From: Adam Lewis [adamswork@yahoo.com] Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 1999 11:42 AM To: blue_planet@lists.imagiconline.com Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - [project] Guidelines Great, we have at least a handful of people and anyone from the list can input their opinion anytime they like. We should try to tag our messages with something, I used "project" this time, so those not interested can skip the message. I would like to follow the example set by Biohazards convention adventures, that is, minimal dice mechanics. In the games I've played, ran by Jeff, there were really few times I needed to even look at my character sheet. Other than the bio info needed to be "in character" the stats rarely were an issue. This is good, considering there will most likely be players that are unfamiliar with RPGs. In order to minimize dice rolling, combats should be short encounters and have a large safety margin (no PC deaths). What to do about dolphins/orcas? I'm undecided on this one. It would be nice to show off this unique aspect of BP, but it can also be a hassle and hard to write an adventure that doesn't alienate that PC. (Sorta like deckers in Shadowrun, not that bad, but similiar) Questions: 1) Does anyone disagree about short combats? 2) Anyone disagree with "safe" encounters? 3) What do think about including dolphin/orca PCs? We really need to answer #3 before we can discuss plots, since it will affect the location of the adventure. Thx, AdamL __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Kevin C. Gerl [Kevin.Gerl@sdrc.com] Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 1999 7:23 AM To: blue_planet@lists.imagiconline.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Convention project Trajan@frontiernet.net wrote: > > *Lurk: disengaged* > > I'm "interested" as well. Also de-lurking: I'm in. Kevin -- Kevin C. Gerl I don't know anything, I just hear things. And what I hear is not necessarily true. *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Michael Czaplinski [MCzaplinski@NPR.ORG] Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 1999 12:04 PM To: blue_planet@lists.imagiconline.com Subject: RE: [BLUE PLANET] - [project] Guidelines > From: Adam Lewis [mailto:adamswork@yahoo.com] [snip] > I would like to follow the example set by Biohazards > convention adventures, that is, minimal dice > mechanics. I agree in principle, but see below. > In the games I've played, ran by Jeff, there were > really few times I needed to even look at my character > sheet. Other than the bio info needed to be "in > character" the stats rarely were an issue. This is > good, considering there will most likely be players > that are unfamiliar with RPGs. Agreed, but let us not go too far down the path of avoiding the mechanics for task resolution. Otherwise, the game can simply become the GM leading the PC's down a preset path, and that can get old pretty quick. Another motive for judicious use of the mechanics is that tournament games are also, in many ways, commercials for the game, and you want to use the mechanics enough to give people a feel for them and, hopefully, inspire them to go out after the tournament and buy the game rules. > In order to minimize dice rolling, combats should be > short encounters and have a large safety margin (no PC > deaths). Though I agree with minimizing combat (since the BP combat system is pretty quick & deadly), there is no reason to take any great pains to make it 'safe'; Poseidon can be a violent world, both due to the action of the biosphere and the actions of the colonists. Even if it is a short scenario, the spectre of PC death has to be real enough to help generate dramatic tension. > What to do about dolphins/orcas? I'm undecided on > this one. It would be nice to show off this unique > aspect of BP, but it can also be a hassle and hard to > write an adventure that doesn't alienate that PC. > (Sorta like deckers in Shadowrun, not that bad, but > similiar) Well, we all know how *I* feel on this matter....;-) Seriously, though: this is a very good point, and one that I tried to take into consideration when I made my adventure proposal. In fact, when I first tried to write it, I wanted to ONLY include 'phins or Orca's as PC's, but shied away from it because roleplaying a non-human intelligence can be challenging for us puny humans, and wanted to include some humans to give a wider variation of PC's, but I also wanted to write up an adventure that would take almost entirely underwater (what better way to show off the virtues of an RPG setting that is more than 90% ocean?). MikeC *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Kintaro Oe [kabael@bu.edu] Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 1999 12:20 PM To: blue_planet@lists.imagiconline.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Convention project >When finished, we'll have an official Tidewater Grill >adventure for anyone to run. > >Anyone interested? I'm interested, but in what format do you want to do it? kabael kabael@bu.edu ICQ #24193592 "See this watch she gave me? It still ticks away." -eels, Elizabth on the Bathroom Floor my friends and my creations: http://members.xoom.com/McGuffins/ the Thirteenth Legion: http://come.to/dvie *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Kintaro Oe [kabael@bu.edu] Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 1999 12:38 PM To: blue_planet@lists.imagiconline.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - [project] Guidelines >1) Does anyone disagree about short combats? nope. Combat is supposed to be short, sweet, and deadly IMHO. >2) Anyone disagree with "safe" encounters? Yes. I don't like to pad an adventure, especially in BP where Poseidon is such a major obstacle. Man vs. Nature and all that. >3) What do think about including dolphin/orca PCs? Hmm. Could be interesting. Maybe something invovling the Church of the Whalesong? I would like to see more work done on that, that's for sure. kabael kabael@bu.edu ICQ #24193592 "See this watch she gave me? It still ticks away." -eels, Elizabth on the Bathroom Floor my friends and my creations: http://members.xoom.com/McGuffins/ the Thirteenth Legion: http://come.to/dvie *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Sean Michael Whipkey [highway@cstone.net] Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 1999 12:43 PM To: blue_planet@lists.imagiconline.com Subject: RE: [BLUE PLANET] - [project] Guidelines At 01:03 PM 9/29/99 -0400, Michael Czaplinski wrote: >Even if it is a short scenario, the spectre of PC death >has to be real enough to help generate dramatic tension. That's a good point. In the Deadlands scenarios we ran at GenCon, once the PCs realized that they could - and would - die if they were stupid, most of them stopped doing stupid things. I still had one party lose over half their group, and they loved it. :) SeanMike -- SeanMike Whipkey - Cornerstone Networks Engineering - highway@cstone.net Report received spam to: spam-report@cstone.net with the full headers Cornerstone Networks - 804.817.7000 or 800.325.9848 - http://www.cstone.net "Paratroopers are not an oppressed minority" - David Drake *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Adam Lewis [adamswork@yahoo.com] Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 1999 2:32 PM To: blue_planet@lists.imagiconline.com Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - [project] Plots A lot of people haven't had a chance to respond yet, but from what I've read so far, short combats are Good but they should not be padded. Ok. I'm not sure of the best way for us to discuss plots. We certainly don't suffer from lack of ideas, thanks to Access Denied, and an amazing setting. The first thing I can think of is to just submit a _short_, general idea for an adventure. We'll give it a week or so, and I'll collect the plots as they come to the list. By then we'll have a dozen or so ideas and we can figure out a way for us to all agree on one. Maybe someone can post them on a site or I can simply make a Word file. This adventure is a group project, so please just send a general idea of your plot. We can all write our own adventures, but that's not the point here. Example: A new space station is becoming operational in two days, the PCs work on the station and are caught in the middle of a sabatage attempt. (The basic plot of an Alternity adventure) That leaves all the details to the group, the way it should be. Any better ideas? Thx, AdamL __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Heivilin, Jim [banzai@missouri.edu] Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 1999 3:02 PM To: 'blue_planet@lists.imagiconline.com' Subject: RE: [BLUE PLANET] - [project] Guidelines > -----Original Message----- > From: Adam Lewis [mailto:adamswork@yahoo.com] > Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - [project] Guidelines > > Questions: > > 1) Does anyone disagree about short combats? > Nothing is more of a turn off than a long drawn out tedious combat with a system you aren't familiar with. Short is better. It also helps since you often (from our perspective) have to fit it into a four hour block. Less time for combat (unless the situation warrants it such as the Deep Sh*t scenario) means more time for storytelling. > 2) Anyone disagree with "safe" encounters? > If often leads to cool stories later (both for us and for the players) if combat leads to player character death where the story demands (from a storytelling perspective or because the player did something "dumb"). > 3) What do think about including dolphin/orca PCs? > Role playing a cetacean character can be very challenging. And it might detract from the enjoyment (for that player and the others) if it's really just a human in a dolphin suit. I've only seen two players who could do a cetacean well and I know for a fact that in one case he had splurged at Dalton's and had a stack of books on cetaceans as high as my desk. Remember, just my 0.02cs rather than Biohazard Position(tm). Jim H. -- Jim Heivilin, 884-3898, IAT Services, Systems & Applications Group -- University of Missouri, mailto:banzai@missouri.edu *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Chris Stilson [crazycat@orcalink.com] Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 1999 7:00 PM To: blue_planet@lists.imagiconline.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Convention project Sounds good to me. -- Chris Stilson Subject matter of the Underwater Survival of Aquaforms thread *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Chris Stilson [crazycat@orcalink.com] Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 1999 7:04 PM To: blue_planet@lists.imagiconline.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - [project] Guidelines > I still had one party lose over half their group, and they loved it. :) Sounds identical to the group I'm in... there are 3 people who really care about their characters (I'm one of them) and everyone else dies at least once per session. -- Chris the S. *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Ankfix@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 1999 9:59 PM To: blue_planet@lists.imagiconline.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - [project] Plots In a message dated 9/29/99 3:37:18 PM Eastern Daylight Time, adamswork@yahoo.com writes: > Example: > > A new space station is becoming operational in two > days, the PCs work on the station and are caught in > the middle of a sabatage attempt. (The basic plot of > an Alternity adventure) Hmm, this seems a little too space oriented for a BP adventure. Perhaps we could move it to an undersea station, perhaps a new undersea mining facility. This would allow for the use of cetacean PC's and show of the wonders of Poseidon's natural side. It would also leave the door open for some aborigine involvement (not needed, but certainly something to keep in mind, what with the abbies being so prominent in the BP scheme of things.) And, the use of a mining or other industrial station as the setting could introduce the complex conflicts among the different corps and the GEO, also an important part of the BP universe. > That leaves all the details to the group, the way it > should be. > > Any better ideas? Only what I mentioned above. Oh, and my vote goes to involving cetaceans in some way, even if only as NPC's. - Fixer :-) *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Tun Kai Poh [t_poh@hotmail.com] Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 1999 10:35 PM To: blue_planet@lists.imagiconline.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - [project] Guidelines >I would like to follow the example set by Biohazards >convention adventures, that is, minimal dice >mechanics. I am all for this. >Questions: > >1) Does anyone disagree about short combats? Nope. >2) Anyone disagree with "safe" encounters? Yes. We should not rule out deadly situations for a con scenario. After all, players use pregens in con games, so they're less attached to the character and won't get mad if they die. Call of Cthulhu con games would be an extreme example of this. We may want to have a chance of player character death in the finale, just to make things interesting. >3) What do think about including dolphin/orca PCs? Just include one or two as NPCs to show off that aspect of the game. If this game is to be accessible to newbies, we shouldn't have any playable dolphins or orcas. Even experienced gamers I know have had trouble with cetacean characters. Kai Poh Malaysian Lagomorph ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Chris Stilson [crazycat@orcalink.com] Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 1999 10:45 PM To: blue_planet@lists.imagiconline.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - [project] Plots > Perhaps we could move it to an undersea station, perhaps a new undersea mining facility. > This would allow for the use of cetacean PC's and show of the wonders of > Poseidon's natural side. It would also leave the door open for some aborigine > involvement (not needed, but certainly something to keep in mind, what with > the abbies being so prominent in the BP scheme of things.) And, the use of a > mining or other industrial station as the setting could introduce the complex > conflicts among the different corps and the GEO, also an important part of > the BP universe. RE: That sounds good. That'd be something I, personally, would want to play. I'd offer my current BP character as an NPC for who sabotaged the place (if it is a case of sabotage), except that he's created in CORPS and considering what his current track record is he won't be able to get a good inside job until he gets a new fake ID. Besides, I don't want him getting officially killed off by anyone... :) *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message.