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I got a copy of N&S is my xmas grab-bag and I'm going to demo it at my local game store in about three weeks. What would you consider to be the most important things to include in a N&S demo? What would be some fun scenarios for a N&S demo?

If I were to G.M. a N&SS demo I would take full advantage of the 1980's setting and play to that nostalgia. The internet movie Kung Fury takes that sort of idea and runs way too far with it, but any of the action/spy/ninja movies from the 80's would be great inspiration to try and mimic. American Ninja, Kickboxer, Chuck Norris' movies... I would play up that the game is designed (to a point) to emulate that genre and take it from there.

GI Joe. Am ix of action and martial arts via military style campaigns.

Toss in some Beyond the Supernatural on the side and play Ninja Gaiden.

I've always focused more on the martial arts side of things, personally. Though the show Leverage is a good example of N&SS in a more modern sense, culturally at least.

I like to use it to run a more modern kind of game. Think Bourne Identity, Daniel Craig's Bond, or even Mission Impossible. You can leave out much of the "mystical" aspects and run a really tight, gritty spy adventure.

While it can be used for that, I'd rather not ignore part of the game during a demo. It would seem to defeat the purpose.

Get the Rifter 71 & 72 double issue and use ANY of the scenarios of the N&S adventure. They can all work as one off's as the plot is very sequential.

The demo will need to be set prior to the 90's so I can avoid rewriting the computer section. Perhaps a second edition would be worth writing? Looks like Conspiracy X, Corporation, Feng Shui, The Laundry, Leverage, Night's Black Agents, and Spione are the only other espionage themed RPGs in print right now. If I were to do it, I'd tighten up the classes a bit too. I don't really like how a gadgeteer basically has a little bit of everything.

The demo went well, even though I only had five characters prepped. The plot was pretty simple.

The agency sent out the team to recover or destroy a "downed alien craft." Unknown guys in suits and mirror-shades tried to stop them at the airport and were quickly dealt with (three combat rounds). Their helicopter was shot down and the gizoid was captured by army goons. The rest of the team infiltrated the army camp, finding the huge ship-like object concealed under aerial camouflage nets. The team split up to free their captured team member, steal any information the military had gathered on the craft, and set charges to blow the ship up. We ran out of time right after all of these goals had been accomplished.

The Gizoid seemed a little out of place in the rest of the group, but everyone had a good time and the game played well.