech Sourcebook was to be released in late March
> I haven't seen it yet.  Has anybody seen it or know of a different
> release date?

Shadow tech is slated for May, Shadowbeat sometime this month.
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: laurence@cco.caltech.edu (Dustin Lee Laurence)
Subject: Re: META: Game Abbreviation List
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1992 22:33:02 GMT

sverkerw@Minsk.docs.uu.se (Sverker Wiberg) writes:

>Some Swedish RPGs:

>	DoD		Drakar och Demoner	(fantasy)
>	EDD		Expert DoD		(extension of DoD)
>	GDD		Gigant DoD		(extension of DoD)
>	MT		Mutant			(cyberpunk)
>	KULT					(horror)
>	
>These games are produced by \"Aventyrsspel HB. Lancelot Games have released
>some games too, but I don't know about them.

Sverker, do you suppose that you could give us a review of these
games?  It would be interesting to me to see how these games compare
to the US made games that I am familiar with.

-- 
Dustin Laurence            "Someone please stop me, before I net again."

laurence@alice.wonderland.caltech.edu
Organization: Freshman, Drama, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Date: Thu,  9 Apr 1992 02:47:28 -0400 
From: Anthony Russell Rosania <ar2j+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: Ad&d and D&D - a question about level restrictions
	<1992Apr8.140102.3661@iscsvax.uni.edu>

It seems another possibility to restricting the level would be requiring
a percentage more HP to go up levels, this would be do to the lesser
"drive" of the longer living beings, since they live longer, they aren't
rushing for power. This seems better at higher levels and gives the
Humans a  low level advantage. You could also do the opposite and
require the humans to get fewer XP.
						Anthony
From: khise@conquest.ksu.ksu.edu (Martin Andrew Shobe)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: CHAMPS: question on turn sequencing
Date: 17 Apr 1992 11:39:20 -0500
Organization: Kansas State University
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: conquest.ksu.ksu.edu


In article <1992Apr16.182258.16534@mcs.anl.gov>, sasso@flounder.phy.anl.gov (John F. Sasso) writes:
>Champs and dodging:
>
>I am more confused than ever by this discussion.  I know the way that
>I interpret the rules, but I've seen several variations.  The questions
>are:
>
>(Guy, speed 4, actions on 3,6,9,12)
>
>1)  Guy dodges as part of his action on phase 3.
>	Does the dodge bonus stay in effect until:
>	a)  Beginning of phase 6
>	b)  Through phase 6
>	c)  Beginning of phase 9
>	d)  Through phase 9
>

a) His DEX on phase 6.

>2)  Guy aborts to a dodge on phase 3.
>	Does the dodge bonus stay in effect until:
>	a)  Beginning of phase 6
>	b)  Through phase 6
>	c)  Beginning of phase 9
>	d)  Through 9
>

If it was his phase 3 action that got aborted, it lasts till his DEX on phase 3.

If it was his phase 6 action that got aborted, it lasts till his DEX on phase 6.

>3)  Can guy do the following on phase 3?
>	Dodge, 1/2 action, AND move 1/2 action.  y/n
>

Not in that order.
Do the half move first, and then dodge.

>4)  Can guy do the following on phase 4?
>	Dodge, 1/2 action, AND attack 1/2 action.  y/n
>

No, dodge is a combat manuevor (sp).  It cannot be combined with an attack.

>5)  If guy dodges as part of his action, does this mean that
>	he can continually more OR attack on his action,
>	while keeping up the dodge bonus?  y/n
>

No, (see 3 and 4).

>6)  If guy aborts to a dodge on phase 3, does he need to abort
>	again on phase 6 in order to keep up his dodge bonus
>	through 9?  y/n
>

Yes.

>7)  Guy cannot abort to a dodge on any segment that he has
>	already attacked.  Can he abort on any segment that he
>	has already acted (full move, for example), but not
>	attacked?   y/n
>

No, dodge is a half action.  If he had only half moved he could.

>I know that my question are redundant; I've tried to ask the same
>questions a couple of different ways.
>
>
>						John F Sasso
>
>
>
> 
>-- 
>"The only way to true inspiration is the study of TedDo.  And lots
>of MauMau, of course."  The Elvis Lectures
>"I am not the False Bob, I am a free man."  The Book of FalseBobs
>"Since the introduction of MauMau, HP sales have skyrocketed." Book of MauMau

Khise@matt.ksu.ksu.edu