HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: seurer@rchland.vnet.ibm.com (Bill Seurer)
Subject: Re: GURPS: Quick Contest (Update)
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1992 01:05:28 GMT
Reply-To: BillSeurer@vnet.ibm.com
Disclaimer: This posting represents the poster's views, not necessarily those of IBM
Organization: IBM Rochester

In article <38687@sdcc12.ucsd.edu>, bkoike@sdcc13.ucsd.edu (Bryce Koike) writes:
|> ... I tend
|> to fudge my rolls when doing combat/whatever to get the desired
|> results.  (Of course I kinda have to since most of my NPC's often
|> don't have ANY stats or skills...I just wing it)
|> 	It helps to keep me in greater control of the situations
|> that emerge and to stick to outcomes that I consider acceptable.  If
|> a certain combat is supposed to go fast, I'll make certain that it
|> does.  If a certain combat is supposed to drag out, it will.  If a
|> combat is supposed to be very difficult and possibly leave a few
|> people dying, then that's what will happen.  Bad guys who need to
|> survive for a future encounter may get a little lucky...whatever.
|> I'm sure that some people will scream bloody murder for what I do,
|> but my players are more than aware of it and they honestly don't
|> care.  (Although when I read this, I begin to wonder why I even USE
|> dice...I make it sound like I'm always fudging rolls.  I'm not,
|> honest.  Just occasionally when something begins to diverge away
|> from an outcome that I feel is necessary, etc.  I mean, I also favor
|> some rolls for the players...)

I am sure that every other GM also fudges some rolls.  I hate to see
players who did everything right get killed due to a "lucky" roll on
my part.  They'll still probably end up laid up for months, but
probably not dead.  Usually I do roll in the open and I always stick
by those rolls.

And as for the Chief Bad Dudes, why, they are always (well, often
anyway) making narrow escapes.

The less my players rely on slogging it out and the more they rely on good
planning and role playing the more forgiving I am.  I never fudge the dice
against them EXCEPT for the occasional miraculous escape by a foe.

Of course when I polled my players one time they said it was more OK to
die due to bad luck on their part in combat than due to "giving their
life to save their friends."  Exactly opposite of what I expected!

I am sure they all figured I did this.  Now they know.  :-)  (Hi Bob!)
-- 

- Bill Seurer     Language and Compiler Development      IBM Rochester, MN
  Internet: BillSeurer@vnet.ibm.com    America On-Line: BillSeurer@aol.com
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: joshua salter <jsalter@silver.ucs.indiana.edu>
Subject: Bushido
Organization: Indiana University
Date: Sat, 3 Oct 1992 20:04:19 GMT


	Hello, does anyone out there still play Bushido? I recently aquired
a copy of this out of print game, and I was wondering whether anyone still knows of it's ex
knows of it's existence.
	
								-jsalter
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: urban@stout.atd.ucar.edu (Art Urban (PROFS))
Subject: GURPS: Body Location Table Usage
Organization: Atmospheric Technology Division/NCAR Boulder, CO
Date: Sun, 4 Oct 1992 16:42:36 GMT

I hope I can keep this question short...

In the Advanced Combat rules, an attacker has the option of aiming an attack
at a body location, or randomly rolling for the body location. My question
is: does the negative hit modifier apply to the person *randomly* attacking 
like it does for the person aiming their attack?

Example: If a character runs up to an opponant and makes a wild swing, the
rules say you are at -5 to hit, and to randomly determing body location. If
I randomly determine the "near arm", is the character at -5, or -7? I assume
that it is -5, since the table appears to take into account the likelyhood
of hitting difficult targets.

Our gaming group has submitted this question directly to SJG, but now with
three weeks gone by, no word from them at all... ('course we did ask about
50 questions... :^)

--
Art Urban 					       urban@stout.atd.ucar.edu
===============================================================================
 "Oh no! The canary exploded!"                                      -Tom Servo 
===============================================================================
From: mehawk@agora.rain.com (Michael Sandy)
Subject: SR  Karma Pools
Organization: Open Communications Forum
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1992 02:40:13 GMT

How about have a 1 karma Karma Pool cost 10 karma?  Increasing it
to 2 would cost 10 Karma.  Increasing that to 3 would cost 20 more
karma.  Getting to a 4 Karma Pool would cost _70_ karma.

Thus, you can build a _lucky_ character who doesn't boost his
skills/stats/spell knowledge...  

An enchanter _might_ be able to get some of the karma spent on
a Focus back.

Comments?


-- 
Michael Sandy
mehawk@agora.rain.com
michaels@m2xenix.psg.com
"The above does not reflect the views of any organization."
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: foxx@foxxjac.b17a.ingr.com (TheFoxx "AJ")
Subject: LARP: Vampire
Reply-To: foxx@foxxjac.b17a.ingr.com
Organization: "Intergraph Corporation, Huntsville AL"
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1992 15:13:48 GMT

The _Vampire_ game from White Wolf gives mention to the notion of
live-action games.  The game materials, however, give little
information and few suggestions concerning actual live games.

I am aware that there have been con games and Interactive Literature
Foundation style games along this genre.  I also know of a group
locally that intended to run live Vampire games throughout the city. 
Who out there in net.land has been involved with a live-action
role-play Vampire game.  Was it a one-shot affair or a continuing
series of games.  For the true drama involving loss of humanity, it
seems to me as if a one-shot Vampire game wouldn't be extensive
enough.  Comments? experiences? recipes for chicken salad?

Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: spivey@stortek.com (Jerry Spivey MS2286 x8008)
Subject: PARANOIA:  Is it still around?
Organization: Storage Technology Corp.
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1992 08:10:04 GMT


Hi all,

Sorry if this is old news but...

I've been enjoying a change a pace recently by playing PARANOIA, but looking
at the modules in the stores recently, I haven't found any NEW titles.
The copyright on everything is at least 2 years old.  Has WEG stopped supporting
their product?  Did they drop the line?  If not, what are their plans for 
this game in the future?  Is there a release list anyone knows of?
Enquiring minds (which is treason) and the benevolent computer wanna know!!

Thank for any help....

Jerry
(Eye-R-DUM)
From: AMS138@psuvm.psu.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Shadowrun Questions
Date: 5 Oct 92 18:34:11 GMT
Article-I.D.: psuvm.92279.143411AMS138
Organization: Penn State University

Hopefully, these are not FAQ, (if the are, please direct me to the FAQ list),
but here goes...

1) Does anyone have any material of running in the D.C./Baltimore area.  The
   Neo-Anarchist Guide to North America mentions the Federal District of
   Columbia, but no details were given.

2) Is there any material on shell people (ref. Anne McCafrey) - basically
   peoples brain and nervous system in a mobile support chamber, or cyborgs.
   These seem like logical extensions of replacement technologies.

3) What about psionics (mind powers)?  Is there an established way to handle
   this, is it handled under magik, or is it completely ignored?

4) Speaking of magik, is it all encompasing, or are there variance in power
   in different places (and how do you handle it).  Also, is magik operable
   in orbit (and beyond?)?

I would also like any input on handling mutations and bioengineering, spell
research (creating new spells), alternate totems, etc.  Either post,E-mail or
US Mail.

Thanks.

Yah, Drinking kills brain cells, but only the weak ones.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Andrew M. Schmidt                 BITNET:   ams138@psuvm
University Creamery, PSU          INTERNET: ams138@psuvm.psu.edu
12 Borland Lab                    PHONE:    (814) 865-7535 (Office)
University Park, PA 16802                   (814) 237-1255 (Home)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: mujel@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu (Ranger)
Subject: Champions - HERO
Organization: Educational Computing Network
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1992 18:28:12 GMT



Would anyone out there be willing to send me a copy of any Champions character 
(or other HERO Games product)?  I would appreciate any single character,
group, vehicle, base, campaign notes, or other information.  I am new to
this newsgroup, so I would also like anything posted in the past.
 Thanks,

MUJEL@UXA.ECN.BGU.EDU
  



Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: slb22@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Seth L. Blumberg)
Subject: Re: MegaTraveller society design question
Reply-To: slb22@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Seth L. Blumberg)
Organization: Large Silly Persons United
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1992 05:26:18 GMT

In article <1aamrqINNcm0@uwm.edu> aragorn@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Strider) writes:
>I've been going through the MegaTraveller system for quite some time now.
>Something that I find lacking, among other things, is the design
>capabilities for societies/cultures.  Does anyone know of any source books
>that will assist in this?  Even sources that aren't necessarily cannon to MT
>would be fine as long as it's somewhat applicable ... maybe one of the GURPS
>volumes?

Well, the _World_Builder's_Handbook_ by Digest Group is a good place to start,
but hardly exhausts the possibilities for detailing a culture.  I find that I
have to take very different approaches depending on the destiny of the world
in question.  Is it going to be a whistle stop on the PCs' trading route, or
is it going to be the cornerstone of a campaign?

For quickies, I take the WBH stats, and try to envision a realistic
governmental process to fit the Government Details.  Then, I try to tie the
Local Customs results together to make a picturesque society whose oddities
can be revealed to the players in a few preplanned encounters.

For important worlds, I take a historical perspective, starting with the
colonization patterns of the sector (who settled what, when, from where?),
elaborating the economic and social history of the colony, and ending up with
a picture of what it's like now and how it got that way.  I enjoy this a great
deal, but it takes weeks and weeks of all the time I can spare, and so it's
reserved for worlds that are going to get a *lot* of continuous use.

The tricky part, of course, is those intermediate cases: a world where the PCs
will stop every few months throughout the campaign, or one which will be the
site of an entire two- or three-session adventure, but never be used again.  I
have just as much trouble with these as anyone else.  I tend to do a lot of
improvising....

The best thing to do, I find, is to go outside RPGs altogether and read
"mainstream" SF essays on world- and society-building.  I've never agreed with
any author's approach (and if I had, I'd probably be published by now), but I
often find the grem of an idea.  The strangest technique I've ever heard of
was in an article in _Analog_, a few years back.  The author explained how he
used spreadsheets and a pocket calculator to create an entire future history
in great detail, according to his favorite theory of economics and government
(the guy was an economics prof at some university or other).  Strange, but
successful.

Hope this helps....



Seth L. Blumberg          | "Once again, fear and superstition triumphed over
slb22@cunixb.columbia.edu |    science and technology."
On CI$: 76460,1666        |        -- Anton Braun Quist, quoting Ed Whitaker
   > No one I know shares my opinions, least of all Columbia University. <
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: SRII -- a suggested Rep tweak
From: wildcard@vax1.mankato.msus.edu
Date: 30 Sep 92 09:27:05 -0600
Organization: Mankato State University

In article <38799@sdcc12.ucsd.edu>, cg181fab@icogsci1.ucsd.edu (Steerpike) writes:> While the Shadowrun 2ed rules are generally excellent, there is an

I am not going to argue with your formulas.  I just thought that if a runner
did a good enough job on a run, no one would know who did it.  If you have
characters that like to brag though...

Th Foss
"Duck...Where?" Famous last words of Thud

Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: nasato@wiliki.eng.hawaii.edu (Neil Asato)
Subject: Re: Variant magic systems for BTRC
Organization: University of Engineering, College of Engineering
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1992 04:55:52 GMT


     Hopefully, a final correction:

In article <1992Oct2.042816.1869@news.Hawaii.Edu> nasato@wiliki.eng.hawaii.edu (Neil Asato) writes:
>Plant magic
>     For the sake of simplicity, the Power is assumed here. Each tree
>has roughly 22 Power each. A shared 8 Power per 10 m^2 for trees.
>Grains only have 1 Power per plant. For grains, there is a shared
>Power of 13 per 10 m^2 (I took it a fraction of the power, and the
>rather high density of grains in one area added up). Farms generally
>have growing areas around 1.5 million square feet (rather frightening
>levels for an opponent). Power used for enchanting items or those
>by the spirits of plant wizards ("permanent loss") are regained
>at a rate of 100 Power per 2000 shared Power normally available.

     As noted before, the "square feet" should be "square meters".
     The shared Power is regained per day. "Non-permanent" use
of Power, the "normal" magic use, does not drain the shared Power.
For those who might be interested, the "farmer" type of plant magic
wizard normally rotates his crops, so they are never vulnerable
(the use of magic to enrich the soil and control the weather helps
too.)
From: jamtgaar@CS.ColoState.EDU (arne jamtgaard)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: RFD: GURPS disad limits
Date: 2 Oct 92 06:29:00 GMT
Distribution: all
Organization: Colorado State University, Computer Science Department

Michael-
	Well, technically, Mr. Brain the Psi is perfectly okay, 
within the rules as given.  Drop either stat to _7_, and they
would count against his 40 pts of disads.  However, as a GM it
would behoove me to point out that such a one-sided character
would be hosed in the first serious combat, and maybe Mr. Brain
would want to make himself a little more well-rounded.  On the
other hand, your mileage may vary, depending on your campaign.

			Arne
From: klaus@diku.dk (Klaus Ole Kristiansen)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Battlelust
Keywords: Columbia, Harnmaster
Date: 29 Sep 92 12:39:34 GMT
Organization: Department of Computer Science, U of Copenhagen


FYI Battlelust has finaly been published!! I got it yesterday.
It was postmarked 21/9, thats one week for transatlantic mail,
not bad.

I haven't read it all, but I like what I've seen so far.

Battlelust is a miniature wargame, where each miniature represents
one individual. It can be used as a game in itself, or it can be
used to play large skirmishes as part of a Harnmaster campaign. If
you want more detail in any area, you can add on as many of the
Harnmaster rules as you like. You can have PCs using Harmaster rules
(such as having a detailed location by location describtion of armor)
and NPC using Battlelust rules (such as general armor rated 0-4) in
the same battle.

Klaus O K
From: kucloak@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu (Bryan Kennedy Reed)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: SRII: Grimoire Spells Drain Codes
Date: 29 Sep 92 22:43:17 CDT
Organization: University of Kansas Academic Computing Services

Has anyone worked out drain codes for the spells in the Grimoire to
fill in until the Grimoire two comes out?  Most of our characters are
converted from first edition and were not quite sure what we should do
with some of the spells.

-- 
		
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  Invincibility depends on one's self;	   kucloak@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu
  The enemy's vulnerability on him.	    bkreed@oread.cc.ukans.edu
 		  --Sun Tzu 		      Bryan Kennedy Reed
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Xref: sparky rec.games.frp.misc:6460 rec.games.frp.advocacy:2619
From: thantos@runic.via.mind.org (Paul Williams [SysOp])
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc,rec.games.frp.advocacy
Subject: Re: WereVamp->Ars?
Date: 2 Oct 92 18:38:00 GMT
Organization: Runic Writings / Lawrenceville, GA



jacobus@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Bryan J. Maloney) writes:

> Any character with an attribute value over 5 has the "mythic attribute"
> virtue from Ars Magica.  Now, for the roll, all you have to do is add the
> attribute value to the appropriate talent/skill/whatever, roll a normal or
> stress die as per Ars Magica, etc.
> Rather painless, no?  Converting from one roll vs. roll system to another is
> usually thus.  All you need to do is find the scale.

   Thank you  *so*  much...    Now  I  just  need  to  tweak together some
        firearms rules for Ars Magica  (like,  how'm  I  going  to  handle
        aut-weapons)   and   figure  out  just  what  I  need  to  add  to
        talent/abilities.


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thantos@runic.via.mind.org (Paul Williams [SysOp])
From: CS341A002@Husky1.StMarys.Ca (Loki)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: SRII and reputation
Date: 4 Oct 92 16:24:31 GMT
Article-I.D.: nstn.1992Oct4.162855.16521
Organization: The Underground
X-News-Reader: VMS NEWS 1.13.SMU

mkkuhner@phylo.genetics.washington.edu writes:
>
> Here's an conceptual question about reputation and the Street:
> 
> A small-time 'runner happens to offend someone really Big; say, a novice
> street mage pisses off a topnotch freelance mage-assassin.  The assassin
> retailiates, and due to some peculiar circumstance (after all, anyone
> can screw up) *dies*.
> 
> What happens to the hapless street mage when word gets out, assuming it
> does (and a power vacuum like this is liable to be noticed)?  Is he in
> trouble?  In clover?  What does it mean to have a Rep that's bigger than
> you are?
> 
> The more I think about this question the more puzzling I find it; I can
> see arguments for all sorts of outcomes.  The street mage's life is
> shortly going to become very interesting, this much is clear.

In *any* campaign where this happens, well...

The player who is inflicted with the massive rep suddenly starts getting
massive jobs. People in general are careful not to offend him/her ("my god,
did you see what happened to the Wizard when he went after that piece of
work? Forget it...") On the other hand, some of the best will be laying out
careful plots to attempt to get the player knocked down. Remember "Burning
Chrome"? Well, everybody thinks the player's Chrome now...

 +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
 |Most commonly known as Loki, occasionally sysop of TWWOL                  |
 |SCA: Brynjolfr Myrkjartanarson, founder of the Compaignie Mercurie, in the|
 |Canton of Seashire, Barony of Ruantallan, Laurel Kingdom of the East      |
 +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
 |    The Net: cs341a002@husky1.stmarys.ca, cs341a002@stmarys.bitnet        |
 +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Random Quote of the Day:
Verbosity leads to unclear, inarticulate things.

                --- Vice President Dan Quayle
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: agent86@netcom.com (Michael McBride)
Subject: Re: RFD: GURPS disad limits
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1992 16:09:37 GMT

In article <1992Oct2.051757.13022@cbfsb.cb.att.com> motto@cbnewsf.cb.att.com (mary.rita.otto) writes:
>In article <1992Oct2.003801.9153@netcom.com> agent86@netcom.com (Michael McBride) writes:
>>to mind.  Should points gained from Lowering an attribute count toward
>>that 40 point "limit"....also is this (in Your experience) a truly good
>>disad limit?...would you recommend higher? or lower? and why?
>>
>From page 26 of GURPS Basic Set:
>Limiting Disadvantages: "Poverty, ugliness, bad reputation, and
>attributes of 7 or less count as disadvantages."

	Well...{feeling rather silly}...I see that i need to buy the
	third edition, I didnt find this passage in mine (maybe I didnt
	look closely enough)
>
>Yours sincerely,
>Mary (typing for Andy the Outrageous)

	I take it then that the 40 point disad limit is generally 
	considered a very workable number (as opposed to more or less than
	40).

Thanks for answering this silly question (i.e. not well researched)  :(

-- 
_____________________________________________________________________________
  Michael McBride		   |__"I've done...questionable things."-Roy
  [agent86@netcom.com]		   |~~"More human than human..."-Tyrell
=============================================================================
From: lavonius@plootu.Helsinki.FI (Ville Lavonius)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: GURPS Espionage ++ Top Secret
Date: 4 Oct 92 09:12:21 GMT
Organization: Cthulhoid Entities for a Better Tomorrow

In article <92277.15204534ZBTXQ@CMUVM.CSV.CMICH.EDU> 34ZBTXQ@CMUVM.CSV.CMICH.EDU writes:

     For you fans of espionage roleplaying, you should check out the latest GUR
    release, GURPS Espionage. It's a good overview of the espionage genre, and
   also valuable for running such campaigns with GURPS. It's a worthy successor
   the original Top Secret (does anyone else hate Top Secret S.I.?) and has a 

Now, what do you claim were the advantages of TS over TS/SI ?
The former was just D&D with submachine guns (esp. the first module in the 
set), the skills system was unusable, the unarmed combat system a laugh,
the firearms system way too complicated.

Whereas the latter had a readymade world (and other worldbooks for those for
whom the goody Orion was too much), the system was fast, the PC creation was
fair and the TSR support awful (most of the modules sucked big time) and it
quickly disappeared.

But - since TSR seems intent re-releasing old games every few years, I expect
us to see TS3 next year... 

   Spooktalk glossary in it (better than TS's!). The Spy Tech section is good,t
   If you like your espionage realistic or if you like the James Bond style spy
   adventure, you'll like this book! (Yes, I'm biased-I helped playtest it.)

Is this supplement out yet, or at the printers ?
--
Ville Lavonius	        University of Helsinki, Dept. of Computer Science
lavonius@cc.helsinki.fi : "Some of my best friends are nukes" - R. Reagan
From: terrence@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (Terrence M O'Brien)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Dream Park
Keywords: dream park
Date: 4 Oct 92 04:59:56 GMT
Organization: University of Pennsylvania


	Just bought the new rpg Dream Park (based on the novel with the same
name). I was wondering if anyone has tried it out yet and what there game
was like. Either e-mail me or if you think everyone would be interested post
it 

	-->Terrence<--
terrence.eniac.seas.upenn.edu



Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc