HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: brunner@kazoo.ssd.loral.com (Brian Brunner)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: AD&D:  Problems with 1st ed. Bard
Date: 8 Apr 92 07:56:45 GMT
Article-I.D.: kazoo.1992Apr8.005645
Reply-To: brunner@kazoo.ssd.loral.com (Brian Brunner)
Organization: Space Systems/Loral

In article <07Apr92175520@miracle.UUCP>, sue%miracle@merk.com (The Dragon Queen)
writes:

!! he's a Fighter 7th, Thief 8th, MU 9th, and Bard 10th.  Oh, and
!!he used to be Chaotic Evil, with a Quasit familiar.  The quasit died, and
!!he decided he wanted a good familiar, so.....

So if I recall there is a 4 level drop penalty for having a quasit familiar
die.
That leaves him F7, T8, M5, and Bard 10. Also, CE -> N -> CG is a
4 step alignment shift... 4 more levels... F3, T4, M1, Bard 6.
Then bardic functions are non-functional for lack of a  (something)
neutral/neutral (something) alignment. Note this is a picky bother if
alignments are not game world significant... but if he is making the
changes to get power, you owe it to the other players to exact the
cost for the power, or give everybody equal access to comparable power...
including the monsters and city guardsmen. Also the F & T levels are too low
to start advancement in the Bard class.

!!guy started the character as a Fighter/MU, and from the start intended
!!to be a Bard.  Also, the Druids don't find him offensive.  The Druids
!!don't even know him.  His opinion is that the Druidical studies that are
!!part of being a Bard are not worth his time and effort, so he's conveniently
ignoring them. 
!!In other words, he doesn't want to have to
!!work with wimpy low-level spells, so he's ignoring that aspect of the
!!character.

If the characters'  race is Human, you got somebody with no respect
for the rules, just a hunger for power... so have no respect for the rules,
either.
So why is he a bard? just for 23d6 hit points? Languages? Charm attack?
I'd Just Say No. "Play the whole part or play something else".
I also wonder if the Special Familiar got a magic resistance/ saving throw
to resist the Find Familiar spell, assuming a wish was used to
allow the bonding to take place with the Foo-dog instead of the (normal
special) Pseudodragon. See Find Familiar, 1st ed.

!!
!!I don't know if I really want to retire the character totally.....this 
!!guy tends to be something of a crybaby when you so much as scratch his 
!!character.  But I bet I can dig up a few NPCs that can cut him down to
!!size..... ;-)

Hasted trolls are a good ingrediant for humble pie. Especially if haste
causes them to heal faster, l.ike 6 pts/round. So a priest, a mage, and
a half-dozen trolls ambush the party because of magic junk the munchie
is (if reasonable)rumored to have...  The priest and mage have the trolls
claw each other once for Vaprak (which starts the regen clock).
The priest casts bless & prayer (and aid on one troll) and the mage casts
 haste on all the trolls and invisibility on two of them. Then BANZAI! Get that
trinket.
Ah, well...

--
HELP!! Somebody slapped a "stop payment" on my sanity check!!
brunner@kazoo.ssd.loral.com; Space Systems/Loral; Palo Alto, Calif.
Black Holes... the /dev/null of the Universe; the opinion of 65534.
From: jhk6@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (John H Kim)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: GURPS combat time.
Date: 9 Apr 92 17:21:09 GMT
Reply-To: jhk6@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (John H Kim)
Organization: Columbia University

Bill Seurer (I think) writes:
>And based on a few SCA combats I saw, the one blow/second is not NEARLY
>fast enough for lighter weapons.  I saw one where a guy with two
>shortswords pummeled his foe so quickly the other guy had no time to do
>more than hide behind his shield and vainly try to ward off the blows.
>He was probably landing about 3 or 4 blows a second for maybe 15 or 20
>seconds.

	I feel a bit like an armchair critic - but aren't these blows 
with wooden padded weapons which do very little damage? 
	Do you think this actually reflects swinging a real steel sword 
which sinks into the flesh of the enemy and pulling it out again? 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Kim                    | Alice: "But if I wasn't real, I shouldn't be
jhk6@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu | able to cry."  Tweedledee: "I hope you don't
Columbia University         | imagine those are *real* tears."
From: stevea@jab.tucson.az.us (Steve Albany)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: RE: GAME SYSTEMS
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 92 00:58:37 PDT
Organization: Just Another Bbs. Tucson, AZ

jwadsley@vaxc.cc.monash.edu.au writes:

> Dear Gandalf,
> I have played many games systems over the years, and the ones that come up 
> most consistent and playable are those based on RuneQuest. The only complaint
> I have ever heard about RuneQuest combat is that it is slow. It is slower tha
> D&D but comparable with most other systems. It has hit locations, armor per h
> locations, realistic hit points and wound effects, a very logical system,
> easily calculable percentage chances and nice magic. One of the nicest aspect
> of RQ based games is that they are so logically designed, it is very easy to
> make modifications to suit your taste.
> Why do I say RQ based games? Because Stormbringer ( a funky game based on
> Michael Moorcock's Elric Saga ), Call of Cthulu ( base on Lovecrafts Cthulu )
> and RuneQuest ( based on an incredibly detailed world called Glorantha, but
> applicable to any scenario ) and some other games all use RQ based systems.
> I know you didn't mention RuneQuest as an option, but I would rate it above
> Shadowrun and MERP it terms of system. If wished, you could play a MERP
> scenario using RQ rules - they are very flexible. If you wish to know more -
> mail me. ( Though I'd be surprised if you couldn't get hold of RQ stuff
> yourself. )
> James Wadsley. 
> PS. I went directly from D&D to RQ and never looked back.
 
        pRuneQuest better than ICE? Ha! Actually, I like RuneQuest quite a 
bit myself, as well as its child games (Call of that Nutty Squid, Storm 
Bringer, Elf Quest, Ringworld).. But I don't think its better. Its BETTER 
than that TSR game that's for sure!


        ================================================================
        |                    Capt. Steve E. Albany                     |
        |                 Cmdr. USS PATTON (NCC-8570)                  |
        |--------------------------------------------------------------|
        |                           | "My son, ask for thyself another |
        | SteveA@Coyote.Datalog.Com | kingdom, for that which I leave  |
        |  SteveA@Jab.Tucson.Az.Us  | is too small for thee.."         |
        |                           |    - King Phillip of Macedonia   |
        ================================================================
From: jacobus@symphony.cc.purdue.edu (Bryan J. Maloney)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Inspired character names
Date: 16 Apr 92 00:18:56 GMT
Reply-To: jacobus@symphony.cc.purdue.edu (Bryan J. Maloney)
Organization: Purdue University



I bet I'm in the running for most obscure character name.  My first Champions
character was a martial artist who hated drug dealers.  His nom-de-guerre?

Nalaxone.













That's the antidote for opiates.  The GM absolutely hated the name, so I
stuck with it.
From: jacobus@symphony.cc.purdue.edu (Bryan J. Maloney)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: question about battlesuits
Date: 6 Apr 92 15:49:21 GMT
Article-I.D.: mentor.44080
Reply-To: jacobus@symphony.cc.purdue.edu (Bryan J. Maloney)
Organization: Purdue University

In article <1992Apr5.223806.20115@sactoh0.sac.ca.us> jcl@sactoh0.sac.ca.us (John C. Laviolette) writes:
> 
>    Is there really going to be a GURPS Mecha?  It seems to me that Mecha
>is covered in GURPS Vehicles (which includes rules for vehicles with legs
>controlled by a cyberface.  If that doesn't qualify as "mecha," I don't
>know what does...)


I don't particularly care whether or not there will be GURPS-compatible
mechs, but I must state one thing:

Battlesuits != mechs

There are similarities, and they do tend to grade into each other, but there
are also major differences.

These differences would be greatest in TL8-9 campaigns, where battlesuit
technology would be in its infancy and childhood.  The battlesuit would
not slide into the anthropomorphic tank cohesively until late TL9 to early
TL10.

Therefore, GURPS Vehicles will not handle battlesuits (and it won't from 
the playtest manuscript).

I might, if I have days of free time, dig through the sci.military archives
and pull out their old discussion on near-future battlesuits.  It's pretty  
enlightening, especially if you don't want to run a cartoon campaign.
From: jason@pawnee.ugrad.ee.ufl.edu (Jason Griggs)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: CHAMPIONS: Variable Advantage
Date: 14 Apr 92 20:22:18 GMT
Organization: UF EE Department

In article <1992Apr14.010551.431@cs.rose-hulman.edu>, stinerkt@NeXTwork.Rose-Hulman.Edu (Kevin T Stiner) writes:
|> CHAMPIONS EXPERTS!
|> 
|> Do you think it is possible to use the variable advantage to simulate the  
|> variable special effect if you have enough of a multiplier in your  
|> variable advantage to do it?  Does it say anything in the book about not  
|> doing this?????
|> 
|> Kevin T. Stiner
   I've been known to do it, and it's very effective.  Just buy +1/2 in variable
advantages as a +1 advantage.  Then at any moment your EB could be AP, Penetrating
Autofire, no range mods, variable special effects, etc.  Makes a great hi-tech
mega-assault rifle.

--Jason
From: jacobus@symphony.cc.purdue.edu (Bryan J. Maloney)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: cranking the old rumor mill
Keywords: seven days late...
Date: 13 Apr 92 17:27:50 GMT
Reply-To: jacobus@symphony.cc.purdue.edu (Bryan J. Maloney)
Organization: Purdue University

In article <8APR199218581015@zeus.tamu.edu> gdm7238@zeus.tamu.edu (MCBRIDE, GARY DEAN) writes:
[Stuff too good to believe, internecine fights between T$R and EGG!]

I'll believe, and celebrate, when I see it.  I'll throw another party if it
takes T$R down a peg or nine.
From: mcdougal@lonestar.utsa.edu (Jon . McDougal)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Rifts help(Please)
Date: 15 Apr 92 07:19:12 GMT
Organization: University of Texas at San Antonio


    Why use Coalition Solders? Because they are fodder. I might have missed
your message, and I don't know if you mean use them as PCs or use them
against the PCs.

PC Soldier: He would have access (limited) to Coalition equipment and
   information. He could easily be part of a PC plot to bring about the
   downfall of the Coalition (impossible?). OR (as I did in a campaign) he
   can be a spy in the group and the Coalition is monitoring their
   activities. He may not be as powerfull as a Juicer or as brave as a
   CyberKnight, but he can pilot a great deal of vehicles and call in some
   SERIOUS backup if needed. Who knows, the idea of gaming is to create for
   yourself and stretch that imagination.

Coalition Soldiers Against PCs: Duh! This one is easy, because they are
    already one paper for you and you only have to look in the book to know
    what skills they might have, what weapons they can own, and so on. The
    Coalition is EVERYWHERE and if you take them out of the game, you are
    losing part of the thrill. With Coal. the players have to worry about
    Splorgies, Rift demons, D-Bees, renegade dog pacs, Dragons, AND the
    Coalition trying to mess things up on a global scale. Or you can do
    without, and lower the list of things the PCs have to worry about. The
    Coal. can ALWAYS be in the background, planning its next onslaught,
    waiting to attack. . .

But, I since I missed %90 of your message, I could be hitting the wrong nail
on the head. Oh, well... I don't get charged for this.

Jon
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: jhk6@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (John H Kim)
Subject: Re: GURPS: ULTRA Tech ?= Ultra Death??
Reply-To: jhk6@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (John H Kim)
Organization: Columbia University
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1992 20:37:20 GMT

"Bill Seurer,905161 " <billseurer@vnet.ibm.com> writes:
[Attribution lost - it was Bill, not me]
>|> I've always thought that for Supers (I don't know about Ultra Tech) a
>|> percentage DR in addition to the absolute DR would much more accurately
>|> simulate the way that Supers take hits. It would also tend to alleviate
>|> the  nothing or death on a hit syndrome.
>
>However, I think it would be better if ALL armor "leaked" a bit.
>Perhaps 1 point gets through for every (5 + armor's TL) hits?
>
>So TL3 armor would probably always stop its usual amount unless it was
>enchanted, ...
>
>TL9 battle armor (say, DEF of 60) would let one through at 14 or more, 2
>through at 28, and 3 through at 52.
>
>Maybe some adjustment for using a lower tech weapon against higher tech
>armor should be made.  If you shoot the guy in the battle armor with a
>LAW it won't hurt him as much as an equivalent TL 9 weapon.

Hmmm. I agree that TL9 battle armor ought to make you immune to massed 
Uzi fire, but I'm not sure we should make distinctions between 
5dx4(10):TL7 and 5dx4(10):TL9.  
	The problem I see is that massed low-damage fire may be more 
effective than big rounds, which is contrary to my way of imagining things. 


An alternative: 
Any damage over 1/2DR causes minimum 1pt damage. 
Any damage over 3/4DR causes minimum 2pts damage. (Only for DR > 20)
Any damage over 7/8DR causes minimum 3pts damage. (Only for DR > 40)

	TL9 armor with DEF60 lets one through at 30, 2 through at 45, 
and 3 through at 52. 
	This is slightly more complicated, but it distinguishes between 
light TL9 armor and heavy TL9 armor, and it makes a few heavier weapons 
preferrable to many lighter weapons. This could also be used for 
Supers or other non-tech armor. 
	I don't think it works that well for four-color Supers, especially 
if you are using the Stun damage rules. 

	What do you think?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Kim                    | Alice: "But if I wasn't real, I shouldn't be 
jhk6@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu | able to cry."  Tweedledee: "I hope you don't
Columbia University         | imagine those are *real* tears."
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: quoc@cco.caltech.edu (Bao Quoc N. Pham)
Subject: Ars Magica 3rd Edition
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1992 05:40:08 GMT

When is this coming out ... anyone knows?
From: jacobus@symphony.cc.purdue.edu (Bryan J. Maloney)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Steve Jackson Games is gone?
Date: 13 Apr 92 17:23:34 GMT
Reply-To: jacobus@symphony.cc.purdue.edu (Bryan J. Maloney)
Organization: Purdue University

In article <9345@baird.cs.strath.ac.uk> imcc@cs.strath.ac.uk (Iain McCord) writes:
>What's the value of " Intolerant: people who don't see his jokes/people with
>no sense of humor" :-)

I would call that a quirk, unless the goof also has compulsive behaviour to
constantly tell obscure jokes, then it might be worth up to five points--
unless the jokes are REALLY bad, then I'd give it 10.
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: ward1@husc8.harvard.edu (Lester Ward)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: SR: Courier Archetype??
Date: 6 Apr 92 19:21:12 GMT

>>>>>> On 6 Apr 92 02:18:02 GMT, gj0b+@andrew.cmu.edu (Gray Brennan Jones) said:

>gj0b> Anyone have any ideas for a courier archetype?  Here are a few of
>gj0b> mine:

I posted quite a few architypes a looong time ago.  The courier was one.
I'll see if I can dig it up.

WordmaN
From: nigel@rs733.GSFC.NASA.Gov
Subject: Re: SR: Decking (Was: Re: Shadowrun: Controlling magicians)
Organization: Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md, USA
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 1992 16:14:21 GMT

In article <33149@darkstar.ucsc.edu> aahz@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (no relation) writes:

>Bzzzzzt.  The second the SneakerNet kicks in, so can the decker.  They
>can hit the rest of the system, they might have to wait a while, that's all.
>And hell, I'm sitting halfway round the world, I've got the patience.
>Just Do It  :)

Wow!  Your decker can live on optical media?  I'm impressed! ;-)

SneakerNet is when you hand carry a disk from the networked machine
over to a "secure" system.  Since the stuff is only data the secure
system should be reasonably safe from viruses, worms, trojan horses
and the like.  Primitive, slow and real paranoid...but don't you think
they have good reason ;-).

Systems most likely to be on SneakerNet (or even none at all) are
things that could cause either major loss of life or loss of expensive
equipment.  Examples might be air traffic control (ohhh...lets fool
the ATC computer into thinking this aircraft is 10,000 higher...or in
this location...hmmm...sounds like an interesting plan.  Redirect a
loaded airliner over Aztecnology and hope it gets shot down...shades
of KAL007.  Gee...I wonder if that would affect Aztec stock any ;-),
nuclear power plant controllers and scramjet and other similar
systems.

>>
>>The Matrix is not a computer network.  It is, to quote the Shadowrun rules,
>>a global telecommunications grid [more deleted]

>Yup.  The Matrix sprang into being the second the first phone was hooked up.

Well...I might not go that far...more like when 90% of the phone
network became fiber optic (hey, that was a few years ago!), everyone
had a fiberoptic drop into their house (hey, that's within a decade
according to AT&T!), and computers and VR got cheap (cheap VR can be
had for 5K these days...low res but VR...SGI has a new machine for
real cheap hmmm...).

>Aahz

--
Nigel Tzeng
.sig under construction
From: yingst@skyblu.ccit.arizona.edu (JIM YINGST)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: GURPS combat time.
Date: 13 Apr 92 18:03:00 GMT
Distribution: world,local
Organization: University of Arizona
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

In article <1992Apr13.101021.1@wharton.upenn.edu>, millerl@wharton.upenn.edu writes...
>In article <12APR199223254462@milori.ccit.arizona.edu>, yingst@milori.ccit.arizona.edu (JIM YINGST) writes:
>> Lucky me, I actually have my book with me for once.
> 
>Not so lucky, actually. The point was that in the quick contest rules
>under discussion, which are ***house rules***, the contest was between
>full weapon skills, not between attack skill and parry or dodge totals
>as defined in the official rules.
> 
Well, I was the one who first posted quick contest vs. normal rules, asking
what people thought.  What I meant was, using the quick contest combat rules in
the book.  I probably didn't speciecify this well at the time.  One of tfirst
replys mentioned the problem with defense skills going up slower, with which I
agree and which I restated later.  For those of you who were talking about some
other house rules (or who thought I was), sorry about the confusion.

Jim Yingst			yingst@ccit.arizona.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: cks@hawkwind.utcs.toronto.edu (Chris Siebenmann)
Subject: Re: SRUN: Cyberware & sanity loss
Organization: Ziebmef home away from home
Date: 15 Apr 92 20:07:05 GMT

pmwg1641@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Peter M. White) writes:
| But isn't progressive insanity such a charming idea?  It is a 
| real attraction of the Cyberpunk system to me.  I haven't thought
| of a good way to include in SR without imbalancing the system,
| unfortunately.

 I think it's a bad idea, personally. Cybered types have enough
problems already without adding more limits to how much cyberware
they can have. Roleplay it if you want to, but don't force your
players with mechanics.

 Notice how street sams are about the only type of character that can be
more or less maxed on their power level at starting time.  Essence is a
very hard limit for them, and there isn't much room to manuever.

--
"The Law of Software Development and Envelopment at MIT:

 Every program in development at MIT expands until it can read mail."
		- greg@math.berkeley.edu
cks@hawkwind.utcs.toronto.edu	           ...!{utgpu,utzoo,watmath}!utgpu!cks
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: heintzelman-george@CS.YALE.EDU (George Heintzelman)
Subject: Re: Swashbucklers vs. Knights in Armour,and more!
Organization: Yale University Computer Science Dept., New Haven, CT 06520-2158
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 1992 18:51:45 GMT

In article <1992Apr17.134526.1@hamp.hampshire.edu> vbaker@hamp.hampshire.edu writes:
>
>I think that the most obvious evidence has been completely overlooked by
>this thread.  Heavy swords and armor died out just as fencing and rapiers
>came into popularity; fencing (and the firearms that came into being at 
>about the same time) made heavy armor obsolete.  Survival of the fittest.
>
I haven't been involved in this thread yet (I have my own opinions,
but no practical experience or real scholarly learning to back it up,
so I doubt people would really care)... but Vincent has refuted his
own point.  I don't think there is anyone who seriously disputes that
armor is not effective against firearms (yes, some of the plate was
tested by shooting a musketball at it, but still....).  It is quite
true that firearms and fencing became prominent at the same time, but
it seems equally if not more likely that the causality was:
	Armor -- Firearms making armor obsolete -- armor disappearing
-- light fencing weapons, effective against agile unarmored opponents,
appearing.

>Vincent

George Heintzelman
-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-George Heintzelman -=+OOOOO+=-  Yale University= When in doubt, integrate.
-xheintze@minerva.cis.yale.edu ================== 
-PO Box 2372 Yale Station, New Haven Ct 06520 ===
From: v124jw4y@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (Benjamin R Pierce)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: 100-DICE: they don't work.
Date: 17 Apr 92 07:17:00 GMT
Organization: University at Buffalo
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

In article <1992Apr16.203528.27128@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>, sjs28257@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Steve Stelter) writes...
>allan@cad12.gfx.engga.uwo.ca (Allan Flanagan) writes:
> 
> 
>>I can't believe you people are arguing about DICE.  Get a life.
> 
>Hey, people with lives have no business being on rec.games.frp in the
>first place!  :)



Besides, 100-siders do too work...

FORE!!! (Whack!)

..just not in the way they were originally intended to. :)





                                                          --Ben
From: soholt@aludra.usc.edu (Timothy Soholt)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Ok Here goes: Re: anyone posting a REVIEW: ? for Bard's Handbook?
Date: 14 Apr 1992 17:17:14 -0700
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
NNTP-Posting-Host: aludra.usc.edu


In article <rwmira01.51.703184473@vlsi.louisville.edu> 
rwmira01@vlsi.louisville.edu (Rob Miracle (Non-priv)) writes:

>They have the various kits, including kits based on demi-human races.  You 
>can play a Halfling Wistler or an Elven Minstral.  The kits are ok, though 
>some would be hard to use for PCs (Jester for example).  Most of the kits, 
>are a little more powerful than a straight from the PHB character.  Most 
>notably are the 3 to 4 extra non-weapon proficiencies that the kit gets.  

Um, you do realize that these four proficiencies are replacements for the
True Bard's Reading/Writing, Musical Instrument, Local History, and Sing-
ing, don't you?  I don't think any of the kits are significantly more
powerful than a True Bard (the PHB bard), although a few of them do
stretch the definition of the word "bard" a little bit more than I care
for. (The gallant and the professor, in particular. The loremaster, too,
I guess, but for some reason I just like the concept.) A couple of the
kits  do require a very quick-thinking person to play properly; I 
wouldn't want to try to run a riddlemaster character myself, and a jes-
ter would be a test of my role-playing ability.

-- Tim Soholt (soholt@aludra.usc.edu), The Man With No .sig