HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: hummell+@pitt.edu (Andrew G Hummell)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: Palladium RPG comments
Date: 24 Dec 92 05:53:34 GMT
Organization: University of Pittsburgh

In article <1992Dec17.024246.13735@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu> cmeadows@nyx.cs.du.edu (Chris Meadows) writes:
[stuff deleted]
>I'd like to ask some questions about RIFTS, if I may, and hope to
>get some good answers (and not flames, if you please...).  First of
>all, why do Ley Line Walkers, ALL of them, wear that weird SCUBA-
>like helmet?  Second, I thought Techno-Wizards couldn't pilot power
>armor...or was that Shifters?  I dunno...

My guess on the Line Walker is that the helmet is part of the LW's MDC
body armor.  The mask is an air filter/gas mask (maybe breathing is hard
while travelling Ley Lines or the lines just naturally attract harmful
gasses (ozone?)).  For the second question, The TW can pilot power armor,
the shifter can't (I have the book with me tonight).


[more stuff deleted]

>One beef I have with Beyond the Supernatural is that, while it 
>features a comprehensive section on automatic and energy weapons, 
>it doesn't seem to have any sort of sections on "anti-supernatural"
>weapons, like the Ghostbusters' proton-throwers and ghost traps.
>As if a 7.62mm Israeli Galil sniping rifle is going to do you a 
>heck of a lot of good against a poltergeist...
>
>Another thing I don't like is their portrayal of ghosts as being
>nonintelligent psychic entities rather than spirits of deceased people,
>which is something I may throw out in my campaigns.  After all, the
>ghosts were REAL ghosts in Ghostbusters (though, admittedly, they
>did look a bit odd for ghosts...).
>

I agree with you on both these points.  I think that Palladium's portrayal
of ghosts (and demons, gods, etc.) as being non-human/alien beings (some
non-intelligent) is just a ploy to avoid drawing the kind of anti-RPG
attacks that have been aimed at xD&D in the past (hence the disclaimers in
nearly everything they produce).  I have thrown this aspect out of my 
campaigns (and so have the GM's I play with).  If a ghost, god, demon, or
devil shows up in one of my campaigns it is most likely "real."

If you do translate Ghostbusters into BtSN, I wouldn't mind seeing your
interpretation of the proton-packs and ghost-traps.

Andy
-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  "I'm not insane...just a reasonable facsimile."  | Hummell@vms.cis.pitt.edu
   -- me				           | Andy Hummell     230 DLH 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: rzthlb@tuhhco.rz.tu-harburg.de (Lutz Behnke)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: RMCVI
Date: 21 Dec 92 10:01:11 GMT
Reply-To: behnke@tu-harburg.dbp.de

In article <2553@cix.cict.fr>, maillet@tls-cs.cert.fr (Luc Maillet) writes:
|   Anyway, what Rolemaster needs badly is a unified RULES system ( complete
| overhaul and summary, clarifications... ). A brand new Character Law, Spell Law
| and Arms Law...
| 
Take out the checklists at the end of the last few RMC and make your own!
No, serious. I think what makes Rm stand out from the Rest IS the fact that you
may build your own system by using only the rules and options that U like.
In my group we only play RM (and SM) but with 5 Masters and 5 Campaigns we have
allmost 4+1 Different Systems (RM+SM)

Greetings from the Edge
	Derolan the Sage

-- 
| Lutz Behnke | behnke@tu-harburg.dbp.de | (Germany) 040 / 630 39 38 |
|  TU Hamburg Harburg, Hamburg, Germany, Europe, Earth, Sol-System   |
|----------When the Evil Spirit armed the Tiger with claws,----------|
|----------------Brahma gave wings to the Dove-----------------------|
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: wga@po.CWRU.Edu (Will G. Austin)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: META:Game Mechanics or Background--That is The Question!
Date: 22 Dec 1992 20:55:01 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Reply-To: wga@po.CWRU.Edu (Will G. Austin)
NNTP-Posting-Host: slc5.ins.cwru.edu


	I've grown to the point where I generally look at game mechanics over background
in new products.  I say `grown' because I started out with AD&D 1st ed as well
as V&V (the 2nd edition)and still play them to this day.

	Background is great, if given in the right amount.  I use the world of
Greyhawk over the FR for my current AD&D campaign for just that reason.  Grey-
hawk provided me with a skeletal framework to develop my own world ideas; it
was a springboard.  FR has way too much information, much of which will never
be used in the average campaign (I know there are exceptions, but realistically
speaking. . .).  If I were a wealthy playboy socialite, I'd use my own world, of
course. . . . . .:).  I like the Vampire game immensely(even though its mechanics
are abysmally awkward) for its background.  But, my eccentricities aside (:)), 
I look for rules that work well, work with each other, and potray the genre of
the game to my tastes(that's one of the reasons GURPS Supers makes no sense
whatsoever to me--it doesn't really capture the superhero genre, and certainly
not as well as DC Heroes or V&V or Champions. . .)
 
-- 
"...It is a tale told by an idiot/Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing!"
Will Shakespeare, *Macbeth*||||Me, after seeing Coppola's version of *Dracula*
=====Will Austin---Nomad---wga@po.cwru.edu---wga%po.cwru.edu@cunyvm============
From: mavra@cpac.washington.edu (Peter D. Adkison)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: Palladium: Whiners of the Hobby (was Re: Palladium/Wizards of the Coast Lawsuit)
Date: 03 Jan 93 04:02:39 GMT
Organization: Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
	<Bzrzqr.7Mv@news.chalmers.se>
	<MAVRA.92Dec28102953@bailey.cpac.washington.edu>
	<1992Dec30.235535.15173@oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu>
NNTP-Posting-Host: bailey.cpac.washington.edu
In-reply-to: tratclif@oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu's message of 30 Dec 92 23:55:35 GMT

In article <1992Dec30.235535.15173@oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu> tratclif@oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu (Tracy Ratcliff) writes:

>   Could you repost the WotC address?  I assume you get the maximum profit if
>   I mail-order, and I'd like to help you guys as much as I can.

	Wizards of the Coast
	PO Box 707
	Renton, WA 98057-0707

If you write me e-mail at mavra@wizards.com, I'll send you an
electronic copy of our catalog which will help to expedite mail order
requests.

Actually, buying our products from retailers is good too.  If our
products move well at your local retail outlet, they'll continue
carrying the entire line and won't hesitate to pick up new releases.
That means more and better shelf space location and better long term
market presence.

So, whatever is most convenient for you.

				--Mavra!
				  Peter D. Adkison
				  Janitor, Wizards of the Coast
				  mavra@wizards.com

The above internet address should be used for e-mail if it is
different from the e-mail address in the header.

Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: naam@cecer.army.mil (Ramez Naam)
Subject: Re: META: Game Mechanics vs. Background
Organization: US Army Corps of Engineers Construction Engineering Research Labs
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1992 06:35:07 GMT

When buying a game, I am always primarily interested in the mechanics.
I mostly GM these days, and I've never seen a pre-made game world
that I would want to run over a world of my own design.  Hell, designing
the world is half the fun, and there's no product on the market
(that I know of) that's going to be rich enough to replace a world
that's grown out of my imagination.

g
--
Ramez Naam
naam@terra.cecer.army.mil
Xref: sparky rec.games.frp.misc:10394 rec.games.board:12841
From: dunkelza@titan.ucc.umass.edu (KEITH C MCCORMIC)
Subject: Re: Survey for Wizards of the Coast
Organization: University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1992 23:15:54 GMT


     Hey, Mavra, could you send me capy of the results?  My address is 
above I believe.  If not, it's Dunkelza@titan.ucc.umass.edu.  

Thanks.

Dunkelzahn
From: chuahl@ocf.berkeley.edu (Chua HakLien)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: GURPS: New stuff and material being playtested
Date: 23 Dec 1992 15:23:42 GMT
Organization: U.C. Berkeley Open Computing Facility
NNTP-Posting-Host: sandstorm.berkeley.edu

A look in the SJG BBS reveals that GURPS Fantasy II: Madlands and
GURPS Time Travel Adventures should be shipping soon.

Other stuff currently being playtested:-
GURPS Bestiary II, Animals, Vehicles, Supporting Cast ( Contains fully
fleshed out characters ), Mythos, Atomic horror, Arabian Nights, a
Unified mass combat system and Aztecs.

The phone number for the SJG BBS is in the FAQ, so please don't ask.

Chua
+==+
From: at731@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Troy L. Nothnagel)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: SR Spell Locks
Date: 24 Dec 1992 06:17:53 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Reply-To: at731@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Troy L. Nothnagel)
NNTP-Posting-Host: hela.ins.cwru.edu


In a previous article, jester@sage.cc.purdue.edu (Jester) says:

>Spell locks cost 3pts of karma to bond. They also cost between
>25-50000 Nuyen from a talismonger. Quickening a spell costs 1 pt
>of karma and the spell is permanent until the spell is either
>dispelled or fought in astral space.o

Actually, spell locks cost 1 karma to bond (if you're not using virgin
talesma, anyway) and the number of points to Quicken a spell is usually
equal to the force, but in all cases the number of points spent is the
force of the spell in astral combat.

Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: jcarl@jabba.ess.harris.com (Joe Carl Jr.)
Subject: Re: Shadowrun Mages too powerful?
Organization: Harris Corporation - ISD
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1992 14:09:35 GMT

In <1992Dec21.171733.60468@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu> mak9@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu (MICHAEL A. KAUFFMAN) writes:

>In article <1992Dec19.194002.2140@news2.cis.umn.edu>, esper@cs35b.cs.umn.edu
>>...  3)  As has been recently
>>discussed, SR magical mechanics don't allow for teleportation.

>I'm a newcomer to this news group, and I missed this discussion.  I'm very
>interested in this subject because the mages in ours group have been talking
>about design such a spell.  Could anyone out there post a summary of the
>discussion and the major reasons for the conclusion that "SR magical mechanics
>don't allow for teleportation."?  I would appreciate it very much, thank you.

I don't think the above person summurized the discussion well.  I thought
the conclusion was the teleportation is way out of current magic uses
skill to be used in SR.  Certain mages that have been around for a long
time like (never mind it's a spoiler) could definate do it.  The drain would
be enormous!

>Also, it seems to be a common belief in the net that magically increased
>Willpower does not help in magic tests, most importantly drain resistance
>tests.  I have no problem accepting this rule, but I need to find this in
>writing to convince the mages of our team.  Does anyone know where I could
>find such a reference in SRII rules?

I don't think that is true either.  I believe most people said that the
spell do add to magic tests.  Willpower increase does help with drain,
Charisma increase does help with conjuring (not the maximum number he can
have though).  I think what you mean is that these do not follow over into
astral space!
--
Joe Carl Jr.               "It ain't what a man don't know that makes him a
jcarl@jabba.ess.harris.com   fool, but what he does know that ain't so."
                                                           -- Josh Billings
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: durrell@pinball.arcade.uiowa.edu (Bryant Durrell)
Subject: Re: Palladium/Wizards of the Coast Lawsuit
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1992 14:37:57 GMT
Organization: University of Iowa

In article <BzMtMy.A0o@nic.umass.edu> dunkelza@titan.ucc.umass.edu (KEITH C MCCORMIC) writes:
>    For example, Eric Wujcik developed the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles &
>Other Strangeness game (Kevin, if you want to sue me for FORGETTING the [tm]
>after the name, go to hell.).  It sucked.  It was overly Siembda, yet it was 
>the best product they had at the time.  Guess what?  A few years later Eric 
>left the company and went on to form Phage Press, whose Amber game shows
>not only a marked improvement over TMNT&OS, but is apparently doing better 
>any single Palladium game.  Says something don't ya think?

Yeah, but it's inaccurate.

Amber is not (according to figures I've seen) outselling Rifts at
all.  I'm assuming that's what you mean by "doing better."  I
don't have the charts on hand, but I'm basing this on lists
compiled by Greg Costikiyan for the months of August and September.
Rifts was, as I recall, in the top ten for both those months.
Amber was not.  (A&Eers, correct me if I'm wrong on this.)

Also, I'm unconvinced that Wujick left Palladium with bad feelings.
After all, as recently as Villains Unlimited he dedicated a game
book to Kevin, "the best gamemaster in the world."  But that's
just a guess on my part.

(And none of this should be construed to mean that I don't think
Kevin is arrogant and petty.)

-- 
Bryant Durrell					   durrell@chop.isca.uiowa.edu
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 I feed on the flesh of the living, and I vote.
From: duncanj@linus.umd.edu (James Duncan)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: GURPS Running (was Re: GURPS 1/8 and 1/4 Points, & high defaults)
Date: 26 Dec 92 20:55:42 GMT
Organization: University of Maryland, College Park

In article <1992Dec14.134726.6428@oz.plymouth.edu> sos@oz.plymouth.edu (Steffan O'Sullivan) writes:
>dripton@csugrad.cs.vt.edu (David Ripton) writes:
>>
>>Does anybody out there have a solution to the abuse of running skill, 
>>other than banning it or charging an Unusual Background? 
>
>The official solution, published in old Roleplayers, is that Running
>does not add to Dodge, and only adds to Move when actually Running - in
>other words, when the sprint bonus would apply.

This is covered in the GURPS FAQ, which I will be posting within the
next couple of days.

	- Jim Duncan

>-- 
>  - Steffan O'Sullivan		         sos@oz.plymouth.edu


Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: jwtlai@jeeves.uwaterloo.ca (Jim W "GrimJim" Lai)
Subject: Re: SR Spell Locks
Organization: University of Waterloo
Date: Wed, 23 Dec 1992 03:12:12 GMT

In article <1992Dec22.072334.9075@coe.montana.edu> icsu0237@cs.montana.edu (Jeff Patterson) writes:
>Fellow gamers,
>
>	I am currently GMing a SRI campaign (moving to SRII after the
>holidays) and have three mages in the party (one is an NPC).  One of
>the mages came up with a great idea for his character - lock a spell
>onto himself.

Fine, except that he's now a prime target for grounding a spell from astral
space whenever the lock (himself) is active.  Secondly, the exact wording is
that the spell lock "must be placed in contact WITH its target in order to
operate" (emphasis mine) in SR2.  So he can't be the target of the spell lock.
Tough luck, chummer.  It also now takes a simple action (SR2 term) to activate
the lock, so he can't cast a spell in the same action.
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1992 18:16:24 -0500 
From: Robert Everett Brunskill <rb6t+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: clo=DECKER FROM HELL

Aron            ath@cesr10.tn.cornell.edu writes:

>I think all of you are forgetting (putting reality aside for a moment)
that >in SRII you must make an exectution test for a program in each
node before >you can use it.  Even if Attack is in your active memory,
when you walk up >to that new node, you must make a roll (system
operation, I think) to see >if you can run the program in this new node.
 If it doesn't run, you are >screwed.  But,  therefore, the program is
_not_ running along with the MPCP >frame/construct thingy.  

So you need a skill test to start up your Mail Program?  I run that
Execution test as a test to see if the operator can get the program to
interface with the Matrix.  It takes up no effort, but memory to run,
but it takes effort to get it to work.

>     Of course, this is according to the official rules, which I think need
>major re-working.  We have already thrown out this execution test in
our >group, explanations to follow.  

You need an Auto-Exec.

Rob Brunskill
>>>>The Phantom<<<<
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: dunkelza@titan.ucc.umass.edu (KEITH C MCCORMIC)
Subject: Re: Palladium/Wizards of the Coast Lawsuit
Organization: University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1992 23:08:58 GMT

In article <1992Dec18.125720.28118@hellgate.utah.edu> hnguyen%peruvian.cs.utah.edu@cs.utah.edu (Hung Nguyen) writes:
>
>Sometime this is better depending on what they want.  If they want you to
>pay some fee for using their Trademark and if it not expensive, then that
>a lot cheaper and easier than to fight them in court.

    Kevin Siembda, at least from what I know of him and the history of his
company, is very overprotective of his Palladium system.  He keeps hiring 
people for his company as designers, writers, etc..  Yet anytime anyone
comes up with an idea which does not suit his own cheesy ideas of what HIS
game should have in it, he eventually forces them out.  I really don't see
why he even hires people, because half of them go out the window anyway.

    For example, Eric Wujcik developed the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles &
Other Strangeness game (Kevin, if you want to sue me for FORGETTING the [tm]
after the name, go to hell.).  It sucked.  It was overly Siembda, yet it was 
the best product they had at the time.  Guess what?  A few years later Eric 
left the company and went on to form Phage Press, whose Amber game shows
not only a marked improvement over TMNT&OS, but is apparently doing better 
any single Palladium game.  Says something don't ya think?

    Basically, what I'm driving at (Other than I hate Palladium Games),
is that Siembda, unlike most other designers is SO overly protective of 
his stuff that he can't stand ANYONE doing anything for HIS game except HIM.
Use this to your advantage.

Dunkelzahn

                                /\
                                ||
                                ||
                                ||       Yes Folks, it
                                ||       most certainly
                                ||       is one of those
                                ||       stinking swords
                                ||       that nobody is
                                ||       sure what they 
                                ||       should call it,
                                ||       because someone
                                ||       says it's a
                               _||_      CLAYMORE, and
                               \||/      another guy 
                                ||       says it's a  
                           ^\   ||   /^  ZWEIHAENDER.
                              \_||_/
                                ()
                                ()
                                ()
                                ()
                                /\
                                --
From: acadams@afterlife.ncsc.mil (Arthur C. Adams)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Palladium: Whiners of the Hobby (was Re: Palladium/Wizards of the Coast Lawsuit)
Date: 22 Dec 92 14:19:40 GMT
Organization: The Great Beyond

Does it seem to anyone else the Palladium is turning into a very whiny
company?

Kevin Siembieda regularly writed cutting letters to White Wolf, unjustly
accusing them of being a house organ, complaining that they don't have 
enough coverage of his company's games.

Now, we've got the WotC lawsuit, basically Palladium once again fighting
the battle over producing supplements for someone else's games.

I submit that this is Palladium on the trail to being the next T$R in
terms of its rep with gamers. Besides the fact that both produce, for the 
most part, trash, now they are both becoming very greedy-looking. 

Any thoughts?
-- 
We need not fear those who do evil in the name of evil, but Heaven
protect us from those who do evil in the name of good.
Arthur C. Adams acadams@afterlife.ncsc.mil            	<fnord>
No, I'm not the Arthur Adams who draws comic books. Don't even ask.
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: coult@siegel.geom.umn.edu (Nicholas Coult)
Subject: Re: Rifts Weapon's rate of fire
Organization: Geometry Center, University of Minnesota
Date: Tue, 29 Dec 1992 16:32:34 GMT

In article <RATINOX.92Dec28214336@meceng.coe.northeastern.edu> Rent-a-Lemming <ratinox@meceng.coe.northeastern.edu> writes:
>Heh. Looks like you found out how totally hosed Palladium's mechanics are
>:-). Yes, a handgun can dish out more damage the the Glitter Boy's Boom Gun
>which has a blast that "is so powerful that without the automatic
>stabilization system, the Glitter Boy [which masses over a ton --Rat] would
>be thrown to the ground and knocked back 30 feet." And a *handgun* can dish
>out *twice* that damage.
>
>Go figure.
>
>--Rat                               PGP Public Key Block available upon request
>||||| | | | |  |  |  |   |   |    |    |    |   |   |  |  |  |  | | | | | |||||
>Northeastern's Stainless Steel Rat          ratinox@meceng.coe.northeastern.edu
>You are *utterly* the stupidest, most *self-centered*, appallingest *excuse*
>for an anthromoporphic personification on *this* or any *other* plane!
>                                          --Death, to her younger brother Dream

Let me make a few points, which if you looked a little more closely at
the rules, you might understand why it's not as bad as it sounds.

1. A handgun could only do this if it had a payload of 20 shots.  
  Many of the more powerful handguns have only a 10 shot payload.

2. For the handgun to do this, it would take 2 melee actions instead
 of 1 for the GB gun.

3. The GB Gun is firing a burst, whereas the handgun is firing wild (no bonus
to strike.)

4. The GB gun has a range of over 2 miles, while most handguns can only shoot
about 800 feet or so.

5. The damage multiplier for a full clip has been changed from 10x to 7x.
This is in the Conversion book, so I guess you can't be blamed for not knowing
this.

I think what's hosed is your _understanding_ of Palladium's mechanics.

--
Nick Coult internet: coult@geom.umn.edu  or  coultn@carleton.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: loewenst@cs.rutgers.edu (David Loewenstern)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc,nj.general
Subject: SR: game openings available
Date: 28 Dec 92 01:10:16 GMT
Reply-To: loewenst@paul.rutgers.edu
Followup-To: rec.games.frp.misc
Distribution: nj
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Whippany, NJ
BCC: jgetzin@vax.clarku.edu, loewenst


Game openings available in a (face-to-face) Shadowrun game meeting in
Parsippany, NJ.  Experience is not necessary.  We prefer college-age
or older players.

Please contact Jeff Getzin at <jgetzin@vax.clarku.edu> or Dave
Loewenstern at <loewenst@paul.rutgers.edu>. 
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc