HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: douglash@meaddata.com (Douglas Holzworth)
Subject: Re: Silly GM tricks
Organization: Mead Data Central, Dayton OH
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1992 16:13:14 GMT
Distribution: usa

In article <1992Apr9.222313.25130@sol.UVic.CA>, mmcalees@cs16.UVic.CA (Michael McAleese) writes:
|>   On a slightly different note (inspired by the tale of the illusory
|> gold coins over the acit pit), what's the silliest dungeon room you've
|> had the gall to inflict on your PCs?  My personal favorite had to be
|> one actually created by a friend of mine...
|> 
|> PCs: We open the door.
|> 
|> GM: You see a 20'x20' room with a door in the middle of the opposite side
|> of the room.  There is a single stalacmite hanging from the centre of the
|> ceiling.
|> 
|> PCs: Whaa?  Is the room a cave?  Is the ceiling rough?
|> 
|> GM: No.  The ceiling is flat aside from the stalacmite.  The stalacmite
|> looks thin, spindly and somehow... malnourished.
|> 
|> PCs: Uh, we cross the room, careful to avoid standing under the stalacmite.
|> 
|> GM: No problem.  You hear a small sigh escape the stalacmite.
|> 
|> ----------
|> Piercers get no respect in our worlds.
|> 

As poster of the "illusionary coins over the acid pit," let me say that I LOVE
this new thread!  Also, I blushingly admit that it WAS a silly room (but quickly
and defensively add that it is atypical of my usual style -- yeah, I'm sure
I've convinced anyone.  **Sigh**).

-- Doug, da DM
From: rhr9081@hertz.njit.edu (Ray Rich)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: GURPS: UlTRA Tech ?= Ultra Death??
Summary: Ablative (?) Armor
Keywords: GURPS DEATH ULTRA
Date: 8 Apr 92 22:57:22 GMT
Organization: New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, N.J.

In article <rsuelINNcgl@agate.berkeley.edu> labc-4ac@web-2e.berkeley.edu writes:
>I was playing inan extensive GURPS Supers/Ulta Tech game and we came accross
>an interesting problem with Ultra Tech, and to a lesser extent Supers.  With
>the amazingly HUGE numbers of dice involved in damage (20D6 dino-lasers) and
>the huge DR's of the super high tech armor, for us a hit was either bounced
>by armor, or fried the character.  The shot either didn't penetrate the armor
>or it penetrated with 10+ hitd and toasted the PC.  What ever happened to
>injury's??  Have other people had this problem?
>
> -=- Matthew L. Seidl
>
>ps. This came up first in a test combat, where the characters decked out
>in tech 8-9 weapons were sneeking arround a wood/stone building and the
>bad guy inside (wearing power armor) just walked through the wall, hosed
>the group with a gatling laser and took off at 40+ miles an hour.
>.


	One option is to make the armor ablative, that is damage which does
not penetrate reduces the effectiveness of the armor.  This produces a
"chipping away" effect that can get quite frightening to PCs who ONCE had
high DR armor.
	As for the high amounts of damage, the weapons you are using are 
designed for Megadeath.
	I face a worse dilemma in GURPS Supers where the armor is plentiful,
but general weapons are limited to standard 1990 tech stuff.  With the 
exception of heavy weapons, the party can pretty much jump in front of 
bullets without fear.  Mr. Blankenship gave me some excellent advice already,
but I'm curious to hear what other netters think about it.
	When characters have immense DR, how do you prevent an arms race with
lasers and other Megadeath weapons as cited above?


					Ray
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: betel@camelot.bradley.edu (Robert Crawford)
Subject: Re: Playing yourself in GURPS
Organization: Bradley University
Date: 11 Apr 92 16:34:26 GMT



	We've already come up with one of the advantages I would have
as a GURPS character -- Absolute Direction (except in parking lots).
It's a 10% limitation.

	Whaddya think?

--
Ro-man:  I have just eliminated one of the huuu---mannss.
Tom Servo:  Oooh, sounds painful.

Robert Crawford				betel@camelot.bradley.edu
From: dat91uni@ludat.lth.se (Urban Nilsson)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp,rec.games.rpg
Subject: A battle system for AD&D with Magic included ...
Keywords: ad&d,battle system,magic
Date: 14 Apr 92 06:31:28 GMT
Followup-To: rec.games.frp,dat91uni@ludat.lth.se
Organization: Computer Science, Lund University, Sweden

Hello all roleplayers !

In our roleplaying goup we have discussed if we shall develop a battlesystem
that include rules for how to handle Mages and all other kind of magic ...

I'm not in charge for the development my self so I'm not al that up to date
what different kind of battlesystems include. But if I'm not wrong there are
no battlesystem for AD&D that include magic, and rules for it ?!?!?

If there are someone out there in the world that have done something like this
for their campaign and like to share it with us we be _VERY_ happy.

Regards & thanks in advance ...

/ UNI

---
Lev Gott ...    , Have a nice life ...

Urban Nilsson  (UNI)
Internet:      dat91uni@ludat.lth.se
Phone, voice:  +46 42 182154
---
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: alejanrd@ian.cs.rose-hulman.edu (Raymond D. Alejandro)
Subject: Re: SRUNMagicalness(again)
Organization: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1992 15:07:13 GMT


In article <thornt_g.702615440@kultarr>, thornt_g@cs.uwa.oz.au (Sebastian Nobwit DeLaBler) writes:

|> It's not that I mind magical people doing stuff, not at all! 
|> But they do it so EASILY! The spell always works, (yes I know
|> there's drain) and someone goes down. Using the shadowrun rules
|> only, there's also no ingredients, gestures, or time required
|> to cast these damn powerful spells.  It's also the fact that 
|> they can do basically anything! The mage usually has:
|> - some kind of armour spell lock thingy, making him tough.
|> - some king of enhanced reflexes lock thingy, making him fast.
|> - some kind of elemental thingy making him even more powerful.
|> - some kind of combat specialisation thingy making his combat
|>   spells even better.
|> - some kind of mega-blast fireball/sleep against which there is
|>   (or seems to be) very little resistance.
|> - some kind of healing spells.
|> - some kind of masking spells. 
|> What else do you need to be able to do? The mage can do it all.
|> 

I beleive what we have here is a general case of rules rape.  OK, so this guy has
everything locked.  It is up to the GM to balance the game and make poor little
mage PAY for having numerous spell locks that jump out and say "HERE I AM!!!" To
anyone in Astral Space.  

Yes mages can seem to become omnipotent.  However, if you restrict HEALTH spells
from being locked or quickened then balance has come a long way to being
restored.  

Now, if you want grenades to become lethal, use the 'power through volume'
technique.  Since all grenades go off at the end of the combat round (reaction
phase zero) have all of you characters pitch a grenade on their last action.  As
the effects are cumulative, BIG nasty explosion.  (Note not to be used by people
who don't know how to throw.)

Ray Alejandro
From: bonar@math.rutgers.edu (Doug Bonar)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Swashbucklers vs. Knights in Armour,and more!
Date: 16 Apr 92 15:27:38 GMT
Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.

I second Jeff's comment.  I don't think it matters (or can be
determined) "who would win" in "real life" in a single combat
Fenser vs. Armored Knight.  (I'm not even sure what the armored
knight is taken to mean.  Could it, for example, mean a character
who knows fensing techniques and is wearing armor?  )  On person
is being rated on a skill and the other on what he is wearing. 
Even if you  fix the definitions, it still depends on too many
variables for me to think that the question can be decided once
and for all.

BUT, that doesn't mean it isn't a good question.  One thing I
think about in any RPG combat system is what is a rational fighting
style in that system.  In D&D, armor is.  There is little or 
no penalty for wearing armor and it does help, so rationally everyone
should wear it.  It Rolemaster, it isn't so clear.  In fact, it
seems to me that low level characters are better off w/o armor
(since they can't have bought maneuver in armor skill up high 
enough).  

The game system models the world.  Then the society of the gaming
area (including tech level) modifies the people's ideas of what 
makes sense.  So, the gaming system and whatever social factors 
you (as GM ) include should explain why people in the world act
as they do.  If the game system says that martial artists are gods
and martial arts are known in the area, then the people in the
area had better react rationally and deal with martial arts.  If
fensers wipe the floor with armored knights, then the palace guard
should at least be lead by a fenser (and probably isn't all a bunch
of heavily armored goons).  

Remember, the gaming world is much more real seeming if the actions
of the NPC's can be understood by the players, and if the 
restrictions placed on the players actions follow rationally
from the world set-up.

Doug
bonar@math.rutgers.edu
From: esper@cs35b.cs.umn.edu (Dave Sherohman)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Inspired character names
Date: 15 Apr 92 17:57:47 GMT
Article-I.D.: news2.1992Apr15.175747.1923
Organization: University of Minnesota

Anyone for an elven fighter/m-u named Dusty Violin?  (My character from the one
ongoing campaign I played in high school - our group usually got together, then
decided what system to play, then made characters since we didn't have any old
groups of PCs around.)  How about a female Super Monty-Hauler named Robin
Kellog (I was stuck for a name and happened to look at a box of cereal...)
(What's a Super Monty-Hauler?  How do you make one?  For stats, roll 5d100+500.
Don't worry about XP.  Instead, grab every die you can get your hands on, roll
them all, add them up, multiply by 100, and divide that many levels up among as
many classes as you want (Robin was a low-grade SMH - she only had a total of
21,700 levels...).  You get the general idea...)

esper@ima.umn.edu
From: cspas041@eursus (Kwek)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Blind mages
Summary: Got a blind mage problem
Keywords: Blind mages
Date: 10 Apr 92 16:11:28 GMT
Organization: Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam
Originator: news@mailgate.eur.nl


I'm currently DM-ing a campain in wich the party have just met up with
this blind man and this young boy. I was originally planning on making
the old man a Diviner, to make up for his loss of sight, but all the
divination spells recuire him to stand still and concentrate for a turn
and when he does that he can only scan a 10' wide path 30' long or
something. Now I know I can just introduce some kind of new magical
item wich allows him to see, but I've always hated DM's who tried to
solve problems with dimension shifts and time distortions and other
easy ways out. 

Does anybody have any suggestions on how I can handle this ?

 Erwin
 cspas041@sus.eur.nl


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                      Signature withheld by request

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: alongley@cape.UWaterloo.ca (Allan Longley)
Subject: Re: ADND2: Help with Dual-Class
Organization: University of Waterloo
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1992 17:20:34 GMT

In article <UdsQ0Ku00UhW41sc5Z@andrew.cmu.edu> kq07+@andrew.cmu.edu (Kevin P. Quigley) writes:

>Why can't a magic-user pick up a sword and take a few lessons.

Because a person cannot learn to effectively use a sword in just a few
lessons.  It is a difficult weapon to learn.  A mage could always pick up a
sword, but would fight at non-proficiency penalty.  I have a house rule for
this; any weapon is available to any class, but if its not normally a weapon
of your class than it takes 2 weapon proficieny slots to learn.
 
>but this [a character] must have a really high ability in
>both classes just doesn't work for me

To be a master of multiple trades you must be very gifted.  Remember than
when you become first level in a class you are an expert in the class, not
just a casual novice.

>as well as the no experience if you revert before your reach an equal level.

You get no experience for the particular actions were you used your "old"
abilities.  How do you gain experience as a spell-caster when you just slew
the monster with your sword?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Allan Longley, University of Waterloo, Department of Chemical Engineering
e-mail: alongley@cape.uwaterloo.ca
voice: (519) 885-1211 x3816		Few people recieve degrees in more
home: (519) 746-5747			that one discipline
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: ross@zooid.guild.org (Ross Ridge)
Subject: Re: AD&D:  So what happens when ...
Organization: The Zoo of Ids
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1992 20:44:49 GMT

alongley@cape.UWaterloo.ca (Allan Longley) writes:
>	(a) Turn a Bag of Holding inside-out?

DM's option, but I'd say by doing so you temporarily close the gateway
to the extra-dimentional space (leaving everying there intact).
It would be intesting for players to discover a mundane looking bag
turned inside out (maybe not obviously), not revealing it's true
nature until someone turns it "inside-in".

>	(b) Cast Chainlightning in a Rope Trick?

Nothing special, just like casting Chainlightning in any closed room.
The lightning (or any spell or spell affect) can't leave or enter
the extra dimentional space.

>	(c) Cast Rope Trick inside a Rope Trick and the first one ends?

It's noted in the spell discription that creating or bringing
extra-dimentional spaces into existing extra-dimentional spaces is
very dangerous.  If you want to be nice just have the player(s) sucked
into the Astral plane when they try to cast the second spell.

>	(d) Eat the horse summoned by Mount?
>	(e) Feed people Troll pieces?

I'd say that eating something counts as disintegration when it's
all digested.  Being "disintegrated", there isn't anything to
vanish away or regenerate.  However, eating a Troll is likely to
at least make you very sick, if they're even digestable at all.

>	(f) Are an elf polymorphed into a Fire Giant and are about to have
>	    children with your new Fire Giant wife?

Polymorph is a complete genetic transformation, the elf as a Fire Giant
retains none of his elf genes, so any children of this union are 
perfectly normal Fire Giants.

							Ross Ridge

-- 
Ross Ridge - The Great HTMU					     l/	 //
								    [OO][oo]
ross@zooid.guild.org						    /()\/()/
uunet.ca!torag!zooid!ross					     db	 //
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: tsang@cs.washington.edu (Donald Tsang)
Subject: Re: CHAMP: 1/2d6 vs d6-1
Organization: Computer Science & Engineering, U. of Washington, Seattle
Distribution: usa
Date: Sun, 12 Apr 92 22:37:31 GMT

In article <> stoodt@cis.umassd.edu (Michael Stoodt) writes:
>The "-1 Stun Multiple" limitation (i.e. roll 1D6-2, minimum 1) appears
>in Adventurers Club issue 3 (Winter 1983!!), and is indeed a -1/2
>limitation, but can only be taken once; another limitation, "Stun
>Multiple of 1" (no roll, stun damage = body) is a -1 limitation.

Not any more.  That was much too powerful for the effect.

Now it's -3/4: Power does no STUN.      Page 109, 4th Ed.

Not that this power can't do any stun... the kicker is that whenever
you do one Body pip of damage, you do a (nonrecoverable) point of Stun.
It won't heal back until the Body does.

What of the lesser effects?  Interpolating, we might get:
    -1/4: Stun mod of 1d6-2 (1,1,1,2,3,4)
    -1/2: Stun mod of 1d6-4 (1,1,1,1,1,2)


-- 
Donald Tsang                    "Ho!  Haha!  Guard!  Turn!  Parry!  Dodge!
tsang@june.cs.washington.edu     Spin!  Ha!  Thrust!"
..!uw-beaver!june!tsang                       -- Robin Hood Daffy
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: mark@trillian.jsc.nasa.gov (Mark Manning)
Subject: Re: Some older Riddles
Organization: Simulacron I
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1992 15:19:58 GMT

In article <1992Apr9.143607.9815@cs.tcd.ie>, droe@cs.tcd.ie (David Roe) writes:

> This is obviously meant in fun, but since we're all being so
> moraly correct around r.g.f these days I would like to point 
> out that this psuedo-oirish shite makes everyone here grind 
> their teeth and spit blood. Dont do it, stereotypes affect 
> everyone.
> 
> 
> BTW Where did this idea of this being an Irish riddle come from?
> St. Ives is in England as far as I know.
> 
> 	Dave Roe.

Well, first off - I am Irish.  My mom is Irish, my dad was Irish (deceased).
And so long as you don't get my mom mad - she doesn't talk like I
typed.  But when she's mad - you better watch out!  And she does
get into talking like that.  Besides which - are you trying to say
that it is totally wrong to write like that?  I happen to write stories
for myself and a few friends and I use all sorts of dialects.  So when
I think it appropriate - I write how I would say it.  And I'll thank
you NOT to tell me to do otherwise.  For I'll do it with or without
your permission anyway.

Further, what gives you the right to make such a blanket statement as
"everyone"?  You aren't the moral majority are you?  One lone voice
speaking in the wilderness is great.  But I THINK - everyone else
KNEW it was a joke (or at least I _hope_ everyone was smart enough
to know that!).  So lighten up.

As I responsed to Larry (I think?) in e-mail:  The reason I thought
it was an Irish riddle was because my mom told it to me and she had
learned it from her mom.  It was my sole source of input on this
riddle - thus...  Also, not ever having lived in England or Ireland,
I have nothing more than a vague concept of where everything is
located in that country (I got better though :-)  - I played KingMaker
(tm) from Avalon Hills).  So as far as I knew - St. Ives was simply
located in Ireland somewhere.  I'm still not sure exactly where it
is, but I believe it to be somewhere near the southern part of Ireland
or the northern part of Great Britain.  If someone who lives in England
would be so kind as to let us know, I'm sure we can go on to other,
more productive, conversations.  This one is really getting us nowhere
fast.

Later dude.
Like - Wow!  Gag me with a spoon - ya know?  Barf-a-cola!
So I'recon I'll just mosey along now.
Ya'll come back now - ya hear?
;-)

Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: laurence@cco.caltech.edu (Dustin Lee Laurence)
Subject: Re: HERO New Magic System advice wanted
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1992 23:58:53 GMT

dlc@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Dennis Clark) writes:

>akuma@netcom.com (Steven E Barnes) writes:

>> This is similar to a system I used.  I would have the mage buy a spell
>> pool, but rather than use standard VPP mechanics, characters would
>> apply limitations to their pool which would multiply the effectiveness
>> of the pool.  Example:
>> 
>>     casting a spell with: gestures (1/4), incantations (1/4), 
>>     skill roll (1/2), focus (1/2), concentration (1/2) = +2 lim.
>>     when applied to a 20 point pool, it would allow casting 60
>>     active point spells.

>  Umm.  According to the rules you can't modify the VPP pool with the lims
>or advantages, only the cost of getting the pool (what was that, 5% 10%
>or somesuch the cost of the pool?)

But he said that he was not using the standard rules.

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

laurence@alice.wonderland.caltech.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: sesharp@happy.colorado.edu
Subject: Re: GURPS combat time.
Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder
Date: 9 Apr 92 00:50:40 MDT


yingst@milori.ccit.arizona.edu (JIM YINGST) writes

>In games I've played in, we always went with the optional rule that made a "to
>hit" role a *quick* contest between weapon skill and defense skill, in order to
>speed up combat.  This tended to limit the usefulness of the feint; I can't re-
>member anyone using it.  But it seems to me that if defensive rolls are
>relatively easy to make (which they usually are not, given the optional rule), 
>then feinting would be an attractive option which would lead to the effect 
>described above.  Do most people use the optional rule?  Without it, do people 
>try feinting?  If not, how about adding a few points to everyone's defensive
>skills?  I'd like to know what people think.

Add points to defenses under standard rules?  Yipes!  They are already in 
the 14-16+ range.  Increasing defenses would make taking the extra shots in
hopes of a critical more attractive than feinting.  If I were to make any
changes to increase feinting, it would be to give a bonus to the attacker 
on the contest of skills.  As it stands, analysis says there is no benefit
to wasting a blow on a feint if you aren't more skilled than your opponent.
From fencing experience I can say that feinting is useful against a better
opponent (direct attacks never hit).

I have several problems with the quick contest method.  First of all, if the
probability of successfully defending falls below 50%, the best tactic is
to All-Out Attack at all times (in single combat anyway).  This at least
doubles the number of blows hitting while taking less than double the 
number of blows in return.  Combat would degenerate into who can kill whom
with All-Out Attacks most quickly.  The second problem is that even if the
combats were balanced at some particular skill level, as levels advanced
the offense would rise twice as fast as the defenses.  It also discourages
aimed shots for any but the most skilled, but if you are trying to simplify
combat, hit locations may not be used anyway.  I like the color they add.

If I were to use a quick contest type system, I would use attacker weapon
skill vs. full defender weapon or shield skill plus PD, with PD values
reduced from the current levels to make hitting reasonably likely.  This 
gives defense chances above 50% for evenly matched opponents and maintains
the same balance for all skills with the same relative difference.  It still
stacks the deck heavily in favor of the better fighter and increases the
pressure for a skills race, but it might work.  The existing quick system
looks unworkable if the players analyze it for the best tactics.

Steven Sharp
sesharp@happy.colorado.edu