HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: ez005523@othello.ucdavis.edu (David Lucey)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Vampire Question:  1st level Dominate
Date: 11 Oct 92 21:38:49 GMT
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL3

Hi!

In my Vampire chronicle, I've run across a consistently sticky point concerning
the first level Dominate power, Command.  The book says nothing about an
Attribute+Ability for Command, and I'm assuming that means Command is auto-
matically successful.  Does this mean no resistance rolls for the victim?  If
not, what is the victim supposed to roll against to block the effects of 
the command?

Thanks for any help you can provide!

Sincerely,
Eric Lulie
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: tsang@cs.washington.edu (Donald Tsang)
Subject: Re: Champions Question
Organization: Computer Science & Engineering, U. of Washington, Seattle
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 92 07:27:12 GMT

In article <> uplink@cwis.unomaha.edu (John M. Scheibeler) writes:
>tsang@cs.washington.edu (Donald Tsang) writes:
>>In article <> kdmiller@athena.mit.edu (Kenneth D Miller) writes:
>>>The effect is that of a wall of fire trailing behind him, like the
>>>light-cycles in the movie TRON.  Flamerunner can switch the wall on and
>>>off at will.
>>
>>Umm, I don't know about the turning on and off part, but this is probably
>>best:
>
>> area effect: 1 hex, damage shield, continuous, uncontrolled, sticky, 0 End
>
>>That way, wherever you run, the sticky damage shield will burn the
>>ground... and then anyone who steps on it...
>
>	"Sticky" - this means that if someone crosses the line of fire 
>(NPI), and gets burned, and a friend comes to help him, and touches him,
>he will get burned as well.  Doesn't make sense here.

Ever been on fire, REALLY on fire?  Funny thing about fire, it spreads.
Since any "uncontrolled sticky" power must have an obvious way to turn
it off, we can define it as "getting off the line", or "douse flames",
or whatever.  Easy GM call.


>	"Damage Shield" - this advantage cannot be used at range unless you
>buy it so, and then it gets really expensive.  I see what you're trying
>to do --- and this is a really munchkin way of doing things.

Since when is it at range?  You lay it down, it stays there...

So maybe AE damage shields are munchkin... but this power will certainly
cost more than the actual usefulness might dictate...

(total advantage: 3.5; you can get 1d6K for 67 pts... wow, powerful!)

>>[tsang's .sig deleted]
>[uplink's signature too]
[remember to delete .sigs and other useless junk when you follow-up]

-- 
Donald Tsang                    "Ho!  Haha!  Guard!  Turn!  Parry!  Dodge!
tsang@june.cs.washington.edu     Spin!  Ha!  Thrust!"
..!uw-beaver!june!tsang                       -- Robin Hood Daffy
From: mdouglas@cad067.NoSubdomain.NoDomain (Maria Douglas ~)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: Premade Characters
Date: 12 Oct 92 23:21:38 GMT
Organization: Intel Corp.


-- 
John Kim writes:

		Much of the time, a player-made character will act just like the 
	player - he will have the same attitudes, personality, etc.  The player 
	often does not stop to think 'what would my character want to do'; instead 
	he thinks 'I want to do this'. 
		Playing a different character forces people to picture another 
	person in another situation if they want to role-play. People who are 
	uninterested or bad at it might give up, but good role-players really 
	shine, I think. 
		Also, pre-made parties will often fit together as a group better 
	than if players designed characters on their own. They can have much more 
	detail and interaction in their backgrounds because the GM is controlling 
	it. 

John, I strongly agree.  I witnessed the strongest role-playing EVER at Pacificon
one year here in California when the GM gave us pre-made Star Trek characters and
we played with simplified rules.  Playing with pre-made characters is an exercise
in true role-playing: you must get "into" that character and make decisions that
you (or a character you'd create) would NEVER make, just the way an actor plays 
a role, as you pointed out.

When we play our live Call of Cthulhu games, the characters are always pre-made.
This not only gives the players fuller backgrounds, it allows us to create plots
that are far more interesting and meaningful to each character than it would be
otherwise.  In fact for this next game, the characters are each carefully developed
(some as much as 3800 words) to heighten the terror of the evening.  It's almost
like the GMs are Freddy Kruegers who know your worst nightmares, so they develop
the game to give you that "extra-personal" thrill (bwah-ha-ha!). Actually, since
the personalities are not developed nearly as much as the backgrounds, the
players can still determine their own personality quirks, keeping in mind that
the events described in their character sheet will ultimately be reflected in 
their personalities.

Horrifyingly yours,

Maria

--
Maria E. Douglas	(408) 765-4728		    
Intel Corporation	mdouglas@cadev6.intel.com  

"Boy, I don't know what that thar Space Mead is,
	but ahhhhl drink it!"

		Jake Barlow,
		Bounty Hunter and Cthulhoid Investigator

Standard disclaimer applies...
From: x4033auo@maple.circa.ufl.edu (The Glass Goblin)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: Newbie System?
Date: 12 Oct 92 00:36:25 GMT
Reply-To: x4033auo@maple.circa.ufl.edu
Organization: Center for Instructional and Research Computing Activities

The best newbie game I can think of is... (brace yourselves)

TOON.

Why?  Next-to-no rules and a simple, straightforward system which in actuality
contains most of the basic principles for roleplaying.

gg
+---------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+
|We get some kind of weather here nearly every day. |  Frederick W. Hicks IV   |
|        		       --Ashleigh Brilliant |   GOBLIN@ufcc.ufl.edu    |
+---------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: tbarnes@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (thomas wrentmore barnes)
Subject: Re: Post-Apocolyptic GURPS
Organization: Indiana University
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 18:32:19 GMT

In article <70732@hydra.gatech.EDU> gt7803b@prism.gatech.EDU (Sub Zero) writes:
>I'm contemplating setting up a post-apocolyptic GURPS campaign. Anybody got
>and PA rules? If so, please mail them to me if possible. If there are any
>official supplements on this, please let me know...
>
>-- 
>A bird in hand is easily crushed lifeless.

None that I know of, here's what I've converted instead:

Morrow Project (great campaign hook, great listing of what parts of the
U.S. get nuked with what, good weapons and vehicle info, o.k. damage and
hazard info. O.k. monster lists, minimal skills info, minimal scenario
and campaign info).

Aftermath (ignore the obscenely complex rules system, use the really
good campaign seed ideas, the neat monsters [master rats anyone?] and
the good equipment lists. If you can wade through it there is some
interesting stuff on hazards, armor creation and weapon generation).

Gamma World (If you want a really gonzo campaign convert the mutant
powers to GURPS stats using GURPS Aliens, Fantasy Folk or Uplift and
design the mutants as aliens, possibly using Super and Psionic
abilities. Otherwise, just use the campaign background, the robots and
the equipment lists. Use the monsters at your peril, some of them are
incredibly tough.)

Virtually any other space or modern day rules books could be used as
well. Paranoia looks especially raidable, especially for a Gamma World
style campaign.

Good luck,

Tom
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: bz978@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Charles E Gibbs)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: SRUN -- New Shaman Totems?
Date: 7 Oct 1992 13:48:13 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Reply-To: bz978@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Charles E Gibbs)
NNTP-Posting-Host: hela.ins.cwru.edu


Does anyone know where there might be a list of Shaman totems outside
of Srun and the Grimoire?  If they are in a computer archive, that's better.

Charles GIbbs
gibbsc@ac.grin.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: tomscud@ruf.rice.edu (Thomas Reid Scudder)
Subject: Re: Werewolf & Hunters Hunted?
Organization: Rice University
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 04:46:43 GMT

In article <Bw54px.779@news.cso.uiuc.edu>, tgt33358@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Deus Imperator) writes:
|> In article <1992Oct14.203800.3049@ncsu.edu> jmkaraka@eos.ncsu.edu (JOHN MARTIN KARAKASH) writes:
|> >	Ix-nay bub!  Hunters Hunted (locally known as the Munchkin
|> >Handbook II) has stuff to let 'normal' humans have a fighting chance
|> >against the supernatural.  Giving a Garou this stuff is like the old
|> >AD&D mega-classes that kept popping up (Paladin/Magic-User/Cleric/
|> >Assassin/Plumber/Archer-Rangers!).  
|> 
|> How so?  I bought the Hunters Hunted, and was thoroughly impressed by 
|> the product.  Are you implying that humans should not be allowed to 
|> fight back?  I do not understand what the big hangup is.  Even with
|> the bennies the Hunters Hunted provides, the average hunter is still 
|> fighting an uphill battle. 
|> 

The objection, I believe, is that, instead of the humans getting the nice
goods, munchkin-types will load up their vampires/werewolves/whatever with
it and make hybrid god-destroyers...
(DISCLAIMER:  I have never seen Hunters Hunted)
|> >                                     Besides, all storyteller game
|> >systems are intended to simulate a slice of the horror genre.  I've
|> >never seen a werewolf whip out a cross and hold off a pack of vampires.
|> >
|> "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are _dreamt_ of 
|> in your philosophy."  You make the common error of assuming that True 
|> Faith only works for Christians.  As the Hunters Hunted points out, faith
|> in any religion of a sufficient intensity is grounds for TF.
|> This can be the worship of Gaia.  Uncommon, but not impossible. 
|> 
-- 
Tom Scudder                    tomscud@ruf.rice.edu
"It's 106 miles to Chicago, we have a full tank of gas, a half pack of
cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses."
"Hit it."
-John Stuart Mill

Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: dv52151@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (SilverFang Ahroun)
Subject: Re: Newbie System?
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Sat, 10 Oct 1992 18:57:03 GMT

CX6L@MUSICA.MCGILL.CA (CX6L) writes:

>While I agree that pre-made characters are not the best way
>to roleplay, there are (as always) two sides to this kind of
>thing. Some players consider playing a pre-made character,
>with attitudes, quirks and foibles *they* would never have
>chosen, to be the ultimate role-playing challenge, and would
>consider it a mark of true skill, and a lot of fun! Other
>players disagree, and feel that the true measure of role-
>playng skill is the degree to which a player has developed
>a basic personality type (s)he has played in many different
>settings, and which is, as a result, very consistant, well-
>played and well-defined. Neither is right...or wrong.

Good point. Also, some people have a harder time coming up with a character
than they do if you hand them an idea for a character, which is all a pregen
character is. Let them fiddle a little with stuff they don't love, but I've
found this to be effective for those particular players.

Axly

Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: wildcard@nevada.edu ( WildCard !!)
Subject: Re: Star Wars Second Edition
Organization: ImpMilSecOrg.XenDiv
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 20:39:17 GMT

In article <1992Oct15.054539.3985@zia.aoc.nrao.edu> jogle@zia.aoc.nrao.edu (Jim Ogle (Ks. Jim)) writes:

>>Getting back to Star Wars, I would appreciate it more if West End
>>published a 'conversion kit' along with the 2nd edition rules, but
>>that's probably too much to ask.
>
>Depends on the changes they made.  There are apparently "expanded"
>skills and a new movement system (again?) plus lots of "frills" (like
>actually letting aliens have special abilities instead of being humans
>in funny suits!)

Well, from the test versions I've seen, "Expanded" skills in this case means
that you can no longer have, for example, a "blaster" skill, you must have a
"heavy blaster" or "hold-out blaster" skill. No longer can you have "starship
piloting" you have "X-Wing Piloting" or "Stock-light Frieghter Piloting" and
the like. IMNSHO, this is an attept to make it a realistic (read as "not
snubbed by the sci-fi purists") game while at the same time taking away every
bit of cinematic-space-opera-heroic genre out of it. Did Han have to know
"Imperial Lambda Shuttle Piloting" in Return of the Jedi? No. Because thats
not how space-opera works (again IMHO).

Re: new movement system. I hope it's better than the 2-3 they've had so far.

Aliens= Humans in funny suits. Again, this is part of the genre (IMO). Aliens
may have one wierd "power" or another but dwelling on how this particular 
species can "see maganatism" or some such power detracts away from the game.
I believe that the GM can let players have whatever alien quirk or ability 
they want (within reason) and adjudicate it with each circumstance rather than
having to say,"Bob, your feyian can see with infravision for 60 feet and it
is interrupted by ...."  The GM could say, "With the feyians night-vision,
he can see better than all of you, here in the woods."

Anyway. I'm just bitchin' and moanin'. Take no heed of it. Me and my group
will just play "salad-bar" with 2nd Edition (take what we like and leave the
rest).


                                - Wildcard !!

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  "Oota goota, Solo?...Soam peetalay. EE mal-a-tran tee-tachma geekeetna."   |
|                                       - Greedo                              |
+-----------  wildcard@redrock.nevada.edu  -----------------------------------+


Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: uplink@cwis.unomaha.edu (John M. Scheibeler)
Subject: Re: Champions Question
Organization: University of Nebraska at Omaha
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1992 00:29:28 GMT

tsang@cs.washington.edu (Donald Tsang) writes:


>Any more than any uncontrolled attack?  1d6 RKA, 1 hex, uncontrolled
>continuous... "hellfire"... it's probably harder to put this one out.

	Nope.  You have to define a "reasonably common and obvious set of
circumstances that will turn it off."  Water sounds reasonably 
common and obvious to me.  Just as easy to extinguish.


>That's why the sticky was there.  To make it "usable by the ground".
                                
	Munchkin alert! Munchkin alert!

	It's not the ground that's attacking you, it's the character.
Don't be munchkin; buy it usable at range.

>You run across the ground, and you do your 1d6 uncontrolled continuous
>RKA to the (flammable) ground.  If someone else comes in contact
>with the ground, he gets sticky'ed.  The damage shield is only there
>to allow your feet to transfer it to the ground as you move.

	Sorry, but this really sounds munchkin to me.  Buy it like I suggested
that way, you leave the attack behind, and anyone who crosses it gets
hit.

uplink
.sd
From: ddavis@cass.ma02.bull.com (Dave Davis)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Weird Dice?
Date: 12 Oct 92 15:41:41 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Bull World Wide Information Systems Inc.


To put it one way, 

Has anyone done some research into semiregular polyhedra? 

To put it another,

Who knows anything about weird dice?

We were talking this weekend about different possibilities for dice
(besides the 4,6,8,10,12,20, which are of course standard, and the
 30 and 100, which are common)

Using a spherical piece of wood (bought at a craft store) I quickly
made a servicable (if not geometrically perfect) '3-sided' die
(3 circular faces at 120 degrees apart, on the same plane; the curved 
surfaces are ignored). 

It also occured to me that one could make a workable 3-sided by
sticking a dowel in the center of one face of a 4-sided (making it look 
a little like a dreidel).

What other combinations have you seen? Can one do tricks with
ellipses & parabola to make 5-sided dice, etc? (Please don't point
out that one can 'fake' a 5 sided, for instance, by dividing up
a 10; or almost anything else, using percentiles; my question really
is about the geometry of 3-D surfaces). What about geodesic domes-
are there set rules for their number of faces?

Just some food for thought.

Also, what company catalogs are good for buying unusual dice?
(e-mail me if this is too much of a FAQ).

Thanks

Dave Davis, ddavis@ma30.bull.com
These are my opinions & activities alone

QOTD:


      Section 8. The Congress shall have power

      To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the
   debts and provide for the common defense and GENERAL WELFARE of
   the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be
   uniform throughout the United States;
		US Constitution
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: TUK865@maccvm.corp.mot.com (Stephen Gill)
Subject: RE: Star Trek the RPG
Organization: Motorola
Date: 16 Oct 1992 08:18:27 CDT

------------------------- Original Article -------------------------
From: <34ZBTXQ@CMUVM.CSV.CMICH.EDU>
>If you plan on using their scenarios, I'd suggest two;
>"DENIAL OF DESTINY" and "A DOOMSDAY LIKE ANY OTHER" (the best one!) And if
>you'd like a great adventure, write me with your address, and I'll send you
>one I wrote which my players enjoyed immensley. And ask me about the
>STAR TREK/DOCTOR WHO crossover we did!

Please help, no e-mail address to be found for response and we would
definitely appreciate your offer.

My snail mail address follows (not in the US I'mafraid)
   38 Carshalton Road
   Camberley
   Surrey
   GU15 4AQ
   UK

Steve Gill
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: jbridson@kean.ucs.mun.ca
Subject: Re: Newbie System?
Organization: Memorial University. St.John's Nfld, Canada
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 21:39:24 GMT

In article <1992Oct8.201425.11315@waikato.ac.nz>, rmarsh@waikato.ac.nz writes:
 
> Which system would you recommend to someone who had decided they wanted to
> try Role-Playing? The game should be suitable for whole groups of Newbies
> to learn on their own without the guidance of Role-Playing Gurus. What do
> you see as the dominant criteria for a Newbie RPG?
> 
> I believe simplicity would have to be among the prime concerns. D6 as the
> only die-type would be an advantage as would a familiar setting. And of
> course it should be fun!
> 
My nomination would be "Advanced Fighting Fantasy".  Remember those green-
backed solo-adventure books called "Fighting Fantasy", created by Steve 
Jackson and Ian Livingstone?  Well, they made the Fighting Fantasy 
Introductory RPG - using basically the exact same rules, just for a group 
of players +GM.  Well, Mark Gascoigne and Pete Tamlyn made a more advanced 
version of it contained in 2 books "Dungeoneer" and "Blacksand!".

It's a standard fantasy setting (no trouble with setting for most people 
who might be inclined to play) - described in detail by a great book called 
"Titan" - and has a very simple and nice system involving d6's only.

It has 3 attributes and skills; nothing else.  There are only 2 mechanics - 
both invloving just one 2d6 roll.

It's only problem in my mind is that the "Skill" attribute is far too 
important, and should be split into "Wit" and "Agility" (and thus dividing 
the skills into 2 categories).  Also, weapons don't do enough damage - the 
damage chart (relax, only 7 numbers for each weapon) should be multiplied 
by 2 or 3.  And finally, it would be nice if they gave gave an alternate 
pont-based char creation system, like in TOON (another great game IMHO).

Finally, I'd like to say that it was through AFF that I discovered a lot of 
new innovations (eg. skills as opposed to classes) - I had only ever played 
D&D before.  Btw, my new, super-fantastic multi-genre RPG is basically an 
advanced form of AFF and TOON combined.

  --- Robert Bridson  (using the account of JBRIDSON)
From: hall@bcstec.ca.boeing.com (Robert J. Hall)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: RFD: GURPS disad limits
Date: 13 Oct 92 16:32:56 GMT
Organization: Boeing Computer Services, Seattle


<cm182s182@pdrome.UUCP (Clayton Miner)> writes:
 > Using a term like disads is like using the term gravitationally challenged
 > for people who can't jump high!

and also:

 > The term disads is a stupid term!  I was comment on the term itself not the
 > game!  You in turn seem awfully defensive about a game that was not even
 > under question.

I suppose PC was bound to show up in this group some time. However, I beg to
differ with your statement. Disads is simply a contraction that speeds up
conversation. Disadvantages is an unfortunate, awkward word and it deserves to
be replaced. However, a suitable synonym is not readily available.

Finally, your analogy is completely backwards. Using a term like disads is
like using the term poor jumpers for people who are gravitationally
challenged.

Enough of this sh*t!

-- 
 Bob Hall,                 | "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
 Workstation Peripheral    | Then give up. No use being a damn fool about it."
 Boeing Computer Services  |                                     -Groucho Marx
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: cpearce@nemesis.acs.unt.edu (Chris Pearce)
Subject: VAMPIRE: Various
Organization: University of North Texas
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1992 17:52:59 GMT

Hi, I'm going to be playing Vampire soon: I've already made a character. I
think it will be kinda fun, but it is also sorta uncomfortable having a
character that subsists by drinking the blood of humans. Any veteran
Vampire players got any comments about this?

Also, is there a Vampire mailing list that I could subscribe to?

Chris Pearce -- cpearce@nemesis.acs.unt.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: jhands@eng.clemson.edu (Matt Hands)
Subject: FASA's Star Trek:RPG
Reply-To: jhands@eng.clemson.edu
Organization: College of Engineering, Clemson Univ.
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 00:25:53 GMT


Is there anyone out there who plays or runs this game?  If so, please email (at 
address below) ideas/stories about adventures you thought were:

		1: A challenge
		2: Unique (no killing Klingon scenarios)
		3: FUN!

TOS or TNG stories are fine (though I run TNG scenarios).

Also, include any rule changes or ideas concerning how the game should be run.

Thanks,
Matt Hands
jhands@prism.clemson.edu
From: mlj44080@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Michael Lee Jacobs)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Shadowrun/ Champions COMPUTER GAMES.....
Date: 15 Oct 92 19:24:39 GMT
Article-I.D.: news.Bw6GL5.Axr
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana

Okay over 1 year ago it was mentioned that both Shadowrun (by Data East) and
Champions (by someone else) were being translated into Computer RPGs.
Since then I have seen many previews for the Camps game and several very
impressive screen shots from the Shadowrun game for both PC and SNES versions.

	BUT I have yet to actually hear anything about release of these items,
The ONLY place i have seen mention is an add of questionable veracity from
a video gaming magazine referring to the Shadow_Run as being available "soon"
(not a software company add but a wholesaler)...

	could someone who has access to the costly 'game forums' where some
FASA people are available, or who knows a staff member make polite inquiry
into this??  Im afraid that I may easily miss releases of it since it isnt
a very 'marketable' property like the bloody Ad&d series...hell I dont even
know if the SNES version will be released in this country or language.


(I really hate begging like this but on does what one has to)

-- 
  "If the best things in life are free, then my current price is
   $37k with a 10% downpayment."