You can also return to the MI Index or to the main Last Homely House. .
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m m
mm mm t
ee m m m m oo nnn sss t ee rrrr
e e m m m o o n n s tttt e e r
eeee m m o o n n ssss t eeee r News 11-16-95
e m m o o n n s t e r
ee m m oo n n sss tt ee r #35
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the only online newsletter for the /Monster Island/ play-by-mail game
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Headlines this time: THE NEW STUFF IS IN!!!
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Adventures By Mail MI GM Keith bostredsox@aol.com
ABM - submit email turns Keith abmbob@aol.com
Editor & Publisher Scott Micheel warden@rt66.com
Editor of WL newsletter Erik Gunderson ewgundersn@aol.com
AOL Liason Chuck Miro casbacarl@aol.com
Blurb List Aaron Fuegi aarondf@bu.edu
Group List Brian Derks normknight@aol.com
Monster Mapper & MI BBS Jim Wuerch 73234.3410@compuserve.com
Creature List Larry Barrows lrdbear@aol.com
Monster Stats Jack Vinson vinson@unagi.cis.upenn.edu
Demigod News Jeff Bates hemos@freenet.macatawa.org
Buying/Selling Items Tom Richardson salmanila@aol.com
Other Lists Sharyl Leis michael.mackinnon@mwcsinc.muug.mb.ca
FAQs Dana Barker jujubunn@aol.com
Back issues of eMonster News can be got via anonymous FTP transfer. The
site is ftp.erg.sri.com , the directory is /pub/pbm/monster_island/newsletters
and all files are in GZIP format; to uncompress them, use GUNZIP. Questions
about the PBM archive should be directed to gl8f@fermi.clas.virginia.edu .
Aaron Fuegi's MI World Wide Web page:
http://scv.bu.edu/~aarondf/monster_www/
To see *your* web page listed here, just send me a note asking to be listed!
This newsletter is also posted to the Internet newsgroup rec.games.pbm, and
usually ends up on the America OnLine boards, as well as Bif's Monster Resort
BBS (01-317-962-6519). You are welcome to post this anyplace you wish, but
please leave it intact.
Monster Island is run by;
US: Adventures by Mail UK: KJC Games Germany: Daydream Droductions
PO Box 436 Clevleys Wintergasse 5
Cohoes NY Blackpool 86150 Augsburg
12047 Lancs. Germany
U.S.A. FY5 3LJ U.K.
US$4/turn GBP 2/turn DM 6/turn
Publication data:
eMonster News is published ideally on the 25th of each month. Send all
submissions, questions, letters of comment, and subscription information to
the email address below. eMonster News is available free for the asking to
anyone able to receive it on INTERNET, CompuServe, GEnie, Delphi, America
Online, Prodigy, or any other service tied into the net. Press run: 151.
To avoid problems with my mailer, I send this out in batches; for a full
listing of players on the net, send a note to Scott (below). eMonster News
is not affiliated with Adventures By Mail in any way, and nothing in here is
necessarily official. We like to think they like us, though. Please copy,
post, print, or otherwise distribute this newsletter to as many players as you
can; especially if they have email access. We want to promote this here game!
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
KEITH SAYS
Well....this is it everyone. As of: 10:00 AM October 6th, Don and I took
Monster Island into its next stage! The game is now updated. We tested for
about an hour and used one actual player as a guinea pig and all things
tested FINE! I need some help from all of you..This is serious.
I need all of you to tell your friends, current, future, but most
importantly, PAST. I want to bring back all of the older players and make the
Island full again. I know a lot of players were just waiting to see if we
made the changes we promised, and we have. It may have taken us two years,
but we did it. Secondly, We need all of you to try things. Bring out any
missing bugs they didn't catch at KJC. As I mentioned before, Don and I only
tested 1 player. We have no real idea what's going to happen when we process
40 players at a time!!! Pretend it's an actual playtest. I have only had one
or two problems reported to me from KJC, so don't be too concerned about
"crashing the program" it won't happen. Just keep a mental or written list of
new things you encounter or how different things work. We will need this for
issue #2 of the MI newsletter which Erik Gunderson is working on. Issue#1
should be going out to everyone this coming week. Please report all new
things found to him. Ok, that's about it for the debriefing. Thanks to all of
you who so patiently waited for this UPDATE. I hope the wait is worth it for
all of you. Again, call or write those old group members that dropped and get
them back in. We need to establish real-time group leaders for every group
created.
Thanks again,have fun and KEEP ME POSTED!
your loyal gamemaster,
--Keith
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
NOTES & STUFF ABOUT THE NEW UPDATES
From: Joanne Walls (u9500743@bournemouth.ac.uk)
Date: Sun, 8 Oct 1995 12:12:00 -0500
Subject: tidbits from across the ocean
Okay, here's a bit of info on the UK updates:
1. Group membership blurb. All members in a group get to vote for a
monster number. Who ever gets the majority of votes is the leader. This
doesn't have many obvious advantages yet: A list of full members.
2. Tainted hollow blurb has been revised. As have most advanced
structures - sorry I can't be more specific it's been 2 weeks since I did
a turn due to lack of time.
3. Here's a hint: Keep hold of Bow strings. They do have a use & I know
what it is: a new object.
4. Treasure in Tomb of Mumi was recently amazing: One guy found a Great
light sword, dragonhide shield, shroud wooden statue in one!
From: CasbahCarl@aol.com
Date: Mon, 9 Oct 1995 13:58:50 -0400
Subject: Keith's Posts
Subj: Re:Stuff 95-09-24 00:49:50 EDT
From: BOSTREDSOX@AOL.COM (Keith LeBlanc)
Howdy.
for those that do not know, this is my 2nd secret online name. I use Bob's
account at work and Bostredsox at home. yes, I am writing this from home.
it's saturday night, 12:27 am (now sunday morning) the wife's asleep and the
cat's are too.
Don, my play by mail Santa's Helper has been feverishly working over the
monster island update programs. the big hubub has been the GROUP LEADERSHIP
stuff. you all want details? YES!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok..here goes.
I have to go into the data base and remove all group leaders that have since
abandoned the game. the reason? the NEW monster island will chose this guy or
gal to be the NEW OFFICIAL group leader. this would be bad. You see, this is
how it should work. all existing members will get a chance to VOTE on who
the new group leader will be. this guy or gal will enter a "GL" on his card,
and the winner will become the new group leader. benefits? well,
for one, the group leader will be able to give an order to me at any time
that will automatically bring up names, addresses and possibly the last time
processed for everyone in his group. Sound nice?
The computer will know the group leader, so others trying to give this order
will fail miserably. so it's very important that you all now start to
carefully choose this with a lot of thought. once you've voted, you're stuck
with him. I feel that way about Mr. Clinton. :(
other new fun, exciting things will be added too. things i'm not at liberty
to discuss. but a lot of bugs if not all of them will be eliminated. So,
that's the report from your GM. I will be at Andcon next week. those going,
please stop by and say hello. I will be at the ABM booth along with Jim and
Phil who will be running our Magic Source Department. (selling Magic Cards).
I am very serious about reviving It's A Crime! I have already sent to England
for the new programs. if you'd like to join, just say the word. otherwise,
Monster Island and Quest will continue to prosper in 1996 an further.
I'd just like to take the time to thank all of you who have stuck it out with
me for so long. this goes for the newbies as well as the players who have
been with me since 1983. I've had more fun than any of you can imagine. i
only work for you guys. If not for you, I have no job. and believe me, every
night I go to bed thanking all of you that I have an income, a nice place to
live and a great car. I never forget who put me there. I came to ABM from
McDonald's in 1983, right out of high school. Everyone made me feel so
welcome. I told Sandy, just my girlfriend then, "the only way to repay all
those who've stuck by me, is to stick by them"! I told my superiors years
ago, the only way to get rid of me is to fire me! I'm not quitting. I've been
offered better paying jobs, just not better jobs. I love ABM, Monster Island
and Quest. And I especially love waking up every morning at 7 am. to go to
work for all of you.
Thanks to all of you for making this ride so special!
yours,
Keith
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Subj: New post from Keith: 10-03-1995 95-10-03 12:39:32 EDT
From: ABMBob
Howdy!
Andcon was great! I came back a little tired but...ah..back nonetheless :)
I did meet Mike Puffenberger,Troy Shady,Jim Wuerch and Ed Taborek from
Monster Island.
We discussed things and generally just chit-chatted.
I am going to try to make these conventions a little more frequently and it
helps if I know how many of you are planning to attend. If you plan to as
Origins, GenCon, DragonCon or Ancon approach, drop me a note and let me know.
thanks.
A lot of players want me to update things here due to a lack of a MI
newsletter. Good idea, except there isn't a lot to report lately. The updates
are coming and then the floodgates will open! I recieved info that KJC Games
has hired a fulltime programmer just to devote to Monster Island programming.
This should speed things up a great deal. As far as other rumors go, if you
have heard one, post it here. i'll do my best to let you know if it's true or
false.
ps. new programs go in as soon as Don debugs them. Also, we are advertising
ALL of our play by mail games in the Upcoming Magic Source catalog. Look for
it! I've got a full 4 pages of PBM in it!
talk to you later guys and gals! --Keith
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Subj: Re:New post from Keith: 10-06-95 95-10-06 13:36:01 EDT
From: ABMBob
Ok..Here goes...everyone try to follow and keep up with me.
There is a new Group Leader (GL) order and a blurb explaining it. all group
members will get: BLURB# 563
CHANGES- Stone Crypts and Tainted Hollows are now accessable. These include
new creatures, numbered: ###, ###, and ### (you didn't think I would accually
tell you did you)!! There are now revised blurbs for:
Small Lockpick,Large Lockpick,Stone Crypt,Tainted Hollow and Lockpicking.
Many advanced features for older players are NOW IN THE GAME. If this applies
to you then you will recieve one or more of the 5 blurbs above.
There is a new PR order which takes the form: PR-Item# - quantity. This
allows a monster to get rid of a number of the same unwanted item in one
order without creating yet another cache nobody'd want to glean.
The combat routines have been changed to take better account of armor above a
value of 18 (players with silver or better armor).
Various minor and major bugs have been exterminated!
This note came directly from KJC games by fax friday morning:
"The changes which you now have for MI are for the experienced players and
they should see the difference immediately. At the moment, we are adding new
spells, again for the experienced players as some of our players have almost
all of the current spells. We will try to send you regular update disks for
Monster Island so that your players will see things being added continually
and keep you informed as to what we are doing so you can tell your players".
--Kevin J Cropper
From: CasbahCarl@aol.com
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 1995 10:29:35 -0400
Subject: AOL/MI Report: Stone Crypts
Subj: Stone crypts
Date: 95-10-12 01:48:54 EDT
From: Sal manila
Well, it didn't take us long. The first Stone Crypt has been broached,
and as expected, it was done by a Fire Rider. A new "creature" was
encountered, and bested, and the interior had some surprises. So if
you're ready, go for it, but you may NOT like what you find. I know I'm
not going in one for now. Oh, use the U 33 order, not U 398.
Also, the PR order was tried, and it worked. Begone, thee rotten rock
mushrooms, stinky stench glands, and [phew] bloated onions!
And mark up one more Kabuki Temple, consecrated last week in the Upper Starth
by the White Tiger Clan and members of the [who else] Fire Riders.
Subj: Re:NEW POST/KEITH
Date: 95-10-12 09:26:43 EDT
From: ABMBob
Ah Yes...
Congrats to that FireRider that traversed the Stone Crypt. As to not spoil
any surprises, we won't divulge what happened, what he saw or what he picked
up. (if he picked up anything). We'll just say it was one HECK of a ride..for
him..and for this innocent bystander GM-type guy. This is what waiting for
the game upgrade was all about. Who's next to enter the Crypt? Maybe it'll be
you.....
---keith
From: CRICKY
Subject: Re: eMonster
If you're interested I know of a UK monster who penetrated a
Stone Crypt, fought loads of Zombies and a S############### and got
a pile of treasure (I dunno what tho). He was apparently cursed for
this act though (see the revised lockpicking blurb)
From: Salmanila@aol.com
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 1995 02:35:25 -0400
Subject: One upgrade?
I think I see one of the changes in Monster Island. I'm The Temple
Guardian of Shroud Temple #478 (Snot Locker Lou), Before, the only report
I got was when someone kowtowed. Now, it appears that he sees if anyone
passes through the Treasure room. But the original glitch that cropped and
repeated 'tween turn reports still hasn't been fixed.
BTW, if you've got the Divine Monster spell, don't bother. It didn't work
before, and it still doesn't. My Nez just wasted another 80 SP and 60 AP on
it.
From: CasbahCarl@aol.com
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 1995 07:30:58 -0400
Subject: AOL/ABM Report: Oozing Around
Subj: Waxed Ooze anyone? 95-10-14 23:27:12 EDT
From: Nemesis382
Finally found out what waxed oozed is used for. One of the many components to
make a Swinging Ball. All you need is a Black ball, Bow string and some waxed
ooze. Makes a swinging ball. Kinda like a compass that always points east.
Maybe it can be used for Tainted hollows...maybe not. Otherwise it seems kinda
useless. Oh yeah, it's item# 250. Has anyone else received this blurb yet?
Nemesis Shureshot
(DoL Disciple)
From: CasbahCarl@aol.com
Date: Wed, 25 Oct 1995 10:16:36 -0400
Subject: AOL/ABM Report
Subj: NEW POST FR: KEITH
Date: 95-10-25 09:22:16 EDT
From: ABMBob
So, how have things been going for everyone out there? From what I've heard,
not many more ruks will be heading into any Stone Crypts all that soon!
(heee..heee).
I've still been busy faxing the guys @ KJC Games to keep abreast at the
'goings on of Monster Island. They seem to making better headway on a number
of newer additions. To be fair, I've asked them NOT to tell me what they are
working on, what's next, and when it will be done. This is merely so that i
am not tempted to divuldge any info that would tip the scales in anyones
favor.
I've spotted a few monsters heading to a Tomb of Mumundous. Good! That's what
i like to see. Experimentation.
Larry's Got the Bug
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I don't know how many other people know of Larry Barrows' Blood Mummy
problem, but it has been a real stickler for me! Seems he does NO damage in
his first wrestling encounter. If he flips the darn thing, he does NO damage.
EVER! This is true, he's sent me his printouts to prove it. I've tried
everything. He had only 1 silver knuckle, (you can have 2). So, I added one
and sent him back in to the Tomb of Mumi. No dice. He still flipped him like
yesterday's trash with 0 damage?
He has quite a bit of Silver protection and a silver knife and tipped spear,
but still nothing? His bouts and tricks are at a reasonable level..i think?
I've only compared his stats to about 3 other older monsters. Does anyone out
there no a trick that helped you the first time you bit that Blood Mummy and
inflicted 85 points of damage?
For now, I think Larry would be happy with anything. Just something to show
he is actually hurting the dang thing!
I believe (LrdBear@aol.com) is his email address, so drop him a note if you
can if you have any helpful hints. Or you can just make it a topic here on
AOL and talk amoungst yourselves and we can open some information channels.
AOL is Monster Island Central
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Actually, this brings up another point. We seem to really generate some
interesting stuff here. How about everyone bringing up a topic once in
awhile and we can all comment, criticize or generally critique (in a nice,
kind way) what he or she has to say.
I know, I for one, love to comment on a topic, but i'm a tad shy bringing up
something to talk about. That's why I post here as often as I can. I want all
of you to see that I am alive, I am paying attention to your wishes and I do
care. I hope that things I might say here help to either inform or stimulate
more conversation.
Another thing. If you have a monster island friend that has a computer that
doesn't have AOL, see if you can't get him or her to join. I don't want to
sound like a "money mongrel", but the more we have in our forum, the better
it will look to everyone on the outside. I even hope to have an on-line
meeting in one of the online auditoriums some night very soon. I will be
doing it from my home, so if everyone can leave me a particular day they CAN
meet and a day they really CAN'T meet, we'll try to make it reasonable to all
involved. Also, if anyone has any ideas on WHERE we can hold our meet, please
step forward. I know AOL has billions of places to chat, so finding one
shouldn't be too hard. And tell other AOL'ers that don't post, but watch the
boards. They are welcome too! It's just been brought to my attention that we
have a lot of monster islanders that subscribe to AOL and watch and read the
posts, but do not post themselves. That's ok. Please join us anyway. We are
going to talk Monster Island until we are all talked out! :)
Ok, let's get a day and place and time worked out. When we can agree (most of
us, at least), i'll announce the day, time and room. In fact, I think the PBM
area has a conference room around?
Till next time, happy gaming!
--Keith
From: CasbahCarl@aol.com
Date: Thu, 26 Oct 1995 14:17:07 -0400
Subject: AOL/ABM Report
Subj: Keith's Newest Post!
Date: 95-10-26 13:39:53 EDT
From: ABMBob
Howdy..looks like we are well on our way to this group discussion. it seems
that the norm is more or less bidding for a night-time get together, now, we
only need to decide on weekend or weekday?
i for one like the weekdays much more. i'm usually out on the weekends with
Sandy (my wife for those that don't know her), as weekends are the only times
i can get away from Play-By Mail. (not that I want to). :)
I am going to write to our coordinator. RIP LORD and plan a Weeknight let's
say..in early November around 10:00pm. Let's set it tentively for Monday
evening, Nov. 6th at 10:00pm.
is this ok for most everyone? We'll meet in the Conference Hall just inside
the PBM Area. i'll clear it with the PBM Coord and we'll be all set!
I'll be doing it from home so i'll be using my Bostredsox name, just so
you'll all know me.
talk to all of you real soon! --Keith
p.s. our continuing in-house playtests of both: Warlord and It's A Crime! are
going well. This isn't relavent to the discussion at hand, but I just thought
i'd keep you all up on what I've been up to.
From: CasbahCarl@aol.com
Date: Fri, 27 Oct 1995 09:41:30 -0400
Subject: AOL/ABM Report: Online Conference
Subj: Keith's NEWEST Post
Date: 95-10-27 08:38:47 EDT
From: ABMBob
Hi all!
One of AOL's PBM coordinators returned my email quite promptly and said we
should be able to have the electronic conference hall at 10:00pm Eastern Time
the night of Nov.6th. There is a conference already scheduled for 8:00pm that
night, but he thinks it will be over by then. Ok then, looks like we are
almost there.
Now tell everyone you know, friends, players, those not playing MI who aren't
your friends. Have everyone stop in. This could be an excellent way to
promote the game. If others wander in, they could get interested, hooked and
could be your future fodder!
What I am really saying is, let's try to make this one of the biggest PBM
game conferences in AOL history!
(Let me step off my pedistal now).
Talk to you soon! --Keith
From: CasbahCarl@aol.com
Date: Tue, 7 Nov 1995 15:19:18 -0500
Subject: Keith Speaks
Greetings All,
As you may or may not know, Keith LeBlanc gave one heck of a great chat
session last night on AOL. Keith was answering any and all questions that
were asked and with a mininum of obfuscation.
The highlights are below, with the complete text of my Chat log being
available for downloading from the AOL/ABM Files Library. The words
below are quotes from him, unless otherwise noted. Some may be a little
confusing, as can be expected when 12 or 15 people are all talking at the
same time (sometimes he was responding to more than one question at a time).
+---------+
ok...the SECRET of reaching KEITH at work!!!! Don't use his voice mail, have
him paged...call the #, wait for an operator to answer..ask for
KEITH...that's it
There has been a slight increase in knolltir poundage values, which now range
from 11-95 points to kill one ... and loggerheads, and those yucky vine
swingers in high jungle. And players report they do more damage to us too.
Treasure...the word is 29 new items have been added. They're working on
making treasure from Dark Places (especially Koma Dens) much better.
Tom [Richardson] was the 1st to completely traverse the tainted hollow.
Two types of posessed trees have been seen in a Tainted Hollow so far.
Stone Crypts and Tombs of Mumundus are open too. King Ock Groves are
still disabled though.
New spells are out! Divine monster should work...they fixed the spell bugs.
Towers are useless until we get a priest.
Word is on mounts that the Borsloth is next... (and probably isn't in yet)
I don't know a thing about monster vs monster wrestling...BUT...I know of
monster vs. jossman wrestling...in some cases jossmen will offer to wrestle
you at certain far inns.
...the smell of death is in the air!...it's the hot topic at ABM every
day...The "curse" is a nasty surprise in the Stone Crypt...don't mess with
skeletal jossman...be warned!...there ain't no remove curse yet...oh yeah, if
you get cursed, forget far structures ever again.
Players active in the US game? about 300...monsters? over 570.
Revised armor routines...now...as opposed to before, you will HIT with only
what you need to hit and not the overinflated 300 damage to the snakes...more
realistic damage. I'll explain it all to you soon. I'll post the NEW armor
blurb on AOL soon.
There is no upper limit on stats. We will need all the Junk we're carrying
soon enough.
No demi-gods yet. Area beyond the crystal hills is not open yet.
Expect the most interesting additions sometime before X-mas.
They plan at least 7 new races (monster) in the new side of the island...no,
not playable...but able to be interacted with...I can't name them!!!! I don't
even know them yet!! Two were mentioned briefly in the rule book or
newsletter a long time ago...yes, about 7 years old...another job of
mine...new rulebook.
Keith is pushing for Bori logs and Rafts...soon! And it looks like they
will be needed: The last real storm that hit the island was way back in 1990.
The next rain will herald the opening of the new area beyond the crystal
hills...the storm will wash out the central westlands...Completely put
them under water. The idea is to push every too-far-west monster further
east (Opening up Crystal Hills area makes the island too big...how's someone
going to get from the westlands to the crystal hills without spending
a hundred turns or using a teleport spell?)(which is not out of the question)
New monsters will start in central, south or north gwarden region.
hmm...there may be possible wateways between different areas...even ZIP
TUNNELS...a zip tunnel is a slippery monster AMTRAK that you slide down to go
somewhere else...who knows where you'll come out!!!...in at the dark eagles
nest...out at a far forge...oh! the possibilities!
Bugs & Features: Zombies seem to be attacking the guys that bring them to
life... this is bad.
Darkies *can* use Light Swords; in combat with Dark Creatures, at least
one monster switched to the Light weapon because it would do the most
damage.
Fuvites can't normally have an attack-on-sight order, but if they join
the Dark or Light first, they can get the DL or DD order, and can then
switch religions and still use the order.
+------------+
That's it folks! For the complete transcript, catch it on AOL's download
library, or find someone who can email it to you. [I will do this for a
limited time... Scott the Editor]
Best wishes, Chuck
From: CasbahCarl@aol.com
Date: Thu, 9 Nov 1995 08:33:25 -0500
Subject: AOL/ABM Report: More Keith
Subj: Keith's New Post
Date: 95-11-08 13:05:48 EST
From: ABMBob
Howdy. i'd like to personally thank everyone who visited during Monster
Island's FIRST EVER on-line chat. It was a blast for me as well as all of the
players that attended. We can do this anytime you guys would like to. It
doesn't have to be formal..we can just meet in People Connection and make a
room. I learned from the group meet, that you guys love to talk..i do too..
i just don't always have someone around to "talk shop" to. This is why it was
so much fun for me.
I'd love to get other AOL'ers from MI into the next "Talk Shop" I know of at least 10 or 12 more
islanders that didn't or couldn't make it the 6th. We'll do what we can next
time to see you can participate. It's a lot of fun..and you will DEFINATELY
learn something!
Ok, i'm off for now. Again, thanks to all who made Talk Shop 1 so popular. I
hope we'll see you again in Talk Shop 2.
p.s. Can you tell I LOVE sequels!
--later, Keith
From: Jake Balfour
Date: Thu, 9 Nov 1995 11:01:33 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Re: AOL/ABM Report
Keith (through Casbah Carl):
> I'd love to get other AOL'ers from MI into the next "Talk Shop" what we can call our group discussions!> I know of at least 10 or 12 more
> islanders that didn't or couldn't make it the 6th.
The 10 or 12 doesn't count the similar number listed above that can't get
on to AOL because they subscribe to a different service. Chuck, could
you relay to Keith any questions and suggestions that this group comes up
with between now and the next session in the next session?
From: CasbahCarl@aol.com
Date: Thu, 2 Nov 1995 22:37:55 -0500
Subject: Fwd: Re: Fuuuuuvaaaaahhhh!!!!!
Ugh! 80 points of damage on a Knolltir!?! Sounds ugly.
Chuck
---------------------
Forwarded message:
Subj: Re: Fuuuuuvaaaaahhhh!!!!!
Date: 95-11-02 21:01:15 EST
From: Ross81
I talked to Keith today and he said that Hillocks where made harder with the
new stuff that was added to the game. One of my monsters did over 80 points
of damage to a knoltir before killing it.
From: CasbahCarl@aol.com
Date: Fri, 10 Nov 1995 10:29:48 -0500
Subject: ABM/AOL Report: Choo-Choo!
Subj: *** BIG NEWS FLASH ***
Date: 95-11-09 09:03:37 EST
From: ABMBob
Hello loyal islanders!
It's is I, Keith..with NEW news and BIG news at that.
The following is a direct quote, in his own words from Kevin, the owner of
KJC Games. It discusses the ungoing progress and game enhancements.
"By the way, we should be sending you some new MI programs later this week
which will have MORE spells. A bug appeared today, but apart from this, it
all seems ok. Steve is currently finishing work on the NEXT NEW AREA. The map
has been completed and he is working on the monster RAILWAY now! I will send
you a complete update probably next week." -Kev
Ok, that's the story! The monster island railway is nearing completion.
Monster Amtrak!
--talk to you soon! --Keith
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
REGULAR NEWS & STUFF
From: CasbahCarl@aol.com
Date: Mon, 9 Oct 1995 13:58:50 -0400
Subject: Keith's Posts
Below are GM Keith LeBlanc's postings on AOL for the last 30 days. They're
unedited by me in anyway. If you or "eMonster" readers would like to have a
post placed on the AOL/ABM board, please feel free to email me with the
message and I'll see that it's posted. They have two boards available, the
regular Monster Island board, and one for complaints, gripes and
administrative-type questions.
Chuck
+-------------------------------+
Subj: Shroud's Own - the Morgan Files 95-09-17 00:48:40 EDT
From: BOSTREDSOX
Ok, the great battle.
over the many months, maybe years, I've heard different rumors about all of
this. Shroud's Own being the culprits. Let me first begin by saying that I am
in no way BASHING..SLAMMING or in any other way TRASHING any of Shroud's Own
or any other participants in this battle. I don't want anyone thinking i
still hold a grudge towards anyone for this, nor do I actively condone
anything that took place. I was a mere victim. (i bet I won't convince anyone
of this one)?
Ok, a battle was brewing for quite some time. Morgan Hatrick was quite
involved with the BMT.. (everyone knows this). for weeks, Morgan submitted
turns to me, either through the mail or by phoned in orders. What seemed odd,
was that he appeared to be running turns for his ENTIRE group? Not illegal,
but very curious. Some days I would recieve 12 turns all marked: Do 1st all
the way through Do 12th. All turns done in an apparent strategic sequence of
some sort. Keep in mind, at the time, it was unheard of for a Group Leader to
run an entire group, but according to Jack and our policy, there was nothing
"game rules bending" going on.
Well, time went on, and monsters began dying. All kinds of monsters. A lot
were monsters of players I knew very well and a lot by monsters that were
just getting started. A lot seemed in the Shroud's Own. it was quite apparent
that Morgan was sacrificing his own for the good of the group. I recieved a
lot of angry calls from players within his group that were tired of biting
the bullet for this guy. But most were afraid. You see, in the SO you
played FOR the group. Not for yourself. If morgan wanted you to stick your
butt out in front of the Odd Terapus and get your Furrcat butt shot off, you
did..or else risk expulsion from the group. Now Morgan told me that all of
his group did these things of their own FREE WILL, but I had info from
reliable sources, (even within the SO), that this just wasn't so. Finally, i
laid down the gauntlet and said this stuff just has to end. And for those of
you that have been around for years, you've read the personal attacks by
morgan at me and ABM. All because I wouldn't allow him to kill off his group
without letting his group decide if they really wanted to die. You must
understand this. SO players were NOT allowed to do for themselves. They did
what they were told. Any player of the SO that wants to argue this point is
doing so on pride only. Don't be ashamed, it took me too long to uncover what
was happening. A lot of it was my fault too. Morgan quit because he couldn't
manipulate Monster Island for his own reasons. It wasn't Shroud's Own, it was
Morgan's Own.
I hope this all explains a little about what happened. You must understand
that this wasn't all swept under the rug because of something ABM did, it was
a morale issue only. Morgan broke no rules, but he did upset a lot of people,
most within his group. All I ever did, basically, was stop the bleeding.
As far as all of the battle related info, I can't help with that. that info
was all secret and was never given to me, not that i'd be interested anyway.
But the other issues were very much on my mind for months. I only hope
Shroud's Own have managed to get back on their feet and make their
organization the group it could and should have been.
---ABMKeith
From: CasbahCarl@aol.com
Date: Mon, 9 Oct 1995 15:52:36 -0400
Subject: This Memberment & Death
Back in October 1994, I published the following information in the Shadow
Guardians' newsletter on stat gains for changing religions, changing groups
and dying. Since it's been a year, I thought it'd be okay to share the info
with others by sending it to you for publication in the "eMonster News."
Please feel free to use it, edit it or ignore it.
We all know that there are stat penalties for dying, changing groups and
for changing religions, but most of us probably don't have any idea what the
numbers would be like.
Well, we now have hard numbers to look at based on the experiences of two
of my monsters -- Ooga and Fangor -- who both changed religion last year (to
the One True Faith of Fuvitism) and joined the best group on the island (the
Shadow Guardians, of course). In fact, with Fangor, we have some additional
numbers because he was both killed and resurrected in 1984, and quit another
group in order to join the Shadow Guardians (it was a busy year for Fangor --
reminds me of that Chinese curse).
Okay, first the bad news. When the blurb says the penalty for chaning
religions will be severe, the Gamemaster wasn't just whistling Dixie. It's
gonna hurt, and hurt bad! Especially in the loss of stats for Muscle (about
20%) and for Badness (about 30%).
Okay, now the good news. When you join a group (if you haven't had to quit
another one first), you'll gain virtually all the stats back that you lost
when you changed religions. You'll probably be slightly ahead in Badness, and
slightly under in the rest. The only exception is Muscle, where you'll
probably still be down about 15% even after joining a group. Also, even when
you do have to quit a group first, you gain back about half of your losses in
many of your stats when you join your new group.
I have reasonable confidence that the penalty for changing religion will
apply equally to all monsters because Fangor's and Ooga's percentages were
basically identical even though both monsters were very different. They came
from different religions (Shroud and Kabuki, respectively) and had widely
different stats. Consequently, what was true for both Fangor and Ooga, will
most likely be true for other monsters. As we can see in the table below, the
bonus for joining a group varies somewhat. I'm not certain why this variation
occurs, but it may be that the gaming program takes into account whether the
monster first quit a group (as Fangor did) or did not (as in Ooga's case) in
order to join the new group.
Penalty for Bonus for Joining
Changing Religion A Group for
Fangor / Ooga Fangor / Ooga
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Toughness - 9.8%/ -9.8% +13.7%/ +9.3
Muscle -20.1%/-19.9% +10.8%/ +5.2%
Badness -30.3%/-30.3% +43.9%/+34.0%
Monsterliness - 8.3%/ -8.4% + 7.1%/ +6.0%
Health -40.6%/-53.1% +44.6%/+37.7%
For those of you who are curious, the death penalty is about 10% for
Toughness, 10% for Muscle and 10% for Badness. About 5% for Monsterliness and
100% for Health (50% of which is regained upon resurrection). There's also
about a 10% stat loss in Stealth as well (I guess for being so stupid as to
be caught with your butt out in the open, I guess). :/
Or, it could be because the sleazy Darksiders get a Stealth bonus when
they swear fealty to their Dork god, Shrill. <- [My Fuvite persona got the
best of me there, sorry.] The quit-group penalty is about 15% for Toughness
and for Muscle, about 22% for Badness, about 7% for Monsterliness, and about
18% for Health. The death-penalty and quit-group numbers are just for one
monster, however, so I can't say whether other monsters in same situations
would experience similar stat losses.
From: Gerald Hagedorn
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 19:57:13 -0500
Subject: address and phone number
I realized that I moved and did not pass on my new address
so for those who are interested
Jerry Hagedorn
603 San Miguel Dr.
St. Charles MO 63303
(314)940-9062
jlhvhti@mo.net
Jerry
From: CRICKY
Subject: Re: eMonster
Thanx for adding me to the MI list Scott. I've just picked up a copy
of issue 34 from Aaron Fuegi's Web page :)
BTW our group may soon have its own page (as well as some other UK
groups) - do any US groups have Web pages ?
From: Martin Milner <100111.3567@compuserve.com>
Date: 14 Oct 95 18:55:44 EDT
Subject: Small Groups?
Maybe the US has small groups, but in the UK our very own KLN, currently led by
Jo Walls, is closing rapidly on 50 active monsters. This is partly because it's
one of the oldest groups on the island, and partly because we have monsters of
all ages from 140 turns down to around 20, spread across the north of the
island.
The oldest members have been busy building temples, though I won't disclose how
many we now have. Young Disciples have the opportunity to rapidly move along
our temple system, and pick up some neat kit left behind by the older folk.
I'd be interested to know what is thought of as the best (most damaging) weapon
on the island - Great Sword of a god, Dragonbone Sword, Trident, or something
else?
Has anyone killed a shifting wraith? If so, what with?
Aren't bowstrings used to enhance forts? I heard that a long time ago, but I
haven't tried it myself.
Tombs of Mumi in the UK have been giving out really neat stuff recently,
is this true in the US? Treasures like King's Spiked stuff, Great Light
Swords, and Dragonhide Shields are tumbling out the door as soon as you roll
the stone aside (almost). Much better value for lumps taken and APs expended
than any other feature.
thats the lot for now, Martin
From: EWGundersn@aol.com
Date: Sun, 15 Oct 1995 21:46:14 -0400
Subject: Re: MI Newsletter
MI Newsletter [White Lotus] submissions preferred by email.
--Erik Gunderson
From: CasbahCarl@aol.com
Date: Wed, 18 Oct 1995 14:19:57 -0400
Subject: AOL/ABM File Library
Scott,
In case you think your readers may be interested, here's the list of stuff
available for downloading from the AOL/ABM File Library (with non-MI stuff
deleted from the list):
Date Last
Uploaded File Name # Dnld Dnld
^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^^
10/17 MONSTER: eMonster News #34 1 10/17
10/17 MONSTER: eMonster News #33 1 10/17
03/07 MONSTER: eMonster News #32 59 10/02
02/10 What is PBM Gaming? 99 10/17
01/30 MONSTER: eMonster News #31 36 08/30
01/04 MONSTER: Shadow Guardians 43 10/16
12/02 MONSTER: Game Description 77 10/16
11/01 MONSTER: eMonster News #29 40 10/03
08/30 MONSTER: eMonster News #28 55 08/30
07/26 MONSTER: eMonster News #27 43 08/30
07/02 MONSTER: eMonster News #26 42 08/30
05/27 MONSTER: eMonster News #25 55 08/30
05/27 MONSTER: Excel Mapper 49 08/30
05/27 MONSTER: Armor/Weapons 120 10/04
05/27 MONSTER: MI Newsletter #0 42 10/16
05/27 MONSTER: eMonster News #18 22 08/30
05/27 MONSTER: eMonster News #17 22 08/30
05/27 MONSTER: eMonster News #16 17 07/30
05/27 MONSTER: MI Newsletter #12 15 07/30
05/27 MONSTER: MI Newsletter #11 13 07/30
05/27 MONSTER: MI Newsletter #7 12 07/30
05/27 MONSTER: MI Newsletter #6 12 07/30
05/27 MONSTER: MI Newsletter #5 13 07/30
05/27 MONSTER: MI Newsletter #4 13 09/16
05/27 MONSTER: MI Newsletter #3 16 07/30
05/27 MONSTER: MI Newsletter #2 17 07/30
05/27 MONSTER: MI Newsletter #1 26 10/16
05/27 MONSTER: Turn Card Fax Template 35 09/30
05/27 MONSTER: "Make Item" Table 68 09/15
05/27 MONSTER: Groups, Totems, Battle 51 10/04
05/27 MONSTER: Gods and Groups 41 10/04
05/27 MONSTER: Far Building Coordinate 43 10/17
05/27 MONSTER: Far Post Item Prices 38 10/04
05/27 MONSTER: Cross-Reference Table 26 09/30
05/27 MONSTER: Far Inn/Far Forge Price 39 10/04
05/27 MONSTER: DOL Cross-Reference Tab 25 07/29
05/27 MONSTER: Group Coordinate Conver 24 07/29
05/27 MONSTER: Far Inn Item Appraisals 29 10/04
05/27 MONSTER: Item Buy/Sell Prices 33 10/04
05/06 MONSTER: Mapping Utility 33 08/22
05/05 MONSTER: eMonster News #24 40 05/14
05/01 MONSTER: PBM Entry Form 148 10/14
05/01 MONSTER: Rulebook 248 10/16
05/01 MONSTER: eMonster News #23 38 05/14
05/01 MONSTER: eMonster News #22 33 05/14
05/01 MONSTER: eMonster News #21 31 05/14
05/01 MONSTER: eMonster News #20 33 08/15
05/01 MONSTER: eMonster News #19 35 08/15
05/01 MONSTER: Newsletter #10 34 05/20
05/01 MONSTER: Newsletter #9 30 05/20
05/01 MONSTER: Newsletter #8 34 05/20
05/01 MONSTER: Totems & Groups 54 10/16
05/01 MONSTER: The Watch Tower #3 60 07/30
05/01 MONSTER: The Watch Tower #2 60 07/30
05/01 MONSTER: The Watch Tower #1 61 10/16
From: CasbahCarl@aol.com
Date: Mon, 23 Oct 1995 11:45:47 -0400
Subject: Fort Fax
Version 1.0 (October 1995)
+--------------------------------------------------------------+
EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT FORTS,
BUT WEREN'T INTERESTED ENOUGH TO ASK
+--------------------------------------------------------------+
MONSTER ISLAND FAQ: Maintained by Sol-Rac Orim, Fuvite Warrior
The Shadow Guardians, Fuvite Group 721, CasbahCarl@aol.com
+--------------------------------------------------------------+
Q: What is the Fort Ruins blurb?
- FORT RUINS: In front of you lie the scattered ruins of
what must have been a small fort. There is no sign of who or
what last occupied it. You speculate that some awfully big
creature or unusually powerful Monster ripped the place to
pieces. One wall is punctured with a large set of teeth marks.
With a lot of effort, the Fort can be rebuilt. It would make a
nice place to camp and/or reside, provided whatever wrecked the
place didn't come back! To effect repairs, issue the REBUILD
order: Z (Action Pts). Each time you do this you will be told
the state of repairs. The job consists of repositioning the
stones, and cutting and tying bamboo into place. If members of
your group are in the square, and/or you have a Mount (and
Rope), you'll make quicker progress on repairs.
- REBUILDING FORT RUINS: The Innkeeper would like to see the
Forts rebuilt. They are a particularly good place for a Group to
operate out of. These Forts once housed up to two dozen
people and their Mounts. Nowadays, a Fort would be a very secure
place to rest/sleep/recover from injuries.
Q: What is the approximate number of Action Pts necessary to
rebuild a Fort Ruins?
- Around 2000.
Q: Can ungrouped Monsters rebuild a Fort Ruins?
- Although the blurbs imply that only group members can
rebuild a fort, it seems that ungrouped monsters can also issue
Z orders and consequently anyone may rebuild a fort.
Q: When rebuilding a Fort Ruins, is the multiplier effect that
comes into play when a Monster has a Mount (and a Rope) and/or
one or more group members are present in the square the same as
when rebuilding a temple?
- 1.25 for a mount; 1.20 for one player; 1.35 for two
monsters of a group camped in the square; 1.45 for three
monsters of a group; and 1.50 for 4 monsters of a group.
Q: When the rebuilding effort is accomplished, what blurbs are
received?
- FORT: A newly rebuilt fort consists of a semi-secure wall
and a building in its center. The largest room is the stable
where two dozen mounts can be stabled. The next largest room is
the bunk room which has a dozen bunk beds. There is also a
storage room, an outhouse (without water), and a double-room
consisting of living quarters and a workroom suitable for a
single permanent resident. A fort is owned/controlled by whoever
occupies it. When occupied, other monsters have to force their
way in. They'll be subjected to the fort's traps (if any) and
have to fight the occupants of the fort--except for your own
group's members.
- FORT ORDERS: To camp in a fort, issue the Fort Stay order:
FS. This is excellent for recovering health. To guard/camp in
the fort, issue the Guard Fort order: GF. This has you camp in
the fort, but you'll be on guard for intruders and consequently,
recovering less health. To make some sort of physical
improvement to the fort, issue the Enhance Fort order: EF. This
requires 16 Action Pts and may result in taking one or more of
your possessions and making it a permanent part of the fort. To
place items in the store room, issue the Place order: P (item #)
(qty). To remove items, issue the Bring order: B (item #) (qty).
NOTE: Food cannot be placed in the store room. If the square
already has your group's totem markings, you can issue the TM
order to mark the fort.
Q: The fort's stable can house 24 mounts, but there are only a
dozen beds in the bunk room. What is the upper limit of monsters
that can occupy a fort at a given time?
- Unknown.
Q: Can captured mounts be released into the fort and retained
in the stable?
- Unknown.
Q: Is there a limit to the number of different items that can
be placed in the Fort's store room, and to the quantity of each
item?
- The fort store room can hold an unlimited quantity (?) of
50 different items.
Q: How much health is recovered using the Fort Stay order
versus using the Guard Fort order?
- Using the FS order, a monster recovers a level of health
equal to that if he had stayed in a Far Inn. Using the GF order,
a monster recovers health as if he or she had merely camped out
in the open.
Q: When opponents attempt to storm the fort, do all occupants
fight the intruders, or only those that have set the Guard Fort
order?
- Those that have issued the GF order will fight; those that
have issued the FS order will run away unless their settings are
at a level that would ensure hostilities.
Q: What enhancements can be made to a fort?
- Knives (you can add 2 with one EF order, to a max of 16 (?) )
- Tusker Tusks (maximum of 4) [Tuskers (#180) are Fuvite creatures]
- Spyglass (maximum of 4)
- Pressure Trap (2 carrion talons, 1 spider spring; max of 12)
- Snake Trap (max of 8 or 12?)
Q: Could a source of water be established inside a fort by
digging deep enough to strike water, or by filling a deep pit
with water in order to create a waterhole?
- Unknown.
Q: Can Monsters destroy a rebuilt Fort, so that it would become
once again a Fort Ruins?
- Unknown.
+--------------------------------------------------------------+
Many thanks to Jerry Hagedorn (jlhvhti@MO.NET), who provided
much of the information. Please send any additions, corrections
or new questions to Chuck Miro (CasbahCarl@aol.com). Thanks! :)
+--------------------------------------------------------------+
From: Jim Wuerch <73234.3410@compuserve.com>
Date: 23 Oct 95 14:53:51 EDT
Subject: MI/news
Hello!
I can't quite believe it, but I'm still receiving inquiries from around the
globe about the Monster Mapper. I stopped playing MI about 2 years ago. I
would like to find a ftp home for the MMapper, so that players can download
the full version for free. Do you know of a location that I should upload
it to? Also, I'll need to post a message in the e-Monster about its new
home. I will still continue to answer questions about it through e-mail.
Thanks,
Jim Wuerch
73234.3410@compuserve.com
From: "Taytslin, Ilya"
Date: Mon, 23 Oct 95 16:56:33 EST
Subject: Shifting Wraiths
From what I've seen personally and heard from others, ordinary weapons
do absolutely pathetic damage against Shifting Wraiths -- without
silver or magical weapons, don't even try. However, in the only case
I know of a Shifting Wraith being killed (with a Silver-tipped Spear),
it took only 37 damage. Has anyone else had such luck ?
Ilya Taytslin
From: LrdBear@aol.com
Date: Mon, 23 Oct 1995 22:05:54 -0400
Subject: Fwd: Easy Question
Just thought I would pass this on to all those who do newsletters. The real
goal behind the original crackdown on posting blurbs was the fact that ABM
perceived one guy to be selling the Blurbs and the fact that he never
co-ordinated his activities with them. Per the following message from Keith,
it is okay to pass on 1 or 2 blurbs as part of a newsletter. Mass
distribution of "blurb listings" should be co-ordinated with ABM. But,
putting one or two new blurbs in a newsletter is okay.
Larry
---------------------
Forwarded message:
Subj: Re: Easy Question
Date: 95-10-23 00:32:55 EDT
From: BOSTREDSOX
i see no harm in posting some blurbs....i would however keep the real
exciting ones hidden so others can enjoy the same first time
surprise..there's no harm in sharing though :)
--keith
From: warden (Scott Micheel)
Subject: MI/turns
Date: Tue, 24 Oct 1995 09:42:20 -0600 (MDT)
Howdy. I got some more turns back.
Once again, I emailed the three to abmbob@aol.com , and they were processed
in a timely fashion. Not quite as fast as I'd wish it, but a bit faster than
regular USPS.
Moby hit a Koma Den, fighting a Squeezy Snake, Great Trap Snake, Jungle
Rattler, 3-Tailed Rattler, and Xanxu Cave Snake, killing 'em all, and
getting 3 squzskins, 12 food, 2 Rattler Darts, 1 Xanxu Snake Head, 1 Silver-
Tipped Spear, 1 Golder Occular Coin, and a Large Lockpick. Nice haul.
Stompin Rocksoul found only an empty Loggerhead camp, but he did issue the
GL order, to get a list of every monster in The Black Death. It's strange.
They list everybody who's ever been a member, whether they've quit or what.
Most are listed in the standard 'Monsters you can write to' format
A MONSTER (Monster #666) -- Justa Guy, 13 Nowhere Blvd, Somewhere US 00000
But there are a few listed as
B MONSTER (Monster #668) -- , , ,
Which I take it to mean these monsters are deleted since they've not been
played for a long long time. I wonder if they're archived somewhere.
(26 Members in The Black Death. Not all currently active, of course.)
Big Danny failed to find a Plodder in the square he found one in last
turn, so did nothing but dump stuff at a Far Post and an Order of the
White Rose fort. Next turn, he stalks Plodders again, this time with
the L action.
From: "Taytslin, Ilya"
Date: Wed, 25 Oct 95 14:13:13 EST
Subject: Koma Dens
It has been known for some time that if you LV a Koma Den twice in one
turn, the snakes are much tougher the second time (mostly 6-headed
adders). On turn 146 Rauph did just that -- he succeeded both times,
taking 17 damage on the first LV and 93 on the second. However, I
also noticed that the first LV report began with words "There are at
least 60 snakes here", and the second began with "There are at least
50 snakes here". I suspect that if you hit a Koma Den about 10 times
in one turn -- only possible with at least 30 White Lotus Elixirs, if
subsequent attacks are like the second -- you could clean it out. In
a few turns Rauph will try a Koma Den three times -- mostly to see
what kind of the opposition he will get on the third try.
From: CasbahCarl@aol.com
Date: Tue, 31 Oct 1995 09:22:43 -0500
Subject: AOL/ABM Report: Questions to Keith
Subj: Re:Getting answers from ABM
Date: 95-10-31 08:43:07 EST
From: ABMBob
Two things: First, I am extremely busy during the day. (very hard to answer
questions from work). Secondly, posting questions on the AOL/ABM "Questions,
Concerns and Complaints" board or writing them on your turns may take longer.
I suggest another idea: Recently, I have given out my personal AOL account so
that players could write me AT HOME. It's working fine. I get anywhere from
6-15 posts a night. This way I can sit back in my chair with my cat on my lap
and answer questions without the burden of wondering if I will get my data
entry or fixes done before 4 p.m. at work.
You can write me at: bostredsox@aol.com anytime. i'll get an answer out to
you minutes after I log on and read your mail. Promise! --Keith
From: CasbahCarl@aol.com
Date: Tue, 31 Oct 1995 09:24:19 -0500
Subject: AOL/ABM Report: Compliment
Subj: Kudos
Date: 95-10-28 00:18:49 EST
From: IBaNutt
I just wanted to post a positive message, since by human nature we all are
ready to pounce on the negative.
I recently experienced a problem with the USPS not delivering a turn for
approx a month and a half. during that time I spoke with Keith (in person) to
determine my turn had basically disappeared. I email a duplicate and it was
processed promptly. Well a couple of days ago I received a turn
unexpectantly. It was my lost turn. When I emailed the situation to keith, he
quickly responded that I would be credited and rolled back one turn. All
though I do not have physical proof, I believe this was a postal service
problem and NOT an ABM problem. I have experienced similiar things with our
local post office. But keith was very willing to assist me and make matters
right. Now thats what I call customer service. Thanks
Mike aka
Balrog
Shelob
From: CasbahCarl@aol.com
Date: Tue, 31 Oct 1995 09:25:45 -0500
Subject: AOL/ABM Report: Goo Snakes
Subj: Goo Snake Encounters
Date: 95-10-30 16:22:58 EST
From: CasbahCarl
Subj: Give Me Your Goo
Date: Mon, Oct 30, 1995 1:56 PM EDT
From: jb6@keene.edu
> >how much organic based material you're carrying around
We could make this a scientific survey. I'll be the scientist, or at least
I'll fake it as best I can. Please send me any and all encounters with that
dreaded goo snake. Be sure to list what organics you had equipped, how many
rounds it went, and what was dissolved, if any. If you have any other good
things to keep track of, announce it, spread the idea around, and send it to
me. I'll total it up when the flow dies down.
Feel free to forward this message to any and all interested parties. The
more information I get, the more accurate the results.
Jake
From: CasbahCarl@aol.com
Date: Tue, 31 Oct 1995 09:27:31 -0500
Subject: AOL/ABM Report: SO Challenged
Subj: MI in general
Date: 95-10-30 21:40:15 EST
From: NormKnight
I've been on vacation and heard that the message board was finally active
again. First of all, SO says that they rule the north half of the Island with
an iron hand. I think not! I've traveled from the Black Swan to near the
Ribald Arms and haven't seen a SO member in 32 or more turns. And BTW Olmec
Warburg (DOL) killed a shroudian about 5 turns ago (Beltok; BD). So where are
the spineless SO hiding. Are the still in the Jagged Mor? Come on out and
play with the big boy and see if you your leader has the skill and cunning
wit like your old leader had. I may not have liked Morgan, but he showed
guts.
Brian J Derks
A.k.a. Drex Knoll (WTC)
a.k.a. Olmec Warburg (DOL)
a.k.a. Kitra Fireforge (DOL)
From: LrdBear@aol.com
Date: Fri, 3 Nov 1995 19:24:48 -0500
Subject: Big Honker...........
Well, FatBlobs of the world rejoice. The perfect creature has been found.
Shorty (Fatblob - Lightsider) met a wonderous creature this turn. Tusker
may be Fuvah's name for this beast, but Shorty calls this one supper.
After taking a meer 59 points damage and dishing out only 127 points of
damage, Shorty collected 1 Tusker Tusk and
28 Food!!!!!!!!!!
Even for a FAT Blob, this was a feast to behold. As he was carrying a good
supply already, Shorty was faced with the awesome task of eating 21 food when
he made camp. (Burp! Burpppp!!) After this great meal the Short one he
didn't need to lay down, so he rolled back and went to sleep.
From: "Taytslin, Ilya"
Date: Tue, 07 Nov 95 10:09:36 EST
Subject: Spyglasses
For those who do not yet know:
You can not see with a Spyglass -- koma dens, small caves, sunken
graveyards, tombs of mumi.
You can see with a Spyglass -- all far structures, all sacred stones,
all ruins, ancient graveyards, forts, hillocks, large and great caves,
loggerhead camps, ponds, tainted hollows, temples, trails.
Do not know yet -- stone crypts and tombs of mumundus.
From: Gerald Hagedorn
Date: Wed, 8 Nov 1995 16:06:05 -0600
Subject: Turn Results
Hi all,
I want to congradulate Tom, for being the first to successfully
navigate a tainted hollow.
As far as my monster go. I have been dumping stuff in temples
and trying to get together the components to build a swinging ball. In
hope that I would be the first monster in to the tainted hollow. Unfortunately
Claggin refuses to learn how to make one I have quested for 50,21,31 in the
last two turns and I still don't know how to make it. so at 9:21am Nov 6
I entered a tainted hollow just to get lost and run out the way I came. :(
Norm has figured out how to make the swinfing contraption. So I will
have to transfer the stuff to norm have him make the two I have components
to and then transfer one to Claggin. I may then send both of my monster
in to the land of "cursed trees" :).....
From: Gerald Hagedorn
Date: Thu, 9 Nov 1995 20:48:57 -0600
Subject: Jossmen supply caravans.....
I had an Idea for an addition to the game.
I assume that there has to be supply caravans that
would run between the Far Inns. So why not make it possible
for a price(probably high) to become part of the supply caravan.
between turns you could travel with the caravan acting as a
guard. At the start of your next turn you would be at the next
closest Far inn....... The caravan may or may not hit each far
inn each turn. So you may have to wait around a couple turns.
What do you all think???? Do you think it is feasiable Keith???
From: CasbahCarl@aol.com
Date: Fri, 10 Nov 1995 09:56:41 -0500
Subject: Re: AOL/ABM Report
Jake Asks:
> could you relay to Keith any questions and suggestions that
> this group comes up with between now and the next session in
> the next session?
Sure, Jake. In fact, I was thinking that we could start a temporary email
list to toss questions back and forth. The first Chat session was great, but
I'm afraid a great question or two might have slipped through the cracks
since we were all pretty off-the-cuff. Once a list a completed, we can work
with those who will be participating to ensure all the high-priority
questions get asked.
These AOL chat sessions seem like they will have the potential to really help
boost our knowledge since Keith is going into them with the willingness to
answer most if not all questions.
From: GFunk43629@aol.com
Date: Sun, 12 Nov 1995 14:02:08 -0500
Subject: Missing Far Posts
I have a request for all the loyal eMonster News subscribers out there.
I need some help in completing my far structures list. I have 3 far post
locations that I have no names for and 4 names that I have no locations for.
The 3 far post locations are 55-E, 244-N; 127-E, -34-N; 19-E, -16-N (all
are Fire Riders coords). (For a common point of reference - the Grackle,
Grouse & Grail far inn is located at 90-E, 175-N in Fire Riders coords.)
The first post (at 55-E, 244-N) is on the northern coast between Kallon's
[650] and Wastak's [644]. It allegedly sits at the end of a long peninusla.
My monster Tak Thalfar tried to get there but was unsuccessful. Perhaps the
post isn't there?
The second post (at 127-E, -34-N) is on the southern coast, 10 squares east
and 4 squares south of the far inn of Hamilton's Cove [520].
The third post (at 19-E, -16 -N) is in the Southern Westlands between
Wiltar's [206] and Kiltok's [785].
The 4 names I have are Fillar's, Kislon's, Waltak's and Wastor's.
Can anyone match the above names with the above locations? Can anyone locate
the one leftover name?
Thanks,
Gary Funk
a.k.a. Jandro Hok
a.k.a. Tak Thalfar
From: "Taytslin, Ilya"
Date: Mon, 13 Nov 95 14:21:22 EST
Subject: Regaining Spell Points
When either of my two monsters kowtowed at a Temple that had no
talismans (guardian statues do not count) and no Jeweled Temple Swords
in its treasure room, they gained no spell points. In a Temple with
one talisman or one Jeweled Sword they'd get roughly 1 spell point per
8 AP's of kowtowing, not to exceed the current maximum; the amount did
not seem to depend on the maximum otherwise. When Rauph kowtowed for
82 points in a Temple having three talisman statues and three Jeweled
Swords, he got 26 spell points back. He got nothing in a Temple with
eight non-talisman treasures and a guardian statue.
That was based on seven Temples and two Disciples.
From: LrdBear@aol.com
Date: Mon, 13 Nov 1995 18:58:23 -0500
Subject: Ex-Loggerhead Camp
Wyvern managed to empty a camp this week (with a little help from Shelob -
Mike McNutt). In case anyone tracks Loggerheads and treasure...
Orson-Davis 81 -- not yet.
Orson-Davis 40 (Shelob) -- dead.
Len-Bigbears 58(Shelob) -- dead.
Wendal-Weedmeyer 100 (Shelob) -- not yet
Wendal Weedmeyer 58(Shelob) -- dead.
Pizon-Trenton 62( Shelob) -- not yet.
Pizon-Trenton 32 (Shelob) -- dead. (no spells, I'm prob out of points)
Jed-Nabarr 40 (Shelob) -- dead.
Chet-Poole 84 (Wyvern) -- not yet
Sondu-Tanaka 103 (Wyvern) -- not yet
Chet-Poole 63 (Wyvern) -- dead
Sondu-Tanaka 15 (Wyvern) -- Dead
Weeg-Artur 116 (Wyvern) -- Dead
?????????? Nobody's home....... Hmmm
Treasure: A Silver Temple Sword, a Great Tomk Necklace, three Unreadable
Scrolls, King's Spiked Gloves and a Black Ball. Treasure - 104 bit coins