Dungeon Design Tips: Find A Reason For PCs To Survive (And Try Again)

In the early days of RPGs, death walked with every character as a constant companion. All it took was a single bad tumble of the dice, or the wrong word spoken to the wrong NPC, and it was time to roll up a new character. As games have grown and changed, though, a lot of us have gravitated toward the party-as-main-characters model, where the party are the cast of the novel that is your campaign.

However, while it's a lot harder to kill PCs in most modern games (as long as you aren't playing an OSR game, or something deliberately lethal), it can still happen. Which is why it's a good idea to make sure you have something in your back pocket in case the dice roll hard against your players, but you don't want their stories to be cut short just yet.

You're in a dungeon, after all.

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To The Dungeons With Them!

Consider, just for a moment, some of the standard low-level adventures that you often go on. We've all likely been through:

- Bandit hunting

- The goblin cave

- Orc raids

- An evil cult

There are dozens of other options out there, but these will work to illustrate what I'm talking about. So, your players have gone off on one of these missions, and they either bit off more than they could chew, or the dice really went against them, but they find themselves on the wrong end of the stick. If that's the case, ask what happens to prevent this from being the end of their stories.

- The bandits gather the party's gear, and haul in their unconscious bodies. They can always kill them later, but anyone with the skill and bravery they showed might be worth a ransom... the boss is the one who gets to decide that. So they get their wounds treated, and might have to escape from a stockade in order to get their gear back, and take the fight to the bandits.

- The goblins felled the ones who thought they could stop them. They could just kill them, but they want to play with them. Dragging the party to the shaman so they can be healed, the party is now forced to participate in gladiatorial combat for the goblins' amusement, or they get shoved into a cage with wargs, or something else deeply dangerous. An opportunity to escape and retake the advantage is what they need... but will they get the chance?

- The orcs managed to smash the party. Do they awaken hours later, their gear taken, but each of them left with a weapon as a sign of respect? Or do the orcs take the party, healing their captives whom they intend to make into slaves, as is their right as the victors in combat?

- The cult realizes the party is going to be a serious problem... but it's also what they represent. They need to interrogate them to find out who else knows about the cult, and who will be expecting the party to surface again. They may need to torture them, and as we saw in The Princess Bride, they need to be healthy before the torture starts. And when the cult has all the information they need, the party will make for potent sacrifices... they just need to escape before that happens.

Let's see... what other plot twists can we create?

Of course, low levels aren't the only times characters can meet unfortunate or unexpected ends. Especially since high-level encounters can feel like a game of rocket tag where one bad save can lead to your character being down for the count.

And while death may not be the end in a lot of RPGs, there are things you can do to make their escape from the jaws of defeat more dramatic than just forking over some diamond dust and having a cleric cast a spell... especially if you wind up with a TPK. So consider the types of creatures your party is fighting, the current plot they're part of, or even the location they happen to be in.

As an example, if your characters are involved in conflict with fey, is there some obscure rule of hospitality that means they cannot be slain outright? Must this matter be escalated to one of the high nobles, and a ruling established? Perhaps requiring a trial by combat, allowing the party to take their best shot in a different arena?

Alternatively, if you're running a more traditional, Chosen One sort of game that expects these specific characters to press forward and save the world, do they have the ability to try to escape from the Underworld? While this might become a secondary dungeon crawl, or a combat against one of the psychopomps that try to usher souls to the other side, it can give your players a sense of purpose and power over their own deaths by having to fight their way back to their bodies... literally as well as metaphorically. And if this is a plot you intend to run, I'd recommend checking out The Black Ballad by Storyteller's Forge, as it's a great resource for this sort of thing. There's also a Pathfinder Conversion Pack, which can be useful.

Lastly, consider the place the party meets their ends. If they're in a place that's rife with undeath, does dying in this location curse someone, giving them a kind of dark resurrection? Perhaps adding one of the half-dead racial templates found in my supplement Moüd, City of Bones (available for Pathfinder and DND 5E)? If they're on holy ground, are they offered a bargain by the god, goddess, devil, or demon this place is dedicated to (or was dedicated to, if it's been forgotten)?

It All Depends On You And Your Game

Some groups like it when death has teeth, and the end is final unless someone survives and manages to resurrect or reincarnate the dead or defeated party members. However, it's often a good idea to have some dynamic plans so that defeat and death don't just feel like an arbitrary roll of the die... especially if that puts major kinks into the story you're all trying to tell!

But as with all things, make sure you talk this over with your group to be sure you're all on the same page before it's time to start rolling dice.

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!

The Zerg Rush (An Underused Combat Encounter)

When we think of combat encounters in TTRPGs, we tend to think in terms of specific numbers, strategies, and environments. This is only natural given that so many times it can be tough to balance out what kind of encounter is a challenge for your players, versus what is going to be a cakewalk, versus what is going to be complete overkill... and that's before we take into question experience points, gear and loot if they win, and so on.

However, because we so often have tightly-scripted encounters, we forget that sometimes it can be extremely fun to face a combat situation that's full of total chaos where players can really cut loose with a lot of their abilities, but which still rewards smart strategy and tactical planning.

I'm talking, of course, about the zerg rush.

They're everywhere! Fire at will!

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, 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!

They Just Keep Coming!

Even if you're not a Starcraft player, chances are good you've heard the term zerg rush before. It comes from the insectoid zerg faction, creatures reminiscent of both the tyranids of Warhammer 40K, but also of the bugs of Starship Troopers. Some players would build up as many warrior units as they could, and mass rush them over the enemy lines. While individually these creatures were weak, en masse they were a serious threat that would take stiff resistance to stand against. Over time the term grew to refer to basically any game where a mass frontal assault using overwhelming numbers was the strategy employed.

The reason I've had this particular strategy on my mind is that I've been sitting down and planning short-form missions for my RPG Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic. Some of those missions involve tracking down enemies out in the wild, some require getting hold of particular documents, and others require kicking in the doors and going in guns blazing! At least one or two, though, are going to deal with the squad of troopers being given a location to defend and hold.

And when that happens, a zerg rush is a great way to keep things feeling tense, and to keep your players on their toes.

You can use practically any enemies you want for this...

Now, it doesn't matter if you are using the vespoinds in Army Men, goblins in traditional Dungeons and Dragons, or you want to send hordes of undead at your survivors in All Flesh Must Be Eaten, there are several key things to keep in mind in order to make defending against this kind of assault a thrilling encounter, rather than a tedious or frustrating one.

- Firstly, the players must have some kind of location to defend. Even if it's just a set of interlocking trenches on one side of No Man's Land, or a tumbledown castle with a wall full of holes, they need to have some kind of defense to make up for their lack of numbers.

- Secondly, the enemies need to be relatively weak as individuals. A single zombie, a single goblin, or a single Vespoid is not a great threat... but a dozen of them? 50 of them? A hundred? These are the sort of numbers that can make players sweat when they start closing the distance.

- Thirdly, players need to have the resources to fight this battle. If there are only a dozen arrows between all the bowmen, and there are 75 enemies approaching, that is not going to be a fun time; it's just going to feel unfair. You don't need to give them infinite ammunition along with rocket launchers, the ability to constantly replenish their spell slots, etc., but make sure that your players have enough tricks up their sleeve (whether it's calling in air support or artillery fire, or the sorcerer has a handful of fireballs and lightning bolts) to make a big show of things, but not so many that they can drop those big bombs every turn with impunity.

- Fourthly, the rush should be dynamic. Even if the enemy you're facing isn't known for strategy, it's important to divide the PCs' attention at least somewhat. For example, if they're guarding a fort, and the rush comes from two fronts, they now have to weigh the odds of which direction to focus more of their attention and firepower, redirecting and moving organically as the battle develops. If part of the rush breaches a gate, they have to weigh defending that position and stopping other gates from receiving the same treatment, and so on. If the party is just holding a narrow cave mouth, then it's just going to be a martial in the gap, bowmen and casters behind, and that can get boring quickly because it isn't changing. If the rush loses momentum it becomes a slog, and no one finds that fun.

- Fifthly, and this one is optional, consider doing a zerg rush in waves. Keep a counter in front of you as a GM, and every X number of rounds, bring in fresh numbers, or a force from a different direction. This keeps your players on their toes and helps stop you from getting too overwhelmed moving such a massive force as one. And, as a final piece of advice, it helps if the rush has limited ability to actually hurt the PCs from a distance. This allows the PCs to at first attack with impunity, but as the enemy draws nearer, and starts to press them, suddenly the threat becomes much more real than it was a few rounds ago!

There are a lot of different ways you can go with a zerg rush encounter. For example, you can have the rush continue for a certain period of time, requiring players to simply hold it back until a ritual is complete, the dawn breaks over the horizon, an air strike can swoop in, etc. Alternatively, the rush might be stopped by destroying a particular figure, such as the necromancer commanding the undead, the hobgoblin generals directing their troops, or the hive mind of a vespoid force. Or it might simply end when enemy morale breaks, and too many troops from their side have been lost.

With that said, it's important to make sure you budget the time for running something like this, and that you have some kind of loss condition if the rush does actually overwhelm the PCs. For example, can they withdraw to a narrow retreat that will save them from the foe, but put them in different danger (like retreating through underground tunnels haunted by other, dangerous creatures)? Will they be captured instead of killed if the rush overwhelms them (such as if the necromancer has plans for them that would be upset by them getting mostly eaten by a horde of zombies)? Is the rush more focused on retrieving a hostage (like a bandit leader being freed by his gang) than it is on actually fighting the PCs?

Sometimes the rush actually goes the way the antagonists want, which is something you need to plan for before you do it so that it doesn't just spell game over if the dice go against your players.

As a final reminder, if you're a fan of tactical tabletop games, and you want to try a ridiculous setting that evokes that gung-ho, anything goes feeling of a backyard game of make believe with your entire toy chest, then consider picking up your copy of Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic, along with the two supplements that have been released for it so far, Army Men: Threat Assessments, and Army Men: Medals of Honor!

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 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!

Common Place Magic, and Everyday Alchemy in High Fantasy Games

In some game settings magic is a truly rare thing. Sometimes it’s because it takes a lifetime of mastery, or it is particularly resource-intensive, and thus it is only something that can be called on by the elite of a society. Other times magic is unpredictable, making it unreliable at best and outright dangerous at worst. And in some systems magic is tainted, its powers a gateway for dread powers and forces that should not be named.

All power comes at a price, after all.

However, in high magic games, magic is everywhere. Whether it’s in the inborn abilities of particular species of creatures, the commonality of spellcasting classes, or just in how readily-available items like healing potions, magic wands, alchemical charms and unguents, etc., are. And while there are always GMs who want to dismiss that commonality, you really do get a lot more creativity out of embracing the sheer ridiculousness that can come with magic being something most people have at least heard of, even if they don’t use it on a daily basis themselves.

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, 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!

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How Does This Change and Shape Your Setting?

Consider, for just a moment, the availability of alchemy in a high-fantasy setting.

Now we’re not just talking alchemist PCs; we’re talking anyone with a formula book who can make a particular recipe to create a usable item with extraordinary properties. If you're in a high fantasy game, alchemist is likely a necessary profession in your setting; it might even have its own guild, like the Ingeneurs in my splat book Silkgift: City of Sails (available for PFClassic and DND 5E). Not only that, but since every fantasy RPG has ships sailing and merchant caravans traveling, these items could easily find their way into people’s lives and homes the world over. And the easier something is to make in a particular region, the more commonly available it's likely to be.

Got a new shipment of them just today.

But take a moment to ask yourself what alchemists, or just those who raise and care for magical beasts, could make out of the astonishing materials in your average high fantasy setting, or accomplish with the help of these unique creatures. Just off the top of my head you might find:

- A poultice made with troll’s blood, though it stings like mad, can help quickly stop bleeding, minimizing scarring, and leading to rapid recovery from even wounds. Something that was once dismissed as a swamp remedy that’s now standard practice.

- Cockatrice venom, when applied to darts, can allow for safe capture of dangerous animals and people alike. A common trick used by bounty hunters, city watch, and game wardens alike.

- Cinder lizards are practically immune to the effects of fire and smoke, making them ideal beasts of burden for assisting in large-scale foundries and forges, or for riding across deserts.

From creating new forms of smokeless lamp oil using slow-burning drake bile, to inventing a hard-drying masonry with the addition of unique components into the mixture, to coming up with an explosive mixture of powdered dragon horn and rendered animal fat used for blasting tunnels through mountains, there are hundreds of little ways people’s lives might be changed just with a little applied cleverness. Even the regular presence of healing potions and their equivalent could drastically alter how long people live, and what’s considered a death sentence in the setting.

Not only that, but the entire culture of an area might shift because of the possibilities of a single invention, or the application of particular creatures. Dwarves are always associated with mining, for example, but why not orcs, as they’re strong, tough, and can see in the dark as well as any dwarf? Or tieflings, for that matter? Even if these are just small, regional changes or local shifts in the ways we think of certain species, consider how it might change the setting in big ways and small alike.

And Then There’s Magic

Magic is, in many ways, the icing on the cake. Because in a high magic setting it’s going to be pretty commonly available. There are colleges that train new magic users every year, spellcasters are often found in specialist positions in armies or in mercenary companies, and there are usually entire guilds dedicated to the preservation and teaching of the magical arts.

And this is when things can get a little on the bonkers side.

Now, on the big end you could have places like Moüd, City of Bones (available in Pathfinder Classic or DND 5E), where the city is run by a guild of necromancers, and it is kept intact by a workforce made up of the risen dead. They clean the streets, keep the highways from being covered in sand, repair buildings, tend the orchards, and hundreds of other tasks that would be extremely demanding from a workforce that had to eat, drink, breathe, and rest in the middle of the desert. You might have a natural city where the trees have come together to form shelters, watched over and tended by a cult of druids whose animal companions and spells allow them to do seemingly impossible tasks. There might even be cities tended to by bound djinn, devils, or worse, using their powers on behalf of conjurers to create miracles for the people who live there.

Just sign on the dotted line, here. And here.

But let’s wind that back a touch.

Because even if magic is taught on a fairly wide scale across a setting, not all who study it will excel. Some may reach a certain point and simply no longer be able to proceed. Others may only learn a few minor spells, and be unable to master more than that… but even minor magics, spread wide, can change the face of a setting.

As an example, take prestidigitation. Put into a wand, it could be a method of cleaning one’s home, doing laundry, or tidying up a kitchen that can be done with a flick of the wrist. Whether used on clients’ clothes, or the streets of a city, this one cantrip if known by enough people, could alter communal cleanliness. Everburning torches, which are made with a simple spell, can light homes, streets, vehicles, and more, which is something those of us in the modern-day often forget was a colossal leap forward. Even a simple spell like mount would allow someone to get onto a ghostly horse that needs no food, leaves no waste, doesn’t have to be stabled, and which vanishes once the rider reaches their destination. The ability to cast create water to make clean, drinkable water anywhere could allow farms to avoid drought, would ensure city cisterns are filled, and so on, and so forth, eliminating a massive problem that could befall any nation.

Though it’s true that big, impressive spells could drastically alter the lives and expectations of those in a fantasy setting (teleporting goods and people across continents, shaping raw stone into huge buildings in a matter of hours instead of years, enchanting golems or elementals to act as the brute muscle in any kind of industry, etc.), even little things if commonly available can alter the world in big ways. So even if the magic available is just the ability to preserve meat on long journeys with something like gentle repose, take a moment and ask yourself who is going to use that magic, and what they might use it for.

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 Daily Motion channel!. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like 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 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!

Membership in In-Game Organizations Shouldn't Require Specific Class Levels

I remember the first time I came across the opportunity to join in-game organizations was back when I was playing in the Forgotten Realms during the DND 3.5 era. From the Harpers to the Red Wizards of Thay there were particular prestige classes that granted you unique and unusual abilities that were outside the purview of any other classes, and you could join as soon as you met the necessary prerequisites. Even though I never got far enough in a game at that time to reach those prestige classes, it felt like a great, organic addition to my character that would tie me more firmly to the setting, and that desire always sat there in the back of my mind whenever a new game was announced.

Basically what I talked about in What Organizations Does Your Character Belong To?, a little while back.

While I've put my own spin on this idea (more on that later), I wanted to address the other side of the coin this week. Because membership in an in-game organization shouldn't require character levels... if something is a story element, let it be a story element without forcing your players to cut their nose off to spite their faces, mechanically speaking.

And if you haven't grabbed a copy of this book, I would highly recommend it.

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, 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!

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Walking That Fine Line Between Roles and Rolls

I mentioned that I first noticed this unique opportunity back in the 3.5 era, but I feel like Pathfinder really brought it home. From prestige classes that covered most major organizations within the Golarion setting, and a slew of class archetypes that you could start taking straight from level one, it felt like the designers really wanted to provide players with opportunities to tie their story to the pillars within the setting to help players make their characters feel more organic... and maybe for some extra wooge.

You can never have too much wooge.

However, it's important to remember that while story and mechanics can converge in perfect harmony, sometimes that isn't the case. And when that happens, it's important to take a step back and find a solution that works well for your particular game.

As an example, consider the hellknight prestige class for Pathfinder. Now, the hellknights are a large organization made up of dozens of orders and chapters, each with its own unique set of special skills and creed that it follows. Whether it's the Order of the Nail and their focus on maintaining law and order, the Order of the Rack and their focus on breaking dissent and putting down rebellions, and so on, and so forth, there's a lot of personality to these orders.

Now, a player could angle themselves toward taking levels in this prestige class once they meet the prerequisites (which involve slaying a devil with hit dice greater than the character while being witnessed by existing hellknights, so not a walk in the park). At that point they can choose which order they join, and gain particular abilities that bolster their character build as they go up in the hellknight prestige class.

However, let's assume you have a character at the table who isn't going to benefit from that class's abilities. The player may not want to expend the extra resources to meet the prerequisites (like heavy armor proficiency, Intimidate ranks, etc.), but they still want their character to become a member of a particular hellknight order for story reasons. The GM is able to do that with a snap of their fingers.

I dub thee Sir Bastard. Now arise, and spread the Law!

Say, as an example, a player was going all-in on a ranger build that focused on tracking and bringing down specific enemies. This might be an ideal candidate for the Order of The Scar, a hellknight order that hunts down killers and assassins. But this character wouldn't benefit from joining the prestige class in a mechanical sense... however, as far as their story goes, they could very easily start the game as a hellknight armiger (essentially a squire), and then at an appropriate time in the story be officially raised to the social position of hellknight (probably after slaying the devil, just for appearances).

This provides the benefits of tying the character more firmly to the setting, providing them with a structure that dictates why they're involved in a given adventure, and the goals they're trying to achieve. It also helps the GM because it tells them what kind of NPCs are likely to figure into this character's interactions, along with the places they've been, and the things they've seen. It also helps lay out a good way to reward the PC for service, allowing them to climb the ranks of the organization and to gain access to other forms of aid, prestige, and social currency.

In the end, it's a win for everyone.

I Talked About This in an Earlier Splat Book of Mine

I told you we'd circle back around to Sellswords of Sundara (available for both Pathfinder and DND 5E), didn't I? For those who are curious, this splat recently got its own audio drama, "The Price of Steel" on the Azukail Games YouTube channel... so toss the channel a sub, and give the track a listen!

Now, Sellswords of Sundara is pretty much what it says on the tin. The splat contains 10 mercenary companies complete with their specialties, uniform style, brief history, combat doctrine, some notable NPCs and rumors, as well as either a subclass (for 5E) or an archetype (for Pathfinder) should one wish to really embody the style of character described.

However, as I explicitly stated in the introduction to the book, players should not be forced to use these mechanical options merely to have their characters be a part of one of these free companies. If someone wants to play a wizard who's part of the Widowmakers free company (a rowdy gang of bruisers and bastards that are little more than cutthroats), they should be allowed to do that. A cleric who specializes in raising and controlling the dead would rise to a command position in the Risen Legion, and shouldn't have to take the fighter-based archetype of the Risen Legionnaire.

And so on, and so forth.

Because the thing about organizations that makes them so useful to you as a GM is that they're never made up of just one kind of character. Even going back to the Forgotten Realms, the Red Wizards of Thay were, of course, all wizards... but those weren't the only people in the organization. There were Thayan Bodyguards (another fun prestige class that came out later) who acted as the muscle to keep the tattooed spellcasters safe. There are the soldiers, the informants, the assassins, and the myriad of people who owe their allegiance to the Red Wizards and their power structures, even if they themselves are not one of those wizards.

Ideally, you want to make these organizations as available as possible because it grounds your player characters in the setting, and provides you with an easier time as the Game Master for telling their stories. While not every character will be drawn to an organization, whether it's a bandit gang, a mercenary company, or a knightly order, they can help provide a lot of useful structure that will save you time and energy going forward.

Recommended Reading

If you're looking for some additional organizations beyond what's available in Sellswords of Sundara, consider the following supplements!

- 100 Secret Societies: Shadowy organizations who seem to have tendrils everywhere, it's possible everyone in the party might be a member of this order and not even know it... or that they each serve a different master when everyone else's back is turned!

- 100 Cults to Encounter: From those who seek the favor of the old gods, to those who delve into outré philosophies, cults come in many forms. Not only that, but they can make quite a useful organization for those seeking a place to... belong.

- 100 Fantasy Guilds: From inventors and explorers, to monster hunters and assassins, guilds dip their fingers into damn near everything... which is why they can be so useful, and flexible, as an organization in your game.

- A Baker's Dozen of Noble Families: From the swamp-dwelling clan fam of the Dredgers, to the deep pockets of High Hall, these 13 noble families are fleshed out enough that you can easily make your character a member.

- 100 Random Mercenary Companies: From the warrior wizards in the Acolytes of Arannis, to the black-clad battalions of the Harbingers of Sorrow, each of these companies offers unique ties for those who signed up for a tour of service.

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 YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my cat noir thriller Marked Territory, its sequel 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 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!

World of Darkness STs, Don't Overuse Your Big, Nasty Threats!

There's an old truth when it comes to horror movies; the less you see of the monster, the scarier it is. From the giant shark in Jaws, to the alien trophy hunter in Predator, to the xenomorph in Alien, every time we're left alone with our own imaginations we end up making something far worse than whatever the director and the special effects team could put up on the screen in front of us.

Part of this is that our brains seek out danger, and when lighting, tone, tense music, etc. tells us there's a danger, and we can't see it, it makes us anxious as we try to spot the threat before it sneaks up on us. However, familiarity breeds contempt. When you see a monster for the first time it can be horrifying, repulsive, and chilling. When you see it for the hundredth time it can be familiar, and even comforting in a strange way.

That's why if you're running a World of Darkness game, you should strive to save your game-specific big bads. Build them up. Make your players really sweat about them. Because if they're constantly showing up, pretty soon whatever edge they had is going to get pretty dull.

Consider using smaller, in-between threats to fill in the cracks instead.

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, 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!

Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

True Fae, BSDs, and Antediluvians, Oh My!

Every sphere of the World of Darkness (and the Chronicles of Darkness, as well) has different iterations on the same theme. There's which family you belong to (clan, tribe, seeming, etc.), which political organization you're affiliated with (court, order, covenant, etc.), which special pocket realm only your kind can access (the Umbra, the Hedge, and so on), and what special resource you harvest to power your magic (gnosis, blood, glamour, and so forth). However, there is one other category that often gets overlooked, and it's which special monster is your creature type's personal big bad?

If you're playing Werewolf: The Apocalypse then the one that's front-and-center are the Black Spiral Dancers, as they're a dark reflection, showing all the savage and corrupt things the garou could become. In Changeling: The Lost the True Fae are the Keepers who stole them, and the little gods who torment them, looming as large as a child's bogeyman. Vampires have to cope with the ancients of their kind whose power makes even the strongest of young bloods feel weak and frail, and mages in Mage: The Ascension have to cope with the Technocracy, who uses their immense power to take away freedom from others, sacrificing it for safety and security... or so they tell themselves.

Oh... oh we are in deep.

A problem I've seen a lot of Storytellers run into is that they see these personalized antagonists, and they focus on making what should be an end-of-arc villain, or something with a lot of build-up, into the garden-variety threat that their players are dealing with on a regular basis. And the effect is basically the same one you get in movies where the monster is in plain sight, standing under bright lights in more than half the scenes of the film.

Put bluntly, it loses its mystery. And without mystery, it's got no power over the imaginations of the players.

If you're going to use these big bads to raise the stakes of your game (which you should, it's what they're for), you need to take the time to actually draw out their legends. Keep them in the shadows, and let the PCs learn about them slowly. Have them move around one another in a tightening circle, but without coming to blows until there's been enough buildup that the tension is really starting to show on the players' actions.

Give Me an Example?

Let's say that you are running a Werewolf: The Apocalypse game. Your players have formed a relatively young pack, and they're hungry for glory. What better way to give them that glory than for them to defeat a noted Black Spiral Dancer (or an entire pack of them)?

That's your goal as the Storyteller... but that's not where you start the game. That's where you want to end things. Once you have that end game, you work backwards.

It's easier when you know where you're going.

Start at the end. Who are these infamous villains, and what relationship do they have to your young werewolves? Is one of them an uncle, aunt, parent, or brother who fell to the Wyrm, and a PC needs to slay them in order to put their soul to rest and purge its corruption? Is one of them a former mentor? Or for a more thematic connection, is one of them a dark mirror of a particular PC, showing what they could become... and maybe deep down what part of them wants to become?

It's a concept very similar to The Anti-Party, it just happens to work really well with werewolves.

Once you know who your villains are, build up their history. Give them a reputation, like I talked about in The Small Legend, and figure out what your players will learn about them.

For example, the head of the pack may have been noted Silver Fang Konstantin Romanoff, considered a shining light among his tribe. In his desperation for victory, and to prove himself, he traded his pride and his morals a little at a time. Now he fancies that his eyes are open, and that he has become the true king he was meant to be. A Wyrm Lord who will rule the polluted ashes of the new world... a werewolf Dr. Doom, if you're looking for a simple, gothic comparison. At his side the former Get of Fenris champion Ragnar Thorsson, whose brutal rages consumed him from within until eventually he declared his fealty to a power that never asked him to hold back. Den Mother Lorna Dane pledged herself to end the hostilities, and to spare the lives of the young, becoming a twisted version of the gentle soul she'd once been. And so on.

Once you know what your villains are, and what their reputations are, plant clues in the game for your PCs to learn more about them. Figure out which NPCs are going to be knowledgeable about these villains, and who will big-up their legend. If they have a personal connection to the PCs, ask if the villains were thought dead, but it turns out they're alive, but wicked. Then, once you have all of that information, ask what your PCs have to deal with before they even find out who and what the true villains of the story are!

It's all connected!

If your pack of Black Spiral Dancers are the big bads, chances are they have corrupt kinfolk working under them. They may have purely mortal servants, attack teams of fomori, first response teams from a Pentex subsidiary, or a dozen other servants carrying out their plans, as well. While individual pack members might be considered lieutenant villains of different arcs of the story, have the PCs come across clues about them. Maybe they're tracking down a group of dangerous kinfolk to question them, only to find them torn apart to the last man, expended shell casings all over the ground and silver slugs in the walls showing that whatever did it simply would not stop. Or perhaps the PCs find a powerful ally mortally wounded, and the ally tells them about the creature that hurt him so badly. Lower-level villains might talk if they're captured, or the big bads might even send messengers or communications to the PCs, either threatening them or congratulating them for their strength and cleverness in foiling their plans.

Once you have all of that set up, let your players work their way up the chain of command, getting in the way of the villains' plans, learning about them, and building up to a big conclusion. But do not skimp on the reveal of the bad guys' legends, or the presentation of what they're capable of. Let your players marinate, and really drink in exactly how much of a threat this could be for them.

While the above example uses corrupted werewolves, you could do the same thing with the True Fae in changeling, Methuselahs and Antediluvians in Vampire, or most other big bads that a game provides you with. If something is supposed to be a serious threat, and a major force to reckon with, take your time with it. Spool out their legend, let the players explore, give them little bits of story here and there, and show how other NPCs fear and respect these forces. Much like how most of the cast of a film talks about John Wick, you need to make these baddies your bogeymen.

And the less you have them physically there, but still present in the narrative, the more effective they tend to be.

For More World of Darkness Content!

If you enjoyed this week's post, and you'd like more World of Darkness or Chronicles of Darkness content, consider some of my supplements below!

Vampire: The Masquerade

If you need secondary villains and minions to pepper your story with, consider the following titles:

- New World Nights: 100 Ghouls For The American Camarilla

- New World Shadows: 100 Ghouls For The Sabbat

- Children of The Night: 100 Animal Ghouls

And those who are looking for a unique method to get information to their players might want to check out this piece, along with the audio drama of its introductory short story below!

- 100 Resources and Rumors to Find on SchreckNet

Werewolf: The Apocalypse

Perhaps the game line I've created the most content for to-date, those looking for unique NPCs should check out the following bundle, which has all 13 tribes, Black Spiral Dancers, as well as kinfolk for the mokole!

- 100 Kinfolk Bundle

- 101 Savage Kinfolk

Those who need additional villains (especially villains that can be used in multiple genres of the World of Darkness) should consider:

- Evil Incorporated: 10 Pentex Subsidiaries

Lastly, if you're a fiction fiend, I was part of a Werewolf anthology not long ago. Check this one out if you'd like to see even more tales told across the setting by myself and fellow contributors:

- Tales From The Moot

Changeling: The Lost

The game I've been doing the most work on lately, the ongoing tales from these supplements are also getting their own audio dramas! So if you enjoy listening to them, consider subscribing to the Azukail Games YouTube channel so I can keep the publisher greenlighting them!

- 100 Mourning Cant Dialects, Phrases, and Meanings

- 100 (Mostly) Harmless Goblin Fruits and Oddments To Find in The Hedge

- 100 Strange Sights to See in The Hedge

- 100 Hobs to Meet in The Hedge

- Buyer Beware: 10 Goblin Markets

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 YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my cat noir thriller Marked Territory, its sequel 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 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!

Taking a Stab At Pathfinder Infinite (Would You Like to See More?)

As a lot of my regular readers know, the Pathfinder Infinite platform came online in late 2021. And at the time I said I had a couple of ideas I'd like to publish on it assuming progress was made regarding the ugliness that had come to light regarding Paizo's treatment of workers. And since Paizo's employees now have a union, and the company seemed to support rather than fight those efforts, I figured it was time for me to make good on that tease I'd put out.

And though 150 Sights To See (And Rumors To Hear) in Absalom dropped this past weekend, I wanted to pull back the curtain a bit to let folks know what's going on, and how they can help keep the wheels moving.

Because I can't do this one alone.

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, 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!

Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

Do Readers Want Me To Add More To Golarion?

In case some readers are confused, I'll catch you all up to speed. Pathfinder Infinite is a community use platform that lets independent and 3rd-party creators make content set in the world of Golarion (the base setting for the Pathfinder RPG), and which uses Paizo's intellectual property (as long as the project obeys all the appropriate rules set forth by the company). So rather than just making generic content that could be used with the Golarion setting if one wanted to (like my supplement 100 Random Bandits to Meet), or creating content that uses the Pathfinder rules system but which is part of an independent setting (like Gods of Sundara for my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age setting), I can just explore parts of Golarion that I enjoy, but which haven't gotten the attention that I feel they should have.

Like this one.

My supplement, 150 Sights to See (And Rumors To Hear) in Absalom is actually the second Pathfinder Infinite supplement that's been released by Azukail Games. The first was 100 Rumors and Hooks To Hear in (or About) Magnimar, and it came out a few weeks previous. However, the issue that we've run into is that neither of these two supplements has been a particularly noteworthy success. In fact with slow sales and the cost of splitting profits for the community-use platform, it seems like Pathfinder Infinite just isn't a great investment when taking these two products as examples of what one can expect.

However, I didn't want to just shrug my shoulders and walk away. As someone who contributed to Paizo products in the past, I felt this would be a solid opportunity to get some of my own ideas out for the setting that I'd never had a chance to before... but for that to happen, I need the folks out there playing these games to come along for the ride.

Because on the one hand, it's possible there just aren't a lot of people playing Pathfinder anymore. On the other hand, it might be that there are lots of players, but they don't use the Golarion setting for their games. It might be that the type of supplement just isn't what folks want, and they'd prefer something more mechanical like fresh archetypes and prestige classes, modules to play through, or lists of world-specific NPCs they might meet while traversing the setting. Or maybe there are a lot of GMs out there who want lists of weird sights and side-quest worthy rumors, but they'd prefer to find them in Varisia, or Ustalav, or one of the other nations or cities we didn't actually cover yet.

There's a lot of possibilities here, is what I'm saying.

So if you're reading this, and you would actually like to see me put out some stuff for use in Golarion proper, there are two things I'd like to ask you to do.

- Leave a comment (either here or on social media) with the kind of supplement you would be most interested in seeing in the future.

- Help boost the signal on 150 Sights to See (And Rumors to Hear) in Absalom and 100 Hooks and Rumors to Hear in (or About) Magnimar. Consider sharing them on social media, or getting copies for yourself and leaving reviews once you've read through them.

The reason I'm asking my readers to do this is, first of all, I want to make sure that folks get the content from me they want. All that talk about following your interests and drive as a creator makes for good sound bites, but at the end of the day I want to make sure there's actually a desire among my fellow players for the stuff I'm putting together. Secondly, the best way to get my publisher to agree to let me keep going down a particular vein of content is to prove there's a paying market for it. They want to sell copies, I want to sell copies, and if the stuff we produce for Pathfinder Infinite just stalls out and doesn't sell, then the company just won't sign off on further Pathfinder Infinite projects in the future.

Most products on Drive Thru RPG don't even sell the 50+ copies you need to hit Copper status, let alone the 100+ copies you need to hit Silver status, but I've had a really good track record with my Azukail Games releases. I feel confident in saying that if we can push one, or even both, of these supplements up into Copper territory, that would be enough of a sign of gamer interest to get approval for at least a couple more ideas.

So if you're not done playing in Golarion yet, and you want to see what dark corners of the world I'd like to explore, take a few moments and help me spread the word so we can build up some momentum!

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 YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my cat noir thriller Marked Territory, its sequel 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 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!

For The Love of God, Play a Different RPG

I've been playing RPGs for almost half my life now. That's longer than some, and nowhere near as long as others. However, there is a very curious trend I've noticed among a lot of tabletop RPG players, and it's something that never ceases to confuse and fascinate me in equal measure.

Namely that they'll find a game they like, and then just stop. They don't want to hear about other editions, they don't want to try out other systems, they have this one thing, and they will not be moved from this hill. And this often leads to people turning themselves (and their games) inside out instead of just making their lives easier by playing a game that already does what they want (but which their current/favorite game doesn't do).

Please... on behalf of all designers out there... play something else.

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, 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!

Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

The Right Tool For The Right Job

If you were going to enter a drag race, you'd probably want to bring a muscle car to that event, right? Something that's got a lot of pick-up and go, that hits its speed fast, and that will send you rocketing over the finish line inches ahead of the other guy. Now, maybe you're not used to handling that kind of machine. However, bringing the dusty old VW bus you're used to driving to this kind of event basically guarantees you're not going to make it over the finish line at all. No matter how much you chop down, re-rig, or alter this machine, it's never going to perform as well at this task as a vehicle purpose-made for it. It's even possible that you could cut it down too much, and end up with the whole thing just dying right under you.

For those who aren't sure what this metaphor is talking about, keep reading. You're the ones who most need to hear this.

Because sometimes you just cannot make an X into a Y.

What I'm getting at is that RPGs are built and designed for a purpose. Even games that claim to be broad-reaching and genre-neutral still have limitations regarding what you can and cannot do with them, or alterations you can make to them.

But there are a lot of players (and a lot of GMs) out there, who want to take their game of choice, and twist it in an attempt to make it do something it was never designed or intended to do in the first place.

A perfect example is something I saw the other day. I love Pathfinder, as my regular readers know. I have an entire Character Conversion master list that covers concepts from the Death Korps of Krieg from Warhammer 40,000, to The Incredible Hulk from Marvel, to Sandor "The Hound" Clegane from Game of Thrones, because there's a lot you can do with this game. Something you really can't do with it, though? Run a modern fantasy game where the players are all vampires in a secret world, and who are differentiated into a bunch of different clans each with their own unique power sets and heritages.

Why would someone attempt to run Vampire: The Masquerade using Pathfinder rules? I don't know, but there was someone on a forum who seemed bound and determined to make it happen!

I hope they eventually stopped.

This is the clearest example of this kind of thinking. For one thing, Vampire is a classless system with no levels, and Pathfinder has classes AND levels. Beyond that basic issue, though, vampires are an extremely potent threat in Pathfinder, far beyond something that PCs are supposed to have access to. Not only that, the magic systems are completely different, with Pathfinder using Vancian magic and Vampire using trees of unique powers that cost blood to activate.

It may be the most extreme version of this, but it's certainly not the only one that just wasn't going to work. From trying to remove magic without a replacement from Dungeons and Dragons to make a gritty, "realistic" game (forgetting that high magic as a resource is a major pillar of the game's mechanics), to trying to twist a game as simple as FATE to run a full Werewolf: The Apocalypse campaign, you're just going to be better off choosing the right tool for the right job.

Mechanics Cause Ripples. Flavor Usually Doesn't

As someone who hasn't had the disposable income to purchase a new RPG of my own in most of a decade, I know the struggle when it comes to keeping things fresh around the table. Sometimes you really want to do something different, but you have to work with what you've got. And sometimes you want to change things up, but your group is really loyal to a particular system, and don't want to play anything different, even as a sampler. As someone who's sort of made converting content from one game into content for another my personal niche, let me offer a piece of advice that will save the GMs out there a lot of time, energy, and sweat.

Changing mechanics causes more issues that changing flavor. However, when mechanics and flavor are closely linked, you end up needing to change both of them.

Sand in the gears, and the whole thing falls apart.

Let's say, for example, you wanted to run a DND 5th Edition sci-fi game, but you didn't want to use the rules created by products like Ultramodern Redux. A simple change would be to re-write the classic fantasy species as genetically-engineered creatures, and aliens. Turning orcs into a gene-spliced species of super-soldiers, or making elves into highly-advanced aliens, would change none of the mechanics, but give you all of the flavor shift you want. Changing the species name would likely help, too.

Then there's simply shifting high magic to high tech. Now instead of wizards you have something like Ingeneurs, who use their unique tools and foci to create changes to the world around them. Each school becomes a unique discipline of the sciences, and their "spells" are now cast via implanted neuro devices, handheld computers, and even their familiars might be little more than intelligent, hard light projections. Sorcerers become psionic anomalies altered by a variety of cosmic events, gene-tampering, or alien influences, armor is given a clean up and a name change while the stats remain the same, and so on, and so forth.

That would be a lot of work, but it would be a functional change because the underlying mechanics of the game haven't really been touched.

Could you strip out all magic entirely? Sure, you could. Could you then replace it with a completely different system of high technology? Yep. But at that point, you'd basically be writing your own game, and having to re-balance some really big issues, and to make sure the rules and content you created kept things fair and balanced. And that is a lot harder, while also presenting the real potential for the whole thing to come apart at the seams in the way that flavor changes wouldn't.

So, if you feel you have to alter a system you have in order to run a game it wasn't meant for, keep this in mind. It's going to save you a lot of time, energy, and effort going forward.

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 YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my cat noir thriller Marked Territory, its sequel 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 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!