From: owner-the-edge-digest@ (The Edge Digested) To: the-edge-digest@robin-nvh.bvsd.k12.co.us Subject: The Edge Digested V1 #71 Reply-To: the-edge@robin-nvh.bvsd.k12.co.us Sender: owner-the-edge-digest@ Errors-To: owner-the-edge-digest@ Precedence: bulk The Edge Digested Saturday, June 27 1998 Volume 01 : Number 071 Today's subjects from The Edge: [The Edge] Speaking of Terminal... Re: [The Edge] building themed decks... Re: [The Edge] Speaking of Terminal... [The Edge] OnTE--Where? Re: [The Edge] Speaking of Terminal... [The Edge] Anybody in Pennsylvania? Re: [The Edge] Anybody in Pennsylvania? Re: [The Edge] [The Edge]Response and a weird Question. [The Edge] (no subject) Re: [The Edge] Speaking of Terminal... Re: [The Edge] First Aid for Dying Games [was: Decks, Devices, etc.] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 15:56:27 -0400 From: "John M. Baker" Subject: [The Edge] Speaking of Terminal... I've been working on redesigning my deck once called "Stick to the Corridor!" which was a Hangman/Criminal/Terminal deck which used Gang Up and Multi-Dimension as its big attacks. I've retooled it to a Terminal/Criminal deck, using the Net/Law/Government crossover to help it along. I'd like some advice on its design, please. Name: An Import/Export Company Pullers (8) Coral Entity x2 Giurgiu Otinka x2 Deborah Grierson Melinda Amduat Alicia Andromeda Simon Wallop Attackers (4) Alonzo Rubio Great White Julio Beitleiro Gayth Silver Blockers (4) Lino Briazzi Azza Jami Ace J. Cirrus Lissy Omgek Specials (8) Jean-Christophe D'Aubainne x2 Reek Rend x2 Anya Huesco Jill Grunder Hack-Master Yuzhou Chen Others (8) Multi-Dimension x4 The Squeeze x4 Resources (8) The Terminal x2 Friends in Broken Wings Barrio x2 Friends in Arms Barrio x2 Crime & Punishment The Net's Secret I find that I'm better off just putting my blockers in front of my hitters. Also, the deck isn't that strong combat-wise, so I just steal whomever I need with The Squeeze. I haven't been able to properly test the deck, yet, so that's why I'm expecting some big holes in the deck, somewhere... Also, I found a better Evil First Turn for Terminal that hasn't been mentioned yet: The Terminal, crank to call Jean-Christophe D'Aubainne, crank J-C to call The Terminal, crank to call Coral Entity, crank Coral Entity to call Deborah Grierson and score 1 influence, play Lino Briazzi ahead of Deborah and Coral, use the last two Terminal influence to call Azza Jami next to Lino Briazzi ahead of J-C, crank Deborah for 1 influence. Ending influence: 2/2. The remaining spot between Azza and J-C will be for Julio Beitleiro with Multi-Dimension or Yuzhou Chen for next turn. John Baker [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 16:02:16 -0500 (CDT) From: Eric Jome Subject: Re: [The Edge] building themed decks... On Fri, 26 Jun 1998, Jay J. Allen wrote: > Ok, I see what you're saying here. However, the extent of what I run into > is such that it goes beyond just fitting into nice ratios...for instance, > in the pharoh/quisling/gladstein deck I mentioned as an example: When I put > together the cards I want to use, I end up with say 2 or maybe 3 pullers, > 18-20 other characters, and like a zillion other cards (whammies, gear, > conditions etc) and usually more resources than I need - while using > formulas isn't necessary, I atleast need to get enough pullers (or in some > cases I lack the hitters/blockers specialists) to have a reasonable > expectation of seeing some of those cards come out in play. hmmm. lets attack this from a more direct perspective. you want to play Pharaoh/Quisling/Gladstein, right? well, the pharaoh/quisling cards are as follows; Guglielmo Vignetto Vibe Valiant Isa Ifaq Anti-Matter Grenade Ali Twine Robert Richardson Prem K. Sharma Jagannath Adhi Akorra Encombi Cyrol Doros U. N. Forces Pharaoh's Secret Disintegrator Ray Farah Nekhbet Giurgiu Otinka Ellen Wu of these, you should have lots of the first group and 0 or 1 of the second group. Vibe Valiant has pull, try including 2 of her. and Guglielmo is a great hitter, but dont put in more than 2. Ali Twine is a Martyr, but more than 2 will slow you down. and you want as many of the second category as you have if they are Resources or Secrets or characters with pull. by now, you should have a mostly Pharaoh/Quisling deck... probably about 15 to 20 cards when you throw in a few Oppenheimer Contacts or Friends in Broken Wings. to address gladstein, then, look at the following cards; Akio Morimoto Randy Rogers Vibro Blaster Marla Oceana Martin Oumage Dev Ashana Veronica Sellers you should be swimming in group 1 and have 1 or 2 in group 2 in your collection, but you dont need more than 2 of any of these cards. add some Openheimer Contacts and 2 Vibro Blasters and 2 Weird Radiation and every card in group 2. lastly, throw in 2 Gang A-Gley, 1 Newtonian Slam, 1 Immunity, 2 Blackmail, and 2 Smear Campaign. this should easily get you enough pullers and other cards and have a 40 to 50 card deck. dont just go through your collection and pull every character with a trait in your deck (and certainly not every card that just looks good). lastly, here is the Robot Deck Construction method; first, pick a resource from the following list; Oppenheimer Contacts, Psychic Sensitivity, or Astral Wisdom take 4 more resources of this type and 3 Friend in Broken Wings. now, shuffle up your whole collection face down and start picking cards one at a time. if a character has the trait matching the resources you picked, consider it. if you picked Oppenheimer Contacts, look for Fringe first. if you picked Psychic Sensitivity, look for Psychic first. if you picked Astral Wisdom, look for Astral first. if the special trait is not there, look for human. if it is not human and does not have the other trait, discard it. as you pick them, arrange the characters into 3 different piles. pile 1 is characters with positive pull; pile 2 is characters without positive pull and with an AP of 3 or more. pile 3 is characters without positive pull and with a DP of 3 or more. no pile may have more than 8 cards in it; when you get to eight, stop adding to the pile. also, no character may be in any or all of the piles more than 2 times (ie. if you already have 2 copies of a character, dont include a third). now, if you took Oppenheimer Contacts earlier, pick 2 cards from the following list; Weird Radiation, Self-Actualizer, Vibro Blaster. duplicates are allowed. if you took Psychic Sensitivity earlier, pick 2 cards from the following list; Hostility Channeler, Cat's Feet, Hostility Detector if you took Astral Wisdom earlier, pick 2 cards from the following list; Negative Energy, Terrors, Dark Aura Ring now, take the following 8 cards; 2 Blackmail, 2 Gang A-Gley, 2 Fury, 1 Newtonian Slam, 1 Immunity, 1 Wheel of Fortune. you now have a deck. :) 8 resources, 8 pullers, 8 hitters, 8 blockers, 8 other cards. 41 cards in the deck. all the characters can use any of the resources. and you have some excellent support cards. eric [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 16:31:56 -0500 (CDT) From: Eric Jome Subject: Re: [The Edge] Speaking of Terminal... On Fri, 26 Jun 1998, John M. Baker wrote: > Pullers (8) > Coral Entity x2 > Giurgiu Otinka x2 > Deborah Grierson > Melinda Amduat > Alicia Andromeda > Simon Wallop Ajay Obalago would work out nice in here. and maybe Simon belongs under Specials? maybe the C&I cards would give you Terminal flavor and pull, perhaps to replace the less usefule Otinka, Andromeda, and Amduat. > Attackers (4) > Alonzo Rubio > Great White you know, great white needs someone with surprise to really take advantage of her ability. you have got Gayth, but maybe a Sneak or Fabrissa Melors (to replace Alonzo) would work nice. > Julio Beitleiro > Gayth Silver > > Blockers (4) > Lino Briazzi > Azza Jami > Ace J. Cirrus > Lissy Omgek great choices. if this is really a theme deck involving Terminal, then maybe Fava Lahkdar would fit under hitters? > Specials (8) > Jean-Christophe D'Aubainne x2 > Reek Rend x2 > Anya Huesco > Jill Grunder > Hack-Master > Yuzhou Chen these are all pretty good. > Others (8) > Multi-Dimension x4 > The Squeeze x4 heh. nothing like the old Multi-Dimensional Squeeze. heh. maybe a few other "criminal" cards like Kidnap, Hostage, and Blackmail would add some flavor... you probably dont have enough pull for all the Squeezes. > Resources (8) > The Terminal x2 > Friends in Broken Wings Barrio x2 > Friends in Arms Barrio x2 > Crime & Punishment > The Net's Secret hmmm. you need more friends in arms. perhaps 2 more. > I find that I'm better off just putting my blockers in front of my hitters. > Also, the deck isn't that strong combat-wise, so I just steal whomever I > need with The Squeeze. I haven't been able to properly test the deck, yet, > so that's why I'm expecting some big holes in the deck, somewhere... well, this is sorta a theme deck, so i am not going to go into number of cards or card ratios, but it looks pretty good now. just a few more friends in arms barrio and perhaps replacing someof your pullers with the C&I group. and get Ajay. :) > Also, I found a better Evil First Turn for Terminal that hasn't been > mentioned yet: The Terminal, crank to call Jean-Christophe D'Aubainne, > crank J-C to call The Terminal, crank to call Coral Entity, crank Coral > Entity to call Deborah Grierson and score 1 influence, play Lino Briazzi > ahead of Deborah and Coral, use the last two Terminal influence to call > Azza Jami next to Lino Briazzi ahead of J-C, crank Deborah for 1 influence. > Ending influence: 2/2. The remaining spot between Azza and J-C will be for > Julio Beitleiro with Multi-Dimension or Yuzhou Chen for next turn. hmmm. my favorite first turn would go something like this; play terminal, crank to call Jean-Christophe with Julio Beitlero in front of him. then, crank JC to call terminal (call any ingores 0 cost restriction and terminal not unique). crank terminal to call coral entity next to JC, and Lino in front of it. crank coral for 1 influence and put a multidimension on Julio... you score 1 less influence, but you have all the best basic terminal people in and can hit anyone right away. next turn, start a new file with Azza in front with Deborah and Dinesh behind. :) of course, the ultimate in basics is terminal crank to call entity, entity crank to call deborah in fron of itself and score 1, crank deborah to score 1 more and play lino in front of her (from terminal). this gets 2 pullers in, 1 cannot be attacked, the other defense of 5, with a non-human DP 5 defender who can Martyr for one of the pullers and you scored 2 points. in only 4 cards. :) eric [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 18:37:54 EDT From: AGJeff@AOL.COM Subject: [The Edge] OnTE--Where? John Baker wrote: >>>Where is the game still being played? I know about Minnesota; is it also played anywhere else?<<< From (former) Conspiracy cell distribution, the game's strong in and around DC and Baltimore, Denver, and a portion of Ontario. These areas each had more than one cell in them. Of course, there are other areas which had one cell, which may have had between two and twelve regular players. On card availability: Cards are actually still available through some distributors (for example, we twisted Wargames West's arm to special order them from us when someone asks for them). I think Chessex still has them in stock. Of course, retailers and fans can order them from us, too. Jeff Tidball Lame Duck Conspirator General Atlas Games/Trident Inc. (BTW, I'm following the discussion of OnTE's "deadness," but have little to contribute. FWIW, its not that this list is being ignored.) [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 22:00:29 -0400 From: "John M. Baker" Subject: Re: [The Edge] Speaking of Terminal... At 04:31 PM 6/26/98 -0500, you wrote: >On Fri, 26 Jun 1998, John M. Baker wrote: > >> Pullers (8) >> Coral Entity x2 >> Giurgiu Otinka x2 >> Deborah Grierson >> Melinda Amduat >> Alicia Andromeda >> Simon Wallop > >Ajay Obalago would work out nice in here. and maybe Simon >belongs under Specials? maybe the C&I cards would give you Terminal >flavor and pull, perhaps to replace the less usefule Otinka, Andromeda, >and Amduat. > Otinka, with his +1 pull for Net or Criminal cards is useful to me, but yes, Obalago should make an appearance here. Amduat helps me gain the instant blocker for a newly-formed file. And, if I pack a couple of Kidnaps, I might make Andromeda more useful to me. My main reasons for not using the C&I crew was because they're low on DP. However, I could understand removing Andromeda and moving Wallop to the Special ranks, replacing them with Sourinen and Escobar. (Okay, so Dinesh Rajpal is way cooler, I know...) Hey, I found Obalago. He was in my old "Hermetic Cell Membership Drive" deck (a straightforward Hermetic/Astral/Burger deck). I think the deck's posted on the web somewhere... >> Attackers (4) >> Alonzo Rubio >> Great White > >you know, great white needs someone with surprise to really take >advantage of her ability. you have got Gayth, but maybe a Sneak >or Fabrissa Melors (to replace Alonzo) would work nice. > My plans were to use Great White with others' attacks. Maybe use Andromeda to sell Great White's services. Alonzo's in there because he can double as a blocker and he's Government. >> Julio Beitleiro >> Gayth Silver >> >> Blockers (4) >> Lino Briazzi >> Azza Jami >> Ace J. Cirrus >> Lissy Omgek > >great choices. if this is really a theme deck involving Terminal, >then maybe Fava Lahkdar would fit under hitters? Actually, she'd mainly be a hazard to me. With all the Multi-Dimension around, I don't need Bypass, so a 2/2 that CAN attack the Coral Entity isn't very attractive. > >> Specials (8) >> Jean-Christophe D'Aubainne x2 >> Reek Rend x2 >> Anya Huesco >> Jill Grunder >> Hack-Master >> Yuzhou Chen > >these are all pretty good. > >> Others (8) >> Multi-Dimension x4 >> The Squeeze x4 > >heh. nothing like the old Multi-Dimensional Squeeze. heh. maybe >a few other "criminal" cards like Kidnap, Hostage, and Blackmail >would add some flavor... you probably dont have enough pull for all >the Squeezes. Kidnap, yes. I'll probably add a couple of those. Hostage, no. It's not as useful to me. Blackmail, well, I like it... Personally, I've always been a fan of Multi- Dimensional Reek Rend. "That's a nice Charm Bracelet. May I hold it, please?" > >> Resources (8) >> The Terminal x2 >> Friends in Broken Wings Barrio x2 >> Friends in Arms Barrio x2 >> Crime & Punishment >> The Net's Secret > >hmmm. you need more friends in arms. perhaps 2 more. If I add the C&I crew. Otherwise, I've only got 3 Government characters. > >> I find that I'm better off just putting my blockers in front of my hitters. >> Also, the deck isn't that strong combat-wise, so I just steal whomever I >> need with The Squeeze. I haven't been able to properly test the deck, yet, >> so that's why I'm expecting some big holes in the deck, somewhere... > >well, this is sorta a theme deck, so i am not going to go into number >of cards or card ratios, but it looks pretty good now. just a few >more friends in arms barrio and perhaps replacing someof your pullers >with the C&I group. and get Ajay. :) Thank you for the considerations. I'll probably up the size of the deck, but I'd rather try to build up from 40 than up from, say, 60... I've got a lot to think about here... John Baker [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 22:51:11 -0600 From: "Carl L. Congdon" Subject: [The Edge] Anybody in Pennsylvania? Is there anyone on this list who lives in Allentown, Bethlehem, or Easton, PA? I'd love to game OTE, either as GM or player, but there's a dearth of interest in this area. Help! [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 23:33:04 +0000 From: Perry Lyons Subject: Re: [The Edge] Anybody in Pennsylvania? Carl L. Congdon wrote: > > Is there anyone on this list who lives in Allentown, Bethlehem, or > Easton, PA? I'd love to game OTE, either as GM or player, but there's a > dearth of interest in this area. Help! DAMN. Why couldn't you be in Scranton or Wilkes Barre?! GRAJH! I've got an online game going, but i can't be mr.sadistic gm without playeres BEING there. it just isn't the same! Perry, another poor pensylvanian. (BTW, i did up a small expansion based on a exchange program with where i went to school. if anyone wants, i'll post)) [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 23:42:43 -0400 (EDT) From: Mark Kinney Subject: Re: [The Edge] [The Edge]Response and a weird Question. > >A question to everyone, what's the strangest character concept that > >you've had a player play? > From Ramses Rorschach II (based on Rorschach from the Watchmen) to Steinberg Von Hitler III -- both from the abortive OTE campaign from college, to Bo Overton (a giant Neanderthal-looking guy, IQ of around 60... except for his fringe power, which allowed him bursts of understanding about things as simple as temporal physics.) Nothing *really* out there yet. :-) alberich@iglou.com | Mark Kinney | http://www.iglou.com/nations "I'm the only girl in school who has the Coroner's Office bookmarked as a 'Favorite Place.'" -- Willow, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Jun 1998 00:36:58 -0400 From: "Raymond Becker Jr." Subject: [The Edge] (no subject) Hey what kind of Over the Edge fans do we have in Bloomington IN. Im looking for a game. Way out Atlas guys lets get those nooses out for GenCon this year. Ray(Fanatic Contol Freak)Becker Jr. [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Jun 1998 10:04:12 -0500 (CDT) From: Eric Jome Subject: Re: [The Edge] Speaking of Terminal... On Fri, 26 Jun 1998, John M. Baker wrote: > My main reasons for not using the > C&I crew was because they're low on DP. the point in using them is that they are pullers who only cost 1. then, you can call a real defender to block for them, not rely on their own dp. > My plans were to use Great White with others' attacks. Maybe use Andromeda > to sell Great White's services. Alonzo's in there because he can double as a > blocker and he's Government. i understand how Great White works, but look at her this way; why would you ever attack someone with Great White? because the character that was just attacked was _not_ popped. if it were popped, then you wouldnt need to attack it again. so, if you just attacked it and it wasnt popped, what happened? well, either it escaped (ie. Total Taxi, etc.) or its DP was too large. in the former, Great White is just a second attack, but the second is an important use as well. if you have a character with Surprise attack first, it cant be hurt... then 8 AP GW can walk in. :) > If I add the C&I crew. Otherwise, I've only got 3 Government characters. its for the generic pull, not for government pull. eric [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Jun 1998 18:13:39 -0700 From: Chris Johnson Subject: Re: [The Edge] First Aid for Dying Games [was: Decks, Devices, etc.] Eric Jome wrote: > > On Thu, 25 Jun 1998, Chris Johnson wrote: > > > Every so often I post an ad on r.g.t-c.m.m, looking for OTE collections. > > I usually pay 5 or 10 cents on the dollar (depending on what they have), > > and there are a sizable number of people who have responded wanting to > > sell fairly large collections. The cards are out there; we just have to > > create some interest. > > for those who may not know, last year at Gencon, if you played a demo > game of OnTE you were given a Burger Box (the display that had a little > of every expansion). for free. it was over 900 cards. so, i wouldnt > be at all surprised if you run into people on the net who have cards > they would be pleased to cash in. :/ I have yet to acquire a collection that could have been from a Burger Box...most of the ones I've acquired have consisted mostly of Unlimited and Cut-Ups, with a smattering of Limited, Standard, Shadows, and Arcana. When I say smattering, I mean one or two boosters worth. It seems like a lot of people just burned out after Cut-Ups... Chris [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ End of The Edge Digested V1 #71 ******************************* [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge-digest [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge-digest To get off digest, subscribe the-edge [O] To post a message, send it to the-edge@robin.ml.org