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This is the second attempt at a game to model what most of us reading usenet do a lot. I'm still looking for more to add, if you have anything ...

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Fudge rec.games.frp.*

The game where YOU play a faceless entity in never-ending flame wars!

In Fudge rec.games.frp.*, you play a "being" who interacts electronically with other beings. The type of being you are is secret - only the player knows for certain if her character is a human high school student, an alien from Aldebaran, an AI construct, or the computer owner's pet dog taking advantage of her master's absence! It is also ultimately irrelevant - all beings are pretty much the same on the net, which is why I'm not going to list all the possibilities.

Attributes

The following attributes are used, each on the usual Fudge scale of:

Superb
Great
Good
Fair
Mediocre
Poor
Terrible

Spelling

This is an attribute in Fudge rec.games.frp.*, not a skill, because of the nature of the interactions between beings. There's not much difference between a Good speller and Superb speller on the net, but a Poor or Terrible speller can expect to earn negative reactions from other beings.

Tolerance

This is in net Scale. That is, a Superb Tolerance on the net equals a Fair Tolerance in real life. Thus, a Terrible Tolerance in real life is a Fair Tolerance on the net, and a Good Tolerance in real life is Legendary on the net.

Subtlety

Having a high Subtlety rating can actually be a problem on the net, since there are so many dense beings.

Flame-resistance

Those with low Flame-resistance take offense easily.

Tracking

Those with Superb Tracking never answer off-topic posts - they can keep on-topic at all times, and use e-mail when they feel it necessary to address an off-topic poster. Those with Poor or Terrible Tracking just can't resist pointing out to the world why this idiot who just posted off-topic is wrong, wrong, dead wrong. Off-topic threads between Terrible Trackers can go on for months and months and months.

Credibility

This is equivalent to Hit Points - the higher your Credibility, the stronger and healthier you are on the net. Credibility is reduced in combat. However, unlike physical combat, most damage to credibility in Fudge rec.games.frp.* is done by one's self. Flaming cannot damage an opponent, only oneself on a Poor or worse result. Likewise, posting from extreme ignorance lowers your Credibility. The only way you can really affect the Credibility of an opponent is either by (a) providing clear, short rebuttals which expose his/her ignorance, or (b) egging him/her into flaming you, hoping they botch it.

NOTE

... that there are no physical attributes at all in Fudge rec.games.frp.* - this is due to the nature of the net. Note also that there are no cyberpunk netrunning abilities, as the game is set in 1998.

Gifts

The following Gifts can be used in Fudge rec.games.frp.*:

Unix Guru

This helps prevent the most common technical faux pas, but is no help against a social faux pas. You can also post under difficult circumstances, as well as have all of the advantages of the following Gift. Costs two Gifts.

Net Pro

You've been around. You know how to remove spamblockers from e-mail addresses, how to trim messages you quote, how to set follow-ups, and generally avoid the biggest blunders that earn Newbies such a bad reputation.

RPG Author

You're published! This can be anything from a poorly-written article in an obscure and long-deceased APA to major books (whether poorly-written or not). This generally gives you a positive reaction from many net.readers - how much depends on (a) how major a work you have written, and (b) how fanatical the reader is to/against the system published in. Note that a Fault of Egotism (see below) on the part of a published author will seriously erode any positive reaction. For example, net.presence D... - no, I won't mention any names.

Faults

The following Faults are available in Fudge rec.games.frp.*:

AOLer

Even in the unlikely event that you are not an utter nump, most other beings will assume that you are. Negative reaction from most other entities, which is offset a bit by a positive empathy from other AOLers, who know how hard it is to use that so-called interface. Published authors may be AOLers at reduced reaction penalty. See also Compuserve. Or WebTV, for that matter ...

Blatherer

Your main activity is focused on rec.games.frp.advocacy, but you may and probably do post all over the net, actually. Negative reaction from beings with limited time to read news.

Egotist

Your posts overflow with how superior your views on everything are. Negative reactions from most other beings, especially other egotists who know their views are superior to yours, so why are you being so smug? Worth two Faults - no, make it three.

Fanatic

You are fanatically devoted to - or against - something, usually an RPG system, but quite possibly something like loving your gun more than you love other beings. A fanatic isn't capable of considering any opinion which contradicts her religious beliefs as possibly true, but feels such opinions are attacks that must be answered or the fanatic will have failed her one true faith. RPG system fanatics rarely understand other RPGs ("I played that once and it was so bad that I was killed by a kobold, can you believe it?" or "I read the first two pages of the rules and threw it down in disgust.").

Munchkin

Your main activity is pretty much confined to rec.games.frp.dnd and Senzar posts, thus proving the author of Fudge has a low Tolerance attribute. Negative reaction from those beings who think of themselves as "mature" gamers, whatever that means.

Newbie

A stage everyone has to go through, but beings usually forget this in about six weeks, and find it an intolerable fault in other beings.

Troll

You try to aggravate other entities. Negative reaction from most everyone - worth two Faults.

Skills

The following Skills are suggested for Fudge rec.games.frp.*:

• Netiquette (rare in these newsgroups)
• Knowledge: FAQs
• Knowledge: various RPG systems
• Knowledge: RPG history
• Knowledge: obscure facts
• Editing: the ability to snip out the parts of an opponent's post you can't rebut, making it seem like your rebuttal is stronger than it is.
• Inciting: trying to get an opponent to flame you, thus reducing their Credibility. Skillful Inciting makes you look like an innocent victim of a flame.
• Identify: identifying the same poster under different login names. (Posters whose Credibility has dropped below Terrible generally kill the old login and start over, while there are some posters who have multiple logins in an attempt to make it appear there is a whole movement supporting their fanatic or munchkin point of view. See AOLer.)

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