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Old 05-19-2009, 04:40 PM   #1
Icelander
 
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Default They should really fix that in Cabaret Chicks on Ice!

The long-awaited, nearly mythical, Cabaret Chicks on Ice* will be upon us at some point in the future.

This I swear.

Aye, I've seen that fabled manuscript.

Now, in the long and indeterminable days of the wilderness years, many was the time we'd come across some gaming situation and say: "Hold! Verily, this be waste from a farmyard animal!" We woulds't then discuss it among ourselves, sometimes with the beneficent input of our eternal Line Editor, and perhaps even reach some sort of consensus about how this rule or that could be much improved. Depending on our current state of mind, we might end on a note either hopeful or forlorn, saying: "Forsooth, they should really change this in CCoI!".

Unfortunately, I am not as young as I was**. I can't be sure that I've remembered all of these stimulating discussions and all those patent solutions to the vexing problems of gaming with TL0-TL4 technology. But I would never forgive myself if I went through the playtest without at least bringing such issues to the notice of the Powers That Be***.

To clarify, I'm not looking for extra material. There is plenty of dancing girls and no shortage of ice. The main challenge of the playtest will not be how to fill the books, it will be how to avoid making them bloated abominations that threathen to burst their earthly bindings.

What I am looking for are cases where the rules as they currently stand were insufficient to describe something that happened in a game (set between TL0-TL4) and the forumites (perhaps even including Kromm) discussed how the rules could have been expanded upon. And after having gotten a pretty good answer, it made you think: "Wow, they should totally include that in Cabaret Chicks on Ice. It adds next to no complexity to the current rules and it makes it much easier to stat something that was historically common!"

Or even, some contentious subject was discussed for a long time and Kromm (or someone else) finally made a brilliant ruling that wasn't in the books. When asked why it wasn't official, he'd say: 'Okay, that might need looking into. How about we discuss it during the CCoI playtest?'

You got anything?

Of course, I'll give no credit where it's due, instead trying to appropriate your ideas as my own, all in a vain attempt to score points with the playtest moderators and perhaps get my name in very small letters somewhere no one will ever read it.

I'll even smoke a cigar in a small room with my cronies and think about ways to oppress the little man.

But you won't care, because you'll know you've made GURPS a better game.

Altruism. It was always my favourite sin. ;)

*Known to some as Low-Tech.
**... for example, five minutes ago, when I was five minutes younger.
***In order for them sigh and send me off with a stinging rebuke, most likely. "You! Again! Haven't we told you that no one cares about the inconsistencies in the weapon tables for midget hermaphrodites and how they might be improved with proper dwarf-tossing rules!
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Old 05-19-2009, 05:06 PM   #2
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Default Re: They should really fix that in Cabaret Chicks on Ice!

I'm not sure if there is a section for vehicles in the new Low-Tech, but...

In Basic Set, High-Tech, Ultra-Tech, and Changing Times, the baseline formula for vehicles was HP = 4 x cube root (weight in lbs.).

However, in Fantasy, the formula was HP = 8 x cube root (weight in lbs.)

I imagine the reason was that "unpowered" vehicles are "homogeneous," but this creates serious game balance and plausibility issues.

A 500-ton TL 4 sailing ship should not have the same HP as a 4,000-ton TL 8 Perry-class frigate.

A 500-ton TL 4 sailing ship is NOT a homogeneous block of wood. It is an extremely complex machine...it just happens to rely on wind power rather than diesel power or steam power or whatever.

So, if there are vehicles in Low-Tech, I hope this is taken into account when determining their HP.

Mark
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Old 05-19-2009, 05:22 PM   #3
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Default Re: They should really fix that in Cabaret Chicks on Ice!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mgellis
I'm not sure if there is a section for vehicles in the new Low-Tech, but...

In Basic Set, High-Tech, Ultra-Tech, and Changing Times, the baseline formula for vehicles was HP = 4 x cube root (weight in lbs.).

However, in Fantasy, the formula was HP = 8 x cube root (weight in lbs.)

I imagine the reason was that "unpowered" vehicles are "homogeneous," but this creates serious game balance and plausibility issues.
I'll avoid making any comment that could be construed as revealing anything from the manuscript.

All I'll say is that do you really believe that if there was even the slightest chance that the Fantasy stats not being fixed, I wouldn't say something? ;)
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Old 05-19-2009, 05:38 PM   #4
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Default Re: They should really fix that in Cabaret Chicks on Ice!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Icelander
Altruism. It was always my favourite sin. ;)
Am I the only one whose mind flashes to Granny Weatherwax preparing to suture a wound with a rusty hatpin, and saying "Let's do some good"?
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Old 05-19-2009, 06:08 PM   #5
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Default Re: They should really fix that in Cabaret Chicks on Ice!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Icelander
The long-awaited, nearly mythical, Cabaret Chicks on Ice* will be upon us at some point in the future.
You missed a few syllables. It's supposed to read "Cabaret Chicks on Icelander". I can certainly understand your apparent excitement about the project, my friend.

:)

-P.
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Old 05-19-2009, 07:23 PM   #6
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Default Re: They should really fix that in Cabaret Chicks on Ice!

The thing my group has mentioned to me is, "They better fix the armour weights". I would add that I'd like to see options for more (and less) detail and the abilty to customise armour (so that I could more effectively model historical examples.)
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Old 05-19-2009, 07:32 PM   #7
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Default Re: They should really fix that in Cabaret Chicks on Ice!

Quote:
Originally Posted by umbros
The thing my group has mentioned to me is, "They better fix the armour weights". I would add that I'd like to see options for more (and less) detail and the abilty to customise armour (so that I could more effectively model historical examples.)
Again, I'll avoid any comments that might conceivably reveal secrets.

Dan Howard is one of the authors. Allow me to repeat, Dan Howard is writing a chapter. No prizes for guessing which one.

For those left flabbergasted by the above, Dan Howard is a well known armour guru, historical expert and grognard who has spent a good part of his adult years ranting and raving about historically incorrect armour in RPGs.
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Old 05-19-2009, 07:38 PM   #8
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Default Re: They should really fix that in Cabaret Chicks on Ice!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Icelander
Dan Howard is writing a chapter. No prizes for guessing which one.
Is his material focused more on the ice, or the cabaret chicks themselves?
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Old 05-19-2009, 07:58 PM   #9
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Default Re: They should really fix that in Cabaret Chicks on Ice!

Quote:
Originally Posted by RyanW
Is his material focused more on the ice, or the cabaret chicks themselves?
The costumes, of course!
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Old 05-19-2009, 08:27 PM   #10
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Default Re: They should really fix that in Cabaret Chicks on Ice!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mgellis
So, if there are vehicles in Low-Tech, I hope this is taken into account when determining their HP.
It has been, after discussion with Kromm. Silly me, I took it that when the Basic Set said that vehicles with engines or other complex mechanisms were Unliving, it was implying that a rowboat or an oxcart was Homogenous. But then I checked the stats in the Basic Set and found that it was not so. I would not have done it that way, but it IS a precedent, so I've made the necessary changes.

Bill
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