From: dpink@chill.org Sent: Tuesday, December 08, 1998 5:35 PM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Undercurrents 6 & 7 >>1. On the list-serve, and in the various reviews and other public forums, >>there has been almost no discussion of the hybrids presented in the BP >>universe - virtually none. I find this a little strange considering the >>enthusiasm that has been shown for the cetaceans. As a result, I am >curious as >>to what the list thinks about the whole hybrid thing. Do you guys dig/dislike >>their presence in the BP universe? Do you use them in your games? As PCs or >>NPCs? Are they an active part of your backstories even if your players to not >>play them? I use hybrids because I love 'em! I just wish tere was more info on them, such as cultural info, or even (as someone else asked) do cats act catlike? *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: dpink@chill.org Sent: Tuesday, December 08, 1998 5:34 PM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Undercurrents 6 & 7 Anyway, we thought it might be >B> neat to formalize this theme thing - maybe just for the next couple issues, >B> maybe for good. An excellent idea! Themes help to give purpose and coherence to the issue - here's an adventure idea, and here's some tech that is perfect for it, and here's the new monster you'll encounter in this setting, and hre's the bad guy you might meet. All the elements of the issue can be connected that way (around the adventure), or just on a theme, like the hydroshot. Either way it makes finding the info easier bacause you'll just need to find the fast fungus issue, not the issue with Mr Smith, Bad Guy Esq. in it. I vote for a aborigines issue! *************************************************************************** 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@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, December 09, 1998 12:55 AM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Undercurrents 6 & 7 Hey Auberon, You respond: >>>>I wouldn't want to see it done to the point where the issue was completely useless if the theme I fully agree... >>>>A lot of the things that we've seen so far are either pretty exclusively oriented at people Again, I agree - hence the plans for UC 6 & 7. >>>>It'd just be kinda cool to see a setting or scenario where humans are the bastard stepchildren Well said ; ). >>>>I think that part of this, for me anyway, is why play a human in a funny suit when you can play something totally other? Curious - that is exactly *why* I like the hybrids. Our intention is that they are exactly human, with only the same physical (sort of) and social differences as exist between any number of cultures on Earth today. I love them as a chance to explore predjudice, bigotry, nobility and tolerance in that special way unique to science fiction. The hydrids are the "new minority" and as such are, IMO, great roleplaying and story material. Hybrids are a great mechanism for exploring relevant and emotional themes in a our BP adventures. >>>> While I'm on the subject, tho, when given their own space, do hybrids live like "normal" humans? Do they invite the presence of other modis, or chimps? What about culture? I seem to remember that they're remnants of a supersoldier program, but whose? Or have they invented their own social standards? Sorry - you'll need to wait until UC 6 ; (. >>>>He was *very* unhappy on the one occasion when he had to swim for it. Hey - a lot of big cat species *love* the water! >>>>What about an all-cetacean combat unit? Hey then - get to work! >>>>As for the themes thing, one I'd like to see is issues themed around theGEO, or the various Incorporates That's a good suggestion. I also am thinking about issues about Ecoterrorists, Prosperity Station and life in a seafloor habitat. From the Depths, 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: Tun Kai Poh [t_poh@hotmail.com] Sent: Tuesday, December 08, 1998 11:56 PM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Undercurrents 6 & 7 >I've been sitting here working on Undercurrents #5, and as is inevitable, I've >begun thinking about future issues. For a while now I thought it would be cool >to have a theme for each UC, where all the issue's features, at least in part, >explore a single aspect of the BP universe. I think it would be a great idea. There should always be a few odd bits that don't have to do with the theme to balance things out, so that people who aren't interested in the theme of the season don't feel totally left out. I think somebody else also suggested this. >1. On the list-serve, and in the various reviews and other public forums, >there has been almost no discussion of the hybrids presented in the BP >universe - virtually none. I find this a little strange considering the >enthusiasm that has been shown for the cetaceans. As a result, I am curious as >to what the list thinks about the whole hybrid thing. Do you guys dig/dislike >their presence in the BP universe? Do you use them in your games? As PCs or >NPCs? Are they an active part of your backstories even if your players to not >play them? An extended clan of cat hybrids living in Nomad was used as one of the principal antagonist groups during my Blue Planet campaign of '97-'98. Most of them hired their services out as mercs, and became rivals of the player characters, who were also "professional casualties" working out of Nomad. However, towards the second half of the the campaign, "Hurricane Season," the characters managed to make peace with the cats and eventually ended up fighting a mutual enemy on their behalf in the finale. One player who'd gotten his character killed just before the last session even chose to take an NPC member of the cat merc family as his new character! >2. We know that cetacean characters and culture have become a favorite of BP >players, so we would therefore like to request and encourage submissions for >the cetacean issue from you. Articles, equipment, NPCs, scenarios, anything >the will add to the culture and playability of orcas and dolphins in BP. In >fact, we are so interested creating an anticipated and useful treatment of >this popular topic that we are planning on making UC #7 a special double issue >- you know, a real whale of a newsletter. ; p Hmm. While I used to be a big Bataku otaku, I'm much more into the dolphins of Blue Planet. Maybe it's finally time to unleash Human the Dolphin on this list; he's the only NPC I ever represented on the gaming table with a kit-bashed beanie baby... 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: BIOHZD@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, December 09, 1998 12:55 AM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Undercurrents 6 & 7 Hey Disturbance, You write: >>>>I found the hybrids fascinating. I've worked up a few NPCs for a Rogues' Gallery, including a hybrid pilot with a vendetta against one of the Incorps, and a native healer, that I'd be happy to contribute if you're looking for NPC submissions. We are always looking for submissions to UC - especially in light of the Hybrid issue! Jeff Barber Biohazard Games aka. Ethan "Monkey Boy" Merriweather Parttime guide, Warden-at-large and full time Sylvan *************************************************************************** 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@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, December 09, 1998 12:56 AM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Undercurrents 6 & 7 Hey Kevin, You write: >>>>Even though I'm curious to see more about the hybrids, my own personal opinion on them was lukewarm at best, mostly because they seemed to stick out among the rest of the backdrop, like they didn't quite belong there. Maybe it's because they don't belong. Hybrids are artifical creations. Not having evolved, they have no natural habitat and so it makes a kind of sense that they stick out, no matter where they are. >>>>reason is that cats and apes (IMHO) clash with the watery, alien setting of Poseidon. Well, a lot of big cat species*dig* water ; ), and Hybrids seem pretty alien to me ; ). Thanks for the input, Jeff Barber Chairman, Hybrid Anti-Defamation League *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Timothy Brandis [brandis@ece.orst.edu] Sent: Thursday, December 10, 1998 8:09 PM To: blue_planet@MPGN.COM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Undercurrents 6 & 7 Dear Jeff and all, Some of my thoughts about the questions you recently asked. On Mon, 7 Dec 1998 BIOHZD@aol.com wrote: > > What does the list think of this idea? I think the idea is an excellent one. It might be nice to have an issue dedicated to the far side of the planet. We have a fair bit of knowledge about the archipelago but next to nothing regarding what lies beyond. What does lie out beyond the Here be Dragons markers. How much native and incorprate presense is out there. I imagine running a game out there would be kind of like being stranded on the far side of the moon. You are so far outside the reach of anyone that the only thing to do in a situation might be to kiss it all good by. > 1. On the list-serve, and in the various reviews and other public forums, > there has been almost no discussion of the hybrids presented in the BP > universe - virtually none. I find this a little strange considering the > enthusiasm that has been shown for the cetaceans. As a result, I am curious as > to what the list thinks about the whole hybrid thing. Do you guys dig/dislike > their presence in the BP universe? Do you use them in your games? As PCs or > NPCs? Are they an active part of your backstories even if your players to not > play them? I would say my feelings towards than are ambivalent. I think that the back story is good. Selling themselves into servitude and the eventual transportation of most of them to the reservation is a good story and gives them depth beyond your normal cyberpunk hybrid stories. What I would find interesting would be to see you address the question, would a created race develop there own culture out of whole cloth or would they try and retain the culture that they possessed before they were altered? I see this as the fundamental conflict in Bright Savanna. I imagine that there are people that want to create a new culture and those that want to be thought of as humans with different skin and try to hold onto there original culture. The fact that the hybrids did not originally come from one culture and one value set would make a community of them problematic. The service to the GEO would give them a sense of community but with out the GEO's rigid value set I believe there would still be problems stemming from the original culture even several generations after original conversion. Having said all that I can see writing stories that feature then as NPC's but I am not sure I would allow one as a player. My preference is to play lower power games that focus on the people and there evolution as personalities. That is not saying I do not think players could make a hybrid a fully realized character I just think your average hybrid is over balanced for the level of game I want to run. I do not like the fact they can leap tall buildings in a single bound and tear out my guts and serve it to me on a plate. I would not allow a marshal or a shocktrooper for the same reasons. Perhaps if the hybrid was flawed in some way .... > 2. We know that cetacean characters and culture have become a favorite of BP > players, so we would therefore like to request and encourage submissions for > the cetacean issue from you. Articles, equipment, NPCs, scenarios, anything > the will add to the culture and playability of orcas and dolphins in BP. In > fact, we are so interested creating an anticipated and useful treatment of > this popular topic that we are planning on making UC #7 a special double issue > - you know, a real whale of a newsletter. ; p I think I might be the only person that does not think that playing a cetacean is the neatest thing since sliced bread. I am that strange breed of person that wanted to play the human in AD&D. The cetacean culture is fascinating and since it will flesh out the world more I will read all the information back to double sized front. > > Jeff "Monkey Boy" Barber > Biohazard Games > Tim "Hairless Monkey Boy" Brandis *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message.