HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: dlc@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Dennis Clark)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: HERO New Magic System advice wanted
Date: 14 Apr 92 23:01:44 GMT
Article-I.D.: hpfcso.122920012
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA

jik20815@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (John Iv Kovacik) writes:

> Hello all. 
> 
> A couple of friends and I were discussing ways to have a workable magic system
> in Hero that makes the wizards really useful without making them too powerful
> (at least at first). 
> 
> What we've come up with is essentially the following. 
> 
> In order to use magic, you must have a VPP with the advantages 0 phase to 
> change (+1) and doesn't require skill roll (+1), but with the limitations
> that each power must have Gestures, Incantations, and Requires Magic Skill 
> roll (-1).

  Umm.  Magic roll IS a skill roll.  Mutually cancelling perk/lim.  Other than
that, this makes a really good system.  Versatile without being all powerful,
automatically makes them not too strong to start with.
 
> Characters must also have an endurance reserve to power all the spells they
> cast, and the recover _must_ be bought down on the time chart (minimum 5 min).

  Why?  Just use personal END for the spells, this is a fine limiter.  With
an IQ/4 or IQ/5 limit on the number of concurrent spells - seems good enough.
 
> Characters are only able to cast spells in areas they know. Thus all characters
> must have Magic Skill plus knowledge skills in various types of magic. 

  I use this lim also.  I also randomly assign what group of magic that you
get.  With competing guilds for different styles.  I have eliminated the 
random though, let 'em choose.

> Knowledge Skills so far:
> 
> Any comments? Any suggestions for new skills? Anyone else do this? 

  Yup.
 
> 					- Biff the Wonder Twit

DLC
From: cg108fai@icogsci1.ucsd.edu (Steerpike)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: SRUN: Silenced weapons
Keywords: None... its' silenced!
Date: 15 Apr 92 18:12:11 GMT
Organization: University of California, San Diego

In article <1992Apr15.082324@kazoo.ssd.loral.com> brunner@kazoo.ssd.loral.com (Brian Brunner) writes:
>1: The ammunition is subsonic... the silencer does NOT slow
>    the bullet down... 

A silencer DOES slow the bullet down, as I understand it. Noise
suppressors, on the other hand, actually speed it up. I think that's
how it works, anyway. (?)

steerpike@ucsd.edu
From: adr9510@rigel.tamu.edu (ROBB, AARON DAVID)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Shadowrun: Controlling magicians
Date: 9 Apr 92 20:37:00 GMT
Organization: Texas A&M University, Academic Computing Services
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

In article <NIGEL.92Apr9001512@rs733.GSFC.NASA.Gov>, nigel@rs733.GSFC.NASA.Gov writes...

>The final question is just why the VR matrix exists in the first
>place?  Certain databases and networks I can understand but "secure"
>systems should have no presence on the net...to vulnerable.

That's another question that a lot of ppl I play with wondered about. Basically,
for the *really* secure information, a non-accessable (Matrix Wise, anyway) LAN
is set up (often in the guise of a building's LAN, except for the fact the
employees are ayways complaining: "I've got to get a chip copy and have my 
assistant run it to the other system to get my files sent to the home office" or
the like. In a 1 corp building, not much of a problem really...the peons get 
full matrix access (incomming reports, market news, etc) while the corp keeps
things like the black ops files off-line in the LAN. The only time a Decker
could then intercept is if they were *really* lucky and caught an important 
coded document going between offices amid the wash of everyday coded crap the
branch and home offices send out. And of course, the files are purged once 
they've been downloaded.

This also makes deckers a little more involved in the PC action: you've got
to drag the decker along to the actual intrusion site in order for her to work
her magic. It also adds a little suspense if the decker is running in the middle
of a firefight--they gotta move even faster, or risk getting blown away too...:)

>Nigel Tzeng
>..sig under construction
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aaron D. Robb, aka The Philosopher   |	Disclaimer: Texas A&M stands staunchly
Somewhere at Texas A&M University    |	behind my every word. Really they do...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I will not eat green eggs and ham, I will not eat it, Son of Sam.
					-AggieCon XXIII 'Quest'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: stites@matt.ksu.ksu.edu (Ross M Stites)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: GURPS combat time.
Date: 10 Apr 92 10:23:40 GMT
Article-I.D.: matt.s4tgcINNt4k
Organization: Kansas State University
NNTP-Posting-Host: matt.ksu.ksu.edu

jhk6@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (John H Kim) writes:

>Bill Seurer (I think) writes:
>>And based on a few SCA combats I saw, the one blow/second is not NEARLY
>>fast enough for lighter weapons.  I saw one where a guy with two
>>shortswords pummeled his foe so quickly the other guy had no time to do
>>more than hide behind his shield and vainly try to ward off the blows.
>>He was probably landing about 3 or 4 blows a second for maybe 15 or 20
>>seconds.

>	I feel a bit like an armchair critic - but aren't these blows 
>with wooden padded weapons which do very little damage? 
>	Do you think this actually reflects swinging a real steel sword 
>which sinks into the flesh of the enemy and pulling it out again? 

Actually, I would think after the first or second time the steel sword
"sinks into the flesh of the enemy" and actually needs pulled out there
wouldn't be any need for speed;  at least not against that foe.

Ross Stites
(stites@matt.ksu.ksu.edu)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: MHART00@ricevm1.rice.edu (mason hart)
Subject: Re: Paralysis effects
Organization: Rice University, Houston, TX
Date: Mon, 6 Apr 1992 10:25:10 GMT

In article <1992Apr2.150925.3501@iscsvax.uni.edu>
boelter3945@iscsvax.uni.edu writes:

>In article <4030@astroatc.UUCP>, weeks@astroatc.UUCP (Pat Weeks) writes:
>
>> In article <1992Mar28.233020.25111@umbc3.umbc.edu> cs201139@umbc5.umbc.edu
>> (cs201139) writes:
>>
>> How do you people interpret the spell?
>
>   Well, I looked it up (or briefly looked it up, might have missed something)
>and found this: "A character or creature affected by paralysis becomes totally
>immobile for the duration of the spell's effect." (DMG p.72 and PH p.104).
>
>   The way I read this, once you are paralyzed (by wand of hold spell or
>whatever), you are stuck that way until the duration expires, or unless you
>have some innate power or can trigger a magic item by coherent thought (as
>these are not stopped by paralysis).

A person held or paralyzed is essentially at the mercy of the person (?)
responsible.  If an evil mage has your character paralyzed and the rest of
the party out of the way, then your character will die.  The wizard will
cut your throat and leave you to bleed your life away on the dungeon floor,
unless he's REALLY stupid, and few evil wizards are.  Your only chance
would be a magic item that can be activated by thought, as suggested above.

"If you're not having fun, you're doing something wrong."

-- mason
From: seawasp+@pitt.edu (Ryk E Spoor)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Ravenloft info
Date: 10 Apr 92 03:47:48 GMT
Organization: University of Pittsburgh

In article <1992Apr9.115858.1691@vax1.mankato.msus.edu> mscs057@vax1.mankato.msus.edu writes:
>O-kay, I would like to know from all of you, who have played, DMed, or even
>read Ravenloft. What is this demi-plane about? How did it come to be
>made?

	Based off the original Ravenloft modules. The Demi-Plane of Horror
is the place that focuses the Gothic kind of horror into its purest form.
Like many demiplanes or gods, it came into existence because people believe
in the concept it represents. It tries to corrupt and use everything that
comes within its power.

>Look I have a necro. in Ravenloft. What is going to happen to him?
>My DM alway smiled when I casted any necro spell. Explain, please?

	Every time you do something EVIL in Ravenloft or use certain
kinds of powers (Necromancy being FOREMOST among these) there is a
chance that the Plane Itself will notice you and "reward" these actions.
This is called a Ravenloft Power Check. If you fail a Power check (or
succeed, whichever you prefer),Ravenloft will bestow a "gift" (generally
accompanied by a curse) upon you. "Gifts"may include night vision,
increased armor class or stats, etc. Curses can include glowing eyes,
fangs, scales, incredibly short temper, etc. Each "gift" helps you
more along the Evil Road, and if you blow SIX power checks, you become
a brand spanking new Lord of Ravenloft (and are INSTANTLY an NPC).

	Only REALLY goody types have a good chance of spending a lot of
time in Ravenloft and still getting OUT.

                                 Sea Wasp
                                   /^\
                                   ;;;
From: ratinox@splinter.coe.northeastern.edu (Stainless Steel Rat)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: SRUN: Heavy weapons as sidearms
Date: 9 Apr 92 23:04:05 GMT
Article-I.D.: splinter.RATINOX.92Apr9190405
	<1992Apr9.011333.25836@acsu.buffalo.edu>
Reply-To: ratinox@splinter.coe.northeastern.edu
Organization: 3WA, Boston Office. Or Nu Meta Chi. Take your pick.
In-reply-to: v076jy2p@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu's message of 9 Apr 92 02:12:00 GMT
X-Signature-Virus-Protection: Version 1.51
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>>>>> On 9 Apr 92 02:12:00 GMT, v076jy2p@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (Cosmo Of The Cosmos) said:

>Sure, armor is incredibly powerful in Shadowrun. But you want the real acid
>test? Fire one of those babys at an unarmored person and see what you get.
>Go ahead, I'll wait.

v076jy2p> Hold out pistol: Damage is 3L1

[etc.]

In other words, you grazed your target. Sorry, chummer, but light pistols
really aren't all that effective even in the real world. And this is the
cinematic world of Shadowrun.

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

Point at person. We'll assume no range modifiers, so a target #4 (he's not
moving)

Lets say you have gunnery: 3 and you roll 2 successes

Total damage: 10D4, not enough to alter the damage.

The target rolls his body (avg is 3). There's no way he can step down the
damage with only 3 dice.

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

v076jy2p> Don't say things until you've checked 'em out first, Chummer.

Don't put words in my mouth. And check your citations, and NEVER take my
postings out of context, got it?

The nerve of some people.

--Rat
--
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Richard Pieri, Northeastern's Stainless Steel Rat/   | /| / /   | The Worlds
Internet: ratinox@splinter.coe.northeastern.edu /__  |/ |/ / /| | Welfare Works
    UUCP: ...!northeastern.edu!splinter!ratinox/   | /| / / / | | Association:
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From: baldwin@carina.unm.edu (Chris Baldwin)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: stupid PC tricks
Date: 17 Apr 92 14:59:52 GMT
Article-I.D.: lynx.#81jb4l
Organization: Atheists for the Development of a Better God


	I a Rolemaster campaign that I am playing, we had just arrived
back in the capital city when one member of the party was arrested by
the town cops and thrown into a small prison cell. Since he was away from
the rest of the party when it happened, there was some time that he was
sitting in the cell doing nothing, before we found out that he was in 
prison and could do something about it. He tells that GM that he is going
to practice his lock picking. He, of course has no lock picks(-30 penalty)
and decides to use a peice of straw to pick the lock. Given the dificulty
of the lock, etc it was decided that there would be a -70 addition penalty
to the attempt. Add to this his total skill in lock picking of -5 and he
had a total modifier to the roll of -105. 100+ on an open ended d100 would 
indicate success and he rolled at 180 after the modifiers and succeded 
easily. 
	The next question was what was he going to do now? Since there
were armed guards right outside, he attempted to lock the door again
and pretend like he didn't know anything about it, but was unable to
get the thing locked again, so he just closed the door and tried to look
innocent for when someone noticed that the door was unlocked. This did
make it a bit easier to rescue him, since we didnt have to waste time
picking the lock ourselves, but I dont think that anyone else ever
noticed.
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: pmwg1641@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Peter M. White)
Subject: Re: tech ways to geek mages... SR
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1992 15:33:46 GMT



hennessy@acsu.buffalo.edu (Mathew A. Hennessy) writes:


>	hit 'em with a taser... they go into convulsions and can't cast or
>maintain spells... it's the funniest thing!
>	oh also I keep my Smartgun filled with a 50/50 mix explosive/flechette
>bullets...  so the fleches may be a little wussier but they count as IMPACT.
>guess what that means?  riiiight. they go right thru an anti-bullet barrier.
>and you know how much mages like to keep themselves unrestricted by petty
>things like armor..

Huh?  I don't see _why_ they wouldn't have armor.  Even a statmaxed mage
will get to spend that one karma for at least a 2 Str => carry 20 kg.
Plenty of capacity to spare a few kilos to save ones hide when the
barrier is knocked down.  On the street, some Ork will just walk up
and rip his face off if he has zero impact protection.  Or the grenades
will cave his chest in.

The taser is a nice touch.  

p-white@uiuc.edu
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

		"Guards!  I'll draw their fire."
					--Scapegoat,_Marshall Law_

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: v076jy2p@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (Cosmo Of The Cosmos)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: SRUN: Heavy weapons as sidearms
Date: 9 Apr 92 02:12:00 GMT
Organization: University at Buffalo
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

>Sure, armor is incredibly powerful in Shadowrun. But you want the real acid
>test? Fire one of those babys at an unarmored person and see what you get.
>Go ahead, I'll wait.

Hold out pistol: Damage is 3L1

Point at person: point blank range.

Lets say you have firearms: 3

you roll on 2 successes.

Total damage: 3M1

The target rolls his body (avg is 3)

On avg. 2 successes

The target takes NO damage.


	Let us review.  You just shot, at point blank range, at a target,
that didn't even dodge, and you bounced the bullet off his OH-SO-AVERAGE
SKIN!  Something is wrong here.  Something is very, VERY wrong here.
Of course this is a Hold-out pistol, but even a heavy pistol with explosive
ammo won't have a chance of killing a guy on the first shot unless you
have it smart gunned and at least firearms:9!  God help you if the target
is wearing any armor! You want a kicker?  The explosive bullets are even
worse 'cause (by the book) it makes it harder to stage and thus protects 
the person your shooting.

Don't say things until you've checked 'em out first, Chummer.


						-Jeeves The Rigger
						-Toady da Trol
						-ME!
From: jbrown@milton.u.washington.edu (Jeffery Brown)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Why have street samauri? WAS: SRUN magicalness
Date: 7 Apr 92 16:16:15 GMT
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle

One idea about counterbalancing  the excess power of mages in Shadowrun ...

Make sure every player has more than one character, of which at least one
must be mundane, ready to go.  Should be no problem.  By "mundane" I mean
Magic 0.000.  No physical adepts, no spells put on by someone else, no
guardian spirits, no nothing.

Then, at the start of each adventure, each player, or the GM with the
players watching, rolls 3d6.  If the roll is 8 or less -- about 10% of
the time, then a non-mundane character is available.  Otherwise, the
high demand for magical firepower has resulted in that character being
unavailable for the adventure: he or she is off making big nuyen already,
and isn't around to take on the run.

Really, you should do this only on the wimpy canned adventures that
assume a non-munchkin mage population.  It keeps the amount of magical
firepower down to limits the scenario designers envisaged.  If you
roll your own stuff, and already use hives of Radioactive Toxic Worm
Shamans with Quickening and Force 14 Spell Locks on Dessicate Brainstems,
with Autofire Find Weakness ... eh, oops, wrong system ... oh well, you
get the idea.  If you use the canned adventures, you need to keep the
mages down or else they're cakewalks.
---
Jeff Brown         Mage of the Seven Towers
Astronomy Dept.    jbrown@u.washington.edu
U. of Washington   jbrown@phast.phys.washington.edu
From: boelter3945@iscsvax.uni.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Sorceror's Guild
Date: 8 Apr 92 15:51:28 -0500
Organization: University of Northern Iowa

In article <wdrweHC00awS5011dT@andrew.cmu.edu>, cl2g+@andrew.cmu.edu (Charles
Anthony Leone) writes:
> I've been trying to create a Sorcerors' Guild for my campaign world. The
> purpose would be to provide wizards with a "shop" for spell components,
> rentable lab space, a library for research, and professional
> spellcasting.
> 
> The trouble is, the books make no mention of what even a Thieves' Guild
> would cost (i.e. dues), and they also don't provide a formula for
> figuring spell costs for wizards. Many priest spells are given in the
> DMG (as they were in the old DMG), but not many for wizards.
> 
> Thanks,
> ________________
> Tony L.
> 
> 8^\)
> ________________

   Well Tony, here's what I would recommend, in my own opinions.  I did try and
create a Wizard's Guild of the sort you mentioned above, providing things like
that.

   Basically, I think I had that any mage could become a member of the guild if
they wanted to.  Dues amounted to something like 50gp a month, or a slightly
lower rate if you paid for it by the year.

   You received a number of benefits, such as free "common" material
components, lab space available for research and other work, a net-library of
knowledge (communicated by spells and items), and so on.

   There were some expectations of course..one of which was information must be
added to the guild whenever you find it, to help increase their net-library,
you must answer the call of the guild if ever the guild requests help from you,
and you must check into the guild whenever you visit a town that has a branch
of the guild.

   There were other things, most of which I can't remember off hand.  They did
offer spells to be cast, at a certain price to people, discounted if you were a
member, and adjusted for rare material components, rarity of the spell, spell
level, restrictions on the spell or possible harm to the caster, and so on..

   I never really created a definite cost chart for spells, I mostly just took
the spells on an individual case-by-case basis.

   Hope this helps somewhat, and opinions/comments are welcome.

                                        John "Nightwind" Boelter

--
*******************************************************************************
* John Boelter        a.k.a. Nightwind            boelter3945@iscsvax.uni.edu *
* Organizational Manager and contact person for everything and then some.     *
*******************************************************************************
* I don't know, I don't care, I don't want * They're fleeing the wrong way!!  *
* to know, and I don't want to care.       *        -confused adventurer-     *
*        -Martian Manhunter-               ************************************
*        -Justice League International-    * Why is the DM smiling like that? *
*******************************************************************************
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: jdnicoll@watyew.uwaterloo.ca (James Davis Nicoll)
Subject: Re: Original alien psychologies?
Keywords: SF, aliens, psychology
Organization: University of Waterloo
Date: Mon, 6 Apr 1992 03:34:50 GMT

In article <1992Apr2.025828.2589@ucc.su.OZ.AU> mar@physics.su.OZ.AU (David Mar) writes:
>Okay, there has been some healthy discussion on exactly how "alien" an
>alien psychology can be. I (and I'm sure many others out there) would
>like to see some interesting examples. Not just something like
>"These aliens are incredibly violent and attack all moving things on sight"
>but descriptions with plausible explanations/environmental stimulations/etc
>that explain why the aliens behave in this way. So:
>Has anyone out there designed an alien race for use in an RPG with a
>logical and consistent psychology markedly different from human, and would
>you please share the details (if you don't mind)?

	Here's a bit of advice: look at the animal world and steal little 
known reproductive schemes. A fair bit of how we behave is caused by how 
we reproduce. 'Romeo and Juliet' would have rather a different meaning to
a species where the adults die after spawning, like some fish (The term
'safe sex' is a non sequitor to such a species :) or to a species where
the male either dies in the womb after fertilising its sisters, or is
a tiny, rather simple lifeform compared to the females. 

	Reproductive tricks can have profound effects on the behavior
of the species. If you're a sterile organism whose only chance to pass
on genes is to ensure the fetile female survives and reproduces, cooperative
behavior with other sterile siblings, even that which results in personal
death, can 'make sense' as several species of ant, bee and wasp *and*
social cockroaches have independantly discovered.

	Is there any mammal as repulsive as a naked mole rat, btw? I wouldn't
want to deal with the tool using analogs of NMRs. Viscious little beasts:
cobalt bombing is too good for them...

	(Insert the tale of telling the !Kung the story of Hamlet here.
Even different groups of similar animals can have different social conventions,
if the circumstances each group is in are different enough)

	I've been tempted to post 'Snails: Leather Queens of the Animal World
(and other sordid tales of nonhuman reproduction)' if only I had actually
gotten around to writing it, rather than talking about it. Human behavior is
*not* the norm for the animal kingdoms, however much we map our behavior
onto theirs.

	Ob disclaimer: humans do share some behaviors with other animals and 
I am not claiming they are any more unique in the pattern of behaviors we have
than any other species. 

								James Nicoll
From: x91lillibrid@gw.wmich.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Rifts help(Please)
Date: 8 Apr 92 14:07:30 EST
Organization: Western Michigan University

  I was wondering if anyone out there in net-land played RIFTS by palladium 
games? I am looking to start up a new campaign using a group of 3-5 coalition 
soldiers and I am fresh out of ideas. Can anyone help me out there?

Thanx, Scott

E-Main : X91LILLIBRID@GW.WMICH.EDU
JESUS SAVES! He fakes to moses... He scores!!!
Organization: Freshman, Drama, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA