From: Jerome DARMONT [darmont@libd1.univ-bpclermont.fr] Sent: Monday, February 08, 1999 2:29 AM To: blue_planet@lists.MPGN.COM Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - Character generation Hi all, Friends of mine insisted on making BP characters recently, while I had not finished reading BP yet (especially the rules section! :). In the character creation process, it appears that the most significant skills are provided by the chosen profession. Though they had pretty much a concept in mind, they had trouble figuring out what skill to select before getting to choose the profession, because they didn't know what to expect next. I guess this is true with all newcommers to BP. So, I figured out it could be useful to determine profession right at the beginning, along with specie, and then proceed back to origin, background, etc. Does this sound reasonable? :) How do you moderators proceed? By the rules, in yet another way? --------------------------------------------------------------------- Jerome DARMONT, LIMOS, Universite Blaise Pascal - Clermont-Ferrand II mailto:darmont@libd1.univ-bpclermont.fr http://altern.org/darmont/ ICQ:8759237 *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Auberon [fskln1@uaf.edu] Sent: Monday, February 08, 1999 2:10 AM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Humans and Ecological Destruction Chris Sakal wrote: > > First off, in BP the corps are more powerful than most governments, so > the balance of power really isn't that favorable, and tariffs would > probably just turn around and strangle the country that tried to use them - > the GEO is the only really effective governing body, and it's power is > pretty tenuous, if it were to try to interfere with things that much it > would probably loose a lot of influence. But the GEO does have the power to enforce something noone has ever been able to do: export tarriffs. You're bad, you just can't send anything to anyone else without paying a buttload of money. > Secondly, you're not really harnessing the economic power of corporations > for good, you're putting more rules into play that you hope will force the > corps to do something good by accident, there's a big difference. The > corps would do what they always do, work within the rules as much as they > have to, around and over them as much as they can, and do whatever they can > to make the most profit in a world where the rules are a little different. Of course. The point here is to make the things they do to make more money meet a (positive) goal of someone elses. > I'm not saying that tariffs won't work, I'm just saying that they're > going to have side effects that may well be worse than the problem that > they try to solve (which, incidentally, they may help alleviate, but won't > solve completely). I don't expect it to be without repercussions, or to solve the problem completely. But some good is better than no good at all. -- +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= "I never get involved in my own life. It's too much trouble" - Michael Garibaldi (Babylon 5) *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Auberon [fskln1@uaf.edu] Sent: Monday, February 08, 1999 3:30 AM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Character generation Jerome DARMONT wrote: > [snip] > proceed back to origin, background, etc. Does this sound reasonable? :) How > do you moderators proceed? By the rules, in yet another way? I usually have them pick it either right at the beginning, or just before education. -- +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= "I never get involved in my own life. It's too much trouble" - Michael Garibaldi (Babylon 5) *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Tun Kai Poh [t_poh@hotmail.com] Sent: Monday, February 08, 1999 4:26 AM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Character generation I prefer to allow my players to choose character skills in any order they like (usually Profession first), since these are their heroes in their story. Like novelists, the players should be allowed to design their heroes any way they like. Not surprisingly, I'm not fond of random stat generation. Kai ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Ml10@aol.com Sent: Monday, February 08, 1999 6:57 AM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Character generation I generally have my players pick their skills/attritutes in chronological order based on what their character would be interested at the time much like in The Babylon Project. Species == Born Background/origin == childhood Education == Childhood/early Adult Hood Extra Education == Adult Hood Profession == Adulthood. I find that while this won't give the players the god-like character that they really wanted, it does provide them with a more well rounded character with some extra quirks that the players wouldn't normally thought of. As a side note: The analogy of players creating characters like novelists is flawed. A novelist can insert new knowledge and skills into a character in the middle of a story and even rewrite an early section of the story to foreshadow that knowledge, players do not have that ability. Mike Z *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Tun Kai Poh [t_poh@hotmail.com] Sent: Monday, February 08, 1999 7:13 AM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Character generation >As a side note: The analogy of players creating characters like novelists is >flawed. A novelist can insert new knowledge and skills into a character in the >middle of a story and even rewrite an early section of the story to foreshadow >that knowledge, players do not have that ability. Yeah, you have a point there. That tends to be the thing with RPG systems. But not all of them - anybody here remember Feng Shui's rule that you can change your character's stats after your first adventure if you weren't satisfied with them? Man, I miss Feng Shui. Kai Poh ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Jerome DARMONT [darmont@libd1.univ-bpclermont.fr] Sent: Monday, February 08, 1999 7:28 AM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Character generation At 07:56 08/02/99 EST, Ml10@aol.com wrote: >I find that while this won't give the players the god-like character that they >really wanted, it does provide them with a more well rounded character with >some extra quirks that the players wouldn't normally thought of. Actually, the problem of my players was the following. If I take such and such skill as part of my character's education, and I receive it again with my chosen profession, my character will be actually too good in that particular skill where s/he could more diversified. >As a side note: The analogy of players creating characters like novelists is >flawed. A novelist can insert new knowledge and skills into a character in the >middle of a story and even rewrite an early section of the story to foreshadow >that knowledge, players do not have that ability. Right, but that doesn't answer the question of randomness in character generation. I heartily agree with Kai Poh on this one: I've always hated systems where dice rolls took too much space in the character generation process. Playing a character you didn't really choose can be fun for a one-shot game. It's getting less fun when campaining. YMMV, of course. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Jerome DARMONT, LIMOS, Universite Blaise Pascal - Clermont-Ferrand II mailto:darmont@libd1.univ-bpclermont.fr http://altern.org/darmont/ ICQ:8759237 *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Ml10@aol.com Sent: Monday, February 08, 1999 9:09 AM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: Re: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Character generation In a message dated 2/8/99, 7:39:47 AM, blue_planet@MPGN.COM writes: << >I find that while this won't give the players the god-like character that they >really wanted, it does provide them with a more well rounded character with >some extra quirks that the players wouldn't normally thought of. Actually, the problem of my players was the following. If I take such and such skill as part of my character's education, and I receive it again with my chosen profession, my character will be actually too good in that particular skill where s/he could more diversified. >> I tell my players that they can expect to receive a 40 to 60 point bonus in their professions primary skills and a 20 to 40 point bonus in the secondary skills. I also let my players go back and move points around after chosing their professions to fine tune their character. But I don't allow them to change the descriptors or reroll attributes, just move the points. Mike Z *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: pete rogers [peterogers@hotmail.com] Sent: Monday, February 08, 1999 9:15 AM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Character generation I heartily agree with Kai Poh on this one: I've always hated >systems where dice rolls took too much space in the character >generation process. Playing a character you didn't really choose can be >fun for a one-shot game. It's getting less fun when campaining. YMMV, >of course. ahh, my mileage does vary on this one. Some of my fave characters have been ones that really sucked during character generation and i really didn't want to play (ahh, fond memories of Kohler). as long as you get at least one "hook" for a character then things are usually pretty cool. i find the randomness of char gen gets you to look at ideas that you may not have otherwise thought of -0 whereas if you have complete free reign you could get into a rut of always creating similar characters (urgh, the Gus saga) course, if one of my players comes up with a really cool character concept that needs a bit of fudging on his char gen then i'm usually amenable. pete rogers ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: pete rogers [peterogers@hotmail.com] Sent: Monday, February 08, 1999 9:15 AM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - Scientific American - The Oceans I managed to pick up a very interesting magazine this afternoon (no, not THAT type, stop sniggering at the back !) Scientific American - The Oceans not the cheapest magazine ever (£3.75/$5.95) - but with articles such as Aquaculture and Living Beneath The Ocean it virtually reads like a BP suppliment ! I can't give it a proper review yet having only flicked through it - but it looks pretty damned good :) Pete Rogers ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: pete rogers [peterogers@hotmail.com] Sent: Monday, February 08, 1999 9:39 AM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Character generation >>i find the randomness of char gen gets you to look at ideas that you >>may not have otherwise thought of -0 > > It can also prevent you from implementing a cool concept. Things get >even. >:) absolutely. and thats where we as the Gm have to earn our keep. its a fine line between giving them whatever they want (and thus closing their eyes to a potentialy great but different character) and enforcing the rules (possibly denying them a cool concept). its a damn fine line, but being a Gm ain't easy. poete rogers ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Jerome DARMONT [darmont@libd1.univ-bpclermont.fr] Sent: Monday, February 08, 1999 9:28 AM To: blue_planet@mpgn.com Subject: Re: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Character generation At 07:14 08/02/99 PST, pete rogers wrote: >i find the randomness of char gen gets you to look at ideas that you may >not have otherwise thought of -0 It can also prevent you from implementing a cool concept. Things get even. :) --------------------------------------------------------------------- Jerome DARMONT, LIMOS, Universite Blaise Pascal - Clermont-Ferrand II mailto:darmont@libd1.univ-bpclermont.fr http://altern.org/darmont/ ICQ:8759237 *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Ronald Johnson [ronjon@shore.net] Sent: Monday, February 08, 1999 9:59 AM To: blue_planet@TanSoft.COM Subject: Re: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Character generation A lurker surfaces... I'd give my players a great deal of flexibility in creating their characters. They could choose their skills in whatever order they wish, since it all comes out to basically the same in the end. I'd also like to give them a choice of rolling for stats or picking from a pool of points. Some beginning players are intimidated by having to purchase skills, and some advanced players don't want the random rolls. On Mon, 8 Feb 1999, Tun Kai Poh wrote: > Yeah, you have a point there. That tends to be the thing with RPG > systems. But not all of them - anybody here remember Feng Shui's rule > that you can change your character's stats after your first adventure if > you weren't satisfied with them? Yes! I will incorporate this into my (budding) Blue Planet game. It may not be the most realistic, but I tend to run a more cinematic game anyway. I'm also planning on using a variation of the FS "mook" rule. > Man, I miss Feng Shui. It may be coming back. Check out: http://www.innocence.com/fengshui/news/revival.html Cheers, Ron --- Ron Johnson Surf Poseidon! *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Heivilin, Jim [banzai@missouri.edu] Sent: Monday, February 08, 1999 11:47 AM To: 'list, blue planet' Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - Several Things (now that I have time) A couple of answers that have been waiting in the wings. 1) The distance I measured and remeasured and then double checked from Haven to Kingston is 2,714 km (so whoever offered 2750 was pretty damn close!). 2) When we (AFAIK) designed the vehicles we used common terminology from aircraft (and other vehicle) usage. Thus the term "range" implies operational range/radius which means "there and back" since not many pilots want to make a one way voyage (without refuel/landing at the other end). 3. Character Generation: What I do with characters I create (for playtesting usually) is to go into the process with at least some sort of character concept at the beginning. For me this usually means I've decided at least a couple of options on the profession as well as (usually) some sort of background/origin hook/idea. For the Red Sky Campaign it was the charter service and the thing was his uncle was missing. For the other playtest campaign what I decided to do for the character was based partially on what type of campaign we have and a basic idea of what the other players are doing. This way I don't pick someone who's useless in that campaign or doesn't have a plausible reason for hanging around with that group of characters. The hook for GEO Peacekeeper Captain Peotr Kasprov was that his mother was a retired GEO Navy Admiral (who just so happened to have commanded all GEO forces on Poseidon). And his father had died in a mysterious "accident" while providing close aerial support to a drug operation. So he wanted to find out what happened to his father and at the same time he has something to prove to his mother (her last words upon his graduation from the Academy - when she learned he was going ground forces - was to call her when he wanted to start his 'real' career). Having made these sorts of decisions before I start character generation makes it easier to pick the options and know what I want to spend my skill points on. Although that's a product of having been a role player for quite awhile. New players and/or GMs may have a little bit more difficulty with the concepts. Generally speaking the group(s) I play with are pretty lenient. If we're playing a system we don't all know the GM usually lets us tweak our characters the first couple of sessions so we can settle on something we want to play. Hope that helps. Jim H. Jim Heivilin, 882-5000 IATS Help Desk, University of Missouri mailto:banzai@missouri.edu http://www.missouri.edu/~ccbanzai *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Daniel Allard [dan@puente.jpl.nasa.gov] Sent: Monday, February 08, 1999 12:39 PM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Character generation > On Mon, 8 Feb 1999, Tun Kai Poh wrote: > > > Yeah, you have a point there. That tends to be the thing with RPG > > systems. But not all of them - anybody here remember Feng Shui's rule > > that you can change your character's stats after your first adventure if > > you weren't satisfied with them? > > Yes! I will incorporate this into my (budding) Blue Planet game. It may > not be the most realistic, but I tend to run a more cinematic game anyway. > I'm also planning on using a variation of the FS "mook" rule. I've incorporated both of these (the "mook" rules and changing stats) intoevery rpg I've played since I first got Feng Shui, to good effect. > > Man, I miss Feng Shui. > > It may be coming back. Check out: > http://www.innocence.com/fengshui/news/revival.html > > Cheers, > Ron Our fingers are seriously crossed. dan *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Greg Benage [gbenage@ix.netcom.com] Sent: Monday, February 08, 1999 6:37 PM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Several Things (now that I have time) -----Original Message----- From: Heivilin, Jim To: 'list, blue planet' Date: Monday, February 08, 1999 10:03 AM Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - Several Things (now that I have time) >2) When we (AFAIK) designed the vehicles we used common terminology from >aircraft (and other vehicle) usage. Thus the term "range" implies >operational range/radius which means "there and back" since not many pilots >want to make a one way voyage (without refuel/landing at the other end). Sadly, I wouldn't know common aviation terminology if it bit me in the trilobyte. As a result, the range of vehicles is, er, how far they can go before they need refueling. Greg Benage Biohazard Games *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Archangel Gabriel [angelgabriel@earthlink.net] Sent: Monday, February 08, 1999 4:52 PM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Humans and Ecological Destruction Paradoxically, this argues against the idea of eco-capitalism. The only way we have to enforce compliance with ecological law is to hamper our economy by crippling it with tariffs. Corporate law would have to change to allow the carrots and sticks we have been suggesting. Tariffs alone would hurt more than help, especially when it involves companies large enough to have armies of their own. So we are left with the options of cutting off our nose to spite our face, or redesigning the face to allow for a different kind of nose. (I'm not really sure where that analogy goes, and I don't know if I want to know.) Again the GEO is a perfectly practical answer, even though it's politically impossible until half the world population starves to death. Archangel -----Original Message----- From: Chris Sakal To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Date: Friday, February 05, 1999 10:33 PM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Humans and Ecological Destruction > Tariffs are not an easy or painless economic measure to use. Sure, any >government can tax any sort of import that it wants, but that will affect >the economy of the country as well and the company producing the product, >and the easiest thing for any corporation that finds itself locked out of a >market due to high tariffs to do is to simply sell elsewhere. > Not only that, but Tariffs are terrible for consumers, they encourage >domestic businesses to simply raise their prices since they face reduced >competition, which has a whole host of other effects. > Finally, they're a governmental regulation of economy, which means that >they can't move fast enough to keep up with a fast-paced world economy and >they're sure to be in place when they're not needed and probably to call >more regulatory legislation to support them that will cause problems >elsewhere. > > > > > Chris Sakal > csakal@erols.com *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Archangel Gabriel [angelgabriel@earthlink.net] Sent: Monday, February 08, 1999 4:56 PM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Humans and Ecological Destruction Eeeeeeeeeeeek!!!! A goverment agency to employ, adjust and regulate tariffs?!!! I don't know about you, but I don't think of our (American) government as being competent enough to regulate an overflow valve. This sounds like solving economic/ecologic conflicts by making the government bigger. Forgive the anti-big-government sentiment, I'm not looking for a political argument here. I just don't see how that kind of expense is worth it in the long run. Archangel -----Original Message----- From: Auberon To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Date: Saturday, February 06, 1999 12:32 AM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Humans and Ecological Destruction >Chris Sakal wrote: >> >> Tariffs are not an easy or painless economic measure to use. Sure, any >> government can tax any sort of import that it wants, but that will affect >> the economy of the country as well and the company producing the product, >> and the easiest thing for any corporation that finds itself locked out of a >> market due to high tariffs to do is to simply sell elsewhere. > >But the U.S. can afford it more, and for longer, than the underdeveloped >bits of the Pacific Rim. > >> Not only that, but Tariffs are terrible for consumers, they encourage >> domestic businesses to simply raise their prices since they face reduced >> competition, which has a whole host of other effects. > >Yes, but if the same company is also producing the same parts in a >country which doens't have tarriffs against it, they'll just import them >from there instead, and the tarriffs don't matter. Or another >multinational will have access to untarriffed parts, and that'll keep >the prices low. > What you're talking about here are unfocused tarriffs. I'm talking >about using them as more of a surgical measure. > >> Finally, they're a governmental regulation of economy, which means that >> they can't move fast enough to keep up with a fast-paced world economy and >> they're sure to be in place when they're not needed and probably to call >> more regulatory legislation to support them that will cause problems >> elsewhere. > >Which is why you build deactivating measures into the bill. The statute >would create an agency, or empower an existing agency, to inspect >countries and companies and exempt them from the tarriffs. The list of >nations and companies wouldn't be set in the bill, like they usually >are. That'd speed the response time tremendously. > >-- *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Archangel Gabriel [angelgabriel@earthlink.net] Sent: Monday, February 08, 1999 5:00 PM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Gene tampering - Avians Wow. Good question. How do humans deal with the crushingly stupid? Would genlifted pigs think their farmyard brethren were unbearable louts? Archangel >The idea of uplifting individuals in other species makes me wonder how >those individuals would interact with non-uplifted individuals of their >own species. Would they still socialize, even mate with them? ...gives a >whole new dimension to the question of beauty vs. intelligence:) >Also, would they be able to understand them better than humans do? > >Later, > >Eva >@@@(* > *)@@@ > > > >On Mon, 1 Feb 1999, pete rogers wrote: > >> >> Greetings one and all. >> >> I'm Pete Rogers - short time lurker, long time active poster on the >> Deadlands : Weird West listserv. I work in Birmingham UK as a software >> designer. >> >> Now that i'm done with the intro - i'll get to the point :) >> >> i'm not going to join the man: good or bad debate ? my opinion on that >> one isn't based on fact, only gut feeling so i feel myself massively >> underqualified to comment - much less rationally debate. >> i'm more of a concept kind of guy - i can't neccesarily back up things >> with science (which could be a problem in this forum :)) - i'm much >> better with techno babble. However, i will attempt to throw in a few >> concepts & enjoy kicking them around with you guys. >> >> i said i was going to get to the point didn't i ? sorry... >> >> the possibility of uplifting avians was raised - specifically Ravens and >> Parrots. Know down to purely physical dimensions this has been met with >> some understandable scepticism. However, using uplift techniques the >> unique abilities of birds could be well utilised - namely flight. given >> some degree of enhanced intellignence they would seem to make ideal >> spies, or even assasination weapons. small, fast and hard to target due >> to background clutter (ie other birds) a lone avian assassin trained to >> attack a target on sight would make a pretty damned hard to stop >> attacker. and providing this limited uplift technique was not overly >> expensive, the option may be cheaper than a high tech robotic. There are >> also countless other jobs a moderatley uplifted avian could perform - >> from routine observation (against poachers ? - armed with a cam that >> might slow down sunburst poaching) to litter collection. you're not >> likely to see an Avian schoolteacher or professor of history - but they >> wouldn't be beyond menial tasks. you could also expand this out beyond >> avians to just about any species with a particular useful asset ie >> strngth, co-ordination etc. and this in itself may lead to interesting >> social debate/trauma. resentment is created in society today by >> "immigrants coming over here and taking our jobs" (its in quotes so that >> means i don't agree ! :)) - how would they feel if that was a bird !? >> >> i know this idea doesn't lend itself to the more interesting nature of >> the whole uplift science and the concept of playing an uplifted cetacean >> (i don't particularly want to play a Raven assassin bird - well not for >> too long anyway :)) - but i thought i'd toss it in as an intro post. >> >> >> cheers >> >> pete rogers >> *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Auberon [fskln1@uaf.edu] Sent: Monday, February 08, 1999 4:28 PM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Character generation Ronald Johnson wrote: > > Yes! I will incorporate this into my (budding) Blue Planet game. It may > not be the most realistic, but I tend to run a more cinematic game anyway. > I'm also planning on using a variation of the FS "mook" rule. Okay, I give. What's the "mook" rule? -- +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= "I never get involved in my own life. It's too much trouble" - Michael Garibaldi (Babylon 5) *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Auberon [fskln1@uaf.edu] Sent: Monday, February 08, 1999 6:55 PM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Humans and Ecological Destruction Archangel Gabriel wrote: > > Paradoxically, this argues against the idea of eco-capitalism. The only way > we have to enforce compliance with ecological law is to hamper our economy > by crippling it with tariffs. Corporate law would have to change to allow > the carrots and sticks we have been suggesting. Tariffs alone would hurt > more than help, especially when it involves companies large enough to have > armies of their own. So we are left with the options of cutting off our > nose to spite our face, or redesigning the face to allow for a different > kind of nose. (I'm not really sure where that analogy goes, and I don't > know if I want to know.) Again, it's better than shrugging and saying "Can't do anything totally effective, might as well do nothing." > Again the GEO is a perfectly practical answer, even though it's politically > impossible until half the world population starves to death. So is the concept of corps with armies. -- +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= "I never get involved in my own life. It's too much trouble" - Michael Garibaldi (Babylon 5) *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Auberon [fskln1@uaf.edu] Sent: Monday, February 08, 1999 6:57 PM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Humans and Ecological Destruction Archangel Gabriel wrote: > > Eeeeeeeeeeeek!!!! A goverment agency to employ, adjust and regulate > tariffs?!!! I don't know about you, but I don't think of our (American) > government as being competent enough to regulate an overflow valve. This > sounds like solving economic/ecologic conflicts by making the government > bigger. Forgive the anti-big-government sentiment, I'm not looking for a > political argument here. I just don't see how that kind of expense is worth > it in the long run. Depends how you define "worth it". If you mean cheap, no. If you mean your grandkids being able to breathe... -- +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= "I never get involved in my own life. It's too much trouble" - Michael Garibaldi (Babylon 5) *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Tun Kai Poh [t_poh@hotmail.com] Sent: Monday, February 08, 1999 7:07 PM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Character generation Auberon said: >Okay, I give. What's the "mook" rule? "Mooks" are the nameless, faceless thugs of the action movie genre. In Feng Shui where the heroes often face waves of underskilled, faceless enemies, combat is simplified by not bothering to calculate damage to mooks. Instead, as long as a hero manages to hit a mook with a high enough roll, the mook is automatically eliminated. Any roll lower than that may be a near miss, or just a glancing blow, but has no game effect. Speeds things up enormously at the cost of realism, which is the point of cinematic rules. GURPS Black Ops incorporates a rule like this, as do some other games. But Robin Laws did it best in Feng Shui. Kai Poh ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Chris Sakal [csakal@erols.com] Sent: Monday, February 08, 1999 7:30 PM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Humans and Ecological Destruction >Depends how you define "worth it". If you mean cheap, no. If you mean >your grandkids being able to breathe... Please name a single government program other than a war or the Marshall plan that actually did what it was supposed to for a price that even resembled what was budgeted for it. Chris Sakal csakal@erols.com *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Chris Sakal [csakal@erols.com] Sent: Monday, February 08, 1999 7:31 PM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Humans and Ecological Destruction >Again, it's better than shrugging and saying "Can't do anything totally >effective, might as well do nothing." Not necessarily. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, sometimes the greatest wisdom is to know when to leave something alone. Chris Sakal csakal@erols.com *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Gordon Crookston [gordoncr@sympatico.ca] Sent: Monday, February 08, 1999 8:28 PM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Questions: 1) What kind of poisons work/don't work against cetaceans? Is there a special course needed to know how or where to... oh let's say... stab a cetacean for maximum effect. Do self-defense courses cover how to fight a dolphin? 2) The "gear" section of the BP book mentions a "gun-link" modification. It also says that marshals have a special program loaded into their brains that lets them NEVER miss. Is that supposed to be true? Do BP Marshals never miss? *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Gordon Crookston [gordoncr@sympatico.ca] Sent: Monday, February 08, 1999 8:39 PM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Humans and Ecological Destruction At 16:55 99/02/08 -0600, you wrote: >Eeeeeeeeeeeek!!!! A goverment agency to employ, adjust and regulate >tariffs?!!! I don't know about you, but I don't think of our (American) >government as being competent enough to regulate an overflow valve. Well they seem to be trying with other countries (namely Canada...). BTW, this has nothing to do with anything. Ignore it if it offends you. *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Auberon [fskln1@uaf.edu] Sent: Monday, February 08, 1999 9:32 PM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Humans and Ecological Destruction Chris Sakal wrote: > > >Again, it's better than shrugging and saying "Can't do anything totally > >effective, might as well do nothing." > Not necessarily. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, > sometimes the greatest wisdom is to know when to leave something alone. But this conversation started with Jim the ecologist telling us that wasn't going to cut it. The road to hell is also better than road to our extinction. -- +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= "I never get involved in my own life. It's too much trouble" - Michael Garibaldi (Babylon 5) *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Auberon [fskln1@uaf.edu] Sent: Monday, February 08, 1999 9:31 PM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Humans and Ecological Destruction Chris Sakal wrote: > > >Depends how you define "worth it". If you mean cheap, no. If you mean > >your grandkids being able to breathe... > Please name a single government program other than a war or the Marshall > plan that actually did what it was supposed to for a price that even > resembled what was budgeted for it. Did I ever say it'd be free, or even cheap? The question is one of priorities. If yours is money, then this particular scheme isn't for you. I'd gladly consider any reasonable alternative you'd care to offer. -- +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= "I never get involved in my own life. It's too much trouble" - Michael Garibaldi (Babylon 5) *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message.