Roleplaying Tips Weekly E-Zine Issue #247

Supervermin! Making Old Hat Critters Fun Again

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SENT BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY With Compliments

From: Johnn Four, http://www.roleplayingtips.com
johnn@roleplayingtips.com

CONTENTS:
--> A Brief Word From Johnn

--> This Week's Tips:

1. Make 'Em Smarter
2. Make 'Em Bigger
3. Make 'Em Stronger
4. Make 'Em Tougher
5. Send More Of 'Em!
6. Make 'Em More Powerful
7. Just Add Wings
8. Give 'Em Immunities
9. The Power Of Strangeness
10. Supervermin Examples

--> Readers' Tips Of The Week:

1. Get Players In The Mood With Poetry
From: Tony Den
2. Get Inspired By Photo Of The Day Web Sites
From: David Dorward
3. Focus On NPC And PC Interaction
From: Neil Faulkner
4. Characters Are Not GM Puppets
From: Ria Kennedy

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A BRIEF WORD FROM JOHNN

D&D Turns 30
------------
This is old news, but D&D's celebrating it's 30 year
anniversary this year. What's notable is all the mainstream
press attention the game is getting. I think back to the
25th anniversary, and there was much less industry fanfare
and barely a mention in the news. I think public exposure,
education, and acceptance is great for our hobby. I also
feel that this milestone and the positive press it's getting
will help many parents make better informed decisions when
deciding about allowing their children to play.

Also, as happened in the 80's and 90's, the latest

resurgence of D&D with the 3.x version is starting to spawn
new games and ideas within the industry. I have no data to
back this up, but I think that a certain percentage of new
gamers brought into the hobby start to look for other
experiences and other rules systems after playing D&D for a
few years. 3.x has been out since 2000, and we're definitely
seeing new RPGs on the market--and not just under the d20
license.

Happy birthday D&D.

The Myste Cryk Campaign turns 4 :)

----------------------------------
We had our 4th session of my Birthright campaign last week.
There's one more session planned for 2004 and then we're
taking a Christmas break. It's so much fun GMing again!

One experiment that has worked successfully is using a desk

at the head of the game table. I have an old, old desk from
my grandfather and I've t-boned it to the table the players
sit at. At first, I thought this might create too much
distance between the players and myself. However, that's not
the case.

The desk is great. It gives me drawers to store stationery

and books, typewriter boards to stack books on during play,
and a huge GMing space free from player meddling. :)

Roleplaying Tips Weekly Turning 250

-----------------------------------
Speaking of milestones, in a few issues this e-zine will hit
#250. I'm thinking of doing some kind of special issue but
haven't come up with a good idea for it. Do you have any
suggestions?

Be sure to get some gaming in this week--be it in person, on

your computer, online, or PBM!

Cheers,

Johnn Four
johnn@roleplayingtips.com

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SUPERVERMIN! MAKING OLD HAT CRITTERS FUN AGAIN

A guest article by Ian Winterbottom

i.winterbottom "at" ntlworld.com

There comes a point in the career of every GM and every PC

where orcs, the standby of the GM since time immemorial,
just aren't enough. Not even when they come mobhanded. They
simply aren't the challenge that once they were. The budding
hero of second or third level actually gets bored as they
fall in rows before his flashing blade, and the GM gets sick
of keeping track of those dozens of one-hit-die monsters
with the THAC0 of 20, queuing up obediently to attack one at
a time!

On the other hand, if the GM throws the real heavy mob at

neophyte PCs, vermin who can't be harmed except by magic,
require silver weapons to hit, or have such powers as level
drain, petrification, paralysis, or poison, he can run out
of players very, very quickly!

Enter the perfect answer to the noble hero: the new,

improved Supervermin! Abounding in forgotten temple and
underground passage, these nasties, beyond the scope of your
normal exterminator, are the new, improved, stronger orc! In
fact, these are the ones the orcs run away from! The blase
players will find themselves once more facing a challenge;
they can no longer afford to take victory for granted, and
vigilance and careful strategy become the order of the day!

What it amounts to is the age-old favourite: surprise. Give

them foes with a twist. Not just more of the same, but
enemies not as easy to kill and capable of doing real
damage. And keep thinking of vermin--not arch-villains--just
souped-up pests. We don't really want to kill the PCs, just
terrify them!

Here are a few ways of doing just that.

1. Make 'Em Smarter

===================
To begin with, try adding intelligence. Make your next
vermin smarter than the average rat:

* Coordinated attacks: flanking, swarming of strategic PC

types, holding and readying actions until the perfect
moment.

* Use of equipment: through years of exploration, plunder,

and theft, your Supervermin will have built up a cache of
useful equipment, such as potions, ropes and chains, books,
storage, apothecary equipment, and so on.

* Traps. Smart vermin will protect their lairs with

flammable liquids in trenches, nets, pits, gravity traps,
and other mean PC surprises.

* Tricks. Many wild animals already employ tricks for self-

preservation or to capture food. What would your PCs do if
they spotted a "wounded" rat limping its way around the far
corner? Probably nothing. They might even suspect a trick.

However, what would the PCs do if that rat seemed to have

"accidentally" caught itself up in a diamond necklace?
You've heard of wandering monsters? How 'bout wandering
treasure!

And, of course, if the PCs pursue they'll be lured into a

nasty trap.

* Attract, contain, and control other creatures. Perhaps

it's not the vermin themselves the PCs should fear in your
campaign, but their pets!

Consider a smart mother rat coordinating breeding stock to

keep a nearby, powerful creature well-fed and content to
stick around.

* Genetics. Haha! Give your vermin no morals and let them

experiment on themselves to produce new species to serve
their purposes. With a high breeding rate, these experiments
could generate positive results in just a few generations.

* If animals in your world can speak, give your Supervermin

the power to communicate with the PCs. Perhaps the creatures
will learn ventriloquism and trick the PCs to journey where
they shouldn't.

Would your players get unnerved if they were forced to

negotiate with rats and bugs? It would be unsettling to have
to make some kind of arrangement with the Larvae Queen
should your Supervermin successfully put the PCs in a tight
spot.

A chieftain, too, is certain to have at least a modicum of

intelligence; enough to plan ambushes, lay traps, use
anything he has to his own best advantage. Gone are the days
of the mass, headlong charge, let alone the days of queuing
up one at a time to be slaughtered! Even a plate-armoured
fighter will be disconcerted to find himself peppered with
arrows from the rear! And that wizard hiding at the back to
be the heavy artillery is going to be surprised, isn't he?
Make them think on their feet.

Battle in confined spaces, or at some other disadvantage.

Think about cliff paths, dizzy heights, swamps, and tunnels.
Imagine the PCs in a fighting retreat where they must decide
whether to give up the protection of that narrow doorway to
face overwhelming numbers.

2. Make 'Em Bigger

==================
Large versions of beasties are often old hat, so try some
real giantism. How about a giant cockroach? Not measured in
inches like the real thing, but in feet? If you've ever seen
roaches move, you'll know they could easily be faster than
humans over short distances, and they're one of nature's
omnivores - they'll eat anything.

What if they were also not phototropic, like moths, but

photo-phobic? Suppose they hate and fear light, and suppose
further that their instinct is to attack instead of running
away? Next session, have your photo-phobic Supervermin
attack the party's light source (and then proceed to eat the
light-bearer, of course). You might wind up with a party who
are awful reluctant to carry a torch!

Imagine a 10' long beetle, a 50' tall rat, or a 1000' long

centipede. These creatures don't need to directly threaten
the PCs in an isolated encounter, either. What effects would
these creatures have on your game world? How would city
dwellers react to an outbreak of carnivorous, 25' moths? Say
goodbye to city nightlife (and say hello to another kind of
nightlife :).

What would a village do if a swarm of 5 foot omnivorous

locusts descended upon them in the middle of the night? Not
only would their crops be destroyed, but livestock, pets,
steeds, roofs, and equipment would be consumed as well.

3. Make 'Em Stronger

====================
There are other ways to increase the threat and bring back
that crawly feeling up the spine. How about stronger
monsters? Think about the fact that not all monsters are the
same. There may be exceptional, even Levelled leaders who
are much harder to kill and have heavy abilities.

Ask yourself, how did these individuals rise to leadership

in the first place? Perhaps they are capable of using magic,
possessing magic, or employing equipment. And if they have
it, they'll use it - not hide the stuff in a lair somewhere
as loot for PCs.

Think about dusts, potions, and other magic items. Imagine

an orc wearing a Belt of Giant Strength. At the very least,
leaders will have better armour and weapons, and they may
have powerful henchmen too. Let that big dumb ogre swap his
club for a nice shiny double-bitted axe that does the damage
of a halberd! Think "Texas Chainsaw Massacre"!

How about some Dust of Invisibility sprinkled liberally over

swarm of scorpions just as they're about to drop down on the
PCs from above?

Increasing vermin size should will probably increase their

physical strength too. Ouch. The PCs might be hard-pressed
to defend themselves against super-strong Supervermin who
Bull's Rush them into pools of acid or over crevasses.
4. Make 'Em Tougher
===================
Someone came up with a beauty not long ago, the Dreadguard.
This is the revenant of a turned or failed Paladin and is
virtually animated plate armour whose terrifying quality is
his Terminator-like invulnerability. All he does is keep on
coming, and coming, and hand out - and take - punishment!

Improve the natural armour of your Supervermin. Ants might

collectively only do a very small amount of damage per round
when swarming a PC (and, due to their size ability to crawl
under and into armour, their chances of hitting are pretty
good), but if they have titanium exoskeletons, they might be
hard to defeat, and so the battle becomes a race for time.

Increase the hit points and wound levels of your

Supervermin. Imagine a primitive tribe of mindless, dung-
eating, mud-slinging orcs. "Ha!" the PCs exclaim. "Let's get
'em, boys." Then imagine their faces when they figure out
it's going to take 100 points of damage to slay each one!

5. Send More Of 'Em!

====================
This idea was spawned by the Gubluns, the miniature stick
figure from S John Ross' SPARKS font of card figures from
the Cumberland Games site.

http://www222.pair.com/sjohn/sparks.htm

With card figures, the sky is the limit. You can have them
coming out of the players' ears! Even the smallest of
creatures can do cumulative damage. Imagine the little
blighters coming at you from all directions, front, rear,
both sides, secret passages, and the roof, employing nets,
ropes, pits, lassos, arrows, and the dreaded Kneecap attack
- it's as high as they can reach! Hanging from your neck and
throttling you, tripping you up unless you can save on
Dexterity, dropping rocks on you. Gods help you if they
stampede you into a dead end! Or cut the vital bridge?

6. Make 'Em More Powerful

=========================
Another way to soup up your Supervermin is to give them just
a little more power. You needn't go mad, just use a
judicious nudge. So, your Munchkin thinks he's invulnerable?
Your PCs might think they have little to fear from what
looks like a wizened, skyblue monkey - until someone notices
the crackling of the frozen ground under its bare feet. It's
an Icetroll, straight from the bowels of the Frozen North,
and with an aura of supernatural cold about it that renders
its touch akin to Paralysis. Heaven help the softhearted
type who tries to pick it up and pet it!

Reverse it, and a power like Heat Metal could be

disconcerting for that plate-armoured Paladin.
Look through your spells, magic items, and equipment lists
for neat, small-scale trait, ability, and power
improvements.

The next time you're thinking about orcs, rats,

grasshoppers, and other vermin, consider how these abilities
could be used to make them more interesting - and scary:

* Grappling hook appendage

* Greek fire
* Create water
* Cure wounds
* Charm animal
* Entangle
* Ray of frost
* True strike
* Haste

7. Just Add Wings

=================
Your average adventurer is geared to expect attack from any
direction except one - above! He's looking down at the
table, he isn't expecting anything dropping on him from
behind!

Creatures that can fly become three-dimensional. They can

attack from any direction and can employ hit-and-run
tactics. One flashing attack, such as a sting or bite, and
they can take out a character, at least temporarily; and
again there's nowhere for that vulnerable wizard to hide!

Even small creatures can have cumulative damage, sucking

blood or the like; while if they are something like the
flying monkeys from Oz, with missile weapons, they go from a
nuisance to a menace in one swift jump. Attacks from the air
by flying creatures, or nets or rocks dropped from above,
might be still more terrifying - they don't have to hit
anyone, so long as the players think they might?

What else could Supervermin drop on the PCs? Boxes of

scorpions? Jars of acid? Green slime? Confetti? :)

A single, larger monster can be as bad or worse than a horde.

Take the solitary wasp, so called because, thank heaven, it
doesn't swarm. However, it's a devoted mother that leaves its
grub in a cave or crevice while it buzzes - literally - off
to find something to eat. Imagine the party finding this
loathsome giant worm, all gnashing teeth and clicking claws,
and wading in full of righteous indignation to clobber it.

Covered in yuk and panting for breath, they are just

congratulating each other and totaling up the XP when there
is a noise like an incoming Apache gunship and Mummy comes
home carrying a cow in each claw! The expression on their
faces should be worth seeing.

Alternatively, think of some other direction for the problem

to arrive from. Perhaps something horrid smashes up through
the floor? Some tunnelling worm or other creature? Or
something materialising through a seemingly solid wall?
Blinking, teleporting, and phasing Supervermin would be
challenging as well.

8. Give 'Em Immunities

======================
Aren't cockroaches supposed to be able to survive a nuclear
winter? Consider giving your Supervermin unexpected
resistances and immunities:

* Magic: all, divine, arcane, elf, alteration, etc.

* Elements: fire, cold, lightning
* Do not require air
* Wound resistance: slashing, bludgeoning, piercing
* Poison, disease

If you do give your critters immunities, consider how they

will have incorporated this into their tactics and lairs.
Perhaps your Supervermin ants fill their lair with poison
gas. It's breathable for them, but woe be to the adventurers
who are charged with finding the anthill and getting rid of
the local pests.

9. The Power Of Strangeness

===========================
Following on from the ideas above, add some other ability.
You can really put the wind up your players by giving them
something they've never met before, and particularly if you
can turn one of their own against them.

Avoiding the physical, try something like my little friend

the Mindsnatcher, which is a kind of octopoid beastie,
resembling a set of rubbery black bagpipes. It thrives on
emotion and released life force, and clinging to the roof or
walls of dimly-lit dungeon corridors with the Shadowhiding
ability of a high level rogue, it possesses the strongest
fighter in the unsuspecting party - perhaps that noble
fighter henchman, or even (shudder) the Paladin, and causes
him to attack his nearest neighbour.

He can be switched off, as it were, only by subdual damage,

i.e. by knocking him unconscious. Best of all, only if
someone mentions that they are looking around do they get
the chance to notice the true author of their misfortune.

A "relative" is the Puppet Master, originally by the late,

great Robert A Heinlein, but my version animates any
reasonably undamaged dead body in its neighbourhood, turning
it into an impromptu Zombie; it could be just an orc, or it
might be a henchman or even a PC. If you let that body out
of your sight, zzzzap!

10. Supervermin Examples

========================
1) Meet the Underlizards. Years ago, an overconfident
sorcerer's apprentice stole a peep at his master's spellbook
while he was away. However, instead of merely enchanting a
broom, this one tried some real magic.

Nobody knows what he was trying to do, and he isn't

available for questioning, short of speak with dead, but his
endeavours included animal growth, some sort of time-
affecting spell, and a chime of hunger. What he got was one
almighty bang and the equivalent of a magical black hole. He
and the whole house disappeared.

Unfortunately, below the floorboards, was a nest of young

lizards, and the spell backlash hit them like radioactive
ooze hitting turtles. Enter the Underlizards, regressed
reptiles, mini-dinosaurs roughly the size of a man. All
carnivorous, always hungry, and as mean and tough as you like
to make them.

Cave or sewer, tunnel or ruin, they're everywhere. They're

silent, patient, and hunt in packs. If you're feeling really
mean, put them in a confined space, such as a tunnel where
the party must walk in single file, perhaps coming in from
both ends. And when the PCs are hip deep in sewage, give the
lizards the ability to swim! And, of course, with a brain
the size of a walnut they don't feel pain and keep on
coming. If in doubt, think Jurassic Park Velociraptor, but
nastier. And if you saw Jurassic Park 2, the damn things can
almost talk! Ambushes, flank attacks, cutting the party
off....

2) Magic chest of Goblin Holding. A goblinoid figure springs

from a chest the PCs have discovered and begins to lay about
it with a battle-axe, hopefully gaining automatic surprise.
As long as the chest is open, goblins keep coming, unless
someone has the presence of mind to shut it. Could be
unfortunate for the nimble-fingered thief.

3) Spinifex Exulana: the psionic rat queen. A humongous,

intelligent female rat has bred a horde of soldiers,
scientists, and other vermin castes. She can communicate
psychically with all her children, and within a certain
radius, can see and hear what any rat is experiencing. She
can also send emotive bursts to any rats within a large
radius, a power that she uses to crudely direct her minions.

With these abilities, she can detect incoming intruders and

ready her lair for their arrival. Via a series of small
tunnels dug out over the years, rat scouts are always
stationed at entry points within her communication radius.
Traps, tricks, and pets have been placed along a single,
non-vermin route into her lair.

She has singled out potions as her primary tool. She uses
her specially bred-rat hunters who can travel long distances
without deviating from their mission to seek out requisite
ingredients. She has made an alliance with an alchemist in
the area who benefits from the steady supply of components
and materials the rats scrounge up. Spinifex has a growing
horde of potions now that includes a wide variety of powers,
including buffs for her guards and herself in case of
trouble.

Her rats also make excellent spies, especially with her

psychic link. Three years ago, she moved to a new lair
underneath a small city. Using potions that reduce her
enormous bulk, she makes regular forays through special
tunnels so she can extend her eavesdropping radius.

She is fast becoming a powerful underworld figure who trades

information in exchange for various services, goods, and
materials. A worthy Supervermin for your campaign, perhaps.

* * *

Finally, remember that familiarity breeds contempt. If the

characters know what they face, then the battle is on their
terms from the beginning. Give them slightly different
enemies, using some of the tricks above, or changing the
appearance or habits of the enemy, to knock them off
balance.

If they are getting good at recognising the enemy,

change the appearance, colour, and behaviour of their
adversaries so that they have no idea what they're facing.

What about a wererat dressed in fine armour and weapons,

leading a mass of "ordinary" giant rats? Perhaps key rats
have been administered potions. Various traps and pitfalls
manned by the Supervermin await the PCs should they flee or
force back the horde. The rats' pets also lie in wait, eager
to be released by their masters: rusts monsters, a basilisk,
and zombies.

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READERS' TIPS OF THE WEEK

1. Get Players In The Mood With Poetry

From: Tony Den
======================================
Hi Johnn,

I find that a good way to set the mood for a specific

section or to give away some history of a place is to read
the players some poetry - and no, I do not inflict my own
verse upon them. :) I have had success with extracts from
Coleridge (Kubla Khan and Ancient Mariner) as well as Poe's
Annabel Lee. I am sure there are many more gems out there
that can be used by a skilful GM. It also gives the average
bard in a tavern something to say/sing rather than "A bard
is present and sings a few ballads."

2. Get Inspired By Photo Of The Day web Sites

From: David Dorward
=============================================
Having just spent the past few hours browsing the National
Geographic website (and wishing I had broadband) I've come
up with a tip for you:

Get inspiration from photo of the day websites.

Stuck for an NPC or an encounter location? A striking visual

can make for good inspiration. Good sources for images are
Photo of the Day sites:

* http://lava.nationalgeographic.com/pod/
* http://photo.shutterline.com/
* http://epod.usra.edu/
* http://www.usefilm.com/browse.php?mode=dailies&section=photograph

And once you have taken your inspiration, you can show the
image to your players. (Oh, and players? It works both ways.
Spin your character history out of a couple of photos.)

3. Focus On NPC And PC Interaction

From: Neil Faulkner via the GMMastery List
=============================================
I've learned the hard way that the one thing the GM should
never do is try and tell a story. Any GM who wants to do
that should put away their dice and pick up a pen to write
a novel. It is the PCs who make the story out of the
setting, characters, and opportunities provided by the GM.
Any 'plot' is what has happened before the PCs arrive, and
what would have happened had they not arrived.

The important thing is not to have an enthralling narrative

prepared, but to have a solid grasp of the NPCs, especially
their goals, their motivations, and the means at their
disposal to achieve their goals. It's the interaction
between PCs and NPCs that creates the story.

If rolegaming is a nightclub, the GM is not the star turn of

the cabaret. He or she is the waiter--of the kind who
serves a perfect cocktail.

4. Characters Are Not GM Puppets

From: Ria Kennedy
================================
Hello Johnn,
(Fab -- spoiler alert - do not read this!)

I had really done a couple of stinkers. I was ready to give

up and then I found your site. I immediately started seeing
where some of my problems were (focusing too much on skin,
and not enough on skeleton) and started getting ideas for
how to fix them.

Yah!

Also, I started having some discussions on how to set up a

campaign, what kind of character to choose for the PC, and
why. I had an idea where the PC was to be a future king, and
be stolen away and sent into slavery as a child by an evil
sorcerer, allowing someone else to take over the throne when
the current king died.

I was surprised when the player said such an idea took away
the character design from him, and that it made him have to
hate the people who enslaved him, when he didn't see the
character that way.

Also, he said, what would make you think I would want to be

king if I had never had the chance to before? And what would
make you think the people would want someone who had no
experience to be king? When put that way, I had to agree, my
idea was a bad one, and not fair to the character or player.
As my player said, his character is NOT a character in a
book, to be a puppet to the GM's whims.

Then, I had seen on the site that someone had tricked their
PCs into releasing a powerful wizard, and thought aha!
That's what I'll do. The player demanded to know what my
idea was (since I have had many bad ones lately) and
thinking about it, I hinted at what would happen. When he
found out it would again be about manipulating the
character, he was upset.

Finally, I told him the idea, thinking then he would have to

see that it wasn't bad. He was even more upset. How would it
be fair to trick a PC into releasing something that
dangerous and powerful with no choice that they could avoid
it? What would prevent the PC from killing the party that
misled him into releasing the powerful wizard, and why
should it be prevented? And, just as importantly, since my
plot would revolve around making the PC release the wizard,
what would happen to my plot if the PC said no? (It would go
out the window, obviously.)

Put that way, I was sincerely frustrated, and horrified that

I had succumbed to the dark side of PC manipulation--unfair
to the player AND the character! As he said, only the NPCs
should be manipulated that way, as that is really the only
character the GM has control over. Let the PCs decide how to
deal with the affected NPC.

We got into a deep discussion of what it would mean if a

character really had NO choice and decided that the PC would
have to be the main character, like Elric (the only one who
could wield Storm Bringer, the Dragon Sword) or King Arthur
(the only one who could pull Excalibur from the stone). It
also came out in this discussion that the player really just
wanted to explore Middle Earth and build up to an epic
(where I had thought he wanted a huge epic ala Lord of the
Rings out the door, putting a lot of pressure on me to
deliver).

Finally, everything in our talk clicked and I had a plan.

Let the character have many adventures. Let him explore the
world and make friends and enemies as he would. Eventually,
involve him in the battle of Helms Deep, along with his NPC
human friend. Have that friend be (unbeknownst to the
character) corrupted, and try to assassinate Aragorn.

It will come down to the character's choice about what to

do, and that one choice will forever effect the future of
Middle Earth. Does he do nothing? Does he side with his long
time friend, someone he has adventured with for many years,
and allow him to kill Aragorn? Middle Earth will fall to
Sauron.

Does he kill his friend and stop him, turning his back on
friendship and living with these consequences? Does he
figure out his friend is under the spell of a ring he found
in a barrow, and redeem him? These are personal choices
that the character will have to live with, and that will
effect him deeply, having travelled with this man for so
long and gone through so much with him.

In addition, the PC will have direct effect on the future of

Middle Earth, which otherwise would not happen--the PC will
condemn or save the world! And there is no GM-PC
manipulation, absolutely none. It will be the character's
choice, however the player thinks the PC would act.

So, for those poor struggling GMs out there who think they
have to do a huge scripted epic, the real thing is to give
the PC a choice that will effect the future of the universe,
and let them make their decision. It may come down to a
series of choices, or one single moment and one critical
choice. But DO NOT hinge your campaign on the PCs doing one
thing in specific or making the choice you want them to--
not fair and not reliable.

You may have to choose one of your players to be the main

hero (ala Elric or King Arthur) or you may assign this role
to the whole PC party (ala Star Wars) where everyone has to
choose to do a specific thing. Just make sure that you
switch the spotlight onto different players if you choose to
feature one as the hero (tragic or otherwise) of your epic.

Also, my husband has an idea for how to do random

encounters: pre-plan them, and drop them in as needed or
wanted. That way, you can attach them to the plot (big plot
or subplot) at will and have NPCs that are directly relevant
to the setting and location.
And finally, we have an idea for those who tend to do
talkies (like me). A roleplaying game should be mostly
action. Don't do more character development scenes than
action scenes. For example, if you do 2 to 3 action scenes,
do not do more than 2 to 3 character development scenes --
and these should talk about what the PCs are planning to do
for the most part or showcase the plot (i.e. these orcs are
kidnapping people; orcs usually kill their captives; what's
going on?) This rule of thumb should keep things happening!

Thanks again for such an excellent work!

_______________________________________________________
*******************************************************

ARS MAGICA RPG 5TH EDITION

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_______________________________________________________
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That's it for this week's issue.

Have more fun at every game!

Johnn Four

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