| From: | "J.D. Falk" <jdfalk@****.CAIS.COM> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | [FAQ] Net Enhancements for Role-Playing Shadowrun (part I) |
| Date: | Tue, 17 Jan 1995 18:19:33 -0500 |
NERPS FAQ
Part II
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2. THE CURRENT NERPS PROJECT(s)
A. NERPS: ShadowLore II
B. NERPS: Shadows of the Mind
C. Deadlines
3. HOW TO SUBMIT MATERIALS TO NERPS
A. Registering a Submission and receiving an Author-ID#
B. Formatting Guidelines
C. Submission Guidelines
D. Issuing a Revokation
E. Revoking Someone Else's Submission
4. HOW TO GET PAST LOGS
A. Using the LISTSERV 'GET' command
B. Getting past logs via FTP
C. Getting past messages via Gopher or WWW
5. What NERPS Publications Have Been Completed
A. NERPS ShadowLore
B. NERPS Foundations
6. HOW TO GET COMPLETED NERPS PUBLICATIONS
A. Via FTP
B. Via WWW
7. ADDITIONAL LIST INFORMATION
A. Just who are these administrators anyways?
______________________________________________________________________________
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2. THE CURRENT NERPS PROJECT(s)
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NERPS projects are ever-changing and seldom last for more than a few
months before being completed. A full discription of the current
project(s) is included below. Only submissions for the following projects
will be accepted. (Don't forget to read Part 3 for full details on how to
submit materials.)
NOTE: These titles are only working titles and will in all probability be
changed for final production.
********
A) NERPS: Shadowlore II
This is the second Shadowlore book that is going to be produced.
It will consist of a mish-mash of various cyberware, spells,
rules, totems, archetypes, and races. In addition, it may
include submissions from the defunct NERPS Atlas and NERPS Power
Players projects.
********
B) NERPS: Shadows of the Mind
A number of people are still interested in discussing rules for
Psionics (mind powers) in Shadowrun. This writeup, if ever
finished, will probably be a part of Shadowlore II; if, however,
it is extremely lengthy, it will be a seperate document.
********
C) Deadlines
Officially, the final deadline for registering your submissions
will be December 24, 1994. The final date that submissions will be
accepted is January 15th, 1994. The final production is
expected by March 31, 1995.
******************************************************************************
3. HOW TO SUBMIT MATERIALS TO NERPS
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
There are specific submission and formatting guidelines for all materials
that MUST be adhered to or you risk the chance of your creation being
rejected. While putting up with these guidelines may seem like a
hinderance and a genuine pain in the ass, there are reasons for this. In
other words, READ WHAT FOLLOWS AND USE IT! :-)
********
A. Registering a Submission and receiving an Author-ID#
Every person that submits materials must be issued an Author-ID
number. The purpose of this number is to make sorting and
cross-referencing easier, as well and providing a easy Index
reference for the final product.
To get an Author-ID#, you are required to register at least one
submission. This registration is simply letting the list know
what it is you are planning to submit later on. It also serves as
a sort of promise of what it is you are going to do. NO IDs WILL
BE ISSUED WITHOUT THE PROMISE OF A SUBMISSION.
To register your future submission, you need to send an email
message to J.D. Falk <jdfalk@****.com> with the following format:
REGISTRATION
Project Name [ShadowLore II]
Title of Submission
Your Real Name
Your eMail address (you may also substitute your ID# if it has been issued)
--------
Up to twenty lines describing what it is you will be submitting
At this point, you will be issued an ID# (if you do not yet have
one). Your registration will periodically be posted to the list
as a reminder and you are expected to submit that material prior
to the closing deadline.
Please note that an author-ID# is not required for participation in
the discussion about Psionics.
********
B. Formatting Guidelines
As might be expected, there are formatting requirements that must
be met prior to submission. This is to save later re-editing when
the document is assembled. Failure to use the required
formatting can result in the summary rejection of your submission.
Each submission will begin with the type of submission it is
alone on a line. Only one word is acceptable here at present:
SHADOWLORE. This line is being retained in case other projects
should spring up.
The second line is the title of your submission.
The third line will contain your three-digit Author-ID#.
NOTE: For postings with more than one author, each listing of
the ID# should go on its own line.
Finally, the fourth line will contain eight (8) dashes.
Everything after the line containing the eight dashes will be
considered the submission (although .signature files and
irrelevant material will be removed). The only exception to this
is a revokation certificate.
----- >BEGIN EXAMPLE<
SHADOWLORE
Super Big Guns
H-01
X-##
X-##
--------
...etc....
...etc....
...etc....
----- >END EXAMPLE<
********
C. Submission Guidelines
Assuming you have the formatting correct, you then need to submit
your item. To do this, you need to post it to the discussion list
for everyone to look at (see Part I:1:C). Once posted, your
submission will enter a phase where everyone can comment on it.
If you wish to make changes, you can repost an updated version to
the discussion list.
NOTE: If you have written up your submission on most word
processors, especially those capable of exporting the
Microsoft "Rich Text Format" documents, you can send
J.D. Falk <jdfalk@****.com> that version (must be uuencoded
for Email). It will save him editing time at the end.
Please be sure, though, that you send a text version to the
list for others to see.
Feel free to contact him for a list of word processors
supported; the major ones include Lotus AmiPro for Windows
and WordPerfect (up to version 5.2).
Unless the submission is revoked (see part D and E of this section),
the MOST RECENT incarnation of that submission will be ultimately
entered into the final document.
Only items posted to the discussion list will be valid for entry
into the final project.
IMPORTANT NOTE::
Each submission must be sent in by itself or the software
that handles categorizing will not be able to handle it.
This means if you have three things to send in, you must make
three seperate mailings.
********
D. Issuing a Revokation
If, during the discussion period, a particular entry is
determined to be, for some reason or other, not proper for final
inclusion, the original author can issue a revokation.
To issue a revokation, submit an entry TO THE LIST with the same
formatting as if you were submitting an item (type, title, and
author-ID#), but where the text would normally appear (after the
eight dashes line), replace that with the word REVOKE. At that
point, the item will no longer appear in the final document.
----- >BEGIN EXAMPLE:
Shadowlore
Big Guns
H-01
--------
REVOKE
------ >END EXAMPLE:
********
E. Revoking Someone Else's Submission
It is possible to revoke another author's submission. This is no
simple task, though, and should be reserved only for submissions
that are truly bad or munchkinous.
To revoke another's submission, you must get no less that five
(5) others to support your revokation (making the total at least
six). To issue a revokation in this style, use the following
example:
----- >BEGIN EXAMPLE<
Shadowlore
Big Guns
H-01 <--- This is the Author-ID# of the original author
--------
REVOKE
name1 email1
name2 email2
name3 email3
name4 email4
name5 email5
name6 email6
----- >END EXAMPLE<
Name# and Email# are the names and addresses of the MINIMUM six
people who support that revokation. More than six people can,
of course, support it.
NOTE: The individuals listed in this revokation certificate may
be verified with, so beware of fradulent revokations.
Once the six persons have been verified as supporting that
revokation, the item will be removed. Also note that the
revokation MUST be posted to the list to be considered valid
(everything is part of the public record here).
******************************************************************************
4. HOW TO GET PAST LOGS
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
A. Using the LISTSERV 'GET' command.
Logs of activity on NERPS will be kept online and be available via
the listserv at HEARN. In order to get a directory listing of the
NERPS related files, send the command INDEX NERPS to
LISTSERV@*****.BITNET. You should get a response in a little while
that lists all of the files available.
The log files will be named 'NERPS LOGyymm{A-E}', where 'yy' is the
year of the file, 'mm' is the month and the final letter indicates the
week, with the first week being 'A', and the start of the 5th week
being 'E'.
To get one of them, send the command GET filename, where filename is
the name of the file you wish to receive (example: GET NERPS
LOG9303D). After a bit, you should receive that file in the mail.
Please note that HEARN limits you to receiving one megabyte worth
of files via EMail per day, and is very strict about that.
**********
B. Getting past logs via FTP.
NERPS logs are also available via FTP at:
site: hearn.nic.surfnet.nl
directory: /archive
The archives for the NERPS list are named 'NERPS.LOGyymm{A-E}'
using the same naming format used when ordering the files via mail
as desribed in part A.
**********
C. Getting past messages via Gopher or WWW.
Specific messages from the NERPS list are avaliable via Gopher at:
site: hearn.nic.surfnet.nl
directory: LISTSERVs public archives/NERPS
WWW readers (Mosaic, Lynx, etc.) can be pointed to:
link: gopher://hearn.nic.surfnet.nl
*****************************************************************************
5. What NERPS Publications Have Been Completed
A. NERPS ShadowLore
This first publication contains eighty-six pages of new races,
magic, cyberware, bioware, gadgets, contacts and rules designed to
spice up any ShadowRun game.
****************
B. NERPS Foundations
This second publication contains almost 100 pages of new material
for your ShadowRun world. It contains overviews of several
characters, locations, and plot ideas designed to be easily
dropped in as NPCs and Sprawls, or to give GMs an idea for a
campaign.
*****************************************************************************
6. HOW TO GET COMPLETED NERPS PUBLICATIONS
A. Via FTP
NERPS publications can be found at:
cerebus.acusd.edu: /pub/Role-Playing/Shadowrun/NERPS
B. Via WWW
NERPS publications can be found on Paolo Marcucci's Shadowrun
page, listed in the ShadowRN FAQ. Most other Shadowrun-related
WWW pages include links to his.
*****************************************************************************
7. ADDITIONAL LIST INFORMATION
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
A. Just who are these administrators anyways?
Robert A. Hayden, 23, is a senior at Mankato State University,
located in Mankato, Minnesota (USA). He is majoring in
experiential education with an emphasis on computer administration
and information sciences. He plans to continue on to graduate
school after his graduation, most likely at Mankato State. In
addition, Hayden is a member of the MSU Student Senate Academic
Computing Committee.
Netwise, Hayden is active not only in the Shadowrun forums, but
can also be found in forums devoted to electronic and personal
rights. A member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Computer
Professionals for Social Responsiblity, and the American Civil
Liberties Union, he has taken a rather strong stance on the need
for data privacy and rights in cyberspace. In addition, he is a
vocal participant in various gay/lesbian/bisexual rights groups
and spends much of his off-net time pursuing civil rights for
minority sexual orientations.
Hayden began his game-writing career when 16. He had published a
set of rules that added fixed-wing aircraft to the Steve Jackson
battle simulation Car Wars. Following graduation from high
school, he then edited the net.book _The Tome of Mighty Magic_, a
book of (very) high level spells for TSR's AD&D. Hayden has also
been published in the _Neo-Anarchists Guide to Everything Else_
(#4 and #5). In addition, Hayden is the writer of the infamous
'Geek Code' that can be found on many corners of the net.
Currently, Hayden is the editor of the epic ShadowTalk story as
well as administrating the four Shadowrun-related mailing lists.
In addition, he is working on writing a space-based cyberpunkish
RPG (as of yet, unnamed).
In addition, Hayden is employed by the City of Mankato as a system
administrator studying the feasibility of hooking the city up to
the internet.
If he could he an animal, Hayden would be a dolphin.
-----------------------------------------
Hello, I'm Peter Graves . . . on this episode of "Biography",
we're going to be looking into one of the more enigmatic members
of the ShadowRun mailing list. He came out of nowhere and
eventually ascended to a position of power in the administration
of the list in spite of the fact that very little is known about
him. Tonight, we shall attempt to pierce that shourd of secrecy
surrounding the one known as Doctor Doom . . .
-=-=-=-=-
Doctor Doom, 22, is a senior at Texas A & M University, located in
College Station, Texas (USA). The particular nomenclature derived
from ascribed behavioral similarites to a Marvel Comics character.
His major field of study is History, with a particular emphasis
placed upon European, and more specifically, German studies -- a
situation which is complemented by his minor in German.
Interests: Recreational reading and writing, including poetry and
prose, which includes but is not restricted to participation on
ShadowTalk and the generation of game system rules expansions and
background history.
Politically he is extremely conservative, although he derives
particular pleasure from discussion of politics and how one's
philosophy applies to government. As of this summer, he has
acquired a time slot on his local collegiate radio station, which
shall be devoted to a mixture of current events and political
commentary.
Doom has been an intermittent member of the two local Science
Fiction & Fantasy associations, MSC: Nova and Cepheid Variable.
His role-playing experience began about a decade ago; since that
time, he has gradually migrated from game system to game system
until his discovery of FASA Corporation in 1986. First with
BattleTech and the subsequent Mechwarrior, later giving way to
ShadowRun, Doom has conversed semi-regularly and at length with
the various Powers That Be at the FASA offices, including
dialogues with Tom Dowd, the Dark Lord on High, and Sam Lewis,
current President of FASA.
Presently, he serves as assistant administrator, or Dread
Executor, of the four ShadowRun mailing lists.
{Excerpted from a Barbara Walters Interview}
"So, Mista Doom, pwease teww us, were you an animuw, what sowt of
animaw, would you be?"
"Well, Barbara, despite the utterly pedestrian intellectual quality
of that inquiry -- such that it causes me to generate the distinct
impression that you are seeking the reaction of an individual
placed in a circumstances so ridiculous that they could only be
likened to embarking on an outing where one shall window-shop for
the selection of a body which one should recieve in the event of
reincarnation -- I shall ne'ertheless strive to provide an answer,
albeit a predictable response: an Imperial Eagle."
"Oh, I see. Well, denn, what sowt of twee would you be, then?"
-----------------------------------------
HAYDEN: Hey, Doom! Watch me pull an editor out o' my hat!
DOOM: Again?
HAYDEN: Nothin' up my sleeve!
[DOOM sighs animatedly]
HAYDEN: Hey presto!
-=-=-=-=-
J.D. Falk, 20, is a member of the growing net.minority made up of
those who are not connected to either an educational institution
or computer company. He is currently working for Montgomery
Community Television, which operates the public-access and county
government cable television channels in Montgomery County,
Maryland, USA (a suburb of Washington, D.C.)
Looking around the 'net, Falk can be found in a lot of places (some
of which even _he_ can't explain.) Falk participates regularly in
various discussions about net.politics, and generally favors the
continuation of the current self-regulating semi-anarchistic 'net.
"Just write a good charter," he often says, "and inform people when
they're going against it."
Falk was until recently the General Manager of the Role-Playing
Information Area on the National Capital Area Public Access Network
(CapAccess) in Washington, D.C.; CapAccess boasts over 10,000 users
but, it seems, very few role-players, so the area has been closed.
He co-wrote and published a Space Opera genre role-playing game
in 1989 called S.H.A.L.T. (which has been majorly reworked by
the other co-authors into a new game, called Galactica -- look for
it at GenCon!), and seriously enjoys the social ramifications of the
Cyberpunk genre.
Currently, he is the second-ever editor of the _Net Enhancements
for Role-Playing Shadowrun_ series of books, and is responsible for
the ShadowRN and NERPS FAQs, but honestly has no other authority over
this mailing list. Still, he's been around a while, and can often be
persuaded to give advice.
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