Creating more interesting epic battles. From: SirKevinMc@aol.com Everyone hates a hack-a-thon, sure. They're long, tedious, and have a tendency to make your scenario dull. But there are ways to work in a few epic fights into your scenario, most of which were stolen directly from console RPG's. 1) Something like the Mammon Machine from Chrono Trigger™. If you aren't familiar with the game, the Mammon Machine increases its attack power when you hit it with magic and its defense power when you hit it with physicals. After a while (maybe 2-3 minutes) it releases its stored energy. A suggestion for this would be making two "mini" 200 HP Machines which would regenerate after saying something like "(Monster Name) is storing energy." After each "death", you could increment the stuff done counter, and it would be checked each turn. A sample: Mammon Machine 2 x 200HP (400 HP total) Upon each death, increment SD Flag (x, y) by 1 and regenerate new Mammon Machine IF SD Flag (x, y) is greater than or equal to 1, THEN use some sort of one-shot damage node against the party. IF SD Flag (x, y) is greater than or equal to 2, the Mammon Machine quits regenerating and dies. An added bonus to this technique is that you can create as many "phases" as you want, thus giving a player no idea as to what they are really up against, akin to the later bosses of Final Fantasy™ V in which after casting "Scan" (FF equivalent of Scry Monster) you would receive a bunch of question marks. 2. You could do something similar for a monster that gets "mad" after you've taken away, say, two thirds of its HP by creating two "mini-monsters". An example is my "Warlord of Inferno" from a scenario I'm working on. He's got around 750 HP, but in two forms: regular and enraged. After you've hacked him for 500 HP (this scenario is intended for high-level parties) he gains the ability to breath fire *and* has significantly increased attack power, but a lower defense, thus representing his anger. Then, if you lack a certain special item from a side quest (Eclipse Amulet), he blasts you with a Solar Flare (Fire sfx burst, 50-80 Unblockable damage, and four points disease from the radiation). 3. Tag-Team Monsters, such as Ozzie, Flea, and Slash in Chrono Trigger™, or the Magus sisters in Final Fantasy™ II. Both of these groups had a nasty special attack they could use when they were together, but if you destroyed one of them, the team fell apart, or, in the case of the first group, were reduced to mere Two-Monster Techniques. One such example is "Cosmic Darkness" from the same upcoming scenario as the "Warlord of Inferno". Until you knocked out a certain part of its body (in this case the left hand), it would cast all sorts of horrendous special spells, like Spread Nuke and MP Buster, which would drain HP and MP, respectively. 4. The Caller and Called Beasts. And I'm not talking your run-of-the-mill Giant Lizards or Spirits. In the same scenario as the one previously mentioned, a powerful (but friendly) Nephil Conjurer "calls" such powerful beings as Firebird, Water Dragon, Thunder Monster, or Ice Valkyrie, each of which would execute their specialty and then return to wherever. You could even make a side plot in which the party gets sucked in to wherever called monsters live. Alright, I realize it's a bit long, but who knows? You might use some of my suggestions. Oh, and BTW, I recommend that you play a least a few of the console RPG's out there. They'll probably give you more inspiration.