HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: cpearce%nemesis@nemesis.acs.unt.edu (Chris Pearce)
Subject: Re: More hi-tech stuff
X-Gated-By: The Black Marble Wombat@morticia.cnns.unt.edu
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Organization: University of North Texas
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Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 17:16:44 GMT

> While you're out looking at the Tech 24 motorcycle in Popular Science,
> there's also a one-page article about holographic memory storage (you
> know, 10 gigabytes storage in a sugarcube-sized crystal, etc etc).
> There's apparently a typewriter-sized storage device in development now
> (no word on its storage capacity though).

I read about something like this in Open Systems Today. This technology
will provide something like 500 M on a credit card sized 'chip/disk'. The
access time is supposed to be phenomenal also (on par with memory), since
the dirves being constructed have no moving parts. Rather a laser is refracted
in such a way that it reads the appropriate area of the card. Experts
said that the only wat this technology could work is if information were 
layered on the card. Looks like some 3d memory!

An actual company is working on this. I hope it works -- (I believe the
article mentioned a prototype already/almost finihsed.) 1 year/two years
was the time frame mentioned in the article.

> So is this a piece of Tech 24 equipment being developed in a Tech 23
> environment?  Or is the technology Tech 23 and the devices will just
> keep getting smaller as the Tech level advances?  If Tech 23 produces a
> typewriter-sized device, what will Tech 26 get down to, the infamous
> sugarcube size (storage plus read/write device)?

Tech 24... look at some of the computers out of NT.

> Kansas Jim (jogle@nrao.edu)


-- 
Chris Pearce -- cpearce@nemesis.acs.unt.edu
Organization: Junior, Philosophy, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: alt.games.torg
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 23:51:13 -0400 
From: Andrew David Weiland <aw1s+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: Atheism

I don't think that an antimagical skill should exist because magic isn't
based on belief.  Religion is based on faith, but magic is based on
knowledge (specifically the arcane knowledges).  In this way, magic is
more like Science than Religion; it isn't the result of belief but
observation.  It doesn't disrupt the natural law, it is the natural law.

I could imagine a religion that denies the reality of magic, or one that
denies the reality of technology, or maybe even one that denies all
social interactions.  The effects of this religion should be handled by
miracles, which require the Focus skill.  This religion could only come
into being in cosms with a moderately high Spiritual axiom and a low
opposing axiom.

I could easily imagine a religion from the Star Sphere that denied magic
and enshrined technology.  Appropriate miracles might be machine
empathy, disrupt spell (faith v. effect total), or skeptical shield
(improves Willpower v. illusions).

More interesting is the thought of anti-technological miracles in the
Living Land.  Anti-magic is hard to justify, since followers of Lanala
can't even conceive of magic, let alone doubt it.  But a religion that
states "dead things do not move" already seems pretty anti-technological
to me.  Hmm, and we're still looking for a way to make the Living Land
tougher. . .

Though I still wonder what an anti-societal religion would look like.
From: burt@ptltd.com (Burton Choinski)
Newsgroups: alt.games.torg
Subject: Re:  a couple simple questions
Date: 28 Jul 92 16:18:26 GMT
Organization: University of North Texas
X-Gated-By: The Black Marble Wombat@morticia.cnns.unt.edu
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I sat down last night, Asyle book in one hand, Nile in the other, and tried to
sift out any sort of corrilation.  I could not find a damn thing.  I guess I
need more adds in Mathematics. :)
    -- Burton
From: usenet@transfer.stratus.com (Mr. Network News)
Newsgroups: alt.games.torg
Subject: Re: Cyberpsychosis spell
Date: 22 Jul 92 14:35:24 GMT
Reply-To: Dave_Wetzel@vos.stratus.com
Organization: Stratus Computer, Inc., Marlboro, MA

In article <gatemail1.0b2021234303018@morticia> 
taw8h@uva.pcmail.Virginia.EDU (Terence A. Wynne) writes:
> The spell need only last one second to start the cyberpsychotic episode. 
> Thereafter, it's a natural thing and doesn't need any help.  As I 
understand
> it, the spark that starts the cyberpsychotic episode may be 
instantaneous,
> but the episode progresses on its own from there.  If you shoot someone 
with
> a bullet spell, the guy keeps bleeding after the spell is over with.

But if you don't use an essence for the mechanism, then the spell is 
really an illusion.  So wouldn't the illusionary altered dark emotions, 
revert back to their true state at the end of the durration?  In effect, 
you've created the illusion that the target is under mental stress; when 
the spell ends, the illusion should too.

If you had an essence (Life or Death I would suppose) as the mechanism, 
then you'd actually be altering the targets mental state for real.

Anyway that's the assumption I was working under.

--------------
Dave_Wetzel@vos.stratus.com
Newsgroups: alt.games.torg
From: Jim Ogle (Ks. Jim) <jogle@aoc.nrao.edu>
Subject: Re: Nile Adven
X-Gated-By: The Black Marble Wombat@morticia.cnns.unt.edu
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Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1992 01:15:16 GMT

Colin asks:

> >    Suspended in midair, Hannibal focused all the power available to
> > him, forcing the assertion of his reality once and for all, and,
> > with a mighty surge of blue and red sparkling energy, the maelstrom
> > dissipated.  The helpless, transformed captain was caught in the
> > throws of CyberPsychosis as his limp form hit the water.
> 
> Hey, Kansas Jim, how's this instead?

Better, but it just doesn't sound right (now I'm a literary critic,
yeah right! 8-)

Kansas Jim (jogle@aoc.nrao.edu)
From: burt@ptltd.com (Burton Choinski)
Newsgroups: alt.games.torg
Subject: Re: Weights and damages
Date: 31 Jul 92 17:33:30 GMT
Organization: University of North Texas
X-Gated-By: The Black Marble Wombat@morticia.cnns.unt.edu
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I think the best thing to do is just assume a weight rating based on the 
character itself, rather then some formula.  Is it some big he-man?  Give him
a weight of 10 (100kg = 220 pounds).  Yer avereare 95 pound weakling?  give him
an 8.  I think half the problem there is a mixing of measurements.
   -- Burton.
Newsgroups: alt.games.torg
From: "Colin J. Wynne"  <WYNNE.C@fs.sciences.WLU.EDU>
Subject:      Re: Faith(Science)
X-Gated-By: The Black Marble Wombat@morticia.cnns.unt.edu
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Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 23:42:31 GMT

oakes@jupiter.nmt.edu (David Oakes) writes:

> (and why should Athiest A - spirit 2,faith 8 - be any better than
> Athiest B -spirit 9, faith 1 - when similar faith(gods) are
> equal?)

I assume what you mean here is that they both have faith 10, the
first with 8 adds, the second with 1 add.

Well, this is why they should not be equal.  As with any skill, the
value represents one thing, the number of adds another.  Now,
granted, with Dex 9 Fire Combat 10 vs. Dex 2 FC 10, obviously the
two can shoot a gun equally as well.  The second had to train a lot
harder to get there though...

Faith adds do have a more specific meaning, however.  The more adds
in faith one has, the stronger his belief, or in the case of
faith(atheism), his disbelief.  In your example, the first is much
more effective at 'disbelieving' supernatural occurences, because his
faith in the 'natural laws' is much stronger -- more than an order of
magnitude in fact.

I'm not sure yet what I think of the Faith(science) idea.  But I'm
not going to bash on your preview because, as you said, it's not done
yet.  I'll read when you post the finished product and decide then.

What I will say now is that I like the idea of making the ability of
this belief system into 'miracles', as opposed to a straight DN mod.
It fits better with the miracle system as a whole that way.

One thing I will ask, though:  What happens when your Scientist
(scientologist?  Sorry, just kidding) witnesses a spectacular
miracle?  I mean, somebody invokes a miracle, Scientist tries to make
it go poof, but the priest's effect total is still a spectacular
result on the Scientist's faith total?  Normally, conversions and
changes in faith adds are only ascribed to spiritual conflict
incurred when a miracle is invoked on a non-believer.  But in this
case, if the Scientist bears witness to an event that miraculous,
he should be affected by it.  He should lose an add.

Just my thoughts on the matter.  I still want to see the finished
write-up, so post it when it's done, please.

CJW

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>                                         wynne.c.j@p9955.wlu.edu  >>
==  Colin J. Wynne                                  - or -          ==
<<                                      wynne.c@fs.science.wlu.edu  <<
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From: gdavis@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Grant R. Davis)
Newsgroups: alt.games.torg
Subject: Re: Approved actions, changed from Idea to be kicked around
Date: 29 Jul 92 22:17:13 GMT
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin TX

In article <gatemail1.0b208124257232@morticia> WYNNE.C@fs.sciences.WLU.EDU (Colin J. Wynne) writes:

>Question, though.  On an unskilled result, should characters be
>prevented from using skills which can't be used unskilled?  Or, at
>least, using them at the SKGuide DN penalty for unskilled use?

No, because that would be worse than Stymie. On a related note, that 
unskilled penalty table is a really bad idea and I would use it rarely, if 
ever.

>Makes sense to me.  If your THAT flustered, you shouldn't be able to
>cast a spell just then, or concentrate to invoke a miracle, or
>whatever else.  Grant, how do you read that?  (And have you been
>playing by the original intention for unskilled. or what?)
>
>CJW

Well, you're not THAT flustered. The thing about Approved Actions is that
there are 5 of them, and unless you have decent levels in all 5 (and most
people don't), somebody can always attack your weakest skill and get several
result points.
Also, I haven't been playing much at all lately.

The Grant Man
gdavis@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu

"This is good[beer]. Remind me to take this world."-Lost Destiny


Newsgroups: alt.games.torg
From: "Colin J. Wynne"  <WYNNE.C@fs.sciences.WLU.EDU>
Subject:      Re: Magic knowlege
X-Gated-By: The Black Marble Wombat@morticia.cnns.unt.edu
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Organization: University of North Texas
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Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 16:59:55 GMT

> Okay, I decided to split this out of the Cychosis spell thread
> (yes I do like the abbrev!).
>
> Anyone out there know if a mage needs to know all the magic knowleges use
> in the spell he's designing?

Thanks, about the abbreviation.

Again, more commenting without a rulebook in fron of me, but my
recall is the same as somebody else's (sorry, don't remember who) on
the subject.  The examples in Aysly SB only listed the Pattern
Knowledge as required by the creating mage...  I think.  But, it can
be argued (though no one around here likes to argue -- Certainly
Not!) that it makes bad sense for a mage to be able to use a
mechanism with which he is unfamiliar.

Sounds like a GM call to me, unless someone digs up something more
specific out of the books.

CJW

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>                                         wynne.c.j@p9955.wlu.edu  >>
==  Colin J. Wynne                                  - or -          ==
<<                                      wynne.c@fs.science.wlu.edu  <<
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Newsgroups: alt.games.torg
From: Rick Pim <RICK@QUCDNEE.BITNET>
Subject: Re: Approved actions, changed from Idea to be kicked around
X-Gated-By: The Black Marble Wombat@morticia.cnns.unt.edu
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Organization: University of North Texas
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Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1992 16:35:00 GMT

> are "Colin J. Wynne" <WYNNE.C@fs.sciences.WLU.EDU>

>Yup.  Just came to that conclusion after running an adven this
>weekend, while rereading a few sections of the rulebook.  Then, one
>of my players and I came up with the idea of using what we HAD
>considered an unskilled result as a setback:  no use of adds for a
>round.
   i think it suggests someplace that, if you can't come up with a
better one, a "default" sort of setback is to lose an action. given this,
"use no adds" is a pretty wimpy kind of setback.

rp
From: wolf@cheshire.oxy.edu (Clinton Richard Wolf)
Newsgroups: alt.games.torg
Subject: Re: Was ist TORG?
Date: 30 Jul 92 19:42:53 GMT
Organization: Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA 90041 USA.

In article <E5UHV0K@taronga.com> peter@taronga.com (Peter da Silva) writes:
>TORG sounds like a save versus skill based FRP game, but I've never
>heard of it. Where is it to be found?
>-- 
>                                                                `-_-'
>                         Have you hugged your wolf today?        'U`
>
     I would LOVE a hug! Thanks! ;)

     ... but unseriously folks...

     [WIERD AND INANE PHILOSOPHICAL QUESTION ALERT!]

     Torg came out in 1990, right?

     Does this mean Torg can only be played without contradiction in a cosm of
Tech 23 or higher? :)

-- Clint
From: rose@acf9.nyu.edu (David Rose)
Newsgroups: alt.games.torg
Subject: Re: LL miracles
Date: 22 Jul 92 11:02:45 GMT
Organization: New York University

michael@stb.info.com (Michael Gersten) writes:
>Begin forwarded message:
>---
> Instead, of the miracles listed in the sourcebook, none have a higher spiritual
>rating (and corresponding power) than 14
>---
>Ouch. Never noticed this before. Yes, there needs to be more high powered  
>miracles. Got any ideas for what they should be?
>---
>-- Clint     

  Take any druidic type spell that is not fire-based.  In particular miracles
which make plants grow and move.  Walking trees, grabbing vines, making the
bushes sprout "bread and butter"-fruits (I'm an old Oz fan).  All of these are
just extreme variants on the Hrockt spear miracle.

  All forms of healing should be miracles, including regeneration
of any organ, the remission of any cancer and the curing of any
ailment.  Why it shocks me that there aren't hundreds, if not thousands,
of Americans and other Core Earthers streaming into the jungle in search of
a cure to cancer.  Even if an Aylsish spell would have fewer side effects,
not everybody can afford the ticket to the British Isles, much less purchase
the services of a really good healing mage.

  Contrariwise, any form of growth miracle should be possible.  Really,
with the love of life, Jakatts should be armed with as much "bio-tech" as
the space gods.  There is certainly enough bio-prototypes available from
all of the previously invaded cosms, especially the home-worlds of the
stalengers and benthes, to modify a creature into something useable.

  Although not a miracle in the first instance, drug running should be a
highly profitable business into and out of the LL.  I bet Rec Pakken would
just love to export get-'em-high-and-addicted stuff into the U.S.  I
can see it now, marijuana with stronger hallucinogenic effects, a cocaine
substitute which makes you temporarily capable of unbelievable feats of
strength (but is also addictive and deadly).  The sap of a tree which
is the best pain-killer available, and without significant evidence from
clinical studies of any side-effects.


--
David Rose
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences
251 Mercer Street, New York, NY 10012
rose@math12.cims.nyu.edu
Newsgroups: alt.games.torg
From: michael@stb.info.com (Michael Gersten)
Subject: Re: Perservance
X-Gated-By: The Black Marble Wombat@morticia.cnns.unt.edu
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Organization: University of North Texas
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Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 02:35:00 GMT

POF can be used anywhere. So they do have to make  
P-checks.--
		Michael Gersten		michael@stb.info.com
HELLO! I'm a signature virus! Join in the fun and copy me into yours!
ex:.-1,. w $HOME/.signature
Newsgroups: alt.games.torg
From: "Terence A. Wynne" <taw8h@uva.pcmail.Virginia.EDU>
Subject: Re: Victorians
X-Gated-By: The Black Marble Wombat@morticia.cnns.unt.edu
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Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1992 22:17:22 GMT

On Jul 21,  5:26pm, Andrew David Weiland wrote:
> Subject: Re: Victorians
> Terence writes,
> >The orginal Victorians might have had a different reality, but every
> >Victorian now living (except for a few corrupted Occultists -- who
> >obviously gave up their original reality for the power Hekaton offered)
> >was born within stalae bounds and is therefore of the reality of
> Hekaton >-- which is that of the Guant Man.
> 
> No Stelae.  Gaea's axioms are the "natural" axioms of that cosm,
> transformed not through invasion but through the beliefs of the people. 
> The Gaunt Man and company spent a lot of energy to change them, but it
> was worth it.  It's my belief that the Spirit axiom rose meteorically
> when the cosm was first invaded, but dropped and stabilized after the
> Gaunt Man corrupted the scripture.  The "Pillar of Salt" miracle is a
> remnant of the first period; there may be others.

I am forced to disagree vehemently with the idea that Gaea is not covered
with stelae.  It states quite clearly that the Ecology of Fear keeps the
possibility energy pouring in on Gaea.  How can this be if there are no
stelae to suck up this renewing source of possibilities.  Gaea has not died
because the Guant Man has not pulled up his stelae and moved on. 
Furthermore, it states in the Orrorsh Source Book that Orrorsh's Tech axiom
is stuck at 19 because the Guant Man wants it there.  This means he controls
the Gaean axioms and the only way to do this is through placed stelae.

The Guant Man's plan is to spread his Ecology of Fear to other cosms to
create self-renewing sources of possibility energy.  How can he concquor a
cosm with out stelae?  Or do the stelae just up and disappear when he's
completely overlaid the native axioms to perserve the cosm in its present
Orrorsh form.

The Orrorsh source book states that the Guant Man's reality was probably
different originally, but through tinkering, it is now that which is imposed
on Gaea and Orrorsh -- that of his Darkness Device.
 
> -- End of excerpt from Andrew David Weiland <aw1s+@andrew.cmu.edu>



 
There is never time to do it right, but there is always time to do it
over. -- Murphy

Terence Wynne
taw8h@uva.pcmail.Virginia.EDU 

Newsgroups: alt.games.torg
From: cpearce%nemesis@nemesis.acs.unt.edu (Chris Pearce)
Subject: To Michael Gersten
X-Gated-By: The Black Marble Wombat@morticia.cnns.unt.edu
X-Gated-From: torg mailing list
Organization: University of North Texas
X-Gatemail-Version: 1.0b
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 21:03:26 GMT

Sorry to use the list for this, but my recent move meant that I lost
some addresses...

Is the Torg pbem still active, Michael?
-- 
Chris Pearce -- cpearce@nemesis.acs.unt.edu
Newsgroups: alt.games.torg
From: malloy@nprdc.navy.mil (Sean Malloy)
Subject: Re: A Sean Sort Of Question (WWII rifle - panzerbusche)
X-Gated-By: The Black Marble Wombat@morticia.cnns.unt.edu
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Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1992 19:42:22 GMT

> > Since the weapon was fixed-mount and incorporated sighting devices,
> > these values need to get bumped a bit.
> 
> It wasn't fixed mount, as I mentioned above.

All the anti-tank rifles I've seen used a bipod, rather than having
the weapon supported by the firer; this results in significantly less
aim dispersion, bringing effective accuracy closer to the physical
accuracy of the weapon. I didn't give it the bonus that
tripod-mounting the weapon would give it, which would have pushed Long
range out to about 3000m.

> > The weapon was normally issued with a gunshield for the firer; treat
> > this as TOU+5/18 armor when the firer is shot at from the direction
> > the gun is pointing.

> No gun shield on this one.  I'm not sure about the reloading time - I can
> see it taking 1 round to reload normally.  (The breech of the 39 was operated
> by sliding the pistol grip, the description said - the more complex and
> heavier 38 had a an auotmatic ejector mechanism similar to those of artillery
> pieces).  2 rounds seems reasonable for a field piece like the 28mm.

I've seen pictures of anti-tank rifles with and without 'gun shields';
in some cases, they looked like a gun shield taken off of an SdKfz 251
(see the illo in the KLV book), which would give the firer a +3/15
armor bonus. Note that to get any bonus from this armor, the firer has
to be prone behind the gun.

The artillery-piece 28/20 cannon had a two-man crew, and would have a
similar rate of fire -- the low rate of fire of the rifle is due to
the shooter having to reload manually and re-aim; the 28/20 splits the
task, so that even though reloading is slower, the rate of fire
doesn't drop because the firer doesn't have to reacquire the target.


For a bizarre set of special rules for a weapon, I'll have to see if I
can dig up the writeup of the PIAT I did -- if you're firing downward,
you have to make a check to see whether the projectile falls out the
front of the weapon, you have to make a check when you fire it to see
if it successfully recocked itself, and to cock it manuall, you have
to make a Strength check, with modifiers for being short (It was a
_really_ poorly-designed weapon). All on top of the regular attack
roll.

-- 
random sig #121:
Sean Malloy                                  | What good is freedom if the only
Navy Personnel Research & Development Center | people you can vote for are
San Diego, CA 92152-6800                     | politicians?
malloy@nprdc.navy.mil                        | 
Newsgroups: alt.games.torg
From: "Colin J. Wynne"  <WYNNE.C@fs.sciences.WLU.EDU>
Subject:      Receipt confirmation
X-Gated-By: The Black Marble Wombat@morticia.cnns.unt.edu
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Organization: University of North Texas
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Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1992 16:17:14 GMT

Confirmation: message read at 12:17, 21 Jul 92
Subject: Re:      Re: Possiblity Healing

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>                                         wynne.c.j@p9955.wlu.edu  >>
==  Colin J. Wynne                                  - or -          ==
<<                                      wynne.c@fs.science.wlu.edu  <<
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