Ad-Lib Session Balancer/Tension Builder • 2016 supplement

GM: During the session, secretly place a tally mark for each player success vs. a challenge in one of the task categories below. (Ignore failures.)  

*When a challenge category has 2 or more tally marks than any other, narratively and mechanically increase the difficulty and/or cost of success (i.e. enemy has powerful secret weapon; players find an armored escape vehicle, but they won't all fit inside it; players figure out an NPC can be bribed, but it will cost one player dearly).

*Increase the difficulty/cost of success even further for any challenge with 4+ tally marks.

*Use this chart as a reminder to create interesting non-combat challenges for players on the fly (i.e. Navigate through summer squall; Find the secret drawer; Bluff the crime boss; Hack the CyberGolem; Set a booby trap).

_________Combat - Defeating/Routing foes; successful defense of a location/person

_________Transit/Access/Environmental - Getting to/from a location; races/chases; landscape hazards

_________Find/Discover - Obtain hidden information/items by analysis, perception, or exploration 

_________Interaction - Persuade/fool key NPCs; detect NPC motives/mental states/trickery

_________Expertise - Use character-unique talents/skills/powers to achieve goal, solve problem, show off. 

List Expertise used:

***P1-

***P2 -

***P3 -

***P4 -