Bloodlines & Black Magic - Going Beyond The World of Darkness

There is something about the yawning mouth of a dark alley, the furtive look of people briefly caught beneath arc sodium lamps, and in the whispers heard in smoky bars, and gathered round burn barrels late at night. There's a draw to dark worlds, and something in your soul that makes you feel like there's more going on than what your eyes can see. A feeling that old gods still lurk in hidden temples, and that demons wait behind toothy grins to shake hands, and bind the unsuspecting to bloody bargains. There is a knowing in your bones that magic and madness both dance in the gutters, and that once you hear the tune, you won't be able to resist joining them.

And if you want to dance with the devil in the pale moonlight, then you should take a moment to check out Bloodlines and Black Magic, from Storm Bunny Studios!

Seriously, I highly recommend checking this one out!

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my 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!

 

Dark Streets With A Different System

When most people think of a modern game of dark fantasy or horror with monsters hiding between the cracks and terrible truths lurking just out of sight, they picture a World or Chronicles of Darkness game. It has been one of the standby settings of the genre, after all, and is responsible for a lot of the accepted norms and tropes of this style of gameplay. However, there are some folks who feel too heavily bound by the lore of those games, or who want a different system to play that lets them capture the feeling of this genre in a wholly different way.

And that's where Bloodlines & Black Magic comes in!

 

The original version of the game used the Pathfinder classic system, using what was called an O7 game. Because while traditional Pathfinder games can go up to level 20, an O7 game only goes up to the first 7 levels of a campaign. While player characters might gain more knowledge, powerful equipment, etc., their level will never go above that rather low bar, which keeps things tense and dangerous. The updated version of the game, however, uses its own, unique system to explore the same world while giving players even more options to customize their characters.

Whichever you choose, there's a dark, damned world out there to explore.

The idea behind these games is that the characters are all tied to one of the bloodlines that run through the world. Magic is real, but it hides behind rain-slick windows, in the back rooms of hellfire clubs, and the upper echelons of power. The world is shaped by global elites who play games of shadows, and who are trying to control the narrative for their own reason. The real question is where will the player characters turn, and what factions will they seek shelter from, and lend their strength to?

 

Honestly, while I could provide details about the factions, the history, the world setup (I did contribute a bit to it a while back in Bloodlines & Black Magic, Whispers and Rumors Issue 4), this is a time that I recommend going in with knowledge of the vibe and little else so that you can absorb the game and its world as you read and play. However, for folks who want a bit of a glimpse behind the tapestry, there is a Bloodlines & Black Magic Quickstart Guide that I'd recommend downloading and giving a once over before you crack open your wallets.

 

Because whether you're not a fan of the Storyteller System, you want a world with a fresh cosmology underpinning its secret histories and occult truths, or you just like trying out RPGs that throw you into a game of shadows as colossal, unseen forces vie for position, this is a tabletop experience I would highly recommend checking out! And while things have been quiet over at Storm Bunny Studios for a bit, they're getting louder by the day, which means we should be seeing a lot of fresh updates and new material for this world.

 

So if you've slept on it, now is a good time to open your eyes!

As A Bonus For Those Stepping Into The Darkness...

If you're someone who enjoys secret world of magic and lost gods that lurk in plain sight, then I'd highly recommend checking out Suffer The Children, a tale of an Old Testament angel settling a grudge with a cult of Moloch in modern-day Los Angeles as he tries to rescue a child sacrifice. This story is the latest audio drama to land over on The A.L.I.C.E. Files. This is a YouTube channel I launched a little while back with Alice Liddell, and it caters to many of the same themes as Bloodlines & Black Magic, though from a more sci fi angle. Still, there are secrets lurking in plain sight, and even clues to deeper mysteries in some of the videos, so check out the channel, subscribe, and leave us some comments if you think you found an Easter egg, or you caught something that might be important later!

We need all the help we can get to keep this endeavor going, and it's free to all our viewers!

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 additional audio dramas over on The A.L.I.C.E. Files! 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!

Moving From Reactive Characters To Active Ones In Your Tabletop Games

There is a tendency among players to be reactive. There may still be roleplay going on, and the character may still be doing things, but those things are rarely important or goal-oriented. They'll be drinking at the tavern, cooking meals in a kitchen, splitting wood, wandering through a carnival, fighting in a local pit, or any of a thousand other things, but these tasks are rarely in service to actually accomplishing anything... instead, they're merely things that can be stopped as soon as the actual task is set before them by the Game Master.

Put another way, a lot of characters are swimming around like fish, waiting for something that looks vaguely like a hook to appear. And then when the hook is there, it's like they're waiting for it to grab them, and pull them to wherever it is they're supposed to be.

However, a game often goes far more smoothly (and can actually be a lot more fun) if the player characters are actively pursuing goals and plots, instead of passively waiting for something to happen to them in order to spark a reaction.

When was the last time the king cleared the board?

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!

Motivation Is Only Part Of The Formula

When it comes to character actions, the discussion often turns to motivations and goals. After all, if a character isn't pursuing what they want, then it must be because they don't have a clearly defined brass ring they're reaching for, right? The difficulty is that motivation is just the gas in the tank; you need to have it, but the fuel isn't what drives you forward... it's pushing your foot down on the pedal that does it. It is applying action and ignition to the motivation that makes the wheels turn.

 

To continue this metaphor, you can have a character with deep, abiding motivations. They may have causes they care passionately about, or goals they must achieve if they're to move on with their life... but picking a direction doesn't mean you are moving in that direction.

 

Knowing the route isn't the same as walking the road.

For a less metaphorical example, do you play your character like Fred or Shaggy? Are you actively looking for answers, trying to find solutions, or even setting up traps, or is your character constantly making excuses, ducking plot hooks, or trying to run away unless the plot grabs them by the scruff of the neck, or they're dragged into things by the rest of the party?

 

Now, that is not to say you can't play a Shaggy. But if the entire party is reluctant to participate in what's happening, and is looking for reasons to get out of it to be somewhere else, and to do something else, then there's either not going to be a game to play, or the plot is going to have hem the party in to force them to solve a problem. However, if 3 of the 4 characters are being proactive and jumping in with both feet, this typically drags a reluctant (or a purely reactive) character along in their wake.

 

If you find yourself constantly twiddling your thumbs, looking around the table for someone to make the first move, or constantly waiting around for your character to be told what to do next, consider taking the initiative instead. Be the one who makes a plan, and gets the table talking. Call out to your companions, and tell them what you plan to do, and ask them to come with you on this endeavor. You don't necessarily need to be the party leader, but sometimes all it takes is being willing to dive in to really get the gears turning.

 

It also saves your Game Master from having to constantly prime the pump, and come up with some kind of event or NPC to give everyone a push in order to keep things moving.

 

Lastly if you are interested in a little extra motivation for your characters, then I'd recommend checking out my supplements 100 Character Goals and Motivations, which went Electrum a while back, and 100 Dark Secrets which is still Silver at time of writing, but could move up to the next metal level with your help!

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 the dark sci fi saga of The A.L.I.C.E. Files! 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 Second Supplement Of Anti-Trope Suggestions (With A Snarky Title) Has Dropped!

So, I don't really know how to classify this particular series I've apparently started. Because they aren't limited to only worldbuilding questions, NPCs, lore, or background ideas. They're not primarily for players, or Game Masters. Mostly they're just inspired by seeing a prevalent trope in tabletop RPGs, and providing a list of ideas for folks who don't want to go along with the stereotype at their table, but who could use a bit of inspiration to move in a different direction.

The first supplement was 100 Fantasy Professions (That Aren't "Adventurer"), and it was something folks on both sides of the table could use for inspiration. The second supplement, which came out this past weekend, though, is 100 Ways To Start A Campaign (That Aren't In A Tavern).

And I highly recommend grabbing a copy if you haven't yet!

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my 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!

Which Tropes Should I Tackle Next?

Any time the audience sends me a message with their buying habits, I try to listen. And since 100 Ways To Start A Campaign (That Aren't In A Tavern) hit Copper today, and seems to be well on its way to cresting Silver before it fully runs out of momentum, this seems to be something that readers enjoy! As such, I wanted to tag in my regular readers, and ask you what RPG stereotypes you think deserve their own entry in this series? What would you actually use?

Some examples I've been kicking around include things like:

- 100 Friends and Family Members To Put In Your Backstory

- 100 Rewards (Other Than Gold)

- 100 Quirks For Your Character

 

These are just a couple ideas I've jotted down in my notebook of things to work on in the future, but I wanted to take a moment to see if this is something folks wanted to see more of, and if they'd like more tongue-in-cheek titles which were still offering useful resources to help improve your characters, your campaigns, and even your settings!

 

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 additional audio dramas over on The A.L.I.C.E. Files! 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: Limited Resources Can Lead To Creative Strategies

When you pop the hood on what makes an RPG challenging, there are a lot of different systems at play. However, if you dig down to the very foundations of what makes the game work, a lot of it comes down to a smart use of the available resources to complete a task, or achieve a goal. Whether it's spell slots, rage rounds, alchemical items, carrying capacity, or even time, limiting the resources your players have available is one of the main ways a Game Master establishes challenge... and it can often lead to creative strategies on your players' part.

We've got three of them left... how many villains are there?

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!

Putting Pressure On Your Players

Challenge is, on the surface, a very simple thing to create. There is an obstacle, and the players need to find a way over it, around it, under it, or through it... and whichever strategy they use is going to come with risk, and it will use some of their resources.

 

What you have to determine, as the Game Master, is how you're going to apply pressure to ensure that your players have to get creative with both their risks and their resources.

 

Think this will be enough ammo for the quest?

 

What resources you have on-hand typically determines what strategies players will want to try... however, the most important consideration for you, as the Game Master, is that every strategy to solve a meaningful problem should come with some kind of potential risk as well as a potential reward.

As an example, take one of the most basic situations found in fantasy RPGs; your party is going to a crumbling ruin that is infested with monsters (and potentially traps) in order to take the treasure inside for themselves. A simple dungeon crawl... however, there are some ways that this scenario might lack challenge. And while most Game Masters just add extra monsters, slap more hit points onto existing creatures, or increase the difficulty and damage on the traps, those things can feel arbitrary.

So instead, let's ask what other things might add pressure to this treasure hunt. Potential challenges include:

- Time Constraints: If the dungeon is only accessible during a specific time frame, say for three days, the party doesn't have a lot of spare 8-hour recharge times to use. The same is true if they manage to get to the dungeon first, but there are other so-called adventurers hot on their tails that they don't want to fight for the loot.

 

- Food: While most campaigns don't pay any real attention to how much your players eat, take a moment and ask how many provisions they brought with them out into the depths of this old-growth forest. Do they have the necessary skills to forage? Do they end up eating something poisonous or rotten, and getting sick? Even if they technically have all the time in the world, they can't keep fighting on an empty stomach.

- Tools: Typically RPGs don't worry about weapon and armor durability, but there are some tools that can break if checks go badly enough. If the rogue only has two sets of lockpicks, and one set gets broken on a door because they rolled poorly enough, will they press forward? Will they allow companions to kick in doors instead, risking drawing the attention of monsters? Or will they use another strategy entirely to open locked portals?

- Material Components: We typically don't worry much about these things, but they are a major necessity for spellcasting. So while relatively simple components might get a hand wave and a pass, ask which spells require notable costs, and expensive or rare components. Because if the party can only bring a handful of those, their absence is going to be felt sooner rather than later.

- Resetting Dungeon: If the players don't complete the dungeon crawl, it should reset or change in a meaningful way when they either abandon it, or hunker down to rest. Perhaps the creatures are reinforced with fresh recruits, or the dead get back up, reanimated by the nature of the place. Maybe creatures that were held in check by creatures the party slew can now expand their territory and wander freely. Maybe the locks reset themselves. Perhaps the traps come back online, or they're reset by monsters who regularly patrol the dungeon. If retreating is a strategic choice, then the dungeon shouldn't just remain in status in their absence.

 

All of these, and many others, are ways you can use limited resources to put a squeeze on your players... and every way they find around one of these constraints is a victory for them. For example, if a ranger can reliably forage well enough to feed themselves and their companions, that removes food as a constraint that can weigh on players. If players have access to fast travel through spells or unique mounts, that also buys them more time, and lets them bypass the dangers of the wilderness.

 

The key here is to get your players thinking in terms of what will use the fewest resources, or what will be most effective, and seeing if it will get them venturing off the beaten path as they search for solutions.

 

Because if you have a thousand arrows, a trunk of material components, and all the healing items in the world, then it's likely your players might try to brute force their way through overwhelming odds by fighting a grueling war of attrition against every monster, bandit, and assassin that comes for them. However, if they just don't have the resources to make that a winning strategy, it can be interesting to see what they do instead. Do the players instead embrace stealth, either ambushing enemies to get the upper hand, or skipping combat altogether to reach the treasure chamber? Do they employ guile, using lies and disguises to hide in plain sight? Do they set traps, or use the ones already in the dungeon to damage or destroy monsters they themselves couldn't fight on their own?

 

When you have access to all the resources in the world, you can get lazy and just do whatever. But when the pressure is on, and you have limited options, that's when people start getting creative with the choices they make... and it can overall lead to a much more satisfying experience!

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 the dark sci fi channel I contribute stories to, The A.L.I.C.E. Files! 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!

The Difficulty of Destined Heroes and Fail States

We have all been in those games where destiny takes a hand in the plot. Perhaps our heroes are chosen by the gods to act as their direct representatives in a spiritual proxy war (a similar setup to what I called The Cold War of The Gods). Maybe there was a prophecy that foretold them rising up to challenge a great power. Or this just happens to be the trope the GM is leaning on because it was difficult to find an organic way to get such a disparate group of killers, thieves, and liars to all come together to accomplish a shared goal.

However, there is nothing more likely to result in a clash between rules and plot than something going wrong in a destined hero game. Which is why, before you gear up to run one, you need to think through how you plan on dealing with a fail state.

The dragon warriors were supposed to free us all... but then they died. To one lucky goblin.

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my 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 Does Destiny Manage To Weave Through Failure?

We've all read a story where a hero or heroes were destined to do something, and while things might have seemed bleak or hopeless at times in that story, the characters always seemed to make it through in an interesting way. Which is why if you're playing a game where the plot device is that your party have been chosen by fate, the gods, or some other higher force, you need to take a moment to ask how you're going to keep the game going if bad luck stalls out the story's progress.

The gods are not so easily denied, small one...

Let's start with the obvious... what happens if one or more of the characters get killed? They've been chosen for this great destiny, and they're on their way to fulfill it, when an orc ambush goes a little too well, and the party goes down. Now you've lost the champions of the plot... what is destiny going to do now?

Well, I have a few recommendations for how to handle this.

Firstly, if you're going to run a chosen one plot, wait until the PCs have gained a few levels before you start throwing around that kind of language and making them officially chosen ones. The major advantage of this is that it gives your players a couple of levels to get into the groove of their characters, and to get past the point where one good critical hit can spell an unlucky game over. The secondary advantage is that it gives the party time to become cohesive, and for players to get really attached to their characters. After all, a player wanting to bring in a completely different PC can screw with the whole destined heroes plot just as much as a character death.

However, even waiting until the PCs are a little beefier doesn't guarantee they won't meet with an ignoble end. That's why it's a good idea to have some kind of force in place to give the characters a way to survive at least 1 death. However, as I mentioned recently in both Undercutting Death Can Undercut Your Story, as well as Villains Can Cheat Death (Without Taking Away Your Players' Victory), it's important that this doesn't feel like you're just throwing your players a bone. Overcoming death should come with some kind of cost or hardship, or it should be uncertain in some important way. Perhaps a divine being must stand in the place of a PC in the Underworld until they complete their quest, or they have to make some kind of bargain with a powerful outsider.

You can even have a whole separate part of the campaign happen in the land of the dead if you want to bring in a game resource like The Black Ballad, which is all about running campaigns that take place partially (or even entirely) in the hereafter. Alternatively, you might find some inspiration in I'm Back! - 25 Reasons For A Villain's Survival.

Resurrection can be a finnicky thing.

Lastly, and this might sound counterintuitive at first, you should try to come up with fail states beyond death for the PCs.

I've talked about this before, but when it comes to a destiny-style game, consider the implications of death in the ongoing power struggle. Will killing the heroes of the prophecy actually stop the prophecy from coming true? Or will this just allow the divine essence to slip away, where it will empower a different, unknown hero that the villains will have to find and track down all over again? Do the villains want to steal the PCs destiny, but they can't do that if they're dead, so they have to be kept alive and captured? Are the PCs themselves a necessity for the villain to win, whether it's by turning them away from their current path, making allies of them, or getting them to somehow renounce the quest laid before them?

It's your game, so you're the one who gets to decide how the prophecy, destiny, or driving plot force behaves. However, providing multiple fail states, or a way for players to fail-forward is a good idea. For example, have the villains been given explicit instructions by their master to take the PCs alive at all costs? If so, then they should find themselves held prisoner in the enemy's fortress when that was where they were going anyway... the difference is that now they have to engineer a jailbreak instead of just sneaking in. Alternatively, perhaps they're in a race to acquire magical artifacts, and the fail state for that arc of the quest is not being killed, but rather the enemy acquiring the items first, which puts the PCs at a disadvantage they need to recover from in the next arc.

And so on, and so forth.

To wrap things up, I'm not saying that games where PCs are the chosen ones, or where they're fulfilling some grand destiny, are bad. Far from it. After all, everyone likes to be special from time to time. However, if that is the trope you're using as the main thrust of your campaign, it's important for you to have off-ramps and work arounds in the event things don't go according to plan.

Which every Game Master will tell you is basically guaranteed to happen as soon as you hand the reins over to the players, and the dice start hitting the table.

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 additional audio dramas over on The A.L.I.C.E. Files! 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!

Should I Make "The Galaxy's Oldest Profession" Series of Supplements Next?

For folks who don't keep an eye on every one of my new releases, you might have missed my latest which dropped this past weekend; World's Oldest Profession: 100 Titillating Titles To Find in a Lewd Library. This is the 4th installment in the World's Oldest Profession series, and while some of the titles have been more popular than others, it seems to have been pretty popular overall.

Which is why I wanted to take this Monday's post to ask folks, should I expand this into another genre? Something like The Galaxy's Oldest Profession, perhaps?

Also, for those who want to check out the older releases, check out:

- World's Oldest Profession: A Baker's Dozen of Brothels

- World's Oldest Profession: 100 Courtesans and Concubines

- World's Oldest Profession: 100 Rumors To Hear At A Brothel

Seriously, pick up the latest if you haven't yet!

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my 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!

For All My Sci Fi Lovers Out There

Folks who've been reading my supplements for a while know this, but in the event you're new here, fantasy supplements are often the testing ground for a new format or idea for me. Fantasy RPGs are everywhere, and they're some of the most dominant choices on the market, so that's where I go to test my ideas. And if something seems to be going well in the fantasy genre, I might take the same concept and switch the genre for folks playing sci fi RPGs.

It's why when 100 Random Mercenary Companies did well, I put together 100 Sci Fi Mercenary Companies. When 100 Cults To Encounter was popular with folks, I came out with 100 Sci Fi Cults as a follow-up. And while the sci fi version often does well, sometimes I'm surprised an it actually does better than the original fantasy version of the supplement!

Which is why I wanted to ask folks this week if this should be a series that gets its own re-imagining into a new genre?

Don't let the Toy Box fool you... the place is a wild time!

If this is something you think I should pursue, please let me know in either the comments, or on my social media linked at the end of this post. However, rather than just a yay or nay, I'd appreciate if you could provide some of the following input:

- Is there a particular sub-genre of sci fi (cyberpunk, starfaring, grimdark, etc.) you want to see?

- Do you want locations, rumors, NPCs, or things to find?

- Would you want it compatible with any particular rule set (Cyberpunk, Starfinder, etc.)?

These three extra pieces of information will help determine where the starting point is for the series, and the amount of replies I receive overall will determine how quickly the project moves up my to-do list.

Lastly, if you've already purchased copies of any of the 4 World's Oldest Profession supplements, please take a moment to rate and review them on Drive Thru RPG. None of them have managed to hit Gold just yet, and I'd have quite a laugh if we could manage to get at least one title to that level by the end of the year. If that happens, I promise to write a Gold-Digger post to commemorate the occasion!

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 additional audio dramas over on The A.L.I.C.E. Files! 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!

Villains Can Cheat Death (Without Taking Away Your Players' Victory)

I recently wrote a post over on my sister blog The Literary Mercenary titled Undercutting Death Can Undercut Your Story. And while I wrote this from the mindset of an author, there were quite a few references to RPGs and comic books about how introducing mechanics that render death mutable or reversible can have a major effect on your story's stakes, and with how seriously we take death as a consequence.

And this week I wanted to elaborate on this a bit for the Game Masters out there... because while it's true that what's available to the player characters is available to their enemies, if you're going to bring back a villain after they were killed then you need to do so in a way that doesn't feel cheap, or undermine your players' success, and which adds to the ongoing story.

Also, a shout out to Adrian Kennelly's supplement I'm Back! - 25 Reasons For A Villain's Survival for Game Masters who could use a bit of a kickstart on this topic.

It's a delicate balance... but you can manage it.

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my 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!

Should You Bring This Villain Back?

Its happens to all of us. Your players get lucky, and they sink a critical hit at a bad time. Or maybe you forgot about an ability on their sheet that stripped away your villain's exit strategy. Or for the first time in recorded history one of those one-hit-kill powers actually worked, and it dropped your big bad instantly. Well, you had plans for this villain in the narrative going forward, but the numbers made it clear that your players won this round, and your villain is dead.

First and foremost, ask yourself why they shouldn't stay that way. Aside from the fact that it would make your life easier as the GM, who in your ongoing campaign has a vested interest in that villain remaining on the mortal plane? And, perhaps even more importantly, what role are they supposed to actually serve in the ongoing narrative?

You had one job, Crassus... now go do it!

Take a moment, and ask who this villain is. Are they a hired mercenary who was just working for the real villain? Are they a servant of a cult, who might have access to relics or rituals that can bring back their servants? Or does this villain serve a dark god, or powerful necromancer, who might decide their minion has skills and abilities that would be too hard to replace at this stage of their plans? Did they make a deal with someone, or something that isn't going to let them out of it so easily?

All of that context matters. Because if your villain was just some guy who had a certain set of skills, but not a particularly rare one, then they shouldn't be resurrected unless the circumstances of their death were genuinely up in the air. If they fell off of a cliff and into a rushing river, then maybe they could survive, for instance. But if the PCs stabbed them to death, dismembered them, and burned their body, that villain is dead for sure. In that situation it's better to bring in a new villain who will take their place, and who might be looking for vengeance on those who killed that original bad guy. Maybe it's an old war buddy, an enraged father, a vengeful mother, an even more evil twin... someone who fills the role nicely, and who shows the party their actions have consequences, and what they do affects the story as it unfolds.

However, if this villain was truly difficult to replace either because of their unique power level, or you really wanted to build up more of the personal antagonism between them and the PCs, then consider using any of the absurd methods you have on-hand for resurrecting them. For example, could their parts and pieces be reassembled with dark technology, or terrible magic into some kind of angry cyborg a la Darth Vader, or an evil Robocop? Could they be truly resurrected by a patron, or a deity, who marks them in some way to remind them they have failed (perhaps removing a finger, like a Yakuza soldier, or marking them with terrible brands, taking an eye, etc.)? Or are they resurrected with a template added onto them, perhaps as a powerful undead, or some kind of horrible demon hybrid creature?

Or are they operating under a curse, like those who wield the Widowmaker, a terrible, corrupt weapon found in The Blade Itself for Hunter: The Vigil?

Give it a look if you haven't yet!

Now, the key here is that for this villain to come back it can't feel like you just hit the undo button behind the GM screen, and invalidated your players' victory because it was inconvenient to the narrative. This resurrection should clearly have come at some kind of cost to the villain, and it should be uncertain as to whether it will happen again. Even if you want to use resurrection or reincarnation as a kind of power for this particular enemy, the challenge will then become finding the thing that truly kills them for good so they stop coming back. But it should never feel like a victory (hard won or otherwise) is just being handwaved away because you couldn't be bothered to draw up a fresh villain, or to modify a story because you were operating under the assumption that this particular bad guy would be present and un-murdered for what comes next.

Remember that you can get creative with this! Just be sure that your resurrection feels well thought-out, appropriate to the story, and that the cost of it undercuts exactly how far the villain is willing to go to thwart the party... especially because their new lease on life may very well depend on them succeeding where previously they failed!

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 additional audio dramas over on The A.L.I.C.E. Files! 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!

Character Secrets Don't Matter If No One Finds Out About Them

Everyone loves a good plot twist, or a fun character reveal. The problem arises, though, when players (or even the GM) squeeze the story so tight to their chest that they end up smothering the secrets they were holding. Because while having a big reveal in your back pocket can be fun, if no one else is ever going to find out about it then it may as well not exist.

Which is why you shouldn't just know what your character's secrets are, as I mentioned in What Secrets Does Your Character Hide?, and elaborated on in the character concept The Onion of Secrets. You should also know how that secret is going to matter to the story you're all telling, and have some idea of how you're going to start revealing it to the people sitting around the table with you.

If they never dive down, how would they know?

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 Spice Needs To Go Into The Soup

Once you know what your character's secrets are (whether they're a secret vigilante, they were born to a noble family, they were a bandit in a former life, etc.) you can think of them as a little dash of spice. However, if you never actually add that spice into the dish, then it won't make any difference to the overall experience. However, adding in the spice at the wrong time, or in the wrong amount, can also ruin the presentation and flavor when all is said and done.

And this is why it's important for you to consult with the head chef (the Game Master) to make things come out just right!

Mmm... this one might be too salty. Let's do a half dose of this, how's that sound?

First things first, character secrets should be a collaborative effort between you and your Game Master. The reason for that is because the GM is the one who needs to facilitate a good reveal, and to help you set the stage so you can stand in the spotlight for a moment when it comes time to let everyone else in on the secret.

Secondly, once the Game Master agrees your secret will become part of the story, try to work with them to come to that appropriate place so that the collaboration stays strong. As an example, if your character used to be an infamous assassin before they joined the church and took the vows of a cleric, work with the GM to figure out when (and how) you want that information to come out. For example, do they have secretive tattoos or brands they keep hidden until they're revealed when the party is taken prisoner? Do they speak a particular language only known by members of this secretive order, and they have to reveal that to translate critical intelligence? Or do they find people who recognize them from their old life for one reason or another? Because sprinkling in these clues, or just adding in the big reveal at a dramatic moment, can really make the story sing.

Where a lot of players mess this up, though, is they will either keep their secrets extremely close to their vests to the point that they never come up in the game at all, or they will try to spring this surprise on their fellow players and on the Game Master, which is a terrible plan because it can create unnecessary confusion that will undercut the reveal.

Timing and placement is extremely important for maximum story impact. Because say that your character was actually a princess, but she ran away from her royal responsibilities to become an adventurer. Classic twist, very fun. However, if you aren't coordinating this with your Game Master then you don't have any in-world structural support for this character's entire secret backstory... and even if it is allowed to stand, there won't be anything in-place for the plot that this reveal will actually affect. But consider what might happen if you were in communication with your Game Master. Because if you wanted a secret princess reveal, and the Game Master agreed, then at the very least there's likely to be people looking for the missing princess. But it's also possible that the villain for the campaign will be a family member of hers, and that she has a legitimate claim to the throne that could lead the party to commit a coup rather than leaving her evil uncle or sadistic brother sitting on the throne.

Long story short, if you want your character reveal to have a real impact then it's going to require scaffolding and set dressing to really facilitate it. And if you don't work with your Game Master to set the stage, then the reveal is going to fizzle out... so make sure all the setup is in place before you step onto your mark!

Lastly, if you found this week's post of-interest, then take a moment or three to check out my supplements 100 Dark Secrets as well as 100 Questions To Ask About Your Characters.

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 the dark sci fi saga of The A.L.I.C.E. Files! 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!

Compersion Is An Important Aspect of Being a Game Master

Compersion is a term that a lot of gamers are familiar with, because a polyamorous lifestyle is the easiest way to ensure that you have enough people for a regular RPG or board game night. However, if you've never heard the term before, the most general definition is that it is when a person feels a sense of happiness cause by seeing someone else's happiness; particularly someone important to that person.

And generally speaking, I think this is something a lot of Game Masters should take to heart, because the idea is one that can make game night a lot more enjoyable for everyone involved.

Lastly, before we get started this week, you should check out my older article Partners and Polycules: Polyamorous Designations Based Off Dungeons and Dragons Dice in the event you need a chuckle today.

It can really help to have your head, and heart, in the right place.

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my 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!

Making It About Your Players (Instead of Yourself)

Since I can hear the clearing of some throats out there, I wanted to give the more in-depth definition of this term as it applies to polyamorous people. Mostly because I feel that will give the following topic a little additional weight. Now, for those who don't know, polyamory is a relationship style where people have multiple romantic and/or sexual partners at a time, and there is open communication and knowledge among everyone involved. Now, in this case, compersion is often about seeing one of your partners being happy with another partner, and feeling happy that they're happy.

And I bring this up because for a lot of people seeing their partner go out on dates with another person (or knowing they were up to something more intimate) would give them very negative feelings like jealousy, sadness, or anger. And while those things can still happen, for a lot of folks the idea that you would see your partner in this situation, and be happy that they're having fun and excited, can be a lot to wrap their heads around.

But I would posit that there's a parallel here for a lot of Game Masters. Because it feels like a lot of folks who run games can sometimes put their players' happiness and excitement last, which leads to problems.

I hope they're having a good time right now. I really do.

Now, to start us off on the right foot, I agree with the sentiment that the Game Master is also a player at the table. They have a very different role, but they should absolutely be enjoying themselves as much as anyone else. However, with that said, it's important for a Game Master to ask themselves if they're excited when their players are excited, or if seeing their players having fun gives them a rush of positive feelings. Even if the players are doing something unconventional.

Because there are a lot of Game Masters out there who get frustrated or upset with players when they use an ability in an unexpected way, when they try out a strategy the GM didn't see coming, or just when the dice gods smile upon the players and things really go their way with a natural 20 or critical success at a clinch moment. And sure, maybe you were hoping that your villain would make more of an impression on the players, or you're frustrated their figured out a plot twist sooner than you wanted them to, or a fight they were supposed to lose is one they actually walked away from victorious... and it's all right to feel those things. But ask yourself if your players are having fun, and if that shouldn't be more important in this moment?

The ability to take your ego out of things, and to bask in your players' enjoyment, is really important for having a good experience as a GM. Because even if your players ignored a dungeon you'd hoped they would go down, or they solved a mystery two sessions early, or a twist of fate allowed them to absolutely wreck a villain you'd hoped would have been more of a challenge, if your players are having fun, ask yourself if those other things are more important at the end of the day?

That perspective, and that shift in mind set, can make a lot of difference. It can also allow you to shrug off things that would otherwise bother you. If you develop the ability to say, "Well, as long as everyone is having fun," and to really mean it, that will make your life a great deal easier.

And if you haven't picked up my 100 Tips and Tricks For Being A Better Game Master, as well as the companion piece 100 Tips and Tricks For Being A Better RPG Player, I'd highly recommend grabbing some copies for yourself!

As A Final Note: Compersion and Bad Behavior

I heard a few folks cracking their knuckles for comments, so I wanted to tack a section onto the end of this week's post. It's important for you, as a Game Master, to tell the difference between harmless behaviors from your players, or your own hang ups as a GM, and problem behavior. As I mentioned, the goal here is for everyone at the table to be having fun, the GM included. And there is a world of difference between allowing your players to go off-script, or allowing an unexpected but earned victory to stand, and putting up with bad behavior from your players.

However, in another polyamory comparison, the best course of action is to talk about things. Whether you feel your players aren't being appreciative of the effort you're putting into the game because they keep ignoring what you're telling them, or you feel that they're deliberately undermining the tone you all agreed to at the outset, or you feel that tea-bagging your minis is disrespectful, and they're going to hurt themselves when they eventually fall off the table, have a conversation about it.

And don't wait until there's months (or years) of pent up negativity and bad blood about something that can come boiling out. Just talk to your players, open up a dialogue, and tell them, "Hey, I'm having some thoughts/feelings about this. I don't want it to become an issue, but I'd appreciate if we could talk this out."

It really does solve problems.

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 additional audio dramas over on The A.L.I.C.E. Files! 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!