RE: [DL] Dealing With Wind

["Matthew DeForrest" <mmdeforrest@worldnet.att.net>]

-----Original Message-----
I hate to have to keep using my old Chill campaign as
an example but there are reasons we abandoned it and
I'm trying to avoid similar mistakes.
--------------------------

Ah, Chill.  I still have my old copy on my shelf and pull it down from time
to time for an idea or two.

Anyway, onto the question.

--------------------------
So my question is, how do you other Marhsal's deal
with preventing your climaxes from being anti-climatic
by having some supposedly powerful creature droping
unconcious with 1 or 2 shots.
---------------------------

Make sure that your creatures are smart when they should be.  To start with
an old D&D standard, Kobolds are little more than cannon fodder for all but
the weakest of characters in a stand-up fight.  Kobolds are not, however,
supposed to do that.  They were supposed to be guerrilla fighters --
ambushes, booby-traps, and hit-and-run tactics.

Make sure you play the Deadlands villains in similar ways.  Have the
villains lure the posse onto ground of their choosing.  Play the major
villain like your own character, in terms of thinking through a series of
options beforehand.  When my posse ran up against the Butcher, he stalked
them from the rooftops of Dodge City rather than on the ground, where they
were hunting them, and hit them when they came into a dark alley.

Throw an easy stand-up fight in often enough to make them feel OK but be
crafty.  If your baddie is out taking enough hits to put him down, don't let
him out in the open.  Have him work behind cover or toss out some henchmen
to take the hits.

Also, keep them scared with special effects.  A weapon that does as much
damage as a Peacemaker but fires shards of hardened eldritch energy will
make them more worried than ten bandits with peacemakers.

Hope this helps.

Matt