HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: drac@uumeme.chi.il.us (Bruce Maynard)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: SRII: Physical Adepts
Date: 10 Jan 93 09:02:00 GMT
Organization: UUMEME Public Access Xenix

Re: Physical Adept's speed takes it on the chin

Well, it DOES sorta look like there's a small goof in the spot where
reaction/initiative DICE are bought... the 'cost' goes from 1 to 4 to 6?!?

Seems like the higher you go, the more it really should cost... so, what
we do in our campaign is this:  buying 1 die or 3 costs the samne as the V2
book states, but 2 dice is lowered from a cost of 4 to 3... this brings it MUCH
more in line with the rest of the stats...

-- 
+------------------------------------------------------------+
| The above statements are the  | Bruce Maynard  (Da "drac") |
| delirious meanderings of a    | Hoffman Estates            |
| complete moro... er, MANIAC!! | IL 60194                   |
From: holden@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (Bradford Paul Holden)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: SRII: Phys Adept
Summary: wait a second
Keywords: slower than street sam?
Date: 12 Jan 93 05:23:35 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: University of California, Santa Cruz
NNTP-Posting-Host: ucscb.ucsc.edu


 A physical adept can have his mage buddy put a
 +3 reaction di. spell up on him and the street samm
cannot.  The physical adept can walk through airport
metal detectors unnoticed and the street samm cannot.
The phyical adept will not have his advantage "turned
off" if he goes to jail.  Any accusations of the 
physical adept being weaker seem rediculous.  To change
subjects though in SRII how the hell does a narcojet gun
work, near as I can figure if you hit somebody with one
(and who knows what number you use to dodge with since the 
gun has no power level) they resist the 6D from the weapon
and then assuming they don't roll 2 sixes they go to sleep
right away, making the narcojet one of the most dangerous 
weapons around.
From: ucsatsd@ucl.ac.uk (Tim Dedopulos)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Vampire : "Baby Face" Merit & Sexuality
Date: 12 Jan 93 13:56:25 GMT
Organization: The HRC

Note - for those Vampire people who haven't got the 
Player's Guide, it includes lists of Flaws and Merits
that can be taken - disadvantages and advantages
respectively. The Flaws give extra freebie points during
character creation, and the Merits cost them.

The "Baby Face" Merit (2 point), is defined (roughly, 
from memory) as "... your skin is still pink. You never
really lost the habit of breathing (although you don't
need to), and you can even pull off convincing sneezes.
If you try, you can even make your heart beat, as long
as you have at least one blood point."

My question, then, is related to this. If the Vampire 
can make their heart beat, and have pink skin, then their
blood must be near the surface. Biologically, the normal
functioning of the genitalia is dependant mainly on
blood flow. (Note, I'm not discussing fertility here,
just sexuality). Would, then, a Vampire with Baby Face
be able to perform sexually? Would the answer be the
same for both 'sexes'? I mean, presumably there is 
nothing to stop a Vampire female from accepting mortal
penetration, but lack of bloodflow would inhibit any
normal mortal warmth. The situation of the Vampire 
male would presumably be different. But if the Vampire
could get surface blood, and moving...

Thoughts?

Tim.

--
                                  |   "Everything is true, even false things."
        *****     B3     *****    | "Even false things? How can that be??"
                                  |   "Dont ask me man, I didn't do it!"
    | ucsatsd@ucl.ac.uk // perhaps via nsf.ac.uk if you get desperate..... |  
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: KIRSCH@rhea.informatik.uni-bonn.de (Juergen Kirsch)
Subject: A Shadowrun Question (both 1st and 2nd ed.)
Organization: ORGANIZATION? Sounds funny...
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 09:48:20 GMT
X-News-Reader: VMS NEWS 1.24

Hello chummers,

this is a Question to everyone who plays Shadowrun. I like Riggers, exspecially
when they are able to fly Helicopters, Tiltrotors or similar. But there
is of course one question I can't forget:

How can a SIN less fly a Helicopter without getting shot by the first official
aircraft he meet?

Let me explain this problem a bit clearer (I know lots of chummer who simply
say: don't get caught, but it's not so easy).

If you are a free market rigger (without a SIN of course), the rules allow
you to posses different vehicles, e.g. - hmmm lets say a... Stallion. It's
not a large helicopter, but you need some place to hide it...or it's gone:
A SINless can't own such a terrible expensive toy without lots of jealous
people who try to steal it. Where do you hide such a large vehicle ? Or
to make the problem worse: Where do you hide a Zeppelin ? A bit large for
the next garage.

Suppose you have found a secure hide, the next problem is: how can I start
my vehicle without getting caught. Air security is full of Radar and other
sensors which always look for unidentified flying objects...and the poor
rigger: No ECM or ECCM available so only low-level flight is an available
way to penetrate the security. And once again: What does a LoneStar Cop
do if he sees a Helicopter on low-level flight?

>>>>>[It's simple to add a flight plan to the german airsecurity network.
Their computers are damned old and easy to penetrate. But don't mess this
up with the security of Corps or the military. But airfield security is
to often done by humans. You can't cheat humans in such easy ways.]<<<<<
    ---Tarantula (11:07:13/04-06-53)
                         
Ahhh...one problem I forgot: How does a SINless learn to fly? It's easy
to train driving a car, but flying?

Perhaps I should add some color to this problem, by describing how helicopters
are handled in todays (1993) Germany. Helicopters are aircrafts like all
others, no special rules for them. As a result they are allowed to land
only on certified airfields. For each touchdown outside such an airfield
you need a special certification. As a private you can hardly use the special
abilities of a helicopter. (This is the german way, if some one is informed
how this is ruled in todays USA or Canada, please tell me.)

Merkur - Lieferungen nach ganz Deutschland. Sonderzulagen fuer das
         Konzil von Marienbad erforderlich.
Merkur - Wir liefern sicher schnell und zuverlaessig, alles was Sie
         brauchen. Sonderkonditionen fuer kleine Mengen.

Merkur aka Juergen Kirsch : kirsch@rhea.informatik.uni-bonn.de

P.S.: To all interested: Germany has it's own Shadowrun Sourcebook since
      last October it's called "Deutschland in den Schatten" and it's full
      of nice ideas and descriptions of the german situation past the Euro-
      Wars. It's written in german, but rumors are, it will be translated
      to english by FASA.
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: jnephew@tirith.carleton.edu (John A. Nephew)
Subject: Re: Small company advertising/smart moves?
Organization: J. Random Misconfigured Site
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 06:39:33 GMT
X-Posted-From: tirith.acc.carleton.edu
NNTP-Posting-Host: sol.ctr.columbia.edu

In article <1993Jan11.132428.9992@vela.acs.oakland.edu>
mwlucas@vela.acs.oakla`
>We're starting a new game company, and we're looking for cheap ways to
>advertise.  We're looking for fanzines, BBSs that do multi-genre games,
>and so on.
>And we've had this nice, long thread about dumb things companies have
>done; how about *smart* things that new, small companies can do to
>stay in business?

Here are a couple tips:

* Send a zillion review copies out to all the RPG magazines you've heard of,
and scout out the others.  A partial list: Dragon, Challenge, Abyss, The Gamer,
The Scroll, The Last Province, Vortext.  Dragon is notoriously slow in getting
reviews into print (expect to wait many months), but you'll find the others --
especially the smaller ones -- will be eager to express an opinion soon.

Especially don't miss Dave Nalle's magazine, ABYSS.  He'll probably shred your
game (Just kidding, Dave... :>), but you may learn something along the way. 
Read all reviews with an eye toward improving your next effort.

* Get a list of distributors from an established game company.  I can't think
of any of us who wouldn't be happy to share.

* Send a copy of the game to everyone on that list, with a letter.  A couple
days after you expect the copy to have arrived, follow it up with a phone call,
if you can.  Don't harass them -- just be professional, and make yourself
available.

* Establish local contacts -- gamers, game stores, etc.  Look for people
willing to express their honest opinions, especially on topics like packaging
and presentation (which are paramount in many retailers' minds).  But stay true
to yourself -- just because Bill the Game Store Owner notes that products
featuring large-breasted women in chainmail bikinis sell well doesn't mean you
should make that the template for your cover designs!

* Attend conventions.  Give out flyers, and donate some prizes in exchange for
advertising space.

There are a few ideas.  Hope they help.

-John Nephew
President, Atlas Games
From: CSD108@psuvm.psu.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: SRII: Questions....
Date: 12 Jan 93 21:42:10 GMT
Organization: Penn State University

In article <C0I68M.B6n@jabba.ess.harris.com>, jcarl@jabba.ess.harris.com (Joe
Carl Jr.) says:
>>The Street Samurai archetype has more than 6 points of essence in cyberware.
>Why?  Is this
>>a misprint or are there new rules on cyberware beyond six points of essence
>(like in the
>>new samurai catalog?)?
>
>This is and error, at GenCon Tom Dowd said to get rid of some of the cyberware
>but I forget which.
>
>--
I think all you have to do is take off 1 pt. of muscle aug., but I don't have
my book handy.

--
Presto "The Black"
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: Nick_Janow@mindlink.bc.ca (Nick Janow)
Subject: Re: SF vs Fantasy
Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 07:27:44 GMT

dunkelza@titan.ucc.umass.edu (KEITH C MCCORMIC) writes:

> Just out of curiosity, what are yours and other peoples desires in the area
> of SF RPGs?  It is an area which receives less notice than it should,
> because of the potentially huge market.  However, since all the existing
> systems I have seen SUCK, and since many people seem to agree at least with
> their wallets,...

Maybe that's part of the reason for the lack of notice: the poor products
available made people think that SF rpgs couldn't be good.  That's how I used
to feel (and led to the comment that got me into Legacy development).

All right, what I desire in a SF rpg:

 1) Good rules.  I'll split this into several sections:

   The rules should be unobtrusive.  I don't want to break the SF atmosphere
by stopping to roll dice and look up tables.  However, unobtrusive doesn't
mean diceless.  A roll of one die is an acceptable substitute for actually
docking a ship, repairing a pump, or firing a pistol.  It gives me a feeling
of doing the action, not telling a story.

  The rules should also cover most situations without having to look up
"special cases".  Ideally, one single, simple set of rules should handle any
detailed action that might come up.  I'll settle for a compromise: a few
sections of rules (ie.  combat, non-combat actions, etc) where the split is
necessary to provide adequate detail.  It's great when the manual doesn't
even have to be consulted during a session, because the rules are so simple
and straightforward.

  The designers should take care to avoid contradictory rules.  How many AD&D
sessions were disrupted by "but the rule on page xx in the DMG says +2, even
though the rule on page yy of the monster manual says +1"?  :(

  Good formatting, editing, and use of examples is worth the effort.  Even a
game with great rules can be ruined by poor layout.


2) Background

   The background must be self-consistent.  Inconsistencies can kill an
otherwise good background.

   The background should be detailed, or why spend money on it?

   I want a background to be different from today's world.  I won't accept
today's cultural quirks in a medieval or future setting.  For a SF background
set 100 years ahead, I don't want it to assume a heterosexual couple with 1.5
kids and a dog or cat as the average family.  Children can have zero to five
or more parents, or can have completely different "families" or be raised by
institutions.  I don't want it to have the design of cities that is familiar
today and which is obviously not working.

   The background should allow a wide variety of activities.  The more types
of activities and styles of campaign it can support, the better it will do in
the marketplace.  If it can only support one style of gaming, if may soon be
relegated to a closet shelf--at the back.

--

Nick_Janow@mindlink.bc.ca
From: dv52151@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (RedSwordTarga)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: Champions: mage special effects
Date: 4 Jan 93 22:16:18 GMT
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana

johnson1@cs.uwp.edu (Christina Johnson) writes:

>How difficult is it for players ot go up against super mages?  esp in a
>campiagn ith little magic on the players side?  I understand that a mage
>is sust as flexible as any other character, depending on what powers he
>choosies, but what are some advantages/restictions that go along with
>playing a magician in CHampions?

One of the BIG advantages anyone playing a magic-user in Champions has
is that many villians have a 2X STUN from magic. That alone makes a mage
pretty useful. 

Mages are usually more flexible if built with decent stats and a large
Variable Power Pool. They can shift their powers to take advantage of
known enemy weaknesses and cover your own weaknesses.

Still, it's much cooler to be able to throw cars...

Axly
From: P.C.Steele@newcastle.ac.uk (P. Steele)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: SR:ftp sites
Date: 5 Jan 93 17:48:26 GMT
Organization: University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, NE1 7RU
Originator: n1z6g@tuda


In article <1993Jan4.044010.4344@wvnvms.wvnet.edu>, un107041@wvnvms.wvnet.edu writes:

> 	I would be greatful if someone would give me some anonymous ftp sites
> where I can get some Shadowrun stuff.  I know of a couple, but alas, the site
> names are in my apartment back at school, and now that I have time to play with
> my computer here at home over break.  Any new ones would be great too.  

Well I don't have any archives for you but there is a mail list that you can
subscribe to (it's a bit quiet at the mo with it being Xmas). It is at 
LISTSERV@HEARN.BITNET. The group is called SHADOWRN. You must register with
the listserver first. Get all the details by sending a message to the above
address, a null title line and the word HELP on the first line.


-- 
Phillip Steele

P.C.Steele@uk.ac.ncl
From: by670@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Marc-Eivind Cruz Evensen)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: Vampire: Some questions
Date: 10 Jan 1993 07:33:13 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA)
NNTP-Posting-Host: hela.ins.cwru.edu


    A clarification on the release date of Milwaukee by Night - yes, it was
written with the first edition rules.

    ALso, I must agree, the 2 point cost of willpower is best to use, play
has borne this out.

-- MArc
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: dunning@chainsaw.ecn.purdue.edu (GALACTIC COMMANDER)
Subject: Re: Champions: mage special effects
Organization: Purdue University Engineering Computer Network
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 17:00:55 GMT

In article <C0CoJ7.4wH@news.cso.uiuc.edu> dv52151@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (RedSwordTarga) writes:
>How difficult is it for players ot go up against super mages?  esp in a
>campiagn ith little magic on the players side?  I understand that a mage
>is sust as flexible as any other character, depending on what powers he
>choosies, but what are some advantages/restictions that go along with
>playing a magician in CHampions?

It depends on how one builds a mage.  In my FH campaign all mages buy their
spells as seperate powers (actually they describe the power and I design it).
At higher powers they can use a limited form of Multipower (tight groups only).
This was done to increase flexibility since mages seemed too limited.

If you use a VPP then they are as limited as any other Comic Power Pooler.
That comes as a great cost since you can set yourself as a brick using the
pool, but the straight brick is more effective.  Basically the main use
of mages and VPPs in Champs is for flexibility.

Things most mages might have:
	Contact (mentor, higher beings, etc...)
	KS (tons of these - most Champs mages seem very knowledgable)
	Talents (mage-type things)
	Mystic Sight (like mental awareness, but vs magic)
	etc....

Chip
--
-----------------------------\_/-----------------------------
   Elwood H Dunning III       |  CASE:  Proof that even the
                              |   smartest people can write
    GALACTIC COMMANDER        |   themselves out of a job. 
Xref: sparky rec.games.frp.misc:10851 rec.games.board:13253
From: apj6796@tamsun.tamu.edu (Albert Paul Jimenez III)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: RL maps
Date: 6 Jan 93 18:22:35 GMT
Organization: Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
NNTP-Posting-Host: tamsun.tamu.edu

Is there an FTP site where I can get RL maps? I need a blowup of colorado for a campaign a friend of mine is running... he decided to run RIFTS so I figured hey, why not, its something different ( we usually run/play ICE's stuff) and he set us down in a nice 'installation' in colorado... but I have no way to get a map of the detail I want/need.. but I figured the net had everything, so... howabout it guys (and gals?)? anyone know where to FTP good detailed RL maps? 

--Paul

-- 
   Reachable As:     | Advice, help, or hints taken are done so | Friends don't
SilverEagle@tamu.edu | at your own risk and may reflect poorly  |  let friends
 (aka Paul Jimenez)  | on your better judgement. --The Mgmt.    |    use VMS.
From: loren@wmkt.wharton.upenn.edu (Loren Miller)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: RQ: RuneQuest French
Date: 12 Jan 93 16:43:10 GMT
Organization: Wharton Marketing

In article <1993Jan12.153717.13661@cfmu.eurocontrol.be> marc@cfmu.eurocontrol.be (Marc Philips) writes:
>BTW, can anyone in the U.S. confirm that Heroes magazine is indeed no
>longer published by A.H. and let me know what was the last issue
>published.

They published it for about a year and then killed it off. It barely sold at 
all, and AH didn't understand what it took to support a roleplaying game 
magazine. I think it got up to issue 10 or 11.

--
+++++++++++++++++++++++23
Loren Miller              LOREN@wmkt.wharton.upenn.edu
Time am I, wreaker of the world's destruction, matured, grimly
resolved here to swallow up the worlds.             -- Krishna
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: clanti55@ursa.calvin.edu (Christopher Lantinga)
Subject: Re: Dumb Moves By Game Companies
Organization: Calvin College
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 04:05:28 GMT

agapow@latcs1.lat.oz.au (p-m agapow) writes:

>Amen. To cite a few examples, we have FGU's poor organisation,
>inconsistent mechanics, terrible artwork, complexity, lack of support
>materials and continual production of new systems that were entirely
>incompatiable with any of their previous systems.

I always thought V&V's artwork and support materials and mechanics
were pretty excellent; perhaps it is the one exception to FGU's
besetting sins.

>Mind, this is not restricted to FGU. Post Twilight:2000 GDW is another
>good example of how to do things wrong. 2300, a game with potential IMHO,
>was plagued with soooo many bugs in the first edition that it should never
>have been released. Why Space:1889 failed is slightly mysterious but
>related at least in part to the terrible organisation of the rulebook.

Probably the limited audience.  Only one of the many gaming friends I
have is interested in the Victorian Era at all.

Edward James Heil
c/o Chris Lantinga, clanti55@ursa.calvin.edu
"There is nothing wrong with the software that rm won't cure."
		-Arnie Romo


Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc,rec.games.frp.marketplace,rec.games.frp.advocacy,rec.games.frp.dnd
From: phill@crash.cts.com (Phillip Sunbury)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: Hero Bestiary and other Hero Stuff
Date: 6 Jan 93 20:10:07 GMT
Organization: CTS Network Services (crash, ctsnet), El Cajon, CA

In <1993Jan5.195407.10450@noose.ecn.purdue.edu> dunning@chainsaw.ecn.purdue.edu (GALACTIC COMMANDER) writes:

>In article <78981@hydra.gatech.EDU> gt0040a@prism.gatech.EDU (Tom Sorensen) writes:
>>AH, but it *IS* a -0 limitation and has been since Champions v1. There's a good
>>reason for this- sure, it can't destroy things, get people out of entanges,
>>etc. but it also can't KILL PEOPLE. You can use that 10d6 STUN only EB against
>>a normal with no problem- it'll certainly knock them out, but they'll also live
>>(on average they'd live anyway, but a 12d6 EB will kill normals on the average,
>>and a 10d6 very well can).

>That is assuming that you are playing in the supers world and people don't
>go around killing things.  In the fantasy level having a STUN Only attack is
>definately a disadvantage.  Also note that STUN Only really is a disadvantage
>when facing off against robots, etc...

>>So you think that they're MORE of a limitation in lower power campaigns? I
>>don't think so...

>It definately is worth more in different campaigns and power levels.  Having
>the limitation: Only in water is crippling in a campaign set in the DUNE
>environment.  The same limitation in modern earth is not worth as much and
>the same limitation on Wally's Wet and Wild World is not worth anything.

>Same thing with power levels.  Having a STUN Only attack is not too good
>when playing rough Super Agents where killing is expected.  But that same
>limatation may actually be an advantage when in 4-color comics.

>In addition, since STUN Only doesn't do BODY therefore it exerts no
>force (since all of HEROs force calculations are based off of BODY).
>Therefore it would never do KB, push, lift, etc...  How could this not be
>a limitation?

>>No, Killing Attacks are perfectly in line with normal attacks. They are more
>>likely to do BODY (they're called Killing Attacks!) but they do considerably
>>less STUN on the average. A 10d6 EB will do 10 BODY, 35 STUN on average.
>>A 3d6+1 KA will do 10.5 BODY and 26 STUN on average.

>* Please note that should be 11.5 BODY and 28.75 STUN *

>Actually Killing attacks far outstrip Normal attacks in their ability to
>do STUN.  It is easy to note that on average the Normal attack appears to
>slightly out-preform the Killing attack, but at the higher end it is no
>contest.  I have the possibility of outrolling the STUN on 1d6K over
>6d6N with some rather decent odds (a pair of 6s vs 6 6s).

>		Minimum		Average		Maximum
>	3d6N	   3		 10.5		  18
>	1d6K	   1		  8.75		  30

>	6d6N	   6		 21		  36
>	2d6K	   2		 17.5		  60

>Chip

What you fail to realize is that to determine stun you multiply by the stun mult. which is 1d6-1 which gives you the results of 1,1,2,3,4,5 you have a 1/3 chancce of getting a 1 which means you do dink for stun and only 1/6th to do the big  stun! You can't just count the Maximums! Stun is distorted to do a small amount often because of the two ones!