HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: baruch@nynexst.com (Robert Baruch)
Subject: Re: Generic Object Description
Organization: Nynex Science and Technology
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 92 15:02:05 GMT

In article <1992Apr8.203859.21226@ncsu.edu> bjbisset@eos.ncsu.edu (BILLY JOE BISSETTE) writes:
>In article <1992Apr6.133701.19809@nynexst.com>, baruch@nynexst.com (Robert Baruch) writes:
>|> So regardless of what object actually performs the impact, you can define what
>|> happends to the brick.  Therefore, the hammer programmer would only have to specify
>|> that when you say "Hit X with hammer", the hammer applies a medium_impact to X.
>|> The object X then decides what happens to itself, additionally decided what to
>|> apply to the hammer.  For example, if the hammer is a funky magic hammer made of
>|> breakable glass, then yes indeed the hammer will shatter the brick, but the brick will
>|> then apply a medium_impact to the hammer, shattering IT!
>|> 
>|> 
>|> --Rob
>
>You might want to try adding material strength to that.  Sounds about like a
>system I was working on for a computer rpg.  Objects, in particular weapons,
>have material strength and suitibility for attacks.
>
>The information was in the form of multipliers.  All a person had to do to
>include a new weapon was to make it according to a template.
>
>Ex. An epee had a Hack of 0,Thrust of 2, Bash of .something, etc.  It also had
>a strength lower than a sword but stronger than flesh.
>
>----------bill the clueless, bjbisset@eos.ncsu.edu
>Go, Go, Gadget Clue.  No, Gadget Clue, not Gadget Hammer!  Help Brain!
>What do you mean, "The Swedish Chef got him."  Stop Gadget Hammer!
>No, not Gadget Flame! Stop!  Stop!!
>
I think a melding of all these ideas which have been shown to me is basically
requiring any new object to have a set of base parameters (ie, hardness,
perhaps temperature, weight, etc).  Other parameters could be optional.  Also,
in coding, some functions, such as apply_impact, could be defined for the
object, or be left undefined.  If undefined, the required parameters themselves
could determine what happens on impact, so that a programmer would not have
to run through the immense volume of possible actions.  This could be a kind of
default code that would come into effect if the programmer feels nothing
special should happen for most actions.  If you lick a hammer, nothing much
should happen, so that code would be default.  And so if you stick a hammer
in flames, and then lick it, even though the code isn't there, the GOD system
could easily determine that you've burnt your tongue.
  If you wanted something special to happen when you lick the hammer (GOD knows
why you would want to do THAT) then you would write specific code for that action,
in effect overriding the default code.

--Rob
From: 105126@adpdp2.lanl.gov (105126)
Newsgroups: rec.games.design
Subject: Re: Skills/Attributes-General query
Date: 7 Apr 92 22:14:00 GMT
Article-I.D.: adpdp2.7APR199215145753
Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory, EMVAX
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

In article <thornt_g.702626115@kultarr>, thornt_g@cs.uwa.oz.au (Sebastian Nobwit DeLaBler) writes...
>What kind of rules do you use for interrelated skills
>and attributes?
>

In your rather lengthy list, you forgot something else:

	Stats are a part of skill bonus determination: Eg-Rolemaster
	Character professions are a part of the skill bonus: Eg-Rolemaster
	Character level is a part of skill bonus: Eg-Rolemaster

In RM, the billions of skills there are have several things that determine a
characters ability with that skill. Each skill has a "rank" that represents a
level of training with that skill. Thus, all characters can train to improve
their skills. Each rank is worth a 5% ability (or less as you get really high
ranks). In addition, each skill has one, two, or three attributes (stats)
that modify the skill (averaging the stats when more than one). The stat(s) add
approximately -20 to +50 to any given skill (stat bonuses are a little weird -
I can provide more detail if you like - but, I'll keep it simple here). The
final standard modifier for the skill is a character's level. All skills are
grouped into "Level Bonus" categories. Each character professions is given a
level bonus in some (but not all) of these categories. Thus, a thief will be
better at "subterfuge" skills than most other classes, and a fighter will be 
better at "combat" skills than most classes. There are a few other modifiers to
the skill, but these are usually situational.

I realize that most people put down RM as "incredibly" cumbersome. But I can
testify that once the learning curve is over, I have found no other system that
provides the flexibility and realism!

John
From: baruz@aludra.usc.edu (Fat Bloated Idiot)
Newsgroups: rec.games.design
Subject: Re: Dice.game (a good one)
Date: 7 Apr 1992 20:22:44 -0700
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
NNTP-Posting-Host: aludra.usc.edu

In article <1992Apr6.091441.7376@srd.bt.co.uk> jhawes@everest.srd.bt.co.uk writes:
u>1)Roll a D6, if you get a 1 you get no score.
u>             anything else IS your score.
u>       you keep rolling and adding up you score untill either ...
u>           you get a 1 - you loose ALL your score for this turn
u>           you say 'ok I'll keep this score' - add the score for this turn to
u>            your total and hand the die to the next player.

This is called "Pigs."  Winner is the first to get past 100.  There's
a version that involves rolling pig-shaped dice, and scoring by the
position of the pigs, on the market.
From: psalp@acad2.alaska.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.design
Subject: Action/Adventue sources...
Date: 10 Apr 92 14:03:13 GMT
Organization: University of Alaska


Hello out there... I'd like to know if there is anyone out there who has 
source on action games (Stuff like Crystalis, Lemmings, or Link for 
example) that I could get a copy of... I'm trying to learn to program games
like thease and I could use a hand...



+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
	I believe five impossible things before breakfast...
	Six is one too many...
		Albert L. Perrien II 
			psalp@acad2.alaska.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.design,rec.games.pbm
From: mxb8@po.CWRU.Edu (Matthew Bakaitis)
Subject: PBeM: creating/joining governments?
Reply-To: mxb8@po.CWRU.Edu (Matthew Bakaitis)
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, (USA)
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 92 01:34:55 GMT


	I've been a player of the game Galaxy for a few months now
and enjoy it.  Thanks to it, I've had some ideas about creating a game
of my own.  Although I like Galaxy, I prefer games with a little more
negotiation to them (some other favorites: Diplomacy and Rep. of Rome...).

	I'm working on a game that will revolve around the colonization
of a solar system.  Players will begin in orbit around a home planet (Earth?)
and move out to the other planets in the system.
	Players would be allowed to live together on a planet, though not
necessarily in a peaceful manner (their choice).

	I expect that giving the players some option to create "public"
binding agreements, as in Republic of Rome, will aid players in creating
some form of stable "government" on each planet.  This system of "government"
should primarily dictate trade with other players and military response to
the presence of foreign ships.

	If anyone has any ideas or knows of a system that covers something
similar to this, I would be interested...Kill-or-be-killed games are fine,
but I'm interested in a game with more options than a trigger.

Matt
-- 
Matt Bakaitis
mxb8@pop.CWRU.edu
From: wt0b+@andrew.cmu.edu (William Henry Timmins)
Newsgroups: rec.games.design
Subject: Re: Skills/Attributes-General query
Date: 7 Apr 92 18:24:43 GMT
Article-I.D.: andrew.UdsSXfu00WAvMGiF4d
Organization: Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA

How about a system wherein stat and skill level are multiplied?

This would reflect the cross effect of stats and skill... If both were
1-10, you would get a simple percentile system.

-Me
From: mxb8@po.CWRU.Edu (Matthew Bakaitis)
Newsgroups: rec.games.design
Subject: Re: PBeM: creating/joining governments?
Date: 8 Apr 92 01:06:21 GMT
Article-I.D.: usenet.1992Apr8.010621.12442
Reply-To: mxb8@po.CWRU.Edu (Matthew Bakaitis)
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, (USA)


In a previous article, millerl@wharton.upenn.edu () says:

>I haven't played RoR nor read the rules. Could you encapsulate these
>public binding agreements, just describe briefly how they work as game
>rules to govern a political decision?
>
>Please?

	Actually, I would assume that similar is used in other games also.
	
	Simply, if two players come to an agreement in the presence of
other players, the terms of the agreement are binding.  This is contrary
to the Diplomacy method where any agreement may be broken at any time.
Secret agreements are still non-binding, but public agreements are.

	My problem, and the relation to this, is that I can't conceive a
method players in the game can create a working government without some
binding force.  Early in the game, government won't be a problem.  Later,
however, players will have to band together to make sure the game doesn't
win.  (It's a space environment, so without eventual support a colony will
run out of the vital necessities...not to mention the occasional random
event that could damage water purifiers and such...)

	I hope that helps and that everyone can grasp the general problem.
Any help, sources for info, rules, or whatever is appreciated.


Matt
	
-- 
Matt Bakaitis
mxb8@pop.CWRU.edu
From: wt0b+@andrew.cmu.edu (William Henry Timmins)
Newsgroups: rec.games.design
Subject: Re: A new trend in roleplaying?
Date: 7 Apr 92 18:21:23 GMT
Article-I.D.: andrew.kdsSUXm00WAv8GiEVa
	<1992Apr7.013723.14841@oz.plymouth.edu>
Organization: Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA

>_Thieves' World_ suffered from this.  Too much of it was wasted, no
>matter which system you played, since 90% of the material was stats for
>other systems.  So if he puts a lot of GURPS-specific material in the

	My advice is to make up some sort of simplified system that people can
convert easily, or to have distinct ways to translate from game to game.

Then present all the information as you wish.

For stats, use more rather than less. (It's inherently simpler to just
drop something than to add something in)

-Me
From: rrdjro@minyos.xx.rmit.oz.au (Jonathan O'Donnell)
Newsgroups: rec.games.design
Subject: Re: Dice.game (Pass the Pigs)
Date: 9 Apr 92 22:22:05 GMT
Organization: RMIT Computer Centre, Melbourne Australia.

jhawes@everest.srd.bt.co.uk (Jason Hawes) writes:

>I too have played silly dice games in my time (I belive that one of the main
>attractions of RGP's is getting to walk around with all those polyhedral
>multicolour, (etc ) dice )

>But here's a game I actually like. (Not that I practice this regularly, I mean
>Its got to be a witing for a pizza game )

>1)Roll a D6, if you get a 1 you get no score.
>             anything else IS your score.

>       you keep rolling and adding up you score untill either ...
>           you get a 1 - you loose ALL your score for this turn
>           you say 'ok I'll keep this score' - add the score for this turn to
>            your total and hand the die to the next player.
> 
>The winner is the first person to get a score of 101 , 201 , 1001 depending
>on how fast your local pizza place is ! 

This is the basis for 'Pass the Pigs', a cute kids game that was 
kidnapped by the stock-marketeers of the '80s.  It's the same game,
but you roll little plastic pigs, instead of dice.  Strange, but true.

	Jonathan@RMIT.edu.au
From: ortl@quads.uchicago.edu (james andrew ortlieb)
Newsgroups: rec.games.design
Subject: DragonChess
Summary: 3-D Chess game
Date: 7 Apr 92 23:28:05 GMT
Article-I.D.: midway.1992Apr7.232805.28860
Reply-To: ortl@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations


	I'm creating a 3-D chess game, basically stright out of
the desripction given in Dragon magazine #100 (it's old, I know).
I wanted to ask people what they thought about the idea. I've
posted a desc in rec.games.chess if you want to look at it. But,
here's the idea if you're too lazy to slog through all 400
articles or so.

3 Levels of boards.
42 pieces for each player.
Speical moves to spice the game up (eg. Basilisk can freeze pieces,
  Dragon can grab pieces on the level below him, etc).


-- 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
--- Jim Ortlieb          -- "Only the weak get piched, the strong survive"
ortl@midway.uchicago.edu -- "Never put your finger in that part of       
---                           the doggy" - Dave Barry "American at large"
From: ry_orbaker@vax.muskingum.edu (Orbaker)
Newsgroups: rec.games.design
Subject: New Game: Play testers wanted
Date: 14 Apr 92 10:49:15 GMT
Article-I.D.: vax.1992Apr14.164915.2947
Organization: Muskingum College



	Well, after much work, I've finished (sort of) my game system.  It's a
based system, with a multi-temporial skill list.  The main part done deals with
fantasy.  I would like a few groups to play test it for me.  It's rough, but I
think it shows a lot of promise.  

	To anyone interested, please ask for as copy by Email at
			
			Ry_Orbaker@vax.muskingum.edu

	
				thanks...
                                 /==\
                                 |ry|
                                 \==/
From: jhawes@everest.srd.bt.co.uk (Jason Hawes)
Newsgroups: rec.games.design
Subject: Re: Dice.game (a good one)
Date: 6 Apr 92 09:14:41 GMT
Reply-To: jhawes@everest.srd.bt.co.uk
Organization: British Telecom

I too have played silly dice games in my time (I belive that one of the main
attractions of RGP's is getting to walk around with all those polyhedral
multicolour, (etc ) dice )

But here's a game I actually like. (Not that I practice this regularly, I mean
Its got to be a witing for a pizza game )

1)Roll a D6, if you get a 1 you get no score.
             anything else IS your score.

       you keep rolling and adding up you score untill either ...
           you get a 1 - you loose ALL your score for this turn
           you say 'ok I'll keep this score' - add the score for this turn to
            your total and hand the die to the next player.
 
The winner is the first person to get a score of 101 , 201 , 1001 depending
on how fast your local pizza place is ! 

--
 / jhawes@srd.bt.co.uk   ASInet : "Jason Hawes"  Fidonet : 2:257/31 \
/ ADVERTISMENT: BananaSoft in 1992 - the year of innovations extreme \
\  On usenet  EVERYONE can hear you scream ( scream quietly please ) /
 \  Quote : Life is dangerous - You'll never get out of it alive !! /
Newsgroups: rec.games.design
From: 105126@adpdp2.lanl.gov (105126)
Subject: Re: A new trend in roleplaying?
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory, EMVAX
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1992 22:02:00 GMT

I think that the capsystem is a great idea! I spend an incredible amount of
time working on a realistic world for my game (usually fantasy). Some possible
capsystem topics could include:

Language Development: I currently map out the population migrations in my world
(from the beginning of colonization of the continent) and from this I
extrapolate how languages evolved. It would be nice to have a source that
desribes the best way to chart language evoluation.

Numismatics: I love the concept of having each nation use a different coin.
This would be a great topic.

I am looking forward to seeing a copy of this stuff. What is the current
expected price per copy? How can I get one? Are you guys going to be at the
GenCon game fair with a booth?

Let me know more!

John

Newsgroups: rec.games.design
From: sos@oz.plymouth.edu (Steffan O'Sullivan)
Subject: Re: Skills/Attributes-General query
Reply-To: sos@oz.plymouth.edu (Steffan O'Sullivan)
Organization: Plymouth State College - Plymouth, N.H.
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 92 12:36:58 GMT

You forgot two:

A) The way GURPS does it: attribute level affects skill level.  That is,
a character with DX 12 and 2 pts in Broadsword skill has it at level
12, while a character with DX 15 and 2 pts in Broadsword skill has it at
level 15, for example.

B) The way Melanda does it, which is the reverse of all the other
systems.  You choose the skills you want your character to have, and that
affects attributes.  For example, if you decide you want lots of weapons
skills, that implies lots of practice in your past, so you raise your dex
and str to reflect this training.  If you want lots of scholarly skills,
you raise your Learned stat, but lower strength - too much time indoors
booklearning to have gotten strong, and lower con, too, for the same
reason.

-- 
  - Steffan O'Sullivan		         sos@oz.plymouth.edu
From: a3619@mindlink.bc.ca (Chris Harwood-Jones)
Newsgroups: rec.games.design
Subject: Re: Skills/Attributes-General query
Date: 8 Apr 92 00:54:02 GMT
Article-I.D.: mindlink.11306
Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada

> Sebastian Nobwit DeLaB writes:
> 
> Msg-ID: <thornt_g.702626115@kultarr>
> Posted: Tue, 7 Apr 1992 05:55:15
> 
> Org.  : Dept. Computer Science, University of Western Australia.
> 
> I have a general question concerning skills and
> attributes in an rpg. Don't tell me I'm putting
> the cart before the horse, it's a general question
> so I'm not expecting an exact solution.
> 
> What kind of rules do you use for interrelated skills
> and attributes?
> 
> [examples deleted]
> 


My own conclusions on this were that attributes are aspects of character that
are essentially fixed.  They can be modified if the character really works hard
at it, but things like strength, dexterity, intelligence and so on are
basically genetic.

Skills are things that can be learned through study.  Thus, anyone can put in
the time and learn the skill.  The relationship then becomes one of how EASILY
one learns the skill, and what the character's maximum potential is in the
skill.  More intelligent characters will learn intellectual skills quicker and
more easily than others.  More agile characters will develop athletic skills
more easily.

With an experience-point system, this would translate into cost modifiers for
each level.  I don't think that direct bonuses to level appropriate;  agile and
smart people are no better at a given skill than anyone else without training
(well, maybe slightly better...).  The ability really starts to pay off in the
speed of advancement.

BTW, you can trust me not to make any more comments about carts and horses;  I
have been suitably chastened. :)

Yours,
Chris H-J.

--
----------------------------------------------------------------------
/ Chris Harwood-Jones        ************       a3619@mindlink.bc.ca /
/                                                                    /
/   "It means nothing; and it seems, so far as I can observe,        /
/ useless to others."                                                /
/                                                                    /
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: db@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Dave Berry)
Newsgroups: rec.games.design
Subject: Re: A new trend in roleplaying?
Date: 8 Apr 92 14:21:19 GMT
Reply-To: db@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Dave Berry)
Organization: Laboratory for the Foundations of Computer Science, Edinburgh U

I'd like a guide to injuries and how long they take to heal.  This would
include what sort of injuries you get from various weapons and animals,
falls onto various surfaces from different heights, burns, frostbite, etc.

Another possibility would be a guide to economics for GMs, fom ancient
periods to  modern times.

In article <7APR199215025868@adpdp2.lanl.gov> 105126@adpdp2.lanl.gov (105126) writes:
>Language Development: It would be nice to have a source that
>desribes the best way to chart language evoluation.

Have a look at a book called The Story Of Language.  It's not aimed at
roleplayers, but it's pretty good and some of it should be useful.

Dave.
--
 Dave Berry, LFCS, Edinburgh Uni.      db%dcs.ed.ac.uk@nsfnet-relay.ac.uk

Authority is arbitrary.          Nobody is normal.         Assume nothing.
From: silber@m.cs.uiuc.edu (Ami A. Silberman)
Subject: Re: A new trend in roleplaying?
Organization: University of Illinois, Dept. of Comp. Sci., Urbana, IL
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1992 16:52:50 GMT

One thing that I would like to see is a discussion of worshipers of multiple
deities.  In most FRPs and a very many works of fiction, worship is presented
as either/or.  One worships Isis, or Posideon, or Athena.  In the Ancient world,
in practice, most people worshiped, or at least paid respect to, most of the
gods.  True, there was usually one deity that a person respected most, because
it was the patron deity of his city, or craft, but few but fanatics had nothing
to do with other deities.  An athenian might pray to Athena primarily, but
he would quite likely consult with a priest of Hermes in regard to a medical
problem, and the services for the dead would likely be performed by followers
of Hades.  A similar phenomena might be seen in the "veneration of saints",
one has a patron saint, ones profession has another, ones town another, and,
were one looking for lost objects, or a widow, or whatever, one might pray
through the bension of yet another.  A modification that could be made in
Primal Order would be to determine the number of worshippers based upon number
of visits to each deities place of worship.  There could be a god, for instance,
who is the god of luck.  Although he has no actual temples, everytime a gambler
makes an entreaty to him, it counts as 1/20 of a worshipper.  Just a thought.

-- 
ami silberman - janitor of lunacy
	silber@cs.uiuc.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.design
From: tdunn@ecst.csuchico.edu (Tim Dunn)
Subject: Re: Skills/Attributes-General query
Organization: California State University, Chico
Date: Tue, 07 Apr 1992 23:00:21 GMT

William Henry Timmins writes:
>How about a system wherein stat and skill level are multiplied?
>
>This would reflect the cross effect of stats and skill... If both were
>1-10, you would get a simple percentile system.

One major complaint I have with systems such as Vampire and Cyberpunk 2020
is their method of adding the stat and skill.  This puts them on equal
footing, which I strongly disagree with: stats implies base ability across
a large field, skills should confer a marked advantage over a much smaller
domain.  In that system, there is no difference effectively between a PhD
with no aptitude for his field and a young gun who is just plain good.

Your proposal seems to have the same failing, save if were were to specify
that skills have either a different scale (say 1-20) or shift the range
(from say 3-12) to allow skills more of a effect on the overall percentage.
However as is, skills are equal in value to stats, assuming their method
of distribution is the same.  If you were to make stats above 7 very rare
and allow higher skills, then you'd likewise shift the value over to skill.

Tim