What Made Your Changeling What They Are? (Changeling: The Lost)

"You ever wonder about us?" Killian asked. The hulking wolf's nose leather twitched as he sniffed, and he idly drummed his claws on the bench's metal supports.

"No," David grunted, pushing the bar up inch after trembling inch. The ogre sucked a breath over his jutting lower jaw, and lowered the weight one more time.

"Seriously, though," Killian asked, his golden eyes falling to David's elbows as he placed his own furry hands just below the bar. "We were taken on the same day, kept by the same Keeper, treated almost the same... why are we so different?"

David snarled, shoving the weight up, and slamming it into the rack hard enough to make the plates bounce. He sat up, snatched his towel, and wiped at his face. He stood, blotting out most of the light on that side of the room as he did so.

"Almost ain't the same," David said, pointing at the bench. "Your turn. Twelve reps."

We are what we are made to be.

As always, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

Nature Versus Nurture

While I took a bit of a break from the Chronicles of Darkness, I did have a Changeling: The Lost release a little while back with Like A Good Neighbor - Portraying True Fae in Your Chronicle. However, that dip back into the waters got the gears in my head turning, and it made me ruminate on something that I feel a lot of players overlook when it comes to their character's Seeming in these games.

Because yes, mechanically, you choose a Seeming that gives you access to the powers and abilities you most want for your character. However, what turns a human into a particular kind of changeling isn't just about who they are as a person, and what is revealed about them by fae magic and the Wyrd; it's also (at least in part) dependent on their treatment at the hands of their Keepers.

You merely carve away everything that isn't the statue inside the marble.

For example, say a Gentry has two people who are very alike before them; socially adept humans who are good at making friends, each of which has a force of personality all their own. One of them, as expected, ends up as a Fairest... but the other doesn't. The other finds themselves becoming a beautiful Beast. While it might be due to an inherent difference in the two people (the former attempted to be an equal participant in conversations and riddle games, while the latter merely fawned over the Keeper to try to keep themselves safe), it could also be the way the Gentry treated the two of them. The former's behavior meant the True Fae was intrigued and engaged, verbally sparring with the mortal, the conversations rubbing off on them. The latter, though, was merely giving passive attention, and treated more like a yapping dog than they were someone deserving of the Gentry's attention and respect, minor though it is.

Say the Gentry punished two of its kept humans. They were very similar, but one was punished for actions they actually committed, making it clear they were being trained for a purpose. That leads them to become a hound; strong and fierce, but reacting without thought to commands that have been drilled into them. The second person, though, is punished cruelly, or even unnecessarily, twisting the knife in their wound. That hatred, that malignance, leads them to become an ogre, instead.

And even if a True Fae is purposefully reducing different people into the same kind of changeling, who is to say the methods and treatment don't produce different results? Like how you might take two ingots of the same raw material, but turn them into radically different alloys? Even a pair of twins, put into different scenarios and situations, would end up with utterly unique fates. For example, the True Fae might take one brother, and keep him on a mountaintop where the wind eventually blows him away one layer at a time, until wind is all he is, turning him into a gusting gale. The other brother, just as stubborn and just as willful, might be buried deep beneath the earth. And the longer he pits his will against the rock and mud, the more he becomes a part of the earth, until his skin becomes craggy, and his blood slows to thick, pumping clay.

Thematic Interactions Are What Make Changelings Unique

While it's perfectly within the bounds of the game to have a character who just doesn't remember how they became what they are, or to have someone who was simply cursed or changed by a True Fae into the form they have now, digging a little deeper into why and how your character became what they are can add extra elements to their story. Did the Gentry merely reveal their true nature, imbuing it with magic, making this form an even truer version of who the changeling was in their soul? Were they twisted out of true as the Gentry attempted to force them into a shape and being that didn't fit them? Or did they, through their own actions and behaviors, end up sealing their fate?

Again, these aren't necessary parts of a character... but they can act as seeds that will grow throughout a chronicle, giving you deeper interactions, and more impactful story!

And, lastly, I'd recommend picking up your own copy of Like A Good Neighbor, as well as one of my older supplements 100 Frailties to help you build these necessary weaknesses into your player characters and antagonists alike!

I would also recommend checking out the following free articles about this game:

- The Chessboard Motley

- A Little Taste of Glamour

- 5 Tips For Running a Changeling: The Lost Chronicle

- 5 Questions Every Changeling: The Lost Player Should Ask (About Their Characters)

- 5 Films You Should Watch To "Get" Changeling: The Lost

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Fluff post. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Blue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

Game Masters Aren't Gods... They're Genies

The common refrain we've seen about Game Masters is that they are the god of the game. This is both in the sense that they are the arbiters of the rules, but they are also the force that animates the game world the players are having their adventure in. However, there are a lot of us who allow this turn of phrase to go to our heads, and it often makes our games worse. Which is why this week I wanted to suggest a pivot, and an alternative way of thinking about things.

Because we aren't gods... we are genies. And at the end of the day, the players are the ones we're here to serve.

Phenomenal cosmic power... itty bitty gaming space...

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

Our Purpose Is To Facilitate

Another phrase that's come into circulation over the past several years is, "The Game Master is a player at the table, too." And I agree with this. However, we have a very different role when it comes to our purpose in the game and story. Our job is to create challenges, and to facilitate our players doing cool things. This doesn't mean that we handle them with kid gloves, or that we refuse to let consequences happen in the game. At the same time, we shouldn't be trying to "win" the game by making sure the players fail in their goals.

In short, we need to be genies.

Because it's true that the Game Master has a great deal of power at the table. They aren't bound to the rules of character generation; they have access to armies. They are the ones who decide what treasure the players find, what allies they make, and what their enemies are doing. They are the ones who puppet the gods, and who set the gears in motion... but a Game Master should do all these things in service to the players.

Entire worlds move at their behest... worlds for the players to explore.

Consider for a moment what happens if the enemy wins. The player characters are dead, and the villains continue on with their villainy... what now? Because unless you're using a supplement like The Black Ballad that gives players a way to side-quest their way out of the underworld, then that's typically where things end. All those notes you took for the story going forward, all the encounters you had prepared, and all the monologues from the villains... all of those things fall into darkness.

That shouldn't be your goal. Because even if you find a way to bring the player characters back, or you convince your players to bring in their back-up characters, losing on that scale tends to be a serious blow to morale, and it can leave the game feeling fragile even if it doesn't break completely.

Instead, your goal should be to endeavor on behalf of your players... not their characters, but your players. You want them to have fun, to explore the world, tell their stories, and to want to come back. Like a favored book they want to consume just another chapter of, you are the one making their enjoyment possible in the first place. And that requires taking your ego out of things as a Game Master. To be able to listen to what your players want, to talk things out with them, and to understand their wants and expectations... and then to deliver on them.

Put another way, imagine you were being served by a world-class chef. But when you ordered what you wanted he just snorted, shook his head, and brought you a completely different dish. Perhaps it's something you don't actually like, or worse, something that you have allergies to. All the skill and experience in the world does you no good if you aren't bending it to the goal of giving your players what they're actually asking you for... because if you deliver what's asked for with skill and style, then you are going to wind up with an extremely loyal table who will talk about your games for years.

Also, for more useful tips on being a Game Master, make sure you grab a copy of my supplement 100 Tips And Tricks For Being A Better Game Master, which has some of the best strategies I've shared on this very blog. Additionally, consider picking up the sequel 100 Tips And Tricks For Being A Better RPG Player as well!

A Note On Tricksy Genies

Because I'm sure some folks thought of this as soon as they saw the title, I want to address the idea of the "tricksy" genie. You know the ones I mean. The genies who pervert the intention of someone's wish, or who play word games with the meaning. Like if someone said they wanted a lifetime supply of raspberry crowns, which is a well-known dessert, but it also happens to be a slang term for a particularly deadly hornet, so the genie has them attacked by swarms of dangerous insects instead of granting them a sweet treat.

Don't be that kind of genie. I touched on this in Nobody Likes A "Gotcha" Game Master a while ago, but it's worth reiterating. Because if you are constantly trying to toe the line, act against the spirit of what your players have expressed while sticking to the letter of an agreement, all it's going to do is undermine trust, and make people less likely to want to play with you.

Again, for clarity. NPCs like fey lords, devils, and even genies and djinn, can (and in some cases should) act in just this way... but you as the Game Master should be open, up-front, and honest with your players when you are trying to run a game for them. You may not want them to trust the characters they meet in the game, but they should always be able to trust you. Because if they can't, then the ship is sinking... it's just a matter of when.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Blue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

Social Maneuvering in The Chronicles of Darkness (A Simple, Elegant System)

There are almost as many social skill systems as there are RPGs out there. Some games make these skills nearly vestigial, with a simple pass/fail that has a particular difficulty associated with the roll. Other games have intricate flowcharts that are almost as difficult to follow as a high-speed tennis match, making fellow players really feel like they're watching social combat in real-time.

For a solid, middle-of-the-road example, I wanted to touch on the Social Maneuvering rules found in the Chronicles of Darkness. Because this system is simple enough to be easily implemented, but there is enough nuance to make it feel robust!

And for folks who have enjoyed my recent delves into this particular game, check out my previous Crunch topics:

- Vehicular Combat is Always An Option (A Chronicles of Darkness Strategy)

- "Down and Dirty" Combat in The Chronicles of Darkness Doesn't Get Enough Love

So, how do you approach her?

As always, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

These Things Take Time

In an RPG there are often social situations that are meant to happen rapidly. You need to persuade the bouncer at the club to let you in, even though you aren't on the guest list, or maybe you are trying to intimidate someone who looks like they're going to start a fight so they decide not to try you and your companions. In these situations a single roll is usually enough to settle things one way or the other.

However, sometimes you have a social situation that's longer-term. Maybe you're trying to persuade an academic to loan you a historical text that you need access to. Perhaps you're trying to persuade the mayor the accept a bid from a particular company, or you're trying to get this season's monarch to agree to a plan your changeling motley wants to enact this season. For those longer-term strategies that you really need more than a single pass/fail check for, we turn to the Social Maneuvering System detailed on page 81.

Trust me, this is going to come up. Potentially a lot.

First things first, the player announces what they're trying to get this person to do. Maybe they want to get an invitation to this person's special hunting club, or they want to get them to dedicate start-up capital to the player's business idea (that may or may not be a cover for a hunter cell). Whatever it is, the goal is the X on the map they're trying to reach. If the Storyteller determines this is a feasible goal (to paraphrase the old fantasy RPG argument, no matter how good your Persuasion roll is, you can't convince the king to randomly vacate the throne and hand you the crown), then you can move on to the next stage.

Once the goal is agreed on, the Storyteller sets a number of Doors that must be crossed in order for the social maneuver to reach its goal. The base number of Doors is equal to the lower of the target's Resolve or Composure, and then more Doors are added dependent on different factors. If it runs counter to the target's goals and aspirations that can add a Door. If it would be a breaking point for that person, it adds two doors. And as the Social Maneuvering goes on, if the nature of the situation changes (such as if this maneuver started off just trying to get money for a business, but it's revealed the business is actually murder-for-hire) that might add more Doors.

Once all the Doors are established, that's how many successful rolls need to be made to reach the goal. Note, this is not how many successes need to be rolled. A regular success opens 1 door, and an exceptional success opens 2 doors.

At this point, the Storyteller determines the First Impression between the character, and the target of their maneuver. If they have no history, then the player can attempt to set up a positive interaction that appeals to the target (with things such as an activity that appeals to their Vice, offering them a bribe or some sort of gift, etc.). An Average First Impression (the baseline) allows one attempt to influence the maneuver per week. Upgrading that to a Good impression (such as through a bribe) allows one roll to be made per day. An Excellent impression gives you one roll per hour, while a Perfect impression allows one roll per turn.

The last step of things is to determine the rolls made to open the Doors, which should be determined by the circumstances of the interaction.

So, what does that all look like when you put it together?

An Example

A hunter cell really needs to get access to a book in a restricted section of a university library. This place requires someone to have a special writ of permission from the curator in order to examine the piece, and that's not something you can just walk in and demand. So a member of the cell decides to target the curator in order to influence him.

The curator is a strong-willed man, so his initial Doors are set at 4. He's also career-minded, and asking for a favor of this level is a risk to him, adding a 5th Door. However, the hunters are determined to make this work, so one of their number gets dolled-up, and meets with the curator at an art gallery showing; events he is notorious for attending, and enjoying, making it a good place to meet him. No gifts are presented, and the hunters don't know the curator's Vice, so the Storyteller decides this is an Average impression to start with.

The first influence attempt goes well. Erica is knowledgeable about the local art scene (Intelligence + Academics with a specialty in Gallery Art), and manages to impress the curator with her culture and understanding as a critic, and though they verbally spar, he's invigorated by the evening. This opens the first door, allowing Erica to proceed to the next attempt.

They research the curator, and find out his favorite restaurant, as well as his favorite dish. So when Erica asks him to meet for dinner, he's quite pleased to do so. As the setting has changed, though, she has to pivot to a different skill set. To impress him with her manners and understanding of etiquette, Erica makes a Presence + Socialize roll. She gets an exceptional success, opening 2 Doors, as the curator is utterly blown away by her poise and social aura.

In the third week, Erica decides it's time to stop beating around the bush. She's established her credentials as a woman of the arts, and of culture, so she decides to try to persuade the curator to agree to let her see this particular tome. She spins a story about how she's working on an academic paper regarding Mesopotamian mythologies, and this particular book would really allow her to have first-hand knowledge of a relic that would add a lot to her research. A Manipulation + Subterfuge roll is made, and she gets bonus dice for the lie being particularly appealing to his vanity and career aspirations, as having an ally with a publishing history is always good. Erica crushes the roll, and with another exceptional success, the curator agrees to get the necessary permissions, and to arrange for her to examine the book... with him and another historian present, of course!

Some doors are scarier than others...

These long-term social maneuvers add a basic skeleton to this part of the game, while at the same time providing you with a flexible way of trying to get characters to do what you want them to. It takes a little practice, and it should always feel varied and unique no matter how often you've put this particular system into play.

And while there IS another side to social maneuvering (we'll call it dark maneuvering for the moment), I'll likely talk about that in my next Crunch update... so stay tuned!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Crunch post! To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Blue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

TTRPG Earnings Breakdown 2025 (For Those Who Want A Glimpse Behind The Curtain)

So, even though we're entering a new year, I wanted to take a few to look back at 2025 and do a breakdown of what my experience as an independent TTRPG creator was like. Normally I just do this as a single FB post, but I wanted to get a little more detailed than I thought a single post could handle, and try to make some educated guesses about how and why things wound up the way they did. So if you're here for numbers and suppositions, strap in and take this journey with me!

Because autopsies can get messy.

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

So, What's The Breakdown?

First things first, I want to go back to my 2024 wrap up. In that year my earnings on Drive Thru RPG were:

- Royalties: $1,984.45

- Affiliate Earnings: $1,242.20

- Top Seller of 2024: World's Oldest Profession: 100 Courtesans and Concubines (379 copies)

- Worst Seller of 2024: Three-way tie between A Baker's Dozen of Christmas Feats, Ghosts of Sorrow Marsh, and False Valor (1 sale each)

Something worth noting was that 2024 was the first year my affiliate earnings were lower than my royalties, and it was by a lot. However, in 2025 we see:

- Royalties: $1,517.62

- Affiliate Earnings: $1,184.86

- Top Seller of 2025: 100 Random Encounters For On The Road or In The Wilderness (SWADE Edition - 177 copies)

- Worst Seller of 2025: Seven-way tie with 1 sale each, but the most expected bottom seller was 100 Primquakes for my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age fantasy RPG setting.

So, the hard numbers are an overall loss in sales of $466.83 in royalties, and a loss of $57.34 in affiliate earnings... with a net loss of $524.17 overall.

That's... not great, if I'm honest. However, I didn't just want to post numbers for the year; I also wanted to list some of the factors and causes that went into generating this result.

What Led To These Numbers?

There are a lot of people (creators and critics alike) who will point at sales figures as some kind of divine proof of a writer's skill and creativity (or lack thereof). However, I want to remind folks that absolute trash sells gangbusters all the time, and works of genius can languish unseen for years until they find the light of day. Sales is about the market, and the trends in that market. Which is why I wanted to go step-by-step and lay out specific things that I saw which led to this result.

If you're a fellow creator, it's likely these things affected you as well. If there's something you feel belongs on this list that I didn't cover, please share it in the comments below!

Because there are a LOT of factors that go into things like this.

#1: The DTRPG "Upgrade"

I am one of several people who thought the Drive Thru RPG site change was unnecessary, and generally speaking as long as users had the option to use the legacy site things were fine. However, once the new site became the standard homepage, sales across the board for myself and every creator I know took a sharp dip. We're talking like a 50% per month dip. The algorithm stopped showing my work to anyone organically, and the only way people find my supplements is through this blog, the Azukail Games newsletter, or seeing a post I made about it on social media.

That was a bat to the shin. It didn't break the bone, but I felt that, and it hurt things in the marketing and sales departments.

#2: The Reddit "Update"

For folks who haven't seen me complain about it on social media, Reddit is basically one of the only social media platforms that actually gets results when it comes to moving copies of games and supplements... but it's a rough platform to ride. In early Fall of 2025 there was a ripple from the DTRPG upgrade that meant you could no longer share links to it on Reddit. The links would screw up, and look like ghosts; no preview image, no preview text, and without those two things nobody was going to be clicking, much less buying.

This screw up reduced my earnings from $250-$300 a month to about $180 a month... and that was after using workarounds to try to get the previews seen when making posts. Once DTRPG fixed this problem, and links went back to displaying properly, sales and traffic immediately shot right back to their previous levels and started climbing.

But that was about 2-3 months of trying to run the last part of the race with a ball and chain around both my ankles.

#3: Choice of Releases

I'll be honest, I did take a couple of risks in 2025, and I put out some supplements that I figured were long shots in terms of things that would get interest from readers and players. As an example, I released 4 supplements for the Whispers & Rumors phase of my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age fantasy RPG setting, starting with 100 Whispers & Rumors to Hear in Moüd City of Bones, and finishing with 99 Whispers & Rumors to Hear in Archbliss, City of The Sorcerers. While I'm glad I finished up that phase for the setting, and all of those releases sold more than 1 supplement, none of them managed the 51 copies sold it would take to hit Copper metal status. So that's 4 releases that weren't great in terms of adding to the year's achievements.

Sundara wasn't the only issue, either. I wanted to make sure there were fresh releases for my RPG Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic to try to maintain interest in it, and to give players and GMs some fresh things to bring to the table. Because I dropped my second mission module for the game Assault on Outpost 13 (which is an homage to the movie Assault on Precinct 13), as well as the supplement Boots on The Ground: Baker Team, which provides a collection of 5 detailed characters that can either be handed around the table to players, or used as NPCs at the GM's discretion.

Some of my other releases were calculated risks that didn't really go over well. For instance, since folks were asking me for more Werewolf: The Apocalypse supplements, I decided to release Dark Reflections: 50 Sights to See in The Penumbra... sadly, it just didn't catch on the way my 100 Kinfolk Collection of NPCs did (with something like 1,500+ NPCs the last time I checked).

On the other hand, I did have some projects that were surprise successes. I was part of the supplement Night Horrors: Primordial Peerage for Beast: The Primordial, and that one was a close second-place for my top seller of the year. I also had a pretty good success with the sci fi supplement Beyond The Black: 100 Dread Scenarios on Stranded Starships... though I fancy part of that success was due to the audio drama I made to go with it.

All in all, though, I had 20 some-odd releases in 2025, and about a quarter of them flopped. Not due to lack of quality, or marketing efforts, but because they were for specific games and settings that just weren't really jiving with my audience. I rolled the dice on those, and they did poorly... which is a partial factor, but far from the only one that led to the year's losses.

#4: Miscellaneous Issues

Rather than going into deep detail on the other problems of 2025, I figured I'd just crack off a rapid list. These don't get their own, detailed list because I don't really have numbers for them, but they were trends I noticed.

- AI Slop Tainting The Market: I've lost count of the number of people who accused my supplements (including ones written back in the 20-teens) of being AI-generated. It's a bad faith argument because no one took the time to look, but it shows that the format I favor (despite it still being the strongest seller) is meeting a lot of criticism from the audience (even if it's because they can't be bothered to check the sales page, and see the No AI label on my work).

- Platform Enshittification: So many platforms got worse in 2025. YouTube's algorithm took my videos from hundreds of views on debut, to 50 views and change, meaning that I'm reaching a much smaller audience, and have a significantly smaller chance of making sales from views. Facebook basically made it impossible to post more than a handful of links before it cut you off (while all but shadowbanning posts with links in them), Twitter exploded into a cesspool of Nazi nonsense and bots, and most remaining platforms actively stop posts and content from spreading. Hence why Reddit is my big earner.

- Economic Downturn: With massive layoffs, stagnating wages, and people everywhere running out of options for paying their bills, this means discretionary spending is going to go down. While it didn't really start hitting for my audience that I could tell, those rumblings are getting much louder now that 2025 has ended, and 2026 is beginning.

What You Can Do To Help Keep Me Afloat

Most of what I just described is outside of my control. All I can really do is try to make more engaging posts, expand the groups I post in, try to draw more attention to my work, and maybe play it a little safer with the supplements I work on. Far as the economy, algorithms, platform decay, and the insane schemes of world leaders go, I'm shit out of luck on those scores.

So if you want to help, please consider the following options:

- Follow My Facebook

- Follow My Blue Sky

- Follow My LinkTree

- Join My Weekly Newsletter

- Subscribe to The Azukail Games YouTube Channel (where I contribute video content)

And if you happen to have some spare dosh lying around, and you want to be sure my supply doesn't run low, consider become a Patreon patron, or leaving a tip by Buying Me a Ko-Fi! And if you want to help me move copies of my games, consider buying copies of some of the supplements I linked above, or just search my name on Drive Thru RPG and see if any of the 200+ supplements I've contributed to really catch your interest!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again; creators need the help of their audience to succeed. Whether that's buying copies of their books and merch, watching the videos they make, reading their blogs, or helping spread the word on social media, we only have so many things we can do ourselves; we need your help. And if everyone grabs the rope and pulls in whatever way you can, some of us might actually win this tug of war with the algorithm and manage to get some forward momentum again!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Blue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

A New Year Is Coming For "Sundara: Dawn of a New Age" (What Would You Like To See?)

As regular readers know, I've been releasing supplements for my fantasy setting Sundara: Dawn of a New Age for several years now. I've covered cities, species, organizations, whispers & rumors, as well as cosmology and cults. A new year is coming, though, and I feel like it's time to step back into this setting and do something fresh with it.

The question is, of course... what do you all want to see?

There's all sorts of space on the map to fill still!

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

Some Potential Directions For 2026

I recently made a video to close out 2026 on the Azukail Games YouTube channel, and I decided to address Sundara, and some of the potential directions I could go from here. And if you didn't watch it, go check it out (and subscribe to the channel while you're at it).

In short, though, I mentioned there were a couple of directions I could go in 2026 with the setting, hoping to get folks' thoughts on it. Those include:

- Expanding the cities and towns you find in Sundara.

- Writing adventure modules that take place in some of the already-established locations.

- Expanding the player species options (minotaurs and gargoyles have been oft-requested).

However, I want to hear from all of you, the folks who read my blog and actually play my games, as to what you would like to see in the new year for this setting! I've already gotten one good suggestion that's in the running, Airships of Sundara, which would be both a big undertaking as well as a fun expansion for the sort of adventure one could have in the clouds. It might also pair nicely with a module, for those who would like to see some literal high-flying adventure for the setting!

So if you have something you'd really like to see for Sundara going forward, whether it's a particular kind of supplement, more videos, more stories, more lore, or anything at all, leave it in the comments of the video above. I'm hoping to collect all the suggestions there so that I can go through them as 2026 gets rolling, and I start deciding what I'm going to work on, and in what order.

And, as a bonus, I'm going to start working on the other 4 stories that go into the Ironfire Compact. And in case you missed the first story, you can check that out for free on the Azukail Games channel as well!

Catch Up On "Sundara: Dawn of A New Age"

Cities of Sundara

The setting first began with the Cities of Sundara splats. Self-contained guides to some of the larger and more powerful centers of trade, industry, arms, and magic, these unique locations provide plenty of fodder for character generation and plots. Not only that, but each one comes with unique, mechanical goodies for players and GMs alike to take out for a spin!

- Ironfire: The City of Steel (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Built around the Dragon Forge, Ironfire is where the secret to dragon steel was first cracked. The center of the mercenary trade in the region, as well as boasting some of the finest schools for teaching practical sciences, Ironfire is a place where discovery and danger walk hand in hand!

- Moüd: The City of Bones (Pathfinder and DND 5E): An ancient center of trade and magic, Moüd was lost to a cataclysm, and then buried in myth. Reclaimed by the necromantic arts of the Silver Wraiths guild, this city has once again become a place teeming with life. Despite the burgeoning population, though, it is the continued presence of the undead that helps keep the city running, ensuring that Moüd is not swallowed up once more.

- Silkgift: The City of Sails (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Built on the cottage industry of Archer cloth (an extremely durable material used for sails, windmills, etc.), Silkgift is a place that prizes invention and discovery. From gravity batteries that store the potential of the wind, to unique irrigation systems, to aether weapons, the city positively churns out discoveries... and then there's the canal they cut through the mountains that makes them a major center of trade across the region.

- Hoardreach: The City of Wyrms (Pathfinder and DND 5E): A center of power across an entire region, Hoardreach is ruled over by a Cooperation of five different dragons. A place for refugees and outcasts of all sorts, Hoardreach boasts some of the most unusual citizens and creations from across Sundara. Infamous for their sky ships, which require the cast-off scales and unique arcane sciences of the Dragon Works to take to the air, one never knows just what they'll find in this city built atop a mountain.

- Archbliss: The City of The Sorcerers (Pathfinder and DND 5E): A floating city in the sky, Archbliss has been a refuge for sorcerers for thousands of years. It's only in relatively recent years that the city has allowed those from the ground below who lack the power of a bloodline to join them in the clouds. However, while there are certainly amazing wonders to behold, there is a darkness in Archbliss. Something rotting away at its heart that could, if not healed, bring the city crashing to the ground once more.

Gods of Sundara

- Gods of Sundara (available for Pathfinder and DND 5E): In a world with no alignment, and where the gods are often genuinely mysterious forces that are far too large for mortals to truly comprehend, the divine feels genuinely strange and unknown... something that really does have to be taken on faith. This supplement provides a sample pantheon for Sundara, but also provides instructions on how to easily make your own gods in a world where you can't cast a spell and tell whether someone is good or evil.

Species of Sundara

Sundara is filled with creatures that many of us recognize, but I wanted to give greater depth to their cultures, and a wider variety of options. After all, humans always get 15+ ethnicities, languages, and unique histories, while elves, dwarves, orcs, halflings, etc. are almost always left with footnotes, or maybe with a handful of offshoots. So, in short, I wanted to give all the fantastical creatures the treatment that humans usually get in our games.

And there is no human book yet. If readers demand to know more, then I may sit down to pen one... but I figured that humans didn't need to be front-and-center in this setting just yet.

- Elves of Sundara (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Elves are one of the most quintessential fantasy creatures... but if you want to see more than just high elves, wood elves, and elves of the sun and moon, then this supplement has you covered!

- Dwarves of Sundara (Pathfinder and DND 5E): The children of the primordial giants who were meant to fill in the details of the world they'd made (or so the myths say) there are as many kinds of dwarves as their are kinds of giants... and possibly more, depending on who is keeping count.

- Orcs of Sundara (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Supposedly a creation of the elves, none can say for certain exactly how or why orcs have been made. What most agree on is that these creatures are far more than most may think at first glance.

- Halflings of Sundara (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Little cousins to the dwarves, halflings are tough, clever, and not to be underestimated. From living beneath the hills, to taking up residence in the deep forests, halflings in Sundara come in quite a variety!

- The Blooded (Half-Elves and Half-Orcs) [Pathfinder and DND 5E]: When orcs and elves mix their bloodlines with other creatures, the result is one of the Blooded. This inheritance takes many forms, and it can even wait generations before manifesting when the right combination of individuals come together to have a child.

- Gnomes of Sundara (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Gnomes are strange creatures, found in places where the spirit of the land has coalesced and made children of its own. The sons and daughters of the ancient nymphs, they are the stewards of these places, and they change as often as the weather and the land.

Organizations of Sundara

Phase 3 has been going strong, but there's still a few titles left in it! So if you haven't seen them, consider checking out:

- Sellswords of Sundara: With power structures being smaller in scale in Sundara, standing armies aren't often maintained for long. As such, soldiers of fortune are quite common! This supplement contains 10 mercenary companies, their history, uniform, sample members, whispers and rumors, as well as either an archetype or subclass for playing these unique warriors. Grab your copy for Pathfinder of DND 5E.

- Cults of Sundara: Faith comes in many forms in Sundara, and there are as many gods in the Prim as there are dreams in the minds of people. This supplement contains write-ups for 10 cults, their histories, sample members, rumors about them, their beliefs and tenets, and a unique magic item for each. Get your copy for Pathfinder or DND 5E.

- Guilds of Sundara: While cities and villages may be relatively local, guilds are spread across the length and width of Sundara. From professional orders of skilled miners and dredgers, to monster slayers and bounty hunters, this supplement has 10 guilds with histories, sample members, rumors, as well as unique feats one can take to represent the skill and benefits of joining this order. Available for Pathfinder as well as DND 5E.

- Merchants of Sundara: While city states might be the largest form of government you find in the setting, merchants hold an outsized amount of power. From huge mercantile houses, to small brands infamous for their quality as much as for their price, there are a lot of options listed in this particular world building supplement.

Rumors of Sundara

The newest series of supplements in the setting, these are meant to add to the cities, and to give GMs ideas for plots, or just to provide a little extra grist for the mill in terms of what people are gossiping about!

- Whispers and Rumors For Ironfire, The City of Steel!

- Whispers and Rumors For Moüd, City of Bones!

- Whispers and Rumors For Silkgift, The City of Sails!

- Whispers and Rumors For Hoardreach, City of Wyrms!

- Whispers and Rumors For Archbliss, City of The Sorcerers!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Blue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

Spirits, Chiminage, and The Key of Solomon (Werewolf: The Apocalypse)

Werewolf: The Apocalypse can be a tough game to wrap one's mind around. The broad strokes make sense (an ancient, secret collection of werewolf tribes attempt to use their natural fury to commit acts of ecoterrorism in order to save the planet from the evil grasp of capitalism and modern corruption), but there are details of the game that can be difficult to grasp. And this is particularly true for those who are attempting to win the favor and help of spirits in the game. Whether one is a theurge (the spirit-speaking magic users), or simply spiritually-inclined, the idea of chiminage might feel a little too ephemeral to easily incorporate into one's playstyle.

For this, we need to get back to gaming's roots... black magic, and the writings of Aleister Crowley!

A more learned source you won't find in these lands.

As always, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

The Rules And Expectations of The Spirit World

All jokes aside, though, in Werewolf, a majority of the powers you come across are either gifted by spirits (they teach the werewolf how to use certain abilities), and the magic items you use are things that are bound to a particular spirit. And even outside of these mechanical concerns, the spirits can help or hinder werewolves as they attempt to achieve their goals, making a good relationship with them pretty important for all characters, and not just the ones who are attempting to make deals and bargains with them.

This is where chiminage comes in. The word itself is an antiquated term referring to a toll paid for passage through a forest, but in Werewolf it refers to the gifts and payments given to spirits as part of the rites and rituals for contacting them, asking them for aid, and attempting to recruit them to your cause.

And that is sort of an airy concept for a lot of folks, especially those who have not delved into religious traditions where these kinds of targeted offerings are far more common, might have issues with. And if I were to recommend a single book to Werewolf players (and especially those who are going to be playing theurges), it wouldn't actually be something from the World of Darkness. It's The Three Magical Books of Solomon: The Greater and Lesser Keys & The Testament of Solomon.

Seriously, check it out if you haven't!

For folks who haven't read this book, it is a collection of the various goetic spirits (or goetic demons, or infernal spirits, whatever you want to call them) that were supposedly summoned and studied by the ancient King Solomon. And the book is set out exactly how you would think a grimoire is set out, with the explanations of rituals and summonings, with descriptions of the great spirits, the gifts they offer, and what they may demand in return. It speaks of how to protect oneself, and how to discern falsehood.

Now, the book is a bit of a rough read for those who don't consume textbooks for fun. But with that said, the style of the entries, the setup, and how these rituals function can provide a lot of insight into making a particular character's style and spiritual setup feel unique to them, while also making it feel like more than just a character rolling a handful of d10s to see if they get their way or not.

So whether you have someone playing a traditionally-trained theurge who comes from the Children of Gaia who focuses on only using naturally-occurring implements and offerings they feel have been given to them by the Earth herself, or a Bone Gnawer theurge who seems to be a street corner shaman using a chaotic hodgepodge of improvised tools, the goal of both of these characters is to persuade the spirits to their side, to show them proper respect, and to earn their alliance.

My experience with this book is that it sort of primes the mind, and gets you asking the important details about different spirits, and it puts you in the mind of the acceptable aesthetics and ritual for how to please them, as well as how your particular character goes about their spiritual negotiations... and that is often what makes or breaks a character's performance as a theurge in this game.

And as a bonus, well thought out performances often get you bonuses from the Storyteller, making it even more likely that you succeed when all is said and done!

Additional Resources For Werewolf Players

For those who are looking for additional resources for Werewolf: The Apocalypse, I'd recommend checking out the following supplements by yours truly:

- 100 Kinfolk Bundle: With 100 NPCs from many of the major tribes, there are over 1,500 characters in these supplements!

- Dark Reflections: 50 Sights To See in The Penumbra: For folks who are looking for some dark, corrupt places to visit in the nearer parts of the Umbra, I'd recommend picking this one up.

- Tales From The Moot: This short story anthology covers a variety of tales from different tribes of the Garou Nation... and there are quite a few extra pieces that weren't included in this book!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Fluff post. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Blue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

Dungeon Design Tips: Build Challenges Around Your Table's Abilities

It's the first session after your last level up, and you as the Game Master know your evoker just picked up fireball. They're excited as hell to use it... so at some point in the next combat, there's a moment where enemies are clustered together in perfect formation for an explosion to wreck havoc. Or maybe the barbarian just got this really handy ability that lets them get extra damage on enemies bigger than they are... and wouldn't you know it, the enemies drag out an ogre because they think it will help win the day!

Some people might call this patronizing your players. However, it's a good idea to throw them bones every now and again, and to actually understand what this represents for your game, and the give-and-take between you and your players.

So you took the fighting style for dragons? Well, how convenient...

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

Make Sure They Can Actually Accomplish The Goals

A criticism I once heard for the video game System Shock 2 was that it presented itself as a full freedom RPG where you could build whatever character you wanted, but when you got to the latter parts of the game you had to be able to overcome very particular challenges. And if you didn't build a character with the requisite skills to do those very specific things, well, sucks to suck, guess you have to go back to the beginning and try again!

And while I'd argue that's bad design, I see how it happens with a video game, or even a premade campaign. Designers need to provide challenge, but they also have to take a stab in the dark, guessing what players are most likely to do, and to bring to the table. However, with a pen-and-paper RPG, the GM has all the power in the world to alter challenges to actually fit the characters who are across the table from them. And that's exactly what they should do.

Note that I said "fit" the characters. Not change the game to make it easy for them, or to change it to make it harder for them, but to specifically do something to fit the game, its themes, and the challenges, to the party that's actually in front of you.

Could I, perhaps, make a Diplomacy check or two?

Consider for a moment a dungeon that has a number of traps in it, but the party does not have anyone with the ability to actually disarm traps. Well, one solution to this is to change the nature of the traps so that it better suits the story you're actually telling. For instance, instead of a rending scythe, are there traps that try to lower a portcullis, turning them into a test of strength for the barbarian to hoist, holding the path open until the others can get through? Does a room slowly fill with water, allowing the amphibious character to hunt for the off-switch with relative ease? Or do you remove traps as a meaningful obstacle, and replace them with something your players do have the capacity to deal with?

For instance, are there doors blocking the path that require the knowledge of a certain song? Is there a maze that could be solved by someone with a ranger's unique tracking and survival skills? Or are there inhabitants of this dungeon who could be persuaded to help players walk past particular traps with the right social skill checks (and perhaps a bribe or two)?

In the original setup, the party did not bring a rogue (or just a character capable of dealing with traps). As such, the traps become significantly bigger obstacles, usually just resulting in them being a random hazard that's going to suck out resources, and feel like a punishment. "Because you came here without a trap finder, now you're just going to get hit over the head with traps." And while that might be fair according to the rules, it quickly gets boring for players, who just feel like they're being punished because they built a different character than this game was designed for.

Provide Them Opportunity, Not Success

To reiterate what I said above, you want to provide your players the opportunity to actually use their characters' skills and abilities, instead of giving them deliberately mismatched challenges they don't have the ability to deal with. Much like how if you know you have a sorcerer who specializes in fire spells, it's kind of a dick move to make all the monsters they have to fight immune to fire (or so resistant to it that they might as well be).

And you don't have to change every, single challenge in your game to suit the talents of the characters present. However, it is helpful to make sure there are multiple ways to progress forward so that you don't get to a certain point and realize you have built a challenge that your party cannot hope to actually overcome. I actually talked about this a while back on Discussions of Darkness, and GMs who don't watch that show should head over the the Azukail Games YouTube channel and at least check out Episode 6, The 3 Solutions Strategy For Storytellers.

In short, ask if there are multiple paths to success, and if the characters at your table are capable of participating. You don't want to just hand your players success; you want to hand them the ability for their character to participate in a meaningful way.

Maybe that means you allow a trial-by-combat to impress the duke the party is supposed to get close to when no one has a really high Charisma, but there are some serious bruisers in the party. Maybe that means you have the big bag's encampment guarded by deadly wargs so the druid can get some use out of their animal empathy. Perhaps there's a black market way to get spell components in prison so the wizard has the ability to participate in the upcoming jail break. Or maybe it means that you line up a bunch of enemies in a single fight so that you can give one of your players the chance to let loose with lightning bolt so they feel like they made a good decision on their spell choice.

Your players should still have to make smart, strategic decisions. They should have to expend resources. There should still be a chance that they fail. But they shouldn't be making their checks with one hand tied behind their backs because they didn't guess what skills and abilities would be most necessary for overcoming the challenges you were planning on using!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Blue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!