HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: ccoprdj@prism.gatech.EDU (Jorge Diaz)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
Subject: Re: Trolls' regeneration
Date: 6 Oct 92 20:56:05 GMT
Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology

In article <Bvpqz9.9Gy@cs.dal.ca> lazarus@ug.cs.dal.ca (Chuck Turner) writes:

> A troll is quite alive.  It is not supernatural in any respect, it just has
> an amazing ability to stay alive.  It has a niche in its ecology like any
> other beast. 

So can it be drowned? Suffocated?  In any way killed without the use of
fire and/or acid?

>Each limb of the troll will continue to fight, or attempt to return to the
>body for a period of 24 hours, after which time it withers and dies. 

Did you make this up, or is it from the MM?  Why wouldn't a new troll
be able to grow from a limb?

> They have a great respect and fear for dragons, especially red and black. 

Gee, I wonder why? ;-)

>>|> 	Is a troll regenerated from a finger a new troll?
>
> If that finger is the single largest remaining piece of the troll, then yes
> it will grow into a troll.  But not a NEW troll.  It will be the same troll
> that it came from, with only a new body.

I thought you just said that a limb would wither and die.  But a single
finger can generate a new troll?  Which is it?

And, if you cut a troll into ten pieces, you say that they would all be
the same troll with new parts grown in to substitute the parts that had
been removed?  I.e.  They would all think and act exactly alike, have
the same memories, the same name, etc?


-- 
Jorge Diaz                       | "I want you to remember, Clark... in all
Georgia Institute of Technology  |  the years to come, in your most private
Office of Information Technology |  moments...my hand at your throat.  I want
ccoprdj@prism.gatech.edu         |  you to remember the one man who beat you."
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
From: alongley@cape.UWaterloo.ca (Allan Longley)
Subject: Re: Sowrds of Sharpness and Incredible Constitution
Keywords: AD&D
Organization: University of Waterloo
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1992 16:13:19 GMT

In article <1992Sep27.233456.10325@beaver.cs.washington.edu>, guido@cs.washington.edu (Guido Hunt) writes:
> One, we just found a sword of sharpness, in the DMG it just says that on an
> exceptional good hit 19 or 20 the sword severs a limb.  But nothing about
> damage, loss of blood or shook, basically the guy takes 2-9 points of
> damage plus str bonus and losses a limb but shrugs it of, this seems very
> unrealistic. 

It is very unrealistic.  If a limb is severed the target loses 1/4 (assuming
4 limbs) of its maximum hit points or sword damage, which-ever is greater.

> sever roll 1-4 to see which limb is severed (head not possible),

I've always played that a Sword of Sharpness could also sever the head, ie.,

		1-2  left arm		3-4  right arm
		5-6  left leg		7-8  right leg
			      9-10  head

> [if damage] is over half total hits, then the person had to save
> verus death magic or die from shock, or possible just fall unconsious.  

I have always used the unconsiousness rule, regardless of the source of damage.

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e-mail: alongley@cape.uwaterloo.ca
voice: (519) 885-1211 x3816		Good day kind .... ug!
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Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
From: tao@potato.princeton.edu (Terry Tao)
Subject: Re: Swords of Sharpness and Incredible Constitution
Originator: news@nimaster
Organization: Princeton University
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1992 14:51:57 GMT

Another form of death: starvation.  I mean, the troll shave to get all these essential vitamins to regenerate, not to mention water.  Lock up a troll in a cave with air but no food or water and it MUST die, really.  Or is it just magic full stop?

Actually, you could think up all sorts of death.  Can trolls be subject to heart attacks (extreme fear)? can they be stillborn? (counts as suffocation, I suppose), cancer? (this may counteract the regeneration).  There's got to be 
some way to bump them off without fire and acid..
From: boelter3945@iscsvax.uni.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
Subject: Re: Dancing Sword and THAC0, part II
Date: 30 Sep 92 10:05:59 -0500
Organization: University of Northern Iowa

In article <1992Sep30.083904.18790@ugle.unit.no>, brunborg@solan.unit.no (]dne
   Brunborg) writes:
> My character, a fighter at 8th level, has just recently found a Sword of
> Dancing. The fighter has a strenght score of 18,76 (+2/+4) and double
> specialisation (+3/+3, per Unearthed Arcana), wich gives him a THAC0 of 8-x,
> x=1..4.
> BUT when I release the sword, my DM will just give it THAC0 13-x, not
> counting neither strenght nor specialisation. [...]
> 
> PPS: I've read my DMG now. It says: "The sword will fight alone at the same
> level (and class) as its wielder." There goes my strenght bonus, but what
> about specialisation? After all, if the sword knows what class and level
> it's wielder is, it should know if he's a specialist?
> Aadne.

   Well, I wouldn't give the strength bonus either, as there wouldn't be a way
to transfer that to the sword when it dances.  However, I would give the
specialization bonus, for this reason:

   When the sword dances (on round 5), I interpret it that for the first four
rounds you are 'teaching' the sword how you fight, so during the next four
rounds, it can copy how you fought on its own, then it needs to be 'retaught'
for the next four rounds, and so on.  Specialization is a skill learned by the
fighter, so when the sword 'learns' how the fighter fights, it will copy that
part of it when it dances.

   Makes sense?  Just my own opinion on how to work it.

                                        John "Nightwind" Boelter

--
*******************************************************************************
* John Boelter        a.k.a. Nightwind            boelter3945@iscsvax.uni.edu *
* Organizational Manager and contact person for everything and then some.     *
*******************************************************************************
* The individual who said we only use 10%  * The first 90% of a task takes    *
* of our brain's mental capacity, was      * 90% of the time, and the last    *
* probably 90% incorrect.                  * 10% takes the other 90%.         *
*            -Unknown comic on A&E-        *   -99 rule of Project Schedules- *
*******************************************************************************
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
From: s084@brems.ii.uib.no (Jon)
Subject: Re: Trolls' regeneration
Organization: University of Bergen, Norway
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 92 11:37:05 GMT

David Covin (covin@tartarus.uchicago.edu) wrote:
: In article <1992Sep28.212012.6975@Princeton.EDU> tao@potato.princeton.edu (Terry Tao) writes:
: 
:    Brings up another interesting question.  What DOES kill trolls apart from
:    fire and acid:: what about
:<stuff del.> 
:   disease-- do trolls *get* diseases?  I'd assume not.  Any magical
:             disease that somehow infested and managed to kill a troll
:             would have to have fought the troll's fierce immune system
:             every step of the way, and won-- so I'd assume the troll's
:             regenerative ability wouldn't improve just because it was
:             dead.  The troll would stay dead.  Any weak, sickly, namby-
:             pamby human coming anywhere near that corpse is probably
:             going to be in for trouble, though-- would *you* like
:             to catch a disease virulent enough to kill a troll?
:             can regenerate from the damage; while a human won't normally
:             do so.

What about a troll catching lycanthropy?  Or does lycanthropy only apply
to humans?

Could be an interesting adventure though; running into such a troll..

--
                ___                
               /  /             "Did I do anything wrong today, or has the
              /  /               world always been like this and I've been
             /  /__  _____       too wrapped up in myself to notice?"
            /  /   \|  __ \        - Arthur Dent       
  ___      /  / /\  \ |  | |  
  \  \____/  /  \/  / |  | |   Jon Bagge
   \________/ \____/|_|  |_|   Email:  s084@brems.ii.uib.no
From: gupw@uniwa.uwa.edu.au (Paul Wagland)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
Subject: Re: Trolls' regeneration
Date: 2 Oct 1992 04:49:00 +0800
Organization: The University of Westrn Australia
NNTP-Posting-Host: uniwa.uwa.edu.au

covin@tartarus.uchicago.edu (David Covin) writes:

>  disease-- do trolls *get* diseases?  I'd assume not.  Any magical
>            disease that somehow infested and managed to kill a troll
>            would have to have fought the troll's fierce immune system
>            every step of the way, and won-- so I'd assume the troll's
>            regenerative ability wouldn't improve just because it was
>            dead.  The troll would stay dead.  Any weak, sickly, namby-
>            pamby human coming anywhere near that corpse is probably
>            going to be in for trouble, though-- would *you* like
>            to catch a disease virulent enough to kill a troll?

Hmmm. Interesting thought. what about an epidemic of TAIDS (Troll
Aquired immune defiency system), now this *might* just kill them :)

-- 
Paul Wagland            | These opinions are mine and no-one elses
gupw@uniwa.uwa.edu.au   | Bingy Bingy Bingy Frogs Go round and round
------------------------+     -- Another silly quote from me  :-)
From: swv3752@ritvax.isc.rit.edu (Morning Reaper)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
Subject: Re: Dual classing
Date: 3 Oct 92 14:06:21 GMT
Reply-To: swv3752@ritvax.isc.rit.edu
Organization: Rochester Institute of Technology

In article <1992Sep30.140432.1283@ccsvax.sfasu.edu>, z_copeab@ccsvax.sfasu.edu writes:
>In article <5689@news.duke.edu>, dks@acpub.duke.edu writes:
>> 
>> 	I have a few strange dual-class situations, and I want to know how
>> some other people would respond to/rule on them:
>> 	We have a 9th level fighter, Str 15, Int 17, Con 15, proficient in
>> the use of the staff, among other weapons. After years of study, he dual-
>> classes as a magic-user (this is for 1st or 2nd ed.)... He takes dagger 
>> proficiency as an m-u.
>> 	1) Does he get a "free" proficiency in the staff, so long as when
>> he attacks with it he uses the mage tables?  He already knows how to use
>> staff, and m-u's have staff on the allowed weapon list...  Does he mystic-
>> ally "forget" and need to attack as an m-u with the -5 non-prof penalty?
>
>	I would give him the difference between the old class and the new one,
>not add them together. Thus, the fighter gets *no* extra weapon proficiencies
>when changing to mage. I also think it is rather silly that he has to 'forget'
>how to attack with his fighter weapons, so he should be allowed to use his
>fighter weapons at no penalty.
>
	As stated in the 2nd edition, when using any knowledge from the
previous class the said character gains no exps.  Using a staff from when he
was fighter would mean that he was reverting to the old ways and need to
"retrain" to get used to his new class.  He hasn't forgotten how to use a staff
it just interferes with his learning as a mage.  I would rule that only
languages could be used from his original class, no other NWP's. 
>> 	2) (2nd ed in particular)  What happens to his non-weapon proficien-
>> cies?  Languages I'd expect he'd retain at no penalty for their use. (Lang-
>> uages are NWP's in 2nd ed, in many campaigns.)  Can he use all of his other
>> NWP's at no penalty?  Only non-warrior group ones? Only the general and 
>> (though unlikely to be possessed) wizard-grouped ones?
>
>	He should be able to use them at no penalty.
>
>> 	3) a) Say he somehow gains a point of Constitution (making it 16)...
>> Does he get 9 extra hit points immediately? Wait until he gets to be a 10th
>> lvl m-u, when he ordinarily starts getting extra hp's?
>
>	Hmm, I would add one per mage level.
>
>> 	   b) Our lucky guy gets another Con point, up to 17... Since he
>> got his original hit points as a fighter, does he get another 9 hp's (as the
>> hp bonus goes from +2 to +3)?  Or since he's an m-u now, is he denied the
>> extra 9?
>
>	Yup, he doesn't get these extra HPs.
>
>
>Brandon Cope
>
						 -Morning Reaper

"I do not hold people to my own set of ethics, rather I hold them to thier
own.  This usually entails a much more strigent set of guidelines, which are
more than likely to have been broken at one point.  The end result being that
I will be found to be more moral than them.:)"
From: seawasp@vm2.cis.pitt.edu (Sea Wasp)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
Subject: Re: Lich & Demi-Lich...
Keywords: lich
Date: 1 Oct 92 14:52:29 GMT
Organization: University of Pittsburgh
Originator: seawasp@unixd2.cis.pitt.edu

In article <69570@hydra.gatech.EDU> tmiller@prism.gatech.EDU (Thomas Miller) writes:
>> In article <1992Sep30.134229.19463@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu>, abistak@nyx.cs.du.edu (Andrew Bistak) writes:
>> > Our party consists of a Paladin(lev 9)/Bard(lev 10)/Fighter-Mage ( lev
>> > 7 7) and a thief unfortunately.   [Here's] the problem, does anyone know
>> > how to defeat a damn Lich?  Some stats/weaknesses would be nice.

>  With only four characters in the party, my advice would be to flee
>and come back later with more help...

	I second that. Unless your GM is a complete fool, even a base-level
Lich will crush you like bugs. It is likely to be twice the level of even
the highest of you there, will have access to all spells he wants at a 
rate and level of power you can't begin to match, will have allies galore,
traps of insurmountable subtlety and power, and unless the LICH is a fool
and a moron he will probably know you're coming LONG before you get there.
He'll then have plenty of time to whomp up a suitable welcome even if,
for some bizarre reason, he happens to be completely alone as well.
	Hell, even assuming you have time to plan and can manage to lure him
into going where YOU want, AND then catch him by surprise, you're STILL
likely to get your butts creamed unless he just stands there and takes
everything you can throw without responding.

	Moreover... you ask above for stats and such. If your GM becomes
aware that you're using information like that -- GAME information --
which your characters SHOULDN'T have, well... any  GM worth his salt 
will then CHANGE the monster completely, so that your information is 
worse than useless.

	NEVER use player information in game, unless there is a GOOD reason
to believe that the CHARACTER would know it too. 


                                 Sea Wasp
                                   /^\
                                   ;;;
From: z_copeab@ccsvax.sfasu.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
Subject: Re: Survival of the Trolls 
Date: 30 Sep 92 12:46:02 CST
Organization: Stephen F. Austin State University

In article <1ac03hINNdgv@uniwa.uwa.edu.au>, gusar@uniwa.uwa.edu.au (Sean A Reith) writes:
> boelter3945@iscsvax.uni.edu writes:
> 
>>In article <1992Sep28.212012.6975@Princeton.EDU>, tao@potato.princeton.edu
>>   (Terry Tao) writes:
>>old age -- No, as old age is the dying of cells, which they could regenerate
> 
> I agree, old age shouldn't kill them (ignoring phycological problems,
> but trolls are usually viewed as pretty dumb/mindless).

	But eventually, the troll *could* get to the point where regeneration
slows down and stops (ie, 3 hp/rnd is for an adult; an extremely ancient one 
might only regenerate 1 hp/rnd). I prefer this, but its up to the DM.

>>suffocation -- Hmm, this would deprive cells of oxygen, and even though they
>>               could regenerate, they would die almost as quickly, and if
>>               kept that way for a long time, all the cells would die, so
>>               sure, why not.
> 
> Assuming the cells need oxygen, then they shouldn't be able to
> regenerate them without it either.

	I would say that if the troll was deprived of oxygen, then it simply
starts suffocating and stops regenerating. The body, if kept away from oxygen
for long enough, would eventually decompose to the point where regeneration
would not work (ie, toss a troll of a spelljamming ship).

>>psychic attacks -- Sure, the troll regenerates its body, not its mind
> 
> I disagree, you yourself say they regenerate from a fall, but the fall
> is just as likely to splatter their brain matter as any other cells.
> Furthermore, the trolls regeneration can be viewed as the state that
> babies developing in the womb are, they can (re)create limbs from the
> DNA print (hey, I'm no genitic expert, so excuse me if this is rather
> simplistic, the concept still hold (I think)), so why not brain cells?
> Sure, the new brain cells would not contain any memories etc etc, but
> would still work (even if at the level of a newborn).
> 

	Yeah, about the best a psionic attack would do would be to stun the
troll, and "wipe the slate clean".

>>falling long distances -- Nope, that's just damage, which the troll will be
>>                          able to regenerate as well
> 
> Agreed.

	Except for re-entry :-)


Brandon Cope

Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
From: Edward_Swatschek@mindlink.bc.ca (Edward Swatschek)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
Subject: Re: Sowrds of Sharpness and Incredible Constitution
Date: 29 Sep 92 09:35:52 GMT
Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada
Distribution: world

> Devon Sheppard writes:
>
> >>[sword of sharpness question deleted]
> >
> >        First, the DM should be shot for letting you get away with reading
> >up on the stats of a magic item you found, and then not nailing you for it.
>
> <insert hearty round of applause here>
>


   It should be noted he did not say they snuck out back to read up on the item
apon finding it; it may have been the case that the DM was consulting with the
players on how to best handle it. And how to handle those players who, from
experience, are familiar with the stats anyways? It's not what they know, but how
they play it.


--

               Edjs                    _
              ------                _ //  CI$  : 76427,662
   Edward_Swatschek@mindlink.bc.ca  \X/   GEnie: E.SWATSCHEK
From: smith@ctron.com (Larry Smith)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
Subject: Re: Swords of Sharpness and Incredible Constitution
Date: 29 Sep 92 19:12:09 GMT
Reply-To: smith@ctron.com
Organization: Cabletron Systems, Inc.

In article <396@mindlink.bc.ca>, Devon_Sheppard@mindlink.bc.ca (Devon Sheppard) writes:
>>Brings up another interesting question.  What DOES kill trolls apart from
>>fire and acid: what about...

>freezing to death   ...but just wait until it thaws again...

Nasty trap to spring on someone...I don't remember where I read it, but it
goes like this: guy sells the players a side of frozen "beef" - really a
troll.  Players take it with them, and leave it somewhere close by to
defrost, maybe while they sleep.  Viola!  Troll attack.  Being the clever
fellows they are, my players turned this into the "eternal meatloaf", by
bringing some along and slicing off some for lunch or dinner, always being
careful to leave some for tomorrow.  Gives a new meaning to the word "left-
overs".  Also gives new meaning to the old warnings about not skipping meals.
I finally ruled that troll doesn't taste good.

Larry Smith (smith@ctron.com)  No, I don't speak for Cabletron.  Need you ask?
-
How about we all do something reasonable?  I bet that'll confuse 'em!
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
From: stv@unislc.uucp (Steve Spencer)
Subject: Re: Enchanted weapons to hit...
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]
Organization: Unisys Corporation SLC
Date: Tue, 6 Oct 1992 13:50:38 GMT

Ryk E Spoor (seawasp+@pitt.edu) wrote:
: 
: 	In general, my justification is that the creatures in question
: are not made of ordinary material. They're either essentially energy
: beings or made of magical material, and thus actual damage cannot be
: done without negating some of that special energy. You can APPARENTLY 
: damage such creatures with ordinary weapons (shoot the vampire with
: a bullet) but it just stings. It can't touch their essence. Magical
: weapons DO cut your essence, severing the astral/ethereal/soul lines
: that make up the being.
: 
: 
: 				Sea Wasp
For the most part I agree, but what about, as stated in the original post,
the problem with high hit dice creatures being able to hit? Is the ability
for the high hit dice creatures to do damage realistic, or just another 
one of those "game balance" rules?

Steve Spencer		This is a subliminal message. Pay no attention.
Salt Lake City, Utah   
stv			(Short .sig to keep all the PRUDES off my back!)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
From: z_copeab@ccsvax.sfasu.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
Subject: Re: Dual Classing
Date: 1 Oct 92 14:44:09 CST
Distribution: world
Organization: Stephen F. Austin State University

In article <30SEP199221292594@juliet.caltech.edu>, aaron@juliet.caltech.edu (Packman, Aaron I.) writes:
> The dual class rule about not using your old abilities always seemed
> silly to me.  In 1st ed. they just gave this rule out with no reason;
> when 2nd ed. came along they decided to stick some logic to the 
> previously unexplaied rules, this being one of them.  But I still 
> don't buy it.  There is no reason why a person can't learn new skills
> while still practicing the old ones.  You don't have to give up old
> proficiencies to learn new ones; why should this be true with class
> skills?  The reason the rules are this way, of course, is to preserve
> game balance.  I think the wise DM can cause the game to balance itself
> without recourse to too many obvious crutches.  For example, the fighter
> becoming a mage could have to "go back to school" to learn the basics
> of magicing (cantrips, etc.), have xp penalties for his lack of preparation, 
> be shunned by other mages and have problems finding instructors, etc.  And 
> there's always the bit about no spellcasting in armour.  (Actually, I don't 
> agree with parts of that rule either--shouldn't a mage be able to cast spells 
> without a difficult somatic component while wearing armour?  It's the same
> game balance thing.)  Similar difficulties could be faced when switching to/
> from other classes.  Creative DM's should develop their own guidelines for
> beginning a new class, thereby imposing a more logical framework on the 
> process while increasing its personality and playability.

	I agree heartily with the poster above. It is the DM's responsibility
to change or discard bad or silly rules. T$R's idea of protecting Game Balance
at all costs detracts from AD&D quite a bit.

	Dual Classing is one extreme example of the major problems of class
based systems, and why they are archaic.

Brandon Cope
From: tony@phsbbs.princeton.nj.us (Anthony Foglia)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
Subject: Re: World sizes
Date: 29 Sep 92 14:12:24 GMT
Article-I.D.: phsbbs.DB0uRB2w164w
Organization: Princeton High School, Princeton, New Jersey

Devon_Sheppard@mindlink.bc.ca (Devon Sheppard) writes:
> Can someone tell me how I would go about calculating the distance to the
> (apparent) horizon of a spherical world, assuming I know the diameter? Also,
> what effect would height have on the calculation? Ie: viewing a distant
> mountain while on a flat plain, or viewing over a flat plain while levitating
> at 5000ft.

If the diameter is the same as the radius of the Earth, a short cut is to 
calculate the square root of the height (in feet) and multiply by 1.23 
and you will have the distance to the horizon in miles.

If not, than things get alot more complicated.
1. Add the height of the object/person to the radius of the planet
    (Make sure you use the same units)
2. Divide into the radius of the planet
3. Take the arccosine in radians
4. Multiply by the radius

If you want to use degrees instead of radians the distance is the 
circumference (2*pi*r) times the arccosine divided by 360.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer: The above views may be mine but may be those of the guy       
            behind me.  You decide.
There are two types of people in the world:
The first type always, no matter what, finishes what they start;