HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: john@data.rain.com (John Mantey)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re^2: 100-DICE: they don't work.
Date: 15 Apr 92 19:11:14 GMT
Organization: Microtek DSD, Hillsboro, OR

torbenm@diku.dk (Torben AEgidius Mogensen) writes:

>Rather than making a d100, it would be much more useful to make a dice
>with the numbers 00,10,20,30,...,90 to avoid the arguments after a
>roll is made over which dice was the tens. I might even have seen such
>dice somewhere?

I HAVE a ten sided die with this numbering scheme.  Military Corner in
Portland, Or had some, which probably means they are available
elsewhere.  I don't know who makes them, but then who really pays
attention to who makes the dice they buy?  I don't really ever use it
though.  Having two different colored tens works fine for me.  Nobody
ever accuses me of cheating on my rolls since they are always the
opposite of what the GM says I want. 8-)

-- 
John Mantey    john@data.rain.com                   Microtek International, DSD
               ...uunet!intelhf!percy!data!john     3300 NW 211th Terrace
Those who know what's best for us,                  Hillsboro, Or 97124
Must rise and save us from ourselves. -Rush-        503-645-7333 x321
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
From: pyr530@oz.plymouth.edu (Rob Holden)
Subject: Re: DMs AID
Reply-To: pyr530@oz.plymouth.edu (Rob Holden)
Organization: Plymouth State College - Plymouth, N.H.
Date: Sun, 12 Apr 92 13:51:49 GMT

In article <11Apr92234138@miracle.UUCP> sue%miracle@merk.com (The Dragon Queen) writes:
>
>Maybe I'm just biased, not to mention old-fashioned.  I think I'll stick
>to rolling dice by hand, and creating my encounters on my own, rather than
>let a computer do it for me.
>
>Anyone else used SSI's DM's Assistant?  Am I the only one who thinks it's
>incredibly cheap?

	Yes, I've used it once or twice.  But that's it.  I, too, think that it
 was a cruddy piece of software.  I only bought Volume I, but was so dissapp-
 ointed that I didn't bother with Volume II.  I agree with you D.Q., it is 
  much easier to do by hand.

						Rob
From: smithmc@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Lost Boy)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: SRun: Journalism in the Awakened World-
Keywords: Shadowrun, SR, SRun, SHADOWRUN
Date: 7 Apr 92 19:15:32 GMT
Organization: Purdue University Computing Center

In article <14211@pitt.UUCP> reanor@speedy.cs.pitt.edu (Jeffrey Getzin) writes:
>I say that a good journalist character would probably have extremely
>high stealth (to avoid being caught while he sneaks onto the premises),
>excellent etiqutte and negotiation (to convince them that they NEED
>these guys for something and not to geek 'em).
>Jeffrey Getzin
>saintdor@vms.cis.pitt.edu

ALong those lines, imagine what sort of investigative reporting could be done 
by a *magically active* Vidsnoop! Such a reporter, even with only a few small 
manipulation spells and detection spells (power 2 or 3), could prove a major 
problem to security-conscious corps and criminal organizations. More powerful
mage/vidsnoops could even go on Astral Quests to get the information they need.
News in the Awakened world could prove quite facinating with these sort of PC's
running around!

-Lost Boy
From: gt9405b@prism.gatech.EDU (Lord Goodgulf the Ma-a-a-agical Wizard)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Shadowrun: Controlling magicians
Date: 15 Apr 92 23:37:03 GMT
Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology

In article <1992Apr15.135433.27998@jarvis.csri.toronto.edu> cks@hawkwind.utcs.toronto.edu (Chris Siebenmann) writes:
> Some computer has to run the security systems. Some computer has to
>be loaded with information from the corporate employee database, has
>to swap information with the payroll system for the clock punchers.
>You can either sneakernet it or put good ice in. Good ice is cheaper
>in the long run; there are not all that many good deckers around that
>are going to harass you.
>
> And the security systems of 2050 aren't just security systems; they're
>a lot more. Be ingenious and see current research on things like people
>locators. Information is money, and security systems are a prime source
>of it. Corps don't pass up things like that.

    Ummm........I'm not sure if we're talking about the same security
systems here.  I'm talking about the cameras and stuff that are there to
keep roving sams and mages and such from trashing your offices.  I don't
see how ICE could be cheaper than just buying a lowish power computer and
hooking it up to the cameras but not the net.  Also, you need to be a bit
more specific about how connecting the computer to the net lets you gather
information about people better.
                           Lord Goodgulf the Wizard

> Every program in development at MIT expands until it can read mail."
  What?  You mean it's not part of the standard design specs?  Geez.
  These people are so backward.  *grin*

-- 
Lynn Richard Akers                                                              "Her name was Cind.  She was very, very young and very, very lovely.  It was
that special kind of beauty that grabbed at the heart through the loins.  Cind  was also one of the most highly regarded practitioners of that supremely lethal
art--sniping."    Allan Cole and Chris Bunch, The Return of the Emperor         uucp:	  ...!{decvax,hplabs,ncar,purdue,rutgers}!gatech!prism!gt9405b
Internet: gt9405b@prism.gatech.edu
From: ins769v@lindblat.cc.monash.edu.au (Veltyen)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: SR : Geeking Spirits
Date: 7 Apr 92 23:55:50 GMT
Organization: Monash University


    Someone was saying that spirits are difficult to geek with mundane
  weapons.
    Nyah not a chance ..
    In a run I did a couple of weeks ago the group met a force 9 Free Fire
  Elemental. To scare them they met it while it was manifest...
    Unfortunately they had with them two similar ultra chromed samurai,
  both carrying BIG guns (an ares LMG and a Vindicator Minigun : both on
  gyros). Such as it was they saw the spirit and let fly on full auto with
  explosive ammo. Now a 15 shot burst from a Minigun does 20(D++++)5 damage
  (house rules are that you require to stage from D+++ to D++ ie you need
  five successes to reduce it one level in this case the spirit required
  25 success to reduce the damage to Serious 8-) ). Immunity to Normal 
  weapons gave it 2*(9+3) or 24 successes and as such got disrupted by the
  first burst.
    Need I say shoot first shoot fast shoot staight and the day is yours..
 
     ~~  What about the Mage ? Cant cast a spell with a bullet in her.
         Safety through faster firepower; that's what I say.
                                         Greerson Dwarf Bounty Hunter ~~

            Veltyen (I'm still no good at this)
            ins769v@lindblat.cc.monash.edu.au
            Snail : <<<<deleted for security reasons>>>>
Organization: Penn State University
Date: Wednesday, 8 Apr 1992 20:09:20 EDT
From: Brian Panulla <BJP108@psuvm.psu.edu>
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp,rec.arts.startrek.misc
Subject: Re: Star Trek RPG
Distribution: na
 <1992Apr8.212314.20039@spool.cs.wisc.edu>

No, FASA didn't go under...Paramount pulled the Trek license. Apparently, the
late Gene Roddenbury didn't like what FASA was doing and cancelled the game.
I really don't blem them though. Some of the FASA stuff blows chow.
From: rmarsh@waikato.ac.nz
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Inspired character names
Date: 16 Apr 92 22:17:05 +1200
Organization: University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

I once ran a GURPS comedy adventure for a convention starring a variety of
wierdos. 

There was the two headed boy/girl creature (the two personas tailored
not to get along) they were called Andrew and Jenny.

The psychokinetic was called Tellica, one guess for her last name! (1)

There was a wizard of course, called Kane Tripp.

Then there was the little furry thief type critter (about 2'6" and cute
as a button) called Morris Arthur Scott. M.A.Scott (geddit?)

These guys had great fun in the land of Face (you can guess what the map
looked like(2) trying to gather the parts and knowledge needed to 
recreate the holy flamethrower.

You can also guess where they met the Boogie man (3)complete with John 
Travolta dance number and Boogie board).

(Answers to 1,2,3 on the back of a postcard please :)
-- 
Robert 'Stumpy' Marsh | Brought to you from the bottom of the world
rmarsh@waikato.ac.nz  | both topographically and socio-politically.
+64 7 855 4406        | Whatever happened to Godzone?
    I can't reply to E-Mail but don't let that stop you sending!
    SnailMail: 95 Fairfield Rd, Hamilton, Aotearoa (New Zealand)
From: esper@cs35b.cs.umn.edu (Dave Sherohman)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Playing yourself in GURPS and Hero too!
Date: 13 Apr 92 22:33:30 GMT
Article-I.D.: news2.1992Apr13.223330.4544
Organization: University of Minnesota

In article <1992Apr13.213434.17439@cs.columbia.edu> fnord@close.UUCP (Andres Harasty) writes:
>bout 1987 or so, I picked up a game at Origins called _TIME LORDS_
>It's premiss was that you were to play your in a time hopping campaign.
>It gave very clear and deterministic ways on assigning attributes, then
>
>If anyony has played it could you post your comments on how the mechaics
>worked.

I've played it.  How do the mechanics work?  Well...  have you ever played
Role/SpaceMaster?  Increase the number of calculations needed in play by a
factor of 2 or 3 (all modifiers are expressed in the range +20 to -20.  All
rolls are made on d20's.  Does a -10 modifier mean you adjust your roll by
10?  No, it means your chance of success is reduced by 50% of its original
value.  Not too bad until you need a 17 or less, but your modifiers total to
-9 - time to grab the calculator and find 55% of 17...).  After you
successfully hit someone in combat, determine the damage done, which is
divided between killing and stunning damage.  Now was that a class I (100% of
damage is killing), Class II (75% killing, 25% stunning), Class III, IV, or V
(100% stunning) attack?  Figured out how much killing damage was done?  Now
check hit location and see what the target is wearing there, find out if any
of their gear was hit, and, if so, how badly it was damaged.  Now apply the
remaining damage to the target by rolling on a table to find out how vital the
section of the hit location that the attack went through was, calculate the %
of the target's stamina score was done, and find a alphanumeric code for what
action penalty the injury inflicts, then cross-reference additional codes with
the type of damage (impact, puncture, hydrostatic shock, etc.) to find out
how long they're stunned, how badly they're bleeding, etc.

I started a Time Lords campaign once.  A mountaineer shot a bear with his .50
rifle.  15 minutes later, I determined that the bear's left foreleg had been
blown off.  15 seconds later, I ended that campaign permanently.

esper@ima.umn.edu
From: rwallace@unix1.tcd.ie (russell wallace)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Lich Killing Advice Needed
Date: 9 Apr 92 16:22:47 GMT
Organization: Trinity College, Dublin

For problems like this, I generally find that MEGADEATH FIREPOWER is the
best solution, e.g. my High-Energy Fireball spell, or Magic Missile 4
(140 hit points average damage, no saving throw).

Ah, you're only fifth level? OK, remind me not to sell you any life
insurance :-)
--
"To summarize the summary of the summary: people are a problem"
Russell Wallace, Trinity College, Dublin
rwallace@unix1.tcd.ie
From: IK20001@MAINE.MAINE.EDU (Society for Creative Solipsism)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Steve Jackson Games is gone?
Date: 9 Apr 92 15:43:59 GMT
Article-I.D.: MAINE.92100.114359IK20001
 <1992Apr1.123132.1199@wkuvx1.bitnet> <31223@sdcc12.ucsd.edu>
 <1992Apr3.232803.6929@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> <1992Apr6.000637.54214@cc.usu.edu>
 <44079@mentor.cc.purdue.edu> <3426@balrog.ctron.com>
Organization: University of Maine System

Actually, I have a 5 point Psych Limit..."Unable to make himself
clear when highly caffinated."  I was reacting against the people
who are *buying* the line, not the ones posting it.

Which makes it clear I should never post after drinking too much
coffee.  Which reminds me, is T-S-R, ("Really Long Games"), S-J-G
("Gee, does this mean GURPS Supermarket *won't* be out on time?")
M-O-N-E-Y (the last proposed name *I* heard) coming out with a
Coffee table edition of AD&D3?
--
Eric Alfred Burns, Lord Sabre            "Faith is a fine invention
Society for Creative Solipsism            When Gentlemen can *see* --
"It's all in your mind"                   But *Microscopes* are prudent
IK20001@maine.maine.edu                   In an Emergency."
|-}----------                                     --Emily Dickinson
From: millerl@wharton.upenn.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Problem player
Date: 14 Apr 92 15:59:26 GMT
Organization: Newt World Order

regarding green lantern in greyhawk...
In article <204876@unix.cis.pitt.edu>, seawasp+@pitt.edu (Ryk E Spoor) writes:
> In article <loren.40@wmkt.wharton.upenn.edu> loren@wmkt.wharton.upenn.edu (Loren Miller) writes:
>>  I just have one suggestion. The Yellow Hand society, 
>>dressed all in yellow, becomes the main enemy of the campaign. Yellow 
>>becomes the most popular color of dress. Yellow makeup becomes the trend of 
>>the year, and as many years as the player keeps a superhero in a medieval 
>>setting.
> 
> 	But that would be a cheap and very sleazy trick. I'd personally hang
> a GM who did that by his/her most tender parts. Once you ALLOW it in, you
> are pretty much stuck. Play it out. Find a way to reasonably accomodate it.

This *is* reasonable. Don't tell me that the comic-book green lantern
didn't face a horde of yellow colored oponents. He had no problem
disposing of most of them either. It merely forced him to be creative
about it. After all, the world isn't yellow, only a lot of the people. A
green lantern can still fly, can still carry his friends around in a
giant green basket, and can still boil the ocean with his giant green
magnifying glass. This is the way the gm *must* play things. If the gm
doesn't want to play things that way, then the choices boil down to
booting the character or the player, or playing monty haul style.

-- 
whoah,
+++++++++++++++++++++++23
Loren Miller                  internet: MILLERL@wharton.upenn.edu
Throw this screen against the wall, right now!
From: akuma@netcom.com (Steven E Barnes)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: CHAMPS: question on turn sequencing
Date: 10 Apr 92 00:18:20 GMT
Article-I.D.: netcom.thsj=vh.akuma
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest)


>Many of the arguments for why halving your actions to get +3 DCV (or +5
>for martial dodge) most of the time is not abusive have assumed high SPD
>attributes.  Let's not forget that these same rules are intended to be
>used in genres other than superheroes (though I have my doubts as to their
>success there).  In these genres such assumptions don't apply and should
>not be necessary to balance the rules.  Wide differences in CVs are less 
>likely there as well and a +3 DCV is not trivial.  It cuts the chance of
>being hit more than in half if CVs are equal.
[...]
>Steven Sharp
>sesharp@happy.colorado.edu

I fail to see the problem.  Combat value is relative in Hero.
When playing nuclear Champions, my 40 OCV vs 40 DCV == 11 or less
chance to hit, just like a 4 OCV vs 4 DCV.  The effect of the
dodge bonus should be the same.

The problem I have with people dodging is not the +3 / +5 DCV, it
is the fact that they also put all their levels in DCV.  This is
more of a problem in high point games than low point ones.

-steve
From: esper@cs35b.cs.umn.edu (Dave Sherohman)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Stupid PC Tricks
Date: 14 Apr 92 15:18:28 GMT
Article-I.D.: news2.1992Apr14.151828.665
Organization: University of Minnesota

Well, I didn't have a part in this one, but I heard about it from the GM who
ran it, so it probably happened...

One group of gamers had a long-running WFRP campaign and the GM had gotten sick
of one player with a routine of scanning every door they found at long range,
then poking it with a long pole, examine it for traps, listen at it, open the
door a crack, then finally open the door and go in.  So one time, the guy goes
up to a door, runs through the routine, and when he peeks through the door, it
slams open, he hears a mighty "MOO!!!", and an airborne cow flies out the door,
drops a cow patty in his eye, then proceeds to dive-bomb the party...

The cow got to be a running gag, showing up whenever the PCs were inactive and
the GM got bored.  And verily did the players attempt to kill the cow many times
but to no avail.

Another adventure with the same group, they're going down a long underground
passage and the air begins to reek of corpses.  At the end of the hall is a room,
and in this room are a chest and a large pool of bubbling sludge.  PCs open
the chest, and find it to be filled with 20 empty bottles.  One PC systematically
smashes all the bottles, waiting for some magical effect to come about as a
result of this, but noting happens.  Then someone gets the idea, "Hey, let's do
nothing for a while, and when the cow shows up, we can trap it in here and
shoot it down and throw it in the acid pool so it can't regenerate!"  The PCs
then waited, and the cow flew in.  It took the final hit while hovering above
the pool and fell in.  The PCs rejoiced until...  "MOO!!!" - the cow rose from
the pool, completely uninjured.

I'm not entirely certain whether the PCs ever figured out that the pool was
actually a giant healing potion...
From: seawasp+@pitt.edu (Ryk E Spoor)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Playing yourself in GURPS
Date: 11 Apr 92 03:28:52 GMT
Organization: University of Pittsburgh



	Well, never did it in GURPS -- we came long ago to the conclusion
that it is virtually impossible to represent a REAL person in GURPS on
"reasonable" point values. 

	However, in two fantasy RPGs we've done it. In one AD&D2(modified)
game set in Middle Earth I played myself suddenly transferred over, and
in my own fantasy world I routinely give people a choice between playing
themselves "gatewaying" into my world or playing a rolled-up character.

                                 Sea Wasp
                                   /^\
                                   ;;;


---------------------------------------------------------------------------
.        ..               .             .        *           .      .
 .     .      :      .        _*_    .        .          .             ..
.   .     .   .      @---====OOOOO====---@~/^\    .     .       .       .
   .   *     .     ..         ^*^  .    .  ;;;      .      .      .   *
 :    .     .    .        .      .            .*         .     .        .
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Interphase Accomplished. 
Sea Wasp docked, Outring Sector 5.
From: tgt33358@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Deus Imperator)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Inspired character names
Date: 15 Apr 92 21:28:55 GMT
Article-I.D.: ux1.1992Apr15.212855.12605
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

I had just arrived at college, and found one of my roommates played AD&D.
The other roommate, a Southern Baptist, not wanting to be left out, wanted
to play.  Sure, I said.  So he created a cleric and a mage.
	Now the only problem was that he had been exposed to very little,
fantasy-wise, and had no clue what to name them.  So he settled on Eric and
Bob.

That's right.  Eric the Cleric and Bob T. Wiz.

So Eric, a follower of Zeus, one day gets really hosed.  Dead.  The only
hope was a nearby druid.  So we pulled out those magic Reincarnation dice,
and got a satyr.  Eric took a half cut in level, and we went on.
	The DM hated Eric's name, so everytime we game it, the following 
exchange ensued:

	GUard:  So What's your name?
	Eric:  Eric.
	Guard:  As in...Eric the Cleric?  (Reaction modifiers soon follow)

Soon after Eric's rebirth, however, the King of the Land wanted to thank us 
for saving the Land from the threat that killed Eric.  Not wanting to break
form, when the DM got to Eric, he asked:

	And what's your name, O Furry One?
	Eric:  Eric.
	King:  Eric...As in Eric the Cleric?
At which my CN Valley Elf Thief-Acrobat replied:

	No, Eric the Half-Cleric.  He had an accident.


-- 
Thanatos, DeathUrge, Master of a Bunch of Stuff tgt33358@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu
"Why would you think a priest any more moral than the rest of us?  Heavens
 sake's child, why do you think they're called 'Father?'"
					-The Company of Wolves
From: davidc@cs.uwa.oz.au (David Cake)
Subject: Re: Fantasy "City Builder's Handbook"
Organization: Dept. Computer Science, University of Western Australia.
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1992 06:27:58 GMT

Another source for some good information about cities is to get hold of some of
the Chivalry and Sorcery stuff, I think. And Land Of The Rising Sun (C & S japan
) has stuff for Japanese cities. But this stuff is kind of hard to get now.
	I find more than the large numbers of statistics about how many of what,
which is all that gneric tables can really give you, it is a much better idea
to just work out a few important things about it, and mention them in passing.
Who rules it? A Duke, the King, Guilds, a Mayor, it has no ruler, etc.
WHat sort of Law and Order, what rules does it have that are unusual.
What religions are common. Perhaps two or three notables of the city (you don't need stats, at least not usually, just a one or two line descripiption).
And an in is halfway to interesting if it has a name, and has arrived if it has
an NPC or two. 
	City encounter tables also help.
	Best look at how a few good supplements treat cities, Inns, etc. 
(Griffin Mountain for RuneQuest, for example).

David Cake		|life is easily understood as bit strings with logical
[WLM] Weird Little Man	|depth greater than their length - Rebis, Doom Patrol
Cognitive science, UWA	|..think about a government entirely of fish - JBC				
-- 
David Cake		|life is easily understood as bit strings with logical
[WLM] Weird Little Man	|depth greater than their length - Rebis, Doom Patrol
Cognitive science, UWA	|..think about a government entirely of fish - JBC
From: terrence@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (Terrence M O'Brien)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: I-Con
Date: 7 Apr 92 00:54:19 GMT
Organization: University of Pennsylvania

I haven't heard about Gary Gygax's new game. Anything that you could tell
me (and probably others on the Net) about it would be appreciated.

	--> Terrence <--
From: millerl@wharton.upenn.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Fantasy "City Builder's Handbook"
Date: 6 Apr 92 22:23:45 GMT
Organization: Newt World Order

> In article <1992Apr4.172452.2193@rtsg.mot.com>, king@rtsg.mot.com (Steven King, Software Archaeologist) writes:
> |> Does anyone know of a good system for randomly generating details about
> |> cities in a fantasy world.  I'm a little tired of the "You come into a
> |> generic city.  There's a generic inn and a generic tavern." trend I've

It slipped my mind until now, but yes, I do know of such a system. It's
by midkemia press, published by avalon hill, for runequest version 3,
called RuneQuest Cities, and it has tables to cover every aspect of
medieval feeling cities. It has quite a few adventure hooks too, and a
decent way of handling time between adventures. It has been previously
published, in a somewhat different format, as part of the Thieves' World
boxed set from Chaosium, circa 1982 or so.

-- 
whoah,
+++++++++++++++++++++++23
Loren Miller                  internet: MILLERL@wharton.upenn.edu
Throw this screen against the wall, right now!