When looking for an Orc substitute in a campaign, one should think about just a violent ethnic group of people. Huns, Goths, Visigoths, Franks, and Mongols, have all the same campaign effect of Orcs and other “monster races” that fight in large groups/ hordes. And it has the added bonus of people not being able take the moral high ground when they kill an intelligent being… because it is a people… not just a worthless Orc.

These specially made candles are favorites of wives, lovers, and mothers who see their loved ones off to battle or to trade in far away lands.

To wield such a weapon is to ensure long life and enough luck to have it.

The toxic lands of the Wastes should support no life. Here the land is slowly corrosive to the touch, causing illness with prolonged contact. The bubbling sulfur and ectomass pools are especially lovely, if you have the right aesthetic. The soil is soft and any heavy object slowly sinks. Other than a few migrant birds and some exotic small insects, The Wastes support only one native lifeform - The Verners - Exerpt from the often wrong but very popular Kalemandi's Beasts of Lore and World.

The Shield District is the old Orcen Mercenary Quarter. It is called the Shield District because Orcen always carried their shields. In terms of buildings, it looks the same as the rest of the town, perhaps a bit more run down. The signs are both in Orcen and the Local tongue. The only differences are The Pits.

The Dancing Lights of the Ice Wind are one of the great dangerous in the Land of Snow and Ice.

These are minor things that can be dropped in anywhere to add "narrative flavor", to make it more than just another road, field, forest or beach.

'It is a door, a stout wooden door with its frame, just standing there in the middle of the field. Why would someone put it there? And the important question, does it actually open to anything?'

Journal of Thomas Mccannon.

In the words of the Great Bard Taslinus Excellencus . . . yet on entering The Embassy one is conscious of calm and complete beauty echoing the mood of majesty and peace that is the essential quality of The Valley and Greater Elven Kingdom. . . . against a background of forest and precipice the architect has nestled the great structure of granite, scaling his design with sky and space and stone. To the interior all ornamentation has been confined, and therein lies a miracle of color and design. The Ancient Elven motifs, primitive yet timeless, are supreme . . . . The designs are stylized with tasteful sophistication; decidedly Ancient Elven, yet decidedly more than Elf, they epitomize the involved and intricate symbolism of Man . . .

Game environments are not built with a ruler and some tape, they are built with imagination and an understanding of what is needed to make the game environment. If you take the time to learn about what you will need to do before you being the process, it will make for better results in less time with less work.

It is a box of fairly standard children's toys. There are dolls, blocks, carved knights and animals. Everyone will think, 'Oh I had one of those when I was young.'

Every culture has a different idea of what constitute's breakfast. Even regions inside the same culture can vary quite a bit (like grits with hot sauce in Texas or Fishcake mix in omelets in New Hampshire). What do they consider 'food' first thing in the morning in your space?

The Black Ones are a paranoid's nightmare. They can take over any single body, or be hiding nearly anywhere. They can see as well in the dark as the light. They can hear nearly any sound, like the faintest heartbeat 10 paces away. They are totally alien, with motivations and drives that are nearly incomprehensable to humans. And the worst part is, they are here and you don't know it.

-Heroes scatter under barrage of grey energy spheres-
"You know kids, you didn't mind when Captain Liberty took you down. He did it with honor, with respect, and followed the rules. Not you kids today. For you, it is all about The Power. Just as soon shoot you as take you in. And really young lady, would your mother approve of that costume? Not that the rest of you dress much better. What standard are you idiots setting for the young kids of today?"
-thwack-
"Get up. Don't you have any pride? A novice should have been able to avoid that attack. You have a total lack of grit. Don't lie there and moan. Get up. And that surprise maneuver you two are attempting. I have to tell you, not so much of a surprise. Now, stop standing there wide eyes and slack jawed. Do something. "

"You are heroes for Gods sake. Start acting like it."

The Vicean Deity is a mysterious Deity. Some say it is the primal god - the universal spark- that created all the other dieties and the rest of the universe. Some say that it is the God within all of us. The Vicean Deity is The Sun. The Vicean Deity is not simple. There is no 'personaification' of the Vicean Deity. Is it confusing to most people, but it seems to work.

Great drama is at the core of the Gaming Experience. The character's can't be fighting the destruction of the world every session (though that can be fun), but there is great fulfilment in the climatic scenes of a campaign or long term adventure. Every climax is not seen in terms of violence (though it is very common). The personal stories of PC's and NPC's should also have meaningful expression in adventure climaxes. Yet all Climaxes in a campaign have similarities.

Did you, like me, sit in the cinema thinking 'Now this is what I want to achieve for my campaign climax'? Did you sit around afterwords trying to figure out how? Well I did, and here it is.

'Look at the woods. There must be dozens of giant spiders here! We are so in trouble. '

This is a great article posted on another site (who reposted it from another site, who took it from another), but I thought many would enjoy it here. It is The Lazy Man's Guide for Constructing a Call of the Cthulhu Adventure, written by Sandy Petersen, original author of the Call of Cthulhu.

The Nine Coyns are Items of Destiny. Created long ago as tools of resolution, echos of the primal set have been found in other realms... places that need resolution of great threats to the Way.

The lines are drawn.

The final coyn is tossed.

Let the great karmic conflict BEGIN!