HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: gkatz@csws9.ic.sunysb.edu (Gerald W Katz)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board.ce
Subject: Re: Celebrity Aliens
Date: 22 Nov 92 21:13:13 GMT
Organization: State University of New York at Stony Brook

In article <41405@sdcc12.ucsd.edu> cs161feu@sdcc10.ucsd.edu (Anthony Minkoff) writes:
>Just a thought:  match up various alien powers with appropriate
>celebrities.  E.g., 
>
>Siren:      Cindy Crawford
>Terrorist:  Moammar Qaddafi
>Changeling: Scott Bakula (or, for Republicans, Bill Clinton)
>Void:       John Gotti
>Zombie:     George Burns
>Assassin:   John Hinkley, Jr.
>Butler:     Chris Hewitt
>Trader:     Ivan Boeski
>Filth:      Larry Flint
>Crystal:    the Anal Retentive Chef
>Machine:    the Energizer Bunny
>
>
>Tony

Assessor:	IRS
Lloyd:		All State
Vulch:		the homeless :-(
Mesmer: 	advertising agencies
Dragon:		oil companies
Dictator:	wife :-)
Insect:		ex:Gobots as opposed to Transformers
Prophet:	Nostradamus
Diplomat:	United Nations
Virus:		AIDS
Disease:	AIDS
Sniveler:	Republicans after the election
Magnet:		Bosnia-Herzegovinia, Serbia
Loser:		Democrats
Vampire:	IRS
Filch:		the common burglar
Clone:		East Germany's women olympic swimming team
Connoissuer:	Queen Elizabeth II
Seeker:		Sam Donaldson
Judge:		Supreme Court
Boomerang:	Global Thermal Nuclear War
Vacuum:		The Middle East
Warpish:	guerilla groups
Macron:		the Jolly Green Giant
Plant:		political action committees
Schizoid:	Sybil
Silencer:	wife :-)


Don't forget to tip the Butler!
				gkatz
Newsgroups: rec.games.board.ce
From: jhildeb1@cc.swarthmore.edu (Jeff Hildebrand)
Subject: About the MCE power art.
Summary: gee that looks familiar
Keywords: skeptic hank eyebeam
Reply-To: hildebra@math.wisc.edu (Jeff Hildebrand)
Organization: Don's Merry Horde of Topologists
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 04:52:12 GMT

	I haven't had much of a chance to use my copy of More Cosmic yet (I
just introduced a whole bunch of people to the game last week and they're
hooked, so we'll use it soon), so this afternoon I looked over the new
powers to see what was there. I noticed a couple things about the art on a
couple powers.

	Is it just me, or does the drawing for Skeptic look suspiciously
like Hank the Hallucination from the comic strip Eyebeam? It's amusing, but
I'm not quite sure I see the relevence. On the other hand, does Bill
Watterson know about Mayfair including the Spiff? :) That actually looks
like it could be mildly useful and it's a very funny card.

-Jeff
-- 
Jeff Hildebrand, The Shaggy TA		       	   hildebra@math.wisc.edu
"The following statement  is an editorial viewpoint  and does not reflect 
the views of WSRN-FM, its employees, or mutant drosophila" - Off the Cuff
"You can't confuse us; we're not listening to you!"  -  topology students
From: mrizzo@mpd.tandem.com (Mike Rizzo)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board.ce
Subject: Comets - A unifying concept
Date: 19 Nov 92 23:46:58 GMT
Reply-To: mrizzo@allwedo.UUCP (Mike Rizzo)
Organization: Tandem Computers, Inc.

Whenever a number of expansions have been developed, there may arise a
unifying concept which can bring them all together again. I would like to 
propose one - the Comet Deck.

In addition to the Destiny Deck we have the Comet Deck. After each Destiny
Deck pick, a pick is made from the Comet Deck to modify the Destiny. In 
the comet deck we have a mix of Reverse Cone Challenges, Capture Challenges,
Hazardous Challenges, Inverse Challenges, and Comets. In the Destiny Deck we 
have normal Destiny, wild Destiny, Special Destiny, and Destiny Gashes. In 
other words the Destiny deck determines the offensive and defensive players,
the Comet deck determines the type of challenge.

By providing a Comet Deck we can:

 a. Adjust the mix of Destiny types for each game. This becomes easier
    since you don't have to tie the destiny types to a given color.
 b. Don't have to have rules like the one that says what to do when more than 
    one comet is drawn. 
 c. Make it easier to add new challenge types in specified proportions. For
    example, the Comet Deck allows a nice way to introduce Prisoners and 
    Hazards. It is easy to adjust the mix until the desired impact of these
    expansions is hit upon.

Comments?



Newsgroups: rec.games.board.ce
From: khalsa@echo.gsfc.nasa.gov (Tej)
Subject: Re: Sting
Organization: NASA GSFC Code 910.1, TRMM Ground Truth
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 17:39:45 GMT

In article <1992Nov15.212637.8573@Princeton.EDU>, mfterman@phoenix.Princeton.EDU writes:
|> 
|> The only conceivable time I can picture a place where one is definitely
|> choosing to lose tokens is when going against the Wrack and choosing not
|> to give into torture. You deliberately are choosing to lose the token
|> instead of giving into the Wrack.


It seems to me that you are merely refusing to accept the Wrack's deal not
volunteering to lose a token, especially since you again are not guaranteed
to lose any tokens since the Wrack can pull cards instead.

Tej

Newsgroups: rec.games.board.ce
From: Alexx@world.std.com (Alexx S Kay)
Subject: Re: About the MCE power art.
Keywords: skeptic hank eyebeam
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 17:44:03 GMT

jhildeb1@cc.swarthmore.edu (Jeff Hildebrand) writes:

>	Is it just me, or does the drawing for Skeptic look suspiciously
>like Hank the Hallucination from the comic strip Eyebeam? It's amusing, but
>I'm not quite sure I see the relevence. On the other hand, does Bill
>Watterson know about Mayfair including the Spiff? :) That actually looks
>like it could be mildly useful and it's a very funny card.

Actually, I thought that the Spiff bore an even stronger resembelance
to Commander Keen (from the Apogee series of computer games).

Alexx

Alexx@world.std.com
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to operate.  It's nothing to worry
 about, although it is EXTREMELY dangerous."	-- Monty Python
Newsgroups: rec.games.board.ce
From: dwr2560@zeus.tamu.edu (RING, DAVID WAYNE)
Subject: Re: Sting
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Organization: Texas A&M University, Academic Computing Services
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 20:58:00 GMT

peter@techbook.com (Peter Sarrett) writes...
>As the author of the Sting power (at least, in its original incarnation before
>modified by Mayfair), I suppose I should add my two cents.
>[...]
>         Having cards be drawn from Scab/Sting's hand was intended to balance
>the power out, not make it even stronger.  With no reusable cards, though,
>the strategy is Mayfair's version is definitely to cycle through hands as
>quickly as possible-- making Sting a very strong power.

This suggests giving the victim the option of giving cards to sting instead.

If somebody tries this, let me know how it works.

Dave Ring
dwr2560@zeus.tamu.edu
From: Eric-Amick@cup.portal.com (Richard E Amick)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board.ce
Subject: Re: Spiff == Calvin? (was Re: About the MCE power art.)
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 92 16:56:59 PST
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Distribution: world
  <harrison-181192132651@macb049.mv.us.adobe.com>

Is it just me, or does the artwork for the Busybody look a lot like Ross
Perot? ;)

Eric
Newsgroups: rec.games.board.ce
From: brackney@author.ecn.purdue.edu (Larry J Brackney)
Subject: Re: About the MCE power art.
Keywords: skeptic hank eyebeam
Organization: Purdue University Engineering Computer Network
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 20:26:22 GMT

In article <BxxALG.Fyn@world.std.com> Alexx@world.std.com (Alexx S Kay) writes:
>Actually, I thought that the Spiff bore an even stronger resembelance
>to Commander Keen (from the Apogee series of computer games).

   Gee, I thought it was supposed to be Calvin from Calvin and Hobbs.  That
would be consistent w/ the power name.

   - larry

--
/  Larry J. Brackney      | E-Mail: brackney@mn.ecn.purdue.edu              \ 
|-------------------------| S-Mail: 3116 Hilltop Dr.  W. Lafayette IN  47906 |
|  Mechanical Engineering | Phone : (317)-463-1602 (Home)                    |
\  Purdue University      |         (317)-494-6552 (Office)                 /
From: dhoberma@pearl.tufts.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.board.ce
Subject: Conniseuer buying Flares
Date: 18 Nov 92 23:21:08 GMT
Organization: Tufts University - Medford, MA


Here is a question involving the Mayfair CE and the More Cosmic set.

	If Connisseur (sp, I know) were to buy some flares with lucre,
	does he _just_ get the top flares on the unused pile, or would
he draw double the amount he bought, and then discard half?

	Dobie
From: gharris@jade.tufts.edu (George W. Harris)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board.ce
Subject: Re: Pentaform with Artifact and Setup Powers
Date: 17 Nov 92 03:03:18 GMT
Organization: Tufts University - Medford, MA

In article <1992Nov15.231653.6585@netcom.com> cinnibar@netcom.com (Jeff Wood) writes:
>
>Yes, regarding this, I once played the Pentaform, and used (gads, what's the
>name?) the power that allows you to use 20 extra tokens?  Well, what happens if
>my first base is using only those extra tokens?  Obviously, I would evolve to
>a 1-base power, thereby losing the artifacts of the 0-base power, which would
>cancel my first base, making me the 0-base power, activating my first base, etc.
>
>How would you handle this setup?

	I believe that for a base to count towards victory conditions, it must 
have at least one *primary* color token on it.  Thus, in the above situation,
you would be comsidered to have 0 bases, whether you had the Symbiote power 
or not.

	Actually, I'm not sure that this is the way the power is worded, but 
it seems a reasonable interpretation, and is supported by the precedent of
Vampire.

>Jeff Wood
>cinnibar@netcom.com
--
gharris@jade.tufts.edu          
George W. Harris              	"He'd kill us if he had the chance."  
Dept. of Mathematics            
Tufts University              			The Conversation  
Newsgroups: rec.games.board.ce
From: peter@techbook.com (Peter Sarrett)
Subject: Re: Sting
Organization: TECHbooks --- Public Access UNIX --- (503) 220-0636
Date: Sun, 15 Nov 1992 22:07:53 GMT



As the author of the Sting power (at least, in its original incarnation before
modified by Mayfair), I suppose I should add my two cents.

When I submitted Sting to Mayfair, it was called Scab (the power to
substitute).  The intention was that if you didn't have any cards, you couldn't
cause someone to lose tokens for you.  I'm not sure if this is clear in the
final version.  Also, Scab was definitely designed with the Eon version in
mind.  My group tended to favor large hands, where we could stash reusable
Flares.  Having cards be drawn from Scab/Sting's hand was intended to balance
the power out, not make it even stronger.  With no reusable cards, though,
the strategy is Mayfair's version is definitely to cycle through hands as
quickly as possible-- making Sting a very strong power.

I still think it works well under Eon's rules.  Under Mayfair's rules, it's
probably too strong.

===============================================================================
Peter Sarrett          |   "You don't stop playing games when you get old--
peter@techbook.com     |    you get old when you stop playing games."
(503)579-0873          |                                        - O. W. Holmes
===============================================================================
Newsgroups: rec.games.board.ce
From: harrison@adobe.com (Harrison Page)
Subject: Spiff == Calvin? (was Re: About the MCE power art.)
Followup-To: rec.games.board.ce
Organization: Adobe Systems Incorporated, Mountain View, California
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 21:32:05 GMT

In article <JLATBS0M@cc.swarthmore.edu>, jhildeb1@cc.swarthmore.edu (Jeff
Hildebrand) wrote:
> 
> On the other hand, does Bill Watterson know about Mayfair including
> the Spiff? :) 

When we bought MCE and discovered the Spiff power, there was a lot of
laughter.  "This *has* to be a nod to Calvin and Hobbes," we agreed.

> That actually looks like it could be mildly useful and it's a very 
> funny card.

I find it quite useful.  Friend of mine delights in playing it, making
a big deal over crash landing.  I can always tell when he has the power:
doesn't accept allies, gets a big grin on his face, and plays a -1 
card.  hee.

..Harrison Page

--
Harrison Page (harrison@adobe.com)
Adobe Systems Incorporated, Mountain View, California
"Not satisified with being dead, they packed up and headed west."
Newsgroups: rec.games.board.ce
From: bicker@hoqax.ho.att.com (Brian C. Kohn)
Subject: Re: Pentaform with Artifact and Setup Powers
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 17:38:02 GMT
	<1992Nov15.231653.6585@netcom.com>
	<1992Nov17.030318.15718@news.tufts.edu>

>In article <1992Nov15.231653.6585@netcom.com> cinnibar@netcom.com (Jeff Wood) writes:
>>Yes, regarding this, I once played the Pentaform, and used (gads, what's the
>>name?) the power that allows you to use 20 extra tokens?  Well, what happens if
>>my first base is using only those extra tokens?  Obviously, I would evolve to
>>a 1-base power, thereby losing the artifacts of the 0-base power, which would
>>cancel my first base, making me the 0-base power, activating my first base, etc.
>>How would you handle this setup?
>	I believe that for a base to count towards victory conditions, it must 
>have at least one *primary* color token on it.  Thus, in the above situation,
>you would be comsidered to have 0 bases, whether you had the Symbiote power 
>or not.

Actually, this reminds me of a stupid joke:

Patient: "Doctor! Doctor!  It hurts when I do this."
Doctor: "So?  Don't do that."

Always put at least one primary color token on the cone when involved
in a challenge. 

--
/kohn/brian.c                  AT&T Bell Laboratories Quality Process Center   
The Resource,                  E-MAIL: att!hoqax!bicker  (bicker@hoqax.ATT.COM)
Poet-Magician of Quality       PHONE: (908) 949-5850                           
   'Hope, not fear, is the most positive advocate of action.' - S.R. Lawhead
From: lightnin@planet10.WPI.EDU (Reality's Comic Relief)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board.ce
Subject: Re: About the MCE power art.
Date: 18 Nov 92 12:17:32
Organization: DeityCo: Major and Minor Deities Placement Agency
NNTP-Posting-Host: planet10.wpi.edu
In-reply-to: jhildeb1@cc.swarthmore.edu's message of Wed, 18 Nov 1992 04:52:12 GMT

In article <JLATBS0M@cc.swarthmore.edu> jhildeb1@cc.swarthmore.edu (Jeff Hildebrand) writes:

	   I haven't had much of a chance to use my copy of More Cosmic yet (I
   just introduced a whole bunch of people to the game last week and they're
   hooked, so we'll use it soon), so this afternoon I looked over the new
   powers to see what was there. I noticed a couple things about the art on a
   couple powers.

One complaint we had, was the artwork for the Pirate.  It doesn't have a
parrot on the shoulder, and if you read the history, it really kind of 
needs one.  I think perhaps Mayfair missed the point of that history.  Oh
well, it's a minor nuisance.

-lightnin

    /| Lightning: (n) A Force of Nature consisting of an electric discharge.
   / |_Virtual Enterprises, GmbH: Bureaucracy Inaction! 
  /_  /=======================================================================
   / / |Up the long ladder, and down the short rope,       |Email: 
  / /_ |to Hell with King Billy, and God bless the Pope,   |lightnin
 /_  / |if that doesn't do, we'll tear him in two,         |@wpi.wpi.edu
  / /  |and send him to Hell with his red, white, and blue.|__________________
 / /   |                                    -Traditional Irish Children's Song
/ /===========================================================================
|/ "Dark is not one of my favorite colors." -Ralph, the All Purpose Animal.


Newsgroups: rec.games.board.ce
From: cinnibar@netcom.com (Jeff Wood)
Subject: Re: Pentaform with Artifact and Setup Powers
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest) 
Date: Sun, 15 Nov 1992 23:16:53 GMT

In article <40985@sdcc12.ucsd.edu> cs161feu@sdcc10.ucsd.edu (Anthony Minkoff) writes:
>In article <6871@dove.nist.gov> glenn@sloth.ncsl.nist.gov writes:
>>I'm somewhat confused how to handle the pentaform when it comes with
>>setup and Artifact powers.  The possibilities are endless as are
>>the arguments.  Our solution the other night was to simply not allow
>>it and the pentaform just keeps picking until it gets 5 powers that don't
>>involve setup or artifacts.  Any comments?
>

Yes, regarding this, I once played the Pentaform, and used (gads, what's the
name?) the power that allows you to use 20 extra tokens?  Well, what happens if
my first base is using only those extra tokens?  Obviously, I would evolve to
a 1-base power, thereby losing the artifacts of the 0-base power, which would
cancel my first base, making me the 0-base power, activating my first base, etc.

How would you handle this setup?

Jeff Wood
cinnibar@netcom.com
From: cs161feu@sdcc10.ucsd.edu (Anthony Minkoff)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board.ce
Subject: Re: Sting
Date: 16 Nov 92 16:43:30 GMT
Organization: University of California, San Diego

In article <Bxs2tE.C36@techbook.com> peter@techbook.com (Peter Sarrett) writes:
>As the author of the Sting power (at least, in its original incarnation before
>modified by Mayfair), I suppose I should add my two cents.
>
>When I submitted Sting to Mayfair, it was called Scab (the power to
>substitute).  The intention was that if you didn't have any cards, you couldn't
>cause someone to lose tokens for you.  I'm not sure if this is clear in the
>final version.

Not only is it not clear, it is explicitly stated otherwise--

"If you have too few cards, he may draw the remainder from the deck
or may take that many lucre from you, at his choice."

>With no reusable cards, though,
>the strategy is Mayfair's version is definitely to cycle through hands as
>quickly as possible-- making Sting a very strong power.

Speaking of cycling through hands, in a recent game I had the
pleasure to play Philanthropist/Reserve.  It took an average of
about 1.5 challenges for me to go through a hand and get a new one.

Tony
From: doug@abby.chem.ucla.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: RE: Classic Games
Date: 16 Nov 92 19:42:12 GMT
Reply-To: doug@abby.chem.ucla.edu
Organization: Department of Chemistry, UCLA

In article <1e0dffINN64f@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu>, cg533@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (James Eugene Alloway) writes:
>8)Group Cooperative Game:  I agree that this would be a good type of game to
>have, but I don't know of any, so I can't answer this one.  I do feel that since such a g
>since such a game is really a good idea, I would like suggestions from anyone who couldwne
>who might suggest one.

Let me take this opportunity to point out AH's "Wizards."  It's certainly not
for everyone (and can be somewhat frustrating early in the game), but it
more-or-less falls in this category.  While it is a race to save the world,
essentially, methods of advancement include helping other players out of tight
spots.  There is a not-insignificant chance that nobody will win if people
don't cooperate... there is a built in time limit, but the times at which bad
things happen can be delayed by performing certain tasks... and EVERYONE is
trying to perform those tasks, so if someone is held up for a while, everyone
can suffer for it.


-Doug Gibson
 doug@abby.chem.ucla.edu

Neither UCLA nor the National Science Foundation has a clue what I am doing.
They just pay me to do it.

"We have to tear you to shreds because we care." - EAC
From: shoham@ll.mit.edu (Daniel Shoham)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Re: More Rail Games summaries, please!
Date: 23 Nov 92 06:10:18 GMT
Organization: MIT Lincoln Laboratory

In article <KEITH.92Nov20235641@neuromancer.uchicago.edu> keith@neuromancer.uchicago.edu (Keith Waclena) writes:
>
>But nobody has summarized the non-18xx rail games that I see
>mentioned: Rail Barons, Empire Builders, British Rails, Silverado,
>EuroRails...  Are these similar to the 18xx games?
>
I don't know about Silverado.

The other games are totally different from the 18xx games! The 18xx games are
formulating the interaction of stock-market manipulations and the operations
of railroad corporations. The trains themeslves are "assumed" (corporation get
little cards to indicate how many and what kind of trains they own).  The other
games are more about running trains around the board and making money. Trains
are designated by plastic markers that move on a map-like board and visit
cities. Each player plays ONE corporation.

EuroRail, Empire Builders, and British Rail are, with minor variations, have
the same rules but different maps (Europe, US/Canada, and Britain). Once you
know how to play one, you know all three. In those games, players get cards from
a deck that tell them that some cargos are in demaned in some citie. To make
money, player get the cargos from cities that supply them to those that demand.
The proceeds are (partly) used to extend one's track and place more cities on
one's network. I prefer Euro-rail, it has a more interesting map, and its
payouts are more generous. Empire Builders is ok. British Rails have some
problems (like payouts that don't match the distance from supply city to
demand city, and the availability of powerfull but boring strategies - like
collecting valued cargos and then waiting for it to come into demand).

Rail Barons is a game where players buy existing track in "balk" (as opposed to
building it themselves) and where players are instructed (by a die-roll) where
to go (as opposed too choosing). The only freedom is what path to take and
what track to buy. The game would have been a quick and fun milk and cookies
(no beer & pretzels here :-( ) game had it not been for those huge tiny-print
fare computation tables that burden the game. Some house rule variants reduce
this problem.

All in all, I would say that the 18xx games are by far the most sophisticated
of the above-mentioned rail games. (1830 is my favorite, followed closely by
1835). EuroRail etc. are fun and very playable move-around-the-board games.
Rail Barons needs some fixing before I can recomend it.


Dan Shoham               shoham@ll.mit.edu
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The view presented are not necessarily those of my employer, etc.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Lincoln Laboratory
244 Wood Street
Lexington Massachusetts, 02173-9108
Office B-373
617-981-3515
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: mckinney@athena.mit.edu (Ethan L Mckinney)
Subject: Re: Air Force Gamette
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 21:28:12 GMT

No.  Sturmovik was never released.

Damn them!
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
From: cleggp@aix.rpi.edu (Paul Jason Clegg)
Subject: 183x:  Info Wanted
Organization: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY
Date: Sun, 15 Nov 1992 22:55:42 GMT

Yesterday I played 1830 for the first time, and was immediately hooked.  I'm
considering asking for a copy for Christmas :).  I seem to recall, though,
some mention of other games of a similar vein, named 183x (x being a digit
from 1 to 9);  What's the difference between 1830 and the others (if there are
others)?  Which is best?

...Paul


-- 
+                +        +    +  + + +  +    +        +                +
  Paul Clegg, cleggp@aix.rpi.edu.   Project Galactic Guide Coordinator.
            System One RPG designer.   But generally unknown.
+                +        +    +  + + +  +    +        +                +
Organization: User Services, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA