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Message no. 1
From: Bai Shen <baishen@**********.COM>
Subject: SR/Palladium
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 19:39:01 -0400
Outta curiousity, who else here is a SR/Palladium fan?
--
Bai Shen
Nemo Me Impune Lacessit
http://www.series2000.com/users/baishen
UIN 3543257 (Don't ask to join if you aren't going to send me anything.)
Message no. 2
From: Nexx Many-Scars <Nexx3@***.COM>
Subject: Re: SR/Palladium
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 23:23:34 EDT
In a message dated 98-07-30 21:48:04 EDT, you write:

> Outta curiousity, who else here is a SR/Palladium fan?

I take it you noticed myself and Matt, Bai Shen? Personally, though, if I
could find non-Palladium games at school, I'd sell every single Palladium Book
I own... the system is starting to annoy me.

Nexx
Message no. 3
From: Matt Penn <steelclaw@****.COM>
Subject: Re: SR/Palladium
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1998 00:15:57 -0400
On Thu, 30 Jul 1998 23:23:34 EDT Nexx Many-Scars <Nexx3@***.COM> writes:
>In a message dated 98-07-30 21:48:04 EDT, you write:
>
>> Outta curiousity, who else here is a SR/Palladium fan?
>
>I take it you noticed myself and Matt, Bai Shen? Personally, though, if
I
>could find non-Palladium games at school, I'd sell every single
Palladium Book
>I own... the system is starting to annoy me.

Me and Nexx have much in common. If I could find just one, just *one* SR
game...some lucky munchkin would get a rather extensive copy of most
everything Rifts by 1997. I can't seem to get the people I play with
interested, aside from one or two. They haven't said it, but it's mainly
because SR's far too balanced for those born and bred on Palladium.

Memo to FASA: If CJ Carella ever sends in a manuscript for SR, reject it
post-haste.

-Matt, Homo Sapiens Robustus
"Cosmo-Knights my ass."

_____________________________________________________________________
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Message no. 4
From: Nexx Many-Scars <Nexx3@***.COM>
Subject: Re: SR/Palladium
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1998 00:32:19 EDT
In a message dated 98-07-31 00:24:20 EDT, you write:

> Me and Nexx have much in common.

Now who else does that scare? <g>

> If I could find just one, just *one* SR
> game...some lucky munchkin would get a rather extensive copy of most
> everything Rifts by 1997. I can't seem to get the people I play with
> interested, aside from one or two. They haven't said it, but it's mainly
> because SR's far too balanced for those born and bred on Palladium.

Hell, I'd just sell it to a game store in my area... just to get rid of the
box full of stuff I have...

> Memo to FASA: If CJ Carella ever sends in a manuscript for SR, reject it
> post-haste.
>
> -Matt, Homo Sapiens Robustus
> "Cosmo-Knights my ass."

Further note: Burn it an scatter its ashes downwind at least 50 miles...
munchkinism on that scale can be infectious.

Nexx
Message no. 5
From: bryan.covington@****.COM
Subject: Re: SR/Palladium
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1998 09:30:55 -0400
> Outta curiousity, who else here is a SR/Palladium fan?
>
My crew an I played Rifts way back when it first came
out (back when the main book cover art was still titillating). We
managed to work all the gaping holes out of the system and had it pretty
much down. Then we quit. Actually White Wolf came out with Vampire and
we decided to try that (we had been playing Rifts for almost 2 years by
this point). We were also getting too powerful. So we made new
characters. This was after all the damn sourcebooks.
BTW We have a rule of thumb down our way, the quality of
the game is inversely proportional to the number of supplements. Rifts
got it, Torg got it, SR I dunno...but it's treading on thin IC.
Message no. 6
From: MC23 <mc23@**********.COM>
Subject: Re: SR/Palladium
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1998 11:36:31 -0400
Once upon a time, Bryan Covington wrote;

> BTW We have a rule of thumb down our way, the quality of
>the game is inversely proportional to the number of supplements. Rifts
>got it, Torg got it, SR I dunno...but it's treading on thin IC.

So how bad is Star Fleet Battles, and GURPS?

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Ancient cultures believed that names held great power, personal names
more so and they were guarded very closely. To protect themselves, they
answered to another name, because if another discovered their real name,
it could be used against them.
History repeats itself.
Welcome to the Digital Age.
I am MC23
Message no. 7
From: Matt Penn <steelclaw@****.COM>
Subject: Re: SR/Palladium
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1998 11:48:23 -0400
On Fri, 31 Jul 1998 09:30:55 -0400 bryan.covington@****.COM writes:

> My crew an I played Rifts way back when it first came
>out (back when the main book cover art was still titillating). We
>managed to work all the gaping holes out of the system and had it pretty
>much down. Then we quit. Actually White Wolf came out with Vampire and
>we decided to try that (we had been playing Rifts for almost 2 years by
>this point). We were also getting too powerful. So we made new
>characters. This was after all the damn sourcebooks.
> BTW We have a rule of thumb down our way, the quality of
>the game is inversely proportional to the number of supplements. Rifts
>got it, Torg got it, SR I dunno...but it's treading on thin IC.

Well, whatcha gonna do? People want more supplements for their favorite
games. The bad thing about Rifts (not, might I add, the other Palladium
games. They're still decent) is that the supplements don't add anything
new other than being giant robot and laser rifle catalouges for
munchkins. There's also a nasty rash of one big alien intelligence or
similar baddy being behind everything and it gets repetitive.

I think the trick is to make sure each sourcebook adds something new to
the line. I don't have all the books, (in fact I have about five, so you
SR vets feel free to shout me down) but the Shadowrun line at least makes
the effort to try not not to rehash stuff. Aside from the Rigger and VR
books, of course, but those're just new rules which I assume are easier
to use.

-Matt, Homo Sapiens Robustus
"It's omnipotent, it's got tentacles, it's got one big eye...must be from
Rifts."

_____________________________________________________________________
You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail.
Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com
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Message no. 8
From: "Eric M. Farmer" <efarmer@********.CC.EDU>
Subject: Re: SR/Palladium
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1998 11:03:05 -0500
> > BTW We have a rule of thumb down our way, the quality of
> >the game is inversely proportional to the number of supplements. Rifts
> >got it, Torg got it, SR I dunno...but it's treading on thin IC.
>
> Well, whatcha gonna do? People want more supplements for their favorite
> games. The bad thing about Rifts (not, might I add, the other Palladium
> games. They're still decent) is that the supplements don't add anything
> new other than being giant robot and laser rifle catalouges for
> munchkins. There's also a nasty rash of one big alien intelligence or
> similar baddy being behind everything and it gets repetitive.
>
> I think the trick is to make sure each sourcebook adds something new to
> the line. I don't have all the books, (in fact I have about five, so you
> SR vets feel free to shout me down) but the Shadowrun line at least makes
> the effort to try not not to rehash stuff. Aside from the Rigger and VR
> books, of course, but those're just new rules which I assume are easier
> to use.

That is the trick. Shadowrun (I think) has done to a proper degree, as
has CoC, but GURPS, Rifts, and occasionally White Wolf. I say just buy
the books you need, and make up the rest of the material yourself. You
need 4 books for GURPS, NO books for Rifts (I really don't like Rifts),
and I would say try to put the cap on a dozen SR books.

Eric Farmer
efarmer@********.cc.edu
http://www.cc.edu/~efarmer/
Message no. 9
From: Dhl9@***.COM
Subject: Re: SR/Palladium
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1998 12:22:12 EDT
In a message dated 98-07-30 23:25:31 EDT, you write:

> > Outta curiousity, who else here is a SR/Palladium fan?<<

I never played SR with the Palladium rules but we did have a long running SR
campaign with Hero rules. I had never played Hero rules before that. By the
time we wrapped up the campaign I was hooked. The staging rules in SR can get
a little cumbersome. I also liked the con-stunned rules for Hero. Anybody play
around with anything similar for Shadowrun?
Message no. 10
From: MC23 <mc23@**********.COM>
Subject: Re: SR/Palladium
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1998 12:24:03 -0400
Once upon a time, Eric M. Farmer wrote;

>You need 4 books for GURPS

Really?

I sure have gone through a lot while I'm forming my Quarantine
campaign. Science Fantasy in an Anime/Manga feel.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

"All artists are victims of their desire to be unique"
-Original source unknown

I am MC23
Message no. 11
From: bryan.covington@****.COM
Subject: Re: SR/Palladium
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1998 11:59:59 -0400
> Once upon a time, Bryan Covington wrote;
>
> > BTW We have a rule of thumb down our way, the quality
> of
> >the game is inversely proportional to the number of supplements.
> Rifts
> >got it, Torg got it, SR I dunno...but it's treading on thin IC.
>
> So how bad is Star Fleet Battles, and GURPS?
>
SFB = King of Blow. They can't even get their
supplements to make sense.

GURPS is sort of an odd case because they don't really
have a core book. Supplements are the whole point of the system. Which,
BTW, is one of the best marketing ploys I have ever seen, short of
WOTC's idea. Get everyone else to make games and then port them over to
your system and sell them again. Unreal.
Message no. 12
From: Spike <u5a77@*****.CS.KEELE.AC.UK>
Subject: Re: SR/Palladium
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1998 17:47:39 +0100
And verily, did Bai Shen hastily scribble thusly...
|
|Outta curiousity, who else here is a SR/Palladium fan?

I do play the occasional RIFTS.
Why?

--
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|u5a77@*****.cs.keele.ac.uk| Windows95 (noun): 32 bit extensions and a |
| | graphical shell for a 16 bit patch to an 8 bit |
| Andrew Halliwell | operating system originally coded for a 4 bit |
| Finalist in:- |microprocessor, written by a 2 bit company, that|
| Computer Science | can't stand 1 bit of competition. |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|GCv3.1 GCS/EL>$ d---(dpu) s+/- a- C++ U N++ o+ K- w-- M+/++ PS+++ PE- Y t+ |
|5++ X+/++ R+ tv+ b+ D G e>PhD h/h+ !r! !y-|I can't say F**K either now! :( |
Message no. 13
From: Nexx Many-Scars <Nexx3@***.COM>
Subject: Re: SR/Palladium
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1998 15:47:22 EDT
In a message dated 98-07-31 11:57:38 EDT, you write:

> Well, whatcha gonna do? People want more supplements for their favorite
> games. The bad thing about Rifts (not, might I add, the other Palladium
> games. They're still decent) is that the supplements don't add anything
> new other than being giant robot and laser rifle catalouges for
> munchkins. There's also a nasty rash of one big alien intelligence or
> similar baddy being behind everything and it gets repetitive.

::smack:: You forgot the inflating power curves. Want to make the next Rifts
book? Take the last Rifts book, find the most common stereotypes about the
place, and add 20% to all values given in the last book. Make sure you
include one racist, at least slightly anti-magic empire, no fewer than one
alien intelligence (even if its just the Splugorth... again), and at least 3
new alien races that have no real place in a living world. Oh, and two quotes
from Erin Tarn, even if she's never been there.

> -Matt, Homo Sapiens Robustus
> "It's omnipotent, it's got tentacles, it's got one big eye...must be from
> Rifts."

And its probably part of a goddamned family of them, too.

Nexx
Message no. 14
From: Bai Shen <baishen@**********.COM>
Subject: Re: SR/Palladium
Date: Sat, 1 Aug 1998 11:33:05 -0400
> > Outta curiousity, who else here is a SR/Palladium fan?
> I take it you noticed myself and Matt, Bai Shen? Personally, though, if I
> could find non-Palladium games at school, I'd sell every single Palladium Book
> I own... the system is starting to annoy me.

Well, you an' a comment 'bout Nightspawn.-grin-
--
Bai Shen
Nemo Me Impune Lacessit
http://www.series2000.com/users/baishen
UIN 3543257 (Don't ask to join if you aren't going to send me anything.)
Message no. 15
From: Nexx Many-Scars <Nexx3@***.COM>
Subject: Re: SR/Palladium
Date: Sat, 1 Aug 1998 17:23:20 EDT
In a message dated 98-08-01 13:18:22 EDT, you write:

> > > Outta curiousity, who else here is a SR/Palladium fan?
> > I take it you noticed myself and Matt, Bai Shen? Personally, though, if
I
> > could find non-Palladium games at school, I'd sell every single Palladium
> Book
> > I own... the system is starting to annoy me.
>
> Well, you an' a comment 'bout Nightspawn.-grin-

No, no, no, Bai Shen, we can't make his majesty Todd McFarlane mad, can we?
Its NightBANE.

Sorry, that was one of the stupider developments in my hatred of Todd
McFarlane.

Nexx
Message no. 16
From: Ulrich Haupt <sandman@****.UNI-OLDENBURG.DE>
Subject: Re: SR/Palladium
Date: Mon, 3 Aug 1998 10:25:52 +0000
Dhl9@***.COM wrote:

> I never played SR with the Palladium rules
> but we did have a long running SR
> campaign with Hero rules.

We played Rifts for several years and I've seen the same 'developement' as
bryan said. THe more books you have the les fun Rifts is to play. Actually I
try to convert Rifts to Gurps though I have a hard time because I never played
Gurps (just hav the main book).
I like the idea of Rifts world and the variability but I'm really no Battle
Tech fan therefor I don't like those huge battles.

Sandman
Message no. 17
From: Adam L <runeweaver@********.NET>
Subject: Re: SR/Palladium
Date: Mon, 3 Aug 1998 17:34:28 -0400
<Drrakn pops outa the shadows to comment>
The campaign I'm running now is using SR rules, but a High Fantasy setting
(IE no -tech of any sort). SR rules are simple and concise as compared to
most other systems out there, making it easy to implement over IRC, so I
decided to use the SR rules over the mess of other systems I have laying
around the house.
-AdamL (Drrakn)
Oh yeah...I play a bit of Paladium as well (as well as any other RPG I can
get ahold of ;-)

Further Reading

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Thwap!