REC.GAMES.FRP.DND FAQ

Appendix

Pre-Formatted Tables


B3: The most commonly-used geographic distributions

    world  *everywhere* [default]         miami  Miami, FL
    aa  Ann Arbor, MI                     midlands  Midlands, UK
    ab  Alberta, Canada                   milw  Milwaukee, WI
    akron  Akron, OH                      mn  Minnesota
    atl  Atlanta, GA                      mo  Missouri
    atl  Atlantic Prov's (NB, PEI, Newf.) mtl  Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    aus  Australia                        na  North America (Mex, Can, USA)
    austin  Austin, TX                    ne  New Engl. (CT,MA,ME,NH,RI,VT)
    az  Arizona                           neworleans  New Orleans, LA
    ba  San Francisco Bay area, CA        nj  New Jersey
    bc  British Columbia                  no  Norway
    belwue  Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany   ns  Nova Scotia
    bergen  Bergen County, NJ             ny  New York
    ca  California                        nyc  New York City, NY
    can  Canada                           nz  New Zealand
    ch  Switzerland                       oau  Orlando, FL
    chi  Chicago, IL                      oc  Orange County, FL
    chico  Chico, CA                      oh  Ohio
    cle  Cleveland, OH                    ok  Oklahoma
    cmh  Columbus, OH                     ont  Ontario, Canada
    co  Colorado                          or  Oregon
    dc  Washington, DC                    ott  Ottawa, Canada
    det  Detroit, MI                      pa  Pennsylvania
    dfw  Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX             pdx  Portland, OR
    dsm  Des Moines, IA                   pgh  Pittsburgh, PA
    ed  Edinborough, Scotland, UK         phl  Philadelphia, PA
    edm  Edmonton, UK                     pnw  Pacific Northwest (ID,OR,WA)
    es  Spain                             qc  Quebec, Canada
    fj  Japan                             rg  Rio Grande Valley, NM
    fl  Florida                           sac  Sacramento, CA
    ga  Georgia                           sba  Santa Barbara, CA
    hfx  Halifax, NS, Canada              scot  Scotland, UK
    hk  Hong Kong                         sea  Seattle, WA
    houston  Houston, TX                  stgt  Stuttgart, B-W, Germany
    hsv  Huntsville, Alabama              stl  St. Louis, MO
    ia  Iowa                              su  Soviet Union
    ie  Ireland                           tba  Tampa Bay Area, FL
    il  Illinois                          tn  Tennessee
    il  Israel                            tor  Toronto, CA
    in  Indiana                           tx  Texas
    ka  Karlsruhe, Germany                uk  United Kingdom
    kc  Kansas City metro area            usa  United States of America
    ks  Kansas                            utah  Utah
    kw  Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont., Canada  va  Virginia
    ky  Kentucky                          vic  Victoria, BC, Canada
    la  Los Angeles County, CA            wa  Washington
    lon  London area, UK                  wgtn  Wellington, New Zealand
    lou  Louisiana                        wi  Wisconsin
    md  Maryland                          wny  West NY (Rochester, Buffalo)
    mi  Michigan                          za  South Africa

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B15: Where to post

      *Damp;&D-related programs/binaries:   alt.games.frp.dnd-utils,
                                        or rec.games.frp.archives
      Discussion of computer programs:  alt.games.frp.dnd-utils
      TSR sucks eggs:                   alt.flame.tsr
      SSI/TSR computer games:           comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg
      "Test--Please ignore":            misc.test
      Which RPG is the best:            rec.games.frp.advocacy
      Which RPG is the worst:           rec.games.frp.advocacy
      Which game company is best/worst: rec.games.frp.advocacy
      Convention announcements:         rec.games.frp.announce
      Announcement of PBEM openings:    rec.games.frp.announce
      Gamers wanted in Area "X":        rec.games.frp.announce
      Fiction:                          rec.games.frp.archives
      Resources for *D&D (net.books):   rec.games.frp.archives
      New rules for combat,init, psi:   rec.games.frp.archives
      Multiple spells, monsters, NPCs:  rec.games.frp.archives
      Unfinished resources for *D&D:    rec.games.frp.archives, 
                                        or r.g.f.dnd
      Very short resources for *D&D:    rec.games.frp.archives, 
                                        or r.g.f.dnd
      Discussion of *D&D resources:     rec.games.frp.dnd
      Discussion of *D&D, TSR, etc.:    rec.games.frp.dnd
      For sale:                         rec.games.frp.marketplace
      Wanted to buy:                    rec.games.frp.marketplace
      Dragon Dice:                      rec.games.trading-cards.*
                                        or alt.games.dice

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C4: TSR's e-mail addresses

Corporate Accounts:
custserv@wizards.com
WotC's Customer Services Dept.
question@wizards.com
Games rules division of WotC's Customer Services Dept.; any questions about game rules for TSR's games
Dragon@tsr.com
Direct line to Dragon Magazine
Dungeon@tsr.com
Direct line to Dungeon Magazine
dmail@tsr.com
Letters to Dragon's editor
forum@tsr.com
Letters to Dragon's Forum column
TheSage@tsr.com
Sage Advice submissions; there are no personal replies, though
RPGAhq@tsr.com
Main RPGA address
webmaster@tsr.com
TSR's webmaster

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G1: Common abbreviations

      Gaming-Related
    *D&D        Any version of the D&D game
    AD&D, ADnD  Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, any edition
    AD&D1       Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 1st edition
    AD&D2       Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 2nd edition
    AD&D2R      Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, revised 2nd edition
    AD&D2.5     Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, revised 2nd edition
    ADND-L      AD&D discussion mailing list
    AoE         Area of Effect
    BD&D, BDnD  Basic Dungeons & Dragons, as opposed to Advanced D&D
    BoA         Book of Artifacts
    BR          Birthright
    C*HB        Complete  Handbook series
                  Fighter's, Priest's, Thief's, Wizard's, Psionics, 
                  Ranger's, Bard's, Druid's, Paladin's, Barbarian's, 
                  Necromancer's, Ninja's
    CB*         Complete Book of  series
                  Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes & Halflings, Humanoids
    CT, C&T     Player's Option: Combat & Tactics
    D&D, DnD    Dungeons & Dragons, any version except Advanced
    D&D3        Dungeons & Dragons, 3rd edition (the successor of
                  Advanced Dungeons & Dragons)
    DDG         Deities and Demigods    
    DL          DragonLance
    DMG         Dungeon Masters Guide, any edition
    DMG1        Dungeon Masters Guide, 1st edition
    DMG2        Dungeon Masters Guide, 2nd edition
    DMG2R       Dungeon Masters Guide, Revised 2nd edition
    DMG3        Dungeon Masters Guide, 3rd edition
    DMO         Dungeon Master's Option book(s)
    DS          Dark Sun
    FR          Forgotten Realms
    GAMA        GAme Manufacturers Association
    GH          Greyhawk
    GM          Game Master
    HLC         Dungeon Master's Option: High-Level Campaigns
    HW          Hollow World
    IC          In Character
    IMC         In My Campaign
    IYC         In Your Campaign
    L&L, LL     Legends & Lore
    LC          Living Campaign (RPGA campaign usually found at cons)
    LD, LDU     Level-Drain, Level-Draining Undead
    LK          Lankhmar
    MC          Monstrous Compendium (usually followed by the appendix 
                number)
    MM          Monster Manual/Monstrous Manual
    MMII        Monster Manual II
    MoP         Manual of the Planes
    MPGN        ftp.mpgn.com, the Multi-Player Gaming Network site
    MUD         Multiple-User Dungeon
    OA          Oriental Adventures
    OD&D        Old/Original D&D, as opposed to the later Advanced D&D
    OOC         Out Of Character
    PBeM        Play By E-Mail
    PBWWW       Play By World Wide Web
    PH          Player's Handbook, any edition
    PH1         Player's Handbook, 1st edition
    PH2         Player's Handbook, 2nd edition
    PH2R        Player's Handbook, Revised 2nd edition
    PH3         Player's Handbook, 3rd edition
    PO          Player's Option books
    PS          Planescape
    rgfd        Rec.games.frp.dnd
    rgf.*       Rec.games.frp.* hierarchy
    RL          Ravenloft
    RPGA        Role-Playing Gamers' Association
    SP, S&P     Player's Option: Skills & Powers
    Sp&M, SPaM  Player's Option: Spells & Magic
    3e          Dungeons & Dragons, 3rd edition
    ToM         Tome of Magic
    ToVK        Tome of Vast Knolwedge (computer program)
    UA          Unearthed Arcana
    WoG, WG     World of Greyhawk
    WotC        Wizards of the Coast

      General
    :-)         Smiley (tilt your head 90 degrees); with endless 
                variations
    AFAIK       As Far As I Know
    BTW         By The Way
    CFV         Call For Votes
    F2F         Face-to-Face
    FWIW        For What It's Worth
    HAND        Have A Nice Day
    HTH         Hope That Helps
    IDH(T)*IFOM I Don't Have (The)  In Front Of Me
    IIRC        If I Remember Correctly
    IMHO        In My Humble/Honest Opinion (but rarely actually is)
    IOW         In Other Words
    IRC         Internet Relay Chat (realtime text-based conferencing 
                system)
    LOL         Laughing Out Loud
    Ob...       Obligatory reference to... (e.g. ObD&D, ObCthulhu, in a 
                post otherwise about something else)
    REQ         Request
    RFC         Request For Comments
    RFD         Request For Discussion
    ROTFL       Rolling On The Floor Laughing
    RTFM        Read The F***ing Manual!
    SO          Significant Other (i.e. date/fiance(e)/spouse)
    TANSTAAFL   There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch
    TPTB        The Powers That Be
    WRT         With Regard/Respect To
    YHBT        You Have Been Trolled
    YMMV        Your Mileage May Vary

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G3: Frequently misspelled words

    aarakocra       dispel          medieval        rogue
    Baatezu         dweomer         mythoi          Tanar'ri
    Cthulhu         falchion        paladin         tarrasque
    deity/deities   ixixachitl      rakshasa        thief

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H1a: RPG newsgroups

alt.dragons-inn
Role-playing via Usenet

alt.fan.dragonlance
Fans of Dragonlance, unite!

alt.games.frp.2000ad
Discussion of the 2000 AD game
alt.games.frp.dnd-util
Posting of new utilities, screen shots, etc.
alt.games.frp.live-action
Discussion of live-action fantasy rpg's

comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.adventure
Discussion of IBM adventure games
comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg
Discussion of IBM computer RPGs
comp.sys.mac.games.adventure
Discussion of Mac computer RPGs

rec.games.frp.advocacy
Which game system is the best/worst?
rec.games.frp.announce*
Con announcements, gamers wanted
rec.games.frp.archives*
Fiction, programs, house rules, etc.
rec.games.frp.cyber
Discussion of rpg's involving cyberware
rec.games.frp.dnd
Discussion of *D&D
rec.games.frp.gurps
Discussion of GURPS
rec.games.frp.live-action
Discussion of live-action fantasy rpg's
rec.games.frp.marketplace
Buy/sell (usually used) gaming supplies
rec.games.frp.misc
Discussion of all other RPG topics
rec.games.frp.moderated*
Discussion of all other RPG topics
rec.games.frp.storyteller
Discussion of White Wolf's games
rec.games.frp.super-heroes
Discussion of super-hero games
* Moderated newsgroups; all posts are automatically mailed to the moderator, who then decides which ones are of posting calibre and posts them.

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H1b: Other newsgroups of interest

rec.games.mud.announce*
Advertisements for MUDs
rec.games.mud.diku
Discussion of DikuMUDs
rec.games.mud.misc
Discussion of MUDs in general
rec.games.mud.tiny
Discussion of TinyMUDs, MUSHes, etc.
rec.games.pbm
Discussion of PBMs and PBEMs
rec.heraldry
Discussion of coats of arms
rec.org.sca
The Society for Creative Anachronism
soc.genealogy.medieval
Genealogy of people living AD500-1600
soc.history.medieval
Discussion of medieval history

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H3a: Common file extensions

    Extension      File type      Transfer as        Then...
    .arc            Archive         binary          un-archive
    .asc             Text           ascii           read normally
    .au          Unix Sound file    binary          player needed
    .bmp        Graphic (bitmap)    binary          viewer needed
    .doc    Word/WordPerfect file   binary          viewer needed
    .exe        Executable file     binary          execute
    .gif            Graphic         binary          viewer needed
    .gz     GNUzip compressed file  binary          un-compress (gzip)
    .hqx    Macintosh encoded file  binary          un-encode
    .jpg            Graphic         binary          viewer needed
    .lzh        LHarc archive       binary          un-archive
    .mpg      Video graphic file    binary          player needed
    .pdf     Adobe/Acrobat file     binary          viewer needed
    .ps    Adobe PostScript file    binary          viewer needed
    .sit    Macintosh compressed    binary          un-compress (Stuffit)
    .tar      Unix tape archive     binary          un-archive
    .tar.z \   Compressed Unix
    .taz    >   tape archive        binary          un-compress (gzip)
    .tgz   /                                        then un-archive
    .tif            Graphic         binary          viewer needed
    .txt            Text            ascii           read normally
    .uue      Unix encoded file     ascii           un-encode (uudecode)
    .voc   Soundblaster sound file  binary          player needed
    .wav         Sound file         binary          player needed
    .z       Unix compressed file   binary          un-compress 
                                                        (gzip, decompress)
    .zip        Compressed file     binary          un-compress 
                                                        (pkzip/unzip)

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H3b: FTP instructions

      ftp rtfm.mit.edu      connect to the site; a message follows
      anonymous             type this when it asks for your name
        type your address as the password
      cd /pub/usenet        go to the directory you want to be
      cd rec.games.moria    one level down (no slash)
      dir                   look at what's there
      get r.g.m_F_A_Q       get the file; case-sensitive
      quit                  stop this mysterious thing

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H3c: Using numerical addresses to FTP

      ftp 18.70.0.209     connect with numerical address

H3d: Transfer mode

      binary               set binary transfer mode
      ascii                set back to text transfer mode

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H11: Mailing Lists

Listservs

al-qadim-l@oracle.wizards.com
Al-Qadim
ADND-L
General *D&D discussion (digest possible)
ADND-L
Alternative address for ADND-L (no digest)
birthright-l@oracle.wizards.com
Birthright
corerules2-l@oracle.wizards.com
Core Rules CD-ROM
dark-sun-l@oracle.wizards.com
Dark Sun
dnd-l@oracle.wizards.com
More *D&D discussion (digest possible)
dragonlance-l@oracle.wizards.com
Dragonlance
GMAST-L
Game Masters interest group
greyhawk-l@oracle.wizards.com
Greyhawk
greytalk
Greyhawk
mystara-l@oracle.wizards.com Mystara
Mystara, also OD&D
planescape-l@oracle.wizards.com
Planescape
qadim-l@knidos.cc.metu.edu.tr
Al-Qadim
ravenloft-l
Ravenloft
realms-l
Forgotten Realms
rpganews-l
RPGA News (read only)
spelljammer-l@oracle.wizards.com
Spelljammer
taogm-l@oracle.wizards.com
The Art Of Game Mastering
tsrannounce-l@oracle.wizards.com
TSR Announcements (read only)

Majordomos

birthright@lists.mpgn.com
Birthright
dark-sun@lists.mpgn.com
Dark Sun
dragonlance@lists.mpgn.com
Dragonlance
greyhawk@lists.mpgn.com
Greyhawk
planescape@lists.mpgn.com
Planescape
ravenloft@lists.mpgn.com
Ravenloft
realms@lists.mpgn.com
Forgotten Realms
spelljammer@lists.mpgn.com
SpellJammer

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J2a: Ambidexterity and multiple weapons

                                               to-hit penalty
                                           normal       ambidextrous
                                        main/off-hand   main/off-hand
    Fighting w/ one weapon                 0    -2         0    0
    Fighting w/ two weapons*              -2    -4        -2   -2
    Fighting w/ Two-weapon Style spec.     0    -2         0    0

* The penalty for using two weapons is modified by the character's Reaction Adjustment, based on DEX; however, the penalty can never be lowered beyond 0 by either this modifier or ambidexterity (i.e., the DEX Reaction Adjustment may only lessen the effects of the penalty, not grant any plusses to hit). Any other modifers work as usual.

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J2b: Specialization and multiple weapons

                                  1 weapon   2 weapons | 2 weapons Att/rnd
    Character level               Att/rnd     Att/rnd  |  main   off-hand
    Fighter 1-6/all other classes   1/1         2/1    |  1/1       1/1
    Fighter 7-12, 1-6 specialized*  3/2         5/2    |  3/2       1/1
    Fighter 13+, 7-12 specialized   2/1         3/1    |  2/1       1/1
    Fighter 13+ specialized         5/2         7/2    |  5/2       1/1

* "Specialized" refers to whether or not a fighter has specialized in the weapon being used in his main hand, not to "Two-Weapon Style specialization"

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K7a: Suggested crossbow damage

            S/M      L
    Hand    1d4    1d4-1
    Light  1d6+1   1d8+1
    Medium 1d8+1  1d10+1
    Heavy  1d10+1  2d6+1

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K7b: Suggested to-hit penalties for bows

                 Warrior  Wizard  Priest/Rogue
        Longbow    -3       -6         -4
        Short bow  -2       -5         -3
        Crossbow   -1       -4         -2

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Copyright © 2000 by Joel A. Hahn