Greetings Adventurers,
Welcome to the twelfth issue of Electronic Campfire. This will be the last
issue for a couple of months while I get my finals out of the way, and then
head off to Egypt for a couple of weeks R+R. Keep the submissions coming
in and I'll get another issue out ASAP and then get back into the monthly
swing.
This issue I'd like to get some feedback on how the more active groups view
the Crystal Hills thing. If I was a group leader I'd be pretty worried about
my strongest Monsters taking a one-way trip to Zargnoth. I suppose as there
are only a handful over there at the moment things aren't too bad...
And so, onto the regular WWW roundup:
MI General
Aaron Fuegi's WWW page for MI
http://www.bu.edu/~aarondf/monster_www/
ABM - Monster Island
http://www.abacuswave.com/pbmweb/mi.html
Electronic Campfire Archives
http://ds.dial.pipex.com/town/parade/abb21/efire.htm
Monster Island - UK
http://www.compulink.co.uk/~erebus/mi_top.htm
PBM Homepage
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/pbm.html
PBMNET: The World of Internet Gaming
http://www.gamenet.demon.co.uk/
The Crossroads to Monster Island
http://users.aol.com/casbahcarl/MIhome.html
The Sunken Hollow
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/~t01bpa/index.htm#I4
TIGHTBEAM: The PBM Universe
http://www.tightbeam.com/
Yahoo! Play by Mail Games
http://www.yahoo.co.uk/Recreation/Games/Play_by_Mail_Games/
MI Groups
Blood Alliance
http://users.skynet.be/sky67777/blood.htm
Island Rangers
http://members.tripod.com/~Cricky/rangers.htm
Shadow Cult
http://www.compulink.co.uk/~erebus/ShadowCult.htm
Shroud's Own
http://members.aol.com/BierMensch/ShroudsOwn.html
The Shadow Guardians (OFFLINE)
http://ddi.digital.net/~rroff/SG.html
White Knights of Kabuki
http://members.tripod.com/~Nubes/index.html
MI Monsters
Cricky main page
http://members.tripod.com/~Cricky/index.html
HMG's Travels in Zargnoth
http://www.thenet.co.uk/~discworld/zargnoth.html
Nazgul, member of Blood Alliance
http://users.skynet.be/sky67777/index.htm
Rumata's MI Page
http://users.cybercity.dk/~ccc2934/monster/monster.htm
Skizlum Skallaglamm in Zargnoth (US)
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Alley/6864/
Tony Austin's PBM Page
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/austin/pbm.htm
The number of web resources is growing steadily, but some of those pages
haven't been updated for a while...
Next, the messages (and quite a few of them too - keep up the good work):
--------------------
From: Rainer Habekost <RHabekost@messerknecht.de>
Date: Tue, 08 Apr 1997 08:07:07 +0200
Here are the news from the german MI-game:
After a 3-month-sleep of MI, the turnaround is set up again.
A new GM manages MI now, so were are in hope to play Mi in the future, too.
The new adress is:
Die Drachenschmiede
Abt. Daydream Productions
Nocola Ortolino
Phone: 0049 7939 1316
Fax: 0049 7939 1318
I've got also some questions about MI:
1. I've got all the itmes to make a swinging ball (for entereing a tainted
hollow), but i don't get the info to make it. What's the problem ?
2. I also use the MMapper, but it's the version 1.0. Perhaps i'm to stupid
to manage the program, but i've not found the key to enter creatures,
plants, etc into the mapper. How does it works ? Or exist a newer version ?
In germany, the Zargnoth region isn't open. The plan is to fix the bugs in
the program in 1997. Perhaps then in 1998 the new region will be active.
bye,
Rainer
--------------------
From: <CasbahCarl@aol.com>
Date: Tue, 8 Apr 1997 09:42:26 -0400 (EDT)
In a message dated 4/8/97 4:29:56 AM, Greg wrote:
> Also, an old favourite returns (the MI Rest Shop is reincarnated)...
Thanks, Greg, for the mention. The reason I got the Web page resurrected,
though in greatly diminished form, is that Steve Dubois in the American game
wrote a great article about Monster Island that was published in "Paper
Mayhem", the U.S. pbm industry's magazine. It was also the only address he
gave in the article for MI on the Web, so I realized we'd get a lot potential
players trying to check out what was by then a dead site. Rather than have
all those seekers turned away, I quickly reloaded a page with links so that
people would have at least a jumping off point to more sites.
Some of the links are old and many new Web sites aren't listed. So, I'll use
the nice listing you provide to update the page a bit.
Unfortunately, Sol-Rac Orim's MI Rest Stop will never be as extensive as it
once was. The time it took for me to keep updating and adding to the site was
overwhelming. So, now I have more modest goals. :) But, who knows, perhaps
at some future point the madness will once again overtake me and I will spend
endless, happy and completely unproductive hours working on the Web site
again. :)
Thanks for your newsletter. I usually post portions of it in the ABM/MI forum
on America Online (keyword "Monster Island").
Chuck
-> Sol-Rac Orim, Fuvite Mudwalker
-> Grey Fang, Fuvite Furrcat
-> Doom Slayer, Fuvite Bignose
--------------------
From: <CasbahCarl@aol.com>
Date: Tue, 8 Apr 1997 23:06:52 -0400 (EDT)
Greg,
Here's a bunch of postings that appeared on the AOL/ABM forum after I posted
your latest newsletter. I'm forwarding them to you for your info and in case
you'd like to place them in the next edition of your newsletter. (The subject
line was NOT my idea!)
Chuck
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Subj: Ere's a Topic, wot...
Date: 97-04-08 21:56:08 EDT
From: Helzapoppn@aol.com
You want a topic for discussion, here's one:
Why do all you Shroudies insist on acting evil?
Shroud is a god of Darkness -- evil is not in the job description, any more
than good is integral to Kabuki. I know it's implied (Ghoul Buzzard vs.
Myrhh Dove, etc.), but even the Ghoul Buzzard has its place in the MI
ecosystem, so can you say it is "evil?" Anyway, my point is that Shroud is
not the "god of evil," which means that any and all evil acts performed by
Shroudovians are NOT part of the worship of Shroud, but simply the acts of
cowardly Monsters who want to hide their personal evil natures under the
cover of their "religion."
If any deities deserve the sobriquet "evil" it's the demigods (Vlados Xi,
Grragolos, Lla La Na, Kadar Black, etc.), and player Monsters cannot worship
them. So there.
Helz Apoppin, stirrin' up the hornet's nest
Subj: Re:Ere's a Topic, wot...
Date: 97-04-08 22:30:59 EDT
From: BierMensch@aol.com
Hhhmmm, an interesting topic. However, I don't take offense to it. Shroud's
Own as you all know, is widely reputed to be the most evil, dispicable and
underhanded group around. In short, we are the universal enemy that everyone
loves to hate.
The trick is, we don't strive to be evil per se. We simply follow the path
Shroud laid out for us with a fanatic's eye for details. Yes, the
Lightsiders are our holy enemies but anyone that opposes us for any reason
becomes, in our view, the enemy also. The only exception would be a truly
neutral pagan (very rare since everyone wants spells). Fuvites don't qualify
since they wage war on us. Basically, if you're not with us, by default you
must be a bad guy. So far, no one is with us, not even the other Dark
groups.
Aaah, lets talk about the darkies that we battle. As a fanatic group,
Shroud's Own can not tolerate any darksider that in any way allies himself
with the enemy. This includes in some way, shape or form, every darksider
we've ever attacked. For example, dark Fire Riders are fair game because
they are part a multi-religious group - that's blasphemy in our opinion. The
Dark Souls are not safe either since they attacked one of our members to
steal a talisman - clearly not an ally although they could have been. I
forget exactly why Morgan declared war on the Black Death but it had
something to do with this philosophy.
In our opinion, only a 100% dark group that has never allied itself with any
enemy is religiously pure. It is these rigid standards which yield us so few
friends.
So, why do we attack almost everyone in sight (and thus appear evil)?
Because you are all heretics! You are all followers of heathen gods or
sympathizers to those heathens. This leaves us pretty free to act at will.
This is the single best advantage of being a psychotic fanatic.
Personally, I'd love to have some allies. I've seen alliances used to good
measure in such instances as the Black Swan battles and would love the
opportunity to orchestrate similar cooperative efforts. But until the day
that a true dark group understands us, that won't happen.
Basically, we're not evil by design. It just happens that we are not
restricted by any moral standards other than our own fanatical philosophies.
We're just doing our job.
Gath Soulshredder
Leader, Shroud's Own
Subj: Re:Ere's a Topic, wot...
Date: 97-04-08 22:54:56 EDT
From: JWTingle@aol.com
<<Basically, we're not evil by design. It just happens that we are not
restricted by any moral standards other than our own fanatical philosophies.
We're just doing our job.
Hey, what's all this mularky! Way too many words and not a single insult in
the lot from our two monster philosophers, Helzamuffin and Gath Cheesegrater.
Oh, how I long for the days when you could jab your verbal thumb in a
friends eye and taunt to your heart's content. Now we are forced to listen
to the various versions of "evil" as they manifest themselves on the island.
All of the new monsters going to think this kind of behavior is acceptable!
Carbunkle
Subj: Re:Ere's a Topic, wot...
Date: 97-04-08 22:56:17 EDT
From: Ross81@aol.com
<<Shroud is a god of Darkness -- evil is not in the job description, any more
than good is integral to Kabuki. I know it's implied (Ghoul Buzzard vs.
Myrhh Dove, etc.), but even the Ghoul Buzzard has its place in the MI
ecosystem, so can you say it is "evil?" Anyway, my point is that Shroud is
not the "god of evil," which means that any and all evil acts performed by
Shroudovians are NOT part of the worship of Shroud, but simply the acts of
cowardly Monsters who want to hide their personal evil natures under the
cover of their "religion.">>
...I seek those whose mind is evil in intent, ruthless in application, and
strong enough to wishtand the brightness of the Light...
...I will give you many powers. From being able to drink foul water to
casting great spells of death...
If evil isn't in the job title I don't know what is.
Snooter
Disciple of Shroud
Dark Souls
--------------------
From: "Rasmus R. Jensen" <rrj@vip.cybercity.dk>
Date: Wed, 09 Apr 1997 18:09:16 +0200
Hello Greg,
Here's something for the next issue...
Rumata has just been visiting the Crystal Hills. Only two interesting things
has happened on this expedition so far: The first was a chance meeting with
Fuvite Disciple Baddu-Bac. The meeting didn't go too well. In fact Rumata
managed to loose 105 health in this battle and of these 54 health was lost
in the last meelee round. Those Great Fuvah swords sure are bad news! Rumata
did 91 damage which helped soothe the aches.
The second interesting encounter was near the Crystal hills: A monger
equipped with a crude spear, a sling and a suit of leather armor. And that's
it! I assume that he is a shroudie since Rumata didn't try to dispatch him,
and I'm rather impressed by his bravery. On the other hand I also think that
he's totally nuts and likely to end up dead before long. Anyone else run
into babies too far from home?
^^ It would be interesting to find out where this Monger came from -
presumably it must have been a baby, but baby's don't get born into
religion. Perhaps you've a soft spot after all Rumata!! - Greg ^^
The creature list from Mark O'English was nice, but what weird names! Can
anyone confirm it? If so then I'll add it to my mapper's creature list.
I just received another monster's turn together with Rumata's. Luckily the
owner is Danish so it didn't cost a fortune to mail it to him. I wonder how
often this happens?
Have Fun,
Rasmus / Rumata
--------------------
From: "Rasmus R. Jensen" <rrj@vip.cybercity.dk>
Date: Wed, 16 Apr 1997 16:29:41 +0200
Hello Greg, here is something else to throw on the Electronic Campfire ;)
I know they exist, I know people use them - I wrote one and I use it :) -
and I'm curious. What mapping programs are you using out there to keep track
of your monster's travels? Why? What's good (and what's not)?
Monsterly regards,
Rasmus / Rumata
--------------------
From: <RHabekost@messerknecht.de>
Date: Tue, 22 Apr 1997 09:04:06 +0200
Hi Greg !
No, i'm not the programmer. I don't know, what the problems are with the
mapper and if it is really necessary to program something. Perhaps it's
only a problem of a database or so ?
My contribution to the EC:
I would like to write more info to the EC, but in the german version,
there're only things you already know, because the german version isn't
up to date. And where not playing MI for such a long time. My oldest
monster is in turn 130 since the start of MI in germany in 1993.
So, the things you're writing are interesting for the german players,
but not vice versa.
^^ Can someone clear up the licensing issues here - on what terms did the
German GM license Monster Island. Isn't he entitled to free upgrades? -
Greg ^^
Bye,
Rainer
--------------------
From: <RHabekost@messerknecht.de>
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 1997 12:44:00 +0200
Hi Greg !
Perhaps a (really new) news:
In the german version, a player from the PBM-pub-meeting in Bremen has
found a bashing weapon class 6, an iron warhammer (eiserner Kriegshammer
in german). Perhaps, i get the complete info.
Do you know something about priesthood ? With Zargnoth, exist new
requirements for becoming a priest ?
Tainted hollow: Is the tainted hollow available before adding the
Zargnoth-region or is it available with Zargnoth ? If or if not, we can
see, if the tainted hollow is reachable before Zargnoth.
Bye,
Rainer
--------------------
From: mark wingad <discworld@thenet.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 28 Apr 1997 17:53:11 +0500
HI All
Well as you all know by now that Kim hansen has MiaB ed Job.
I recommened him to KJC ;-) and cause he does a quest news letter
rather well he got the job.
Am I active? er not at this time! I expect to be active in a 2 weeks.
So the Zargnoth web page will get updated...
Wanted someone to design a Decent logo. or a web page....
anyone intrested in helping me email: discworld@thenet.co.uk.
As for anything new heard from the other side... nope no one tells
me anything :(
Have fun
Mark
--------------------
Finally, I always get a few bounced emails when I send this out, so I
thought I'd include them at the end of each issue in case anyone knows a
more recent address for those involved. Here are this month's missing
persons:
William Clinton Kida <beowulf@ctol.net>
Jens H. Kruuse <jhk@atp.dk>
Take care,
Greg, a.k.a. Thelma Twofang
--
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Greg McDougall
abb21@dial.pipex.com
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