From lev at rpgreview.net Fri Sep 2 05:29:27 2011 From: lev at rpgreview.net (lev at rpgreview.net) Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2011 15:29:27 +1000 Subject: [Churchofgaming] GURPS This Sunday? Message-ID: <4160141718cd2ed1d1c540a7b73277c1.squirrel@webmail.rpgreview.net> Having had a week out of sync, I take it we're returning to the usual sequence which means it's GURPS this week. Oh, and if anyone's interested at 12.30 the Philosophy Forum is having a discussion on artificial intelligence... "Machines That Think: From Artificial Intelligence to Artificial Consciousness?" A Philosophy Forum discussion at the Melbourne Unitarian Church hall, 110 Grey Street, East Melbourne, at 12.30pm Hope you can come along! Best wishes, Lev Some Background Reading: The Soul of the Machines: From Artificial Intelligence to Artificial Consciousness http://www.lightbringers.net/node/6 Definition, History, Usage and Future of Computer Data Storage or how technological improvements challenge mass media with individual media http://www.organdi.net/article.php3?id_article=82&lang=en From catodon at whale-mail.com Fri Sep 2 09:43:52 2011 From: catodon at whale-mail.com (Carl Brown) Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2011 02:43:52 -0700 Subject: [Churchofgaming] GURPS This Sunday? Message-ID: <05A21ABE36874711B416A436D822C319@mail2world.com> Yes GURPS this weekend The problem with disscussions about AI and conciousness is they never seem to get past trying to find an agreement on what is meant by conciousness. ;P <-----Original Message-----> >From: lev at rpgreview.net [lev at rpgreview.net] >Sent: 9/2/2011 3:29:27 PM >To: churchofgaming at rpgreview.net >Subject: Re: [Churchofgaming] GURPS This Sunday? > >Having had a week out of sync, I take it we're returning to the usual >sequence which means it's GURPS this week. > >Oh, and if anyone's interested at 12.30 the Philosophy Forum is having a >discussion on artificial intelligence... > >"Machines That Think: From Artificial Intelligence to Artificial >Consciousness?" > >A Philosophy Forum discussion at the Melbourne Unitarian Church hall, 110 >Grey Street, East Melbourne, at 12.30pm > >Hope you can come along! > >Best wishes, > > >Lev > >Some Background Reading: > >The Soul of the Machines: From Artificial Intelligence to Artificial >Consciousness > >http://www.lightbringers.net/node/6 > >Definition, History, Usage and Future of Computer Data Storage >or how technological improvements challenge mass media with individual media > >http://www.organdi.net/article.php3?id_article=82?=en > > >_______________________________________________ >Churchofgaming mailing list >Churchofgaming at rpgreview.net >http://rpgreview.net/mailman/listinfo/churchofgaming_rpgreview.net >. >

Care2 makes it easy for everyone to live a healthy, green lifestyle and impact the causes you care about most. Over 12 Million members! http://www.care2.com

Feed a child by searching the web! Learn how http://www.care2.com/toolbar -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From lev at rpgreview.net Fri Sep 2 12:06:06 2011 From: lev at rpgreview.net (lev at rpgreview.net) Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2011 22:06:06 +1000 Subject: [Churchofgaming] GURPS This Sunday? In-Reply-To: <05A21ABE36874711B416A436D822C319@mail2world.com> References: <05A21ABE36874711B416A436D822C319@mail2world.com> Message-ID: > Yes GURPS this weekend > The problem with disscussions about AI and conciousness is they never > seem to get past trying to find an agreement on what is meant by > conciousness. > ;P > I use the meaning of words, according to their use and etymology :p You'll find a definition right here: >>http://www.lightbringers.net/node/6 From catodon at whale-mail.com Sat Sep 3 04:27:33 2011 From: catodon at whale-mail.com (Carl Brown) Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2011 21:27:33 -0700 Subject: [Churchofgaming] GURPS This Sunday? Message-ID: <06A0C92C9421449A96F97D9CEA65401E@mail2world.com> from the Lev's link: "Intelligence, whether artificial or natural, as humans understand and experience it, is not isolated from consciousness. Whilst it is common to think of consciousness in terms of subjective phenomenological intentionality (such as the medical definition), the historical definition was very much bound into the co-knowledge of others, "conscius" (con- "together" + scire "to know"), "obligentur...communi inter se conscientia" ("they are bound by common co-knowledge between themselves" Cicero, Ver. 2.177). Knowledge of facts thus becomes a moral question of what one does with such knowledge relative to one's subjective desires; sensuality, intelligence, consciousness become intertwined into the entire mental state. Thus the challenge for strong 'artificial intelligence' advocates is not so much to develop an expert rules-based system, but rather one which can make moral decisions based on mutual understanding with others. Until that is achieved, despite whatever level of computational power is achieved, the much vaunted intelligence of machines is merely zombie-like behaviour." I see your arguement but, well this is not what many people mean when they debate whether or not a machine can be conscious. By the terms as you define them you have a good arguement but unfortunately what most people mean when they ask "can a machine be concious?" is "is there really anyone in there or is it just lights and clockwork?" And I'm not sure that the ability to act within a moral framework is either evidence of consciousness (as many people understand the word) nor nessisary for it. Now I could show up and we could make these same arguments in circles for a couple of hours but I'm not sure that's a good use of the time of everyone else attending ;) (besides I should no better than to argue with anyone with philosophy training) <-----Original Message-----> >From: lev at rpgreview.net [lev at rpgreview.net] >Sent: 9/2/2011 10:06:06 PM >To: churchofgaming at rpgreview.net >Subject: Re: [Churchofgaming] GURPS This Sunday? > >> Yes GURPS this weekend >> The problem with disscussions about AI and conciousness is they never >> seem to get past trying to find an agreement on what is meant by >> conciousness. >> ;P >> > >I use the meaning of words, according to their use and etymology :p > >You'll find a definition right here: > >>>http://www.lightbringers.net/node/6 > > >_______________________________________________ >Churchofgaming mailing list >Churchofgaming at rpgreview.net >http://rpgreview.net/mailman/listinfo/churchofgaming_rpgreview.net >. >

Care2 makes it easy for everyone to live a healthy, green lifestyle and impact the causes you care about most. Over 12 Million members! http://www.care2.com

Feed a child by searching the web! Learn how http://www.care2.com/toolbar -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From catodon at whale-mail.com Mon Sep 5 20:50:19 2011 From: catodon at whale-mail.com (Carl Brown) Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2011 13:50:19 -0700 Subject: [Churchofgaming] please Comment on the Fantasy Craft game Message-ID: <62E5B0404432426FBFD231E87339D8D0@mail2world.com> Hi all, I'd like to review Fantasy Craft for the next rpgreview based on my experiences with it over the last couple of years. THis includes the one-off game held at COG. I'd love to hear any reflections/comments about that session good or bad.

Care2 makes it easy for everyone to live a healthy, green lifestyle and impact the causes you care about most. Over 12 Million members! http://www.care2.com

Feed a child by searching the web! Learn how http://www.care2.com/toolbar -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From catodon at whale-mail.com Thu Sep 15 03:55:50 2011 From: catodon at whale-mail.com (Carl Brown) Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2011 20:55:50 -0700 Subject: [Churchofgaming] Possible Games Message-ID: Possible Games: (Felix: if you feel some of the planescape people might be interested in a second game could you forward this to them?) We have finished up the Young Gods campaign. Soon the Krononauts 'season 1' will also end. We are looking forward to starting Planescape and Dark Heresy. However, with new players and a fortnightly schedule we may still have a slot or two open for other games. There are probably several who would like to run games in any spare slots. If so, I'm sure we can figure something out. There are two broad options: we could run one-off games (see previous email for some ideas). Alternately, we could start another campaign. Assuming the later, here is a list of campaigns I feel I can run with the amount of prep time I have. Each has a 100 word summary. I propose a vote. Please let me know your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd preference. If anything looks similar to something you want to run don't vote for it, I'd like to add variety to our schedule. Your first vote will get three points, your second two, and your third one. Not quite true preferential voting but this works with small numbers of voters. Fantasy Craft: Mythic Age Diaspora Gulliver's Trading Company Kong: Skull Island Mars: Savage Worlds Conan Legends of Anglere Classic Traveller Tunnels and Trolls Space 1889 Tunnel Quest Cyberpunk 2020 AD&D: Olde School Dungeon Fighting Fantasy Fantasy Craft: Mythic Age Forge a legend with bronze and oratory! A few centuries after Creation the gods meddle and faith drives pre-modern polytheistic cultures. Each culture presented blends several historical inspirations and adds twists. Elder peoples still dominate the world, choose from 14 iconic fantasy species, including dragons and titans! Each player takes the role of a notable individual or a fellowship of mortals. PCs begin as people of moderate or no importance then over 400 years fight wars, found cities that grow into civilisations, and lead cults that become great religions. A one-off Mythic Age adventure at COG was well received. Diaspora For millennia we have travelled the stars, worlds have been terraformed, and civilisations rise and fall in great cycles. Hard science-fiction role-playing with FATE. Harder than Traveller; no quasi-magical anti-gravity, inertia-less drives, convergent evolution, etc. The exception is FTL. Very high transhuman technology is almost impossible to achieve and extinguishes the society that holds it. The result is 'blue collar space'. The players design 'thumbnails' of plausible local solar systems in the first session. For advice on terrformed worlds see Lev's excellent article in Rpg Review 11. For plausible alien life see Rpg Review 12. Guest referees are encouraged. Gulliver's Trading Company Based on FATE 2e and playtested here at COG. Some of you have probably had enough of GTC, but I live in hope. For those new here. As well as Lilliputians and giants there is a flying island, savants rapt in trances, professors trying to extract sunlight from cucumbers, sorcerers, ghosts, cursed immortals, talking horses, and unexplored continents. Gulliver's Trading Company is a roleplaying game of exploration of strange lands in the 18th century. It is based on the classic satirical novel Gulliver's Travels. Gulliver's Travels. Gulliver's son organises trading expeditions to the remote countries described in his father's book. Kong: Skull Island Hostile jungle, dinosaurs, lost civilisations, giant gorillas. Explore the lost world of Skull Island. Adventures are centuries or decades apart; watch the mysteries of Skull Island unfold. The desperate first years of human colonisation of skull island millennia ago, the height of the Wall Builder's civilisation, any period when ships are wrecked on the rocks, the 1930's scientific expeditions, and dramatic last days before the island sank beneath the waves in the 1940's. There could even be chances to play a mighty 30' ape. Quickly generate period characters around a stable core. Possible Game systems: T&T, Fantasy Craft, GTC/FATE 2e. Mars: Savage Worlds Mars as it should be - ancient, dying, but not yet dead. A vast canal network brings water and life to spired cities. As a dashing native of Mars, take up your sabre and blaster and race out for swashbuckling adventure! Explore dead cities. Fight the legions of the Ape Empire! Battle green brute warriors! Uncover the mysteries of ancient polar stations. All the while deep below the surface ancient and terrible intellects slowly and surely draw their plans. I have never run the Savage Worlds rules but the system is rules light and designed to be fast playing. Uses miniatures/counters. Conan Forget what you think you know. In Howard's tales Conan rarely wears a loin-cloth and prefers swordswomen at his side to a dancing girls at his feet. A detailed fantasy world created decades before Tolkien. A d20 game heavily modified to emulate the bloodthirsty swordplay, corrupting sorcery, and varied cultures of the Hyborian Age. Creatures of human or near-human intelligence are feared man-apes or supernatural monsters. Parties do not have to fill all the traditional roles; a party can be made up of characters of one class or have a mix of classes including barbarians, nobles, soldiers, scholars, and pirates. Legends of Anglere Despite it's title LOA is not tied to s specific setting. LOA is a toolkit for building fantasy worlds in FATE. LOA describes everything like a character. Generate worlds, nations, cities, guilds, ships etc. We will gradually build a world. A 'session zero' will sketch out the solar system world and cosmology. After that odd sessions will be for world building and will include large-scale game play to advance the events of the world. In even sessions connected adventures will feature items created in odd sessions. Core PC species vary by world examples: elves, dwarves, Halflings, fawns, centaurs and dragons. Classic Traveller 3000 years from now The Third Imperium of humanity dominates known space. A 1977 classic that has quirks but plays well today. Traveller is a popular and detailed science fiction universe for rpg. Traveller is 2/3 hard science and 1/3 space opera. There is a limited FTL hyperdrive, reactionless drives and other 'impossible' technologies but no FTL 'radio'. The Imperium is governed by neo-feudalism and individual worlds are largely free to govern themselves. Aliens tend to be Star-Wars-esque in appearance but are generally better thought out. I have access to almost all the material produced for this original version of Traveller. Tunnels and Trolls 5.5 Generate your bloodthirsty greedy heroes and send them into a monster filled dungeon. Kill things! Take their stuff! Uncomplicated and easy to learn. My house rules provide wider choices for player characters and tactical combat. With the name Tunnels and Trolls the campaign should have both of these. I imagine long ago there was an Empire of the Dwarves that built numerous mines and cities under the earth with troll slave labour. The Empire fell long ago but the mines and barrows await adventurers including the usual elves, etc. but also trolls, leprechauns, shapeshifters, firbolgs, awakened beasts etc. as PC's Space 1889 Science fiction adventure in a more civilised time. Generate your Victorian era character and set off to sail the stately canals of Mars, trek the dinosaur ridden swamps of Venus, foil agents of the Kaiser in the jungles of the Congo, invent strange devices, and finish your day with a nice cup of tea or a gin and tonic. Some allowance made for alien PC's but majority will be human and probably British. Think Verne and Wells with a dash of Boroughs and you're on the right track. A nice setting but the combat system is a but clunky. Tunnel Quest Tunnel Quest is a small simple yet powerful rpg by Mike Hill designed to be played by non-gamers like curious relatives around Christmas time. Despite being very simple it has all the features of a full size game: classes, skills, character advancement, treasure, and spell-casting. A short simple rules set but with enough variety to satisfy veteran gamers. Rpg review 12 has rules that add elves and other PCs species. I use the first version of the game and can freely distribute those rules. The setting is a generic fantasy with a Celt/Germanic/Anglo-Saxon feel. Adventures will be varied including wilderness, court intrigue, mysteries, not just dungeons. Cyberpunk 2020 Inspired by Gibson, Sterling and others this is the classic 80's game of a dystopian 2020AD. Under the influence of rapid technological change society begins to fragment. Individuals too loose their humanity as implants and prosthetics boost their capabilities but erode their empathy. Cyberpunk generates characters with detail previous lives, a range of implanted technology, and skills suited to defined archetypes of the genre. To get into the role remember "style over substance, attitude is everything, live on the edge". Roles include mercenaries, hackers, celebrities, nomads, technicians, paramedics, journalists, cops, corporates, and 'fixers'. AD&D: Enormous Olde School Dungeon I have more supplements and articles than you can poke a stick at providing a HUGE amount of player choice for characters. An enormous largely randomly generated dungeon. The largest stronghold ever built by dwarves situated on rich lodes of precious metals. Then came the blue fever, goblin invasions, and finally the 'Black Crusade' that destroyed diplomatic relations with the Empire. The stronghold was overrun. Now, with the aid of several allies, the dwarves have established two settlements within the old stronghold and seek to eventually gain control of it all. This is a big 1970's style dungeon that doesn't hold up to close logical scrutiny. Fighting Fantasy Generate your bloodthirsty greedy warriors and send them into monster filled dungeons. Kill things! Take their stuff! The group rpg version of the favourite of 12 year olds the world over. Really simple rules; initially you all play warriors, then after a few games we'll add skills, spells, elves, and dwarves. The setting is generic fantasy much resembling 70's AD&D, the rules are very simple good for 'beer and pretzels' jaunts or playing with kids but the system lacks the teeth for a sustained campaign and experienced players will find the limitations on character choices frustrating.

Care2 makes it easy for everyone to live a healthy, green lifestyle and impact the causes you care about most. Over 12 Million members! http://www.care2.com

Feed a child by searching the web! Learn how http://www.care2.com/toolbar -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From superfluos at gmail.com Thu Sep 15 10:04:39 2011 From: superfluos at gmail.com (Jay Superfluous) Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2011 20:04:39 +1000 Subject: [Churchofgaming] Possible Games In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Thu, Sep 15, 2011 at 1:55 PM, Carl Brown wrote: > Possible Games: > (Felix: if you feel some of the planescape people might be interested in a > second game could you forward this to them?) > > We have finished up the Young Gods campaign. Soon the Krononauts > ‘season 1’ will also end. We are looking forward to starting > Planescape and Dark Heresy. However, with new players and a fortnightly > schedule we may still have a slot or two open for other games. > There are probably several who would like to run games in any spare slots. > If so, I’m sure we can figure something out. > There are two broad options: we could run one-off games (see previous email > for some ideas). Alternately, we could start another campaign. > Assuming the later, here is a list of campaigns I feel I can run with the > amount of prep time I have. Each has a 100 word summary. > I propose a vote. > > Please let me know your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd preference. > > If anything looks similar to something you want to run don’t vote for > it, I’d like to add variety to our schedule. Your first vote will get > three points, your second two, and your third one. Not quite true > preferential voting but this works with small numbers of voters. > > Fantasy Craft: Mythic Age > Diaspora > Gulliver’s Trading Company > Kong: Skull Island > Mars: Savage Worlds > Conan > Legends of Anglere > Classic Traveller > Tunnels and Trolls > Space 1889 > Tunnel Quest > Cyberpunk 2020 > AD&D: Olde School Dungeon > Fighting Fantasy > > Fantasy Craft: Mythic Age > Forge a legend with bronze and oratory! A few centuries after Creation the > gods meddle and faith drives pre-modern polytheistic cultures. Each culture > presented blends several historical inspirations and adds twists. Elder > peoples still dominate the world, choose from 14 iconic fantasy species, > including dragons and titans! Each player takes the role of a notable > individual or a fellowship of mortals. PCs begin as people of moderate or no > importance then over 400 years fight wars, found cities that grow into > civilisations, and lead cults that become great religions. A one-off Mythic > Age adventure at COG was well received. > > Diaspora > For millennia we have travelled the stars, worlds have been terraformed, and > civilisations rise and fall in great cycles. Hard science-fiction > role-playing with FATE. Harder than Traveller; no quasi-magical > anti-gravity, inertia-less drives, convergent evolution, etc. The exception > is FTL. Very high transhuman technology is almost impossible to achieve and > extinguishes the society that holds it. The result is ‘blue collar > space’. The players design ‘thumbnails’ of plausible local > solar systems in the first session. For advice on terrformed worlds see > Lev’s excellent article in Rpg Review 11. For plausible alien life see > Rpg Review 12. Guest referees are encouraged. > > Gulliver’s Trading Company > Based on FATE 2e and playtested here at COG. Some of you have probably had > enough of GTC, but I live in hope. For those new here… > As well as Lilliputians and giants there is a flying island, savants rapt in > trances, professors trying to extract sunlight from cucumbers, sorcerers, > ghosts, cursed immortals, talking horses, and unexplored continents. > Gulliver’s Trading Company is a roleplaying game of exploration of > strange lands in the 18th century. It is based on the classic satirical > novel Gulliver’s Travels. Gulliver’s Travels. Gulliver’s son > organises trading expeditions to the remote countries described in his > father’s book. > > Kong: Skull Island > Hostile jungle, dinosaurs, lost civilisations, giant gorillas. Explore the > lost world of Skull Island. Adventures are centuries or decades apart; watch > the mysteries of Skull Island unfold. The desperate first years of human > colonisation of skull island millennia ago, the height of the Wall > Builder’s civilisation, any period when ships are wrecked on the rocks, > the 1930’s scientific expeditions, and dramatic last days before the > island sank beneath the waves in the 1940’s. There could even be > chances to play a mighty 30’ ape. Quickly generate period characters > around a stable core. Possible Game systems: T&T, Fantasy Craft, GTC/FATE > 2e. > > Mars: Savage Worlds > Mars as it should be – ancient, dying, but not yet dead. A vast canal > network brings water and life to spired cities. As a dashing native of Mars, > take up your sabre and blaster and race out for swashbuckling adventure! > Explore dead cities. Fight the legions of the Ape Empire! Battle green brute > warriors! Uncover the mysteries of ancient polar stations. All the while > deep below the surface ancient and terrible intellects slowly and surely > draw their plans. I have never run the Savage Worlds rules but the system is > rules light and designed to be fast playing. Uses miniatures/counters. > > Conan > Forget what you think you know. In Howard’s tales Conan rarely wears a > loin-cloth and prefers swordswomen at his side to a dancing girls at his > feet. A detailed fantasy world created decades before Tolkien. A d20 game > heavily modified to emulate the bloodthirsty swordplay, corrupting sorcery, > and varied cultures of the Hyborian Age. Creatures of human or near-human > intelligence are feared man-apes or supernatural monsters. Parties do not > have to fill all the traditional roles; a party can be made up of characters > of one class or have a mix of classes including barbarians, nobles, > soldiers, scholars, and pirates. > > Legends of Anglere > Despite it’s title LOA is not tied to s specific setting. LOA is a > toolkit for building fantasy worlds in FATE. LOA describes everything like a > character. Generate worlds, nations, cities, guilds, ships etc. > We will gradually build a world. A ‘session zero’ will sketch out > the solar system world and cosmology. After that odd sessions will be for > world building and will include large-scale game play to advance the events > of the world. In even sessions connected adventures will feature items > created in odd sessions. Core PC species vary by world examples: elves, > dwarves, Halflings, fawns, centaurs and dragons. > > Classic Traveller > 3000 years from now The Third Imperium of humanity dominates known space. A > 1977 classic that has quirks but plays well today. Traveller is a popular > and detailed science fiction universe for rpg. Traveller is 2/3 hard science > and 1/3 space opera. There is a limited FTL hyperdrive, reactionless drives > and other ‘impossible’ technologies but no FTL ‘radio’. > The Imperium is governed by neo-feudalism and individual worlds are largely > free to govern themselves. Aliens tend to be Star-Wars-esque in appearance > but are generally better thought out. I have access to almost all the > material produced for this original version of Traveller. > > Tunnels and Trolls 5.5 > Generate your bloodthirsty greedy heroes and send them into a monster filled > dungeon. Kill things! Take their stuff! > Uncomplicated and easy to learn. My house rules provide wider choices for > player characters and tactical combat. With the name Tunnels and Trolls the > campaign should have both of these. I imagine long ago there was an Empire > of the Dwarves that built numerous mines and cities under the earth with > troll slave labour. The Empire fell long ago but the mines and barrows await > adventurers including the usual elves, etc. but also trolls, leprechauns, > shapeshifters, firbolgs, awakened beasts etc. as PC’s > > Space 1889 > Science fiction adventure in a more civilised time. Generate your Victorian > era character and set off to sail the stately canals of Mars, trek the > dinosaur ridden swamps of Venus, foil agents of the Kaiser in the jungles of > the Congo, invent strange devices, and finish your day with a nice cup of > tea or a gin and tonic. Some allowance made for alien PC’s but majority > will be human and probably British. Think Verne and Wells with a dash of > Boroughs and you’re on the right track. A nice setting but the combat > system is a but clunky. > > Tunnel Quest > Tunnel Quest is a small simple yet powerful rpg by Mike Hill designed to be > played by non-gamers like curious relatives around Christmas time. Despite > being very simple it has all the features of a full size game: classes, > skills, character advancement, treasure, and spell-casting. A short simple > rules set but with enough variety to satisfy veteran gamers. Rpg review 12 > has rules that add elves and other PCs species. I use the first version of > the game and can freely distribute those rules. The setting is a generic > fantasy with a Celt/Germanic/Anglo-Saxon feel. Adventures will be varied > including wilderness, court intrigue, mysteries, not just dungeons. > > Cyberpunk 2020 > Inspired by Gibson, Sterling and others this is the classic 80’s game > of a dystopian 2020AD. Under the influence of rapid technological change > society begins to fragment. Individuals too loose their humanity as implants > and prosthetics boost their capabilities but erode their empathy. Cyberpunk > generates characters with detail previous lives, a range of implanted > technology, and skills suited to defined archetypes of the genre. To get > into the role remember “style over substance, attitude is everything, > live on the edge”. Roles include mercenaries, hackers, celebrities, > nomads, technicians, paramedics, journalists, cops, corporates, and > ‘fixers’. > > AD&D: Enormous Olde School Dungeon > I have more supplements and articles than you can poke a stick at providing > a HUGE amount of player choice for characters. An enormous largely randomly > generated dungeon. The largest stronghold ever built by dwarves situated on > rich lodes of precious metals. Then came the blue fever, goblin invasions, > and finally the ‘Black Crusade’ that destroyed diplomatic > relations with the Empire. The stronghold was overrun. Now, with the aid of > several allies, the dwarves have established two settlements within the old > stronghold and seek to eventually gain control of it all. This is a big > 1970’s style dungeon that doesn’t hold up to close logical > scrutiny. > > Fighting Fantasy > Generate your bloodthirsty greedy warriors and send them into monster filled > dungeons. Kill things! Take their stuff! The group rpg version of the > favourite of 12 year olds the world over. Really simple rules; initially you > all play warriors, then after a few games we’ll add skills, spells, > elves, and dwarves. The setting is generic fantasy much resembling 70’s > AD&D, the rules are very simple good for ‘beer and pretzels’ > jaunts or playing with kids but the system lacks the teeth for a sustained > campaign and experienced players will find the limitations on character > choices frustrating. > > > > Care2 makes it easy for everyone to live a healthy, green lifestyle and > impact the causes you care about most. Over 12 Million members! > http://www.care2.com > > Feed a child by searching the web! Learn how http://www.care2.com/toolbar Hi, Carl! My votes: 1st: Space 1889 2nd: Conan 3rd: Classic Traveller hold on, that IS the right spelling of "Traveller". Bloody spell check . . . Yours, Jay > > _______________________________________________ > Churchofgaming mailing list > Churchofgaming at rpgreview.net > http://rpgreview.net/mailman/listinfo/churchofgaming_rpgreview.net > > From catodon at whale-mail.com Thu Sep 15 10:38:06 2011 From: catodon at whale-mail.com (Carl Brown) Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2011 03:38:06 -0700 Subject: [Churchofgaming] Possible Games Message-ID: Thanks Jay. A distinctly British flavour to your choices, I noticed. Good for you, I too have had enough of upstart colonials ;) <-----Original Message-----> >From: Jay Superfluous [superfluos at gmail.com] >Sent: 9/15/2011 8:04:39 PM >To: churchofgaming at rpgreview.net >Subject: Re: [Churchofgaming] Possible Games > >On Thu, Sep 15, 2011 at 1:55 PM, Carl Brown wrote: >> Possible Games: >> (Felix: if you feel some of the planescape people might be interested in a >> second game could you forward this to them?) >> >> We have finished up the Young Gods campaign. Soon the Krononauts >> 'season 1' will also end. We are looking forward to starting >> Planescape and Dark Heresy. However, with new players and a fortnightly >> schedule we may still have a slot or two open for other games. >> There are probably several who would like to run games in any spare slots. >> If so, I'm sure we can figure something out. >> There are two broad options: we could run one-off games (see previous email >> for some ideas). Alternately, we could start another campaign. >> Assuming the later, here is a list of campaigns I feel I can run with the >> amount of prep time I have. Each has a 100 word summary. >> I propose a vote. >> >> Please let me know your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd preference. >> >> If anything looks similar to something you want to run don't vote for >> it, I'd like to add variety to our schedule. Your first vote will get >> three points, your second two, and your third one. Not quite true >> preferential voting but this works with small numbers of voters. >> >> Fantasy Craft: Mythic Age >> Diaspora >> Gulliver's Trading Company >> Kong: Skull Island >> Mars: Savage Worlds >> Conan >> Legends of Anglere >> Classic Traveller >> Tunnels and Trolls >> Space 1889 >> Tunnel Quest >> Cyberpunk 2020 >> AD&D: Olde School Dungeon >> Fighting Fantasy >> >> Fantasy Craft: Mythic Age >> Forge a legend with bronze and oratory! A few centuries after Creation the >> gods meddle and faith drives pre-modern polytheistic cultures. Each culture >> presented blends several historical inspirations and adds twists. Elder >> peoples still dominate the world, choose from 14 iconic fantasy species, >> including dragons and titans! Each player takes the role of a notable >> individual or a fellowship of mortals. PCs begin as people of moderate or no >> importance then over 400 years fight wars, found cities that grow into >> civilisations, and lead cults that become great religions. A one-off Mythic >> Age adventure at COG was well received. >> >> Diaspora >> For millennia we have travelled the stars, worlds have been terraformed, and >> civilisations rise and fall in great cycles. Hard science-fiction >> role-playing with FATE. Harder than Traveller; no quasi-magical >> anti-gravity, inertia-less drives, convergent evolution, etc. The exception >> is FTL. Very high transhuman technology is almost impossible to achieve and >> extinguishes the society that holds it. The result is 'blue collar >> space'. The players design 'thumbnails' of plausible local >> solar systems in the first session. For advice on terrformed worlds see >> Lev's excellent article in Rpg Review 11. For plausible alien life see >> Rpg Review 12. Guest referees are encouraged. >> >> Gulliver's Trading Company >> Based on FATE 2e and playtested here at COG. Some of you have probably had >> enough of GTC, but I live in hope. For those new here. >> As well as Lilliputians and giants there is a flying island, savants rapt in >> trances, professors trying to extract sunlight from cucumbers, sorcerers, >> ghosts, cursed immortals, talking horses, and unexplored continents. >> Gulliver's Trading Company is a roleplaying game of exploration of >> strange lands in the 18th century. It is based on the classic satirical >> novel Gulliver's Travels. Gulliver's Travels. Gulliver's son >> organises trading expeditions to the remote countries described in his >> father's book. >> >> Kong: Skull Island >> Hostile jungle, dinosaurs, lost civilisations, giant gorillas. Explore the >> lost world of Skull Island. Adventures are centuries or decades apart; watch >> the mysteries of Skull Island unfold. The desperate first years of human >> colonisation of skull island millennia ago, the height of the Wall >> Builder's civilisation, any period when ships are wrecked on the rocks, >> the 1930's scientific expeditions, and dramatic last days before the >> island sank beneath the waves in the 1940's. There could even be >> chances to play a mighty 30' ape. Quickly generate period characters >> around a stable core. Possible Game systems: T&T, Fantasy Craft, GTC/FATE >> 2e. >> >> Mars: Savage Worlds >> Mars as it should be - ancient, dying, but not yet dead. A vast canal >> network brings water and life to spired cities. As a dashing native of Mars, >> take up your sabre and blaster and race out for swashbuckling adventure! >> Explore dead cities. Fight the legions of the Ape Empire! Battle green brute >> warriors! Uncover the mysteries of ancient polar stations. All the while >> deep below the surface ancient and terrible intellects slowly and surely >> draw their plans. I have never run the Savage Worlds rules but the system is >> rules light and designed to be fast playing. Uses miniatures/counters. >> >> Conan >> Forget what you think you know. In Howard's tales Conan rarely wears a >> loin-cloth and prefers swordswomen at his side to a dancing girls at his >> feet. A detailed fantasy world created decades before Tolkien. A d20 game >> heavily modified to emulate the bloodthirsty swordplay, corrupting sorcery, >> and varied cultures of the Hyborian Age. Creatures of human or near-human >> intelligence are feared man-apes or supernatural monsters. Parties do not >> have to fill all the traditional roles; a party can be made up of characters >> of one class or have a mix of classes including barbarians, nobles, >> soldiers, scholars, and pirates. >> >> Legends of Anglere >> Despite it's title LOA is not tied to s specific setting. LOA is a >> toolkit for building fantasy worlds in FATE. LOA describes everything like a >> character. Generate worlds, nations, cities, guilds, ships etc. >> We will gradually build a world. A 'session zero' will sketch out >> the solar system world and cosmology. After that odd sessions will be for >> world building and will include large-scale game play to advance the events >> of the world. In even sessions connected adventures will feature items >> created in odd sessions. Core PC species vary by world examples: elves, >> dwarves, Halflings, fawns, centaurs and dragons. >> >> Classic Traveller >> 3000 years from now The Third Imperium of humanity dominates known space. A >> 1977 classic that has quirks but plays well today. Traveller is a popular >> and detailed science fiction universe for rpg. Traveller is 2/3 hard science >> and 1/3 space opera. There is a limited FTL hyperdrive, reactionless drives >> and other 'impossible' technologies but no FTL 'radio'. >> The Imperium is governed by neo-feudalism and individual worlds are largely >> free to govern themselves. Aliens tend to be Star-Wars-esque in appearance >> but are generally better thought out. I have access to almost all the >> material produced for this original version of Traveller. >> >> Tunnels and Trolls 5.5 >> Generate your bloodthirsty greedy heroes and send them into a monster filled >> dungeon. Kill things! Take their stuff! >> Uncomplicated and easy to learn. My house rules provide wider choices for >> player characters and tactical combat. With the name Tunnels and Trolls the >> campaign should have both of these. I imagine long ago there was an Empire >> of the Dwarves that built numerous mines and cities under the earth with >> troll slave labour. The Empire fell long ago but the mines and barrows await >> adventurers including the usual elves, etc. but also trolls, leprechauns, >> shapeshifters, firbolgs, awakened beasts etc. as PC's >> >> Space 1889 >> Science fiction adventure in a more civilised time. Generate your Victorian >> era character and set off to sail the stately canals of Mars, trek the >> dinosaur ridden swamps of Venus, foil agents of the Kaiser in the jungles of >> the Congo, invent strange devices, and finish your day with a nice cup of >> tea or a gin and tonic. Some allowance made for alien PC's but majority >> will be human and probably British. Think Verne and Wells with a dash of >> Boroughs and you're on the right track. A nice setting but the combat >> system is a but clunky. >> >> Tunnel Quest >> Tunnel Quest is a small simple yet powerful rpg by Mike Hill designed to be >> played by non-gamers like curious relatives around Christmas time. Despite >> being very simple it has all the features of a full size game: classes, >> skills, character advancement, treasure, and spell-casting. A short simple >> rules set but with enough variety to satisfy veteran gamers. Rpg review 12 >> has rules that add elves and other PCs species. I use the first version of >> the game and can freely distribute those rules. The setting is a generic >> fantasy with a Celt/Germanic/Anglo-Saxon feel. Adventures will be varied >> including wilderness, court intrigue, mysteries, not just dungeons. >> >> Cyberpunk 2020 >> Inspired by Gibson, Sterling and others this is the classic 80's game >> of a dystopian 2020AD. Under the influence of rapid technological change >> society begins to fragment. Individuals too loose their humanity as implants >> and prosthetics boost their capabilities but erode their empathy. Cyberpunk >> generates characters with detail previous lives, a range of implanted >> technology, and skills suited to defined archetypes of the genre. To get >> into the role remember "style over substance, attitude is everything, >> live on the edge". Roles include mercenaries, hackers, celebrities, >> nomads, technicians, paramedics, journalists, cops, corporates, and >> 'fixers'. >> >> AD&D: Enormous Olde School Dungeon >> I have more supplements and articles than you can poke a stick at providing >> a HUGE amount of player choice for characters. An enormous largely randomly >> generated dungeon. The largest stronghold ever built by dwarves situated on >> rich lodes of precious metals. Then came the blue fever, goblin invasions, >> and finally the 'Black Crusade' that destroyed diplomatic >> relations with the Empire. The stronghold was overrun. Now, with the aid of >> several allies, the dwarves have established two settlements within the old >> stronghold and seek to eventually gain control of it all. This is a big >> 1970's style dungeon that doesn't hold up to close logical >> scrutiny. >> >> Fighting Fantasy >> Generate your bloodthirsty greedy warriors and send them into monster filled >> dungeons. Kill things! Take their stuff! The group rpg version of the >> favourite of 12 year olds the world over. Really simple rules; initially you >> all play warriors, then after a few games we'll add skills, spells, >> elves, and dwarves. The setting is generic fantasy much resembling 70's >> AD&D, the rules are very simple good for 'beer and pretzels' >> jaunts or playing with kids but the system lacks the teeth for a sustained >> campaign and experienced players will find the limitations on character >> choices frustrating. >> >> >> >> Care2 makes it easy for everyone to live a healthy, green lifestyle and >> impact the causes you care about most. Over 12 Million members! >> http://www.care2.com >> >> Feed a child by searching the web! Learn how http://www.care2.com/toolbar > >Hi, Carl! > >My votes: > >1st: Space 1889 >2nd: Conan >3rd: Classic Traveller > >hold on, that IS the right spelling of "Traveller". Bloody spell check . . . > >Yours, > >Jay >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Churchofgaming mailing list >> Churchofgaming at rpgreview.net >> http://rpgreview.net/mailman/listinfo/churchofgaming_rpgreview.net >> >> > >_______________________________________________ >Churchofgaming mailing list >Churchofgaming at rpgreview.net >http://rpgreview.net/mailman/listinfo/churchofgaming_rpgreview.net >. >

Care2 makes it easy for everyone to live a healthy, green lifestyle and impact the causes you care about most. Over 12 Million members! http://www.care2.com

Feed a child by searching the web! Learn how http://www.care2.com/toolbar -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From lev at rpgreview.net Fri Sep 16 00:00:49 2011 From: lev at rpgreview.net (lev at rpgreview.net) Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2011 10:00:49 +1000 Subject: [Churchofgaming] Possible Games In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <6bb47f7217a7b2d3de7b0f64e69527a9.squirrel@webmail.rpgreview.net> > Possible Games: > > Diaspora [2] > Classic Traveller [1] > Space 1889 [3] Hmmm... science fiction, much? From redmond.hamlett at gmail.com Fri Sep 16 00:13:46 2011 From: redmond.hamlett at gmail.com (Redmond Hamlett) Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2011 10:13:46 +1000 Subject: [Churchofgaming] Churchofgaming Digest, Vol 38, Issue 5 In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Hi Gang, My choices for alternative games are...... 1) Classic Traveler 2) Cyberpunk 2020AD 3) Diaspora (although from what Carl described of it on Sunday just past sounds like more work than making a Krononauts campaign). Cheers Redmond -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From catodon at whale-mail.com Fri Sep 16 00:34:41 2011 From: catodon at whale-mail.com (Carl Brown) Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2011 17:34:41 -0700 Subject: [Churchofgaming] Possible Games Message-ID: Thank you Lev. We haven't had much SF, even Krononauts was mostly historical adventures. I can see you are ready for a switch. <-----Original Message-----> >From: lev at rpgreview.net [lev at rpgreview.net] >Sent: 9/16/2011 10:00:49 AM >To: churchofgaming at rpgreview.net >Subject: Re: [Churchofgaming] Possible Games > >> Possible Games: >> >> Diaspora [2] >> Classic Traveller [1] >> Space 1889 [3] > > >Hmmm... science fiction, much? > > >_______________________________________________ >Churchofgaming mailing list >Churchofgaming at rpgreview.net >http://rpgreview.net/mailman/listinfo/churchofgaming_rpgreview.net >. >

Care2 makes it easy for everyone to live a healthy, green lifestyle and impact the causes you care about most. Over 12 Million members! http://www.care2.com

Feed a child by searching the web! Learn how http://www.care2.com/toolbar -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From catodon at whale-mail.com Fri Sep 16 01:02:48 2011 From: catodon at whale-mail.com (Carl Brown) Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2011 18:02:48 -0700 Subject: [Churchofgaming] Churchofgaming Digest, Vol 38, Issue 5 Message-ID: <8B53536AFCD142B7B830FA7202C719A4@mail2world.com> Regarding Diaspora: World building in the first session is broad brush-strokes only. It is simple and should be fun. It takes about five minutes to create a world. To create the 8 or so solar systems in a cluster should take about an hour (two hours allowing for smokes and talking shite). Here's a solar system I created earlier JAVA. Tech -2 Industrialisation Environ +1 One garden world several hostile worlds Resources -1 Almost viable Aspects The Age of Sail Damn Dinosaurs! Trades spices for metals A fine candidate for terraforming, why the ancients screwed it up with dinosaurs is anyones guess. Theory is the local humans are descended from a stranded science team who fell back the the stone age but now have sailing ships and cities. Away from the coast the azure blue sky of Java is oft obscured by the fronds of the humid jungles. Compared to more advanced worlds life on Java is dirty and short, good medicine is rare and beyond the cities carnosaurs are a problem. The Javan's trade spices for metals and can do nothing to stop outsiders mining the hostile worlds in the system. And that's it the world of Java is ready for play. <-----Original Message-----> >From: Redmond Hamlett [redmond.hamlett at gmail.com] >Sent: 9/16/2011 10:13:46 AM >To: churchofgaming at rpgreview.net >Subject: Re: [Churchofgaming] Churchofgaming Digest, Vol 38, Issue 5 > >Hi Gang, > > >My choices for alternative games are...... > > >1) Classic Traveler >2) Cyberpunk 2020AD >3) Diaspora (although from what Carl described of it on Sunday just past sounds >like more work than making a Krononauts campaign). > > >Cheers > > > > > > >Redmond

Care2 makes it easy for everyone to live a healthy, green lifestyle and impact the causes you care about most. Over 12 Million members! http://www.care2.com

Feed a child by searching the web! Learn how http://www.care2.com/toolbar -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mcole222 at yahoo.com.au Fri Sep 16 03:27:53 2011 From: mcole222 at yahoo.com.au (Michael Cole) Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2011 20:27:53 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Churchofgaming] Possible Games In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <1316143673.65036.YahooMailClassic@web160304.mail.bf1.yahoo.com> 1st - Cyberpunk 2020 2nd?- Diasporia 3rd - Space 1889 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From catodon at whale-mail.com Fri Sep 16 03:41:55 2011 From: catodon at whale-mail.com (Carl Brown) Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2011 20:41:55 -0700 Subject: [Churchofgaming] Possible Games Message-ID: Thankyou, Note that voting will remain open until the friday before the first session. I'm not sure exactly when that will be but probably a week or two. <-----Original Message-----> >From: Michael Cole [mcole222 at yahoo.com.au] >Sent: 9/16/2011 1:27:53 PM >To: churchofgaming at rpgreview.net >Subject: Re: [Churchofgaming] Possible Games > > >1st - Cyberpunk 2020 >2nd - Diasporia >3rd - Space 1889

Care2 makes it easy for everyone to live a healthy, green lifestyle and impact the causes you care about most. Over 12 Million members! http://www.care2.com

Feed a child by searching the web! Learn how http://www.care2.com/toolbar -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From lev at rpgreview.net Mon Sep 19 01:28:53 2011 From: lev at rpgreview.net (lev at rpgreview.net) Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2011 11:28:53 +1000 Subject: [Churchofgaming] Possible Games In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <14304bdfc9192507aed39c99e763d9a5.squirrel@webmail.rpgreview.net> Nota bene: Resending this because we have a couple new people on the mailing list. Redmond tells me that Dark Heresy will be starting in November. Felix I believe is getting the last touches on for Pathfinder Planescape. Will be ready in a fortnight perhaps? In the meantime we have to decide on a filler game... So for those who have not already voted, express your preference! Best wishes, Lev > Possible Games: > (Felix: if you feel some of the planescape people might be interested in > a second game could you forward this to them?) > > We have finished up the Young Gods campaign. Soon the Krononauts 'season > 1' will also end. We are looking forward to starting Planescape and Dark > Heresy. However, with new players and a fortnightly schedule we may > still have a slot or two open for other games. > There are probably several who would like to run games in any spare > slots. If so, I'm sure we can figure something out. > There are two broad options: we could run one-off games (see previous > email for some ideas). Alternately, we could start another campaign. > Assuming the later, here is a list of campaigns I feel I can run with > the amount of prep time I have. Each has a 100 word summary. > I propose a vote. > > Please let me know your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd preference. > > If anything looks similar to something you want to run don't vote for > it, I'd like to add variety to our schedule. Your first vote will get > three points, your second two, and your third one. Not quite true > preferential voting but this works with small numbers of voters. > > Fantasy Craft: Mythic Age > Diaspora > Gulliver's Trading Company > Kong: Skull Island > Mars: Savage Worlds > Conan > Legends of Anglere > Classic Traveller > Tunnels and Trolls > Space 1889 > Tunnel Quest > Cyberpunk 2020 > AD&D: Olde School Dungeon > Fighting Fantasy > > Fantasy Craft: Mythic Age > Forge a legend with bronze and oratory! A few centuries after Creation > the gods meddle and faith drives pre-modern polytheistic cultures. Each > culture presented blends several historical inspirations and adds > twists. Elder peoples still dominate the world, choose from 14 iconic > fantasy species, including dragons and titans! Each player takes the > role of a notable individual or a fellowship of mortals. PCs begin as > people of moderate or no importance then over 400 years fight wars, > found cities that grow into civilisations, and lead cults that become > great religions. A one-off Mythic Age adventure at COG was well > received. > > Diaspora > For millennia we have travelled the stars, worlds have been terraformed, > and civilisations rise and fall in great cycles. Hard science-fiction > role-playing with FATE. Harder than Traveller; no quasi-magical > anti-gravity, inertia-less drives, convergent evolution, etc. The > exception is FTL. Very high transhuman technology is almost impossible > to achieve and extinguishes the society that holds it. The result is > 'blue collar space'. The players design 'thumbnails' of plausible local > solar systems in the first session. For advice on terrformed worlds see > Lev's excellent article in Rpg Review 11. For plausible alien life see > Rpg Review 12. Guest referees are encouraged. > > Gulliver's Trading Company > Based on FATE 2e and playtested here at COG. Some of you have probably > had enough of GTC, but I live in hope. For those new here. > As well as Lilliputians and giants there is a flying island, savants > rapt in trances, professors trying to extract sunlight from cucumbers, > sorcerers, ghosts, cursed immortals, talking horses, and unexplored > continents. Gulliver's Trading Company is a roleplaying game of > exploration of strange lands in the 18th century. It is based on the > classic satirical novel Gulliver's Travels. Gulliver's Travels. > Gulliver's son organises trading expeditions to the remote countries > described in his father's book. > > Kong: Skull Island > Hostile jungle, dinosaurs, lost civilisations, giant gorillas. Explore > the lost world of Skull Island. Adventures are centuries or decades > apart; watch the mysteries of Skull Island unfold. The desperate first > years of human colonisation of skull island millennia ago, the height of > the Wall Builder's civilisation, any period when ships are wrecked on > the rocks, the 1930's scientific expeditions, and dramatic last days > before the island sank beneath the waves in the 1940's. There could even > be chances to play a mighty 30' ape. Quickly generate period characters > around a stable core. Possible Game systems: T&T, Fantasy Craft, > GTC/FATE 2e. > > Mars: Savage Worlds > Mars as it should be - ancient, dying, but not yet dead. A vast canal > network brings water and life to spired cities. As a dashing native of > Mars, take up your sabre and blaster and race out for swashbuckling > adventure! Explore dead cities. Fight the legions of the Ape Empire! > Battle green brute warriors! Uncover the mysteries of ancient polar > stations. All the while deep below the surface ancient and terrible > intellects slowly and surely draw their plans. I have never run the > Savage Worlds rules but the system is rules light and designed to be > fast playing. Uses miniatures/counters. > > Conan > Forget what you think you know. In Howard's tales Conan rarely wears a > loin-cloth and prefers swordswomen at his side to a dancing girls at his > feet. A detailed fantasy world created decades before Tolkien. A d20 > game heavily modified to emulate the bloodthirsty swordplay, corrupting > sorcery, and varied cultures of the Hyborian Age. Creatures of human or > near-human intelligence are feared man-apes or supernatural monsters. > Parties do not have to fill all the traditional roles; a party can be > made up of characters of one class or have a mix of classes including > barbarians, nobles, soldiers, scholars, and pirates. > > Legends of Anglere > Despite it's title LOA is not tied to s specific setting. LOA is a > toolkit for building fantasy worlds in FATE. LOA describes everything > like a character. Generate worlds, nations, cities, guilds, ships etc. > We will gradually build a world. A 'session zero' will sketch out the > solar system world and cosmology. After that odd sessions will be for > world building and will include large-scale game play to advance the > events of the world. In even sessions connected adventures will feature > items created in odd sessions. Core PC species vary by world examples: > elves, dwarves, Halflings, fawns, centaurs and dragons. > > Classic Traveller > 3000 years from now The Third Imperium of humanity dominates known > space. A 1977 classic that has quirks but plays well today. Traveller is > a popular and detailed science fiction universe for rpg. Traveller is > 2/3 hard science and 1/3 space opera. There is a limited FTL hyperdrive, > reactionless drives and other 'impossible' technologies but no FTL > 'radio'. The Imperium is governed by neo-feudalism and individual worlds > are largely free to govern themselves. Aliens tend to be Star-Wars-esque > in appearance but are generally better thought out. I have access to > almost all the material produced for this original version of Traveller. > > Tunnels and Trolls 5.5 > Generate your bloodthirsty greedy heroes and send them into a monster > filled dungeon. Kill things! Take their stuff! > Uncomplicated and easy to learn. My house rules provide wider choices > for player characters and tactical combat. With the name Tunnels and > Trolls the campaign should have both of these. I imagine long ago there > was an Empire of the Dwarves that built numerous mines and cities under > the earth with troll slave labour. The Empire fell long ago but the > mines and barrows await adventurers including the usual elves, etc. but > also trolls, leprechauns, shapeshifters, firbolgs, awakened beasts etc. > as PC's > > Space 1889 > Science fiction adventure in a more civilised time. Generate your > Victorian era character and set off to sail the stately canals of Mars, > trek the dinosaur ridden swamps of Venus, foil agents of the Kaiser in > the jungles of the Congo, invent strange devices, and finish your day > with a nice cup of tea or a gin and tonic. Some allowance made for alien > PC's but majority will be human and probably British. Think Verne and > Wells with a dash of Boroughs and you're on the right track. A nice > setting but the combat system is a but clunky. > > Tunnel Quest > Tunnel Quest is a small simple yet powerful rpg by Mike Hill designed to > be played by non-gamers like curious relatives around Christmas time. > Despite being very simple it has all the features of a full size game: > classes, skills, character advancement, treasure, and spell-casting. A > short simple rules set but with enough variety to satisfy veteran > gamers. Rpg review 12 has rules that add elves and other PCs species. I > use the first version of the game and can freely distribute those rules. > The setting is a generic fantasy with a Celt/Germanic/Anglo-Saxon feel. > Adventures will be varied including wilderness, court intrigue, > mysteries, not just dungeons. > > Cyberpunk 2020 > Inspired by Gibson, Sterling and others this is the classic 80's game of > a dystopian 2020AD. Under the influence of rapid technological change > society begins to fragment. Individuals too loose their humanity as > implants and prosthetics boost their capabilities but erode their > empathy. Cyberpunk generates characters with detail previous lives, a > range of implanted technology, and skills suited to defined archetypes > of the genre. To get into the role remember "style over substance, > attitude is everything, live on the edge". Roles include mercenaries, > hackers, celebrities, nomads, technicians, paramedics, journalists, > cops, corporates, and 'fixers'. > > AD&D: Enormous Olde School Dungeon > I have more supplements and articles than you can poke a stick at > providing a HUGE amount of player choice for characters. An enormous > largely randomly generated dungeon. The largest stronghold ever built by > dwarves situated on rich lodes of precious metals. Then came the blue > fever, goblin invasions, and finally the 'Black Crusade' that destroyed > diplomatic relations with the Empire. The stronghold was overrun. Now, > with the aid of several allies, the dwarves have established two > settlements within the old stronghold and seek to eventually gain > control of it all. This is a big 1970's style dungeon that doesn't hold > up to close logical scrutiny. > > Fighting Fantasy > Generate your bloodthirsty greedy warriors and send them into monster > filled dungeons. Kill things! Take their stuff! The group rpg version of > the favourite of 12 year olds the world over. Really simple rules; > initially you all play warriors, then after a few games we'll add > skills, spells, elves, and dwarves. The setting is generic fantasy much > resembling 70's AD&D, the rules are very simple good for 'beer and > pretzels' jaunts or playing with kids but the system lacks the teeth for > a sustained campaign and experienced players will find the limitations > on character choices frustrating. > > > > > > >

Care2 makes it easy for everyone to live a healthy, green lifestyle > and impact the causes you care about most. Over 12 Million members! > http://www.care2.com
/>
> Feed a child by searching the web! Learn how href="http://www.care2.com/toolbar" > target=_blank>http://www.care2.com/toolbar_______________________________________________ > Churchofgaming mailing list > Churchofgaming at rpgreview.net > http://rpgreview.net/mailman/listinfo/churchofgaming_rpgreview.net > From catodon at whale-mail.com Thu Sep 22 02:03:49 2011 From: catodon at whale-mail.com (Carl Brown) Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2011 19:03:49 -0700 Subject: [Churchofgaming] Possible Games Message-ID: <0591AD9854734ED79FE373CF8DE73784@mail2world.com> With Young Gods and Krononauts concluded AND our two new games not quite of the blocks this Sunday I'll be running the first session of a new game. Therefore voting will close 11am tomorrow for those who are going to play but have not yet voted. <-----Original Message-----> >From: lev at rpgreview.net [lev at rpgreview.net] >Sent: 9/19/2011 11:28:53 AM >To: churchofgaming at rpgreview.net >Subject: Re: [Churchofgaming] Possible Games > >Nota bene: Resending this because we have a couple new people on the >mailing list. > >Redmond tells me that Dark Heresy will be starting in November. > >Felix I believe is getting the last touches on for Pathfinder Planescape. >Will be ready in a fortnight perhaps? > >In the meantime we have to decide on a filler game... So for those who >have not already voted, express your preference! > >Best wishes, Lev > >> Possible Games: >> (Felix: if you feel some of the planescape people might be interested in >> a second game could you forward this to them?) >> >> We have finished up the Young Gods campaign. Soon the Krononauts 'season >> 1' will also end. We are looking forward to starting Planescape and Dark >> Heresy. However, with new players and a fortnightly schedule we may >> still have a slot or two open for other games. >> There are probably several who would like to run games in any spare >> slots. If so, I'm sure we can figure something out. >> There are two broad options: we could run one-off games (see previous >> email for some ideas). Alternately, we could start another campaign. >> Assuming the later, here is a list of campaigns I feel I can run with >> the amount of prep time I have. Each has a 100 word summary. >> I propose a vote. >> >> Please let me know your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd preference. >> >> If anything looks similar to something you want to run don't vote for >> it, I'd like to add variety to our schedule. Your first vote will get >> three points, your second two, and your third one. Not quite true >> preferential voting but this works with small numbers of voters. >> >> Fantasy Craft: Mythic Age >> Diaspora >> Gulliver's Trading Company >> Kong: Skull Island >> Mars: Savage Worlds >> Conan >> Legends of Anglere >> Classic Traveller >> Tunnels and Trolls >> Space 1889 >> Tunnel Quest >> Cyberpunk 2020 >> AD&D: Olde School Dungeon >> Fighting Fantasy >> >> Fantasy Craft: Mythic Age >> Forge a legend with bronze and oratory! A few centuries after Creation >> the gods meddle and faith drives pre-modern polytheistic cultures. Each >> culture presented blends several historical inspirations and adds >> twists. Elder peoples still dominate the world, choose from 14 iconic >> fantasy species, including dragons and titans! Each player takes the >> role of a notable individual or a fellowship of mortals. PCs begin as >> people of moderate or no importance then over 400 years fight wars, >> found cities that grow into civilisations, and lead cults that become >> great religions. A one-off Mythic Age adventure at COG was well >> received. >> >> Diaspora >> For millennia we have travelled the stars, worlds have been terraformed, >> and civilisations rise and fall in great cycles. Hard science-fiction >> role-playing with FATE. Harder than Traveller; no quasi-magical >> anti-gravity, inertia-less drives, convergent evolution, etc. The >> exception is FTL. Very high transhuman technology is almost impossible >> to achieve and extinguishes the society that holds it. The result is >> 'blue collar space'. The players design 'thumbnails' of plausible local >> solar systems in the first session. For advice on terrformed worlds see >> Lev's excellent article in Rpg Review 11. For plausible alien life see >> Rpg Review 12. Guest referees are encouraged. >> >> Gulliver's Trading Company >> Based on FATE 2e and playtested here at COG. Some of you have probably >> had enough of GTC, but I live in hope. For those new here. >> As well as Lilliputians and giants there is a flying island, savants >> rapt in trances, professors trying to extract sunlight from cucumbers, >> sorcerers, ghosts, cursed immortals, talking horses, and unexplored >> continents. Gulliver's Trading Company is a roleplaying game of >> exploration of strange lands in the 18th century. It is based on the >> classic satirical novel Gulliver's Travels. Gulliver's Travels. >> Gulliver's son organises trading expeditions to the remote countries >> described in his father's book. >> >> Kong: Skull Island >> Hostile jungle, dinosaurs, lost civilisations, giant gorillas. Explore >> the lost world of Skull Island. Adventures are centuries or decades >> apart; watch the mysteries of Skull Island unfold. The desperate first >> years of human colonisation of skull island millennia ago, the height of >> the Wall Builder's civilisation, any period when ships are wrecked on >> the rocks, the 1930's scientific expeditions, and dramatic last days >> before the island sank beneath the waves in the 1940's. There could even >> be chances to play a mighty 30' ape. Quickly generate period characters >> around a stable core. Possible Game systems: T&T, Fantasy Craft, >> GTC/FATE 2e. >> >> Mars: Savage Worlds >> Mars as it should be - ancient, dying, but not yet dead. A vast canal >> network brings water and life to spired cities. As a dashing native of >> Mars, take up your sabre and blaster and race out for swashbuckling >> adventure! Explore dead cities. Fight the legions of the Ape Empire! >> Battle green brute warriors! Uncover the mysteries of ancient polar >> stations. All the while deep below the surface ancient and terrible >> intellects slowly and surely draw their plans. I have never run the >> Savage Worlds rules but the system is rules light and designed to be >> fast playing. Uses miniatures/counters. >> >> Conan >> Forget what you think you know. In Howard's tales Conan rarely wears a >> loin-cloth and prefers swordswomen at his side to a dancing girls at his >> feet. A detailed fantasy world created decades before Tolkien. A d20 >> game heavily modified to emulate the bloodthirsty swordplay, corrupting >> sorcery, and varied cultures of the Hyborian Age. Creatures of human or >> near-human intelligence are feared man-apes or supernatural monsters. >> Parties do not have to fill all the traditional roles; a party can be >> made up of characters of one class or have a mix of classes including >> barbarians, nobles, soldiers, scholars, and pirates. >> >> Legends of Anglere >> Despite it's title LOA is not tied to s specific setting. LOA is a >> toolkit for building fantasy worlds in FATE. LOA describes everything >> like a character. Generate worlds, nations, cities, guilds, ships etc. >> We will gradually build a world. A 'session zero' will sketch out the >> solar system world and cosmology. After that odd sessions will be for >> world building and will include large-scale game play to advance the >> events of the world. In even sessions connected adventures will feature >> items created in odd sessions. Core PC species vary by world examples: >> elves, dwarves, Halflings, fawns, centaurs and dragons. >> >> Classic Traveller >> 3000 years from now The Third Imperium of humanity dominates known >> space. A 1977 classic that has quirks but plays well today. Traveller is >> a popular and detailed science fiction universe for rpg. Traveller is >> 2/3 hard science and 1/3 space opera. There is a limited FTL hyperdrive, >> reactionless drives and other 'impossible' technologies but no FTL >> 'radio'. The Imperium is governed by neo-feudalism and individual worlds >> are largely free to govern themselves. Aliens tend to be Star-Wars-esque >> in appearance but are generally better thought out. I have access to >> almost all the material produced for this original version of Traveller. >> >> Tunnels and Trolls 5.5 >> Generate your bloodthirsty greedy heroes and send them into a monster >> filled dungeon. Kill things! Take their stuff! >> Uncomplicated and easy to learn. My house rules provide wider choices >> for player characters and tactical combat. With the name Tunnels and >> Trolls the campaign should have both of these. I imagine long ago there >> was an Empire of the Dwarves that built numerous mines and cities under >> the earth with troll slave labour. The Empire fell long ago but the >> mines and barrows await adventurers including the usual elves, etc. but >> also trolls, leprechauns, shapeshifters, firbolgs, awakened beasts etc. >> as PC's >> >> Space 1889 >> Science fiction adventure in a more civilised time. Generate your >> Victorian era character and set off to sail the stately canals of Mars, >> trek the dinosaur ridden swamps of Venus, foil agents of the Kaiser in >> the jungles of the Congo, invent strange devices, and finish your day >> with a nice cup of tea or a gin and tonic. Some allowance made for alien >> PC's but majority will be human and probably British. Think Verne and >> Wells with a dash of Boroughs and you're on the right track. A nice >> setting but the combat system is a but clunky. >> >> Tunnel Quest >> Tunnel Quest is a small simple yet powerful rpg by Mike Hill designed to >> be played by non-gamers like curious relatives around Christmas time. >> Despite being very simple it has all the features of a full size game: >> classes, skills, character advancement, treasure, and spell-casting. A >> short simple rules set but with enough variety to satisfy veteran >> gamers. Rpg review 12 has rules that add elves and other PCs species. I >> use the first version of the game and can freely distribute those rules. >> The setting is a generic fantasy with a Celt/Germanic/Anglo-Saxon feel. >> Adventures will be varied including wilderness, court intrigue, >> mysteries, not just dungeons. >> >> Cyberpunk 2020 >> Inspired by Gibson, Sterling and others this is the classic 80's game of >> a dystopian 2020AD. Under the influence of rapid technological change >> society begins to fragment. Individuals too loose their humanity as >> implants and prosthetics boost their capabilities but erode their >> empathy. Cyberpunk generates characters with detail previous lives, a >> range of implanted technology, and skills suited to defined archetypes >> of the genre. To get into the role remember "style over substance, >> attitude is everything, live on the edge". Roles include mercenaries, >> hackers, celebrities, nomads, technicians, paramedics, journalists, >> cops, corporates, and 'fixers'. >> >> AD&D: Enormous Olde School Dungeon >> I have more supplements and articles than you can poke a stick at >> providing a HUGE amount of player choice for characters. An enormous >> largely randomly generated dungeon. The largest stronghold ever built by >> dwarves situated on rich lodes of precious metals. Then came the blue >> fever, goblin invasions, and finally the 'Black Crusade' that destroyed >> diplomatic relations with the Empire. The stronghold was overrun. Now, >> with the aid of several allies, the dwarves have established two >> settlements within the old stronghold and seek to eventually gain >> control of it all. This is a big 1970's style dungeon that doesn't hold >> up to close logical scrutiny. >> >> Fighting Fantasy >> Generate your bloodthirsty greedy warriors and send them into monster >> filled dungeons. Kill things! Take their stuff! The group rpg version of >> the favourite of 12 year olds the world over. Really simple rules; >> initially you all play warriors, then after a few games we'll add >> skills, spells, elves, and dwarves. The setting is generic fantasy much >> resembling 70's AD&D, the rules are very simple good for 'beer and >> pretzels' jaunts or playing with kids but the system lacks the teeth for >> a sustained campaign and experienced players will find the limitations >> on character choices frustrating. >> >> >> >> >> >> >>

Care2 makes it easy for everyone to live a healthy, green >lifestyle >> and impact the causes you care about most. Over 12 Million members! >> target=_blank>http://www.care2.com
> />
>> Feed a child by searching the web! Learn how > href="http://www.care2.com/toolbar" >> >target=_blank>http://www.care2.com/toolbar__________________________ _____________________ >> Churchofgaming mailing list >> Churchofgaming at rpgreview.net >> http://rpgreview.net/mailman/listinfo/churchofgaming_rpgreview.net >> > > > >_______________________________________________ >Churchofgaming mailing list >Churchofgaming at rpgreview.net >http://rpgreview.net/mailman/listinfo/churchofgaming_rpgreview.net >. >

Care2 makes it easy for everyone to live a healthy, green lifestyle and impact the causes you care about most. Over 12 Million members! http://www.care2.com

Feed a child by searching the web! Learn how http://www.care2.com/toolbar -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From lev at rpgreview.net Thu Sep 22 03:15:11 2011 From: lev at rpgreview.net (lev at rpgreview.net) Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2011 13:15:11 +1000 Subject: [Churchofgaming] Possible Games In-Reply-To: <0591AD9854734ED79FE373CF8DE73784@mail2world.com> References: <0591AD9854734ED79FE373CF8DE73784@mail2world.com> Message-ID: <578845b2186bac0520c1594ad416bdd2.squirrel@webmail.rpgreview.net> > With Young Gods and Krononauts concluded AND our two new games not quite > of the blocks this Sunday I'll be running the first session of a new > game. Therefore voting will close 11am tomorrow for those who are going > to play but have not yet voted. I count the following votes and ballots so far. At the moment the results would be (because there's a tie for lowest preference) either Traveller or a tie between Traveller and Space 1889. First Preference Votes Fantasy Craft: Mythic Age 0 Diaspora 0 Gulliver's Trading Company 0 Kong: Skull Island 0 Mars: Savage Worlds 0 Conan 0 Legends of Anglere 0 Classic Traveller 2 Tunnels and Trolls 0 Space 1889 1 Tunnel Quest 0 Cyberpunk 2020 1 AD&D: Olde School Dungeon 0 Fighting Fantasy 0 (Michael) Cyberpunk 2020 [1] Diaspora [2] Space 1889 [3] (Lev) Classic Traveller [1] Diaspora [2] Space 1889 [3] (Jay) Space 1889 [1] Conan [2] Classic Traveller [3] (Redmond) Classic Traveler [1] Cyberpunk 2020AD [2] Diaspora [3] From catodon at whale-mail.com Thu Sep 22 08:40:29 2011 From: catodon at whale-mail.com (Carl Brown) Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2011 01:40:29 -0700 Subject: [Churchofgaming] Possible Games Results! Message-ID: Hi all, I'm going to close voting now. The idea was for people to vote for thier favourites without influence. ;P Anyway, as explained in the initial email this was not to be true preferential voting. 1st choice= 3pt 2nd choice= 2pt 3rd choice= 1pt My vote? well I listed the games in my order of preference. There was also one paper vote. The winner is: Diaspora second: Space 1889 Third: Classic Traveller Game people points Fantasy Craft: Mythic Age 1 3 Diaspora 5 8 Gulliver's Trading Company 1 1 Kong: Skull Island 0 0 Mars: Savage Worlds 0 0 Conan 1 2 Legends of Anglere* 0 0 Classic Traveller 4 7 Tunnels and Trolls 0 0 Space 1889 4 8 Tunnel Quest 0 0 Cyberpunk 2020 3 7 AD&D: Olde School Dungeon 0 0 Fighting Fantasy 0 0 <-----Original Message-----> >From: lev at rpgreview.net [lev at rpgreview.net] >Sent: 9/22/2011 1:15:11 PM >To: churchofgaming at rpgreview.net >Subject: Re: [Churchofgaming] Possible Games > >> With Young Gods and Krononauts concluded AND our two new games not quite >> of the blocks this Sunday I'll be running the first session of a new >> game. Therefore voting will close 11am tomorrow for those who are going >> to play but have not yet voted. > >I count the following votes and ballots so far. At the moment the results >would be (because there's a tie for lowest preference) either Traveller or >a tie between Traveller and Space 1889. > >First Preference Votes > >Fantasy Craft: Mythic Age 0 >Diaspora 0 >Gulliver's Trading Company 0 >Kong: Skull Island 0 >Mars: Savage Worlds 0 >Conan 0 >Legends of Anglere 0 >Classic Traveller 2 >Tunnels and Trolls 0 >Space 1889 1 >Tunnel Quest 0 >Cyberpunk 2020 1 >AD&D: Olde School Dungeon 0 >Fighting Fantasy 0 > >(Michael) >Cyberpunk 2020 [1] >Diaspora [2] >Space 1889 [3] > >(Lev) >Classic Traveller [1] >Diaspora [2] >Space 1889 [3] > >(Jay) >Space 1889 [1] >Conan [2] >Classic Traveller [3] > >(Redmond) >Classic Traveler [1] >Cyberpunk 2020AD [2] >Diaspora [3] > > >_______________________________________________ >Churchofgaming mailing list >Churchofgaming at rpgreview.net >http://rpgreview.net/mailman/listinfo/churchofgaming_rpgreview.net >. >

Care2 makes it easy for everyone to live a healthy, green lifestyle and impact the causes you care about most. Over 12 Million members! http://www.care2.com

Feed a child by searching the web! Learn how http://www.care2.com/toolbar -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From lev at rpgreview.net Thu Sep 22 09:05:35 2011 From: lev at rpgreview.net (lev at rpgreview.net) Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2011 19:05:35 +1000 Subject: [Churchofgaming] Possible Games Results! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: > Hi all, > I'm going to close voting now. The idea was for people to vote for thier > favourites without influence. ;P Seeming that votes were public... > Anyway, as explained in the initial email this was not to be true > preferential voting. Hmmm. So you did. What you were actually using is 'Range Voting'. Compare; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preferential_voting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Range_voting > My vote? well I listed the games in my order of preference. There was > also one paper vote. > The winner is: Diaspora > second: Space 1889 > Third: Classic Traveller Well, you're the GM. :) From catodon at whale-mail.com Thu Sep 22 09:31:02 2011 From: catodon at whale-mail.com (Carl Brown) Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2011 02:31:02 -0700 Subject: [Churchofgaming] Possible Games Results! Message-ID: Range voting you say, larn somfin new evry day. Interestingly, no-one (not even the DM) got thier first choice, but the winning game was the game mentioned by almost everyone. Anyways, after Runequest, Gulliver's, Young Gods, 1st ed D&D, and even Krononauts going from fantasy to super-hard SF should be a refreshing change. <-----Original Message-----> >From: lev at rpgreview.net [lev at rpgreview.net] >Sent: 9/22/2011 7:05:35 PM >To: churchofgaming at rpgreview.net >Subject: Re: [Churchofgaming] Possible Games Results! > >> Hi all, >> I'm going to close voting now. The idea was for people to vote for thier >> favourites without influence. ;P > >Seeming that votes were public... > >> Anyway, as explained in the initial email this was not to be true >> preferential voting. > >Hmmm. So you did. What you were actually using is 'Range Voting'. Compare; > >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preferential_voting > >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Range_voting > >> My vote? well I listed the games in my order of preference. There was >> also one paper vote. >> The winner is: Diaspora >> second: Space 1889 >> Third: Classic Traveller > >Well, you're the GM. :) > > > >_______________________________________________ >Churchofgaming mailing list >Churchofgaming at rpgreview.net >http://rpgreview.net/mailman/listinfo/churchofgaming_rpgreview.net >. >

Care2 makes it easy for everyone to live a healthy, green lifestyle and impact the causes you care about most. Over 12 Million members! http://www.care2.com

Feed a child by searching the web! Learn how http://www.care2.com/toolbar -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From f.aplin at pgrad.unimelb.edu.au Thu Sep 22 12:29:38 2011 From: f.aplin at pgrad.unimelb.edu.au (Felix Aplin) Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2011 22:29:38 +1000 Subject: [Churchofgaming] Possible Games Results! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sorry I didn't vote in. I probably won't get the chance to join a second long-running campaign so I didn't think it right to vote this time. Some hard Sci-fi could be interesting though!..... One-offs are definitely something I would be up for, however. Cheers, Felix On 22 September 2011 19:31, Carl Brown wrote: > Range voting you say, larn somfin new evry day. > Interestingly, no-one (not even the DM) got thier first choice, but the > winning game was the game mentioned by almost everyone. > Anyways, after Runequest, Gulliver's, Young Gods, 1st ed D&D, and even > Krononauts going from fantasy to super-hard SF should be a refreshing > change. > > > > <-----Original Message-----> > >From: lev at rpgreview.net [lev at rpgreview.net] > >Sent: 9/22/2011 7:05:35 PM > >To: churchofgaming at rpgreview.net > >Subject: Re: [Churchofgaming] Possible Games Results! > > > >> Hi all, > >> I'm going to close voting now. The idea was for people to vote for thier > >> favourites without influence. ;P > > > >Seeming that votes were public... > > > >> Anyway, as explained in the initial email this was not to be true > >> preferential voting. > > > >Hmmm. So you did. What you were actually using is 'Range Voting'. Compare; > > > >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preferential_voting > > > >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Range_voting > > > >> My vote? well I listed the games in my order of preference. There was > >> also one paper vote. > >> The winner is: Diaspora > >> second: Space 1889 > >> Third: Classic Traveller > > > >Well, you're the GM. :) > > > > > > > >_______________________________________________ > >Churchofgaming mailing list > >Churchofgaming at rpgreview.net > >http://rpgreview.net/mailman/listinfo/churchofgaming_rpgreview.net > >. > > > > Care2 makes it easy for everyone to live a healthy, green lifestyle and > impact the causes you care about most. Over 12 Million members! > http://www.care2.com > > Feed a child by searching the web! Learn how http://www.care2.com/toolbar > > > _______________________________________________ > Churchofgaming mailing list > Churchofgaming at rpgreview.net > http://rpgreview.net/mailman/listinfo/churchofgaming_rpgreview.net > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From catodon at whale-mail.com Thu Sep 22 22:41:31 2011 From: catodon at whale-mail.com (Carl Brown) Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2011 15:41:31 -0700 Subject: [Churchofgaming] Diaspora Solar Systems Message-ID: <0F57F47830FA43A78AA087A62CE6435A@mail2world.com> Solar systems are described by three statistics, three aspects, and a short paragraph. Since one of the Apsects relates to how your solar system relates to the others you can't really finish one before the game but having a few vague ideas could help.The three statistics are Technology, Environment, Resources. The descriptions here are just suggestions, for example Environment 3 could be thousands of space stations and no habitable worlds. Technology 4 On the verge of collapse 3 Slipstream mastery 2 Slipstream use 1 Exploiting the system 0 Exploring the system -1 Atomic power -2 Industrialization -3 Metallurgy -4 Stone age Environment 4 Many garden worlds 3 Some garden worlds 2 One garden and several survivable worlds 1 One garden and several hostile environments 0 One garden world (and perhaps additional barren worlds) -1 Survivable world -2 Hostile environment (gravity but dangerous atmosphere) -3 Barren world (gravity, no atmosphere) -4 No habitable worlds at all Resources 4 All you could want 3 Multiple exports 2 One significant export 1 Rich 0 Sustainable -1 Almost viable -2 Needs imports -3 Multiple dependencies -4 No resources Example Solar System Java Tech -2 Industrialisation Environ +1 One garden world several hostile worlds Resources -1 Almost viable Aspects The Age of Sail Damn Dinosaurs! (3rd left blank for now, use it to describe the relationship to other systems in cluster) A fine candidate for terraforming, why the Ancestors screwed it up with recreated dinosaurs is anyone's guess. Theory is the local humans are descended from a stranded science team who fell back the Stone Age but now have sailing ships and cities. Away from the coast the azure blue sky of Java is oft obscured by the fronds of the humid jungles. Compared to more advanced worlds, life on Java is dirty and short, good medicine is rare and beyond the cities carnosaurs are a problem. The Javan's trade spices for metals and can do nothing to stop outsiders mining the hostile worlds in the system.

Care2 makes it easy for everyone to live a healthy, green lifestyle and impact the causes you care about most. Over 12 Million members! http://www.care2.com

Feed a child by searching the web! Learn how http://www.care2.com/toolbar -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From catodon at whale-mail.com Thu Sep 22 22:25:36 2011 From: catodon at whale-mail.com (Carl Brown) Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2011 15:25:36 -0700 Subject: [Churchofgaming] Diaspora Technology Message-ID: <4423FF4F70E74781B55C09EEC7782201@mail2world.com> This weekend we will generate a few solar systems and our characters. Have a think about the kinds of worlds you might want to play in. Diaspora is Hard SF technology is suppoed to be consistent with real science. As an aid I have put together a table of what I think this means.

Care2 makes it easy for everyone to live a healthy, green lifestyle and impact the causes you care about most. Over 12 Million members! http://www.care2.com

Feed a child by searching the web! Learn how http://www.care2.com/toolbar -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Diaspora Technology.docx Type: application/octet-stream Size: 89168 bytes Desc: not available URL: From catodon at whale-mail.com Thu Sep 22 23:45:02 2011 From: catodon at whale-mail.com (Carl Brown) Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2011 16:45:02 -0700 Subject: [Churchofgaming] THe terrible truth about so many PCs Message-ID: <92BE2C196CC246C996BF6ABE3D1F59F0@mail2world.com> Sean (and anyone else who's been away a while) As you probably know we are starting several new campaigns in the coming weeks. If you want to join us again (and can find the time) that'd be great. <-----Original Message-----> >From: Sean Doyle [Sean.Doyle at acmi.net.au] >Sent: 5/14/2011 9:56:33 AM >To: churchofgaming at rpgreview.net >Subject: Re: [Churchofgaming] THe terrible truth about so many PCs > >Thanks Carl, >A compelling article and I couldn't agree more! > > >Sent from my iPhone > >On 13/05/2011, at 6:07 PM, "Carl Brown" wrote: > > >I just found this on the net. About time someone said this to rpg-ers > >A Better Game >Header >We Can't All Be Wolverine > >Pantheon PressRob Trimarco of Pantheon Press presents a short-but-very-sweet >treatise on the need for actual heroes in heroic stories, rather than a bunch of >hacked-off, cynical, anti-heroes. > >I have a favorite quote from the movie, Reservoir Dogs: > >MR. PINK: Why can't we pick out our own colors? > >JOE: I tried that once, it don't work. You get four guys fighting over who's >gonna be Mr. Black. > >From Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights, to Gotham City's Batman, to almost every >character ever played by Clint Eastwood, the antihero is an attractive and >compelling icon. I mean, who doesn't want to be this guy? Surly, lethal, and >(best of all), misunderstood? > >The problem is, the antihero is only fun when he works alone or when he is >surrounded by people who care about his angst. He doesn't work when he's teamed >up with a bunch of other antiheroes! Can you imagine if the Justice League was >all Batmen? They'd sit around glowering at each other all day, trying to think >up terse exit lines! > >As gamers we've all been in that party, right? > >Jeff: I'm 'Derth Darkblade'. I have no family, no love, just my sword. While >others take prisoners, I take lives. > >Carl: Well, Derth, let me introduce 'Gloomsmith Joybane.' He had a family, but >they were killed before his eyes. Now he lives to seek vengeance against- > >Steve: Not so fast there Gloomy. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Killer >McKillerkill. I can't even SPELL the word 'prisoner'. My life means nothing to >me, so why should anyone else's? > >GM: Ummm. Okay, well you guys meet in a bar and. > >BORING!!! > >For every Wolverine, you need at least one Cyclops. You need that personality >that represents the moral compass - someone who will say, "No! If we kill him, >then we'd be just as bad as him!" > >Corny? Not if you go for it! A character that stands up for compassion? >optimism? love? It takes courage, but if you commit to it, it will NOT be corny. >And remember, 'Good' does not mean 'Weak'. Your character will be even more >memorable if they back up their beliefs with decisiveness and action. > >And here's the fun fact. Because so many players are attracted to the antihero, >your legitimate hero will actually be the unique one. > >Thank you, Rob! I've been practically screaming about this for years... > >~ SPF (05-12-2011) >Care2 makes it easy for everyone to live a healthy, green lifestyle and impact >the causes you care about most. Over 12 Million members! http://www.care2.com > >Feed a child by searching the web! Learn how http://www.care2.com/toolbar >_______________________________________________ >Churchofgaming mailing list >Churchofgaming at rpgreview.net >http://rpgreview.net/mailman/listinfo/churchofgaming_rpgreview.net > > > > > > > > > >This email and any attachments may be confidential and contain copyright or >privileged material. If you are not the intended recipient of this email you >must not copy, disclose, distribute, store or otherwise use this material >without permission. Additionally, please notify the sender immediately and >destroy all copies of this email and any attachments. Any personal information >in this email must be handled in accordance with the Information Privacy Act >2000 (Vic) and applicable laws. Any views expressed in this message are those of >the individual sender and unless specifically stated may not be the views of the >Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI). The above email message does not >represent a legally binding agreement on behalf of ACMI. ACMI does not accept >liability in connection with computer viruses, data corruption, delay, >interruption, unauthorised access or use

Care2 makes it easy for everyone to live a healthy, green lifestyle and impact the causes you care about most. Over 12 Million members! http://www.care2.com

Feed a child by searching the web! Learn how http://www.care2.com/toolbar -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From catodon at whale-mail.com Mon Sep 26 03:41:43 2011 From: catodon at whale-mail.com (Carl Brown) Date: Sun, 25 Sep 2011 20:41:43 -0700 Subject: [Churchofgaming] Diaspora Rules Message-ID: Thank you all for a good session on the weekend. I think we produced a very interesting cluster and some good characters. I'm looking forward to the first adventure a fortnight from now. Here are the rules for Diaspora. http://www.vsca.ca/Diaspora/diaspora-srd.html This is all the rules but can be a little hard to understand in places without the examples and fluff text in the real book.

Care2 makes it easy for everyone to live a healthy, green lifestyle and impact the causes you care about most. Over 12 Million members! http://www.care2.com

Feed a child by searching the web! Learn how http://www.care2.com/toolbar -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From catodon at whale-mail.com Mon Sep 26 20:55:18 2011 From: catodon at whale-mail.com (Carl Brown) Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2011 13:55:18 -0700 Subject: [Churchofgaming] Diaspora: Sunshine Message-ID: Sunshine and Smoke rings So we are aiming for Hard Sf, as hard as we can make it. You'll note that some the examples in the book don't quite ring true. So what about my system 'Sunshine' with its world that is all sky? Well I stole the physical characteristics of the system from Hard SF author and physics freak Larry Niven. Best of all this particular Niven oddball world is naturally occurring and requires no super-science. The same cannot be said for the famous ringworld. Here's a link: http://www.larryniven.net/physics/img27.shtml

Care2 makes it easy for everyone to live a healthy, green lifestyle and impact the causes you care about most. Over 12 Million members! http://www.care2.com

Feed a child by searching the web! Learn how http://www.care2.com/toolbar -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From catodon at whale-mail.com Wed Sep 28 04:10:58 2011 From: catodon at whale-mail.com (Carl Brown) Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2011 21:10:58 -0700 Subject: [Churchofgaming] Diaspora: Our corner of the universe. Message-ID: <0D5AB5F7DE8D4FCDB66935E1E5E8A216@mail2world.com> Diaspora is FATE Hard SF. No artificial gravity, no psi, and no reactionless thrusters. We will use combined knowledge of our group to create worlds and situations as close to the plausible as we can. The idea is not to say 'no' but to create a plausible explanation as close to your idea as we can. For example, Bussard ramjets, were considered for interstellar slower than light travel in the 1960's but since then we have discovered that interstellar gas is too thin. However if you really want to use them perhaps you are in an area of denser gas such as a nebula or near a galactic core. The only exception is the FTL 'slipdrive' that travels over defined routes. Humanity has been colonising the stars for tens of thousands of years, the people of our cluster may not even know about Earth. In our cluster civilisations and and interstellar trade has risen and fallen in great cycles over the millennia. The slipknots join 8 solar systems in our cluster. Often the system is named after the most populous world or the star but each solar system is a lot of territory and a lot of people. A system might contain, planets, moons, 'bubble worlds' made from inflated metal asteroids, multiple stars, asteroid belts, comets, space stations, O'Neill colonies etc. There are multiple languages, lower technology systems tend to have the most. Fortunately, high technology visitors generally have electronic translators. There is also a lot of cultural and technological diversity, C/T skill will limit familiarity for all kinds of equipment. We are alone. The biospheres of the cluster are predominantly genetically engineered Earth-life, terraforming wipes out alien life. There is no intelligent alien life in our cluster, but some non-terraformed worlds have alien animals. There is no good AI, robots with human levels of intelligence are only achieved at the highest level of technology, well beyond what and of our current systems is capable of. Spaceships are huge and require a lot of fuel, 70-90% of their volume. Ships don't land. You get to the surface using interface vehicles like shuttles or landers. On some worlds you can ride a space elevator down. Starships are expensive to run but we are using the optional trade modifiers to help simulate this. There are no space fighters. Space battles are psychologically more like submarine battles that jet plane dog fights. Though ships and other vehicles have a beam weapons attribute beam weapons are actually difficult to make, 'beams' often represents unguided kinetic weapons like naval cannons or railguns. Campaign aspect to be defined in session three.

Care2 makes it easy for everyone to live a healthy, green lifestyle and impact the causes you care about most. Over 12 Million members! http://www.care2.com

Feed a child by searching the web! Learn how http://www.care2.com/toolbar -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From catodon at whale-mail.com Wed Sep 28 20:53:02 2011 From: catodon at whale-mail.com (Carl Brown) Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2011 13:53:02 -0700 Subject: [Churchofgaming] Diapsora rules Message-ID: <5D08BA47AFA34A22928B51787A30E9B5@mail2world.com> Here are links to rules. However, the SRD does not have examples that make the rules so much easier to understand. As per the notice in the PDF it is also legal to print copies for use by my players so I'll bring a chapter or two to most sessions Here is the SRD http://www.vsca.ca/Diaspora/diaspora-srd.html and here is the game's site http://www.vsca.ca/Diaspora/

Care2 makes it easy for everyone to live a healthy, green lifestyle and impact the causes you care about most. Over 12 Million members! http://www.care2.com

Feed a child by searching the web! Learn how http://www.care2.com/toolbar -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From egrek2000 at yahoo.com Thu Sep 29 09:17:21 2011 From: egrek2000 at yahoo.com (Egrek TwoThousand) Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2011 02:17:21 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Churchofgaming] For those doing Dark Heresy - incase you're not sure what's happened... Message-ID: <1317287841.68187.YahooMailNeo@web160712.mail.bf1.yahoo.com> I found it useful! :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MeVxKZBOfM&feature=player_embedded Watch out for them Tyranids! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From lev at rpgreview.net Fri Sep 30 03:10:21 2011 From: lev at rpgreview.net (lev at rpgreview.net) Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2011 13:10:21 +1000 Subject: [Churchofgaming] For those doing Dark Heresy - incase you're not sure what's happened... In-Reply-To: <1317287841.68187.YahooMailNeo@web160712.mail.bf1.yahoo.com> References: <1317287841.68187.YahooMailNeo@web160712.mail.bf1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: > I found it useful! :) > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MeVxKZBOfM That's a great summary. It's always the clergy, isn't it? >From my reckoning the Dark Heresy group is yourself, Michael, Jay, Rick... Personally, I'd like to play Planescape *and* Dark Heresy but alas... Conflicting times at the moment. But we'll see how it goes. If we can make a pitch for of the Planescape people to also be interested in DH we might be able to end up with the sessions not being in conflict.. My understanding is that this Sunday the alternative game is Car Wars/GURPS Autoduel? Is that right Michael? From redmond.hamlett at gmail.com Fri Sep 30 03:17:56 2011 From: redmond.hamlett at gmail.com (Redmond Hamlett) Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2011 13:17:56 +1000 Subject: [Churchofgaming] Churchofgaming Digest, Vol 38, Issue 16 In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Pretty succinct - A little bit different to what the DH PC's will be up to... I'll write a campaign synopsis shortly.... WH40K possessed my childhood so much, I feel a little bit defeated when some guy wraps up so much rich background story in under 1 minute. Cheers Redmond On Fri, Sep 30, 2011 at 12:00 PM, wrote: > Send Churchofgaming mailing list submissions to > churchofgaming at rpgreview.net > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://rpgreview.net/mailman/listinfo/churchofgaming_rpgreview.net > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > churchofgaming-request at rpgreview.net > > You can reach the person managing the list at > churchofgaming-owner at rpgreview.net > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Churchofgaming digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. For those doing Dark Heresy - incase you're not sure what's > happened... (Egrek TwoThousand) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2011 02:17:21 -0700 (PDT) > From: Egrek TwoThousand > To: "churchofgaming at rpgreview.net" > Subject: [Churchofgaming] For those doing Dark Heresy - incase you're > not sure what's happened... > Message-ID: > <1317287841.68187.YahooMailNeo at web160712.mail.bf1.yahoo.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" > > I found it useful! :) > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MeVxKZBOfM&feature=player_embedded > > Watch out for them Tyranids! > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: < > http://rpgreview.net/pipermail/churchofgaming_rpgreview.net/attachments/20110929/92d3c7db/attachment-0001.html > > > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > Churchofgaming mailing list > Churchofgaming at rpgreview.net > http://rpgreview.net/mailman/listinfo/churchofgaming_rpgreview.net > > > End of Churchofgaming Digest, Vol 38, Issue 16 > ********************************************** > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mcole222 at yahoo.com.au Fri Sep 30 04:03:01 2011 From: mcole222 at yahoo.com.au (Michael Cole) Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2011 21:03:01 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Churchofgaming] For those doing Dark Heresy - incase you're not sure what's happened... In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <1317355381.3338.YahooMailClassic@web160305.mail.bf1.yahoo.com> --- On Fri, 30/9/11, lev at rpgreview.net wrote: > From: lev at rpgreview.net > Subject: Re: [Churchofgaming] For those doing Dark Heresy - incase you're not sure what's happened... > To: "Church of Gaming" > Received: Friday, 30 September, 2011, 1:10 PM > > I found it useful! :) > > > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MeVxKZBOfM > > That's a great summary. It's always the clergy, isn't it? > > From my reckoning the Dark Heresy group is yourself, > Michael, Jay, Rick... > Personally, I'd like to play Planescape *and* Dark Heresy > but alas... > Conflicting times at the moment. But we'll see how it goes. > If we can make > a pitch for of the Planescape people to also be interested > in DH we might > be able to end up with the sessions not being in > conflict.. > > My understanding is that this Sunday the alternative game > is Car > Wars/GURPS Autoduel? Is that right Michael? It depends on how many are there. The prospects are: - (Including me...) 2 or 3 People - Field Marshall - http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/5185/field-marshal 2 or 4 People - Soldiers - http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/7255/soldiers-man-to-man-combat-in-world-war-ii Any number - Car Wars Arena Spectacular...