Add life to outdoors:

This is an important scenario-building aspect. Most of the authors only take this aspect lightly, assuming that this is not a need in a scenario. But, this is not true.

Why? Take a look at these examples:

1. The scenario has an interesting plot, beautiful graphics and
well-made dialogues. The town and dungeons are excellent. But the outdoors section has nothing but grass, a rather long stream and hills. There are no special encounters and no outdoor shops.

2. The scenario has a fair plot, no custom graphics and only has 10 towns and dungeons. But the outdoor section is filled with grass and flowers, rocks, streams and lakes, hills, swampy areas and much more. There are secret passages and interesting special encounters too, most of them are well-created.

So, which one will you prefer? Make a comparison. Most of you will certainly choose the second one, right?

Yes, outdoors has a life of its own too. A scenario will be not complete if there is no outdoor life. Instead, it will bore the players, no matter how interesting your plot is. Sure, towns have peoples, but the outdoors has more than merely people. There are monsters and plenty of wildlife out there. 

How? Well, here are a few tips:
1. Variate your terrains, especially grass and hills. Add some flowers  and non-life things in it. It will be much nicer to see these than plain grass fields. An easy way to do this: Use the Frill Up Terrain command from the outdoors section.

2. Make some outdoor stores and farms. Not all people live in towns and villages, some prefer to live on their own. Make some of these like a farmer inviting you for a tea or a magic shop selling items, and you will see interesting farms and shops, not plains fields.

3. Include interesting nodes too. Make a monster encounter, an alchemy ingredient pick-up and wandering travellers etc. are a good way of adding life in the outdoors.

4. Use the ideal terrain for the right place. Example: What will you think if there is no swamp near a river or lake? Sounds ridicolous, isn't it? Put a few in, and it will look much more normal.

5. If you can, make some custom terrains. It will really enhance your terrain look.

That's all. And remember, outdoor does has a life of its own.

--HYZ


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