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My players are racking up WP left and right (we did random characters, so only one magic user) so I am starting sessions with 30 WP +/- 5. So far, almost none of the NPCs I've had from the campaign have had talents to use, and most of our combat lasts just a couple rounds (see below) so I just don't use any WP. Anyone house ruled other ways to use WP for the GM?

Also, we have a larger group with 4-5 players at our games and it seems like the players are chewing through combat, even tough stuff, now that they have geared and "leveled" up a little bit. What's everyone doing to help balance encounters? I'm probably going to start having most monsters act twice in a round (I believe that's recommended in the GM guide) and also probably increase the number of opponents for randomly rolled things by about 50% (so D6 ghouls becomes D6+3, etc). Any other ideas to help keep things interesting?

Lastly, does monster armor degrade? I couldn't find an answer in the GM guide. On one hand, it's armor so I assume it follows the regular rules unless stated otherwise. But on the other hand, it's generally scales and hide, so it seems like the armor damage would be just rolled in to taking damage. Am I missing anything in the book?

Lastly, does monster armor degrade? I couldn't find an answer in the GM guide. On one hand, it's armor so I assume it follows the regular rules unless stated otherwise. But on the other hand, it's generally scales and hide, so it seems like the armor damage would be just rolled in to taking damage. Am I missing anything in the book?

Natural armor never degrades, only equipment does. I don't have the english rulebooks so I can't give you a page reference, but it's in there somewhere.

Lastly, does monster armor degrade? I couldn't find an answer in the GM guide. On one hand, it's armor so I assume it follows the regular rules unless stated otherwise. But on the other hand, it's generally scales and hide, so it seems like the armor damage would be just rolled in to taking damage. Am I missing anything in the book?

Natural armor never degrades, only equipment does. I don't have the english rulebooks so I can't give you a page reference, but it's in there somewhere.

Page 105 (under Armor).

Lastly, does monster armor degrade? I couldn't find an answer in the GM guide. On one hand, it's armor so I assume it follows the regular rules unless stated otherwise. But on the other hand, it's generally scales and hide, so it seems like the armor damage would be just rolled in to taking damage. Am I missing anything in the book?

Natural armor never degrades, only equipment does. I don't have the english rulebooks so I can't give you a page reference, but it's in there somewhere.

Page 105 (under Armor).

Perfect, thank you!

almost none of the NPCs I've had from the campaign have had talents to use

NPCs found in the campaign and the GM guide are IMO too weak and need some boosting. Considering that new PCs have three talent points, most NPCs of any importance should have at least that many too.

almost none of the NPCs I've had from the campaign have had talents to use

NPCs found in the campaign and the GM guide are IMO too weak and need some boosting. Considering that new PCs have three talent points, most NPCs of any importance should have at least that many too.

I noticed that too. I think I'll just arbitrarily give NPCs the corresponding talent to pump +1 dmg per WP when I feel like they deserve it (and I have WP to spare).

almost none of the NPCs I've had from the campaign have had talents to use

NPCs found in the campaign and the GM guide are IMO too weak and need some boosting. Considering that new PCs have three talent points, most NPCs of any importance should have at least that many too.

I noticed that too. I think I'll just arbitrarily give NPCs the corresponding talent to pump +1 dmg per WP when I feel like they deserve it (and I have WP to spare).

It seems to me that for non-monster NPC combatants, you're meant to just give them talents so the GM has stuff to spend WP on. Like you said, let the tough enemy fighters ignore armor by spending a WP, add more damage, etc.

I had a similar situation last night as I started the session with 36 WP. The players met an Orc that they put down, but expected me to activate his Kin talent as often as I liked because of the WP but I didn't think that would have been much fun as he had already gone berserk and gotten back up once.

So, what else could I spend WP on to make life interesting? I might reread the darkness point rules in coriolis for some inspiration.

My players are racking up WP left and right (we did random characters, so only one magic user) so I am starting sessions with 30 WP +/- 5. So far, almost none of the NPCs I've had from the campaign have had talents to use, and most of our combat lasts just a couple rounds (see below) so I just don't use any WP. Anyone house ruled other ways to use WP for the GM?

I am using a somewhat complicated houserule, that is appreciated by my players so far - I'm buying skill dies and one-time-use talents for NPC:s and monsters with WP. The goal is to be fair and give myself an instrument to make dramatic encounters more difficult, without "fudging" the NPC/monster more difficult behind the GM screen without paying something. So I tell the table when I spend WP in this way. 

For monsters: 
-1 free defence roll for 1 WP, where I use an amount of dies equal to Strenght divided by 3 rounded up.

For NPC:s: 
-1 skill die for 1 WP. If I think that they should have Insight 2 (but it lacks in the NPC description) i thus pay 2 WP for a single roll. I also give myself the possibility to buy the NPC a permanent skill by the double amount of WP. 
-1 level of a talent for 1 WP as a one-use. For example a free dodge or parry by the corresponding talents. Another good use is Fearless or the talent that makes you immune to manipulation for a Rust Knight (otherwise they are more Hodor in armour than scary big knights). Here I also pay double if I want the talent to be permanent for an important NPC.
-If I want to reduce damage taken by a NPC, I pay 3 WP for the Warriors damage-soak-talent and then pay 1 WP per damage I want to soak. 
-And of course use of NPC kin and profession talents as in RAW

Seems challenging. This part of the system feels cool, but unbalanced. As a GM, you could easily eliminate one player a turn with many of the spells and a large stockpile of WP. The spells are incredibly powerful. I have not played enough for it to be an issue, but I see where it's going.