Roleplaying Tips Weekly E-Zine Issue #11 _______________________________________________________ ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ SENT BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY With Compliments From: Johnn Four, http://www.roleplayingtips.com mailto:johnn@roleplayingtips.com CONTENTS: --> A Brief Word From Johnn --> Top 5 Ways To More Compelling Encounters --> Privacy Policy, Sub/Unsub & Contact Information --> Feel free to forward this issue to a friend who would --> enjoy it and find the information useful. Just hit your --> Forward button. Thanks! _______________________________________________________ ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ A Brief Word From Johnn I'm pleased to announce that archives of Roleplaying Tips Weekly have been added to the RoleplayingTips.com web site. http://www.roleplayingtips.com/archives.html Also, I have posted two sample campaign newsletters from my personal campaign, as promised in Issue #8. They contain a lot of information that will just make sense to my players and myself, but they will hopefully give you great ideas for your own newsletter. You can find them at: http://www.roleplayingtips.com/newsexamples.html _______________________________________________________ ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ TOP 5 WAYS TO MORE COMPELLING ENCOUNTERS I believe encounters (some roleplayers also call them "scenes") are the workhorses of roleplaying. Campaigns are simply the sum total of all the individual encounters that you plan for and play out. So, the theory is, if you make every encounter an exciting, memorable event, you will have a stellar campaign. Here are several ways to tweak encounters for maximum tension and enjoyment. Feel free to print this list out and keep it with your gaming notes for inspiration during sessions. 1. Choose a compelling location. Encounters become boring if they all take place on wide city streets, in the middle of a plain or in 10 foot wide corridors. For example, place the scene on the edge of a cliff, in a beautiful garden, on a rickety bridge, beside a raging river... 2. Mix-up the weather a bit. Is it always bright and sunny? Change the weather every so often to: very cold, extremely hot, windy, foggy, hailing, or a fine scotch mist. How does the weather assist or impede the characters' actions? Also under the weather category can be placed such things as rainbows, northern lights and ball lightning! 3. Alter the lighting: dusk, dark, too bright, glowing red, strobing colours. While different lighting can affect game mechanics and character actions, it can also be used subtly to just make the encounter memorable for your players. 4. Change the footing. Just like lighting, you can change the ground so that it helps or hinders the party, and you can use it to help make the encounter stick in your players' minds for a long time to come: loose gravel, muddy, sandy, puddles, deep moss, pot holes, slime... 5. Put the reward on the end of a stick. It's fun hiding treasure to make it tough and exciting for the characters to find it. But try putting the reward or treasure in plain site on occasion to provide extra and immediate character motivation. For example, hang the treasure from the ceiling well out of arm's reach, put it at the bottom of a clear pool, have the foe wear it or use it, put writing on the wall for all to see "Here Be Treasure". Then put something in between the characters and their displayed reward and watch the fur fly. Bonus Tip: 6. Put more than one challenge, foe or conflict into the encounter and hit the party from all sides. Panic is a result of feeling overwhelmed. Allowing the players to focus on just one challenge at a time will not overwhelm them, so add additional simultaneous challenges to help create panic: * multiple foes (i.e. another foe drawn in by the sounds of battle) * impending doom (i.e. the ceiling's slowly dropping) * impending calamity (i.e. she's tied to a log that's headed straight for the screaming saw blade) * cut-off the party's escape * add a time limit (i.e. return before sundown or...) * add bad weather, bad footing and bad lighting! What other ways can you think of to spruce up encounters to make them memorable and exciting? Please send me your ideas: mailto:feedback@roleplayingtips.com?subject=Exciting%20Encounters Have more fun at every game! Johnn Four _______________________________________________________ ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ MY PRIVACY POLICY & HOW TO SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE _______________________________________________________ ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ "Roleplaying Tips Weekly" is provided to you free of charge by RoleplayingTips.com. It is sent only to those who have specifically requested to receive it. My subscriber list has never been and never will be available to any third party. EVER! Your privacy is very important to me, therefore it receives the respect it deserves. SUBSCRIBE TO "ROLEPLAYING TIPS WEEKLY" mailto:subscribe@roleplayingtips.com?subject=subscribe%20tips UNSUBSCRIBE FROM "ROLEPLAYING TIPS WEEKLY" mailto:unsubscribe@roleplayingtips.com?subject=unsubscribe%20tips SUBMISSIONS Submissions & Articles may be sent to: mailto:submissions@roleplayingtips.com FEEDBACK Feedback of all kinds is welcome! mailto:feedback@roleplayingtips.com?subject=Issue%2011 Copyright İ 2000, Johnn Four, RoleplayingTips.com. All Rights Reserved. email: mailto:johnn@roleplayingtips.com web site: http://www.roleplayingtips.com