The upcoming January 2015 issue of No Quarter will include the sixth and final chapter of the multipart Iron Kingdoms Full Metal Fantasy Roleplaying Game adventure Immortality. I took on the writing of it from the very beginning, thinking I’d just slide it into my daily routine as editor-in-chief. No big deal. I assumed I’d be able to develop and write the adventure of trying to thwart the former Greylord Vladislav Abrosim in no time flat. Not big deal.

That’s what I thought a year ago.

“What if the PCs want to do this instead?” was a frequent refrain of RPG Producer Matt Goetz, who would review the adventure and flesh out the rules as I went. “It’s reasonable to assume they may well kill this NPC before he has a chance to share all the information he has. What then?”

“Then they all die,” I’d respond, not ungraciously.

So, while hacking up one of Abrosim’s nefarious servants is undoubtedly the result in 99.9% of Immortality campaigns, we needed to provide an avenue for those PCs who hope to resolve conflicts through stealth, wit, or manipulation. (We didn’t bother with rules and scenarios for PCs who run away; my faith in our RPG players strictly prohibits such negative thinking.)

Thus, the first part began as ten pages; the fifth part clocked in at sixteen. We’re trying to show restraint in writing the final part, but I’ve reserved a healthy number of pages for it, just in case. Many an article needs to have some extra pages set aside—but usually only a page or two. We’re up to six for the adventure so far.

And while applying a three-act structure to the adventure, I found it valuable to have two parts—“Mercilessly Alive” (part 3) and “Stone Cold” (part 5)—end with cliffhangers. The anticipation builds between parts when we choose key climactic moments as places to pause, to allow players to catch their breath, before unleashing the next chapter and the horrors they need to thwart. In the case of part 5, I hope everyone, both Game Master and players alike, have found the wait worth their while as they dive into Abrosim’s lair for the grande finale in part 6, “The Death and Life of Vladislav Abrosim,” to see print on January 28.

If you are, in fact, one of those PCs still waiting outside the gates, I promise you: I’m writing as fast as I can. Believe me, I’ve been trying to get you here for the last year.

And for what it’s worth: the bounty hunter chained across the gates is totally worth saving. She knows stuff. But don’t worry: I’ve accounted for it if you let her die.

Just don’t retreat back down the mountain. I didn’t take that into account.