HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: jdugger@envy.reed.edu (Jay Dugger)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: Amber RPG
Date: 5 Nov 92 16:52:42 GMT
Article-I.D.: reed.1992Nov5.165242.14432
Organization: Reed College, Portland, OR

In article <Bx7C4E.Co6@access.digex.com> dzik@access.digex.com (Joseph  
Dzikiewicz) writes:
> In article <16893ACC3.ADELEKTA@kentvm.kent.edu> adelekta@kentvm.kent.edu  
writes:
> >In article <BwynBM.44v@news.cso.uiuc.edu>
> >jng53092@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Jon Gad) writes:
> >>
> >>Now other players may have different experiences, but everything I've  
gone
> >>through says "READ THE BOOKS FIRST!!!"
> > 
> > I certainly agree with this - I think it's *really* important that  
players
> >have read the books before trying to game in a series or novel's  
universe.
> 
> Not always true...
> 
> We have a GURPs Wildcards campaign in which we recently time-travelled  
back
> to 1946, right before the Wildcard virus was released.  At one of our
> time-travel runs, we got a new player who had never read the Wildcards
> books.  He played a 1946 nat who, when the virus got released and we
> returned to 1992, became and ace and came back with us.  He knew enough
> about the time 1946 (before the Wildcards universe diverges from our own
> to any great degree) to play someone from that time, and his lack of 
> knowledge of the Wildcards universe since 1946 tied in well with his
> character's lack of knowledge of the same.

	I have to agree with this.  In the Amber campaign I ran over the  
summer, the lost heir to Amber's throne was played by a player who'd never  
read the books.  Since he'd never been to Amber it worked out quite well.

Jay dugger
jdugger@reed.edu
From: mfterman@flower.Princeton.EDU (Mutant for Hire)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Interesting fantasy book
Date: 13 Nov 92 19:20:34 GMT
Organization: Princeton University
Originator: news@nimaster

Just finished reading _Rats and Gargoyles_ by Mary Grant. What
distinguishes this book from your typical fantasy book? Well, the
research for one thing. The author did a lot of reading of medieval
texts, and in fact she has a bibliography in the back of her book. At
periodic intervals in the book there are actual plates from some of
these references.

The book itself is situated in a strange world. There are humans, who
are at the bottom of the social ranking, forbidden to wear weapons.
The Rats are next up, controlling the physical kingdoms and ruling the
humans. Then there are the gargoyles, who are the servants of the
Thirty Six. The Thirty Six live in the Fane, the temple that the
humans are forced to build. The Thirty Six are gods, together form the
sum total of all that is divine.

The magic that appears in the book is hard to describe shortly. Deals
a lot with sacred numbers, sacred geometry, alchemy forms a critical
element of the plot, both with the traditional goal of alchemy and its
opposite. You get an interesting worldview which while avoiding a
total mystic viewpoint, being partially welded to mathematics and
logic, partially welded to a mystic viewpoint using metaphoric views
of life and the inevitable mixing of symbol with referent. Much
different than the current worldview that separates human law from
divine law from physical law.

A new interesting idea comes out of the University of Crime. This
university teaches people how to be thieves. It also exists at the
city at the heart of the world, yet manages to support itself without
help from Rats or gods. I'll give their interesting twist below a ^L
for people who want to read the book, since it contains an important
surprise when the main cast discovers it.


In this world, thieves cheat. In fact, they cheat so well, they can
cheat the laws of nature. Tarot cards are linked to the nature of the
universe, so naturally they work perfectly. Master thieves, when they
need to can actually ruff cards and stack a Tarot deck. Since the
cards are tied to the universe they read, thieves can influence events
in reverse.

There are also diving engines, great mathematical engines used for
astronomy and other purposes. The thieves manage to fiddle with the
equations or reality by fiddling with the machines as well.

One could put this into a gaming environment, but you'd have to be
careful with controlling this ability to keep the players from going
wild with the ability. Perchance allowing for the chance of a backlash
if the thief plays fast and loose with the laws of nature too often.
-- 
    Martin Terman, Mutant for Hire, Mean Ol' Top, Priest of Shub-Internet
    Disclaimer: Nobody else takes me seriously, why should you be the first?
mfterman@phoenix.princeton.edu mfterman@pucc.bitnet terman@pupgga.princeton.edu
"Sig quotes are like bumper stickers, only without the same sense of relevance"
From: duncanj@linus.umd.edu (James Duncan)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: The Gamer Magazine
Date: 11 Nov 92 11:04:44 GMT
Organization: University of Maryland, College Park

I subscribed to Scott Haring's magazine The Gamer at GenCon. I have
yet to recieve an issue. The last issue I have is issue #4 which is
July/Aug '92. My subscription was supposed to start with issue #5.
Does anyone know if issue #5 has been printed and mailed out? Is The
Gamer still in existence? I'll call up the phone number listed in the
magazine if no one knows the status.

	- Jim Duncan
From: lchen@garnet.berkeley.edu (Lang Shen Chen)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: APPLESEED
Date: 8 Nov 1992 05:35:11 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
NNTP-Posting-Host: garnet.berkeley.edu

In article <1992Nov8.025247.21282@ncsu.edu> jmkaraka@eos.ncsu.edu (JOHN MARTIN KARAKASH) writes:
>
>|>I can see APPLESEED using R.Talsorian's rules (AFTER REVAMPING THOSE RIDICULOUS
>|>ENCUMBERANCE RULES!!!  A character with a high REF stat can layer armor
>|>until nothing short of a tank gun will bruise him...), MAAAAAYBE Shadowrun
>                                                         ^^^^^^^^^
>
>	I'd be even more hesitant than you about putting it in SR.  If SJ
>would finish up the vehicles rules and the mecha rules I'd say GURPS, but
>since they haven't....
>
>	-john-

I would have to say that the only system that would do Shirow's technical
detail justice is Phoenix Command.  As a COMBAT system Phoenix Command is
great, as a ROLE PLAYING system...you cant have everything.  

Larry
(Blank lines so that the NNTPSERVER will post the message.)























Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: kinnema@wkuvx1.bitnet (Mark Kinney, Attorney at Chaos)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Vampire Music (was Re: Vampire: Combat.. HELP!!
Date: 9 Nov 92 21:57:17 GMT
Article-I.D.: wkuvx1.1992Nov9.155717.3825
Organization: Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY

In article <1992Nov8.175254.8463@lehi3b15.CSEE.Lehigh.EDU>, kammr@lafcol.lafayette.edu (Rob Kamm) writes:
>   BTW: Does anyone else use a "Theme Song" in their campaigns?  You know
> something to listen to as the players get set up and read introductory
> information.  Give it a try--I use The End by the Doors.  Works real well at
> depressing the players.  
>                         Rob Kamm

OUr campaign's unofficial theme song is Sting's "Moon Over Bourbon
Street" (from the album "Dream of the Blue Turtles").  It fits well,
considering that the campaign is based in New Orleans, and the song is
about vampires in New Orleans. (My previous character was a cajun
Nosferatu... :)
-- 
Mark Kinney [KINNEMA@WKUVX1.(BITNET)(WKU.EDU)] | Give me Slack OR KILL ME!
PhoneNet: (502) 745-4246   (Bowling Green, KY) | K A /\ /\ I E T I
Quote of the week: "Nothing determines who we will become so much as those
	things we choose to ignore." -- Sandor McNab
From: hennessy@acsu.buffalo.edu (DOG BASEBALL!!!)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: SR2ed, some questions about tech
Date: 11 Nov 92 17:52:35 GMT
Article-I.D.: acsu.BxKCBo.9LH
Organization: Ministry of Information, Lower Volta.


	a pal o' mine had his spurs done in dikote, quite trick, quite trick
indeedy.  wholeheartedly suggested.
-- 
   /I\          Fuck 'em if they can't take a joke.
  /(*)\         hennessy@acsu.buffalo.edu                 
 /IIIII\        "Leave EVERYTHING to ME!" - Powdered Toast Man       
/IIIIIII\       Happiness is a warm gun.
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: beykema@infonode.ingr.com (Maurice Beyke)
Subject: Re: Magic Systems
Organization: Intergraph Corporation, Huntsville, AL.
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 21:08:39 GMT

In article <1992Nov11.171044.3874@news.columbia.edu> jhk6@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (John H Kim) writes:
>naam@osiris.cso.uiuc.edu (Ramez Naam) writes:
>	I prefer magic systems which take after more ancient views of the 
>universe: Platonic, Taoist, medieval, etc.  I have by now grown very tired 
>of the 'energy manipulation' view of magic based on 19th century physics, 
>where 'power' flows from other dimensions, internal 'energy' of the caster, 
>etc. 

 I agree.

> [a fascinating magical description deleted]

>	As I said, there are other forms of magic, and I prefer that variety, 
>but each system of magic is very powerful and yet very limited in its own way. 
>The types of magic are based on the elements: Memory, Thought, Artifice, and 
>Temperament. Magecraft is the magic of Memory; Mysticism is the magic of 
>Thought; Conjuration is the magic of Artifice; and Holism is the magic of 
>Temperament. 
>	I am certainly willing to post more about these if people are 
>interested. 

 I'm interested.  Post away.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
< Boris Mikey            |"Here the ways of men part: if you wish to strive  >
< aka Maurice Beyke      | for peace of soul and pleasure, then believe;     >
< mab@batman.b11.ingr.com| if you wish to be a devotee of truth,             >
< These views are mine,  | then inquire."                                    >
< Ingr. doesn't want them|                                  Nietzsche        >
 vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
Xref: sparky rec.games.frp:25260 rec.games.frp.misc:7851 rec.games.frp.dnd:5899
From: torbenm@diku.dk (Torben AEgidius Mogensen)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp,rec.games.frp.misc,rec.games.frp.dnd
Subject: Re: Funny/Strange Campaign Settings
Date: 5 Nov 92 15:13:18 GMT
Organization: Department of Computer Science, U of Copenhagen

cmeadows@nyx.cs.du.edu (Chris Meadows) writes:


>Hello, gamers!  I'd like to ask a question: What was the oddest  
>setting you ever hosted a campaign in?  If it's funny, unusual,
>or out and out weird, I want to hear about it!

>I don't care what game it is--D&D, GURPS, Amber, whatever.  Just
>give us the details.  :)

>To start the ball rolling, I'll mention one of my own.
[goes on to describe a slightly unusual city]

That's nothing. I've seen far weirder settings. I'm working on one at
the moment (and it's not the weirdest) where the world is The World
Tree. The various nations are located on the branches of an enourmous
tree. The width of a main branch is roughly the width of the
mediterranean sea. The outer limits are sparsely populated because
they are steep, but as the branches are slightly concave on the top,
there is usually water to sail the lengths of the branches. The
societies on the smaller branches are quite influenced by their
topography...

	Torben Mogensen (torbenm@diku.dk)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp,rec.games.frp.misc,rec.games.frp.dnd
From: st923058@pip.cc.brandeis.edu (Rosaleen Dhu)
Subject: Re: Funny/Strange Campaign Settings
Reply-To: st923058@pip.cc.brandeis.edu
Organization: Brandeis University
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1992 17:45:18 GMT

	This was an AD&D campaign invented by a friend of mine using (I think)
Spelljammer rules, but I only had a chance to play in one session before the
massive end-of-summer exodus. It started out in a regular medieval town,
and all of the PCs except one were quickly recruited, by various methods--
most of us were playing mercenery fighters or mages, one girl invented a
Gypsy class, and I was playing a heavy-metal assassin--to go on a Quest. This
Quest involved riding on a battered spaceship, psi-powered by a majorly
high-level wizard who was being played by the one remaining player.
	On our way to the spaceship, we got attacked by evil IRS agents. :)
We kicked their asses six ways from Sunday and got ourselves some nice
little magical items (like Peril-Sensitive Ray-Bans). When we got to the
spaceship, the local cops were after us, so we took off.
	While floating around in the spaceship, we got attacked by another
spaceship. This one was manned by a crew who turned out to be the Chorus
of Pirates from "Pirates of Penzance". (One of our party's female characters,
who had something like a 17 Comeliness and a 16 Charisma, dragged the Pirate
King off and kept him, er, occupied during the battle.) We killed most of
the pirates, then boarded their ship, which was in much better shape then 
ours. Then the pirates' ship, now manned by us, got attacked by more IRS
agents, so we got back onto our ship and found out that the IRS agents
were being commanded by a Darth Vader-type. So we joined force with the
pirates and caused severe pain to the IRS agents.
	As you can tell, this wasn't really adhering to strict rules. Basically,we all wanted to be in a campaign that focussed more on role-playing than
rules...and believe me, that's what we got :)
					Rosaleen Dhu
Xref: sparky rec.games.frp:25271 rec.games.frp.misc:8063
From: null@diku.dk (Niels Ull Jacobsen)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp,rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: Silencers and Laser Sights in Shadowrun 2.0
Date: 10 Nov 92 10:28:18 GMT
Organization: Department of Computer Science, U of Copenhagen

mason writes:

>In article <KETIL.92Nov9150326@svale.ii.uib.no>
>ketil@ii.uib.no (Ketil M. Malde) writes:
> 
>>> blue dot of the same size).
>>
>>Well, what I'm concerned about isn't seeing the dot, but the
>>ballistics of the bullet.  This of course depends on the weapon and
>>ammo used.   The bullet will fall as it moves, after one second, it
>>will fall about 5 meters, and your laser dot will be way off target.
> 
>The distance that a bullet drops in 50 m or even 150 m is fairly
>negligible.

Let's try calculating it. A very rough guestimate:
Muzzle velocity: 2000 m/s (I think this is in the right order for a rifle).
Distance to target: d
Time to target : d/2000 sec's (assuming no air drag!)
distance fallen : 0.5 * 10 * (d/2000)^2 m = (d/90)^2 cm.
So 50 m gives 0.3 cm drop. Hardly noticable.
150 m gives 2.7 cm drop. Could be important but probably not.
300 m gives 11 cm drop. Should be taken into account. 

If anyone wants to expand on these figures, please do. The two most
important errors are probably muzzle velocity (how much for a handgun?
<<2000 m/s ) and the assumption of no air drag. Coming from a small,
civilised country, my knowledge of gun ballistics is somewhat limited, and I'm
sure one of you gun-crazed americans can do better :-)

> And even at extreme ranges, adjusting a laser sight to >accomodate
shouldn't be a real problem in 2053.  Right. After all, even today
we're using lasers for range finding. It seems trivial to have a range
detector build in to the laser, which would automatically change the
laser that fraction of a degree, which would compensate for the range.
Of course, you would need a gyro too to tell the horisontal
inclination of the gun, as the needed modification angle would depend
on this. And perhaps a wind sensor :-) And the laser should use a doppler
system to tell you the speed of the target. And ...

>-- mason

   Niels Ull Jacobsen, Dep. of C.S., U of Copenhagen (null@diku.dk)
   Adaz sighed.  "So how long will this journey take?" 
   "A month?" Sutekh shrugged.  "Depends on when the horses die." 
     -- from "Adaz & Sutekh" by Jeff Stehman
-- 
   Niels Ull Jacobsen, Dep. of C.S., U of Copenhagen (null@diku.dk)
   Adaz sighed.  "So how long will this journey take?" 
   "A month?" Sutekh shrugged.  "Depends on when the horses die." 
     -- from "Adaz & Sutekh" by Jeff Stehman
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.announce
From: evansd@bbs.mdcbbs.com
Subject: Games Convention: MA
Followup-To: rec.games.frp.misc
Originator: cwatters@bottom.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
Organization: GE AIRCRAFT ENGINES, LYNN
Date: Wed, 4 Nov 1992 11:17:45 GMT


GAMES CONVENTION in East Longmeadow, MA

CONtrary
November 13,14, and 15, 1992

at the Ramada Hotel in East Longmeadow, MA

call (413) 731-7237 for information

Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.announce
From: edandavi@well.sf.ca.us (Ed Allen and Avi Rappoport)
Subject: Creeks and Crawdads
Followup-To: rec.games.frp.misc
Originator: cwatters@bottom.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
Keywords: crawdads, crayfish, parody, nuclear holocaust
Organization: Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1992 05:21:04 GMT


Creeks and Crawdads is back in print! The author and publisher,
Martin Costa was finally persuaded to go and print another batch.
If you want to obtain this semi-legendary very silly role playing
game, write to:

Martin Costa
Crustaceum Games
214 Brown St.
Napa,CA 94559

Martin is asking $8.99 for Creeks and Crawdads itself, and $4.99 for
the adventure module Never Cry Crawdad!

For those unfamiliar with the game, it's basic premise is that the
nuclear holocaust occurs with devastating results, leaving the lowly
crayfish Cambaris, mutated for vastly greater intelligence,
up to nearly moronic human levels, as the smartest critters around.
  As players you take on the roles of thinker, fighter and tool user
crawdads, on epic quests for food, quiet places to sleep, and the
way home that they knew yesterday but forgot this morning. Fight
fearsome fish, clams, Orconectes crayfish (yep, there's a Genus that
actually has orc in it's name), and fellow party members who wander
away from the party briefly only to be forgotten as friends and
return as strangers.

Disclaimer:  I'm not making any money on this game, I'm just one of the
people that's been bugging him for a few years to get it out again.

Ed Allen
edandavi@well.sf.ca.us

Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.announce,news.answers
From: vince@sscl.uwo.ca
Subject: KWIC index information file for FTP
Originator: cwatters@top.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
Organization: Social Science Computing Laboratory
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1992 14:23:35 GMT

I have placed a second file on the ccosun.caltech.edu FTP site, called
dragon.kwic.index.info; it describes the KWIC index, and gives coverage,
etc. I would appreciate it if when you FTP the index, you would also FTP
this documentation file as well. (My wife pointed out to me last night that
I probably should have included my name, if nothing else, in an introduction
to the KWIC index ...)

I noticed that someone has gone to a lot of work, and created an 80-column
version of the file (by truncating text), unrotating information, changing
the format, etc.  While I appreciate the fact that the 130-character lines
are more difficult to work with, I would also note that the 80-column file
is no longer a key-word-in-context index: the rotation of characters about
a common point has disappeared. I would strongly urge you to FTP the
original file (dragon.kwic.index) rather than the 80-column version
(dragon.kwic.index.80col). (Personally, I have FTPed the 80-column version, 
and find it difficult to work with even on the screen ...)

Vince.

Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.announce,news.answers
From: Cliff Winnig <grendel@uhuru.uchicago.edu>
Subject: New address for Amber mailing list
To: rg-frp-announce@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
Originator: cwatters@top.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 20:45:46 GMT

The amber mailing list has a new address and administrator.  The new address
for the list, and for administrative requests, follows:

Name:           Amber Mailing List
Contact:        oberon-request@amber.uchicago.edu
List:           oberon@amber.uchicago.edu
Listowner:      cliff@uchicago.edu
Archived:       not at this time
Info Updated:   11-Nov-1992
Notes:          This list is for the discussion of the Amber Diceless
                Role-Playing Game and the Amber novels, and is completely
                unmoderated.

I'd like to publicly thank Dave Martin for doing a wonderful job as the
list's founder and first administrator!

--
Cliff Winnig
cliff@uchicago.edu
or, for mail with NeXT attachments
grendel@uhuru.uchicago.edu

Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.announce
From: curtis@eos.ncsu.edu
Subject: INFO! Btech, Po-Mo...
Originator: cwatters@top.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
Reply-To: curtis@eos.ncsu.edu
Organization: North Carolina State University, Project Eos
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 00:20:42 GMT

Hi.  I'm doing a research/thesis project on popular culture concerning gaming 
based around the FASA Battletech gaming system and all of the associated
media/materials/systems that surround it.  Any information 
concerning:

	The VR battletech,
	Battletech MUDS, etc,
	GENIE's new Btech simulator game,
	Battletech newletters, groups, etc,
	Anything concerning the Btech novelizations,	
	Any battletech software/shareware,
	FTP sites, 
	resource listings, 
	newsgroups,
	and anything related that comes to mind

would be excellent.  Thankyou.

curtis@eos.ncsu.edu
--
From: curtis@eos.ncsu.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.announce
Subject: INFO! Btech, Po-Mo...
Date: 12 Nov 92 00:20:42 GMT
Article-I.D.: magnus.1992Nov12.165848.20041
Reply-To: curtis@eos.ncsu.edu
Organization: North Carolina State University, Project Eos
Originator: cwatters@top.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu

Hi.  I'm doing a research/thesis project on popular culture concerning gaming 
based around the FASA Battletech gaming system and all of the associated
media/materials/systems that surround it.  Any information 
concerning:

	The VR battletech,
	Battletech MUDS, etc,
	GENIE's new Btech simulator game,
	Battletech newletters, groups, etc,
	Anything concerning the Btech novelizations,	
	Any battletech software/shareware,
	FTP sites, 
	resource listings, 
	newsgroups,
	and anything related that comes to mind

would be excellent.  Thankyou.

curtis@eos.ncsu.edu
--
Newsgroups: 
Distribution: world
Followup-To: 
From: curtis@eos.ncsu.edu (Abba Jones)
Reply-To: curtis@eos.ncsu.edu (Abba Jones)
Organization: Project EOS - North Carolina State University
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.announce,news.answers
From: fnordbox!loydb@cs.utexas.edu (Loyd Blankenship)
Subject: SJ Games Licenses White Wolf's Vampire
Followup-To: rec.games.frp.misc
Originator: cwatters@top.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 05:53:13 GMT


For Immediate Release
November 11, 1992

	     SJ Games and White Wolf License "GURPS Vampire"

    Steve Jackson Games and White Wolf are happy to announce a unique
licensing agreement. White Wolf, the publisher of the best-selling
"Storyteller" system, consisting of Vampire, Werewolf, and the upcoming
Mage, Ghost and Faerie, has licensed their world background to SJ Games.

   SJ Games will produce GURPS versions of all five of these products,
plus original material set in the same background.

   "White Wolf has developed one of the most unique backgrounds in FRP
today," comments Loyd Blankenship, Product Development Manager at SJ Games,
"and we're excited to be a part of it. The combination of the strong GURPS
rules and the innovative Vampire world will prove a winner."

   GURPS Vampire is scheduled for release at GenCon 1993 in Ft. Worth, Texas.
It is being developed by Jeff Koke, Managing Editor at SJ Games and author
of adventures in GURPS Cyberpunk and Supers adventures.

   For more information, call Loyd Blankenship at 512/447-7866, or email
loydb@fnordbox.uucp.

***************************************************************************
* loydb@fnordbox.UUCP	     Once you pull the pin,  *	Loyd Blankenship  *
* GEnie: SJGAMES	    Mr. Grenade is no longer *	PO Box 18957	  *
* Compu$erve: [73407,515]	 your friend!	     *	Austin, TX 78760  *
* cs.utexas.edu!dogface!fnordbox!loydb		     *	512/447-7866	  *
***************************************************************************

Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.announce