HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: mwasson@uhunix.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu (Michael Wasson)
Subject: Re: CHAMPIONS: Endurance Batteries
Organization: University of Hawaii
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1992 08:34:41 GMT



>> 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,
                                                         ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Yes! In 4th ed (or whatever we're up to. The big book) End btty is
too cheap. Raise the cost -- I think what we did was kept the cheap
Rec (otherwise why buy it?) but made the End 2/1 or even 1/1. There
might be non-focus uses for it, like: A wizard whose "manna" was
innate but not connect to his/her physical endurance.

-----------------------------------------------
mike @ u of hawaii
"What th-? Web in my eye?!?"
From: dsimkins@yang.earlham.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: <None>
Date: 14 Apr 92 00:59:23 GMT
Organization: Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana

In article <1992Apr8.013433.865@drycas.club.cc.cmu.edu>, rca@drycas.club.cc.cmu.edu writes:
> 
(stuff deleted)

> The male-centric attitudes of some areas were not of course added to
> be dicriminatory against female players.  They probably come from some
> vague notions I have about feudal Europe that have unconsciously
> seeped into my design.  Nevertheless, there they are.  I tried to balance
> things out with a gynarchical society or two, where men are just grunting
> laborers and the women have the power, but I have so few real-world role
> models to follow (any suggestions, by the way?).  As such, any player
> who plays a female character must occasionally contend with prejudices,
> and sometimes laws which discriminate against them.  (Of course the same

(more stuff deleted)

Part of the problem with trying to find models of true matriarchical 
societies in history is that there really aren't many.  In fact, I cant 
think of a single one which is very well documented.  Part of this problem 
may be that archeologists and historians will tend to interpret remains in 
ways which they see as plausible.  Matriarchies are rare enough to appear 
historically implausible.  On the other hand, there are several accounts of 
matriarchies in mythology, and if you are not interested in necessarily a 
pure matriarchy, there are certainly societies which have less sexual 
differentiation than others.  There were Anglo-Saxon queens.  In fact, 
only those German tribes which followed the Salian law were prohibited 
from having female rulers.
	Feel free to just make one out of whole cloth, or modify a real 
society to taste.  After all, simply because something looks historically 
or developmentally implausible does not mean that it is socially 
implausible.  If you feel like being Machiavellian about it, part of the 
reason that there are no matriarchies in human society is that males tend 
to significantly outmass females which gives them a very significant 
advantage in hand to hand combat (between two people of equal skill).  
This may be a cause of male superiority in your world, but that should not 
necessarily mean that player characters are forced to be non-fighters or 
that they should be any less than equal to any man in potential. They are 
the player characters and should have the right to be the exception if 
they would like to be.  Sometimes it is interesting to play an oppressed 
group.  Maybe I am intruiged by this because, besides my age, I am not in 
any groups which are particularly oppressed.  I guess thats why I always 
wanted to play a goblin.  (I also never liked the classification of orcs 
and goblins as evil.  That immediately trivializes any social structure 
that they might have, leaving no room for interesting exploration.  I 
guess thats why I like RuneQuest Trolls.)

Anyway, I hope this helped.  I will try to think of some more unusual 
mythical matriarchies than the typical Amazons warrior types.

David Simkins
dsimkins@yang.earlham.edu
From: fj05+@andrew.cmu.edu (Faisal Nameer Jawdat)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Gamma World
Date: 16 Apr 92 09:06:33 GMT
	<1992Apr15.171503.626@muddcs.claremont.edu>
Organization: Freshman, Physics, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA

>Makes me feel old - i played the original Gamma World way back when...

grey cover...
before the days of "game balance"
those were the good old days...
From: Mannie.The.Groo@f6008.n124.z1.fidonet.org (Mannie The Groo)
Sender: FredGate@ocitor.fidonet
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Old Dieties and Demigods
Date: Thu, 09 Apr 1992 15:01:04

BP>Tell you what, if anybody wants my books (the three basic ones,
  >GDgH, and Greyhawk, Blackmoor, and Eldritch Wizardry) I'll throw in
  >the Deities and Demigods free.

BP>Do you think $ 41 dollars would be fair?

What's this?  Another April Fools joke?

If you accept that little for your books, you're ripping yourself off.
The Deities & Demigods alone is worth more than that.

By the way, anybody know what a mint condition Fiend Folio is going for
these days?  I saw an ad (Wargamer's West?) in Dragon a few months ago
which listed it for sale at about $80.00  That's retail of course, but
it still seems high.


 * SLMR 2.1a * "Ho! Haha! Guard! Turn! Parry! Dodge! Spin! Ha! Thrust!"

 * Origin: Meridian -=- (214) 235-3164 -=- Dallas, Tx. (1:124/6008)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: laurence@cco.caltech.edu (Dustin Lee Laurence)
Subject: Re: HERO: critical hits (was Re: CHAMP: 1/2d6 vs d6-1)
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1992 05:49:43 GMT

dicksion@uhunix.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu (Matthew W. Dicksion) writes:

>Um... I can tell there are many more Champions players than Fantasy Hero
>players on the net.  First of all, the critical hit rules in 4th ed. Hero
>are way worse than most of you seem to think.  They work like this: if I
>roll less than half of what i need to hit you, you take max damage from
>the attack.  Thus, if I need a 12- to hit you, I score a crit on an 5-.
>Furthermore, this rule is not only in Ninja Hero, it is also in Fantasy Hero

No one disputes your point so far.

>and, in fact, in the Hero rulebook itself (somewhere around Hit Location).

Hmm, I'll have to check this out.

>Yes, it is optional.  Yes, it makes combat more lethal.  There are,
>in fact, players such as myself who *like* the added lethality, so don't go
>off screaming at people not to use crits.  In fact, we play with hit location
>as well.  This is why xd6-1 attacks become way more powerful than their
>'equivalent' x+1/2d6 attacks: max damage matters more.

That's why it's there.  For that matter, we have always used hit
locations even for supers.  As for which dicing aproximation is better
when using criticals, I think I'll just use thirds of a dice.  Note
that the maximum on a 2/3 dice is 4, not three or five as with the
other systems.  I stated in another post that the difference is usually
unimportant; you have convinced me that when using this rule to insist
on fractional dice for my own games.

[reasonable argument for the use of crits deleted]

>In order to kill you outright I would have to score
>a crit with a decent attack (say 2d6) on an unarmoured x2 body location.
>Very, very rare.

Sure; it's rare for an uninjured character to die from a single blow.
That's even reasonable.  But characters that take a critical after
being hit solidly once or twice normally are going to die with greater
regularity.  I'm not arguing against crits, just pointing out the
consequences.

>At best I could do 24 body with one whack, and even then,
>heal is only 5 points per die,

A power whose use I've normally disallowed in FH.  D&D healing indeed.

That said, I sometimes use the criticals too.  It's campaign dependent.
But sometimes a very good idea.

>--Matt Dicksion     (from a small rock in a big pond)

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

laurence@alice.wonderland.caltech.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: mark@trillian.jsc.nasa.gov (Mark Manning)
Subject: Re: The Undead and level loss
Organization: Simulacron I
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1992 16:25:31 GMT

Actually, after thinking about it somewhat, I have to amend my former
post.  In Simulacron I there are a lot of ways undead can drain a
character.  The first is by experience points, the second is by stats
alone.  When more than half of the stats are below zero (0) then the
person dies.  With undead, the character becomes an undead.

Undead also have everything listed as minuses which, to them, act no
different than the "normal" positive numbers everyone else uses.
However, it makes it a lot easier for myself to keep track of _eaten_
eps when I keep everything as negative numbers.

The stat eaters are a lot worse than the eps eaters because they can
lower your ability to defend yourself.  Further, should the creature be
of the type which affects your knowledge you can find yourself forgetting
how to cast those higher level spells a lot of people are fond of.

All that aside - I still vote for the battery idea myself and others have
presented.  It may be whimpy, but it is a plausible idea.

A second idea is that the undead don't get to drain automatically.  Maybe
you could make it like a test of wills.  If the player fails then he/she/it
is drained.  Otherwise it is just a normal hit.  In AD&D you could use the
ST vs Magic.  Don't know what system you are using.  So try this and see
if it works.
From: jik20815@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (John Iv Kovacik)
Subject: HERO New Magic System advice wanted
Keywords: Hero
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Sun, 12 Apr 1992 17:54:42 GMT

Hello all. 

A couple of friends and I were discussing ways to have a workable magic system
in Hero that makes the wizards really useful without making them too powerful
(at least at first). 

What we've come up with is essentially the following. 

In order to use magic, you must have a VPP with the advantages 0 phase to 
change (+1) and doesn't require skill roll (+1), but with the limitations
that each power must have Gestures, Incantations, and Requires Magic Skill 
roll (-1).

Characters must also have an endurance reserve to power all the spells they
cast, and the recover _must_ be bought down on the time chart (minimum 5 min).

Characters are only able to cast spells in areas they know. Thus all characters
must have Magic Skill plus knowledge skills in various types of magic. 

Knowledge Skills so far:

Fire: Allows flame bolts, flaming swords, immunity to flame (Life Support + 
	Force Field)...
Air: Allows Flight, TK, Lightning bolts...
Earth: Density increase, force walls...
Water             
Weather
Alchemy: Allows Transformations (mostly non-living only)
Necromancy: Allows healing, animate dead...
Wards: Force Fields, -Walls...
Metamagic: Dispells and Supress...
Illusion
Enchantment: Mental Powers

Any comments? Any suggestions for new skills? Anyone else do this? 

					- Biff the Wonder Twit
From: ratinox@meceng.coe.northeastern.edu (Richard Pieri/Stainless Steel Rat)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: SRUN: Heavy weapons as sidearms
Date: 14 Apr 92 16:38:36 GMT
Article-I.D.: splinter.RATINOX.92Apr14123836
	<RATINOX.92Apr10191725@splinter.coe.northeastern.edu>
	<1992Apr13.122146@kazoo.ssd.loral.com>
Reply-To: ratinox@meceng.coe.northeastern.edu
Organization: 3WA, Boston Office. Or Nu Meta Chi. Take your pick.
In-reply-to: brunner@kazoo.ssd.loral.com's message of 13 Apr 92 19:21:46 GMT
X-Signature-Virus-Protection: Version 1.51
X-Quote: "Nice boy, but about as sharp as a sack of wet mice."
X-Quote: -- Foghorn Leghorn
X-Posting-Software: GNUS 3.14.1 [ NNTP-based News Reader for GNU Emacs ]

>>>>> On 13 Apr 92 19:21:46 GMT, brunner@kazoo.ssd.loral.com (Brian Brunner) said:

brunner> With no intentions but to inflame the network, Brunner leaps in...

!!Peronsally, I like medium caliber (9mm) machine pistols. Small, deadly, and
!!you can fit a sound supressor on them quite easilly.

brunner> The 9mm is really just a .45 Cal  on stun.

Ah, 9mm semiautomatic pistols, sure. Most of the machine pistols and SMGs
in the world use 9x19mm ammo (the M3A1 being a notable exception), though.

--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.
From: nesiusra@sage.cc.purdue.edu (Keith)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: SRun: Into the Shadows (Attn: Ben Goodwin)
Keywords: Shadowrun, SR, SRun, SHADOWRUN
Date: 7 Apr 92 17:05:43 GMT
Organization: the Wildways Foundation


  Hoi Ben Goodwin,

  As I cannot seem to get a response to you from any of my channels, I am
  forced to respond to you on the net.

  First of all, I am happy that you enjoyed your first game of Shadowrun

  Secondly, As to firing missiles in "tunnels" I have a few suggestions that
    you may wish to consider.

    1.  The backlash will travel a good distance.  Think of the old AD&D
      Fireball spell in the 10 X 10 corridor.  I think you will get the
      hint.

    2.  If the missiles fired by the all-to-smug troll will blow up the guys
      and their armor, I SEVERELY doubt the Ak's will have survived the
      bang-up as well...

    3.  In sewers, there is often this subject known as a "background count"
      which many people seem to forget.  Most of the time it is just a 1,
      but if you are REALLY close to a Corp Trash Tube, then it could be as
      high as a 3.  All the magicians target numbers are modified against
      him/her accordingly.  And no, NOT ALL sewer tunnels have this BC rating,
      only the REALLY bad places.

    4.  Another problem with anything explosive and/or flamatory in a tunnel
      that most people seem to forget is something known as Methane.   Most
      waste can produce this reactive gas.  Again, Methane will not be 
      everywhere, but in just the right place, this could really liven things
      up a bit.

  Third, most corps will provide a wage mage type to accompany most response
    teams.  Think of a response team as a "Corp Shadowrun Team" and just cut
    back the gear a bit to reflect the average corps' "stinginess."  Again
    remember this is not always so, but it does open up possibilities...

  But in any way, I am glad you tried it out.  I give you happy regards and
  the best of wishes for your surrival (hehehe, yeah right, in the Sprawl?).

  Shivowtnoeh (Keith- nesiusra@sage.cc.purdue.edu)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: johnf@apollo.hp.com (John Francis)
Subject: Re: Inspired character names
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Corporation, Chelmsford, MA
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1992 18:31:21 GMT

In article <15Apr92065528@miracle.com> sue%miracle@merk.com (The Dragon Queen) writes:
>Well, one more thread can't hurt..... :-)
>
>Here's a question:  What's the silliest or most unusual name you've
>ever given a character?
>
The best name I can remember was from one of my players.  He reasoned
that as hobbits have names that seem to end in -o (Frodo, Bilbo, . .)
he would call his hobbit thief . . . . . Velcro.


Odd names:  I've had characters called Strigel & Micrathen.
Can anyone spot the connection?

[If you get it right, you should be able to tell what race Micrathen was].

Oh yes, there's also my current character - Dork.  (He's appears to be a
big, strong, barbarian.  Do *you* want to tell him Dork is a stupid name?).
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: sjs28257@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Steve Stelter)
Subject: Re: Inspired character names
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1992 20:44:25 GMT

cobra@garfield.catt.ncsu.edu (Brian Dunphy) writes:

>Last summer we started a campaign where I played a (stupid) half-orc.
>His name was something like:
>Hruggbf

>When trying to pronounce it, think of sorta a cross between a cough and 
>clearing your throat.  I'm not big on the spelling, since he couldn't spell
>who cared how it was spelled.
>Ahhh, it was funning being stupid.  I miss the good old days...


I can relate.  I once played an alien in Hunter Planet with the name
"Aaaaaaaaack."  (Well, it's been a while; I don't know if I have the
proper number of a's...but the emotional effect should remain intact.)


                          --Steve "Not THE Aaaaaaaaack?" Stelter
From: sl7sg@cc.usu.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re:  Steve Jackson Games is gone?
Date: 9 Apr 92 04:40:38 GMT
Article-I.D.: cc.1992Apr8.224038.54316
Organization: Utah State University

In article <loydb.2761@fnordbox.UUCP>, loydb@fnordbox.UUCP (Loyd Blankenship) writes:
> laurence@cco.caltech.edu (Dustin Lee Laurence) writes:
>>IK20001@MAINE.MAINE.EDU (Society for Creative Solipsism) writes:
>>
>>>Oh for Christ's Sake....  Loyd????  Loyd Blankenship?  Settle all
>>>this *please*.
>>
>>What was the net.consensus for the value of Psych. Lim.: No Sense
>>Of Humor?  -5 or -10 points?
>>
> 
> Sorry, Bruce Heard (my new boss here at TSR) won't let me answer questions
> on the net. :-)

	Is that Pat Robertson, through IBM, throught TSR?  

		We WILL uncover this conspiracy, and it AIN'T very dark!

	   Shade Pendragon
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: rayres@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Russell W Ayres)
Subject: Re: GURPS combat time.
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1992 12:26:49 GMT

In article <33340017@hpcndaw.CND.HP.COM> sem@hpcndaw.CND.HP.COM (Steve Mullins)
 writes:
>Does anyone have any ideas for how to lengthen the simulated time for
>
>A combat variation we tried was to subtract 1 from skill for each
>consecutive blow, and restore one for each non-Move/Attack.  The intent
>was to decrease the average number of blows per second, and thus extend
>the number of turns used for the combat.  (What actually happened was
>that the fighters simply accepted the accumulating penalty for about 5
>turns before "resting."  Perhaps it would have been more effective to
>levy the penalty against *damage* as well ...)
>
>Any suggestions?
>
>St. Mullins

Your suggestion of levying a penalty against skill per consecutive blow makes a
lot of sense; it allows for "short-term battle fatigue" (not swinging that 
sword for one second will probably be a good thing for the old arm.)  If you 
find that's not enough, you could raise the penalty to -2/consec. blow; or you
could vary it depending on strength and weight of weapon.  Alternatively, you 
could have your NPCs/monsters retreat and maneuver more (rather than the 
toe-to-toe slugging matches which, I admit, my combats often turn into as 
well), which would make the PCs maneuver to reach them.  There IS a lot more 
movement in "real" combat than there tends to be in GURPS combat.

Keep in mind that if you lengthen combat time, PCs (and NPCs) are going to be 
paying that "first ten seconds" fatigue cost a lot earlier in the battle.  Not 
that this is necessarily a bad thing.

Let's keep throwing out suggestions on this one; it deserves good discussion.

--Bill
From: jwadsley@vaxc.cc.monash.edu.au
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: RQ: Heroquesting? What is it?
Date: 8 Apr 92 06:25:21 GMT

Does anyone out there know where I can get some decent HeroQuesting
information. I regularly play 3rd Edition Runequest and have Glorantha (
Genertela ), Gods and Elder Secrets supplements. None of these are any help
regarding HeroQuesting. I have a feeling that HeroQuesting is covered in
earlier ( 2nd Ed. ) material.
i] Can anyone point me towards where I can find published info on HeroQuesting?
ii] Can anyone tell me a few things about it anyway?
iii] People who make up their own HeroQuests: What guidelines do you use?

Thanks in advance,
James Wadsley
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: alongley@cape.UWaterloo.ca (Allan Longley)
Subject: Re: BigBusiness (was Re: aaaghhh, what has TSR done!!!)
Keywords: dickweed
Organization: University of Waterloo
Date: Mon, 6 Apr 1992 03:06:37 GMT

In article <1992Apr4.012338.13708@nevada.edu> wildcard@nevada.edu 
( WildCard !!) writes:
>In article <1992Apr3.235117.1379@njitgw.njit.edu> rhr9081@hertz.njit.edu 
>(Ray Rich) writes:

>>TSR sold out to the Moral Majority, who are determined to "save" TSR
>>and role-players everywhere. 

>TSR is a business.  What business does is a)make money and b)stay in business.
>That is it's full function and the meaning of its existence.

Rule number 1 to accomplish the above:
	Keep your customers happy, they're your best advertising!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Allan Longley, University of Waterloo, Department of Chemical Engineering
e-mail: alongley@cape.uwaterloo.ca
voice: (519) 885-1211 x3816		A similar mentality has lead to the
home: (519) 746-5747			environmental nightmare we now face
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: jonas@ipcsun1.his.se (Jonas Mellin)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Was Re: Why do people like D+D/AD+D
Date: 7 Apr 92 11:22:58 GMT
	<1992Mar31.120951.1@wharton.upenn.edu> <2128@ks25.chi.il.us>
	<1992Apr3.171135.17218@umbc3.umbc.edu>
	<1992Apr3.201802.15612@nic.unh.edu>
Organization: University of Skoevde, Skoevde
In-reply-to: B_LUND1@unhh.unh.edu's message of 3 Apr 92 20:18:02 GMT

.... text deleted
>   | Not funny...Apparently you have't read the last page in the 1st Edition DM's
>   | guide which allows unlimited rule flexibility for each DM. If you find a better
>   | way of conducting combat or whatever else then go for it. They are guidelines
>   | not set in stone! 
.... text deleted
>	   2nd ed. has a "rule" in it that says you can change/keep/trash
>   anything you want as you see fit.  The books are "guides"; you don't _have_
>   to obey every rule in it.

I apologize for the bad joke, that started this, to make all people that
take things to seriously happy. I did not mean to upset people. I must
admit that I can actually enjoy playing AD&D, but I am just fed GMing
the monster. I mainly dislike the inconsistencies in the system.

Is there any system that does not include the rule that you can change
anything within the system as you like?

--
Disclaimer: Even a blind man may know how to C.
  	    Cynic is just my second name. Nihilism is my third.
    _____________________________________________
   /      /  /    /   /\  /    /      /| /|	|E-mail: jonas@his.se
  /      /--/	 /    \  /    /	     / |/ | 	|UUCP:   ...!sunic!his!jonas
 /      /  /	/    \/ / /  /      /     |	|Phone:  +46 500 77692
/______________________/  \_/ onas /      |ellin|Fax:    +46 500 16325
Snailmail: Jonas Mellin,Hogskolan i Skovde, Box 408, 541 28 Skovde, Sweden
From: reanor@speedy.cs.pitt.edu (Jeffrey Getzin)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Shadowrun PBEM looking for A COUPLE of players
Summary: Qualifying ...
Date: 13 Apr 92 22:47:12 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Computer Science Dept., University of Pittsburgh

A few other things regarding that game I'm starting:

	o No physical adepts.

	o No initial skills above 6 (including concentration and
	  specialization).

		=*()*()* Jeff *()*()*=



--
					---
Jeffrey Getzin
saintdor@vms.cis.pitt.edu