HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: un107041@wvnvms.wvnet.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: Shadowrun Mages too powerful?
Date: 22 Dec 92 03:27:35 GMT
Organization: West Virginia Network for Educational Telecomputing

In article <uplink.724759011@cwis>, uplink@cwis.unomaha.edu (uplink 2099) writes:
> 	All I know about this topic is what is happening and has
> happened in the game which I play in...
> 
> 	When we were still using SRI rules, the greatest spells had
> to be Increased Reaction +4, Increased Willpower +4, Shapechange,
> and Control Thoughts.  Every mage in our game had them.  We had the
> following characters: 1 ninja Phys Adept, 2 Samurai (one of whom was
> me), 1 Troll Phys Adept, two Mages, a Coyote Shaman, and a Tiger
> Shaman.  

First of all, six magically active character is stupid.  You should have at
most 2, and in RARE occasions 3, but I can't think of any off hand.  And how
about some imagination.  Nobody likes deckers or riggers???  I can't see how
your team can do real well without a decker.  I think this is a problem with
your GM.

 
> 	That's my situation.  And the GM's rote response to accusations
> that Mages are unfair is, "You've got Shadowtech.  You can get
> Betaware.  You're far more powerful than mages are!"  Right, asshole;
> if you gave us enough nuyen for this stuff, we would be.
>

This proves my point about your GM.  He doesn't provide for game balance, it
doesn't matter how many supplements or revised rules FASA puts out, if the GM
and players don't want to make the game work, it won't.  My suggestion to you
is 1)See if you can GM some runs and force the wiz boys to conform, or even
better 2) see if you can find a group that actually wants to do something other
than toss mana around.  I think your group only reads the rules they want to.


williams@cs.wvu.wvnet.edu
or
UN107041@vaxa.wvnet.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: d9bertil@dtek.chalmers.se (Bertil Jonell)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: Dumb Moves By Game Companies
Date: 2 Jan 93 15:01:44 GMT
Organization: Chalmers Tekniska Lekskola, G|teborg, G|taland

In article <1992Dec31.030734.3140@oracle.us.oracle.com> szielins@oracle.com (Stephan Zielinski) writes:
><GRUMPY OLD MAN MODE ON>
>
>GDW's bungling of the entire Traveller line.

>... but (IMHO) Traveller also had THE best thought out alien races and
>interstellar politics I have ever seen in a sci-fi game.

  There is a joke making rounds on TML that says that "As soon as GDW or
somebody else gets around to really detail the alien races, the game
system goes down in flames."

  Unfortunately that has been true twice: Traveller got finished off just
after the Darrians hade come out, and when MegaTraveller got zapped DGP had
just published 2 of 5 books planned.

>Next thing I know, Striker's out of print, the emperor is dead, the
>entire Imperium has fallen to a computer virus (?!!!), and GDW's
>pushing some bizzare prequel line involving a beanstalk.

  The 'Virus' didn't occur at the line between Traveller and MegaTraveller,
it is planned for the break between MegaTraveller and Traveller: The New Era.

>I wonder if Steve Jackson games wants to buy a Traveller classic
>license... but silly me!  GDW has Dangerous Journeys now; if anybody's
>going to do a (legal) port of the background to a modern set of
>mechanics, DJ will be the platform.

  No, T:TNE will use the basic system from Twilight:2000.

>Stephan Zielinski                                       szielins@us.oracle.com

-bertil-
--
"It can be shown that for any nutty theory, beyond-the-fringe political view or
 strange religion there exists a proponent on the Net. The proof is left as an
 exercise for your kill-file."
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: jdnicoll@prism.ccs.uwo.ca (James Davis Nicoll)
Subject: Re: Unique Races
Organization: University of Western Ontario, London
Date: Mon, 28 Dec 1992 17:14:50 GMT

In article <darknite.725523045@camelot> darknite@camelot.bradley.edu (John S. Novak III) writes:
>In <Bzxq0y.2M6.1@cs.cmu.edu> pooh+@cs.cmu.edu (Will Timmins) writes:
>
>>Well, I had a race like the Cho-jha in a game of mine... it seems that hive 
>>mind insectoid races are fairly common.
>
>What's a more reasonable special effect for an insectile
>intelligence than a hive mind...?

	A lot of insects are  not particularly social. Presumably a
non-eusocial intelligent bug wouldn't have a 'hive-mind'.

	I don't care much for telepathy, but you might be able to 
give the appearance of a hive-mind by giving a hypothetical eusocial
intelligent insect (hereafter called eiis) means of communication
the human and humanoid races lack. Real insects use chemical cues
to communicate with, which PCs might not notice or if they do notice
might not recognise or understand (This is a hoot if the human(oid)
cultures use perfumes which inadvertantly mimic eii chhemical signals:
wearing eau de attack pheromone could be rather hazardous). 

	There was a recent article in Scientific American about
caterpillars which guide the behavior of insect  through manipulation
of chemical signals. One could imagine a culture of eiis which used
similar chemical tricks  to domesticate other invertebrate species,
resulting in eii pastoral societies. Other uses of chemicals might
be exploited: human(oid)s might find themselves addicted to
or poisoned by chemical products of the eiis.

	Of course, there's no reason  that the eiis would understand
human(oid) communications, and both  groups might regard each other
as 'telepathic', in the sense of having means of communication not
easily understandable by other species.

							James Nicoll

Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: mark@cheers.jsc.nasa.gov (Mark Manning)
Subject: The WMI - notes
Organization: NASA
Date: Mon, 28 Dec 1992 14:21:49 GMT

Well, I hope this all makes it there.  There should be nine
sections totally.  Maybe someone from rec.games.frp.archives
will take pity and post the entire mess to that location.
(Thanks ahead of time if you do! :) )

Later folks!

Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: goldman@orac.cray.com (Goldman of Chaos)
Subject: Re: Amber Diceless Roleplaying: Shadow Knight?
Organization: Cray Research, Inc.
Date: 28 Dec 92 13:32:00 CST

In article <168BFFEF8.ADELEKTA@kentvm.kent.edu> adelekta@kentvm.kent.edu writes:
>In article <1992Dec16.003105.18526@mail.cornell.edu>
>J.P.Brannan <J.P.Brannan@cornell.edu> writes:
> 
>>Has anyone heard about an Amber Dicless Roleplaying Supplement called
>>_Shadow Knight_ being released?  I had heard it was going to be released
>>in November, and have since heard conflicting stories about whether it
>>was released at all or if a riduculously small number of copies were
>>printed.
> 
> I saw an ad for it in this month's Dragon magazine. Can't remember what it
>said though.
> I was by a gaming shop earlier today, and the owner mentioned having ordered
>several copies, so I guess Shadow Knight is imminent.  Yay!
> 
>-anne

Shasow Knight is running late.  It won't be out until the end of
January, according to the publishers.  :-(

Matt

-- 
Matthew Goldman              E-mail: goldman@orac.cray.com
Fax: (612) 683-3099                   Work: (612) 683-3061
      "Say George, I don't mean to interrupt, but 
       there's a glowing red dot on your forehead."
From: v124pz9t@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (David Cheng)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: Tekumel, Empire of the Petal Throne
Date: 22 Dec 92 16:29:00 GMT
Organization: University at Buffalo
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

There is also the Tekumel Digest.  I  just received issue # 53 today.
Here is the detail:

Requests or comments: tekumel-request@boombox.micro.umn.edu
Submissions: tekumel-submit@boombox.micro.umn.edu

Gopher Archives in:
  Fun & Games/Games/Fantasy Role-Playing Games/Empire of the Petal Throne/

FTP sites: rainbow.cse.nau.edu (134.114.64.24) in /rpg/tekumel 
           potemkin.cs.pdx.edu (131.252.20.145) in /pub/frp/tekumel 
           quayle.mu.wvnet.edu (129.71.32.151) in /pub/rpg/uploads 
           wings.micro.umn.edu (134.84.130.22) in /pub/tekumel/Digests


The guy running it these days (Xxxx Alberti perhaps: I can't tell from the
header...) really knows his stuff, and is in Prof. Barker's weekly game.

Submit questions, and the Prof's answers will be posted in a future issue.

Good Stuff!

Happy Holidays to you all,
-David Cheng
 drcheng@sales.stern.nyu.edu
From: mavra@cpac.washington.edu (Peter D. Adkison)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Happy New Years from Wizards of the Coast
Date: 03 Jan 93 19:42:45 GMT
Organization: Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
NNTP-Posting-Host: bailey.cpac.washington.edu

Greetings friends,

The main purpose of this is basically to say Happy New Years and to
thank you all for your support throughout 1992, our first real year of
business.  We came out with our first product, The Primal Order, in
April, with the Talislanta Guidebook shortly thereafter.  By the end
of 1992 we published 7 products, all of comparable quality to the best
this industry has to offer.  In many ways its been a dream come true,
although the challenge is far from over as we look forward to an
intense and costly legal battle with Palladium while simultaneously
paying off a fairly sizable debt.  But with your continued support
we'll continue to grow and put out some damn nice products in 1993 and
beyond.

But out of all the things we've accomplished, I value most the
friendships I've made, primarily through the net.  There are quite a
number of you who I feel I know fairly well and feel we'll have a
splendid time if we ever get a chance to game together face-to-face.
Reading my e-mail is one of the highlights of the day and I never
tire of hearing from you.  On two occasions I've traveled on company
business to places where I new I'd have some free time; on both
occasions I put out the word on the net that I'd be in such-and-such
an area and then had the privilege of meeting one of my peers on the
net.

All of us at WotC really appreciate the support y'all have shown us on
our mailing lists.  Taking the time to critique product drafts and
hash out ideas is a valuable contribution to our effort here.
Bragging about our mailing lists is certainly something we do a lot.

Something I'd like to do is publicly thank Ken Case for contributing
half of a NeXT computer, hooking up our wizards.com gateway, and for
other various sysadmin functions.  Most of you don't know Ken exists,
but without him our presence on the net would be greatly diminished.

And of course, many many thanks to my hard-working staff.  The core
team here at WotC consists of a hand full of dedicated professionals
who make this happen.  And then there's the people who do the "real
work," the writers and authors, who have time and time again been
patient with us as we learn the ropes.  Particularly, Steve Sechi, the
owner of the Talislanta trademarks, for working with us at developing
a strong working relationship.

Well, I could go on for the rest of the afternoon, but you're probably
getting bored about now, so I'll cut this off.

Thanks again for all your support, and best wishes from the Wizards of
the Coast for a happy and prosperous new year.

                                --Mavra!
                                  Peter D. Adkison
                                  Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
                                  mavra@wizards.com
From: albert@chain.ssctr.bcm.tmc.edu (Rick Jones)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: VAMPIRE question/imput needed
Date: 30 Dec 1992 01:57:57 GMT
Organization: Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Tx
NNTP-Posting-Host: chain.ssctr.bcm.tmc.edu

In article <1hqodlINNdbf@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu> bs508@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (John D Plumitis) writes:
>It would seem with the backrounds Generation and Status one can start the game
>as a fairly powerful Vampire.  Shouldnt characters who have high generation 
>and/or status have more disciplines or something?

	Nope.  If a player wants to blow his points on Generation and 
Status, then she'll have less to spend on disciplines.  Now, a really
low generation Kindred has higher maximum disciplines, and can eventually
go up to 6 (or 7, I fergit).  But there's no reason he should have 
extra points at the begining. 
	(Of course, if you want to throw the points out the window, than
it does make sense for low generation characters to have more disciplines.)

-- 
Rick Jones				Systems Support Center
albert@bcm.tmc.edu			Baylor College of Medicine
Voice: 713-798-7352			standard disclaimers apply
One jump ahead of the slowpokes, One skip ahead of my doom. - Aladdin
From: Petri.Wessman@hut.fi (Petri Wessman)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: RMCVI
Date: 22 Dec 92 15:54:36 GMT
Reply-To: Petri.Wessman@hut.fi
Organization: La Gata Encantada

On 17 Dec 92 22:47:17 EST, Jason_Mulligan@camelot.apana.org.au (Jason Mulligan) said:

Jason> Has anyone got Rolemaster Companion 6? What do you think of it.
Jason> Are they going too far with all these companions.

Don't know about the 'going too far' bit, but as for RMCVI: loved it!
I think it's the best one since the first two.

Plus points:

	o New skill system which finally has a workable set of skills
	  and eliminates all those "Tie Left Shoelace In Dark" skills found
 	  in the later Companions. Just started using it last game
	  session, seems to work great -- I modified it a bit by only
	  allowing +3 per level for IdS (generalist) base skills.

	o Joel Lovell's init system, which I've been using in various
	  forms for the past couple of years. Simple, expandable and
	  fast to resolve. Check this out if your players want to
	  throw daggers at people while running or other non-standard
	  stuff. I use a couple of mods for this, too:

		In the RMCVI rules, an Init number is calculated as

			QU bonus + level + 1d10.

		I use

			Stat bonus + skill ranks + 1d10,

		where 'Stat bonus' is the bonus of the "appropriate" stat
		for the action in question. For instance, while melee
		attacks might well use QU, spell attacks would more
		logically use EM (or whatever, depending on realm), and
		actions associated with a skill would use the stats
		associated with that skill.

		'Skill ranks' is the number of *ranks* of the skill
		in question the PC has. I try to disregard "levels"
		wherever possible, I think that the # of developed
		ranks is a bit more appropriate in determining the
		attack speed. In other words, the more you practice,
		the faster you get. Game levels don't figure in it.

	o Weapon length stuff and other small but useful rules


Minus side:

	o *Yet* more character classes. I mean, who needs these?

	o Stats for Creatures. Well, this one might even become useful
	  in a rare situation, but generally: bah.

	o Lots of ho-hum bullshit about character development which
	  doesn't really say anything


All in all, check it out!


Jason> How many out there play RM?

We're all over the place [insert evil laughter] :-)

//Petri
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: goodin@fraser.sfu.ca (Charles Frederick Goodin)
Subject: New GAMMA WORLD
Organization: Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C., Canada
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1992 19:32:08 GMT

I picked up the new Gamma World because I loved the first and third editions.  Iwould have started my gaming career with the first edition if the copy that I
purchased had included anything besides a map, but unfortunately I took the 
(nearly) empty box back to the store, and ended up starting with D&D like
everyone else.  Of course, I grew out of this after puberty, and I now play realrole-playing games instead of buying whatever is marketed most ferociously.
     The best thing about Gamma World (all editions) is how quickly you can 
make a character.  My betrothed is not a real gaming fan, but even she enjoys
rolling up a mutant badger with telekinetic powers.  In the new edition, they
talk about the two styles of play, one of them being the "wild and wahoo" sort
of shoot-the-purple-mutant game.  This is what Gamma World is best at.
     However, in another bit of marketing brilliance, T$R took out the best
part of the first few editions for release in a future supplement:  the 
powered armor.  Picking up artifacts and trying to figure them out, with
the handy artifact investigation charts (slightly improved in this edition,
IMHO) was always the most fun part of Gamma World, and the best artifacts
were the powered armor.  I read through the artifacts listing 3 or 4 times
before I finally had to admit to myself that, yes, they had LEFT THEM OUT!!
They came out a little later in the Gamma Knights boxed set, and I threw
up my hands and rued the day I decided to give T$R products another chance.
That's it!  No more! Not even the Marvel stuff (well, maybe for background
info...)
From: aragorn@convex.csd.uwm.edu (Steven J.)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Neo-Anarchists' Guide?
Date: 26 Dec 1992 20:59:30 GMT
Organization: The Other Side of the CPU
Distribution: usa
NNTP-Posting-Host: 129.89.7.30

I was searching around for the Shadowrun NAGEE and I found the second and
third editions.  Although, the third edition I found was incomplete.  Would
someone please tell me where I can find the first and third editions of the
NAGEE in PostScript form?


Steve J. White
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
						   aragorn@convex.csd.uwm.edu
						     aragorn@csd4.csd.uwm.edu
Xref: sparky rec.games.frp.misc:10343 rec.games.frp.dnd:7787
From: smash@oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu (Scott Mash)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc,rec.games.frp.dnd
Subject: Newsletter Seeking Submissions
Date: 28 Dec 92 14:55:09 GMT
Organization: Smasher Land RPG BBS (614)593-8359



Issue #5 Of "Silver, Swords & Slaughter" is in need of articles.  The
forth issue was printed and mailed now it is time to move onto the
fifth issue (issue 4 is still available!).

The author's of used articles will receive a free copy of the issue in
which it appears.  I am not able to pay you for these articles as I am
making no money from this newsletter.  I am also in need of artwork, all
artwork should be done in black and white (or shades of grey) on
standard paper.  Your artwork should be of somehow related to RPG's. 

All articles should deal with any aspect of any rpg game.

I am also in need of letters to the editor, the authors of letters that
are used will also receive a free copy of SS&S.  Any questions will be
accepted, they can deal with the newsletter itself or any gaming aspect.

Submissions should be mailed to "sss@smashland.nelsonville.oh.us", 
uploaded to my bbs (Smasher Land RPG BBS (614) 592-4372, 2400 Baud),
or mailed to me at the following address.

Advertising space is available, send email for more info.

Silver, Swords & Slaughter  
c/o Scott Mash
11685 SR 691
Nelsonville, Ohio 45764

-- 
| smash@oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu         |  Scott A. Mash               |
| smash@bigbird.cs.ohiou.edu         |  Smasher Land RPG BBS        |
| system@smashland.nelsonville.oh.us |  (614) 593-8359, 2400 Baud   |
|                                    |  RPG Textfiles And Utilities |
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: seurer@rchland.vnet.ibm.com (Bill Seurer)
Subject: Re: Time preparing (was Re: META: Game Mechanics vs. Background)
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1992 18:41:12 GMT
Reply-To: BillSeurer@vnet.ibm.com
Disclaimer: This posting represents the poster's views, not necessarily those of IBM
Organization: IBM Rochester

In article <1992Dec22.155807.8848@oz.plymouth.edu>, sos@oz.plymouth.edu (Steffan O'Sullivan) writes:
|> surge@cqs.washington.edu (Jonathan Sari) writes:
|> >
|> >I would agree with the point of view, if I had a lot of time to spend
|> >on my campaign.  I don't.  I am capable of winging it, but I think
|> >that well thought out background material makes my GMing run many
|> >times smoother given the same amount of preparation, and hence makes
|> >the game more enjoyable.
|> > ...
|> >I have a question for all of you, Steffan in particular.  How many
|> >hours of your time do you spend preparing a campaign to run?  How
|> >about preparing an adventure?  Please be as specific as you feel
|> >comfortable with, and give as many examples as you feel comfortable
|> >with.
|> 
|> Sorry to be vague, but my best work is always a product of the
|> imagination or intuition functions first, and only minimal smoothing is
|> needed by the thinking function.

That's the way I work too.  I've tried detailing things and spending lots
of time preparing but my players usually either end up ignoring or killing
in 5 minutes the NPCs I labored hours on.  Now I just spend a few minutes
to get a general idea of their character, jot down the name, and go from
there.

I DO spend a lot of time drawing maps of the world.  This helps both me
and them keep everything straight.  I also have a history (frequently
changing) of the major areas of my world the PCs have visited written
down.

For adventures I work on a hook to get them into it, some ideas to use
along the way, and my idea of the eventual goal.  Then in play I listen
to what my players say to fill in the details.  They are always reading
Deep Meanings into everything that happens so I frequently use what they
say and we are all happy.  They are always surprising me in play so any
detailed planning would be totally wasted.  I also get my best ideas
while I am in the middle of reffing.

The one thing I should be better at is writing down things that just
pop up.
-- 

- Bill Seurer     Language and Compiler Development      IBM Rochester, MN
  Internet: BillSeurer@vnet.ibm.com    America On-Line: BillSeurer@aol.com
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: E2KP <E2KP@UNB.CA>
Subject: Rolemaster
Organization: The University of New Brunswick
Date: Wed, 23 Dec 1992 22:16:06 GMT

Actually, i have noticed there is a positive dearth of mail re: Rolemast
in these newsgroups. Wondering why? At this university, nothing else!
Further, re: RMCVI, yes ICE has gotten a little out of hand with all
the supplements, and I think it is about ime to bring it all together
in a revised hardbound edition set. I have used ICE products since
the very first edition of the Iron Wind and the premiere release of
Arms Law - before there was a CLaw Law or anything else. I have always
preferred it over any system and I find players do too if they can get
by the first few sessions of learning the rules. After that, TSR et al.
seem to be relgated to the back shelf. Anybody have any decent RM utils
for the PC? A few spreadsheet files would be helpful. The FTP site in
denmark has a paltry selection, though it is better than the others.
______________
Robert Trifts <E2KP@UNB.CA>

Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.announce
From: msuzio@tiamat.umd.umich.edu (Mike Suzio)
Subject: gifs (ftp site)
Originator: cwatters@top.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1992 18:40:38 GMT

My ftp site (ftp.umd.umich.edu) just got in a bunch of new
fantasy art scans.  If you want to check them out, come on down
y'all.

Also, if anyone out there has some good scans and needs a site (or, 
come to think of it, if anyone needs a site for any frp stuff),
mail me.

Michael J. Suzio
msuzio@tiamat.umd.umich.edu
Coordinator for Cubicon '93 Gaming Convention

Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.announce
From: "MATTHEW E. PEARSON" <MATPEARS%WHEATNMA.BitNet@pucc.PRINCETON.EDU>
Subject: MYTHUS MAIL LIST IS UP!!!!!!
Originator: cwatters@bottom.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
Reply-To: rec.games.frp.misc
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Mon, 28 Dec 1992 22:49:00 GMT

The Dangerous Journeys Mythus Mailing list has been moved to a real
listserver!

It now resides at:

LISTSERV@BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU  (or LISTSERV@BROWNVM for bitnet)

MYTHUS-L is the group name...

we will have files available soon hopefully at the site as well..

Please if you are interested in the system or are a player... sign up! Its the
 only internet/bitnet help you will find!

Danke..

Matt Pearson
listop

Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.announce