From: Daniel Allard [dan@puente.jpl.nasa.gov] Sent: Wednesday, 13 May, 1998 12:32 To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Game Supplements > 1) It should set the background.. > 2) I know a lot of supplements which lack atmosphere... > 3) A lot of hooks should be provided... > 4) NPCs should be described, but the focus should be on more "common people" I'd like to second that these are all excellent points; as an example, one of the best RPG supplements around is the Throal book for Earthdawn. This supplement contains adventure hooks in just about every section of the book, tons of NPC descriptions (of people that the characters are acutally going to interact with), lots of background description, atmosphere, etc. Of course it helps that it was written by Robin Laws, but it's good because he stuck to the principles listed above. Not that it's even vaguely appropriate for BP, of course, it's just a good example of how to put a RPG supplement together. (And while I'm piping up here, just wanted to say, hi Andrew R., welcome to the BP list; you'll find that the flame level is pretty low around here. Methinks that the Earthdawn list is showing it's age...) dan "no Windling Nethermancers around here though" allard *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Max Kalus [max.kalus@student.uni-augsburg.de] Sent: Wednesday, 13 May, 1998 12:03 To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Game Supplements Kevin C. Carpenter wrote: > I don't think it should be taken that people can't continue to enjoy > Blue Planet without new supplements, but that new supplements are fun to > read, systematically useful and also helpful economically to the game's > success. For that to be true, I think that a new supplement should have following qualities:1) It should set the background... the stage, in which the game will be run 2) I know a lot of supplements which lack atmosphere. I think that is important. Something like the "Poseidon: A Survival Guide" is very nice to have, as it makes you "feel" the gameworld as something real, not as some abstract data, which you have to forcibly make come alive (not that I like data and statistics as side notes... especially, a science fiction rpg should incorporate some numbers about demographics or planetary data). 3) A lot of hooks should be provided (like the Access Denied sections), and not too many worked-out adventures 4) NPCs should be described, but the focus should be on more "common people", especially if stats are provided, I think. To have the stats of the president of the USA or the chairman of Chrysler-Daimler-Benz is not too useful in most circumstances, although descriptions of those are very useable (at least for news in the gameworld). A barman or a street punk is often useful to have worked out in detail, on the other hand. Naturally, YMMV! Max Kalus. *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: BIOHZD [BIOHZD@aol.com] Sent: Wednesday, 13 May, 1998 17:36 To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Game Supplements Hey All, A recent post listed some preferred features for RPG supplements: > 1) It should set the background.. > 2) I know a lot of supplements which lack atmosphere... > 3) A lot of hooks should be provided... > 4) NPCs should be described, but the focus should be on more "common people" If this is what you are expecting out of Archipelago, you will most definately *not* be dissappointed! ; ) Jeff Barber 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: Reggie [rqlii@yahoo.com] Sent: Wednesday, 13 May, 1998 17:59 To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Game Supplements ---BIOHZD wrote: > > Hey All, > > A recent post listed some preferred features for RPG supplements: > > > 1) It should set the background.. > > 2) I know a lot of supplements which lack atmosphere... > > 3) A lot of hooks should be provided... > > 4) NPCs should be described, but the focus should be on more "common people" > > If this is what you are expecting out of Archipelago, you will most definately > *not* be dissappointed! ; ) > > Jeff Barber > Biohazard Games > I am looking forward to the Archi release, however being the tech kinda person I am, I can't wait *push* *push* for Wetware *nudge* *nudge* to come out as well. :) Although the design staff probably needs time in a regeneration tank by now. Daque Kendall (Diver Genie) Licensed Warden "Too much is never, never enough" ---Old radio blurb. _________________________________________________________ DO YOU YAHOO!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.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: Heivilin, Jim [banzai@missouri.edu] Sent: Wednesday, 13 May, 1998 18:10 To: 'blue_planet@MPGN.COM' Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - Game Supplements (hardware one) > -----Original Message----- > From: Reggie [mailto:rqlii@yahoo.com] > I am looking forward to the Archi release, however being the tech > kinda person I am, I can't wait *push* *push* for Wetware *nudge* > *nudge* to come out as well. :) Although the design staff probably > needs time in a regeneration tank by now. > FYI. This one will (I believe) be called "Fluid Dynamics" since the other title was linked to a couple other things that might have cause copyright problems. (I think that name is way cooler, but then I'm an Aero Engineer) Jim Jim Heivilin, Webmaster Biohazard Games ccbanzai@showme.missouri.edu http://www.biohazardgames.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: Greg Benage [gbenage@ix.netcom.com] Sent: Wednesday, 13 May, 1998 20:08 To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Game Supplements (hardware one) -----Original Message----- From: Heivilin, Jim To: 'blue_planet@MPGN.COM' Date: Wednesday, May 13, 1998 5:24 PM Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - Game Supplements (hardware one) >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Reggie [mailto:rqlii@yahoo.com] > >> I am looking forward to the Archi release, however being the tech >> kinda person I am, I can't wait *push* *push* for Wetware *nudge* >> *nudge* to come out as well. :) Although the design staff probably >> needs time in a regeneration tank by now. >> >FYI. This one will (I believe) be called "Fluid Dynamics" since the >other title was linked to a couple other things that might have cause >copyright problems. Actually, it's "Fluid Mechanics." Same difference. ;-) Greg Benage Biohazard Games www.biohazardgames.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: erprost@students.wisc.edu Sent: Wednesday, 13 May, 1998 19:48 To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Game Supplements (hardware one) You guys taking requests for the tech book yet? A vehicle design system would be real nice. :) *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message.