From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com on behalf of Eckhard Huelshoff [EHuelshoff@t-online.de] Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 11:41 AM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: Re: DG: Re: Threshold for Real Life Horror EdDrWho@aol.com schrieb: > In a message dated 4/5/2000 5:12:26 AM Central Daylight Time, > EHuelshoff@t-online.de writes: > > > Yeah, introduce them to STAR TREK - The next Generation - Roleplaying Game! > > > > Ironically enough, I'm running a game of that currently... > > And Feng Shui. > > I'm still working on my "Feng Delta Shui Green" game, idea, though. > BTW: I once did a STNG-RPG / CoC crossover. It worked out pretty interesting and added something new to the usual Star Trek atmosphere. And it definitely disturbed and annoyed some of the more serious Trekkies among my players. ECKHARD From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com on behalf of Graeme Price [graemep@immagene.mcg.edu] Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 11:48 AM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: RE: DG: Threshold for Real Life Horror Andrew wrote: >I'm unsure on ghoul(undead) specifics, but having the fetuses continue to >grow in strength and intelligence, but not physical size jives with 'what's >understood', right? I know I can make up shit left and right, but I like to >keep internal logic within the system balanced. Disturbingly, this may not be the case. Babies are surprisingly strong for their size (ever let a baby grab your finger? they can raise themselves with one limb and a surprising lack of effort). Learning is less of a problem than may be expected - one of the big trick is eye-hand co-ordination, and that should come in time. Besides, to an extent, you have the "Aah. Isn't he cute?" factor, assuming the lack of gross physical disruption during the procedure (which was mentioned in a previous reply). If you are truly worried about the problem of offending your players by dealing with the topic of abortion (strangely this is _much_ more of a politically charged issue in the US than in europe - frighteningly so), the you could always put the tweak in and go for re-animation of the stillborn (in which case the foetus will be more fully developed and less mangled.... and more recognizable (hence "cuter") than, say, a 4 month foetus). For the really twisted Keeper, you could engineer the first encounter with them to have them disguised as dolls. Players go "Great, it's "Chucky". Lets blow 'em away!" and then get the added San loss when they realise what the killer "dolls" really are. Take a stereotype, twist it about a bit. My own personal horror goes a little bit on similar lines - sentient tissue culture cells. But that, as they say, is another story. Graeme graemep@immag.mcg.edu From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com on behalf of Graeme Price [graemep@immagene.mcg.edu] Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 11:53 AM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: Re: DG: Dream Madonna [was:Re: DG: Threshold for Real Life Horror] >It's the story of a young girl who became pregnant though >she never had sex with a man. However, some months ago, >she had a dream about a hansome man in a beautiful country >which proved himself to be a passionate lover, night after >night. A twist on the usual incubus/succubus mythology (and all the psychosexual crap that is associated with it) perhaps? For an alternative take along somewhat similar lines, go and read John Wydham's "The Midwych Cuckoo's" which would make a _really_ nice DG (or PISCES) scenario. Or "Rosemary's Baby" or the film with the computer and Robert Wagner's voice, or.... etc. Graeme graemep@immag.mcg.edu From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com on behalf of Frank Frey (SOK) [ffreyiii@luna.cas.usf.edu] Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 11:59 AM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: RE: DG: Threshold for Real Life Horror Greetings, If you want to check out a real life horror story just log on to www.wm3.org and read about the West Memphis 3. Talk about an abortion of a trial. This is one of the reasons why I've become anti-capital punishment. Frank Frey ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The only difference between myself and a madman is that I am not mad!" Salvador Dali ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com on behalf of Jonathan Turner [j.turner@irishnews.com] Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 12:06 PM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: Re: DG: Cartoon lust At 05:48 AM 4/5/00 EDT, you wrote: > > Jonath*a*n, bubbelah, you trim your quotes and have never afflicted us with >any HTML spoor, you haven't broadcast any demands to be taken off this lame >ass list macht schnell, so why would I attack you? Obviously because you're jealous! ;-P > See, Merkins have this semi-distinctive trait of conversing with other guys >in a serial string of insults. It probably stems from intimacy issues and >barely controlled homosexual panic, but, there it is. > And I needed an excuse to use the phrase "loud eructations and methane >music". > Well, sorry to everyone. Bad day at work. AGAIN! I'm just mad cos I don't understand you... JT From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com on behalf of Andrew Link [link@mailbox.orst.edu] Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 12:02 PM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: RE: DG: Threshold for Real Life Horror Yeah, The WM3 trial is scary for all the wrong reasons. Check out the documentarys Paradise Lost 1 and 2 that cover the trials and aftermath extensively. Very well done is an understatement. Great fodder for campaigns, because it brings humanity to the accused and examines the issue from both sides. Andrew Link -----Original Message----- From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com [mailto:owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com]On Behalf Of Frank Frey (SOK) Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 9:59 AM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: RE: DG: Threshold for Real Life Horror Greetings, If you want to check out a real life horror story just log on to www.wm3.org and read about the West Memphis 3. Talk about an abortion of a trial. This is one of the reasons why I've become anti-capital punishment. Frank Frey ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- "The only difference between myself and a madman is that I am not mad!" Salvador Dali ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com on behalf of Jonathan Turner [j.turner@irishnews.com] Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 12:12 PM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: Re: DG: Dream Madonna [was:Re: DG: Threshold for Real Life Horror] At 12:53 PM 4/5/00 -0400, you wrote: >A twist on the usual incubus/succubus mythology (and all the psychosexual >crap that is associated with it) perhaps? For an alternative take along >somewhat similar lines, go and read John Wydham's "The Midwych Cuckoo's" >which would make a _really_ nice DG (or PISCES) scenario. Don't get me started about Triffids either... The Midwych Cuckoos has of course graced the screen in two versions as Village of the Damned, for those on the list who favour the cinema to a good read.. Jonathan From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com on behalf of Stephen Joseph Ellis [sje1@st-andrews.ac.uk] Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 12:07 PM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: Re: DG: Re: Threshold for Real Life Horror On Wed, 5 Apr 2000, Eckhard Huelshoff wrote: > BTW: I once did a STNG-RPG / CoC crossover. It worked out pretty interesting and > added something new to the usual Star Trek atmosphere. And it definitely > disturbed and annoyed some of the more serious Trekkies among my players. Care to share the details? I've toyed with the idea of the Enterprise meeting Cthulhu on the Waterworld of Ry'leh ("Kepten, we have just lost contact with our landing party", Capt: "Well send down another one and this time give them phasers!") Or maybe Kirk meets the Hound of Tindalos during his time travelling. ("Sir, a dogs approaching the ship.", 'Shields up then man.', "Sir, its just walked through our shields", 'Ok, lets outrun it, go to full warp.' "Sir its still gaining on us. In fact its just walked through the hull.. help sir... aaagh....its got me....") Steve. From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com on behalf of Jonathan Turner [j.turner@irishnews.com] Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 12:15 PM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: Re: DG: Pocket nukes At 08:58 AM 4/5/00 -0400, you wrote: >(sigh) Oh no. Not again. We've been here before at least twice. Apologies. But what I was actually theorising about was even smaller nukes. There was a mention of Californium bullets theoretically causing small nuclear explosions. What kind of evidence would it create? How small can a nuclear reaction be, and still cause damage. Starship Trooper tac-nukes, maybe? Apologies if this is in the archive. I shall go look later - too busy to at the mo... >Sorry. I'm in a grumpy mood today. That's two of us. The Mi-Go are obviously dosing everyone on the list with red... [rant mode on] It probably has a lot to >do with the fact that my city of residence has been taken over with golf >fanatics who drive at 2 mph in rush hour traffic... I myself had to go cover a particularly grotesque sexual homicide case. Who needs the Mythos anyway Jonathan From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com on behalf of Juergen Hubert [snjuhube@pop.rrze.uni-erlangen.de] Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 12:50 PM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: Re: DG: Dreamspaces & Paperhouse Since we are on the subjects of dreams, I once (many years ago) had a dream in which I was killed in a road accident one-third into the dream and spent the rest of the time in the dream wandering lonely country roads and wondering what was going to happen next... Has anyone else here died in his dream? - Juergen Hubert From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com on behalf of MARTIN WOLFF [martin_wolff@globalcrossing.com] Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 1:16 PM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: Re: DG: Dreamspaces & Paperhouse > Since we are on the subjects of dreams, I once (many years ago) had a > dream in which I was killed in a road accident one-third into the dream > and spent the rest of the time in the dream wandering lonely country > roads and wondering what was going to happen next... > > Has anyone else here died in his dream? > I died in a dream. I think I was stabbed with a long knife, chopped into pieces and put in a bucket. I remember someone poking around in the slop while I floated near by thinking that's my slop if you don't mind. Martin. From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com on behalf of Frank Frey (SOK) [ffreyiii@luna.cas.usf.edu] Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 1:45 PM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: Re: DG: Dream Madonna [was:Re: DG: Threshold for Real Life Horror] Greetings, Actually, I've read "The Midwich Cuckoos" and seen both versions of "Village of the Damned". The original movie was far superior to the crappy ass remake. IIRC there was a sequel to the original VotD called "Children of the Damned" which was pretty good. Frank Frey ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The only difference between myself and a madman is that I am not mad!" Salvador Dali ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com on behalf of Popeyesays@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 1:50 PM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: Re: DG: Re: Threshold for Real Life Horror In a message dated 4/5/00 12:06:10 PM Central Daylight Time, wtimmins@hotmail.com writes: << I would make sure your players know they can call 'time out' if thinggs get too disturbing. Also, make use of detail levels. That is, if things are too disturbing, only hint at them more obliquely. Don't describe the gore (Or show flash cards), just... hint. >> How much molly-coddling do the players need? If they can't stand the heat let them play something else - don't water down the horror in a horror game - might as well drink de-caf coffee or soda - eat sugar free stuff - wear TWO prophylactics, etc. From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com on behalf of Popeyesays@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 1:52 PM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: Re: DG: Re: Enigma In a message dated 4/5/00 4:33:10 AM Central Daylight Time, David.Clements@astro.cf.ac.uk writes: << . If you want to use cryptography today, even the special K would be using modern techniques such as public key >> Or "One Time" Ciphers which are secure because you never repeat the algorhythymn - to make a slight pun From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com on behalf of LizardRoi@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 2:04 PM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: DG: West Memphis 3 In a message dated 00-04-05 13:03:13 EDT, you write: << If you want to check out a real life horror story just log on to www.wm3.org and read about the West Memphis 3. Talk about an abortion of a trial. This is one of the reasons why I've become anti-capital punishment. >> I'll second that emotion. To get the full effect, check out the HBO America Undercover documentary "Paradise Lost: The murders at Robin Hood Hills". A few years have passed since the original documentary and the filmmakers have returned to the scene for an update which is airing on HBO now. Paradise Lost is probably available on video, it was a cause celebe for awhile and is responsible in part for the website and activism. Thumbnail: Three young boys were gruesomely murdered and mutilated. After some now hotly contested investigation, three young men were indicted for the crimes. They usually wore black, listened to Metallica and dabbled with occult symbols. One was a Wiccan. If we are to believe the documentary, the evidence that enabled the prosecution to take them to trial was the result of a confession by (IIRC) the youngest of the trio. Ahem, the one with the IQ of 72. The confession came at the end of 12 hours of interrogation that inexplicably (nudgenudgewinkwink) was not recorded. The forensic evidence was questionable and the scenario derived from the physical evidence doesn't stand up to the most cursory questioning. For example, although the bodies were extensively mutilated the ground around the bodies is not soaked in blood. The official explanation is that the killers stood in the nearby creek and splashed water up on the bodies and it washed all the blood away. When asked why none of the blood seems to have sopaked into the ground around the bodies, the theory is that the killers splashed *a lot* of water. This is considered a simpler explanation than the possibility that the mutilation murders were committed elsewhere and the bodies were brought to the creek. I'm no forensic expert, but in my personal experience with water and dirt, that's not how either acts. Maybe things are different in Arkansas. As I say this, remember that all my information comes from this documentary, I haven't even gone to the website yet. I was doing one of my irregular media-deprivation experiments when the story was current, so I'm trying to catch up. I think I'm going to go into this in some depth. But I'm not going to talk much about the case per se, I'm going to talk about the structure of the documentary, white trash on camera, and the fallacy of believing that some situations are so frickin' stupid that surely someone will put a stop to it. Satanic cults as a Jungian archetype, prejudice as politics and the allure of fame, any fame. Dammit people, how am I going to get any writing done if you keep waving these provocative subjects at me? Mark McFadden Wears black, is tatooed and pierced and dyed and regularly talks about occult subjects. Luckily, he does this in Southern California where this behavior is passe and like SO last season. From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com on behalf of LizardRoi@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 2:18 PM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: Re: DG: Pocket nukes In a message dated 00-04-05 13:14:27 EDT, you write: << Apologies. But what I was actually theorising about was even smaller nukes. There was a mention of Californium bullets theoretically causing small nuclear explosions. >> A buddy who is an ex-Marine told me about a demo the range instructors at Camp Pendleton gave to his "class" of a nucular bullet. They had a standard ammo case with a bright paint job and lots of nuclear symbols, the inside was foam cradling one bullet. They loaded a (M-14?) with the round while giving an explanation of it's construction that sounded very much like the Californium model, and fired at a car chassis very far away which blowed up good. Blowed up real good. Mark McFadden I believe my friend saw what he saw. I also suspect the range instructors really enjoy doing that demo for much the same reason I would. From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com on behalf of box_nine@ix.netcom.com Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 2:31 PM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: Re: Re: DG: Re: Enigma Scott wrote: Or "One Time" Ciphers which are secure because you never repeat the algorhythymn - to make a slight pun I don't recall which one of the novels it was, but one of John Le Carre's Smiley novels had a character that managed to break a one-time cipher. I believe the solution relied upon the one-time pads being printed in a sequence, carelessly enough - anybody remember this bit? Steven From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com on behalf of box_nine@ix.netcom.com Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 2:56 PM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: DG: Rebuttal of the Californium Bullet Idea >From Global Ideas Bank (http://www.globalideasbank.org/BOV/BV-528.HTML, specifically): "The idea of using californium or antimatter as bombs fails to take into account the fact that, in either case, the whole world output of those materials is less than 1 gram. The energy required to generate either of those materials far exceeds the possible reaction energy. Further, in the case of californium, the decay rate is so fast that you would have to gather a critical mass together in less that 1/100th of a second - that is to say, the only place you'd be able to destroy with it is the weapons plant. Elaborate, expensive and bulky magnetic systems are required to contain antimatter, the cost and size of which would far exceed the supposed size advantages from the reaction mass itself." Global Ideas Bank has all sorts of useful scenario seeds - to rip off the tagline from their website: A Global Ideas Bank for socially innovative non-technological ideas and projects, with £1,000 UK sterling awards annually for the best ideas or projects submitted Never underestimate the ability of idealistic nonprofit foundations to mask deeper evils, especially in CoC campaigns. Steven From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com on behalf of Andy Robertson [andywrobertson@clara.co.uk] Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 3:09 PM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: DG: Re: Threshold for Real Life Horror ----- Original Message ----- From: Andrew Link > But the thing is, do I want to deal with these issues with my friends and > fellow gamers? I want to present the topic of abortion in a neutral light . I think you should go right ahead and confront the physical horror that abortion involves. I believe abortion is a sort of medical murder: but, I support the right to perform it. The reasons for this involve my understanding of human evolutionary psychology and of our instinctively driven human reproductive "strategies". There are any number of abortion supporters who will say "abortion isn't murder". I do not share this illusion. I think it is an example of the routine and healthy lying-to-oneself so necessary to thrive psychologically. All human values are meaningless in the _real_ Universe - as HPL said. That meaninglesness does not stop when it dissolves the values of blustering Victorians and cork-hatted 1920's adventureres. It extends to us and to the core values of _our_ society - be they egalitarianism and sexual equality on the one side, or the "sanctity of human life" on the other. Horror that does not challenge people's basic values is just a role-playing game. The Glove Cleaner From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com on behalf of William Timmins [wtimmins@hotmail.com] Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 3:27 PM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: DG: Another update New sections: Fair folk (http://wtimmins.tripod.com/DG/endtime/etfair.html), and Gangs (http://wtimmins.tripod.com/DG/endtime/etgang.html) On the short list To Do: mages, the rebellion, secret tech (laser blinders, sonic attacks, biological weapons, and other stuff that doesn't exist. Theoretically) -Will ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com on behalf of Eckhard Huelshoff [EHuelshoff@t-online.de] Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 3:32 PM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: Re: DG: West Memphis 3 LizardRoi@aol.com schrieb: [snip] > Thumbnail: > Three young boys were gruesomely murdered and mutilated. After some now > hotly contested investigation, three young men were indicted for the crimes. > They usually wore black, listened to Metallica and dabbled with occult > symbols. One was a Wiccan. If we are to believe the documentary, the evidence > that enabled the prosecution to take them to trial was the result of a > confession by (IIRC) the youngest of the trio. Ahem, the one with the IQ of > 72. Ahem, because of problems to find new men, the Spanish army lowered the required IQ to join to 70! ECKHARD From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com on behalf of Eckhard Huelshoff [EHuelshoff@t-online.de] Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 3:32 PM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: Re: DG: Re: Threshold for Real Life Horror Stephen Joseph Ellis schrieb: > On Wed, 5 Apr 2000, Eckhard Huelshoff wrote: > > > BTW: I once did a STNG-RPG / CoC crossover. It worked out pretty > interesting and > > added something new to the usual Star Trek atmosphere. And it definitely > > disturbed and annoyed some of the more serious Trekkies among my players. > > Care to share the details? No problem: For the campaign I used the Star Trek era of the Next Generation. The characters were officers aboard a starship on a deep-space-exploration mission. After some small typical trek episodes the real show began. They came upon a planet ruled by a group of religious leaders. In a normal STNG episode/scenario the heroes would need about one hour to convince the planet's inhabitants to convince them that their system sucks and that they should adopt the perfect system of the federation. Unfortunately this religious society believed in Shub Niggurath. In the following "episodes" they found out that Q is actually an avatar of Nyarlathothep, they met Yekubians and heard of the court of Azathoth. But then some of the crew began a mutiny since they considered the whole affair tasteless and not in the spirit of Roddenberry. ECKHARD From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com on behalf of Daniel Harms [dmharms@acsu.buffalo.edu] Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 3:45 PM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: Re: DG: Re: Threshold for Real Life Horror At 09:09 PM 4/5/2000 +0100, you wrote: >Horror that does not challenge people's basic values is just a role-playing >game. But can't that be enough? Yrs., Daniel Harms dmharms@acsu.buffalo.edu The Internet: Learn what you know. Share what you don't. From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com on behalf of LizardRoi@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 3:53 PM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: DG: Here a Mark, there a Mark, everywhere a .... http://www.gonesouth.com/artsupport/GalHistory.htm I am honored to be on the same page as Ansel Adams, Elliot Erwitt, Weegee, Robert Mapplethorpe, Man Ray and ...Harry Callahan?!? Mark McFadden The one and only. From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com on behalf of Michael Layne [theherald@hotmail.com] Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 3:55 PM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: Re: DG: Electric gun On 5 April of 2000 AD, EHuelshoff@t-online.de (Eckhard Huelshoff)had this to say about the New Wonder Weapons of the New Millenium -- guns that are smarter than their owners: > > A former manager at Woolworths (!), Mike O'Dwyer, has released an > > electrically powered gun in Australia. > > Mostly plastic, it fires three > > bullets in 1/500th of a second. Thus, like the H&K G-11 assault rifle, it fires a three-round burst before the muzzle has a chance to climb! That would probably lead to some fairly tight groups on target! (And without the cook-off problem that has been slowing deployment of caseless-ammo rifles such as the G-11..) A support-weapon version of this (equivalant to a M249 SAW or M60 MG) could also prove interesting... It would probably need some excellent cooling, as it would be firing in more than three-round bursts, and would require a huge magazine! > >What happens when the batteries run low on energy? Does it fire 1 bullett >every >30 seconds? No, you replace the batteries before then! (Hopefully, the weapon will include indicators for charge remaining and ammo remaining...) Probably, the service version of the weapon would have a replacable battery (of the best power density you can build and afford, either built into each magazine, or separately loaded), rated at a predetermined number of full-power shots (almost certainly a multiple of the rifle's magazine capacity). You might be able to get more shots out of a battery (or use up the last power in a nearly-depleted battery) by firing "low-power" single shots at subsonic speed. The key is mass-producing a powerful battery that will not be so heavy as to overbalance the weight savings you'll be getting from not having to carry about the brass, primers, and propellant for the bullets. (Vehicle-mounted LSW versions could run off vehicle power...) > > >The user of the Variable Lethality Law > > Enforcement pistol must also wear an encoded ring before the weapon >arms, > > ala the Smith and Wesson `smartguns', I guess. The gun even tells you >when > > it's ready to go... So the weapon recognizes the shooter and only works for him or her? Sounds like something the bureaucrats in Washington or London (who have never even been to a target range, much less in action) would dream up... If you're not careful, this could lead to problems... "Gunnery Sergeant, this is Trooper Jones. Trooper Morgan is down, my weapon is malfunctioning, and the Bugs are advancing on our position! I've attempted to use Trooper Morgan's weapon, which is fully operational and almost fully loaded, but it keeps telling me it cannot identify me as Trooper Morgan, and it refuses to fire! Please advise..." > >A talking gun? Probably even an intelligent talking gun? Now that seems >pretty >helpful to me: You hide in perfect camouflage for an ambush and suddenly >your gun >begins to shout out loud: > >ENOUGH ENERGY - READY TO GO > >POSSIBLE TARGET VISIBLE > >WARNING! TARGET DETECTS GUN USER! > >WARNING! TARGET OPENS FIRE! Talking weapons have been a staple of the SF (Missile 1848 in one of Gilliland's "Rosinante" novels, Keith Laumer's Bolo supertanks, and the infamous Bomb 20 in the movie "Dark Star") and even Fantasy (D&D style talking swords, or the "Smart Bullets" tested by the Ork Marines in Mary Gently's novel "Grunts") for some time. It can only intensify the tradition many warriors have of personalizing their weapons. This might not necessarily be a good thing. "Greetings, Mythos Trooper! I am your M38A1 Electric Rifle, with Underbarrel Rocket Assisted Multipurpose Grenade Launcher, and I am honored to serve with you! I know that together we will see much battle, and slay many foes..." "Trooper Jones, hiding in these rocks from a mere platoon of foes is cowardly and tactically unsound! You say you're going to wait for them to go on their way? I think not!" (Imitating Jones' voice, at drill-sergeant volume) "HEY, YOU GUYS! OVER HERE! COME AND GET ME, IF YOU THINK YOU'RE BRAVE ENOUGH!" (In normal volume now) "It's for your own good, Jones. You'll thank me for this later, when we both get our medals! Switching to Autofire mode, full-power shots. Range figures for the GL are up on your HUD now. Recommend you target their Platoon Sergeant first, then the RTO..." Michael DGGF#688 theherald@hotmail.com ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com on behalf of LizardRoi@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 4:00 PM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: DG: City of Banaras A friend who is a gamer just getting into DG from Warhammer and Runequest sent me this URL. I'm not finished with it yet, and I do believe I'll be mulling it over for awhile. From what I've read so far it's must reading for anyone planning to write about Carcosa or the DL. Also, anyone with a history of dreaming about strange cities. The first line is: "Let us go on a pilgrimage to a city that is all about existence and sustenance." Circuits, Death and Sacred Fiction: The City of Banaras http://www.ctheory.com/e84.html Mark McFadden From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com on behalf of LizardRoi@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 4:07 PM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: Re: DG: West Memphis 3 In a message dated 00-04-05 16:38:04 EDT, you write: << Ahem, because of problems to find new men, the Spanish army lowered the required IQ to join to 70! >> Sean Connery in The Man Who Would Be King: "And this one here, why, he has the makings of a bloody hero!" Mark McFadden Not officer material. From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com on behalf of Andy Robertson [andywrobertson@clara.co.uk] Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 4:09 PM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: DG: Re: Californium bullets HA! / nuclear ISOMERS ----- Original Message ----- From: > "The idea of using californium or antimatter as bombs fails to take into account the fact that, in > either case, the whole world output of those materials is less than 1 gram. The energy required to generate either of those Californium bullets HA! I can do one better than that. Nuclear ISOMERS are the way ahead. That is not a misprint. I am not referring to ISOTOPES, which is where you have a nucleus which has an unusual number of neutrons. I am talking about ISOMERS. A nuclear isomer is a nucleus which is in an exited vibrational or rotational state. The nucleus is spinning fast or wobbling like a jelly. The energy such a nucleus can store is intermediate between the amounts typical in chemical and nuclear reactions Check out http://www.utdallas.edu/research/quantum/cqeseg3.htm#TOPGAM or http://newton.ex.ac.uk/aip/glimpse.txt/physnews.411.2.html The favourite isomer is tantalum-180m, which is present in nature and has a half-life of billions of years. However the artificial isomer hafnium-178-2m, which has a half-life of 31 years, is the best bet for producing a gamma-ray laser, an interesting device which would essentially give you a pocket death-ray capable of producing a coherent beam packing about 0.1 Kilotons per shot. . . . GERROFFMEEEE . . . . (goes down under horde of aroused gunfondlers expressing American homosexual panic . . . ) The Glove Cleaner From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com on behalf of jpetheri@cyberbeach.net Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 4:36 PM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: Fwd: DG: West Memphis 3 Date: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 at 02:03:57 PM From: LizardRoi@aol.com Subject: DG: West Memphis 3 --------------------------------- In a message dated 00-04-05 13:03:13 EDT, you write: << If you want to check out a real life horror story just log on to www.wm3.org and read about the West Memphis 3. Talk about an abortion of a trial. This is one of the reasons why I've become anti-capital punishment. >> Here's an old one. A forty year old controversy that has just bubbled back up to the surface. http://tv.cbc.ca/fifth/truscott/ ObDG: Coverup of an early Shan host? ======================================== John Petherick, CIH e-mail: jpetheri@cyberbeach.net ----------------------------------------------- Did you know ? Cyber Beach has extended its monthly plan to UNLIMITED surfing per month !! Happy Surfing ! http://www.cyberbeach.net ----------------------------------------------- Brought to you by Cyber Beach's BottleMail ! http://www.cyberbeach.net From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com on behalf of Napoleon48@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 4:32 PM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: DG: Some questions *delurks* This list has so many odd topics. Okay, I have 2 questions. One, is there really such a thing as a nuclear bullet? If so, tell me about it. If not, stop taking advantage of gullible lurkers. Two, a while back there was a discussion of a very, very, very flammable chemical. Water made it's fires worse, etc. I would like to know more about this. Also, websites for the aforementioned would be helpful. Thank you *lurks* From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com on behalf of Popeyesays@AOL.COM Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 5:05 PM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: Re: DG: Re: Threshold for Real Life Horror In a message dated 4/5/00 3:13:01 PM Central Daylight Time, andywrobertson@clara.co.uk writes: << Horror that does not challenge people's basic values is just a role-playing game. The Glove Cleaner >> Hear! Hear! and I hereby azward you the contract to handle all the gloves I dirty running CoC games. REgards, Scott - who owns a large closet full of "soiled" gloves From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com on behalf of Andrew John Farrow [andrew.j.farrow@btinternet.com] Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 4:53 PM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: Re: DG: Electric gun this is from the same mike o`dwyer who made the electric power metal storm weapon - capable of 1000000 rounds per minuite - no typo - check out the link . http://www.cssa.org/articles/0499techbus2.html so IMO it will work just fine . and further piss takers problally deserve an in thier face demonstration . yours - andy . having a bad day too - so take last it in spirit of things :-P From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com on behalf of Graeme Price [graemep@immagene.mcg.edu] Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 5:07 PM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: Re: DG: Some questions >This list has so many odd topics. >Okay, I have 2 questions. One, is there really such a thing as a nuclear >bullet? If so, tell me about it. If not, stop taking advantage of gullible >lurkers. My take: theoretically possible, but technically non-feasible. Of course, it depends on the calibre weapon you fire it out of ("This sounds like a job for USS Iowa!"). Reminds me of the old Travellers cartoon in WD, where Mad Gavin the ex-marine produces a similar-ish weapon and pronounces "The atomic handgrenade. Great weapon. Now all they need is someone who can throw it 25 miles." > Two, a while back there was a discussion of a very, very, very >flammable chemical. Water made it's fires worse, etc. I would like to know >more about this. There are plenty of chemicals whose fires get much, much worse when you add water. Gasoline for example (for those who can't be bothered to think why, oil products float on water.... water will thus only spread them out more). Reactive metal fires get worse when you add water (indeed really reactive metals will burst into flames on contact with water - potassium, sodium etc.) I beleive magnesium alloy fires (if you get them hot enough) will react the oxygen out of water and use this to burn (hint to naval architects: not good to use in ships), but my chemistry is surprisingly rusty for a career biologist. The one to really worry about though is (IIRC and I probably don't) ruthenium which when it burns will react the oxygen out of carbon dioxide... embarrassing if you only have a CO2 fire extinguisher! Most metal fires can do bad things if you add water though. It depends on several factors (how hot the metal is, surface area - powder fires being a whole different ball game - etc). Anyway, there _must_ be someone more physical chemistry minded on the list... HTH Graeme graemep@immag.mcg.edu From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com on behalf of Andrew John Farrow [andrew.j.farrow@btinternet.com] Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 5:16 PM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: Re: DG: Dream Madonna [was:Re: DG: Threshold for Real Life Horror] > At 12:53 PM 4/5/00 -0400, you wrote: > > >A twist on the usual incubus/succubus mythology (and all the psychosexual > >crap that is associated with it) perhaps? For an alternative take along > >somewhat similar lines, go and read John Wydham's "The Midwych Cuckoo's" > >which would make a _really_ nice DG (or PISCES) scenario. as no one else has - i`ll sugest graham mastertons - night warriors for a same but different idea . yours andy . From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com on behalf of Eckhard Huelshoff [EHuelshoff@t-online.de] Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 5:17 PM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: Re: DG: Some questions Napoleon48@aol.com schrieb: > *delurks* [snip] >Two, a while back there was a discussion of a very, very, very > flammable chemical. Water made it's fires worse, etc. I would like to know > more about this. Also, websites for the aforementioned would be helpful. Probably you are talking about White Phosphor. I mentioned it a couple of months ago since it is the "main ingredient" of the German Bundeswehr's "Handflammgeraet", a one-shot disposable kind of flamethrower. But may I quote Davide, or Jeff, or Graeme or the MiB or any other person that is already on this list for more than a year: "CHECK THE ICE CAVE" Always willing to help: ECKHARD From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com on behalf of Andy Robertson [andywrobertson@clara.co.uk] Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 5:12 PM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: Re: DG: Dreamspaces & Dreamfusions ----- Original Message ----- From: Davide Mana And many, many, others Let me just say I was astonished by the response to this. I had thought that "Dreamspaces" like mine were unusual. Obviously we are all a lot madder than I thought! What I want to say to round off this thread is this. We've talked about Dreamspaces, but the really interesting (and I suspect vanishingly rare) thing is _shared_ Dreamspaces, or what I will suggest we call "Dreamfusions". I've never experienced a Dreamfusion with another person - and I now suspect that while Dreamspaces are common, Dreamfusions are almost unknown. Yet I do think that they are a natural phenomenon, and I do suspect the Dreamlands somehow arose out of them. That is why I put in my two literary references to Dreamfusions (MARIANNE DREAMS and to THE BRUSHWOOD BOY). I think we should be alert for information about the Dreamlands coming to us from channels outside Lovecrafts writing and SOP. Our own dreams - and, yes, literature. And let me put a word in for children's literature here. I challenge any agent to read MARIANNE DREAMS even though it is supposedly a children's book) and tell me that they have not visited the authentic Dreamlands, and a perilous part of them as well. Now some comments on your amazing posts . . . From: Davide Mana > In there I met a person whith whom I've been chatting these last few nights. > Notice she's a real person I used to know a long way back - something like > fifteen years - but I've not been in touch with for the last ten years or > more. Amazing stuff. Without wishing to be impudent, or stupid, my mind tiptoes up to the question: is she dreaming of you, and of this town, too? From: David Farnell > I think that's a common scenario, but I find it more aesthetically pleasing > to imagine the Dreamlands as being pre-human. A cosmic matrix, perhaps, > generated by the dreams of Azathoth, upon which other beings can build heir> Dreamlands. I don't think I would disagree. My musing and questioning about Dreamspaces and Dreamfusions is just an attempt to get a little _evidence_ about how we may be affecting the Dreamlands now. I sort of imagine personal Dreamspaces following many of us around, and little Dreamfusions coming into being, then perhaps failing to gain critical mass and falling back into non-entity . . . but some of them surpassing that critical mass and becoming new aspects, layers, locii or strata of the Dreamlands. Which may indeed (probably are) have parts that are pre-human. From: Eckhard Huelshoff > How can it be that you suffer from phobias in dreams that you never experienced > being awake? > > ECKHARD I don't know. Because your dreamself is a different person? Think how hard it is for _you_ to remember a dream. But do you not have the sense that someone _else_ is remembering it, and you are getting the echo of that? From: William Timmins > Which reminds me, I need to expand on the Oneiros option in Endtimes. ;) > struck me, a while back, that there ARE some avenues of hope for Delta > Green. Maybe not reasonable hope... I was very impressed by the idea (in the Endtimes site) of fleeing into the Dreamlands. Mad, yes, but . . . . And that, I guess, is why I'm thinking about how the Dreamlands might work. Could we generate Dreamfusions or encourage them somehow? ----- Original Message ----- From: MARTIN WOLFF > I hope to return again and I know that if I can surround myself in something > for a while I can dream about it. But, as I get older, it gets harder. > > Martin. Was that not HPL's experience exactly? ----- Original Message ----- From: Nerva Vels Well, for some reason, I used to > investigate the 'stations' and chasing me was The Grey Man (whenever you > guys talk about the guy who 'cleans up', or people like Men In Black or > Alphonse, that's Read MARIANNE DREAMS. It's not really like your Dreamspace, but I think it might help you dream this fear away. ("It's a story" you say - but why should that count in the Dreamlands one way or the other?) From: Tal Meta > > Actually, I had several, over the years. One was a mansion; if I ever > find this house in the real world, I expect that I will have to buy it > (how, I If you do, what will we have learned about the Deamlands? ----- Original Message ----- From: > Mine was a book store in the city where I grew up - I wentthere in dreams and > often tried to find the place in the real world. It was a GREAT book store, > and I always wished to be able to go there in real life and for a long time > was convinced that it WAS real and I merely could not find it anymore. > Bookstores are very, very important in my Dreamspace as well. Why? Just personal taste, or a channel for knowledge from outside the Dreamspace? ----- Original Message ----- From: Frank Frey (SOK) The last time I dreamed I was there, there was a street party > in progress to welcome some newcomers. IIRC, they were a Latino couple and > their kids. There's nothing evil, terrible, or frightening about this > dream. > It beats the hell outta my memories of Vietnam. Visit there often The Glove Cleaner From: owner-dgrpg@delta-green.com on behalf of Michael Layne [theherald@hotmail.com] Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 6:10 PM To: dgrpg@delta-green.com Subject: Those German WWI Dreadnoughts (was: Re: DG: More Thoughts on Cartoons) On 2 April 2000 AD, EdDrWho@aol.com said, in relation to BBs and Cartoons: >Reply-To: dgrpg@delta-green.com >To: dgrpg@delta-green.com >Subject: Re: DG: More Thoughts on Cartoons >Date: Sun, 2 Apr 2000 15:36:23 EDT > >In a message dated 4/2/00 1:48:44 PM Central Daylight Time, >doctor.dee@libero.it writes: > > > They also changed a definite nationalistic bend of the series - I mean, > > it's the _Yamato_ they retrofit to save the planet. > > But it was good. Too bad the Japanese thought of it first... Could you imagine a German amime series "Space Battleship Tirpitz"?:) > >It's now a miniatures game, IIRC...Gotta love those 18" main guns. Launch a >shell the size of your little brother twenty miles. > >ObDG: Maybe not all of those German dreadnoughts from WWI were scrapped or >scuttled after all...maybe P-Division got a few. > It wouldn't have been an easy task -- the Allies were squabbling like a bunch of kids over the spoils of war, post-Versailles, and each country was jealous of the German warships, Zeppelins, etc. the others got, and quick to protest if another country got more of/a more impressive version of something the Germans hadn't scuttled/blown up/cut the support cables and sent crashing to the Zeppelin hangar floor, at the end of the War... That said, info on the German BBs (including not only the WWI vessels, but the Bismarck and Tirpitz, and the grandiose H-class super battleships Hitler's Navy was planning at the start of WWII) can be found at http://www.warships1.com/German_battleships.htm Michael Layne DGGF#688 theherald@hotmail.com ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com