TEXT: Instant GM II:
  On Your Mark, Get Set, GM!
  Instant GM II:
  On Your Mark, Get Set, GM!
  Ramsey “Tome Wyrm” Lundock
  Ramsey “Tome Wyrm” Lundock
  
  Instant GM II:
  On Your Mark, Get Set, GM!
  Ramsey “Tome Wyrm” Lundock
  Playtesters:  Margaret S. Lundock
  Copyright 2007 ©ComStar Media, LLC
  SKU: CSRTW006
  This ComStar Games product is copyright 2006 
  to ComStar Media, LLC. Only the portions of this 
  work that contains Open Game Content may be 
  reproduced in compliance with the Open Game 
  License. For identification of what is designated Open 
  Game Content, please refer to the Legal Information 
  section at the back of the book. The full text of the 
  Open Gaming License can be found in the Legal 
  Information at the back of this book. Other than the 
  Open Game Content, all other work is protected by 
  copyright and may not be reproduced in any form 
  without the written permission of ComStar Media, 
  LLC.
  The ComStar Games logo was designed by Jack 
  Reynolds and is a trademark of ComStar Media, 
  LLC.
  Contents
  Foreword ..................................... 3
  Introduction ................................ 3
  Adventure Hooks ........................ 4
   Advanced Adventure Hooks ..................8
  Stock Characters, Continued ............... 12
  Three more Rakugo Props ................... 18
  Book:   .......................................................18
  Card...........................................................19
  Glasses ......................................................20
  Tips Tricks & Rants ............................... 20
  Improvise Ahead of Time ........................20
  Dramatic Pace  .........................................21
  Roles of NPC .............................................21
  The Importance of Research ...................23
  Don’t Face the Players on their Home Turf 
   
    ..................................................................25
  The Perils of Over Research:  A Personal 
  Warning ....................................................25
  A Final Word:  This is Not the Zen of the 
  Game Master ....................................... 25
  Appendix: Quick Reference Tables  
    ..................................................... 27
  Table 3 - Stock Character Quick 
  Reference .................................... 28
  Table 4 - Stock Character From 
  Instant GM 1 ................................ 29
  
  Instant GM II: On Your Mark, Get Set, GM!
  3
  Foreword
  They say sometimes you are the worst judge of 
  your own work.  That has certainly been the case 
  with Instant GM.   I used to be involved in some 
  of the Coordinated Play Role Playing Campaigns, 
  where you can bring your own character and play at 
  various conventions throughout the year.  I won’t tell 
  you which campaigns, but when I started, there were 
  only two.  For a change of pace, I ran light-hearted 
  action adventure games with little to no fore planning. 
  As I moved away from Coordinated Campaigns, I 
  continued running my “Pot Luck” games to earn free 
  admission to the local conventions.
  I knew that I didn’t run games the same way as 
  most GMs, but I just assumed that I had a quirky 
  style.  I never would have written the Instant GM:  A 
  Bag of Tricks if my friends at SunQuest Games hadn’t 
  pestered me over a couple of years.
  Even then, when Comstar Media put out the call 
  for, “short game products,” and I sent in Instant GM, 
  I didn’t think that it was much more than a novelty to 
  supplement the main line.  I certainly didn’t realize it 
  was going to be my first best seller!
  It is only now as I write this, that I realize what I 
  had over looked.  I have a unique style of GMing, but 
  every GM I have ever gamed under had a unique style 
  of GMing.  And I learned from everyone of them.  Even 
  the ones who’s styles I disliked, I learned to consider 
  the players’ point of view when running a game.
  So no matter what your style:  if you are a hard 
  core Strategy Gamer, who has memorized the entire 
  Weapons Table; a World Builder who has a notebook 
  full of interesting locations you hope to share with 
  your players some day; a Competitive GM out to 
  prove that you can run a published adventure better 
  than anyone else; or a First Time GM who is more 
  worried about not embarrassing yourself, than about 
  discovering your style; I hope you can learn from the 
  Instant GM.  That’s only fair, I learned from you.
  Introduction
  This book contains four sections.  The first section 
  is Adventure Hooks.  The Instant GM:  A Bag of 
  Tricks, dealt with Plot Seeds.  In this book we deal with 
  Adventure Hooks to help you bring the characters 
  into the plot.  The second section is Stock Characters, 
  Continued.  It picks up where the first Instant GM left 
  off.  Detailing new characters to use when improvising, 
  including some more exotic ones.  The third section is 
  three more Rakugo Props for use in your game.  Again 
  this section is too short, the only consolation I can 
  give is that every adventure is different, and Rakugo 
  Props are always improvised.  Once you start to use 
  Rakugo Props, you’ll see new ways of using them in 
  every game.  The forth section is a collection of Tips 
  & Tricks and Rants, which don’t fit well into any of 
  the other sections.  There is an appendix of quick 
  reference tables at the back of the book.
  
  Ramsey “Tome Wyrm” Lundock
  4
  Adventure Hooks
  The first Instant GM book detailed how to use Plot 
  Seeds to help you improvise when the party wanders 
  away from the written scenario.  But unless you can 
  motivate the players and their characters to become 
  involved in the adventure in the first place, nothing 
  interesting is going to happen.  An otherwise good 
  adventure can be ruined if you have to contrive an 
  unrealistic way to force the party into the scenario.
  Adventure hooks are ways to “bait” the characters 
  so that you can drag them into the plot.  Adventure 
  hooks are useful when planning ahead, but they are 
  also useful for the Instant GM.  If the players don’t bite 
  on the first adventure hook, dangle another in front of 
  them, until you find one that they can’t resist.
  The first adventure is particularly difficult, because 
  you must not only justify the group getting involved 
  in the adventure, you have to give each member a 
  reason to work with the other characters.  Both uses 
  of Adventure Hooks are discussed below.  Some 
  Adventure Hooks work better for first adventures 
  than others.
  Anything for a Lady:  One or more of the characters 
  has a weakness for attractive members of the opposite 
  sex.  He is willing to promise almost anything to 
  impress them, no matter how impossible.  And he has 
  a habit of dragging his adventuring companions along 
  when he tries to back up his big talk.
  This is a realistic adventure hook in any setting, 
  men have always and will always push themselves 
  beyond their limits to show off in front of women. 
  (This doesn’t have to be men impressing women, 
  adolescent girls have shocking determination when 
  trying to attract a boy’s attention.)  However, this 
  adventure hook can run into some difficulty in role 
  playing games.  The basis of ‘Anything for a Lady’ is 
  that some ideas only make sense when your brain is 
  soaked in hormones.  Since the players haven’t had 
  their brain chemistry manipulated, they are still fully 
  alert and will realize when their characters are being 
  asked to do something dangerous in exchange for an 
  implied promise, which probably isn’t true.  Some 
  players will enjoy this plot hook specifically for the 
  irony.
  This adventure hook can be freely overused, 
  because unlike “Help Wanted” and “You’re Sitting in 
  a Tavern When...”, this one is actually funny.  In fact 
  the more times one of the characters drags the group 
  off on a hair-brained adventure on behalf of a pretty 
  woman who turns out to already have a boyfriend, the 
  funnier it is the next time he falls it.  (“I’m telling you, 
  this time its true love.”) 
  Arrested/Kidnapped:  The adventure starts after 
  each of the characters has been arrested (hopefully on 
  a misunderstanding) or kidnapped.  The first thing the 
  player hear is that their characters are being dragged 
  along in chains, or they wake up in the examination 
  room of an alien space craft.   This opening brings the 
  group together quickly and gives them a common goal. 
  This way of starting an adventure annoys the players 
  because you tell them about something bad happening 
  to their characters but don’t let them a chance to do 
  anything about it.  It is best used sparingly.
  A slight variant is to put the characters in situation 
  where their only options are to go quietly or get beaten 
  into going.  This can be even more frustrating to the 
  players than starting after the fact.
  Blackmail:  Rather than offering the characters 
  a reward for undertaking an adventure, you can 
  threaten to punish them if they don’t succeed. 
  Blackmail can take many different forms: taking their 
  families hostage, threatening to send compromising 
  letters written by the character to the newspapers, or 
  ‘accidentally’ deleting their bank accounts.
  Truly heavy handed forms of Blackmail include 
  implanted 
  bombs, 
  electro-shock 
  collars 
  and 
  reoccurring nightmares.  If the party turned a deaf ear 
  to the poor peasants begging them to retrieve water 
  from the Healing Well to save them from the plague, 
  infect the characters.
  Curses which can not be lifted without exotic 
  materials and extensive travel are another example. 
  How many adventures spawned from the Knights 
  of the Round table search for the Holy Grail to cure 
  Author?  
  Remember there is always the possibility that 
  the characters will fail.  Don’t blackmail them with 
  something that will disrupt the rest of the campaign 
  if they screw up. 
  Players and Characters hate having their strings 
  jerked, so Blackmail should not be overused.  But 
  occasionally it can make a nice change of pace. 
  
  Instant GM II: On Your Mark, Get Set, GM!
  5
  (Especially if they get a chance to give the blackmailer 
  payback.  See the Revenge adventure hook.)
  Blackmail Variant:  The Prophecy:  The Prophecy 
  is a variant of Blackmail that doesn’t make the 
  character’s feel as powerless.  In this adventure hook a 
  gypsy, priest, oracle, etc. makes a dire prediction about 
  the characters, or the characters loved ones.  But the 
  future is always uncertain.  If the characters are willing 
  to undertake a mission that challenges destiny itself, 
  they might be able to avert the tragedy.
  If the adventures fail to accomplish their goals, the 
  fallout of a Prophecy is easier for the players to accept 
  than the outcome of Blackmail.  Sometimes you can’t 
  cheat fate.   
  Help Wanted:  Starting the adventure with a job 
  offer is a very successful way of drawing the characters 
  into a plot.  It draws the party together without putting 
  them under any duress.  Players will usually talk 
  themselves into taking the job, even it if is a stretch 
  to think that character would actually do that kind of 
  work.
  Hiring the characters means that they are in the 
  adventure for the money.  If this approach is overused 
  the mercenary mentality will creep into the entire 
  campaign.  This is fine if it is part of your plan for the 
  campaign.  If it is not part of the plan, it can turn an 
  honorable party into money grubbing scumbags.
  Missed the Left turn at Albuquerque:  Each 
  character fell down a pit trap, had a detour force them 
  off the high way, stepped on the wrong teleporter pad, 
  woke up in an unfamiliar place after a night on the 
  town, or got on a mysterious carnival ride.  One way 
  or the other, characters don’t have a clue where they 
  are or how to get back.  This opening easily brings 
  vastly difference characters together.  They might not 
  even be from the same reality.
  This is less linear than the Shipwreck (see below) 
  because it gives the characters a chance to explore, 
  rather than just go where the boat takes them.  Giving 
  the players more freedom is always appreciated, 
  but you run into the problem of what to do if the 
  characters decide not to work together or follow the 
  plot you’ve laid out.  In these situations, you have to 
  improvise, try either introducing a helpful non-player 
  character to spell out what they have to do in order 
  to go home or unleashing some kind of “Beast from 
  between worlds” to encourage them to move on.
  Organizational Ties:  The PCs are all members of 
  the same organization, be it a government intelligence 
  agency, a rebel alliance, or a high school class.  They 
  will be inclined to set off on the adventure because it is 
  in the best interest of the group to do so.  If stubborn 
  characters/players refuse to put themselves on the 
  line for the common good, you can have an authority 
  figure in the organization order them to go with the 
  rest of the party.
  A cross between Organizational Ties and Arrested 
  is to have the characters drafted.  This explains why 
  such a diverse lot joined the same organization:  they 
  didn’t have a choice and the organization wasn’t being 
  very picky at the time.  It doesn’t put the characters 
  under quite as much distress as the Arrested hook.
  Organizational Ties Variant:  Favor for a Friend: 
  The Organization doesn’t have to be a formal group. 
  The characters are asked to do the job by a non-player 
  character whom they know.  He may offer payment, 
  but it will be minimal.  Basically they are taking the 
  job, either to repay the NPC, or put him in their debt. 
  This works best when you can contrive a way that all 
  of the characters know the same royal court official, 
  FBI agent or space-freighter captain.
  Revenge:  This time, its personal.  Revenge is a 
  useful technique to if you know the characters well 
  enough to know the friends and enemies that they 
  have made over the years. 
  Given the amount of tragedy that most groups 
  witness over the course of a campaign, it shouldn’t be 
  hard to think of someone that they’d like to kill off. 
  Normally the group eliminates people who anger them, 
  but if a previous villain’s right hand man escaped, you 
  can use him as the leader of the next group you intend 
  the characters to fight. 
  Keep track of the incidental non-player characters 
  that the group liked dealing with.  Hurting or killing 
  them gives the party personal reason to become 
  involved in the adventure.  If the party hears on the 
  evening news that the truck driver who honestly 
  thinks he’s Elvis (living incognito to avoid his fans) 
  from a couple adventures ago has been beaten and 
  had his truck stolen, the characters won’t rest until the 
  carjackers and their entire smuggling ring are doing 
  the Jailhouse Rock.
  
  Ramsey “Tome Wyrm” Lundock
  6
  In addition to characters from previous adventures, 
  you can use characters from the player character back 
  stories.  This is harder to pull off because the player 
  always knows those “pre-game” characters better than 
  you do.  If you do use a friend or enemy out of the 
  character’s past, you can expect an intense reaction 
  from the character.  Make it clear to the player that 
  you are doing your best, and you expect the player to 
  compromise with you on the character’s quirks and 
  personality.  
  Revenge Variant:  A Ghost from the Past:  The 
  player characters aren’t the only ones interested in 
  revenge.  Most groups leave a trail of bodies where ever 
  they go.  It is possible that friends, students, siblings, 
  or lovers of one of the people the party has killed will 
  seak vengeance.  In this case, the party doesn’t find the 
  adventure, it comes to them.
  A Ghost from the Past puts the characters in the 
  awkward position that someone they don’t even know 
  is trying to kill them.  The pursuer might even be a 
  fundamentally likeable character, trying to avenge 
  what the party did to his less likeable friend.  How the 
  group deals with this situation is good role playing.
  Maybe in one of their previous adventures, the 
  characters didn’t finish the job.  Adventure movies and 
  books are full of villains who suffered ‘moral’ wounds, 
  and clawed their way back from the brink; kept alive 
  by their burning hatred of the heroes who did this to 
  them.  These adversaries are always more dangerous 
  than the last time the characters defeated them.  The 
  enemy survived ‘death’ once, so he has no fear of it.
  Reward:  The characters hear of a Reward being 
  offered for completion of a specific task.  The contest 
  is similar to Help Wanted, but there is no upfront 
  money and no negotiation.
  The most famous example of a Reward adventure 
  hook is when a king offer’s the hand of the princess 
  to whoever slays a dragon.  (This is not just a cliché. 
  There are legitimate legends which begin this way.) 
  For an adventuring group, it is probably better to 
  stick to a cash bounty.  But there is more to life than 
  monetary rewards, the Reward could be knighthoods, 
  letters of mark, guild or league memberships, etc.
  Another interesting facet of the Reward adventure 
  hook, is that the party might not be the only ones after 
  the prize.  Third party interference can range from 
  annoying comic relief to deadly.
  A Sad Story:  The Sad Story is similar to `Anything 
  for a Lady’ in that the characters undertake a mission 
  for no tangible rewards.  Someone has a problem that 
  they can’t solve, but the party might be able to correct. 
  However, the Sad Story works on characters who are 
  immune to feminine  wiles.
  It idea is that the characters will take on the 
  adventure because it is ‘the right thing to do.’  This 
  sometimes runs into trouble with hardcore strategy 
  gamers who realize that putting yourself on the line for 
  someone else’s problems is a good way to get killed.
  In order for the sad story to work, the other 
  character must be effectively powerless.  A knight 
  who returns home after the crusades to find his family 
  holding have been seized certainly has a sad story. 
  But the players will be quick to realize that if they 
  get the knight reinstated, he will be in a position to 
  (and probably should) reward the party handsomely. 
  Women and children are the most defensible types of 
  characters, followed closely by the blind, crippled, and 
  peasant or slaves.
  Shipwrecked:  If the characters won’t go to the 
  adventure, bring the adventure to the characters.  Tell 
  the players that the adventure starts on a ship, and let 
  each one come up with their own reasons for being 
  on board.  Then tell them that the ship is going down. 
  The characters just happen to end up in the same 
  lifeboat or escape pod.  From there, they will have to 
  work together to survive.
  Alternatively you can have the character’s ship, 
  plane, bus, etc. hijacked while they are on it.  This 
  is kinder to the characters because they start the 
  adventure with their normal gear, not just what the 
  managed to grab as the ship was going down.  On 
  the other hand, you have to get the party together 
  out of the crowd of Non Player Characters traveling 
  with them.  If you have the kind of players who insist 
  on doing things ‘officially’ you need to make sure to 
  get rid of all authority figures, such as captains and 
  officers, during the hijacking.
  Some Strings Attached:  The party receives 
  something valuable, or something that they have 
  personally wanted.  But the gift isn’t as free and clear 
  as it seems at first.  If the party wants to keep their new 
  acquisition, they are going to have to fight for it.
  
  Instant GM II: On Your Mark, Get Set, GM!
  7
  The most common example it the party receives a 
  magical item with a curse attached.  The only way to 
  lift the curse is to confront the villain of your planned 
  adventure (possibly because the item was stolen from 
  him.)
  I’ve always wanted to run a campaign which starts 
  with the party inheriting a castle.  When they arrive 
  at the castle, the characters discover that the above 
  ground floors are infested with poisonous vermin 
  and rats the size of a dog; the basement has a tribe of 
  boogiemen living in it;  the crypt on the castle grounds 
  in haunted; the peasants under the protection of the 
  castle are being terrorized by a werewolf... 
  In technological setting, you can give the party a 
  wonderful weapon, vehicle, or other hardware that 
  is completely useless until they acquire the proper 
  software, be it a password, operating system or 
  navigational database.  Of course this item happens 
  to be in someone else’s hands, and if the party doesn’t 
  go looking for him, he’ll come looking for them.  In 
  post-apocalyptic campaigns, you can bury the vital 
  components in danger filled ruins.
  In a setting where the characters are expected to 
  face pirates on a regular basis, rather than having a 
  trading company hire the party, give the characters a 
  small share in the company’s profits and see how long 
  it takes them to start hunting down pirates on their 
  own.
  In this adventure hook you have to give the party 
  something valuable/ useful at the start.  This shouldn’t 
  be too much of a problem since rewarding the party 
  is written into most adventures, but you have to be 
  careful not to give them something which can upset 
  the balance of the game.
  Something is Rotten in the State of Denmark: 
  No one likes being left out on a secret.  In this 
  adventure hook, you make it clear to the characters 
  that something is going on that they don’t know about. 
  This is a standard adventure hook in the espionage 
  and horror genres.  It also works well in the Superhero 
  genera, where it always pays to look into unexplained 
  events.
  This works best when the characters know 
  something that isn’t common knowledge.  Otherwise 
  they spend most of the adventure wondering why the 
  world hasn’t figured this out yet.  This information can 
  come from direct experience, ghosts, witnesses who 
  turn up dead the next day, secret diaries, etc.  
  There are two ways to use this adventure hook. 
  One is to keep the players guessing, and force them to 
  work through the entire adventure to get to the bottom 
  of things.  The second way is to let the characters figure 
  out what is going on early in the plot, but they can’t do 
  anything about it without evidence.  They may know 
  that the Planetary Ranger is corrupt.  But unless they 
  can prove that he has been raiding merchant vessels, 
  and then pinning the crimes on political rivals, there 
  is nothing they can do to stop him. 
  Sometimes it is enough to let the players know that 
  a ‘natural death’ was actually a skilled assassination, 
  but it is not fool proof.  On the other hand, if you 
  present the players with directly contradictory “facts” 
  few characters can resist trying to get to the bottom 
  of it.  For example, when the character’s finds a body, 
  they call the local law enforcement and that is the 
  end of their involvement...until they see the same guy 
  they found dead, walking around town and the law 
  enforcement denies having ever received the party’s 
  call.
  The party may decide that chasing dark secrets is 
  not conductive to longevity.  You can still drag them 
  into the plot.  Even if they don’t investigate further, 
  they already know too much, and some one will try 
  to silence them.
  This plot hook has to be handled with skill because 
  by design it is very frustrating.  The trick is to make 
  it so that the characters are frustrated, but the players 
  aren’t.
  Treasure Map:  Each of the PCs receives a 
  mysterious letter with a map or instructions and 
  cryptic promises of a reward if the instructions 
  are followed.  If at all possible, the letters should be 
  personalized to each character.  No one likes getting, 
  “Dear Occupant” letters.  You can even go so far as to 
  include different cryptic clues in each letter.
  Alternatively, you can include the map, or 
  captain’s log, as part of a treasure hoard, hooking the 
  characters into the next adventure at the end of the 
  last adventure.
  The potential problem with this opening is that 
  it doesn’t give the characters any reason to trust each 
  other.  They might even be competitors.  In a pirate, 
  
  Ramsey “Tome Wyrm” Lundock
  8
  every-man-for-himself, style campaign, this is a 
  bonus, not a drawback
  The Wager:  There is something magical about the 
  power of a bet.  Offer to pay a man $100 dollars to 
  go into the abandoned mine on Spook Hill and his 
  response will be something like, “No, that place must 
  be full of poisonous snakes and rotted support struts.” 
  Bet a man $100 dollars that he won’t spend the night 
  in the same mine, and he’ll be halfway to Spook Hill 
  before he starts to wonder if he still has a flashlight in 
  the glove box.
  This gives you a way to monetarily reward the 
  party without the cliché being hired for a job.  Virtually 
  any adventure can start this way, provided the party is 
  cocky enough to keep betting on their own success. 
  The characters might even start sharking bets on their 
  exploits, for a “Smoky & the Bandit” style campaign.
  The wager requires the characters and their players 
  to be somewhat volatile.  This normally shouldn’t be 
  a problem.  If used judiciously, the Wager can goad 
  the party into things that neither lover nor money 
  could motivate them to do.  For example, a pious 
  priest would never, under any circumstances, think of 
  trespassing in a saint’s tomb...except to prove wrong 
  an atheist who insists that the only reason the tomb is 
  sealed is to hide the fact that the saint is just a myth.
  Another example:   Have a caravan driver 
  complaining long and loud that it takes 3 weeks to get 
  across the badlands.  Have the most wilderness savvy 
  player character make the appropriate skill check to 
  realize it only takes 2 weeks.  This should spark an 
  argument that ends in the caravan driver telling the 
  player character to put his money where their mouth 
  is.  The wilderness character will probably have to 
  bum a loan from the other player characters to cover 
  the collateral for his side of the bet and the entire party 
  will get involved to protect their investment.
  You’re sitting in a Tavern when...:  The party 
  doesn’t have to be traveling to come across adventure. 
  You can start the adventure by something going terribly 
  wrong in any public area.  Examples include, village 
  fairs, grocery stores, bazaars, and space station bars. 
  Each of the characters happens to be present during 
  the opening scene.  The first scene can either directly 
  involve the characters such as the establishment being 
  raided or the local dictator’s troops advancing into the 
  city.  Or it can be indirect, witnessing a fight, finding a 
  murder victim’s body, etc.
  This opening trusts the party to stick their noses 
  into what’s going on.  As such it can fail to launch for 
  a variety of reasons.  The character-actor role players 
  don’t feel any motivation.  The money role players 
  don’t see any profit.  The rule lawyers worry that 
  their characters aren’t legally authorized to deal with 
  the situation.  Knowing your players and planning 
  accordingly can reduce but not eliminate this risk.
   Advanced Adventure Hooks
  The above adventure hooks are basic ways to 
  insert “Party A” into “Adventure B.”  Once you are 
  comfortable with them, you can start using more 
  advanced techniques to make the party want to join 
  in the adventure.
  Multi-Adventure Plot Hooks:  A single Plot Hook 
  can be used to start a series of adventures.  One of the 
  classic fantasy adventures is based around the party 
  finding the parts of a magical item which had been 
  broken into 8 pieces.
  Another possibility is to give the party only part 
  of a treasure map, and force them to track down the 
  missing pieces.  The pieces might be in treasure hoards 
  and crypts.  If the other pieces are in the hands of 
  collectors, the characters will have to fulfill whatever 
  strange mission the collector sends them on to earn 
  the next piece.  
  If you use published adventures from unrelated 
  sources, create a shadowy sinister organization for 
  you world.  Then when you are struggling for an 
  adventure hook, feed the party rumor that the goblin 
  raids, plague, ghost sightings, etc. are actually being 
  arranged by the ‘Shadow Syndicate.’  The players 
  should take the hint that if the Shadow Syndicate 
  is involved it is worth the party’s time to get to the 
  bottom of things.  The rumors about the Syndicate’s 
  involvement should be right 90% of the time, so you 
  might have to modify the background of the final 
  villain a little to make him a member.
  Multi-adventure plot hooks provide a sense 
  of continuity to a campaign.  The down side is that 
  eventually you are going to have to let the party reach 
  the goal.  At which point they will expect a huge payoff. 
  Not only in terms or rewards, but in terms of climax.
  
  Instant GM II: On Your Mark, Get Set, GM!
  9
  Personalized Plot Hooks:  I must confess that I 
  am fan of the martial-arts genera of arcade games.  In 
  those games every character has a different reason 
  for entering fighting the contest:  some want revenge, 
  some want to take over the company for themselves, 
  and some are just trying to get a date with one of the 
  other fighters. You can use the same trick in table 
  top role playing games.  It requires a little more work 
  on you part as GM.  You have to talk to each player 
  individually and determine what would move his 
  character to action.  The adventure will have a subplot 
  for each character.  You should make sure each 
  subplot gets a decent amount of game time.  While 
  challenging, these are the games the players remember 
  the longest.
  Turn the Tables on the Players:  Finding a way 
  to bring the group together for the first adventure is a 
  difficult task.  It also comes into play when you need 
  to introduce a new player character into the group. 
  (Or if you run games at conventions where even if the 
  characters know each other, the players don’t have any 
  particular reason to trust each other.)  One method of 
  dealing with this difficulty is to shift the work to the 
  players.
  If your first adventure is set in ancient ruins, 
  describe a campsite next to a major road, which is 
  within walking distance of the ruins, but far enough 
  away and heavily used enough to be safe.  Recite some 
  of the legends about the ruins, then look at the players 
  and ask, “Why are you here?”
  Letting the players provide their own motives can 
  be a fun.  It can also be maddening.  Some players have 
  been so conditioned to follow where the GM leads that 
  their characters have no real motives or personality. 
  Although frustrating it is rewarding when you finally 
  shake up the players enough that they develop their 
  characters in more detail.
  The other way turning the tables on the players 
  can be frustrating is when one (or more, or all) of the 
  players refuses to cooperate.   Following the above 
  example, it would not be uncommon for a player 
  to insists that his character would never go to the 
  camp grounds and is hiding in the woods watching 
  everyone else.  My advice is: first point out that the 
  characters around the fire are warm and are eating 
  freshly cooked food, while the spy is crouching in the 
  cold, dank woods, gnawing on trail rations.  If this isn’t 
  enough to motivate him to show himself, make him 
  roll dice to see if he can stay awake all night.  If he fails, 
  one of the other characters who gets up in the middle 
  of the night to answer Nature’s call stumbles upon 
  him in the woods.  Finally, if the player stubbornly 
  insists that his character won’t join the group, let him 
  go mano-y-mano with some of the monsters.  He’ll 
  have to go running to the group for help or die.  Either 
  way, you don’t have to worry about the loner character 
  anymore.
  Build the Group in Steps:  It is rather improbable 
  that four to six strangers would join together just 
  after meeting.  When pulling the group together, it 
  is much more believable during the first adventure 
  to build the group in steps.  After you get a pair of 
  characters working together, switch you attention to 
  the remaining characters and figure out how to bring 
  them together.  Then over the first couple of hours of 
  game time, pull various the groups together.
  This technique violates the first rule of running a 
  game:  Never split up the party.  That rule is soundly 
  based.  You have to divide your time between two 
  groups.  The best way to handle it is to switch you 
  attention after each scene, so that no one has enough 
  time to get bored.  This is an advanced technique, but 
  you players will appreciate the believability if you pull 
  it off. 
  Its about Who you Know:  Another way to 
  build the group in steps is to require that the Player 
  Characters know at least one other PC at the start of 
  the campaign.   If the players resist, point out that no 
  one reaches the age of adventurers without meeting 
  people along the way.
  Players have been conditioned to assume their 
  hometown is “Far away” from the area where the 
  adventure takes place, and that their former lives are 
  irrelevant the plot.  So it might take some work to 
  get the players to consider the possibility of previous 
  acquaintances.   But if you can get them to think 
  outside the traditional framework, the role playing 
  possibilities are almost endless.
  These relations are also useful for introducing 
  a new member into the group.  Meeting a new guy 
  in tavern, and inviting him to travel with the group 
  certainly can happen, but even some of the Magnificent 
  
  Ramsey “Tome Wyrm” Lundock
  10
  Seven had had previous dealings before they started 
  their adventure.  At first this sounds contrived and 
  unbelievable, but in practice it happens all the time. 
  Everyone has had a “small world encounter” where 
  they meet an old acquaintance by chance.  This also 
  give the new player a place to start as he struggles to 
  establish his role in the group.
  Most of the time the players will come up with 
  unimaginative connections such as being blood 
  relatives (usually cousins) or former neighbors.  Here 
  is a list of other possibilities to get the players thinking 
  in new directions.  You can force the players to build 
  pre-story relationships with other characters, but you 
  should let the players choose which relationships to 
  use.  These relationships are very personal thing, and 
  none of them should be forced on any character.
  Arrested/Arrester:  It is simple to explain how the 
  scum-bag in the group knows the member of the Town 
  Watch (or the private Security Contractor).  While 
  there is no love lost between these two characters, in 
  real life, there is surprisingly little bad blood between 
  them either.
  Card Buddies:  Even adventures need a hobby. 
  Many hobbies are social activities such as darts, 
  billiards, softball, chess, poker, and RPGs.  Players 
  can say their characters met though a mutual hobby. 
  Perhaps the entire party is the Tuesday Night Poker 
  gang from O’Malley’s Bar.  Even solo hobbies such 
  as painting, model building, or raising pets require 
  supplies.  The characters could have met at the relevant 
  store. 
  Childhood Friends:  In childhood the only criteria 
  for making friends is to be roughly the same age, and 
  to have some spare time.  As people grow older they 
  become more selective.  Childhood friends take on 
  very different lives, and drift away apart.  By the time 
  they reach adulthood, they are completely different 
  people.  For the purposes of this relationship, childhood 
  should be considered to last until adolescence.
  Former Romantic Interest:  If you have female 
  characters in the group, perhaps they have dated one 
  of the other members.  The players need to agree on 
  how far the relationship went and why it ended.  This 
  emotional baggage can lead to all manner of tension 
  and outbursts, leaving the rest of the group wondering 
  what exactly is going on.
  Though both characters firmly deny it, there is 
  always the chance that the relationship will rekindle. 
  If the players agree, rather than previous relationship, 
  the characters can currently be an item.  Or maybe it’s 
  a one sided crush. 
  If this relationship is a little too personal for the 
  group, it can be widened to apply to immediate family 
  members.  If the minstrel in the group once wooed 
  the knight’s younger sister, the knight will recognize 
  him, but won’t be thrilled to see him again.
  Friend of the Family:  In most fantasy settings, 
  it is common for children to inherit their parents’ 
  profession.  It would be perfectly reasonable for the 
  parents of two of the characters to be old adventuring 
  buddies.  
  The parents might even insist on the characters 
  traveling together to watch each other’s back.
  Immediate Family:  If you want a relationship 
  with potential complications, look no further than the 
  nuclear family.  Between the opposing forces of sibling 
  rivalry and tribalism, the siblings will love each other, 
  even if they can’t stand each other.
  This is a difficult connection to justify since 
  the characters usually come from vastly different 
  backgrounds and genetic stock.  Fortunately, fairytales 
  are full of examples of step-children, adopted children, 
  abandoned children, half siblings, and bastards.
  If there is a significant age difference in the party, 
  the players might decide on a parent/child relationship. 
  This has even more potential for interesting role playing 
  than siblings.  (What happens when the elf finds that 
  the wild-oats he sewed with a human woman in his 
  youth, has grown up into a half-elf who is now the 
  same biological age as he is?)
  Warning:  If two of your players are Japanese-
  anime-Otaku with a sense of humor, you might end up 
  with one of those innuendo laden relations between 
  bother and sister or (shutter) between two brothers.
  Professional 
  Acquaintances: 
   
  Company 
  employment is certainly one way to meet people.  You 
  meet not only people in the same company but people 
  in companies that your firm does business with.  If 
  the characters worked for a small company they will 
  know each other well.  If it was a mid to large sized 
  company, they might be friends, or they might just 
  
  Instant GM II: On Your Mark, Get Set, GM!
  11
  recognize the name and the face.
  Given the number of characters who hale from 
  a mercenary background, it is entirely possible that 
  some members of the group have worked together in 
  the past.
  Professional Acquaintances do not need to be 
  members of a literal company.  Students in a modern 
  educations system are more like coworkers than the 
  “Same Teacher” relationship described below.  Tutors 
  are one-on-one or small group lessons, where as 
  Modern education is impersonal.  Army buddies are 
  another example.  If two or more of the characters are 
  diplomatic archetypes, then they can have met at the 
  Royal Court or at state dinners.
  For a real twist, rather than former co-workers 
  one of the characters one of the characters was the 
  supervisor/ employer.
  Rivals:  In the past both characters wanted the 
  same thing.  Be it a girl, a racing trophy, or admission 
  to an academy of magic.  The players will have to 
  decide which, if either of them, won.  Or maybe it 
  was a long time rivalry, with many individual contests 
  won and lost in equal numbers.
  The rivalry doesn’t have to be personal.  The 
  characters might have been in opposing gangs or on 
  opposite sides of a war, and had the conflict bring 
  them into direct contact.
  Same Teacher:  Characters who studied under 
  the same teacher are at the same time rivals and 
  comrades.  They struggled constantly against each 
  other for the master’s attention and praise.  At the 
  same time, they had to rely on one another physically 
  and emotionally to get through the training.  Brothers 
  in Arms are much like real siblings, but are usually on 
  better terms.
  It is tempting to set up a master/student relationship 
  between characters.  But since the beginning characters 
  will be roughly the same skill level, this relationship 
  doesn’t work.  (In a modern Education system, you 
  can get away with a Teacher-Student connection. 
  Anyone who’s been though high school will believe 
  a teacher character is no more competent than her 
  students, especially if played for comic value.) 
  Vision:  In a fantasy setting, visions are often 
  consulted for important decisions.  Perhaps one of 
  the characters had a vision induced in a coming of 
  age ceremony, as part of his training, or before setting 
  out to start his adventuring career.  A reoccurring 
  dream also works.  It the jumbled, dreamlike vision 
  the character saw an unfamiliar face.  He had more or 
  less forgotten it until comes into the local roadhouse 
  and sees that face sitting the bar.
  What does the character do at that point?  Has the 
  other character had a similar vision?
  A vision should let the character recognize one, 
  maybe two of the other characters.  Having the entire 
  party recognize each other at the beginning feels 
  contrived.
  
  Ramsey “Tome Wyrm” Lundock
  12
  Stock Characters, Continued
   The original Instant GM provided a list of stock 
  characters to use on the fly when you are forced to 
  improvise.  The stock characters listed here cover a few 
  more of the basics, and look at more exotic character 
  types, such as self aware computers and horses.
  Angel:  Lets face it, sometimes a party bungles 
  things so badly that they need divine intervention to 
  get out of it.  Or if you’re not the forgiving type of GM, 
  perhaps it is time for a little divine retribution.
   A properly played angel should make the most 
  pious member of the group fall to his knees and beg 
  forgiveness.  Meanwhile, everyone else should be 
  running away as fast as they can, and not looking back 
  for fear of being turned into a pillar of salt.  Angels 
  don’t get taken as seriously as they should because 
  of the misconception that ‘Good’ is inherently non-
  judgmental.  This is true of fallible mortals, but angels 
  literally have the God Given Right to pass judgment, 
  and they don’t make mistakes.
   Everyone knows that Evil is cunning, but that 
  doesn’t mean Good has to be stupid.  A scoundrel 
  who tries to lie to or manipulate an angel should be 
  struck dead on the spot.  If the angel is in a forgiving 
  mood perhaps just struck dumb, or blinded so that he 
  has a chance to learn his lessen and repent.
  While angels are inherently terrifying, what is even 
  worse is than an angle doesn’t get involved unless major 
  events are in motion.  Every time an angel appears 
  before mortals, it is on a specific mission.  Angles have 
  very little patience for mortals who interfere with or 
  delay their mission, and have an appallingly tolerance 
  for collateral damage.
  Finally, if an insolent character managed to get 
  cursed by an angel, the normal methods for lifting 
  curses won’t work.  There is only one court of appeals 
  for a divine curse.  If an angel wasn’t enough to put the 
  fear of God into the characters, maybe the Big Man 
  himself will do the job.
  Businessman:  For the Businessman, it is all about 
  the bottom line.  He views everyone and everything 
  as a potential investment, or a potential problem.  Be 
  it alien spacecraft, giant monsters or magical swords; 
  if his business group doesn’t have a use for it, he puts 
  it on the auction block.  If his group discovers an 
  ancient crypt of cursed artifacts, he sells them ‘as is, 
  no express or implied warranty.’ 
  The Businessman won’t always be offering to player 
  characters a job.  Why pay them, if he can manipulate 
  them into doing what he wants for free?  If the party is 
  working for the businessman, they always loose some 
  of the agreed payment to the fine-print of the deal.
  Despite these drawback, the PCs will probably 
  enjoy dealing with the Businessman.  He acts calm 
  and professional, no matter how weird the group is 
  (aliens, demons, elves, Japanese school girl martial 
  artists; it’s all just another day at the office).  Because 
  all he cares about is money, he could care less what 
  the player characters do or how they do it; provided it 
  doesn’t cost him anything.  The Businessman doesn’t 
  get upset when the party does things like break into 
  his office rather than making an appointment, draw 
  a gun on him, or interrupt his round of golf to bring 
  him a mummified head.  He will even put up with 
  parties which cost him money in the form of damage 
  claims or bail bonds for the party, provided they make 
  him significantly more money.
  As an adversary, the Businessman will pay 
  maddeningly little attention to the party.  No matter 
  how much damage they inflict on his property, he 
  doesn’t seek revenge; there is no money in revenge. 
  If the party repeatedly attacks the businessman’s 
  holdings, he will attempt to neutralize them to protect 
  his remaining assets.  ‘Neutralize’ means either killing 
  them or buying them off, which ever is cheaper.
  Carnivore:  A carnivore has a split personality 
  depending on whether or not it is hungry.
  If slated, the carnivore is perfectly happy to sleep 
  in a comfortable place or play with its young, and will 
  let the party pass safely unless they try to disturb it. 
  If the party does pick a fight with a carnivore, its first 
  thought is to chase them off, and get back to its nap. 
  However if it successfully hooks one of intruders and 
  spills blood, all bets are off.  Once blood lust sets in, 
  the carnivore is going to kill the target, but may play 
  with it for a while first.
  When hunting, the carnivore will be aware of the 
  party well before they notice it.  It may track them for 
  hours by scent and watching from afar, waiting for a 
  chance to pick off a straggler.  Unless the party has 
  skilled bushman among their number, the first time 
  
  Instant GM II: On Your Mark, Get Set, GM!
  13
  they’ll see the carnivore is when it pounces.
  Carnivores do not like food that fights back.  For a 
  wild hunter, any significant wound is fatal, either from 
  infection, or because it hinders its ability to hunt.  If 
  the party puts up a good fight for a couple of combat 
  rounds, the carnivore will likely break off to find easier 
  prey.  But the fact that it attacked a band as formidable 
  as the player characters, probably means its desperate. 
  A starving animal fights to the death, because if it 
  doesn’t eat, it will die anyways.  
  Computer/ Android:  Self-aware computers 
  and human-shaped android computers, are stock 
  characters of science fiction, but many fantasy setting 
  have characters or entire races so stoic and logic 
  bound, that they might as well be androids.
  The hallmark of the computer is logic.  Even in 
  settings were androids are capable of emotions, they 
  are expected to be more reserved and logical than 
  humans.  This makes for cold and calculating enemies 
  who build up obscene body counts to achieve their 
  goals.  This same logic makes allied androids prone to 
  lay down their ‘lives’ to protect the PCs.  After all, it 
  is only logical to sacrifice a lifeless tool, if it can save a 
  single human life.
  Computers are the ultimate straight-men for 
  comedy relief.  No matter how bizarre a request 
  the PCs make, or what kind of chaos the situation 
  deteriorates into, the computer will treat it with 
  complete seriousness.  For example, if a food fight 
  breaks out in the mess hall, the ships’ computer will 
  stubbornly refuse to fulfill an order for 10 pies until 
  the requesting character specifies the flavor.
  Drifter:  The drifter is willing to go absolutely 
  anywhere, provided he hasn’t already been there.  It 
  should be easy for the party to find a Drifter if they go 
  looking.  Drifters hang out as the same kind of bars 
  as adventures.  Two important differences separate 
  Drifters from actual adventures.  First, Drifters are 
  much more apathetic than adventures.  Second, they 
  aren’t nearly as unlucky as real adventures.  
  Drifters are relaxed but not stoic.  Their favorite 
  response to unexpected developments, good or bad, 
  is an impressed whistle.  They are not suicidal, but are 
  quick to resign themselves to inaction in `hopeless’ 
  straits.  Things always have a way of working out.  But if 
  there isn’t a lucky break this time, well at least it wasn’t 
  boring.  Many Drifters play a musical instrument or 
  sing (badly) to pass the time.
  Drifters turn up as wandering gunslingers,  space 
  freighter captains, and troubadours.  Drifters tend to 
  travel light.  Life is about what you see, not the trinkets 
  you pick up along the way.  They don’t make good 
  guides since they never visit the same place twice.  But 
  if the party is looking for passage to exotic planets, 
  or looking to hire some one to tend to their horses 
  while they explore a labyrinth, a drifter might fit the 
  bill.  On the other hand, if the party needs directions 
  to an exotic location, maybe the Drifter can give them 
  directions.  He might even tag along, if the party 
  promises to get him farther than he went last time.
  Ghost:  You might have to improvise a ghost if the 
  players decide to try to talk to an attacking specter 
  rather than simply banishing it.  Protective ghosts 
  merely want to be left alone, and if the PCs make the 
  proper reparations to apologize for their trespassing, 
  it will go back to its slumber.
  Restless ghosts are a different story.  The thing 
  about being dead, is that it is really boring.  A restless 
  ghost obsesses on its previous life, partially because 
  it is cursed to do so, but mostly because nothing new 
  has happened since then.  To relieve its boredom, a 
  restless ghost keeps reciting its own sad story over 
  and over to anyone it can force to listen.  The restless 
  ghost will be surprised and listen intently if the party 
  can provide new developments in the story since the 
  ghost passed on.
  Given the combat statistics of a ghost in most game 
  systems.  The PCs would be fully justified in asking 
  why the ghost doesn’t go wreak its revenge, rather 
  than hanging around a graveyard moaning about it. 
  Be prepared to answer this question. 
  Herbivore: Designed ecosystems are almost 
  always ‘top heavy,’ meaning that they don’t have 
  enough herbivores.  You will most likely need to adlib 
  herbivores when the characters ask what all of the 
  predators eat when they run out of adventurers.  Every 
  carnivore should have at least 50 times (probably 
  hundreds of times) its own body mass in herbivores 
  within its territory.  This is particularly a problem in 
  fantasy dungeons, where wild carnivores are cut off 
  from food and water by locked doors.
  
  Ramsey “Tome Wyrm” Lundock
  14
  Designed ecosystems are top heavy is because of 
  the misconception that carnivores are more dangerous 
  and likely to hurt the player characters than herbivores. 
  Every year in Egypt, hippopotamuses cause more 
  deaths than crocodiles.  Statically, the water buffalo is 
  one of the deadliest animals on the planet.
  The first response of most herbivores when 
  startled or threatened is to run.  Large herbivores, 
  like the aforementioned water buffalo, respond by 
  flattening whatever it is they don’t like.  Herbivores 
  are even less interested in fighting to the death than 
  carnivores, except when defending their young (or 
  the herd’s young).  While herbivores are fiercely 
  protective of their young, once a mother looses track 
  of her offspring she has very little interest in tracking 
  them down.  She will search for a while, then go back 
  to her normal life. 
  Designing herbivores does not have to be a time 
  consuming task.  If you described Earth’s primary 
  protein source as “four legged mammals with split 
  hooves and horns” someone would be hard pressed to 
  prove you wrong.  This definition covers cows, sheep, 
  goats, yak, bison, elk, deer, antelope, and giraffes. 
  Likewise, for your alien planets, underground 
  ecologies, or alternate planes, a preparing short 
  definition with room for many variants should be 
  enough to convince the players that their characters 
  are living in a plausible world.  (Okay, Earth’s primary 
  protein source is actually plankton.  But if you caught 
  this flagrant abuse of dramatic license, you’re are 
  probably the kind of person who maps out your 
  created ecologies in exacting detail for the fun of it.)         
  Horses:  Horses are given a separate entry 
  from other herbivores because in most historical/
  fantasy settings, they will be the primary mode of 
  transportation and because horses are smart enough 
  to cause real trouble.  Horses come in four varieties 
  based on their temperament, and training:  Draft, 
  Racing, War, and Wild.  Like all of the archetypes in 
  this product, these personalities do not hold true in 
  all cases.  Riding horses are intentionally left off of 
  the list because their personalities will fall somewhere 
  between these examples, and each individual will 
  favor one kind or another from the list.
  Draft:  Draft and pack animals are rock solid.  They 
  do not spook at strange noises or sudden motion. 
  If they are unsure about a situation, they will stop 
  until a human assures them it is safe.  If wounded or 
  confronted with an immediate danger such as wolves, 
  fire or a rock slide, even stoic draft horse will bolt and 
  run.  But the draft animal is bred to carry heavy loads 
  all day long, not to sprint.  Unless the danger pursues 
  the draft animal, it will quickly tire out, and the player 
  characters will have no problem finding it after the 
  fight.
  Racing:  A race horse combines the speed of a wild 
  horse with an aggressive winning spirit.  Race horses 
  are smart enough to have individual personalities; 
  some are sweet or playful, others are jerks or just plain 
  stupid.  Race horses will pick fights with each other to 
  establish a hierarchy with in the remuda.  If one of the 
  player characters is a less than competent horseman, 
  he will get dragged into these disputes.  Once a race 
  horse learns that a certain human is scared of it, it will 
  be completely unmanageable.  If attacked, a race horse 
  is roughly half as likely to fight back as to run (which 
  is remarkable since draft and wild horses almost never 
  fight back.)
  War:  A warhorse is a fearless behemoth.  If ordered 
  to, it will charge into packs of dogs, fire or even strait 
  through wooden barriers.  A war horse requires an 
  equally well trained rider.  It is going to go where 
  the rider points it, from there it is up to the rider to 
  hang on.  A war horse is trained to respond to exact 
  commands.  If the rider doesn’t handle the reigns and 
  stirrups correctly, the war horse won’t respond.  If 
  the character continues to flail around on the horse, 
  the war horse will come to a stop, not so much out 
  confusion, but annoyance; and wait for the human to 
  get his act together or dismount.
   War horses can attack with their hooves, but will 
  only do so on the riders command.  (Liaisons, a breed 
  of light warhorses, are more high strung than the 
  heavy war horses considered here.  This is merely an 
  impromptu archetype.) 
  Wild:  A wild horse’s first response to anything new 
  is to run, and it’s usually not particular about which 
  direction.  If there is an obvious threat, it will head 
  away from it, but if startled by a noise, unexpected 
  scent, or even meeting an unfamiliar horse, the wild 
  horse will take off sprinting in a random direction.
  Insider:  The Insider is a mysterious friend on the 
  
  Instant GM II: On Your Mark, Get Set, GM!
  15
  inside of an organization the Player Characters do not 
  have access to.  At least the characters assume he is 
  on the inside.  And they assume he is a friend.  All 
  they really know about him is that the brief messages 
  he slips under their door or delivers over the phone 
  prove useful.
  The party needs to be careful when following the 
  leads given to them by the Insider.  The Insider has his 
  own motives.  Rarely do they want to bring down the 
  entire organization, but the party is a untraceable way 
  for the insider to leek information, cause trouble for a 
  rival, or even eliminate a superior.   
  The Insider can provide a way to beat the players 
  over the head with clues they missed.  In the most 
  famous case of a real world insider, Deep Throat, 
  usually explained where to find records and evidence, 
  rather than telling people what they would find. 
  When you need to improvise an Insider, don’t create 
  a new character.  Instead, look at the NPCs already in 
  the adventure and ask, which of them has the most to 
  gain by helping the party to ‘almost’ succeed.
  From the Players point of view, it is easiest when 
  the Insider sets the PCs up for a fall.  Then their is no 
  question that they eliminate him along with the rest 
  of the organization.  If the Insider thanks the PCs for 
  their help, or simply disappears without revealing his 
  identity, the characters will have to make the tough 
  decision of finishing the job they started, or turning 
  a blind eye to the Insider.  If the PCs goal was to take 
  down a member of the organization, rather than the 
  whole organization, they have to swallow the bitter 
  idea that they helped a man who was willing to sell 
  out one of his own.
  Man Friday:  The Man Friday is the perfect 
  secretary and personal assistant for royalty, generals, 
  politicians and businessmen.  He is always hovering 
  silently near by, seeing and hearing everything.  If 
  given an order his response is either a simple, “Yes 
  Sir,” or more often, “It has already been taken care of, 
  Sir.” 
  While the main character is responsible for 
  weighing the facts and making the decisions, Friday is 
  responsible for making sure the orders are carried out 
  with minimal difficulties.  It is not the Man Friday’s job 
  to bring facts to the main character’s attention, but if 
  the character requests a specific piece of information, 
  Friday provides it with all haste.
  The player characters will probably try to use the 
  Man Friday as a back door approach to the character 
  who Friday supports.  Occasionally, a Friday may take 
  a bribe to push the party to the top of the appointment 
  list, or to recommend their services, but for the most 
  part, the Man Friday serve faithfully and flawlessly.
  The archetype is male, but Woman Friday works 
  just as well.  No matter how attractive she is, she treats 
  all advances with an icy glare and a comment along 
  the lines of, “This is neither the time nor the place.”
  Nutcase:   The Nutcase is a wild eyed, hyperactive, 
  verbally abusive jerk.  They act as if they are perpetually 
  hyped up on stimulants.  The Nutcase obsesses about 
  death frequently; threatening to kill the characters in 
  creative ways, or musing about taking his own life.
  Nutcases are drawn to dangerous professions 
  such as war zone pilot, spelunker, or demolitionist.  In 
  fantasy settings they enjoy using the most dangerous 
  and hard to control magic.  The party will most 
  frequently encounter a Nutcase when they hire him 
  for a job that no one else is willing to take.  He will 
  be especially rude to the player characters, because he 
  knows that they have to put up with him.
  He may not realize it himself, but the Nutcase is 
  only pretending to be crazy.  If confronted with the 
  possibility of dying, he either becomes very quiet or 
  breaks down into hysterical tears.  Some Nutcases 
  really are killers, but most will start making excuses if 
  ordered to kill someone.
  Shade Tree Mechanic:  The Shade Tree Mechanic is 
  a repairman of limited intelligence.  He fixes machines, 
  not because he is smart enough to understand how 
  they work, but because he isn’t bright enough to get 
  a job that doesn’t involve barking his knuckles and 
  spilling hot fluids on himself.
  Because of his limited intellect, the Shade Tree 
  Mechanic is remarkable good at his job.  He doesn’t 
  over think the situation.  Once he learns how an engine 
  is supposed to work, he keeps working until he makes 
  the engine conform to that expectation.  If someone 
  specifically shows the Shade Tree Mechanic a jury-rigg 
  trick, there is a possibility that he will remember it, 
  but he would never think of improvising on his own. 
  No matter how many time you tell him you want a 
  non-standard modification, he won’t remember.  For 
  
  Ramsey “Tome Wyrm” Lundock
  16
  example if an engine has the idle set high for racing, 
  he will tune it back to normal.
  Only settings were a Shade Tree Mechanic 
  realistically belongs is roughly 1900 to the mid-
  twentieth century.  Before that, machines were too 
  rare and expensive to trust to anything but a trained 
  expert.  After that, the technology became too complex 
  to be self taught.  But in that brief time Shade Tree 
  Mechanic became an icon of hard work, honesty and 
  reliability.  Whether he is changing the oil in their 
  dragster, stitching up their magic carpet, or turning 
  the crystalline harmonic drive of their space fighters, 
  the PCs will rest easier, knowing that the Shade Tree 
  Mechanic is handling things.
  Shop Keep:  The Shop Keep is a frequently 
  encountered character, as such, you will probably 
  want more than one archetype handy.
  Standard Shop Keep:  The most common stock 
  Shop Keep is a slightly overweight middle aged man 
  in an apron.  He threats the characters courteously.  If 
  it looks like the characters won’t/can’t by his goods, he 
  will make it clear that they need to move on, without 
  explicitly throwing them out.  He has eyes in the back 
  of his head specifically for shop lifters.  He spends all 
  day everyday in his shop, so he knows exactly where 
  everything is, and has it arranged so that the easiest 
  pieces to slip in to your pocket are where he can keep 
  an eye on them.  If the characters are friendly, and 
  seem to have money to spend, the Shop Keep will 
  bring out special items from behind the counter or 
  from the back room.
  Old Woman Shop Keep:  Another archetype 
  Shop Keep is an older woman who more interested in 
  talking to the customers than selling them something. 
  This kind of Shop Keep is friendly and honestly 
  interested in the Player Characters.  But she finds 
  violence distasteful, so rather than asking about their 
  latest exploit, she asks what they feed their horses, or 
  if they’ve taken the town’s sightseeing tour. Thanks 
  to her bad eyesight, she won’t notice a larcenous PC 
  palming items, but the PC should have serious angst 
  about ripping off an old woman who offered him a 
  cup of tea.
  Used Car Salesman:  It doesn’t have to be cars, it 
  could be any expensive item, such as armor, magical 
  components, or starships.  From the instant the PCs 
  step into his shop, the salesman is right next to them. 
  He starts by asking if the characters are looking for 
  anything in particular, then proceeds with questions 
  about what they intend to use the equipment for. 
  Eventually he shows them an item that is either 
  marginally related to what they’re asking for, or an 
  expensive overkill, designed to do every job possible, 
  including the one the PCs need.  The car-salesman 
  talks incessantly.  Once he runs out of praise for 
  the merchandise, he goes on about the weather, or 
  anything else to keep the PCs from concentrating. 
  When showing the characters an item, he moves it 
  constantly and pointing out various features to keep 
  the characters from getting a good look at it.
  Skid Row:  While there is an occasional diamond 
  in the rough, archetypical vagrants are either too crazy, 
  drunk or stupid to plan one month’s rent in advance. 
  They stagger along in a semiconscious state.  Their 
  motions are over exaggerated.   When drunk, their 
  speech is slurred.  When semi-sober, they speak loudly, 
  and slowly.  Their over enunciation is unmistakable. 
  In either case they tend to repeat themselves, and the 
  things they repeat have no baring on the conversation 
  at hand.
  You’ll need an impromptu Skid Row bum when 
  the players decide to look for witnesses behind the 
  scene of a crime instead of in front of it. At first, a 
  gentleman of Skid Row will claim not to have seen 
  anything.  He doesn’t want to get hauled down to the 
  police station to fill out a statement or eliminated by 
  the original perpetrator.  The PCs will have to offer 
  payment for the information. Beer, money and food 
  are usually the most effective motivators, in that order. 
  Any information the party gathers from Skid Row 
  should be treated with caution.  Skid Row bums have 
  a terrible sense of time, and after a couple of days, all 
  of the memories start to fade together.
  If the PCs routinely go looking for clues in ally 
  ways, occasionally have one of the Skid Row vagrants 
  attack them with a knife or improvised weapon.  This 
  shouldn’t be a threat to a combat competent party.  The 
  attack usually won’t be an attempted mugging.  The 
  assailant honestly believes something along the lines 
  that the PCs were coming to implant insects under his 
  skin, or that they are disguised aliens, or both.
  Slave:  Slaves do not dream of freedom.  Such 
  
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  17
  thoughts only make bondage that much harder to 
  bare.  Slaves don’t think beyond the task at hand and 
  their next meal.  A slave who is trying to escape or lash 
  out is a heroic character and should not be treated as 
  a stock characters.
  If slaves who were born freemen, when they are 
  once again granted their freedom, it will take at least 
  several minutes for the idea to sink in.  If the PCs are 
  trying to start a slave revote, they will have to personally 
  attack the captors and look strong enough to win the 
  fight single handedly before hope will once again stir 
  in the breasts of the slaves.  Multigenerational slaves 
  are even harder to move to action.  They have nothing 
  to fight for and no where to go.
  This description is intended for manual labor 
  slaves, but the mentality can be equally well applied 
  to concubines.  Is freedom really worth the risk of 
  being caught trying to escape?  The PCs will have a 
  maddeningly hard time trying to save these women 
  from their sad plight.  
  Temptress:  The temptress trades on her feminine 
  whiles.  She is a firm believer that the best way to 
  succeed in life is to attract a successful man.  Most 
  Temptresses will be simple gold-diggers, who long 
  for jewelry, fine living, and (in spite of themselves) 
  love.  The Temptresses who work behind the scenes to 
  masterminds entire kingdoms, financial empires. or 
  war fleets, should be fully developed characters.
  Adventures often state that one of the powerful 
  male non-player characters has a female companion 
  but fail to develop her in proper detail.  But from the 
  man she is keeping company with, you can quickly 
  deduce her priorities.  A Temptress working with a 
  villain realize exactly how evil he is, but she doesn’t 
  care as long as he keeps giving her gifts.  The villain 
  may think he has the Temptress fooled, but she 
  understands men too well to fall for his lies.
  Each Temptress will have a favorite type of gift. 
  Normal preferences include cosmetics, cloths, and 
  a palace lifestyle.  More exotic preferences will be 
  tailored to the man in question (the Temptress chose 
  him because he could satisfy her particular tastes.)  If 
  the main NPC is a genetic engineering genius, it is a 
  good bet that the Temptress likes animals and has at 
  least one engineered pet.  A Mage’s companion will 
  have flashy but useless magical items.  A star-trader’s 
  arm-candy will dine of the finest delicacies from 
  across the galaxy.  And a dragon’s companion will be 
  decked out from tiara to toe-rings with jewelry from 
  the dragons hoard.
  The Temptress with flirt with men other than the 
  main man she is using.  These lesser men might prove 
  useful if properly manipulated, and it never hurts to 
  keep the primary man jealous.  
  The Temptress is always looking to trade up.  She 
  becomes very accommodating if it looks like the party 
  will be more useful than her current man.  Those with 
  exotic tastes are slightly more loyal.  Slightly.  If the 
  one or more of the characters plays along with the 
  Temptress’s advances, she can be useful for sneaking 
  around the Main Character’s jungle fortress or getting 
  into the staff only area’s of his casino.  The Temptress is 
  just as quick to sell the party out if the winds change.
  If one of the characters actually falls for the 
  Temptress’s act, she will take him for everything he’s 
  worth and then move on.
  Old Man:  The party will seek out the wise Old 
  Man because they need advice.  Player characters 
  rarely go in search of spiritual counseling (though 
  most could probably use it).  Instead they will want 
  to ask the Old Man to ask about events that happened 
  20 to 50 years ago.  Either there aren’t any written 
  records, the party failed to find the records, or they 
  want to know if things really happened the way history 
  remembers them.  In fantasy settings, life spans can 
  reach a century or better, expanding the window of 
  time that the Old Man remembers.
  The Old Man has seen it all, most of it twice.  He is 
  honestly unimpressed or intimidated by party.  He is 
  old enough that death and pain hold no fear for him, 
  he has nothing worth stealing but enough to get by; 
  and he while he is still attracted to beautiful women, 
  he knows he has no chance of winning them.  In 
  short, the party has nothing to offer him, and there is 
  nothing they can do to hurt him.
  The Old Man is fully aware that he is now immune 
  to threats, bribery and social control.  And he pushes 
  his luck to the limit and beyond.  He mocks proud 
  characters mercilessly, especially if they start to get 
  upset (“Threatening a defenseless old man?  My, you 
  are the brave adventurer.”)  He flirts with any half 
  attractive young woman (unless his wife is still alive. 
  
  Ramsey “Tome Wyrm” Lundock
  18
  She is the one person on the face of the planet who 
  still has the power to coerce him).
  The Old Man expects a small reward for his story 
  telling.  It might be a mug of warm beer on a cold 
  night, or simply the pleasure of tormenting a group of 
  proud warriors.  He doesn’t have all of the facts about 
  past events, but he tells the truth as he remembers it. 
  Most of the people involved are dead, so their is no 
  point in lies and secrets.  If fact if the history books do 
  lie, the old man sees the player characters as a way to 
  unburden himself of the secret before he dies.
  The Old Man constantly laments his failing 
  eyesight, hearing, and strength.  But all three are still 
  better than he will admit to.  If the characters insult 
  the old man while “out of earshot” he will insult them 
  back verbatim.  If the party somehow manages to 
  goad the Old Man into attacking, he is surprisingly 
  strong,  and fights to the death.  The Old Man would 
  never fight to protect himself, but will attack the party 
  if they threaten his descendants (actual or adopted) or 
  the local holy sites. 
  Three more Rakugo Props
  Rakugo props were first introduced in the first 
  Instant GM .  Rakugo (落語)* is a form of Japanese 
  stand up comedy which has remained popular since 
  feudal times.  The hallmark of Rakugo is that the 
  comedian acts out an amazing variety of actions while 
  seated and using only three props:  a handkerchief, a 
  folding fan, and the kimono on his back.
  For a role playing game, `Rakugo props’ refers to 
  using things you have on hand to act as props during 
  the game.  They are an excellent way to add illustration 
  to a game without having to remember anything 
  extra.  Since you use props that you have on hand 
  anyways, you’re ready if you suddenly see the need or 
  opportunity for a Rakugo prop during the game.
  The original Instant GM introduced three Rakugo 
  props:  windbreaker, baseball cap and pen.  Here are 
  ideas for three more impromptu props:  Books, cards 
  and glasses.
  The ideas here are not all inclusive.  Every 
  adventure will offer new opportunities to use props 
  and act out actions not covered here.
  (* A point of clarification.  The original Instant 
  GM says that Rakugo translates as “Relaxed Talk.” 
  The literal meaning of the two characters is “to fall” 
  and “speak/word” but since the Japanese expression 
  meaning “to calm down” :ochitsuku: 落ち着く
  is literally “falling arrival” Rakugo is translated as 
  Relaxed Talk.) 
  Book:  
  Even if you are using one of the new PDF games 
  system, it is a good bet that someone at the table has 
  a physical copy, or some other book on hand.  These 
  tricks work best with a hard cover book, but you can 
  also use a paperback.
  Barriers:  When someone is hiding behind a 
  boulder, trashcan, or garden wall hold the book 
  horizontally over you’re head and in front of you with 
  both hands on the side of the book nearest you.  Then 
  to peak over the top of the barrier, lower the book to 
  just below eye level while extending your neck.  If you 
  hold the spine away from you and let the back cover of 
  the book hang down, it really will conceal your face.
  The same idea applied to peaking around a corner. 
  Open the book ninety degrees.  Hold the front and 
  
  Instant GM II: On Your Mark, Get Set, GM!
  19
  back covers with each and with the spine towards you, 
  then peak around the corner. 
  When a farmer is leaning on a fence while talking 
  to the characters, put the spine of the book on the 
  table, hold it vertical and rest your arms on the top of 
  the book.
  Book:  The most obvious way to use a book as a 
  prop is as a book.  The wizard holding a book in one 
  hand and casting a spell with the other is a fantasy 
  icon.  If an NPC says he needs to check his records 
  to answer the  characters’ question, flip through the 
  book before giving the answer.  When the characters 
  arrive at a high class hotel, ask them to sign the guess 
  register (then grab the book back quickly before a 
  smart-Aleck player writes in your book). 
  Cabinet:  You can hold the book up with one and 
  open the cover with the other hand to represent a 
  cabinet.  By shifting the book slightly, you can make 
  sure that the ‘cabinet doesn’t close on you hand while 
  your hand is in it.  Likewise tilting the book back 
  slightly will keep it from opening on its own.
  Car hood:  If the players slam a criminal suspect 
  against the hood of the patrol car to question him, 
  hold the book horizontally in front of you with both 
  hands and drop the side of your face on to the book as 
  hard as you can without hurting yourself.
  Cliff:  When hanging from a cliff by your finger 
  tips, hold the book over your head with both hands (or 
  one hand if the situation is desperate) and both hands 
  on the side of the book nearest you.  As the character 
  pulls himself up, grunt and pant while slowly lower 
  the book.  When the book gets to about head level, 
  let go with one hand and make a desperate grab from 
  the far side of the book.  Then pull the near edge of 
  the book into you chest and slide it down your torso 
  to the waist.
  Doors:  You can use the book to represent an 
  entire door.  When someone is listening at the door, 
  hold the book up and put your ear against it.  When 
  peaking though a key hole look just to the side of the 
  book.
  When there is a knock at the door, tap it out.  The 
  positioning of your hand affects the sound and says a 
  lot about the character.  A normal nock is delivered 
  with the palm facing forward.  Polite, or subservient 
  characters turn their hand around so the palm 
  faces backwards and rap crisply with two knuckles. 
  Abrasive characters pound on the door with the base 
  of their fist.
  In paranoid societies, doors have small windows 
  which can be opened without opening the entire door. 
  Hold the book in front of your face (not too close 
  in case one of the players decides to knock on the 
  `door’) and slide it sideways when the window opens. 
  If instead of a window, the character opens the door 
  only a crack, peak around the side of the book. 
  Items with Lids:  Don’t forget that you can open 
  the book.  Dungeons are full of chests, boxes, and 
  trap doors which have lids which flip open.  When 
  the party delivers a briefcase, or crate, the recipient 
  should open the top and inspect the goods.  Hold the 
  book with one hand, and lift the cover with the other.  
  With hinged items there is always the comedic 
  potential of someone getting fingers closed in the 
  opening.
  Note Pad:  In modern, setting a closed book 
  makes an excellent stand in for a clip board.  All 
  kinds of characters use clip boards:  scientists, safety 
  inspectors, work crew foremen, and pollsters.  In 
  future setting, the closed book becomes a data-slate, 
  data-pad, or whatever you game system calls the 
  portable computers.  In addition to “reading” the pad, 
  the character can work buttons or a stylus to call up 
  new information.
  Card
  The heart and soul of Rokugo props is that these 
  are items you already have with you.  If you aren’t 
  carrying cards, using them as props is no reason 
  to start.  But given then nature of the role playing 
  industry, you probably have some cards mixed in with 
  your gaming supplies.  Either a deck of a card game 
  that when out of business, promotional cards out of 
  magazines, the key card from your last convention 
  hotel room, or those fake cards credit card companies 
  send in the mail.
  In modern and futuristic setting there are too many 
  types of cards to count:  I.D. cards, business cards, 
  key cards, etc.  When the research scientist leads the 
  characters into a lab, make the motions to swipe the 
  card.  If the characters steal a pass card to break into 
  a secure compound, wait until the group has split up 
  
  Ramsey “Tome Wyrm” Lundock
  20
  and then ask “Who has the card?”  Unless the player 
  of the character who has made it to the vault is the one 
  who has the card in his hands, that character suddenly 
  realizes he forgot to ask for the card.
  In futuristic settings someone has probably 
  invented a celphone the size of a business card to 
  carry in your wallet.  In Victorian England, anyone of 
  note carried “calling cards” for servants to present to 
  the family of the house to determine if the character 
  should be granted admittance.
  Other possible uses for a card are as a handheld 
  signaling mirror or compact, CB radio handset, a 
  picture of a missing person (or incriminating still 
  frames from the security camera the party failed to 
  spot).  If you’re wearing glasses (see below) you can 
  use your glasses to hold an “eye patch” in place.
  Cards also make a good stand in for throwing 
  knives and shuriken.  Before your actually throw 
  something at your players, remember two things: 
  someone is going to have to pick the card up at the 
  end of the game, and if you start throwing things at 
  the players, they will likely start throwing back.  Of 
  course if the player has it coming, let him have it.
  Finally cards make great book marks when you 
  have to compare different passages to resolve an issue 
  while GMing.
  Glasses
  An above average percent of gamers wear glasses. 
  I don’t know why.  With the availability of cheap 
  contact lenses we can no longer use the excuse that 
  we wear out our eyes reading books and staring at 
  computer screens.  For those of you who do wear 
  glasses, regardless of why, they make a useful Rakugo 
  prop.
  Eyeglasses are a unique shape, and have difficulty 
  passing for other objects.  Fortunately glasses and 
  goggles turn up in a variety of places:  Welding goggles, 
  diving goggles, early 21st century driving goggles, 
  Virtual-reality computer glasses, skiing goggles, night 
  vision gear, leaded glasses to dim the burst from that 
  flash grenade the bounty hunter just threw at the 
  party...
  Glasses are versatile because they are context 
  dependent.  The simple act of looking over the top 
  of the rims has a vastly different meaning when 
  performed by an elderly woman librarian, nightclub 
  womanizer, or a police detective.
  Consider how a character who wears glasses 
  handles them.  Scholarly characters are depicted 
  adjusting their glasses by the edge.  Nerd characters 
  have the classic index-finger-push to the middle of 
  their glasses.  Does the character wear the glasses all 
  of the time.  If not, when he takes them off does he 
  push them up onto his forehead, hang them by his 
  shirt collar, hold them in his hand?  Does the character 
  have a nervous habit of chewing on the ends of her 
  glasses?
  I keep a pair of sunglasses with me at all times. 
  When gaming, I wear them while portraying rock stars 
  or bodyguard/ plain cloths security.  Since I don’t use 
  them for other types of characters, my players quickly 
  learn that when I grab the dark glasses they’ve just run 
  afoul of security.   Other possible uses dark glasses are 
  portraying blind men, highway patrol men and street 
  thugs (particularly from the 1980’s).
  The one drawback to using your glasses as props is 
  it tends to spoil the atmosphere when you have to take 
  off your sunglasses and/or put on your reading glasses 
  to find the character’s next line.
  Tips Tricks & Rants
  Improvise Ahead of Time
  The best way to prepare for the unexpected is to 
  know what to expect.  This only works with regular 
  games with the same group.  It doesn’t when running 
  games for strangers at conventions.   Chances are that 
  your gaming group is some of the people you know 
  best.  Not only at the table, but you know something 
  of their real world lives as well.
  When writing an adventure, or reading a 
  professional module, keep in mind the types of details 
  your group is likely to sidetrack on.  If one of your 
  players prides himself on being irreverent, you know 
  that the alter in the ruined temple is going to get 
  desecrated.  Decide ahead of time how hard it is to 
  break.  If your group can’t pass up any treasure light 
  enough carry, decide ahead of time what it takes to 
  cut the tapestries down without damaging them.  You 
  know the first thing your group is going to do when 
  they make planet-fall is find a Spacers bar.  If the 
  adventure doesn’t include one, plan one out on your 
  
  Instant GM II: On Your Mark, Get Set, GM!
  21
  own.  
  And regardless of the setting, if there is a library 
  in the adventure, have a list of the titles of at least one 
  dozen of the books.  If there is a book on the table, 
  decide what is written on the open page and if there is 
  a bookmark on any of the other pages.
  Dramatic Pace 
  Role Playing Games are the direct descendent of 
  table top strategy games.  Specifically, the first role 
  playing game, started out as a variant of Gary Gygax’s 
  Chainmail system.  Dave Arneson ran the first RPG in 
  his basement in1971.  He communicated his variant 
  rules to Gary Gygax, who expanded and published 
  them.  Gary Gygax named the new game Dungeons 
  and Dragons.
  With this linage, it is understandable that many 
  games are run like military campaigns.  The group 
  plays through the adventure at a cautious pace.  If 
  there are any rules questions, everything stops until 
  they can be resolved.  And when it is time to end the 
  evenings session, you write down where you were in 
  the adventure, and pick up from the same place next 
  week.
  In recent years there has been a shift away from 
  this sentiment.  The change has been driven by the 
  number of one-shot games run at conventions where 
  the GM has a set amount of time to present the 
  plot.  Another driving factor has been the number 
  of episodic fantasy/adventure TV shows, where each 
  weeks plot is independent.
  The Armchair Generals of the strategy games 
  have been replaced by a new breed of Armchair 
  Action Heroes.  These players are less concerned with 
  tracking the weight of their gear down to the 1/10th 
  of a pound, and more concerned about if the gear is 
  cool enough to fit their heroic image.  These players 
  want their games to rise to a climax, and then reach 
  a resolution.  Then, pick up a new plot next game 
  session.  Even in a continuous plot they expect a “mini 
  climax” in each session.
  The half-hour fantasy adventure show follows a 
  fairly predictable pattern:  The first 18 minutes of an 
  episode are spent on plot, character development and 
  character interactions.  Then in the last four minutes, 
  the characters let their actions speak louder than 
  words.  (That is for the United States format.  If you 
  are watching unedited Japanese anime it breaks down 
  to 20 minutes build up and 5 minutes violence.)
  An action-adventure gaming session should follow 
  the same pattern:  Figure about seventy-five to eighty 
  percent should be filled with sneaking around, finding 
  clues, talking to people, and generally letting the party 
  role-playing their way into trouble.  Combat during 
  this part should be non-existent or handled quickly as 
  the characters easily do away with minions.  
  Towards the end of the gaming session the players 
  will want their characters to confront the major 
  villains.  If the players/characters have ignored or 
  bungled the plot and have no idea what’s going on, 
  the villain will probably either corner or capture the 
  characters.  At which point he can explain his evil 
  scheme to the characters before ordering his flunkies 
  to kill them.  Another possibility  is the villain of the 
  adventure will become proactive against the player 
  characters, and try to deter them by violence against 
  them, or the threat of violence against innocents.  In 
  short if the characters don’t find the final fight, it will 
  find them.
  Roles of NPC
  Every Non Player Character serves a function in 
  the over all plot.  When improvising it is important 
  to remember each character’s function, so that you 
  can use them to that end.  If you find you need an 
  impromptu Ally (or Antagonist or Contagonist), 
  before you create a new one, consider the NPCs 
  included in the adventure and see if one of them 
  will work.   Remembering the character’s role in the 
  adventure is as vital to staying “in character” while 
  improvising as remembering the NPC’s personality 
  quirks.
  Allies:  These are people who are on the same side 
  as the Player Characters.  They may or may not also be 
  heroic characters.  They include girlfriends, friendly 
  police detectives, mechanics, trainers, butlers, etc. 
  These characters require game statistics almost as 
  detailed as the player characters.  Most Allies are less 
  powerful than the PCs.  Allies should rarely, if ever 
  save the day, but they’ll come into the middle of things 
  to help the player characters save the day.
  
  Ramsey “Tome Wyrm” Lundock
  22
  Antagonists:  Anyone who tries to stop the Player 
  Characters is an Antagonist.  An Antagonist will 
  always have reasons for wanting to stop the PCs.  He 
  could be protecting his master, carrying out a vendetta 
  against one of the PC, or trying to win the attention 
  of a love interest.  Antagonists are logical and can be 
  reasoned with.  For example, a FBI agent hunting down 
  superhero vigilantes would be an antagonist who’s just 
  doing his job.  Sometimes antagonists can be talked 
  out of committing misguided evil deeds, or deals can 
  be struck.  An antagonist may even change sides if the 
  PCs befriend him or offer him a better deal.
  Antagonists require full character statistics.  They 
  will be the same power level or more slightly more 
  powerful than the PCs.
  Contagonists:  A contagonist is someone who 
  works at cross purposes to the  player characters.  The 
  contagonists motives might be selfish (seize control of 
  a corporation), noble (rob the player character to give 
  the to the poor), or questionable (wreak vengeance). 
  Some may even be trying achieve the same goal as the 
  PCs, but want to do it with their own hands.  Each will 
  have to be dealt with on a case by case basis, and after 
  the conflict, the PCs and the contagonists could walk 
  away friends or bitter enemies.   
  Contagonists require full character statistics.  They 
  will be close to the same power level as the PCs. 
  Flunkies:  Opponents who are far less powerful 
  than the PC are Flunkies.  Flunkies are not mindless 
  combat machines.  Each has a reason for fighting 
  with the PCs, even if it’s just a simple mugging.  You 
  don’t have to spend too much time developing the 
  personality or motivations of a Flunky, because a 
  party with even limited combat ability is going to put 
  him on his back with little difficulty.  
  While the character of the Flunky will live their 
  entire life in the campaign world, he will only cross 
  paths with the characters for one scene.  You only 
  need to know what he wants right now, and why he 
  wants it.
  Flunkies can be represented with simplified 
  character statistics.  They do not need skills unless one 
  is relevant to the roll they will play (example:  Drive 
  for someone chasing the PCs in a car).  All they need 
  are combat statistics.  Most of the time all thugs in a 
  gang can be given the same combat statistics, and no 
  one will notice.
  Normals:  A Normal is a Non Player Character 
  in the game who has no connection to the over all 
  plot.  The innkeepers, the cab drivers, the innocent 
  by-standers, and possibly even the heroes’ fans.  Most 
  of the time, Normals are part of the background, but 
  you never know who the Player Characters will want 
  to talk to.  
  Normals require nothing in the way of combat 
  statistics, because the first time they’re hit, they go 
  down.  It’s the GM’s choice as to if they are dead, 
  unconscious, hysterical, or running for their lives.
  Patrons:  These are powerful Non Player Characters 
  who work on the same side as the Player Characters. 
  Patrons often hire heroes to do their work for them. 
  The heroes may be freelance doing occasional jobs, or 
  they could be full time members or an organization 
  where they report to the Patron.  Another class patron 
  is the venerable old master whom the character’s visit 
  when they can’t overcome their obstacles.  
  Patrons are a powerful tool for the GM, and easy 
  to mishandle.  In theory they are much more powerful 
  than the PCs in terms of knowledge and worldly 
  power.  However, they never actually do anything for 
  themselves, always acting through intermediaries such 
  as the PC.  Patrons never have the ability to help the 
  PCs with their problems, but they have a remarkable 
  talent for helping the PCs get into trouble.  
  You should never create a Patron as an 
  improvisation.  By if there is a Patron in the campaign, 
  you can improvise freely with him.  Patrons have 
  unexplained access to all kinds of restricted equipment. 
  If there is something needed for the plot that the PCs 
  can’t get for themselves (treasure maps, starships, 
  invitations to parties, CIA intelligence reports) the 
  Patron can get it for them.  Using Patrons in the game 
  is a delicate balance.  They help the PCs, in exchange 
  for the PCs’ help.  Before the Patron does anything to 
  help the PCs, stop and think, “What does he get in 
  exchange for his trouble?”  If the PCs ask for something 
  that would eliminate the difficulty and danger of the 
  mission, then if the Patron could provide that, he’d 
  just do it himself rather than sending the PCs.  If the 
  PCs want something that will get them to the difficult 
  and dangerous parts faster, the Patron can probably 
  provide it.  
  
  Instant GM II: On Your Mark, Get Set, GM!
  23
  Patrons can turn up literally anywhere.  If the 
  characters are eavesdropping on a conversation at an 
  exclusive golf club, the Patron walks up (undetected) 
  behind them and asks if he can play through.  If the 
  party is eating at the dingiest noodle bar in Hong 
  Kong, the Patron is sitting two stools down because 
  “Ken Gu here makes the best ramen in Asia.”   You can 
  also use the Patron for a Quick End.  After the heroes 
  have paddled up the Amazon River to a forgotten 
  temple to face the Jaguar God and stopped him from 
  taking over the world, the Patron might show up with 
  a helicopter to airlift them to civilization, rather than 
  making the PCs go through the long and anticlimactic 
  trek back.  If the PCs capture the bad guy and his 
  lieutenants, the Patron can be trusted to round up the 
  rest of the gang.  Don’t over use the Quick End.  The 
  Patron never wins the final fight.  He may show up on 
  his yacht when PCs have just redlined reactor on the 
  Soviet submarine and need to escape, but without the 
  heroes there doing the work, he wouldn’t have done 
  anything.
  A Patron should have a list of attributes and skills 
  to define what type of person he is.  They should 
  have detailed histories, motivations and worldly 
  connections, even if the Player character do not know 
  the true goals of the Patron.  Patrons really only need 
  one game stat:  They can do that because the GM say 
  so.
  Not all campaigns will have a Patron character in 
  it.
  Villains:  Villains are like Antagonists, in the 
  fact that they have reasons for opposing the Player 
  Characters.  Unlike Antagonists, a Villain’s reasons are 
  all evil.  Villains can not be reasoned with.  They know 
  what they want, and don’t care how many people get 
  hurt or killed because of it.  Some enjoy making others 
  suffer for no reason.  They are arrogant, treating their 
  minions with open disdain, and holding no regard for 
  life.  Often they have a twisted since of beauty, and 
  surround themselves with disturbing items.  Villains 
  are without redeeming qualities and the PC should be 
  able to kill them, guilt free.  However killing them is 
  harder than it sounds.
  Villains require full character Statistics.  They will 
  be significantly more powerful than the PCs.  Villains 
  also have worldly power.  They protect themselves with 
  castles, modern security systems, or underground 
  bunkers.  They hire guards and may be powerful 
  enough coerce a national army into their service. 
  Their power doesn’t have to be physical.  Villains with 
  economical or legal power could make the characters’ 
  lives very difficult, without having to see them face 
  to face.  Magical abilities might be available to the 
  villain.
  When the PCs foil a Villains plan too early in the 
  game session, forcing you to improvise, remember 
  that a good Villain will always have a plan “B.” Plan 
  B will achieve the same goal as the original plot, but 
  with a higher body count.  Improvise a scene along 
  the lines that: the villain orders a missile strike on the 
  fortress the PCs saved, uses a voudoun doll (usually 
  misspelled voodoo doll) to kill the nun while the 
  characters are guarding her, or just bribes the Chief of 
  Police to get his drug shipment back.  If the question 
  comes up whether the Villain has that kind of power: 
  like the Patron, he can do that because the GM says he 
  can.  This will frustrate the players to no end having 
  the villain ‘cheat.’  And they will love it all the more 
  when they get to cave his skull in.  
  Not all campaigns will have a villain.  Cyber punk 
  games in particular avoid villains.  Megacorporations 
  may do evil things, but really they are just doing what 
  they have to in order to survive.  There members 
  are calloused and calculating, but they don’t enjoy it 
  enough to be evil.
  The Importance of Research
  When forced to improvise during a game, it 
  helps if you have some background knowledge to help 
  you fill in the gaps.  You don’t have to be an expert, 
  but take the time to do some research.  Role playing 
  games are actually some of the most accurate, concise 
  and detailed resources available for firearms.  But they 
  tend to be weaker on other subjects.  From time to 
  time, fantasy GMs should read a book about real world 
  myths or historical campaigns rather than a new game 
  supplement.  Science Fiction GMs need to subscribe 
  to a periodical about new science and technology.
  Many people like to do their research via the 
  internet.  There is an astounding amount of information 
  on the web, and a little of it is actually correct.  I prefer 
  the look and feel of a good old fashioned book.  And 
  its a lot easier to read a book 5 or 10 minutes at a time 
  
  Ramsey “Tome Wyrm” Lundock
  24
  between classes or while waiting on the next train.
  The other drawback to internet research is 
  that it is too each to skim for keywords.  The most 
  useful part of research is not the facts you look up, 
  it the trivia you come across while reading.  While 
  reading about a historical military campaign, you’ll 
  find odd references to the local foods (great for when 
  the players ask what is on the tavern menu), how the 
  army dealt with things like chariot repairs, washed-
  out roads, or snowstorms, and dozens of problems 
  and complications a modern person would not think 
  to consider.  A good reference will explain what the 
  weapons of choice were, and why.  Take as many notes 
  as you can stand (highlight the book if you own it).
  In Science Fiction, it is a sure bet than any 
  source book 5 years or older is outdated.  Sometimes 
  even books hot off the presses have “futuristic” 
  technology that lags behind current capabilities.  If 
  you read science/tech periodical, you will encounter 
  great ideas for obstacles to throw at the characters, 
  new toys to reward them with, perhaps even ideas for 
  an entire adventure.  If you don’t have the background 
  to understand the principles behind the gizmos, keep 
  a list of techno-babble you can throw at the players 
  when they ask how something works.
  Are there any particular topics you should 
  look into?  Yes, any that hold your interest enough 
  to make you want to do more research.  Avoid over 
  specialization, a little knowledge about a wide base 
  goes farther than detailed knowledge of a specific, 
  person, era, or technology.  There are however a 
  couple of areas that Game Masters and game writers 
  screw-up on a regular basis:
  Death & Decomposition:  The ‘instant death’ 
  is largely a myth propagated by murder mysteries. 
  There are ways to kill a person so that he will be dead 
  before he hits the ground, but these require large 
  amounts of either training or luck.  King Arthur was 
  mortally wounded in the evening and lasted until the 
  following dawn.  This is not unreasonable, given the 
  weapons available.  With firearms it is possible to line 
  up a shot through the vital sections of the brain, but 
  this would be virtually impossible if the target was 
  putting up any kind of resistance, including running 
  away.
  Even when death is quick, it is virtually 
  impossible to mistake a dead body for sleeping. 
  Postmortem twitching moves the body into an 
  unnatural position that the person/animal would 
  never be lying in if it was still alive.  This is one of the 
  most disturbing aspects of finding a body.
  The only time you find a find a complete body 
  is if it has been locked in a coffin where animals can’t 
  get at it.  Over the course of three days to two weeks 
  dogs, birds, rats, and anything strong enough to drag 
  a bone, will rip off a piece and carry it away to eat 
  at their leisure.  At the end, your not even left with 
  a pile of bones, the remains are strewn over a 5 foot 
  radius. So, if you’ve been wondering why the party 
  stops to pour holy water over every skeleton they find 
  lying in the hallway, it is because one of your players 
  realizes that the only way to have an intact skeleton is 
  if someone has specifically prepared it.
  Fantasy Names:  Every Non Player Character 
  will have a name.  There are literally entire books of 
  potential names (usually published under titles like 
  “The Big Book of Baby names.”)  The setting will 
  determine what names are appropriate.  If you take 
  the advice at the beginning of this chapter and start 
  reading actual historical accounts, keep a handwritten 
  list of names folded in the back cover of the book. 
  Every time you come across a name that would work 
  in your setting, jot it down on the list.
  Created names for medieval fantasy characters 
  usually sound contrived, and spoil the atmosphere. 
  This is because in true medieval England children 
  were always given proper Christian names. This was a 
  limited pool consisting mostly of names drawn from 
  the Bible such as:  John, Joseph, Joshua, Henry, Mark, 
  Mathew.  For females names like, Mary, Ruth, Sara. 
  To cope with the fact that their might be three people 
  in a village, all named Robert, the English developed 
  extensive nicknames for the most popular names: 
  Margaret (Maggie, Meg, Peg, Marge), Richard (Rich, 
  Rick, Dick), Robert (Rob ,Bob, Bert), William (Will, 
  Bill).  If a man’s name was Rick, it was a good bet that 
  is father is called either Rich or Dick; and his son was 
  called by the other.  Continental European history is 
  not my strong point, but judging from the number of 
  people named Juan, Jose, Jesus, Maria, or Margarita, 
  the same logic can be applied to Spain.
  
  Instant GM II: On Your Mark, Get Set, GM!
  25
  Sailing Ships:  Most game products treat tall 
  masted ships as if they are giant cars that drive on water. 
  I’ve lost count of the number of games I’ve been in as a 
  player that were scuttled because the ‘right’ decisions 
  were based on the author’s misconceptions about 
  ships.  In reality ships are slow and unmaneuverable. 
  It takes 3 minuets to reload a cannon and about that 
  much time to climb the rigging from the deck to the 
  crow’s nest.  But that doesn’t slow things down because 
  after one pass it will take at least 15 minutes to get the 
  ships turned around for a second pass.  
  What ships are good at is carrying heavy loads 
  (cargo or cannons) for long distances cheaply, and not 
  quickly, but faster than you can transport the same 
  goods over land.  Rather than thinking of them as 
  large cars, a better first approximation is to think of 
  ships as movable buildings.
  Ships are also effected by winds, other weather 
  conditions and ocean currents.  The travel time along 
  a trade route depends on which direction the ship is 
  traveling and the season.
  Don’t Face the Players on their Home 
  Turf
  This is the other side of the coin from research. 
  Your players will know things that you don’t.  GMing 
  about a subject the players know better than you is a 
  sure disaster.  You won’t be able to handle it the way 
  the players think you should.  Do whatever you can 
  to stay off of the players home turf.  This is difficult 
  because the characters will wander off in a direction 
  that interests the players, but if you are aware of this 
  pitfall you can resist.
  If one of the players has served in the armed 
  services and you haven’t, resist that players attempts to 
  ‘call in the cavalry.’  When adlibbing, you will inevitable 
  mishandle some aspect of military procedures, 
  etiquette or capabilities.  The game will then come to a 
  grinding halt, while the player recounts stories about 
  how he’s seen this situation handled.
  Likewise if one of your players is a martial arts 
  fanatic, holding at least one black belt, unless you are 
  physically his equal, keep unarmed combat as abstract 
  and by the rules as possible.  Let the player describe 
  the various kicks and grapples his character uses, but 
  if you try to give vivid descriptions of the opponent’s 
  attacks, the player will find some fault in the technique 
  you’re describing and then get mad if you don’t let him 
  exploit it. 
  The Perils of Over Research:  A Personal 
  Warning
   While it is good to have a wide array of 
  information at your disposal, your players might not 
  know what you think is common knowledge.
  For Gen Con 2001, I wrote a scenario Gun 
  Boat Diplomacy: a slightly futuristic police story set 
  in NeoTokyo, where a Japanese Self Defense Force 
  General stages an act of terrorism.  His goal is to create 
  a political environment where it will be acceptable for 
  Japan to have a full fledged Army, rather than the Self 
  Defense Force they have been limited to since World 
  War II.
  In all the times I have run Gun Boat 
  Diplomacy, not one group has ever figured out the 
  underlying plot; even though the “foreign terrorists” 
  all speak Japanese and the opening text explicitly 
  mentions both the Japanese Self Defense Force and 
  the US troops on Japanese soil.  Thankfully the game 
  had enough mindless action that everyone had fun 
  fighting the “terrorists.”  I am now living in Japan, and 
  the Japanese military came up in a recent conversation. 
  Of the three Japanese people present, only one of them 
  knew that the Japanese armed forces aren’t technically 
  an army, and the other two hadn’t noticed that Japan’s 
  jet fighters all have the English initials “SDF” painted 
  on them.
  A Final Word:  This is Not the Zen of the 
  Game Master
  Originally this product was going to be called 
  “The Zen of the Game Master,” but it turns out that 
  Zen does not accept role playing games.  Zen is a 
  religion which teaches that anything from martial 
  arts, to landscaping, to motorcycle maintenance can 
  be meditation if done in the proper state of mind.  So 
  what does it have against role playing games?
  Zen explicitly rejects the meditation practice 
  of Visualization, found in other Buddhist sects. 
  Visualization teaches that to overcome your fear 
  of the literal demons which stand between you and 
  enlightenment, you should form an image of them in 
  
  Ramsey “Tome Wyrm” Lundock
  26
  your mind.  The goal is to achieve an image so realistic 
  that it actually moves and blinks.  Keep concentrating 
  until you can hear it breathing and smell its stench. 
  Once the demon is as real to you as anything else, 
  let it attack and consume you until there is no body 
  left.  Repeat this exercise again and again until it stops 
  scarring you.  Then, you are ready to confront your 
  demons, literal and figurative.
  The next step in Visualization is designed to 
  drive home the Buddhist teaching that the world is 
  actually an illusion.  The meditation practitioner 
  envisions a room in such detail that he can move 
  his point of view around the room and not find 
  any anomalies.  In advanced stages the practitioner 
  imagines himself picking up and interacting with the 
  objects in the room.  He also goes beyond a single 
  room and creates elaborate multi-room complexes 
  to explore.  To help with this task there are lengthy 
  scriptures describing sample buildings to explore. 
  (What this has to do with religion is if this make 
  believe world is so real that you know the texture of 
  the walls, what proof is there that the “real” world is 
  real?)
  The final step of Visualization is to accept 
  the Buddhist teaching of “Atman,” or no self.  Which 
  teaches that there is no soul and the individual 
  consciousness is as much an illusion as the rest of the 
  world.  To this end you create a new persona for your 
  self.  A person with memories, skill sets, and world 
  views different from your own.  Then you explore the 
  world created in step two, not as your self, but as the 
  new persona.
  So sorry, there is no Zen of Role Playing.  But 
  would you rather sit around contemplating the sound 
  of one hand clapping, or create your character, design 
  you dungeon and go face the monsters?
  (By the way the answer to “What is the sound 
  of one hand clapping?” is for the student to thrust 
  his hand, palm forwards, up and towards the master. 
  The master then repeats the question and the student 
  replies “From the front it sounds like a crow, from the 
  back it sounds like a cuckoo.”  to which the master 
  replies, “If you can hear it so clearly, then let me hear 
  it!”  At which point the student slaps the master.  Now 
  that we’ve answered that question, lets go kick some 
  Visualized demon tail!)
  
  Instant GM II: On Your Mark, Get Set, GM!
  27
  Appendix: Quick Reference Tables
  Table 1 - Plot Seeds
  Plot Seed
  Variants
  Body Snatcher
  The Chase
  Hot Potato
  Counter Ops
  Defend the Fort
  Delivery
  Diplomacy
  The Fugitive
  Jail Break
  Giant Monster Steps on the City
  Kill the Monster
  Ninja Mission
  The Quest
  Stranger in a Strange Land
  The Race
  Save the Princess
  Scavenger Hunt
  Serial Killer
  The Mad Bomber
  The Swarm
  Who Did It
  War
  Table 2- Adventure Hooks
  Adventure Hooks
  Variants
  Arrested/Kidnapped
  Blackmail
  The Prophecy
  Help Wanted
  Missed the Left Turn at Albuquerque
  Organizational Ties
  Favor For a Friend
  Revenge
  A Ghost from the Past
  Reward
  A Sad Story
  Shipwrecked
  Some Strings Attached
  Something is Rotten in the State of Denmark
  Treasure Map
  The Wager
  You’re sitting in a Tavern When…
  
  Ramsey “Tome Wyrm” Lundock
  28
  Table 3 - Stock Character Quick Reference
  Stock Character
  Plot Purpose
  Description/quote
  Angel
  Divine Intervention, Guidance or 
  Wrath
  Helps the worthy. Passes judgment on the wicked.
  Businessman
  Stoic Ally or Enemy
  “Nothing personal, just business.”
  Carnivore
  Random Wilderness Encounter
  Hunts to live.
  Computer
  Self aware Interface for Technology
  “That is illogical.  Please rephrase your request.”
  Drifter
  Helps, when the group is off of the 
  beaten track
  “I’m not headed anywhere in particular.”
  Ghost
  Explain the events surrounding its 
  death
  “Thus I am curse to haunt.  Not alive.  Not Dead.”
  Herbivore
  Fill in the gaps in the ecology
  Gets eaten a lot.
  Horse
  Transportation
  Smart enough to cause real problems for character 
  with no horse sense.
  Insider
  Point out clues the party missed
  Mysterious “friend” who never shows himself
  Man-Friday
  Takes care of the details
  “The details have already been taken care of, Sir.”
  Nutcase
  Only guy crazy enough to take the 
  job.
  Hyper active jerk
  Shade Tree 
  Mechanic
  Fixes technology
  Mentally slow, but does good work
  Shopkeep
  Sells equipment
  “I’m trying to run a business here.”
  Skid Row
  Dumpster diving for witnesses
  Isn’t playing with a full deck
  Slave
  Labor
  Fears change
  Temptress
  Backdoor to the Mastermind’s 
  organization
  Always looks out for herself
  Old Man
  First hand account of historical events
  Too old to care
  
  Instant GM II: On Your Mark, Get Set, GM!
  29
  Table 4 - Stock Character From Instant GM 1
  Stock Character
  Plot Purpose
  Description/quote
  Anime Girl
  Comic Relief, Tender Loving Care
  Sickeningly perky
  Barkeep
  Serves drinks and information
  When he gives out information, he’s looking for 
  tips, not trouble.
  Bureaucrat/Middle 
  Management
  Facilitates or Impeded access to the 
  System
  Does not like change or surprises
  Corporate Service 
  Personnel
  Works at the front counter
  Hides her personality behind a uniform
  Daredevil
  Takes difficult jobs for the challenge
  He’s the best there is.  And he is the first to tell 
  you that.
  Domsetic Servant
  Tidies up after heroes or villains
  Knows more about the household than anyone
  Dwarf
  It’s a Dwarf!
  Works hard.  Parties harder.
  Elf
  It’s an Elf!
  Elitist
  Employeer
  Hires the party.
  Never trust a helpful Employer.
  Knight
  A powerful rival or enemy
  Honorable, not stupid
  Law Enforcement
  Maintain civil order
  Would like to lock up the party, to be on the safe 
  side
  Mad Scientist
  Creates monsters
  “It’s Alive!”
  Peasant
  Agricultural labor to support Feudalism
  Prefers the devil he knows to the devil he 
  doesn’t.
  Professional
  Provides skills the party needs
  “Those are my terms.  Do we have a deal or 
  not?”
  Savage
  Local Guide
  Coldhearted
  Sidekick
  Helps a heroic character
  Always second best, behind his leader
  Shady Dealer
  Buys and sells anything
  “Everyone has a price.”
  Swashbuckler
  A flashy rival or enemy
  A pirate
  Thug
  Gets beaten up by the party
  Likes beating people up
  
  Ramsey “Tome Wyrm” Lundock
  30
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  COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any original Open Game Content you Distribute. 
  7. Use of Product Identity: You agree not to Use any Product Identity, 
  including as an indication as to compatibility, except as expressly licensed in 
  another, independent Agreement with the owner of each element of that Product 
  Identity. You agree not to indicate compatibility or co-adaptability with any 
  Trademark or Registered Trademark in conjunction with a work containing 
  Open Game Content except as expressly licensed in another, independent 
  Agreement with the owner of such Trademark or Registered Trademark. The use 
  of any Product Identity in Open Game Content does not constitute a challenge 
  to the ownership of that Product Identity. The owner of any Product Identity 
  used in Open Game Content shall retain all rights, title and interest in and to 
  that Product Identity. 
  8. Identification: If you distribute Open Game Content You must clearly 
  indicate which portions of the work that you are distributing are Open Game 
  Content. 
  9. Updating the License: Wizards or its designated Agents may publish 
  updated versions of this License. You may use any authorized version of this 
  License to copy, modify and distribute any Open Game Content originally 
  distributed under any version of this License. 
  10. Copy of this License: You MUST include a copy of this License with 
  every copy of the Open Game Content You Distribute. 
  11. Use of Contributor Credits: You may not market or advertise the Open 
  Game Content using the name of any Contributor unless You have written 
  permission from the Contributor to do so. 
  12. Inability to Comply: If it is impossible for You to comply with any of the 
  terms of this License with respect to some or all of the Open Game Content due 
  to statute, judicial order, or governmental regulation then You may not Use any 
  Open Game Material so affected. 
  13. Termination: This License will terminate automatically if You fail to 
  comply with all terms herein and fail to cure such breach within 30 days of 
  becoming aware of the breach. All sublicenses shall survive the termination of 
  this License. 
  14. Reformation: If any provision of this License is held to be unenforceable, 
  such provision shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make it 
  enforceable. 
  15. COPYRIGHT NOTICE 
  Open Game License v 1.0a Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc. 
  System Reference Document Copyright 2000-2003, Wizards of the Coast, 
  Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Rich baker, Andy 
  Collins, David noonan, Rich Redman, Bruce R. Cordell, based on original 
  material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. 
  Instant GM II Copyright 2007 by ComStar Media, LLC.  Author Ramsey 
  Lundock
  END OF LICENSE 
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/_GM Books/Instant GM 2 - On your Mark, Get Set, GM.pdf