bug: Pages numbered correctly in books/core

books/core/292.html

@@ -1,13 +1,21 @@
     <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/book-page.css">
 <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/book-page.css">
-<h2>VOICE SHARD</h2>
-<p>A fist-sized shard of glassy crystal. It is said that whoever holds this crystal fragment can hear voices whose wisdom leads to power, wealth and prosperity. Some believe the voices belong to a pantheon of forgotten deities; others claim they are the voices of wise and generous people that lived in a past age (or will exist in the future!). However, the voices can only be heard by the person who grips this artifact... which means others will have to trust their sincerity.</p>
+<h1>DESIGNING BATTLES</h1>
+<p>As the Game Master, your role is to create battles that challenge the Player Characters and enrich the story. The following pages will provide you with a variety of tools and guidelines that will help with the mechanical side — but first, there are a few important points you should try to remember.</p>
 
-<h2>WAND OF THE WILDS</h2>
-<p>A tiny, finger-long wooden wand, decorated with emerald leaves. Too tiny and fragile to be used as a weapon, this precious artifact allows people to turn into animals. The wielder can use an action to change a willing creature (including themselves) into a small beast — such as a cat, fish, bird, pup, or squirrel. Anything carried by the person becomes part of the animal form; while transformed they cannot speak, fight or use magic. The wand itself, however, can never become part of a transformed character’s equipment... if you turn yourself into an animal with it, you’ll have to carry the artifact in your mouth, beak, or talons!</p>
-<p>Anyone wielding or carrying the wand can use an action to reverse a creature's transformation — if the artifact is lost or stolen, the transformation can only be reversed by a powerful spellcaster (Chimerism discipline, extreme potency).</p>
+<ul>
+<li><strong>Relevant battles.</strong> A battle takes place when two sides are at odds and resort to violence in order to achieve their goals. Battles should be meaningful: they should build upon what previously happened in the story, add new interesting characters or plot elements and move things forward in some important way.</li>
+<li><strong>People, not numbers.</strong> Characters are more than their stats. They have emotions, a personality, their own lives and goals — when they fight, they do so for a reason. Even the ones that aren't the focus of your story should be treated as more than disposable, faceless pawns.</li>
+<li><strong>More than the sum of its parts.</strong> There are a variety of elements that can alter the threat posed by a situation — the options available to Player Characters, for instance, or the particular synergy between two monsters. Once you add the environment, the whim of the dice and the occasional use of Ritual magic into the mix, you can see that there is no way to foresee the outcome of a battle — and that’s okay. Being the GM has nothing to do with being “in control”, but rather with your ability to react to unexpected situations. Battles are just like that — sometimes, things will get weird, or the heroes will steamroll their foe. Don’t sweat it too much.</li>
+<li><strong>Balance.</strong> While the advice in the coming pages is geared towards building a somewhat balanced challenge, remember that there’s nothing wrong with an easy battle every once in a while, or the occasional super-hard boss fight. Just don’t make those the norm, or they'll lose their charm!</li>
+</ul>
 
-<h2>WINDSCALE</h2>
-<p>This translucent gold scale is about as wide as a human hand. It is unclear which creature shed this beautiful scale — but whatever it was, it must have been a true marvel of nature. Whoever dons this artifact gains the ability to fly and levitate at will as long as the scale remains in contact with their skin. Some say that prolonged contact with this artifact may permanently alter the bearer's physiology, gradually turning them into... who knows what.</p>
+<p>More importantly, respect the Players' expectations and what you discussed during session zero (see page 147), and design battles in accordance with what you agreed upon in terms of challenge and complexity.</p>
 
-<p><small>Philip Forlenza (Order #)</small></p>
+<ul>
+<li><strong>Take your time.</strong> When the heroes decide to fight an enemy for which you don’t have any combat stats ready, it’s perfectly okay to pause the game and take your time to design those creatures. The rules on page 302 have been designed specifically to make this process as smooth and fast as possible; once you have familiarized yourself with them, creating new adversaries will only take a few minutes.</li>
+</ul>
+
+<p>And there’s always the Bestiary, of course!</p>
+
+<div>Philip Forlenza (Order #)</div>