[Note: This is by no means a recent project. I take the liberty of providing the document because I created part of it - the metric conversion table at the end.] THE OFFICIAL NET.WORLD FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS SHEET Volume 1, Issue 1 1. What is the Net.World Project? The Net.World or networld is based on the concept of free information. The goal is to create a world/setting for fantasy role-playing that can be obtained freely via FTP and thus expand the range of freeware RPG accesories available over the Internet. The networld is a unique, yet easily adaptable fantasy world. To this end, the all of the questions below were answered to provide a set of flexible guidelines for builders, writers, and other artists to work within. 2. How is the project organized? Currently it is being run by a Head Coordinator (Dunkelzahn- Dunkelza@twain.ucs.umass.edu), with the assitance of other coordinators. This structure is likely to change soon, and the next FAQ will update this. Each person involved with the project also chooses a four block area of the world's surface to build. He/she develops a more detailed area map (We may compile an atlas of these later), as well as the culture(s) of the region. Each builder is also put in contact with the builders around him/her. This network is called Clustering. Each building works with their Cluster via private Email (Not on the list) to solve local problems, border disputes, etc.. This process also helps make the building more interactive, and kind of a pseudo-Role Playing experience in itself. If a problem arises that a cluster can not solve on its own (Things like border disputes notwithstanding. These will merely result in wars between the peoples), one of them should post a question to the Mailing List. The coordinator, or whatever organiztion exists at that time, will decide an answer. Finally, each person is asked to put together a packet, consisting of a ZIP file containing all relevant TXT files and any GIF maps you can create. If you cannot create GIF or ZIP files, when you have the data ready for packaging, post a message to the list asking for help. Someone should be able to scan, or redraw your maps into a GIF for you. That person should be able to ZIP it for you as well. 3. What is the world like physically? The networld is a spheroid roughly 37000km (25000mi) in circumference. It has climatic and temperature differences similar to Earth, as well as the same seasons. It has one moon and one sun. Minerals and natural resources can be found on the networld's surface in similar amounts as would be found on Earth. Basically, if in doubt, fall back on the Earth model. A b&w fractal map was generated for use by the networld project. There is also a reference map, complete with a grid system for use in finding surface locations. However, the refernce map is somewhat off of the main map. Persons shoudl try and download both files. They are located on the Altair.Acs.Uci.Edu FTP site in the pub/net.world directory. The filenames are Worldmap.GIF and Worldref.GIF. The map consists only of the region between the Arctic Circle and Antarctic Circle. It is converted from the sphere using linear projection, and as such, there is distortion along the north and south of the map. Bryan Feir was kind enough to do all the geometric crud and has developed a conversion table explaining how large each grid square is according to its location on the map. ************************************************************************ I've added the 'Z' grid line to show how long the south side of the 'Y' grid line is; the area of the 'Z' boxes is the area of the triangles extending the last 250 km south from there to the pole. The length given for the north side is along the line of latitude, which is not actually a 'straight' line (i.e., a great circle). On the equator it is straight, and for the size of one grid box it's fairly close. I hope people find this useful... Grid length of area of grid box line north side (km) (mi) (km^2) (mi^2) A: 156 98 160639 62750 B: 271 170 245581 95930 C: 383 239 327118 127780 D: 489 305 404120 157859 E: 588 367 475520 185750 F: 679 424 540328 211065 G: 760 475 597645 233455 H: 831 520 646677 252608 I: 891 557 686744 268259 J: 938 586 717290 280192 K: 972 608 737893 288239 L: 993 621 748266 292292 M: 1000 625 748266 292292 N: 993 621 737893 288239 O: 972 608 717290 280192 P: 938 586 686744 268259 Q: 891 557 646677 252608 R: 831 520 597645 233455 S: 760 475 540328 211065 T: 679 424 475520 185750 U: 588 367 404120 157859 V: 489 305 327118 127780 W: 383 239 245581 95930 X: 271 170 160639 62750 Y: 156 98 73470 28699 Z: 39 25 4908 1917 *********************************************************************** 4.What game system is the Net.World being built for? None. The networld is trying very hard to avoid any specific role-playing system. The reasons for this are twofold: One, to make it easier to adapt to any given world. Two, to avoid copyright porblems. (Thanks to a Mr. Siembieda, the Game industry has become more close minded.) 5. Since no system is being used, how do you describe the NPCs, Monsters, etc.? We use English. Most GMs can read English, or at least have it translated. If you absolutely MUST give a technical description of someone (It isn't encouraged), please use the following format: NAME: PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: MENTAL DESCRIPTION: SOCIAL DESCRIPTION: MAJOR SKILLS: Skills should be rated using the following hierarchy of talent levels: Very Poor, Poor, Fair, Average, Above Average, Good, Very Good, Excellent, Exceptional. Please note that VERY, VERY FEW persons in the networld will have above a Very Good rating in a skill. For most persons this will be their trade, i.e.-Blacksmithing, Tanning, etc.. Even fewer will have more than one skill above that level. Almost NO ONE, except ancient practitioners, or incredibly reknowned persons will have an Exceptional rating in anything. One thing that should also be noted is that 95% of the population of the networld is normal people. Most of them will be skilled in only one craft. Only roughly one in twenty (1/20) persons will ever rise above the normal level of the populace to become recognizable as an adventurer. Only roughly one in ten of those will rise higher than a beginner in such fields. Only roughly one in ten of those will reach a noticable notoriety in the community, and so on. If we put it in terms of levels (For lack of a better scale), out of a city of 5000 adults, there might be 250 persons who could be called 1st level. Out of those 250, only 25 could be called 2nd level. Out of those, only two persons would be 3rd. Of course this seems like very few, but it concerns only the peasantry. Mercenaries, Noble Warriors, Trained Priests, etc. would have a much higher rate of ascension. Perhaps they would rise at a rate of 1/5, 1/5, etc.. This does limit the number of adventurers, and persons of note in a game system sense quite heavily. However, it forces people to look at the other uses of an individual, rather than how hard they are to kill. 6. What races are allowed? Any type of race can be developed by the builder. However, the less humanoid the race, the more the builder will have to limit their exposure to the rest of the world. The traditional races are all accepted for building terms, and it has been agreed that they are all just different ethnic stocks of humanity, therefore able to interbreed etc.. When you build an area, please keep in mind how humans are likely to react to you race if it is not one of the more commmon ones. 7. What Gods are worshipped on the networld? This is the domain of the individual builder. If you{ desire a global pantheon, it is suggeted that you design for your area a system of very open-ended deities, which could easily be confused with many other deities. Then, you can have your preists going aroudn the world, telling people that they are actually worshipping a representation of such-and- such deity, and so on. This leaves open the artist license of other builders, while letting you feel comfortable that everyone on the world, or at least all the "civilized" peoples are indeed worshipping the same gods. 8. How does magic work on the networld? Since we have no set game system for use in the networld, magic can work just about any way you want it to. It should on the average be low-powered, so as to not have one half of the world crawling with super sorcerors and the other half with tribal witch-doctors. However, the specifics of where magic comes from, where clerical powers come from, etc. are all up to you the builder. 9. What should I do with my questions? Send them to dunkelza@twain.ucs.umass.edu. He will try to answer them as best he can. This FAQ is a product of such questions, so keep them coming. 10. How do I get involved? First of all, get a copy of both maps. Look them over and decide what area you would like best. Then send this information, in the form of grid coordinates, to Mikef@pharlap.com. He will process your request. If someone else already is building there, he will let you know, and possibly suggest an alternate site. Mail a message to listserv@wizards.com with no subject. In the body of the text, put subscribe networld-l [your name]. Then, within a week or two, you will be assigned to a cluster, with whom you should remain in contact through private email. Once you have your area, you can begin building a rich, and detailed culture, complete with religion, history (or their interpretation of it), maps, people, etc. 11. What is the mailing list for? The mailing list is for distributing information to the various persons involved in the project. If you do not have something important to say, or would just like to argue about hwo you would like things to be, please don't post to the list. If you have a valid suggestion, question, or comment, please feel free to post it. However, the mailing list is constantly being spammed by people who really aren't saying anything new, but would like to make themselves heard. If you have a complaint, mail the coordinator. If you are representing a group of people, please circulate the message through the group first, with each person signing their name or tagline to it, before you send it to the coordinator. All measurements used in TXT files for submission should either: 1) Be entirely in metric; or: 2) Be in metric with english conversions. Please follow this same format when you post on the list. If people obey these simple guidelines on use of the mailing list and for submission of complaints, it will speed up the work and increase the efficiency of the project. Thank you. Dunkelzahn P.S.-Here is a series of metric conversions that you may find useful. ************************************************************************ First some quick and dirty conversions, usable for most roleplaying situations. They are about 10 percent off in various directions, but work quite well for spell or missile ranges and most items or rooms. I would not use them for persons...it IS different wether your opponent is 1.80 metres or 2.0 metres. BTW, I'm using british spelling for the units. 1 ft ~ 30 cm 1 yard = 3 ft ~ 1 m 1 mile ~ 1.5 km 1 nautical mile ~ 2 km 1 lb (british) ~ 1lb (metric, officially out of use) = 500 g = 0.5 kg 1 pint ~ 0.5 litres 1 quart = 2 pints ~ 1 litre 1 gallon(british) ~ 5 litres 1 gallon (US) ~ 3.5 litres Now the more exact tables: Linear Measure: =============== British Metric ------------------------------------------ 1 inch 2.54 cm 12 inches = 1 foot 30.48 cm 3 feet = 1 yard 91.44 cm 22 yards = 1 chain 20.12 m 10 chains = 1 furlong 201.2 m 8 furlongs = 1 mile 1.609 km Metric British ---------------------------------------------- 1 mm 0.03937 inch 10 mm = 1 cm 0.3937 inch 10 cm = 1 dm 3.937 inch 10 dm = 1 m 3.2808 feet 10 m = 1 dam 10.94 yards 10 dam = 1 hm 109.4 yards 10 hm = 1 km 0.6214 miles Non-Standard: 1 nautical mile = 6076.12 ft = 1852 m Names and abbreviations of metric units: Millimetre mm Centimetre cm Decimetre dm (seldom used) Metre m Dekametre dam (very seldom used) Hectometre hm (seldom used) Kilometre km As decimetre, dekametre and hectometre are rarely used in public life, the following factors may be of value: 1 m = 100cm 1 km = 1000 m Volume: ======= As there are considerable differences between british and US systems for capacity and volume I will restrict this to the most important units. British Metric ------------------------------------------------------ 1 fluid ounce 28.41 cm^3 10 fluid ounces 1 (british) pint 568.3 cm^3 2 pints 1 quart 1.137 dm^3 (l) 4 quarts 1 (british) gallon 4.546 dm^3 (l) US Metric ------------------------------------------------------ 1 fluid ounce 29.6 cm^3 16 fluid ounces 1 (US) pint 473.2 cm^3 8 pints 1 (US) gallon) 3.7853 dm^3 (l) Please note that 1 cubic decimeter (dm^3) equals 1000 cubic centimeters (cm^3) equals 1 litre (l) (except in britain, where they still use 1 l = 1.00028 dm^3 (don't ask me why!)(probably because they never liked the simplicity of the metric system)). Also note that cm^3 based units are most often used for volume, while litre based units are usually used for capacity. Metric British ------------------------------------------------ 1 cm^3 1 ml 0.00176 pints 10 cm^3 1 cl 0.0176 pints 100 cm^3 1 dl 0.176 pints 1000 cm^3 1 dm^3 1 l 1.76 pints 10 dm^3 1 dal 2.20 gallons 100 dm^3 1 hl 22.0 gallons 1000 dm^3 1 m^3 1 kl 220.0 gallons Names and abbreviations of metric units: Cubic centimetre cm^3 Cubic decimetre dm^3 (equals litre) Cubic metre m^3 Millilitre ml Centilitre cl Decilitre dl litre l (used nearly exclusivly in common live) Decalitre dal Hectolitre hl (used occasionally in trade) Kilolitre kl Weights: ======== British Metric ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 grain 64.8 mg 1 dram 1.773 g 16 drams 1 ounce 28.35 g 16 ounces 1 pound 453.6 g 14 pounds 1 stone 6.350 kg 2 stones 1 quarter 12.7 kg 4 quarters 1 (long) hundredweight 50.8 kg 20 (long) hundredweights 1 (long) ton 1.016 t 100 pounds 1 (short) hundredweight 45.36 kg 20 (short) hundredweight 1 (short) ton 907.2 kg Metric British ------------------------------------------------ 1 mg 0.01543 grain 10 mg 1 cg 0.1543 grain 10 cg 1 dg 1.543 grain 10 dg 1 g 15.43 grain 10 g 1 dag 0.3527 ounces 10 dag 1 hg 3.527 ounces 10 hg 1 kg 2.20362 pound 1000 kg 1 (metric) ton 2204.62 pound Names and abbreviations of metric units: Milligram mg (used in scientific language) Centigram cg (not used) Decigram dg (not used) Gram g (Used widely) Dekagram dag (Used in pharmaceutics only) Hectogram hg (not used) Kilogram kg (Used widely) (metric) Ton t (used widely) ********************************************************************* Thanks for the table Stephan.