HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: Rannou@info.polymtl.ca (Patrick Rannou)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
Subject: Re: Berserkers and hit points
Date: 22 Aug 92 07:54:11 GMT
	<1992Aug18.174615.12170@miavx1.acs.muohio.edu>
Organization: Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, Canada

In article <1992Aug18.174615.12170@miavx1.acs.muohio.edu> jwwalden@miavx1.acs.muohio.edu (P'relan) writes:


   While I never let characters stay conscious past 0 hit points, I modified the
   rule that -10 hit points was death to -Constitution hit points to be death
   which I felt made more sense by taking Con into account - people do vary on the
   amount of damage they can take.  Also gives beginning characters just a few
   more hit points usually which can be very useful, while it doesn't matter as
   much to higher level characters.

Since having those 0-level characters who gets only a few hit points (say,
1-6) die at -10 hit points feels, to me, not logical, AND that I feel a
high-level character should stay "alive" longer than a low-level one, I
now handle the "-10 barrier" this way:

Death Limit = (CON + LEVEL) / 2

So a "standard" human with a standard CON of 10.5 has a DL of 10.5 /2 = 6
because I always round up. The 12th level fighter with 18 CON has a DL of
15+1! So the normal human dies irrevocably at -7 HP, while the fighter can
tough until -17 hit points...

The +1 on the fighter's DL is there because True Fighters get a +1 bonus to
their DLs. I knopw, I know.... house rules and more house rules.

Do with it what you want, though.

Pat.
--
/---------------------------\
| Patrick "Paradak" Rannou. |
| Rannou@info.polymtl.ca    |
\---------------------------/
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
From: dv52151@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Axly)
Subject: Re: Multi-Class Hit Points
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Distribution: na
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1992 19:47:09 GMT

bdavis@staccato.cray.com (Brent G Davis) writes:

>   Another method I have seen is to use a smaller sized dice for
>hp each time the character hits a higher level.  For example, use a
>d8 for a fighter/thief and roll only when the thief level advances
>(which hits the next level before the fighter).  This does away with
>the division/round-up or round-down dilemna.  This also makes it
>simple as far as applying CON bonus, which can be a bit of a grey 
>area for multi-class characters.

It's actually explained quite well in the PHB. You split the con bonus
up among your class. Thus if Pug the f/t gets a con bonus, he gets
half when he goes up a fighter level,and half when going up a thief
level. If triple classed, split it in thirds. 

Axly

Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
From: gupw@uniwa.uwa.edu.au (Paul Wagland)
Subject: Re: illusion of armour
Organization: University of Western Australia
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1992 00:21:40 GMT

whayden@chainsaw.ecn.purdue.edu (Bill Hayden;;;;) writes:


>ecrjbruce@economics.adelaide.edu.au writes:

>>What would happen if a mage used a somewhat permanent illusion of armour on
>>himself?  Would he effectively gain ac2 (for plate) if his opponents failed to
>>disbelieve?  Would he gain a halfway bonus due to the fact that his opponents
>>attack him in a different fashion then if he appeared to be wearing no armour?

>The person that is attacking the Mage is not actually doing the damage, it
>is the weapon. And I see it as an impossibility that the weapon can disbelieve.

Now here is a bizarre thought...What if it was an intelligent sword?
(with say empathy for exmple) Would it get a sving throw to disbelieve
the armour, or would it just disbelieve or what? 

Paul
-- 
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: canders@isr.harvard.edu (Carl E. Anderson)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
Subject: Re: Optional Specialization Ruling
Date: 12 Aug 92 18:14:35 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Harvard University, Cambridge, MA


	Some one mentioned that sword/sword 2 weapon combos didnt make
sense, at least in Medieval Western Europe.  I should say that I believe I
recall such combos mentioned in Icelandic sagas (largely written in the
13th century, portraying earlier events).  I can't recall any specific
references off hand but will check my sources tonight and post them
tomorrow.

Cheers,
Carl

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carl Edlund Anderson	            	"Hefi ek ok aldri sva reitt vapn
canders@isr.harvard.edu			at manni at eigi hafi vidh kommit."
OR
anderso2@husc.harvard.edu			- Skarphedhinn Njalsson 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
From: stephan@nmt.edu (Stephan Witz)
Subject: Re: Bastard DM From Hell Pt 2
Organization: New Mexico Drek
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1992 18:21:37 GMT

In article <1992Aug17.160705.23333@nmsu.edu> wcalderw@nmsu.edu (William A. Calderwood) writes:
>
><stuff about rangers and armour and some over weighted book deleted >
>
>Hey why not let the ranger use the book as a wooden shield :)

Or perhaps he can make a suit of plate armor out of it!  He could call
	   it (bum bum bum) ... The Armor of Knowledge!  

Regarding TBDMFH: I hate to say it, but you've got a stiff lip, Herbert.

>
>Bill,
>wcalderw@nmsu.edu

-stephan (I'm baaack)


Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
From: cb317@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Stephanie J. Kessler)
Subject: Re: Question
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, (USA)
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 92 21:26:57 GMT


Your question about the Dwarven Plate, are you questioning its
existance, or whether a PC could "inherit" it?  I know all the
armors exist for each race, but its really a DM's ruling if he
wishes to allow inheritance or gifts of that nature.  My DM
rules that each PC CAN have one "gift" of that nature as long as
they give a reason in their background for this gift.
-- 
The United States is a nation of laws:  badly written and
randomly enforced.     Frank Zappa

cb317 @ cleveland.Freenet.Edu
From: seawasp@vm2.cis.pitt.edu (Sea Wasp)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
Subject: Re: Experience points for roleplaying
Date: 16 Aug 92 13:56:26 GMT
Organization: University of Pittsburgh
Originator: seawasp@pmax1.cis.pitt.edu

In article <Bt1rs0.Ftv@acsu.buffalo.edu> swann@acsu.buffalo.edu (Stephen Swann) writes:
>Well, I do try to do that, but the fact that I occasionally don't (and
>that they don't catch me at it :-) simply indicates to me that their
>goals in playing are, like mine, something other than min/maxing to
>get powerful.

	So are mine. But, since you're talking about *D&D here, unless you
do some pretty heavy variants, experience points determine a lot of how
WELL you can use your experiences.

>Ick.  I've seen those kinds of players.  I make people fill in for
>missing players in my campaigns, to see how they work out before I'll
>let them roll a character of their own.  I can't stand powergaming on
>principle, and in fact I don't make much (any?) of a distinction
>between that and munchkinism.

	Depends on what you call powergaming. I call powergaming literally
what it sounds like: gaming with power. Same amount of challenge as at
lower levels, same or more complexity, but you're operating on the high
end; heroic. Munchkinism is basically a board game like monopoly; whoever
has the highest total wins.

>See, what XP's mainly do for you is make you better in combat.  To me

	Depends on how you play it. If, according to The Rules (all
bow in the direction of the mighty TSR), you can't learn to do ANYTHING
well unless you can get a proficiency in it... and you don't GET 
proficiencies unless you go up levels.

	Now, if you allow people to just acquire skills through training
and experience (the life, not game, sort) that entirely changes the nature
of the game. It becomes more like a skill-based game, wherein the characters
don't have to reach some kind of break point in order to improve.

	If THAT was the case, I'd have no trouble about going up levels only
once a year or two years, because I wouldn't be frozen in place.

	The reason people tend to gain levels fast in my game is to reflect
their fast learning curve (especially under pressure). They want those
proficiencies. Personally I'm tempted to dispense with levels entirely, 
but I've got enough kludges on the system as it is.


                                 Sea Wasp
                                   /^\
                                   ;;;
From: scythe@byron.u.washington.edu (The Grim Reaper)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
Subject: Improving a skill with a weapon
Summary: How to improve a skill with one weapon?
Keywords: who reads key words?
Date: 23 Aug 92 04:33:08 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Aug23.043308.23332
Distribution: usa
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle

In my campaign, there is a fighter who has devoted himself to
the study (and eventual mastery) of the quarterstaff.  He has
specialized in the weapon, and it is usually the only
weapon he uses.  So my question is, where to go from here?
Under current second edition rules, there is nothing more for him
to learn with the weapon.  There seems to be no way for him
to improve at the staff.  Does anyone out there has an idea for
allowing him to further improve?  Perhaps special attacks, or 
something if he devotes a number of profiency slots?
Any creative DMs out there?

                                                  
                          ***                 "Death comes to those who wait"
                        **  \\               
                       **    \\                
                      **      \\                           
                      **       \\             
                       **       \\             
                         *       \\               
                                  \\                
                                   \\                 
                                    \\              
                                     ~             
                               THE GRIM REAPER	
                              (SCYTHE@U.WASHINGTON.EDU)
From: seawasp@vm2.cis.pitt.edu (Sea Wasp)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
Subject: Re: Tarresque - Anyone killed one?
Date: 22 Aug 92 18:41:50 GMT
Organization: University of Pittsburgh
Originator: seawasp@pmax1.cis.pitt.edu

In article <BtEC0F.FDE@wpi.WPI.EDU> rparker@wpi.WPI.EDU (Richard E Parker) writes:
>I have the Practical Planetology book for the Spell-Jammer campaign set and
>there is a whole WORLD out there with almost nothing BUT Tarasques.  I mean
>big Tarasques, little ones.  They say that these MIGHT be subtly different,

	Even more evidence, to my mind, that the person who originally designed
the Tarrasque had Perischia's Fluger in mind. The Fluger comes from an entire
world of the little buggers.

                                 Sea Wasp
                                   /^\
                                   ;;;
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
From: eda171s@monu1.cc.monash.edu.au (D.M. Bateson)
Subject: Re: Techonological D&D
Organization: Monash University, Australia.
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1992 23:42:53 GMT

In a campaign I play in the GM allows technology from various past
societies (Blackmoor, 21st century US, 24th century US, etc..) to crop
up and be utilized by players, provided the players can work out how to
use the various things that turn up.

The main thing used to keep technology in hand is logistics, my character
has a 2016AD US army Assault rifle which I am quite good with.  However I
have real problems using the damned thing because A> it jams a lot (lack
of proper maintenance does that) and B> I have problems getting the ammo
for it, the PC's do have the formula for gunpowder (or local equivalent) but
do you have any idea of how hard it is to get catridges made to the required
tolerances?  The local dwarves regularly use up my share of the loot making
about 2 magazines a month, 3 if I pay much extra.  And when faced with 
a mega-foe I have been know to use up the last six months supply.

Also, do you realize how ineffective bullets are against Undead?  I can 
testify that blowing holes in them has very little effect.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------
David M. Bateson                | 
                                |
                                |  
eda171s@monu1.cc.monash.edu.au  | 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|******************  E N D  *  O F  *  M E S S A G E  ***********************|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: phil@adam.adelaide.edu.au (Phil Kernick)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
Subject: Re: High STR & small weapons (was: Re: Optional Specialization Ruling
Date: 20 Aug 92 02:34:27 GMT
Organization: University of Adelaide, South Australia

kc@soda.berkeley.edu (Kwei-Cee Chu) writes:

>>> Our group had also noted that an 18/xx STR with sword-dagger (or darts) is
>>> much better than a 2-handed sword, since you get the STR bonus twice.  Our

One of my characters asked me about this, and we came up with a simple
ruling.  The maximum extra damage that strength can give to a thrown weapon
is equal to its weight in pounds, rounded up.

Therefore:

dart has weight 0.5, so maximum extra damage is +1 when thrown.
hammer "   "    5    "    "        "    "     " +5  "     "

etc.

It seems to work well.  Magical plusses are still added as normal.



Just another ruling from the BDMFH.

Phil.


-- 
   _-_|\    Phil Kernick                E-Mail: phil@adam.adelaide.edu.au
  /     \   Departmental Engineer       Phone:  +61 8 228 5914
  \_.-*_/   Dept. of Psychology         Fax:    +61 8 224 0464
       v    University of Adelaide      Mail:   GPO Box 498 Adelaide SA 5001
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
From: tsang@cs.washington.edu (Donald Tsang)
Subject: Re: Paladins
Organization: Computer Science & Engineering, U. of Washington, Seattle
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 92 07:45:01 GMT

In article <> kgieselm@ics.uci.edu (Kenneth Gregory Gieselman) writes:
>The paladin is a great class.  I like nothing more (except perhaps CE
>characters) than playing a hard-nosed, inflexibly principled paladin.

I hate hard-nosed Paladins.  Ones with a sense of humor and a _real_
personality (as opposed to the cardboard cutout "Duhh I must slay evil")
are much much better.  Here's a suggestion: Play a fighter who _wants_
to become a Paladin.  What can you do to please your God?

IMPO, Humility should be foremost in a Paladin's code.  Big Boy Scouts,
perhaps, but any Paladin who would strike a basically innocent peasant
to "convert" him should not stay a Paladin for long.

>[stuff deleted]
>The most fulfilling thing he does is demand that a town "reach into and
>embrace the Light, moving away from the Darkness," and enforcing that
>demand.

Demand?  Demand??  I suppose it depends on the religion.  Christianity
(from Christ, and not the political stuff the Crusades came from) would
certainly frown on such a process, though the Old Testament God might
not...

>Evil acts, characters, thoughts, etc., are not tolerated within the party.
>More than one thief has gone with a broken nose, arm, etc., to study the path
>to "the Light".

Ooh, ooh, big nasty Paladin bullying the misguided youth.  Feh.

Bullying should be right out ("Help!  Help!  I'm being Oppressed!"...).

-- 
Donald Tsang                    "Ho!  Haha!  Guard!  Turn!  Parry!  Dodge!
tsang@june.cs.washington.edu     Spin!  Ha!  Thrust!"
..!uw-beaver!june!tsang                       -- Robin Hood Daffy
From: seawasp@vm2.cis.pitt.edu (Sea Wasp)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
Subject: Re: Tarresque - Anyone killed one?
Date: 20 Aug 92 12:50:57 GMT
Organization: University of Pittsburgh
Originator: seawasp@pmax1.cis.pitt.edu

In article <marios.714328460@knosos.cc.uch.gr> marios@cc.uch.gr (Marios Chrysopoulos) writes:
>u894793@bruny.cc.utas.edu.au (Timothy D Little) writes:
>>I'm interested in knowing if anyone has ever actually killed a Tarresque in a
>>non-Monty Haul campaign.  Any stories?

> Ahhhhh...well...can this thing be killed????? Didn't know that!!!
>*shivering by the horror of the idea meeting a tarrasque*

	They CAN be killed, but it ain't easy.

>Anyway i believe that this creature is unique (lucky us), so i don't
>think there would be people out there that could tell proudly that
>they have killed one of them.


	Sure they could. They killed that one.

	Or the GM said "that's silly. There's ALWAYS more than one of 
anything, except gods, and this ain't no god." and they killed one of the
six or seven out there.

	Anyway, one group of my players managed to kill one. After a 
tremendously savage battle (tarrasque: "Dice, slice, puree, chop, and
I even make coleslaw!"  PCs: "AAARGH!"  "Bite of SHARPNESS?? What the 
hell IS this thing?!" "RUN AWAY, RUN AWAY, AAAAAAA!") the psionic in the
party (very few HP left) leaps onto the thing's back and burns all of
his psi points in a teleport.

	He took it (and himself) into the center of the Sun.

                                 Sea Wasp
                                   /^\
                                   ;;;
From: phil@adam.adelaide.edu.au (Phil Kernick)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
Subject: Re: Bastard DM From Hell Pt 2
Date: 20 Aug 92 00:42:08 GMT
Organization: University of Adelaide, South Australia

cb317@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Stephanie J. Kessler) writes:

>If the book in question is a spellbook (and I cannot remember for
>sure), then it is limited to 100 pages.  Therefore, they must be
>really THICK pages, which might explain the weight, besides the
>heavy cover and lock...

But due to a quirk of time and a combination of systems, the book has about
200 pages.  Remember that first edition did not have limits to this sort of
thing.



Phil.

-- 
   _-_|\    Phil Kernick                E-Mail: phil@adam.adelaide.edu.au
  /     \   Departmental Engineer       Phone:  +61 8 228 5914
  \_.-*_/   Dept. of Psychology         Fax:    +61 8 224 0464
       v    University of Adelaide      Mail:   GPO Box 498 Adelaide SA 5001
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
Subject: Creative Curses
From: dalbert@calstatela.edu (David Albert)
Date: 12 Aug 92 20:15:31 PDT
Reply-To: dalbert@calstatela.edu
Distribution: world
Organization: Cal State University, Los Angeles

From a Dm's perspective curses better curses are one in which the player does not
know he is cursed.

some ex.
 
Anyone older than than him will not listen to him.
Those of a higher station in life will always believe he's lying ( or up to 
	something no good ).
F0R MAGES he always buys inferior spell components (weakening spells or 
	giving a chance of spell failure ?).
People keep bothering the mage when he is trying to memorize spells.
FOR Thievies  he always finds traps when searching (if he fails to disarm a 
	trap which is not there nothing happens -but tell him he failed and
	have him make a saving throw.
Recently in my game a player was cursed with a weak heart. He had to make
a system shock when execerting himself
From: seawasp@vm2.cis.pitt.edu (Sea Wasp)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
Subject: Re: Anecdotes... Death... How come?
Date: 14 Aug 92 02:51:10 GMT
Organization: University of Pittsburgh
Originator: seawasp@pmax1.cis.pitt.edu

In article <Bsy52x.py@acsu.buffalo.edu> swann@acsu.buffalo.edu (Stephen Swann) writes:
>In article <4709@blue.cis.pitt.edu.UUCP> seawasp@vm2.cis.pitt.edu (Sea Wasp) writes:
>Part of the reason they've advanced so slowly is that an awful lot 
>of their time is spent pursuing "sub-plots" in my campaign.  This
>involves lots of roleplaying, but doesn't earn them any adventuring
>experience points - although it does gain them valuable information,
>and generally make their lives more interesting and varied.

	Ah. I consider roleplaying to be experience. For ANY class.
The more you interact with the world, the more you learn... and it's
GENERAL experience that applies to ALL classes. Some of the biggest
experience awards come from fantastic roleplaying/politics/etc.

>Once again, like the discussion of "levels" above, it's a matter of
>how you rate significance.  Even though these guys' characters are
>"only" 12th level, nevertheless they're very important people in my
>campaign.  They are the highest level adventuring party currently
>operating therein, and so they often get to partake in (or be the
>cause of :-) all the greatest events.

	Yep, they are NOW. But you mention later on that their first
"BIG" adventure was at 8-9th level. Taking the average 7 month
advancement time you mentioned, that means that they were playing for over
FOUR YEARS before doing major adventures. I want to be a HERO, not
some apprentice who needs to take enough REAL WORLD time to finish
a bachelor's degree before he can even do something significant.

	My players tend to get involved in major problems even at
low level... then they have to start scrambling for ways to
handle it...

>>	The highest level "worked him up from nothing" character I have
>>is at present 14th heading for 15th (in the AD&D system;
>
>That's more like it!  ;-)

	Of course, now he's majorly bad ass material, since the level cutoff
for ALL characters (PC and NPC alike) is level 20, and only PURE classes
(that is, pure fighters, pure mages, no splits or multis) can reach that;
all others stop at 18. But he was SIGNIFICANT (as in, to the destiny of the
world) from the time he was 0th level. Middle-Earth had a need for him...


                                 Sea Wasp
                                   /^\
                                   ;;;
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
From: rparker@wpi.WPI.EDU (Richard E Parker)
Subject: Re: The illogic of draining levels
Organization: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1992 20:29:04 GMT

	Something I tried in relation to the undead/level drain problem
was taking hit-points permanently.  It works well in my campaign, though
others' mileage may vary.  I tell the player to roll the standard hit
die for his class, fighters=d10, priests=d8, etc.  He subtracts the roll
from his hit points permanently.  I then proceeded to eliminate the aging
problem associated with restoration.  Aging the caster is all well and
good if there are tons of tons of spell-casters who can cast this spell,
but I felt it was unfair to make it impossible to regain lost hit points.  I
know if I were the spell-caster in question, I'd be a little reticent to
cast restoration.
	Level loss always seemed illogical to me, too.  Until I started
DMing, I never could do anything about it.  The DM used to slap a hurting
on us with Wights, Vampires, etc.  I didn't think it was fair to lose all
the things that I had worked for.  Since I mostly play fighters, it didn't
hurt as much to lose the hit points, but I didn't think I should lose things
I learned from adventuring too.

	I've been playing with the idea of letting the constitution bonus
be subtracted from hit points lost instead of adding to it.  This would give
characters a better chance of "resisting" the effect of the drain.  A person
in better than average health should better resist than a person of average
health and definitely better than a sick person.  Any thoughts?


							Paladin