Game designer Steve Perrin has died. The relevence of this to rasfw
is that among the many games designed by Perrin was one Superworld.
Having invested far too much time playing it, one George R. R. Martin
and friends decided to monetize the time spent RPGing and thus the
Wild Cards shared world anthology series was born.
--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

On Sunday, August 15, 2021 at 11:55:07 AM UTC+10, James Nicoll wrote:
> Game designer Steve Perrin has died. The relevence of this to rasfw
> is that among the many games designed by Perrin was one Superworld.
> Having invested far too much time playing it, one George R. R. Martin
> and friends decided to monetize the time spent RPGing and thus the
> Wild Cards shared world anthology series was born.

Sigh. Another whose name adorned one of the many RPGs I played as a kid has gone. This doesn't hit me as much as the deaths of Gary Gygax or Greg Stafford did since RuneQuest certainly wasn't my favourite system. The magic system was good, the setting was great but the combat system was glacial.

Condolences to Dorothy for the loss of your friend.

-Moriarty

In article <bff89b11-d480-423e-a9ae-bce0f6c2faean@googlegroups.com>,
Moriarty <blues95@ivillage.com> wrote:
>On Sunday, August 15, 2021 at 11:55:07 AM UTC+10, James Nicoll wrote:
>> Game designer Steve Perrin has died. The relevence of this to rasfw
>> is that among the many games designed by Perrin was one Superworld.
>> Having invested far too much time playing it, one George R. R. Martin
>> and friends decided to monetize the time spent RPGing and thus the
>> Wild Cards shared world anthology series was born.
>
>Sigh. Another whose name adorned one of the many RPGs I played as a kid
>has gone. This doesn't hit me as much as the deaths of Gary Gygax or
>Greg Stafford did since RuneQuest certainly wasn't my favourite system.
>The magic system was good, the setting was great but the combat system
>was glacial.
>
>Condolences to Dorothy for the loss of your friend.

Thank you. The corporation decided to leave him on the roster as
Chairman of the Board till the end of DunDraCon 45 (February
18-21). Substitutes have been found for the many hats he used to
wear at the convention, and we elect new Board officials at con's
end anyway. But since he'll still be on the Board in posse if
not in esse, when it's over we can send his share of the payout to
Luise.

They are also calling DDC 45 "The Perrin Convention," which
means more to RuneQuest players than to me.

https://www.dundracon.com/index.php

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Www.kithrup.com/~djheydt/

In article <qxyEsw.1I20@kithrup.com>,
Dorothy J Heydt <djheydt@kithrup.com> wrote:
>In article <bff89b11-d480-423e-a9ae-bce0f6c2faean@googlegroups.com>,
>Moriarty <blues95@ivillage.com> wrote:
>>On Sunday, August 15, 2021 at 11:55:07 AM UTC+10, James Nicoll wrote:
>>> Game designer Steve Perrin has died. The relevence of this to rasfw
>>> is that among the many games designed by Perrin was one Superworld.
>>> Having invested far too much time playing it, one George R. R. Martin
>>> and friends decided to monetize the time spent RPGing and thus the
>>> Wild Cards shared world anthology series was born.
>>
>>Sigh. Another whose name adorned one of the many RPGs I played as a kid
>>has gone. This doesn't hit me as much as the deaths of Gary Gygax or
>>Greg Stafford did since RuneQuest certainly wasn't my favourite system.
>>The magic system was good, the setting was great but the combat system
>>was glacial.
>>
>>Condolences to Dorothy for the loss of your friend.
>
>Thank you. The corporation decided to leave him on the roster as
>Chairman of the Board till the end of DunDraCon 45 (February
>18-21). Substitutes have been found for the many hats he used to
>wear at the convention, and we elect new Board officials at con's
>end anyway. But since he'll still be on the Board in posse if
>not in esse, when it's over we can send his share of the payout to
>Luise.
>
>They are also calling DDC 45 "The Perrin Convention," which
>means more to RuneQuest players than to me.
>
>https://www.dundracon.com/index.php
>
I think it is a reference to something Perrin wrote before RQ:

https://rpggeek.com/rpgitem/277609/perrin-conventions
--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

In article <bff89b11-d480-423e-a9ae-bce0f6c2faean@googlegroups.com>,
Moriarty <blues95@ivillage.com> wrote:
>On Sunday, August 15, 2021 at 11:55:07 AM UTC+10, James Nicoll wrote:
>> Game designer Steve Perrin has died. The relevence of this to rasfw
>> is that among the many games designed by Perrin was one Superworld.
>> Having invested far too much time playing it, one George R. R. Martin
>> and friends decided to monetize the time spent RPGing and thus the
>> Wild Cards shared world anthology series was born.
>
>Sigh. Another whose name adorned one of the many RPGs I played as a kid has
>gone. This doesn't hit me as much as the deaths of Gary Gygax or Greg Stafford
>did since RuneQuest certainly wasn't my favourite system. The magic system was
>good, the setting was great but the combat system was glacial.
>
Not compared to SPI's 1st edition DragonQuest, which was hilariously ponderous.
I wonder how much of my tolerance for deliberately paced combat systems like
RQ and Champions is because DQ was my second regular RPG.
--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

Moriarty <blues95@ivillage.com> wrote in
news:bff89b11-d480-423e-a9ae-bce0f6c2faean@googlegroups.com:

> Sigh. Another whose name adorned one of the many RPGs I played
> as a kid has gone. This doesn't hit me as much as the deaths of
> Gary Gygax or Greg Stafford did since RuneQuest certainly wasn't
> my favourite system. The magic system was good, the setting was
> great but the combat system was glacial.
>
Try the original Harmaster, wherein two armored opponents are at
least as likelyt o collapse from exhaustion as they are from actually
hurting each other.

--
Terry Austin

Proof that Alan Baker is a liar and a fool, and even stupider than
Lynn:
https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/sw-border-migration
(May 2019 total for people arrested for entering the United States
illegally is over 132,000 for just the southwest border.)

Vacation photos from Iceland:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/collection/QaXQkB

On Mon, 16 Aug 2021 23:08:54 -0000 (UTC), jdnicoll@panix.com (James
Nicoll) wrote:

>In article <bff89b11-d480-423e-a9ae-bce0f6c2faean@googlegroups.com>,
>Moriarty <blues95@ivillage.com> wrote:
>>On Sunday, August 15, 2021 at 11:55:07 AM UTC+10, James Nicoll wrote:
>>> Game designer Steve Perrin has died. The relevence of this to rasfw
>>> is that among the many games designed by Perrin was one Superworld.
>>> Having invested far too much time playing it, one George R. R. Martin
>>> and friends decided to monetize the time spent RPGing and thus the
>>> Wild Cards shared world anthology series was born.
>>
>>Sigh. Another whose name adorned one of the many RPGs I played as a kid has
>>gone. This doesn't hit me as much as the deaths of Gary Gygax or Greg Stafford
>>did since RuneQuest certainly wasn't my favourite system. The magic system was
>>good, the setting was great but the combat system was glacial.
>>
>Not compared to SPI's 1st edition DragonQuest, which was hilariously ponderous.
>I wonder how much of my tolerance for deliberately paced combat systems like
>RQ and Champions is because DQ was my second regular RPG.

Isn't DQ the one where players were advised to resolve any disputes by
sacrificing a goat and consulting the entrails?
--
"I begin to envy Petronius."
"I have envied him long since."

In article <6rmnhglpu49hdoqvf0rpf6cl856lo5k4a8@4ax.com>,
Paul S Person <psperson1@ix.netcom.invalid> wrote:
>On Mon, 16 Aug 2021 23:08:54 -0000 (UTC), jdnicoll@panix.com (James
>Nicoll) wrote:
>
>>In article <bff89b11-d480-423e-a9ae-bce0f6c2faean@googlegroups.com>,
>>Moriarty <blues95@ivillage.com> wrote:
>>>On Sunday, August 15, 2021 at 11:55:07 AM UTC+10, James Nicoll wrote:
>>>> Game designer Steve Perrin has died. The relevence of this to rasfw
>>>> is that among the many games designed by Perrin was one Superworld.
>>>> Having invested far too much time playing it, one George R. R. Martin
>>>> and friends decided to monetize the time spent RPGing and thus the
>>>> Wild Cards shared world anthology series was born.
>>>
>>>Sigh. Another whose name adorned one of the many RPGs I played as a kid has
>>>gone. This doesn't hit me as much as the deaths of Gary Gygax or Greg Stafford
>>>did since RuneQuest certainly wasn't my favourite system. The magic system was
>>>good, the setting was great but the combat system was glacial.
>>>
>>Not compared to SPI's 1st edition DragonQuest, which was hilariously ponderous.
>>I wonder how much of my tolerance for deliberately paced combat systems like
>>RQ and Champions is because DQ was my second regular RPG.
>
>Isn't DQ the one where players were advised to resolve any disputes by
>sacrificing a goat and consulting the entrails?

I don't think so? The whimsical bit of DQ I remember had to do with Halflings:

"4: A halfling may dispose of jewellery into large, semi-active volcanoes,
without anyone thinking the worse of him."
--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

On Mon, 16 Aug 2021 16:38:54 -0700, Jibini Kula Tumbili Kujisalimisha
wrote:

> Moriarty <blues95@ivillage.com> wrote in
> news:bff89b11-d480-423e-a9ae-bce0f6c2faean@googlegroups.com:
>
>> Sigh. Another whose name adorned one of the many RPGs I played as a kid
>> has gone. This doesn't hit me as much as the deaths of Gary Gygax or
>> Greg Stafford did since RuneQuest certainly wasn't my favourite system.
>> The magic system was good, the setting was great but the combat system
>> was glacial.
>>
> Try the original Harmaster, wherein two armored opponents are at least
> as likelyt o collapse from exhaustion as they are from actually hurting
> each other.

Oh,Harnmaster. If I remember right almost anything could kill you
slowly(infections mostly) but it was nearly impossible to kill someone in
armor fast(without sneak attacks).

But the slowest combat I remember was Chartmaster(Rolemaster) with a
group that had never played it before.

On 8/17/2021 1:58 PM, Magewolf wrote:
> On Mon, 16 Aug 2021 16:38:54 -0700, Jibini Kula Tumbili Kujisalimisha
> wrote:
>
>> Moriarty <blues95@ivillage.com> wrote in
>> news:bff89b11-d480-423e-a9ae-bce0f6c2faean@googlegroups.com:
>>
>>> Sigh. Another whose name adorned one of the many RPGs I played as a kid
>>> has gone. This doesn't hit me as much as the deaths of Gary Gygax or
>>> Greg Stafford did since RuneQuest certainly wasn't my favourite system.
>>> The magic system was good, the setting was great but the combat system
>>> was glacial.
>>>
>> Try the original Harmaster, wherein two armored opponents are at least
>> as likelyt o collapse from exhaustion as they are from actually hurting
>> each other.
>
> Oh,Harnmaster. If I remember right almost anything could kill you
> slowly(infections mostly) but it was nearly impossible to kill someone in
> armor fast(without sneak attacks).
>
> But the slowest combat I remember was Chartmaster(Rolemaster) with a
> group that had never played it before.
>

Interestingly, though, once the Rolemaster system was ported to MERP,
battle worked just fine.

Or maybe the one battle my GM and I managed to play out went so fast
because I got a critical success on the force generated when the
crossbow bolt I'd fired into the enemy commander's room exploded (he'd
allowed his version of the universe to sell inexpensive exploding bolts
by it being possible to have deliberately-physically-weakened ammunition
with a weak enchantment on them--because of how violently any magic is
released if the item it enchants is broken. The result blew the tower's
roof into the nearby gorge and destroyed half the treasure he'd intended
my party to have access to).

I didn't get any more battle out of that campaign, though, as the rest
of the party and I had a falling-out when my dwarven alchemist
accidentally made one of _them_ fall out--of the fortress via the
wetways because of a trap that I thought I could get to release by
turning a dial further rather than back to its starting point after I'd
trapped them with a falling cage.

Similarly, I had to change parties in his West End Star Wars
campaign--because in my previous party I'd been the one person who tried
desperately not to fall to the Dark Side, which led to my "own party"
PKing me because they all _wanted_ to play Sith Lords.

And incidentally, D6 probably has slower pacing than Rolemaster.

It's just that with no experience 27 years ago, I would be given to
understand that even one battle was *supposed* to take up much more time
than all the exploring that got you into it.

At any rate, never going to complain about battles that take up 3 or 4
hours; it's what I'd still be used to even if I found a party today that
would have me (and it's also the best excuse to go through all the gamer
chow you lay in for the session).

--
Chrysi Cat
1/2 anthrocat, nearly 1/2 anthrofox, all magical
Transgoddess, quick to anger
Call me Chrysi or call me Kat, I'll respond to either!

On 8/14/21 9:55 PM, James Nicoll wrote:
> Game designer Steve Perrin has died. The relevence of this to rasfw
> is that among the many games designed by Perrin was one Superworld.
> Having invested far too much time playing it, one George R. R. Martin
> and friends decided to monetize the time spent RPGing and thus the
> Wild Cards shared world anthology series was born.
>
>

Very sad bit of news.

Also just saved me a ton of wincing embarrassment as I was literally
thinking of writing him to see if he'd gotten to look at my stuff yet.
(sarcasm) Thanks, FB for not letting me know. (not sarcasm) Thanks,
James, for letting me know.

In article <sgedek$9nq$1@dont-email.me>,
Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor) <seawasp@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote:
>On 8/14/21 9:55 PM, James Nicoll wrote:
>> Game designer Steve Perrin has died. The relevence of this to rasfw
>> is that among the many games designed by Perrin was one Superworld.
>> Having invested far too much time playing it, one George R. R. Martin
>> and friends decided to monetize the time spent RPGing and thus the
>> Wild Cards shared world anthology series was born.
>>
>>
>
> Very sad bit of news.
>
> Also just saved me a ton of wincing embarrassment as I was literally
>thinking of writing him to see if he'd gotten to look at my stuff yet.
>(sarcasm) Thanks, FB for not letting me know. (not sarcasm) Thanks,
>James, for letting me know.

Yes, it was good that you were saved embarrassment. Grief is bad
enough. Grief plus embarrassment is sticky frosting on the
bitter cake.

I knew the day after, because Steve was on the DunDraCon
committee, and it was announced on the staff email then.

We had a corporate meeting a couple days after that, and were able
to decide who should inherit his various tasks: seminars, assisting
with the dealers' room (which he'd run for many years before turning
it over to a deputy), and I forget what all. He was a man of
many talents.

God and Dr. Fauci willing, DDC 45 (postponed last February) will
be held this coming Presidents' Day weekend, and as you will see
if you look at the web page,

https://www.dundracon.com/

DDC 45 will be known as The Perrin Convention.

(A reference to the Perrin Conventions, which I'm told were
Steve's guide to making early versions of Dungeons and Dragons
actually work.)

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Www.kithrup.com/~djheydt/