HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: tdunn@ecst.csuchico.edu (Tim Dunn)
Subject: Re: Playing yourself in GURPS and Hero too!
Organization: California State University, Chico
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1992 17:45:23 GMT

>Well, a group of us at Wesleyan made up ourselves as CHAMPIONS characters. 

I sat out when a friend did that here. It was a 'conception' game. (In my
past experiences, such conception games are nearly doomed from the start)
This one looked equally promising to continue the trend. Everyone made
"themselves" as they thought they should.

Even the powergamers toned down, and their characters were only on the
order of 70 - 90 points (Hero) The combat monster (player archetype)
decided to clean up: his character ended up being 297(!) points. This
was fine with the referee.

The first game, the world embroiled itself in nuclear fire. The players/
characters managed to get themeselves to a shelter out of the blast zone
and wait out a few months. (Great mechanic, too. The referee forbade 
them to do *anything* for an hour -- no sleeping, drawing, reading, 
making new characters, etc. They had to endure an hour looking at each
other and talking to each other if they felt like it.)

Well, the radiation seeped in, and the characters were each transformed
to 300 points, with super-abilities. All except for the combat monster,
he got a 3-pt combat level...
From: mcdougal@lonestar.utsa.edu (Jon . McDougal)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Palladium Fantasy: Game worlds
Summary: Jon talks of days of high adventure.
Keywords: Longbows, damage, ouch, "That hurt", "Damn! It's dead already?"
Date: 16 Apr 92 05:25:41 GMT
Distribution: rec
Organization: University of Texas at San Antonio
Socks: Long, white, and clean
Hair: Getting longer.


    So. You think your little Wolfen Longbowman is tough, eh? In the game
I run, and have to put up with, there is a Human woman we all call the
'Balista'. She's a ranger and has built a longbow of her own, and makes
razor edged arrows in her spare time, so I allow them to do 2d6+2. But,
at her level she has close to 6 (BLEEDING SIX ARROWS IN THE AIR!) per
round and that comes out to AT LEAST 30pts, and since this wench is rather
lucky with critical hits, she maxs out at ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY EIGHT points
of damage in one round. Then, throw in a Paladin who could chop your average
HOUSE in half, a Elf wizardess who loves to fry things with ball lightning
(which at her level is twice a round, and that makes SIX possible hits),
a dwarf with a knack for humming his axe great distances, and a bothersome
little juggler who has both 'paired weapons' and 'automatic parry'. This
juggler can go head to head with our Paladin and not break a sweat. Luckily
the player is more into role playing than pissing me off, so he only kicks
ass when the stupid Paladin goes Hand-To-Hand with an Ogre pugilist, and
gets his 'I-am-God' ass whooped. That's a mess of damage, friend! And those
players are almost %100 by the rules. (I failed to mention the local pocket-
picker who can slip into tight places quicker than a winning quarterback on
prom night!)


    Those Wolfen can be fun, though. If I ever need a good fight for the above
mentioned wrecking team, I just whip up a batch of "wolfies" and let slip
the dogs of war. Break out the popcorn, it's going to be a good fight.

Plumbing the depths of Jalithe's uncharted mind,
                                             Jon
From: unixwiz@mcl.mcl.ucsb.edu (Asimov Fan)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: looking for some 2ed help.
Date: 8 Apr 92 23:54:12 GMT
Article-I.D.: mcl.unixwiz.702777252

I'm creating a 1st level 2ed fighter...he's going to be a quarterstaff
xpert, and not know much else...the only weapon he'll carry is his staff.
I'm looking for nwp's, etc for him, including a name...

for wp's, he'll have:

spec. quarterstaff
2 handed style spec.

can anyone suggest anything i should add???  <i.e. xtra wp's, fighter kit,
etc.>

tks,

k.mencher
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: mscs057@vax1.mankato.msus.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: HUMANOIDS (ORCS, ETC.)
Date: 8 Apr 92 19:22:11 GMT
Article-I.D.: vax1.1992Apr8.132212.1680
Organization: Mankato State University

HUMANOIDS

I, AS ONCE A DM, HAVE FOUND MANY ARTICLES ON THESE UGLY, VALE CREATURES. IF
THERE ARE ANY DMs OUT THERE THAT WISH TO KNOW A LITTLE MORE ABOUT ANY HUMANOID
POST ME A REPLY. I WILL TRY TO ANWSER THEM.

STEVEN "MSCS057" OLSON
From: gwills@maths.tcd.ie (Graham Wills)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Rolemaster magic items & alchemy rules
Date: 9 Apr 92 11:17:15 GMT
Organization: Dept. of Maths, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.

In article <MAN.92Apr7101426@ibm320h.at> man@magwien.gv.at (Andreas Manessinger) writes:
>Oh yes, yes, yes !!!
>
>I think it needs a lot of effort to make `alchemist' an attractive
>profession. There is nothing fascinating in the standard rules.

 I don't think so. The alchemist is a fascinating profession. If *I* lived in
 one of my campaigns, I'd definitely go for it. It's a nice life; you live in
 the cities, regular meals, comfortable surroundings, don't get attacked (except
 the odd thief), have the respect of your community and get to earn megabucks
 by fleecing adventurers.

 Sounds good to me!

 Of course, for *game playing value* it's not so exciting. But then what
 sensible person whose spent *years* learning about making items would go out
 where he can't possibly use his experience to face high danger for no good
 reason?

 Alchemists are what PC mages become when they start feeling old and tired and
 don't fancy dicing with death on a regular basis. Same way a lot of city guards are run by old fighters.

 You could make alchemists into pseudo-mages, but why bother?

-Graham Wills
 TCD Ireland
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: darknite@camelot.bradley.edu (John S. Novak III)
Subject: Re: "Rules of the Shadow" in Amber RPG
Organization: Bradley University
Date: 15 Apr 92 23:15:08 GMT

John P. Speno writes:


>	As a real being, i.e. An Amberite, you are you no matter were
>you are.  Thus, if in a shadow were people talked backwards, you'd
>talk however you'd normally talk.

I really don't think this is important.
What's important is how does the Amberite interract with the rest
of the universe.

Working off of material from the novels (I haven't bought the
game, but when I have enough money to drop on a game that I may
never play, I probably will-- it looks really interesting from
what I've seen of it.) I would rule this way:

	Amberites do indeed remain more or less constant no
matter where they go.  However, the shadows themselves tend to
smooth things out for the Amberites.  After all, Corwin himself
said that the Shadows lied for him, making him seem youthful and
strong while in Earth.  Also, the shadows themselves apparently
act as translators, since every Amberite who ever came to Earth
spoke English effortlessly, yet (if I recall properly) Corwin's
friend had to learn to speak Tharri.  Corwin could also force his
words to be heard as Tharri even while in Earth.

So, if Talim, bastard son of Osric, somehow wound up in a shadow
where everyone spoke 'backwards' everyone would be able to
understand him without any problem, and vice-versa.  However, if
Talim and his cousin Logan, son of Finndo wanted to have a
relatively quiet conversation, they could simply speak very
quickly in their normal version of speech (presumeably this
shadow speaks reverse Tharri.)

Not only that, if the pair suddenly hopped off to a shadow where
everyone had pointy ears and dressed in forest green, they'd
probably look like that, too, even to each other.  Most likely a
very low-level, subconscious shape-change (when Corwin mentioned
that the shadows lied for him, he had no idea that Amberites
could shape change...)

And if someone actually went off into a shadow where the nuclear
forces didn't work, I don't know what would happen.  I'd probably
not allow it, on the basis that their subconscious won't _let_
them go to a place where they die instantly.  Either that or they
shapechange instinctively to be able to handle it.

--
John S. Novak, III				darknite@camelot.bradley.edu
"So this is the sword of immortality, huh?  What's it doing in a
crypt?"
From: v116r8ac@ubvmsd.cc.buffalo.edu (Chris Nasipak)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: RE: Inspired Character Names
Date: 16 Apr 92 20:34:00 GMT
Organization: United Nations Intelligence Taskforce
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41


Well, on a d&d-style (sorta) MUD-type game we have here, every time I play a 
Troll, Goblin, or whatever happens to be there it ends up being called 

Drek.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Do you really feel like    |         Not Croaker           |Somewhere else, the
arguing with a can of      |                               |tea is getting cold.
deoderant that registers   | v116r8ac@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu |Come on - we've got
nine on the Richter Scale? |   nasipak@acsu.buffalo.edu    | work to do.
        --- Ace            |                               |  --- Doctor Who
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I wasn't expecting the ReichsInspektor General."  -- General Strasser
"No One expects the Reichsinspektor General." -- Doctor Who, TimeWyrm:Exodus
From: rrn@milton.u.washington.edu (R. Dired)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: GURPS OVERKILL
Date: 9 Apr 92 20:33:47 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Apr9.203347.27442
Distribution: usa
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle

GURPS Questions:

Okay, as far as I can tell, unless you get hit in the vitals or the head,
it's not actually possible to die from a single hit. Since you have to take
2HT to start to make death checks, the limit (as I understand it) means that
this takes two shots.

A 7.62 round does, what, 7 dice? This means an average of 24.5 points of
damage. A normal humans would, normally, have about a 70% chance of buying the
farm. Or does he only take 10 points, and then have the player nervously 
look at the GM to see if he is using the bleeding rules (which would actually
put the PC in danger). Of course the autofire rules are silly enough so that
Joe Targetski will probably take half a dozen hits, so I guess this really
isn't much of a problem...

Is this a correct interpretation? So that a weapon that does 14d+2 damage
can only do 2 points to a hampster, but a 15d weapon will do 52.5? You cannot
actually kill a cockroach with a .44 Mag (unless you get a head shot)?

GURPS vehicles won't cover starships, will it...?

Oh, and why is Strong Will 4 points, but Weak Will 8? Can I buy Weak Will
-100? 
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: vcf1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Victoria C Fike)
Subject: Re: CHAMP:  1/2d6 vs d6-1
Organization: Columbia University
Summary: body vs. stun
Reply-To: vcf1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Victoria C Fike)
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1992 20:47:32 GMT

In article <2w4t0c#@rpi.edu> cleggp@aix.rpi.edu (Paul Jason Clegg) writes:
>I've been meaning to ask this question for a while.
>
>When do you use "xd6-1" vs. "x 1/2d6" for things like killing attacks?
>According to the "DC" table, they're both on the same "level", but:
>
>1) They never really explain how to use the "d6-1" concept in the rules, and
>2) It would seem to me that the "d6-1" is better than a 1/2d6, and thus
>   shouldn't be considered "equal".
>
>I normally use 1/2d6es, because that's all that's ever mentioned in previous
>editions.  However, in the listings for weapons, some weapons are rated at
>"1 1/2d6K" and some at "2d6-1K".  What's the difference?  When do you use
>which?  Why did they make them different?  How do you use a "1d6-1" for
>STUN and BODY purposes?  What's the deal?

What's the difference?  Well, a 1 1/2d6K means you're rolling 2 dice for body, 
cutting one in half, and one die for the stun multiplier.  2d6-1K means you're
also rolling 2 dice for the body (but totaling them normally!) and one for the
stun multiplier, but *subtracting an extra 1 from the multiplier*.  I believe 
they work out similar, pointwise, so it's a matter if you're wanting to do more
body or stun.  Or, more likely, you can only play with dice halves :-) if it's
a strength-based (incl. martial arts) attack.

>...Paul
>
>|FQT 1.10| This tagline is umop apisdn

Tori

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Victoria C. Fike                    | "Raise your can of beer on high
vcf1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu         |  And seal your fate forever    
GM:  "The NPC jumps off the cliff." |  Our best years have passed us by--
PC:  "He must know something we     |  The Golden Age of Leather!"
      don't!  I follow him!"        |       --Blue Oyster Cult
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: klaus@diku.dk (Klaus Ole Kristiansen)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: RQ question.
Date: 7 Apr 92 07:30:59 GMT
Organization: Department of Computer Science, U of Copenhagen

csh019@cch.coventry.ac.uk (Faust) writes:
...
>	I think that Nysalor is meant to be a God which embodies
>	contradictions (a feature peculiar to Chaotic dieties) and that he
>	therefore had two aspects:  the hostile, destructive, 'evil' side
>	which was Gbajji the Deceiver, and the beneficient, wise, benevolent
>	side which was Nysalor.

The benevolent Nysalor was just a mask for the evil Gbaji. At least this
is the opinion of the western culture.

BTW why is it that no one is alarmed now that they have done it again?
The Pelorians, who build Gbaji, have created a new chaos god. When
will someone destroy this new Gbaji? Arkat will return any time now,
surely he will cast her down, but she have been allowed to weaken the
fabric of reality for far too long.

Klaus O K
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: pentangl@spdcc.com (Scott Moir)
Subject: Re: stupid PC tricks
Organization: S.P. Dyer Computer Consulting, Cambridge MA
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1992 21:19:42 GMT

I have to admit being the player in this one, though it happened many
moons ago...

A group was going through a dungeon, and the character I had had lost
a vast majority of his magic items in a previous trap ( I don't want
to talk about it ). So one of the other players gave him a wand without
telling him what it was.

Later, the group enters a room which turns out to contain an iron golem,
and having little else in the way of magic, my character whips out the
aforementioned wand and begins firing.

Leaves!

Butterflies!

Grass!

Fireball!

<Shit!>

After the golem wiped out what was left of the party, I turned to the DM
and asked "Do I get experience for the party?"

The DM gave it to me, so I suppose I can't complain TOO much...

Scott

-- 
Scott Moir / Pentangle / Satyr ______ # "There's really only one requirement 
pentangl@Ursa-Major.spdcc.com  \ \/ / #  for a Prophet, and you've got it."
B4 f t+ w g k+(+) s+ m r p+     \/\/  # "What's that?"
These are my opinions, not SPDCC's    # "A mouth." - 'God' to J.R.'BoB' Dobbs
From: jhk6@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (John H Kim)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: GURPS combat time.
Date: 13 Apr 92 16:10:28 GMT
Reply-To: jhk6@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (John H Kim)
Organization: Columbia University

In article <1992Apr10.180658.18872@cs.cmu.edu> cms@mse.cmu.edu (Curtis M Scott) writes:
>John H Kim writes (regarding SCA combat example):
|> 	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? 
>
>Well, first of all I would say that those padded weapons are if anything a
>little more unweildly than their steel counterparts, assuming they're not
>embedded in flesh.
>
>As far as "sinking into the flesh of the enemy," in any real combat almost
>any combatant is out of the fight when you've done enough damage to cause
>your sword to get stuck. (Of course, that doesn't slow down his friend.)

	Several people have posted that getting your weapon stuck doesn't 
matter because the enemy is too heavily wounded. In combats I have played, 
double-teaming and crippling blows are common. Also, in Fantasy games there 
are many opponents who will not go down under this sort of blow. 

>However, I think the 1 blow/second rate for weapons (SCA or otherwise) is
>probably realistic. I don't think any SCA fighter could land 3-4 blows/second.
>The fastest fighter I ever knew or heard of was Sir Francois of the Kingdom
>of Meridies, and high-speed film showed him striking 3 times in 2 seconds
>(that's total blows with two swords). I think Francois is the reason that
>SJ put the one blow/second rule in based on that experience.

	Trouble is - in GURPS - 2 blows per second is common, even with 
two handed swords. (Those who use 2H swords often go for all-out attack, 
since they do not have shields.) 
	Your statement says that 1.5 blows per second is the maximum 
with two swords which I assume are relatively light. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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: sjs28257@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Steve Stelter)
Subject: Re: Quote of the Month Club
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1992 21:09:08 GMT

OK, good quotes...hmmm...


1.  During a not-so-serious Doctor Who adventure, our heroes (me and
    the GM's brother) had been captured on suspicion of being 
    saboteurs.  We tried for about half an hour to defend ourselves
    during the subsequent interrogation, all to no avail.  Finally
    I countered to our captors' accusations with, "Oh, yeah?  Well,
    if we're saboteurs, how come we're so stupid?"  The puzzled 
    look on our GM's face was a true sight to behold.

2.  During a Champions adventure (V.O.I.C.E. Of Doom, maybe), our
    hero team was approached by another city's NPC hero team, asking
    us for help in investigating the murders of several of their
    members:

    Leader of NPC Hero Team:  Over the past few weeks, 4 of our team's
       6 original members have fallen to foul play.  The only remaining
       superheroes are me and one other teammate, who is in critical
       condition in the hospital, and...
    My PC:  And you want us to finish the job, right?  No problem!
    GM's Brother's PC:  Consistency is important!

  
                                          --Steve "Well, ya probably
                                            had to be there" Stelter

                                            sjs28257@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu
From: adr9510@sigma.tamu.edu (Trapped in Aggieland)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: SRUN: Heavy weapons as sidearms
Date: 10 Apr 92 20:26:00 GMT
Organization: Texas A&M University, Academic Computing Services
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

In article <RATINOX.92Apr9190405@splinter.coe.northeastern.edu>, ratinox@splinter.coe.northeastern.edu writes...
>>>>>> On 9 Apr 92 02:12:00 GMT, v076jy2p@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (Cosmo Of The Cosmos) said:

[Holdout pistol example deleted]

> 
>In other words, you grazed your target.

No, a graze implies you malmost missed: i. In this case the
target just sucked it up.

>light pistols
>really aren't all that effective even in the real world. And this is the
>cinematic world of Shadowrun.

I have yet to meet a man who will take *no damage* when shot by *anything*
at 2 metres range. (Trust me, they HURT if nothing else).

>Let's try the same test with an assault cannon, as I suggested in my
>original article (which was cleverly omitted):

[assault cannon deletia]

>The ``person'' is now a bloody smear on the far wall.

If you have to get a weapon as big as an *assault cannon* to kill something
then you're doing it wrong. Think about why they call it *shadow* run sometime.

 Rat

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aaron D. Robb, aka The Philosopher   |	Disclaimer: Texas A&M stands staunchly
Somewhere at Texas A&M University    |	behind my every word. Really they do...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I will not eat green eggs and ham, I will not eat it, Son of Sam.
					-AggieCon XXIII 'Quest'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: PackardM@space1.spacenet.jhuapl.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Lookin for players of ADD in Baltimore
Date: 15 Apr 92 17:08:00 GMT

I amd trying to start a new AD&D compaign in the Baltimore ares, specifically
Columbia.  If anybody out there is interested please e-mail me.
 
mike
packard@aplcomm.jhuapl.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: rayres@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Russell W Ayres)
Subject: Stupid PC Tricks
Organization: The Ohio State University
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1992 13:41:38 GMT


A party of hearty adventurers is strolling through a forest, having just fought
their way through a savage arctic wilderland; they are looking forward to 
seeing civilization for the first time in months.  Along the way, they discover
a very LARGE hole in the middle of a clearing.  The Hole has many claw and 
scratch-marks around it, many of which look fairly recent.  It is big enough to
put a ship down (endwise, anyway) and is very dark.  For the clums in the 
audience (and the party, as we shall see), read: GREEN DRAGON LAIR.

The Gnome Illusionist/practical joker dares the 18/89 strength paladin to drop 
a rock down the hole.  Everyone laughs (the paladin, or at least his player, 
had often been the brunt of jokes for having done less than intelligent things;
this is the same guy who sank three magic swords in one ocean.)  Everyone 
continues laughing as the paladin reaches for a nice, big boulder and starts 
for the hole.  Too late, the party tries to stop him as the rock plummets to 
the bottom . . .

The usual unimaginable mayhem and chaos break out seconds later.  The party 
(most of which survived) later resolved not to let the paladin do ANYTHING 
without unanimous party approval.

--Bill
From: jacobus@symphony.cc.purdue.edu (Bryan J. Maloney)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Sex and RPG's - Why Oh Why ?
Date: 6 Apr 92 15:54:03 GMT
Reply-To: jacobus@symphony.cc.purdue.edu (Bryan J. Maloney)
Organization: Purdue University

In article <1992Apr6.174247.1@cc.newcastle.edu.au> c9036971@cc.newcastle.edu.au writes:
>
>I was wondering if this is the case with the rest of you. Is the fairer
>sex poorly suited to gaming, perhaps? Do they just have better things
>to do than sit around a table roling dice, speaking in jargon (whether
>fantasy, futuristic or whatever) and wandering in imaginary places? Or
>is it just me?


I found the 10:1 ratio to be valid in the US about ten years ago, but that
ratio is changing.  Part of the problem is female subculture.  At least in
the USA, female subculture (as opposed to male subculture) is far less
tolerant of "being wierd" than male's.  I have to cite merely anecdotal
evidence for this, but my fiancee is a gamer, and she studied martial
arts (jui-jutsu/aiki-jutsu/aikido/kempo-jutsu--all at once--the Soke believed
in eclecticism over specialization).  In her dorm during her sophomore year
she was known as a "kung-fu wierdo".

Furthermore, the nerd subsubculture of male subculture is not all that
friendly to females.  In general, it consists of young and not so young
men who have difficulty relating in social contexts, and they associate
women with these contexts.

However, these hurdles are being overcome, and in the US, female gamers are
on the rise.