From: Troy Gustavel [troy_nevermore@yahoo.com] Sent: Thursday, September 28, 2000 12:05 AM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Sourcebook possibilities... Here are some of the supplements I would like to see Cetateans - while I realise many people don't emphasize cetaceans much, they are one of, if not the most, unique facet of the blue planet setting and should be given the deluxe treatment. such a supplement would include psychology, culture, and behavior for cetateans both on poseiden and on earth. what employment opportunities are available to cetaceans, bios of some prominent and famous fins and orcas, even more cetacean tech, how various human groups view them, an in depth treatment of the problems a player of a cetacean faces, more background packages, and -of course- details of whalesong theogony. Incorporate - based on what is in the core books, I find myself still unclear on the different "personalities" of the major incorporate powers on poseiden. the book should have a general overview of the status of incorporate states, how the GEO and independent nations view them, some generically applicable guidlines for using incorporates, perhaps incorporate specific background packages and character options, and then an in-depth article on each incorporate, covering it's practices, products, major facilities on both worlds, major subsidiaries, suspected plans for the future, and so on. While corporate supplements are somewhat common in near future games, corporations have such a major and profound effect on the setting that they must be given major treatment to flesh out the setting. For an excellent example of such a supplement from another game, I recomend "Corporate download" for Shadowrun by FASA. This book did more to bring alive the shadowrun setting for me than any other resource FASA has put out and would be an excellent model for the incorporate. IMO. World of Hurt - another "must do" supplement. The core books simply leave too many unaswered questions about earth. This book could be as large as the core books and still not cover everything. It should have details of the GEO organization, the UN and the coming power struggle between them. sections devoted to each major national power on earth, this would be the place to put material on hybrids and the reservations, and a chapter on earths devestated enviroment and it's effects. Frontier Justice - Instead of an entire supplement on the GEO, I would put most of the organizational detail on it in the earth book above, and then do this book which covers both the GEO on poseiden and poseiden's criminal element. It seems necessary to include both the law on poseiden (the GEO) and the criminal element in one book. It should probably include more details on the marshals and the GEO justice system as it functions on poseiden, as well as criminal activities from smuggling food and guns to native insurgents, boat theft, the drug trade, and, of course, the Gorcheffs (sp?). Natives - covering each class of native, insurgents, isolationists, collaborators, etc... some sample villages would be good, with posibly some that don't really resemble the earth polynesian analogy. Native trade and politics should be addressed, what various groups are doing to protect their way of life, from fighting to passive resistance to lobbying. Newcomer - so what the heck does the "average joe" that comes to poseiden do? with all the varient human types and special interest groups, we sometimes loose track of the normal. What are newcommer settlements like, how do they get along with various types of natives, the GEO, the Abos, what do THEY think of earth and the incorporate now. Space - A single supplement that covers luna, mars, belters, the various space stations, space combat :), what life is like in space, what spacers think about both worlds, what kind of trade really goes on between the two worlds and space. What are BP spaceships like, how big a presence do the incorporates have. Underwater - not sure about this one. Although details of subsurface habitats, long john mining, not to mention ocean floor maps and so on would be nice, I'm not sure if there is enough information for an entire seperate book. On the other hand, I don't know where else you would put that information. Bestiary - if you can pull together a books worth of biologically believable critters that fit into poseiden's ecology, absolutly. and it would have a chapter or two devoted to the aborigines of course. Adventures - I also would like to see a few, but just a few, published, lengthy adventures. I find myself at a loss as to what direction to take a blue planet game. A book that has a general, but detailed outline of a long term campaign with guidlines for specific adventures is what I am looking for. As a reference chack out "blood in the Boardroom" for shadowrun and "Night Below" for AD&D I would avoid trying to detail poseiden by geographic location like so many settings do, BP just doesn't have enough to justify it outside of undercurrents. Also, a note on tech. I don't know what Fluid Mechanics is going to be like, but I found the equipment descriptions in the player's guide WAY too general. distill the main stats for equipment into a conveinent table, give us some variety and brand names. With as rich a setting as blue planet has we should not have to buy a generic hydrofoil, we should be buying the "Atlas Materials Greater White Sport Hydrofoil" or the "Lavender Organics Designer Multigland". that's all the comments I can think of for now, great game, bye. ===== Troy Gustavel 5825 Bolender Rd. Akron, OH 44319 (330)882 5468 Troy_Nevermore@Yahoo.com "Once upon a midnight dreary..." __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send instant messages & get email alerts with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com/ *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Ml10@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 11:41 PM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Sourcebook possibilities... In a message dated Wed, 27 Sep 2000 6:19:21 PM Eastern Daylight Time, brian_ferrenz@americanchemistry.com writes: << GMing is an art, and as such is different for everyone. I think published scenarios are akin to color-by-numbers. Not for the experienced painter, but good for someone who has never picked up a brush before.>> Good published scenarios offer 3 important things to the experienced GM: 1) Saves set up time. 2) Gives the GM a change of pace. I don't know about anyone else, but I do tend to get stuck in ruts when running games. My plots become predicatable and the players act accordingly. 3) Gives the experienced GM several plot hooks to further develope. *Possible spoliers for Natural Instinct below* 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 I ran my players through Natural Instinct. At the end they left Junior alive on the island (they took off without even saying good bye). They also pissed off two Incorps and stole some military hardware. This opens up entire plot lines that I will be exploiting soon. If a Gendiver exec was fired or demoted due to his mishandling of the situation, would he seek revenge? Is either Incorp comfortable with a group of unknowns knowing what went down on the island? What do the PCs know? Who do they work for? What were they doing on the island? Can they be used as pawns? Mike Z *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Christopher Gribbon [c.gribbon@dundee.ac.uk] Sent: Thursday, September 28, 2000 5:24 AM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Sourcebook possibilities... >><< GMing is an art, and as such is different for >>everyone. I think published scenarios are akin to >>color-by-numbers. Not for the experienced painter, >>but good for someone who has never picked up a brush >>before.>> > >Good published scenarios offer 3 important things >to the experienced GM: >1) Saves set up time. >2) Gives the GM a change of pace. I don't know about anyone else, but I do tend to get >stuck in ruts when running games. My plots become predicatable and the >players act accordingly. >3) Gives the experienced GM several plot hooks to > further develope. I agree. I do tend to use published scenarios occasionally in my campaigns - just not exactly as written. I steal bits, change bits, add bits and remove bits. It's easier to use pre-done locations (even such things as warehouses and dockyards) that good maps already exist for. I can usually add the scenarios into a campaign I am in the middle of running, without too much of a "bump". If I'm short on time, it's a *hell* of a lot easier. They often make good springboards as the start to a campaign. Etc. etc. Plus, generally I like reading them - even if I'll never use them. Christopher Gribbon Vision Research Laboratories Medical Sciences Institute University of Dundee Dundee DD1 5EH UK (01382) 344 229 ____________________________________________________________________ "A scientist is meant to be disinterested, pure; his ambition merely to descry the cement of the universe. He isn't meant to use it to start laying his own patio!" - WILL SELF, The Quantity Theory of Insanity *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Kevin L. Nault [jskln1@uas.alaska.edu] Sent: Thursday, September 28, 2000 8:36 PM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Sourcebook possibilities... Christopher Gribbon wrote: > > I agree. I do tend to use published scenarios occasionally in my campaigns - just not exactly > as written. I steal bits, change bits, add bits and remove bits. > It's easier to use pre-done locations (even such things as warehouses and dockyards) that > good maps already exist for. But there are lots of suppliments for other games that include dockside warehouses, dockyards, etc. - just pick one of them up (Shadowrun or 1930s Cthulhu should have good stuff). The way I look at it is, every minute our Beneficent Leaders spend writing an adventure suppliment is one more minute I have to wait for real source material. This is PAINFUL! > I can usually add the scenarios into a campaign I am in the middle of running, without too > much of a "bump". If I'm short on time, it's a *hell* of a lot easier. > They often make good springboards as the start to a campaign. > > Plus, generally I like reading them - even if I'll never use them. Don't get me wrong - the more examples available of what the writers of a game think is a good adventure for it, the better. But as I said, I'd prefer more source material. *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message.