HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: vehaag@crocus.waterloo.edu (Viktor Haag)
Subject: Re: CHAMPIONS: Endurance Batteries
Organization: University of Waterloo
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1992 15:20:19 GMT

> This brings up another point.
> In my campaign I do not allow characters to buy End reserve batteries  
>for
> inate powers.  That is what his normal End is for.  I would only allow
> an End btty for a focus, or completely disconnected power.  (And I
> severely limit foci!)
> 
> How do other people handle this?  An End btty is just too damn cheap,
> and if allowed, every hero would give every one of his powers end
> batteries.  Comments?
> 
> 
> 							John F Sasso

END Reserves are a good way to simulate someone who derives the energies
for his powers from a mystical source (Mana Points).  Mages can build
their spells to feed off END Reserves and then represent the END reserves as
pools of Mana that their bodies have absorbed from the "contiunuum".  This
obivous point with this is that you can set up a rate far enough down the
time table and say that the Mage just can't suck Mana from the air any faster.
He could even build a spell that would allow him to leach (Drain) Mana from
other Mages or objects to place in the END Reserve.  This is sort of an
innate ability, because only Homo Magi (or whatever you call 'em) have the
skills or physiology to absorb Mana from the air.  You could move the time
step up or down the chart based on the Mana in the area .... you could even
rate areas and restrict the amount of Mana that can be given to one source in
that area (all Mages could only get 20 pts of mana from this area). 

You could say that the END Reserve does not recover on its own, and that the
morning prayers or spell taps the area for Mana.  If you are big into 
Energy conservation, you could enforce the Drain, or maybe attach Side Effects
to an Aid that feeds the End Reserve and say that these Effects go off, if
the player attempts to Drain more than the ambient Mana level of the area.
In these cases, you will of course have to come up with a scale for 
determining how much mana is available in any one place.

Well, there are lots of ideas there; only a few are relevant ...



-- 
Viktor Haag 
		            |  "We are not thugs.  We are not fanatics.
vehaag@crocus.uwaterloo.ca  |   We are vitamin supplements to justice."   
viktor@watdcs.uwaterloo.ca  |				: a Selector
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: laurence@cco.caltech.edu (Dustin Lee Laurence)
Subject: Re: Steve Jackson Games is gone?
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1992 00:06:01 GMT

Loren's excellent overview of gaming news neglected to mention the
purchase of West End.  Originally, this was to be a joint IBM-
Microsoft deal, but recently an internal Microsoft memo that was
leaked to the press quoted Bill Gates as saying: "We've defeated
the evil threat from that corrupt empire on the PC operating system
front, and shall never allow ourselves to be outflanked on the
role-playing front.  The betrayers must pay.  Revenge is MINE!!!  I
shall..."  The note ended in an illegible scrawl.  Bill Gates could
not be reached for comment, as he is currently under observation
after having an apoplectic fit in his office.  However, an official
Microsoft representative commented: "Bill is not paranoid, simply
a bit cautious in his dealings with IBM."

The result seems to be that the two companies are going it alone,
Microsoft with the purchase of West End.  Insiders in the industry
say that Microsoft's move shows shrewd thinking on Gates' part,
since it's bestselling Windows software gives it experience in the
kind of software which runs Alpha Complex.  Many software developers
are already saying that The Computer is easier and faster to program
than Windows, and is far more reliable.  However, others complain
that The Computers's lack of DOS compatibility will cripple it in the
US market.  Microsoft has promised to work out all problems in it's
planned merger of the two software systems, though insiders say that
most of the final product will be pure Windows code.  They say that
Microsoft engineers were unable to bring themselves to sell code as
compact and efficient as that used in The Computer.  "It's just too
damn easy to understand," one commented on conditions of anonymity.


-- 
Dustin

laurence@alice.wonderland.caltech.edu
From: gwills@maths.tcd.ie (Graham Wills)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Swashbucklers vs. Knights in Armour
Date: 16 Apr 92 09:21:24 GMT
Organization: Dept. of Maths, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.

In article <167C913DCC.MHART00@ricevm1.rice.edu> MHART00@ricevm1.rice.edu (mason hart) writes:
>I am not a fencer (more lack of opportunity than lack of inclination),
>so my perspective is that of a simple role-player.  I've taken to
>applying weapon speeds and individual initiatives in my games, and a
>good rapier will beat a two-handed sword every time.  A fencer is a
>dancer, relying on speed, agility, and skill to evade his opponent's
>weapon, where his opponent depends on armor.  In my experience, neither
>the swashbuckler nor the armored knight will come out ahead when skill
>is equal.  An expert fencer will make a pincushion of a fledgling
>knight, and a veteran ironclad mercenary will carve the swashbuckler
>wannabe into dogmeat.
>
 Either you've got an awful system, or low-imagination fighters.
 In my campaign by far the most effective fighter was a 1/2 troll in plate with
 a big shield. Not very high level and definitely not bright. 

 Against armoured foes he would usually come off badly due to less skill,
 but against an unarmoured foe he didn't really bother very much with his
 weapon. he just smashed into them. I think the technical term is a "Shield
 Bash", but the basic idea is that you hold your shield out covering half your
 body and the sword in the other (a reach of about 7 foot) and just run into
 the guy. It invariably stuns the person (they get only one good attempt
 at a hit) and once stunned, the opposition gets stomped on.

 There is no question but that a fencer can evade the opponents weapon, but
 the weapon is not the only thing to worry about. For an unarmoured 
 opponent, being hit by a decent sized shield will be a bye-bye.

 This is one problem with a lot of combat systems. By focussing on the
 weapon attack, it ignores what happens in reality. Armor is a great weapon.

 -Graham Wills
  TCD Ireland.

PS. Add spikes and razors to your shield and you get to add pierce and slash
    crits to your crush crits. If they're not wearing armour, you may as well
    cut 'em to ribbons as well. Bit expensive contionually repairing them, tho.
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: jh42393@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Jonathan Heidbreder )
Subject: Re: Old Dieties and Demigods
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1992 19:06:02 GMT

robert@isgtec.com (Robert Osborne) writes:

>mkelly@grousy.helios.nd.edu (michael kelly) writes:
>>  JLM@SLACVM.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU writes:
>> |>  I've seen the ones which include the Cthulu (sp) mythos go for
>> |> as much as $100.

I'll gladly sell my copy for $50.
It's pretty much in mint condition.
Has Cthulu, Melnibonean, Newhon, etc.

From: Kevin.Tuttle@f6008.n124.z1.fidonet.org (Kevin Tuttle)
Sender: FredGate@ocitor.fidonet
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: early DUNGEON magazines wanted
Date: Sat, 11 Apr 1992 08:47:06

Good Luck, especially if you are only offering $2.00 each.  I have several friends who ended up having to pay around $10 for a few of the especially good early issues, which I haven't been able to find myself anymore (I only have #9-up).  I do have from #9-#20 and I had to fight to get those for about a year (I started collecting at issue #22). 

 * Origin: Meridian -=- (214) 235-3164 -=- Dallas, Tx. (1:124/6008)
From: aw0991@thor.albany.edu (Airborne)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Inspired character names
Date: 15 Apr 92 17:15:51 GMT
Organization: State University of New York at Albany

Back in the days when men were men and I gamed every day for at least 6 hours,
we had a tradition that only characters with really stupid names would live.

So, here I was after the defeat of a really kool Merc....

Here comes the Mighty Mind Mage.... master of all thought...

Phallus Cloudgatherer.
From: ratinox@meceng.coe.northeastern.edu (Richard Pieri/Stainless Steel Rat)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Problem player
Date: 14 Apr 92 01:17:03 GMT
Article-I.D.: splinter.RATINOX.92Apr13211703
Reply-To: ratinox@meceng.coe.northeastern.edu
Organization: 3WA, Boston Office. Or Nu Meta Chi. Take your pick.
In-reply-to: wilsom3@nuge114.its.rpi.edu's message of 13 Apr 92 20:03:23 GMT
X-Signature-Virus-Protection: Version 1.51
X-Quote: "Never eat more than you can lift." -- Miss Piggy
X-Posting-Software: GNUS 3.14.1 [ NNTP-based News Reader for GNU Emacs ]

>>>>> On 13 Apr 92 20:03:23 GMT, wilsom3@nuge114.its.rpi.edu (Michael Lane Wilson) said:


wilsom3> 	I've got a minor problem in one of my campaign's that I
wilsom3> can't seem to work out.  I've got a player running a character
wilsom3> that, through it's personality, doesn't work well with the rest of
wilsom3> the party.  I'd just kill it off, but it's the player's dream
wilsom3> character, and it IS a good character, for a solo adventure.

Inform the player that his character just isn't working out in a group
setting. He has a choice: 1) change the character's attitude (which could
totally ruin the character's concept), 2) bring in a new character, 3)
leave the game entirely. You could design a scenario that would lead to the
character taking option #1, without breaking the character.

--Rat
--
||||| | | | |  |  |  |   |   |    |    |    |   |   |  |  |  |  | | | | | |||||
                                                   __        ___ 
Richard Pieri, Northeastern's Stainless Steel Rat/   | /| / /   | The Worlds
Internet: ratinox@splinter.coe.northeastern.edu /__  |/ |/ / /| | Welfare Works
    UUCP: ...!northeastern.edu!splinter!ratinox/   | /| / / / | | Association:
  BITNET: UA_RLP@NUHUB{.BITNET}               /__  |/ |/ / /  | | I will solve
  USNail: 14 Westdale RD  Holbrook, MA 02343 /   | /| / / /___| | any problem
 ICBMnet: 42 deg 1 min N, 71 deg 0 min W    /    |/ |/ /_//_____| for you.
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: douglash@meaddata.com (Douglas Holzworth)
Subject: Stupid PC Tricks
Organization: Mead Data Central, Dayton OH
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1992 22:57:14 GMT
Distribution: usa

Party: We open the door and look in, but we don't enter the room.  <<There are
    some veterans of previous campaigns in this group  :) >>

DM: You see a medium-small room.  In the middle of the room is a pile of gold
    coins, about 10' high.  You see various weapons and implements sticking 
    out from the pile, all glowing with magical radiance.  There is also a
    sign in the pile.

Party <<in shocked disbelief, because I do NOT run Monty Hauls>>: We read the
    sign.

DM: The sign, in common, says: "Monster Out to Lunch."

One of two neophytes to the game screams in delight and runs into the room, 
    yelling "Mine!  Mine!  All mine!"  He promptly disappears through the floor.
    The second neophyte ponders what he has just seen.  He evaluates the
    ramifications and comes to the one conclusion a true rookie can make:
    "More for me!" he screams as he runs into the room.

    The veterans shake their heads sadly and find a way to dispel the illusion
    that was over the acid pit.  :(
From: keller@shera.Tymnet.COM (Pamela K. Keller)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: DMing Question: Player/Character IQ differences
Date: 17 Apr 92 15:51:34 GMT
Organization: BT North America (Tymnet)

In article <1992Apr16.171036.1@tesla.njit.edu> jpk2581@tesla.njit.edu writes:
>What is the best way to resolve a difference in the
>intelligence of a player and the intelligence of 
>his/her character?

I've never tried this, but:  how about having them roll against intelligence
and modifying the result based on how much effort the player put into 
trying to solve the riddle before the roll.  The interest the character
has in solving the riddle is reflected by the effort of the player.

        Pam Keller      keller@calvin.Tymnet.COM
"Never underestimate the band width of a station wagon full of
tapes hurtling down the highway" - Tanenbaum
From: smayo@wang.com (Scott Mayo)
Subject: Re: SJG & TSR???!?!?!?!?!!?
Organization: Wang Labs, Lowell MA, USA
Date: Mon, 06 Apr 92 20:42:30 GMT
Keywords: SJG, TSR, merger

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

>In article <204296@unix.cis.pitt.edu> mbmst12@unix.cis.pitt.edu (Michael B Mullig) writes:
>>
>>	Would somebody please confirm or deny whether TSR and SJG have
>>merged together?
>>	I've heard that it was true, but I've also heard that it was a cruel
>>April Fool's joke.  I'm confused.  Help me out, please!
>>

>Yes, it is quite true.
>The new company has yet to have a name, but rumor is that...

You are being *astonishingly* cruel to the highly-gullible segment of this
audience.
--
"I forsee that you will meet a king, the father of the beautiful Princess
 Plote DeVice; and he will insist that you rescue her from the keep of the
 infamous Duke Carad Bored Vilan."    "Can we kill the DM now?"   "No."
smayo@wang.com
From: khise@conquest.ksu.ksu.edu (Martin Andrew Shobe)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: CHAMPS: question on turn sequencing
Date: 15 Apr 1992 10:05:58 -0500
Organization: Kansas State University
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: conquest.ksu.ksu.edu


In article <32886@darkstar.ucsc.edu>, demian@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (Anthony Jackson) writes:
>
>Without bearing on the issue of whether the abort to dodge is particularly
>efficient (having played in quite a lot of champions games, and played a
>number of martial artists, I've never found it particularly unbalanced) lets
>look at a simple matter of consistency in rules:
>
>You can abort to a defensive action; in games I've been in, at least, this
>includes 0 phase actions such as turning on a defense or switching a 
>multipower to a defensive slot.
>
>Suppose I have, say, +20/+20 armor, cannot attack while using armor.  
>I can abort to activate this power.  Now, when does the power end:
>a: when the phase I aborted comes up?
>b: when my next phase comes around, and I decide to turn it off.
>
>Obviously, b is correct.  Why should dodge be any different?  It's just a
>DCV bonus, cannot attack while using extra DCV.

Dodge is an action,  having armor is not.

Khise@matt.ksu.ksu.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: a_curtis@oz.plymouth.edu (Andrew M. Curtis)
Subject: Re: RAVENLOFT
Keywords: Undead, Ravenloft
Reply-To: a_curtis@oz.plymouth.edu (Andrew M. Curtis)
Organization: Plymouth State College - Plymouth, N.H.
Distribution: global 
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 92 19:16:11 GMT


>I wonder if there are any other parties out there with no or little healing and
>no fighters.  It was really a role-playing experience and a lot of pulling
>*hi* out of our a&&es!  Fun, fun, fun!!
>
>						Ghostwheel speaks...
>  


 Well, our party had plenty of Priests when we did 'Touch of Death'.
And we had a Paladin with 'lay on hands'.  This still us no good.  If
any of you have ever done 'Touch of Death' you know full well that
this module is out to destroy the party.  Undead attack in droves and
hordes and they are all out to destroy.  And you also know full well
that Ravenloft is the worst place to have a Paladin.  A Paladin in a
party of adventurers in Ravenloft is like carrying around a a blinking
neon sign saying...

'LAWFUL GOOD PALADIN' 'LAWFUL GOOD PALADIN' 'LAWFUL GOOD PALADIN'
'PARTY OF EVIL DESTROYING ADVENUTRERS HERE' ' COME AND GET US!!!'

Needless to say, the adventure was horrendous, but we all managed to
escape alive, but not before all the spell casters and clarics had
used up all their spells and the paladin was out of healing.  We also
took along with us several curses and two characters with mummy rot
who will die in 10 days or so.  We are now stranded on a tiny island
1500 miles away from where we want to be.  At least we got back and
all of us are alive (not for two of us in ten days though).

It is not a pretty sight...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--<Charon WhiteWater, Barbarian Cleric>--
--<Worshipper of The Great Wyrm Red Dragon>--
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
-->a_curtis@oz.plymouth.edu<--
*******************************************************************************
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: sasso@flounder.phy.anl.gov (John F. Sasso)
Subject: Re: Stormbringer 4th ed. review wanted
Organization: Argonne National Laboratory
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1992 18:41:11 GMT

In article <1992Apr10.084645.54369@cc.usu.edu> sl7sg@cc.usu.edu writes:
>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.
>

Take BRP from Chaosium, and give it to Ken StAndre of Tunnels and Trolls
fame to make it completely out of control, and you have Stormbringer.

Combat is a little more campy than RQ (you are allowed multiple parries),
and stats/chars can go through the roof (my Int 28 wizard...), magic
is bizarre and completely Elric-ish (summonings only).

You spend a lot of time appeasing gods and demons, making alliances, and
feeding your peasants to chaos demons (if you're a noble).

A truly fun game IMHO. Of course, I've never actually played it... ;-)


							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
From: gt3622a@prism.gatech.EDU (Jonathan Hart)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Paralysis effects
Date: 15 Apr 92 16:15:54 GMT
Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology

In article <167C14C38.MHART00@ricevm1.rice.edu> MHART00@ricevm1.rice.edu (mason hart) writes:
>
>A person held or paralyzed is essentially at the mercy of the person (?)
>responsible.  If an evil mage has your character paralyzed and the rest of
>the party out of the way, then your character will die.  The wizard will
>cut your throat and leave you to bleed your life away on the dungeon floor,
>unless he's REALLY stupid, and few evil wizards are.  Your only chance
>would be a magic item that can be activated by thought, as suggested above.
>
What happens if you're Psionic and paralyzed ?  

Can I still Psi Blast the mage or Telekinese objects onto/into/at him.

If paralysis only keeps your *BODY* from functioning then I would say yes.

Any other opinions ?

--Jon.


-- 
GEORGIA TECH YELLOW JACKETS -- #1 | JONATHAN HART  gt3622a@prism.gatech.edu
----------------------------------|-----------------------------------------
If this were a really interesting .sig file you might get a little chuckle  
out of it.  So, just pretend it's funny --- Go ahead and laugh.
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: sesharp@happy.colorado.edu
Subject: Re: GURPS: UlTRA Tech ?= Ultra Death??
Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder
Date: 7 Apr 92 20:36:11 MDT

High damage countered by high DR, with constant HT in between is indeed
a problem.  The obvious solution in Supers is to make extra hit points
cheap so that characters can be gradually worn down instead of being
unhurt or dead.  This has been pointed out to SJG, but they aren't even
willing to make hit points as cheap as DR despite their lower usefulness.
The usual way around this is to buy your extra hit points as ablative
DR.

In other genres, a solution would be to lower the damage and DR of the
weapons and armor into the same range for each.  As long as you don't
mix genres so that somebody cares about dino lasers and high power
rifles doing the same damage as arbalests, things stay balanced.  Before
third edition, guns only did 1d to 3d or so and Kevlar vests only had
DR 4, which balanced OK even if it wasn't realistic.  Some of those old
values persist in Ultra-Tech armor that is inferior to modern Kevlar.
There is also the problem that Kevlar stops a sledgehammer blow (except
for knockback).  I think SJG should provide separate tables for realistic
and cinematic damage.  In Cliffhangers, for example, guns should be mainly
there to fire uselessly before being thrown at the opponent as a prelude to
fisticuffs (watch some pulp movies if you don't believe me).

If actual PC mortality is an issue, don't forget to apply the Blow-through
rules.  If gatling lasers get to apply against DR only once because they
hit the same spot, they should be treated as a single shot for Blow-through
as well.

Steven Sharp
sesharp@happy.colorado.edu
From: dm841861@longs.LANCE.ColoState.EDU (Devin Moss)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: GM's Pain
Date: 14 Apr 92 22:28:06 GMT
Reply-To: dm841861@longs.LANCE.ColoState.EDU (Devin Moss)
Organization: Colorado State U. Center for Computer Assisted Engineering.


A group of Ultra-High level characters (3,000,001 xp.) (we are not
munchkins, we are power gamers) went stumbling into B3, The Throne of
Bloodstone.  This module contains a deadly castle, inhabited by a lich. 
The characters finally make it through the front door, and meet the lich.

Kender cleric (L23 or so): Who are you?

Lich:  Wha do you want?  (in slow, sepulchral voice)

Kender : I asked you first!!

Lich : You must leave or die. (stands, begins chanting)

Kender : He's being awful rude.  I turn him.

GM applying many, many, negative modifiers, rolls natural 20 on turn
roll. <sigh>.
 
GM:  The lich vanishes in a puff of black vapour....

===============================================================================
Devin D. Moss/ dm841861@longs.lance.colostate.edu
Dept. of Chemical Engineering,Colorado State U, Ft. Collins CO
USA, North America, Sol III, Sector 001

in memory of Issac Asimov (1920-1992)
From: joannm@hpcc01.corp.hp.com (JoAnn McGowan)
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1992 21:49:22 GMT
Subject: Slug-a-thon gaming con announcement
Organization: the HP Corporate notes server
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp


	                 Announcing the 7th

	            SLUG-A-THON GAMING CONVENTION

	               Saturday April 25, 1992 
	                  9:00AM - 10:30PM
           
	           Louden Nelson Community Center 
	           301 Center Street (At Center and Laurel)
	           Santa Cruz, California

         Games:                    FREE:
	 A D + D                   Games Registration
	 Adeptus Titannicus        Tournaments
	 Battletech                Flea Market
	 Car Wars                  Computer Games
	 Champions
	 Cyberpunk                 
	 Family Business           Playtest the 
	 Shadowrun                    Champions
	 The Hunt                  computer game!
         Warhammer
         Wiz-War 
         Live Wiz-War! (Accept no substitutes!)

         At the door: $8 ($7 if you wear a Slug-a-thon t-shirt)
	 Pre-register(before April 15): 
		      $5
		      $10 for registration and a t-shirt(M, L, XL)
         Send to: 1317 Norton St.
		  San Mateo, CA 94401

    Slug-a-thon is a production of The Association of Jason's Ex-Roommates
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp