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!

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

Combat is the main event in a lot of roleplaying games, but there are times where a fight just feels inconsequential for the player characters, or it's just going to eat up a massive amount of the time you had planned for the story that night. This can be an issue in games that take a more cinematic approach to combat, such as the Chronicles of Darkness, but the Down and Dirty Combat mechanic that's listed on page 87 can solve this problem neatly and elegantly for those who want to go to narration for those fights that might be necessary, but which aren't super important.

You got this kid! Come on, one roll, and this bum's going down!

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!

Not Every Fight Is Supposed To Be Do-Or-Die

I've made the comparison before, but consider the first John Wick film. The scene where Vigo tasks a crew of assassins to go kill John before he can come after Iosef to get revenge. There's 11 or so assassins in black suits and ski masks, making them literal faceless goons who are all dispatched to our main character's house. John, of course, kills them all with the only damage being to his house, and his composure, just to let the audience know the kind of badass we're dealing with.

This is what I mean when I talk about thinking of combat cinematically. I'm not just talking about what it would look like, and the ebb and flow of a brawl or a shoot out. But ask where it fits in the narrative arc you're telling, and if this is an important, meaningful fight that should be slugged out round-for-round and pound-for-pound, or is this an interim fight with goons who aren't important in the grand scheme of things?

Because if you're running a Hunter game, and your cell of trigger-happy monster hunters are going after a vampire, then absolutely that fight in the vampire's lair should be a pulse-pounding scene where you dedicate a lot of screen time to the action, and you pull out all the weird powers and hail-Mary weapons for your mortals to try to eke out a victory. However, you probably don't want to dedicate that same time and attention to the fight with some club bouncers that are guarding the first layer of access to that vampire's lair, three sub-basements below The Red Circle.

You want to fight the counter guy who got your order wrong? Fine, but this is the last time...

The way this simple mechanic works is that you, as the ST, offer the chance to the players to run this with Down and Dirty rules. Because it should always be their choice. After all, regular combat mechanics and Down and Dirty mechanics both offer risks. If the players say yes, they want the D&D rules, it's fairly simple.

First, you determine which characters have what goals in this scene. For example, your bruiser might be trying to beat a combination to a locked door out of a flunky, while the shooter is just picking off as many other targets as she can. If there are distinct, different goals at-work, then these characters each make separate rolls. However, if multiple characters are all in sync with their goals (say all four members of a cell are rushing the two guards on a door, and looking to pummel them into submission), then they can use the Teamwork mechanic in order to combine their efforts together for a better chance of success.

Once you know who is trying to do what, you put together the combat pool for the player characters (Strength or Dexterity + Brawl, Firearms, or Weaponry), and then the NPCs will either roll that same pool if they're opposing the PCs, or they'll roll something like (Strength or Dexterity + Athletics) if they're trying to get away. Once both sides have rolled, count the successes, and the difference between them.

If the players get an exceptional success (5 or more on their side) they achieve their goal, and get a point of Willpower from the rush. A regular success (1-4 more on their side) and they achieve their stated goal, dealing damage equal to their weapon modifier + successes, killing enemies if that was the goal. If they fail then the opponent deals them damage equal to the number of successes they achieved over the PCs, and they escape unless they want to press things. Dramatic failure is the same as a regular failure, except the PCs are Stunned as a result of how badly things went.

Just be careful who you start a fight with... it might go badly for you.

This mechanic does a lot of heavy lifting for you as a Storyteller. On the one hand, it allows player characters who are built for fights to still contribute to the story and the game, but you don't have to eat up half (or more) of a given session making sure they get their fights in. On the other hand, it puts control into your players' hands, so they can decide what they think an important fight is, versus one they're willing to let a single roll of the dice settle.

With that said, though, as a Storyteller you should consider a couple of things before allowing the Down and Dirty rules to resolve a given combat.

- Should This Be Do Or Die? - The Chronicles of Darkness is a vicious system when it comes to combat, and the more combatants and weapons involved only ups that ante. If you want to avoid a serious risk of PC death, then this is a good time for the D&D option.

- Are These Combatants Named? - Think of your chronicle as if it were a movie. Are the people your characters fighting Named Characters, like the current villain, their lieutenant, or important characters to the plot? Or are they Gangster #1, #2, and #3? Even if you gave them names, histories, and personalities in your notes, ask if they are Important. If not, D&D is probably an acceptable way to solve things.

These two questions make a great guide as to when these rules should be invoked. Because once you have the necessary results, you can narrate what happened, and dictate what the fight accomplished, or what resources it used (how many rounds did they fire, did they manage to keep things quiet, and so on) without interrupting the flow of the current arc too much.

And if things go REALLY terribly, you can always invoke the Chase rules... but I think I'll talk about those next time if folks are interested in hearing more about this setting?

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!

Shards of a Broken Mirror: Short Scenarios For The Chronicles of Darkness (Future Potential Project)

The world is a dark and terrible place, but the horrors we know are just the icing on top of the cake. Those who manage to sink their teeth in, and to chew down to the bone, learn there are even worse monsters out there than live in your wildest nightmares. Creatures of promises and lies that will steal your soul for one more day's grace. Dead things that drink the blood of the living to endure an eternal night. Beasts who wear the skin of men, and creatures who defy death and the natural order with every breath they take.

The setting of the Chronicles of Darkness is vast and rich... but having so many options can often lead to decision paralysis among players and Storytellers alike. That's why in the back of the base book (page 196) they provide you with a bunch of short, one-shot style stories to help you get your feet wet. These scenarios can be played individually, or they can be strung together to build an entire chronicle out of.

And it's a really good idea... my question for you all this week is would you like to see additional supplements covering things like this? Perhaps for more than just the God Machine Chronicle that mortal characters are supposed to tackle?

Because there's always fresh approaches one can take with this setting.

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!

Broken Mirrors and Distorted Reflections

The Hagiography in the Chronicles of Darkness core book provides a smooth, workable frame, giving the Storyteller the bare bones they need to run a short session in roughly two pages or so. These 20 scenarios can either be run independently, or Storytellers can use them as seeds to build a larger, collective plot. Or the third option, they work as the connective bits between larger story arcs, where characters have finished one story, but the ST may not be quite ready to begin the next arc and needs something to keep players involved while they finish plotting.

Like I said above, it's a solid resource, and a particularly good thing to include in the core rulebook so that all STs have access to it. However, while it's possible to adapt these scenarios to other spheres in the Chronicles of Darkness, something that might be a difficult challenge for a gang of mortal investigators is probably not something that's going to be a problem for a cadre of mages, a motley of changelings, a coterie of vampires, and so on, and so forth.

Which is where I wanted to propose a project for my readers this week. Would you be interested in collections of these "story shards" for use with the other parts of the Chronicles of Darkness? Or even going back to the old World of Darkness and providing similar collections of ideas for Storytellers to use there?

Not too dissimilar to this project, actually...

If this is an idea that interests you, then consider leaving a comment and telling me the following:

- What Game Should The Shards Be For? Changeling, Hunter, Geist, and so on.

- How Many Shards Should There Be? Please choose 5, 10, 15, or 20 shards.

- Should The Shards Be Location Specific? Cities are a traditional location for this game, but should the shards be location neutral, or all tied to a particular place?

Whether you want to leave your comments below on this blog, reach out to me on any of the social media profiles I have listed in the end of this entry, or even leave your comments over on YouTube where my publisher is sure to see them (throw them in the comments of this video, World of Darkness Boot Camp, so that way I can find them all in one place), please make sure you weigh in on this week's topic.

Your feedback is important because Storyteller's Vault projects are something of a risky move on my part. They're a lot more restrictive than my general purpose RPG supplements, and they pay a lot less up-front for me, which can be a problem with how tight everything is right now. So while I think this is a really great idea overall, if folks would rather see me put together more simple lists like 100 (Mostly) Harmless Goblin Fruits and Oddments To Find in The Hedge for Changeling: The Lost, 100 Resources and Rumors To Find on ShreckNet for Vampire: The Masquerade, or even 100 Shadow Names (And Their Meanings) for Mage: The Awakening, I'm more than happy to put a few of those projects on my work desk instead if that's what my readers would prefer.

This is sort of a Choose Your Own Adventure, and I wanted folks to make their thoughts heard if they had strong feelings on this subject!

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!

"Ship of Martyrs" Showcases A New Video Format (Should I Keep It?)

As a lot of regular readers here know, I regularly dramatize the introductory short stories from my TTRPG supplements on the Azukail Games YouTube channel, and those videos often show up on Drive Thru RPG as well. Recently I've been tinkering with some different effects, and I think I finally managed to really capture the feeling of an old-fashioned video game RPG, which I think really adds some strange elements to the latest story I put together, Ship of Martyrs from my supplement Beyond The Black: 100 Dread Scenarios On Stranded Starships.

My question for you all this week is do you find this format engaging? And if so, is it something you'd like to see me do in future videos?

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my bi-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!

How You Can Make Your Voice Heard

Generally speaking, when I try something new with a video format, I keep an eye on what the reaction is to that video. So if you're someone who enjoys this look who would like to see me make future videos with this kind of setup (whether you just find it visually more engaging, or you like following along with the dialogue), here are some simple things you can do to make sure that this format sticks around in future videos!

- Watch The Video: Views are hard to come by with YouTube's constant algorithm changes, and even breaking 100 views was tough to manage. Getting it up over 500, or even 1,000, would be a clear message!

- Leave Comments of 7+ Words: The algorithm, for some reason, likes longer comments. But if you want to see more videos like this, then the comments are one of the best ways to help. Also, more comments helps the video get seen by more people, so, bonus!

- Share The Video on Your Social Media Pages: While a lot of people are awed (or annoyed) at my ability to share my work as widely as possible, I really need your help on this one. If you like this video, please share it on your own social media pages so more folks can see it.

- Subscribe To The Channel: Any time there's a big boom in subscriptions, there's often a correlation to the latest video released when they happened. So, if you haven't subscribed yet, then please do so! And mentioning your subscription in the comments will help, too.

I am asking for a lot of feedback in this week's post because this is a format I had to tinker with for a while to get it to look good, and function right. As such, I want to make sure it's something you all enjoy, and that you think is neat, before I roll up my sleeves and put in the work to do it with future videos as well!

And, of course, the more views you all give my work, the more money my publisher makes, and the more they can afford to pay me for future projects... just something to keep in mind!

There Are Actually Two Previous Stories You Should Hear, Too

While Ship of Martyrs is the newest story out, I've actually written stories about Argent, Grady, and their ship's adventures in the black before! The first actually appeared in the supplement 100 Spacer Superstitions, and Voices in The Void deals with the rather rocky relationship the two spacers had with one another when they were first serving on the same crew.

And a follow-up story to the crew of this ice hauler was found in 100 Sci Fi Cults. In Saints Among The Stars, the crew has been boarded by the Star Breakers, a crew of space pirates. All seemed lost, until unexpected aid came from a single member of the Knights of The Void. One of the more popular stories on the channel, it was also the first time I experimented with the audio effects to create a space marine style voice for the crew's savior!

So, if you're looking for the history of Argent and Grady's adventures together, check these supplements and videos out (and leave some comments on them so that I know you found them via this post)! And if you want to see more of the things that lurk out in the black, let me know that too so I can return to these characters, and the things they've had to encounter on their runs through the emptier parts of space.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Table Talk. 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!

If You Aren't Stress-Testing Character Sheets, You Really Should

Folks who are already subscribed to the Azukail Games YouTube channel, and who regularly watch episodes of Discussions of Darkness, may have heard me talk about this subject already. However, I wanted to take this Monday to really drive home that stress-testing the sheets and characters your players have made can be an extremely helpful thing to do before your campaign starts.

And that goes double for you as the GM. Because you need to know how their sheets work, and the mechanics your players are going to use, just as well as they do... especially if they're utilizing parts of the rulebook you don't typically crack open.

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 The Sheet Runs The Way You Think It Runs

The purpose of a stress test is to make sure that all the mechanics on a character's sheet work the way the player thinks they do, and to give it a try under laboratory conditions. The idea is that you, as the GM, should construct a situation where the character gets to try out their abilities and skills to be sure they function the way they're supposed to when the dice hit the mat. Sort of like how in 1 on 1 fighting games there's a mode where you have an opponent that doesn't do much so you can practice your moves to be sure you understand your character's abilities.

For bonus points I recommend running scenes from a character's history, or from the group's history if they've been together for a while. On the one hand, doing a single session for the group as a whole is easier to put together, but making individual sessions where you can work one-on-one allows you to construct individual scenarios geared to test each character specifically. It's why I recommend the latter option, if you have it available to you.

While the examples given are for characters in the World/Chronicles of Darkness, the idea is pretty applicable to most game systems. If you have a character who is meant to be a stealth-based infiltrator, then you can run them through a break-in, or a prison escape, to see if their skills are functioning the way they're supposed to. If you have a character that's an unarmed fighter, put them in a cage match, or a bar fight, so they can test out their abilities real-time. If a character is supposed to be the party face, run an interrogation, a trade negotiation, or something similar to see if they're really as good as they think they are when it comes to utilizing their social skills.

And if things go wrong, you can claim it was all a dream, or that things didn't go down the way they remembered, and it turns out they're telling this story in a tavern several years later.

Whether you want to test the mechanics for flying a spaceship, participating in a car chase, social combat (if your game has rules for that), or just making sure that your party bruiser can bust heads and crack teeth, the stress test saves you a lot of time, energy, and effort. However, there is a benefit over and above just making sure the mechanics work the way you and your players think; it also allows players to get into their character's skin, and play out some of their earlier moments and memories.

At the end of the day, a character trial run under controlled circumstances saves you a lot of time and energy, as there's fewer issues of players being unfamiliar with how their own characters work, and it allows players to really figure out their character's personality, style, and voice in a safe place instead of waiting until they're at a table surrounded by other players.

And, of course, it's sometimes fun to do a little one-on-one RP with your players to start building the foundation of the game, and really getting them invested in the campaign to come!

As with a Session 0, this isn't technically necessary. However, if you haven't tried this before, I highly recommend giving it a shot. Especially if you have players who are new to a system, or if you as the GM are new to the system and you want to build your familiarity with it before you take on a full session with everyone gathered around the table and looking to you to crank the motor, and get the game started.

And if you're looking for more pieces of advice from me, check out the collected tips and tricks in the following supplements:

- 100 Tips and Tricks For Being a Better Game Master

- 100 Tips and Tricks For Being a Better RPG Player

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