Would You Like To Hear Broadcasts From Mr. Nowhere? (Changeling: The Lost Updates)

As most of my regular readers know, I'm currently elbow-deep in working on a fiction podcast for the Chronicles of Darkness setting. This will be a continuation of many of the short fiction pieces that have already appeared on the Azukail Games YouTube channel, and there will be returning voices (as well as returning characters) from some of those stories!

However, the host of the show is someone a lot of you may have missed. The faceless, enigmatic voice on the airwaves, Mr. Nowhere. While there's little enough known about this elusive Winter Courtier, Mr. Nowhere could be making an appearance in other videos quite soon... assuming, of course, regular readers are interested to hear what he has to say.

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

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

Where You Could Hear Mr. Nowhere (Cast Your Vote Today!)

While Mr. Nowhere is going to be the voice of the intro and outro of each episode (as well as the commercial break in the middle of each episode, assuming we can find ourselves some proper sponsors!), this podcast is going to take a lot of behind-the-scenes work and time to pull together. As I mentioned in previous updates, it's likely going to take me months just to finish writing all the scripts, firming up the details, etc., before I can start getting people together to record.

But to sort of warm up the crowd and get people interested, I had a couple of smaller videos I'd like to make. My hope is that they'll catch some people's attention, and get more folks to tune-in when the full podcast starts dropping episodes.

One of my first thoughts is to put together a second video essay for Changeling: The Lost that's all about Radio Free Fae. This Winter Court organization is used to broadcast coded messages, and to share information among the Lost in ways that can be vital to the community... and Mr. Nowhere is a member of this particular organization, covering the Windy City as well as the greater Chicagoland area with his broadcasts. As such, this video essay would have a much more meta tone than previous ones have, allowing a character from the setting to give the audience the run down of who he is, and what the organization he represents does.

However, that's just one possibility for where folks may hear Mr. Nowhere next!

In addition to that video essay, I was also thinking of providing some short character bios in order to give listeners insight to season 1. These might be particularly useful for those who are not Changeling: The Lost players, and who would like a brief cliff notes dossier so they aren't left scrambling to pick up context of what's happening when the show starts. From discussions of major players in the seasonal courts that make up the changeling power structure in the city, to persons of note, to insights into recent events for the main cast, I figure this might work as a gentler introduction to the upcoming story.

Lastly, Mr. Nowhere is likely to be heard on the official trailers I want to make for season 1 of Windy City Shadows. I'm planning on making somewhere between 1 and 3 of these videos which will be short little samples of what's to come that will (fingers crossed) get more listeners interested in the show as we get closer to its official debut.

What Is Something You'd Like To Hear Next?

So, out of all those options, what is something that appeals to you most?

Would you like:

#1: At least one video essay voiced by Mr. Nowhere as he leads us deeper into the Chronicles of Darkness setting, and Changeling: The Lost in particular?

#2: Character bios as Mr. Nowhere gives new readers and listeners a cliff notes version of the setting of Windy City Shadows?

#3: Trailers for Windy City Shadows to draw folks into the setting?

Now, it's likely that all three of these projects are going to happen at some point. However, where I put my energy and time will be determined by you, the readers and listeners! So if one of these categories has a distinct lead over the others, that is the one that's going to go at the top of the to-do list when I manage to free up time in the production schedule.

So please, leave your vote down in the comments below, on social media where you came across this page, and in the comments section of The Liminal Horror of Changeling: The Lost so that I and my publisher can see them, count them, and tally them! And if you want to help push projects like this up in the algorithm, and make it easier for me to keep getting ideas like this greenlit, subscribe to the Azukail Games YouTube channel, and hit that little bell to get all of our updates while you're at it!

Lastly, if you enjoy the little samples you've seen of Mr. Nowhere and you'd like to grab a few supplements I've released that have featured sneaky references to him or his activities, you could also grab these supplements I've written for Storyteller's Vault!

- 100 Mourning Cant Dialects, Phrases, and Meanings: Delving into the secretive communication styles of the Winter Court, this supplement helps you really take on the feel of clandestine operatives.

- 100 Strange Sights To See In The Hedge: The Hedge is a bizarre place full of impossible creatures and landscapes... and if you look closely, you might catch sight of a signal tower, swallowed in the greenery.

- 100 Rumors To Hear At The Freehold: Whispers are as deadly as daggers among the paranoid Lost... and very few people can collect more rumors than Winter.

What's Next on Table Talk?

That's it for this installment of Table Talk! What would you like to see next? I'm listening for your comments and votes!

For more of my work, check out my Vocal archives, as well as the YouTube channel for Azukail Games. Or, to check out books like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, my hard-boiled noir series featuring the street beasts of NYC in Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, or my recent short story collection The Rejects, head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Bue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter, as well as on Pinterest where I'm building all sorts of boards dedicated to my books, RPG supplements, and greatest hits. Lastly, to help support me and my work, consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron! Even a little donation can have a big impact.

Make In-World Media For Your Game (Your Players Will Appreciate It)

Game Masters are always looking for ways to enhance immersion, and to really get players stuck into their games. Some GMs will put together playlists and background ambience for particular scenes, others will put together physical props like wallets or maps that the characters may find during their adventure. However, something that a lot of us might not think to do, but which you can get a lot of mileage out of, is creating in-game media that plays into your ongoing campaign.

And while this can be just one more hat for the GM to wear, trust me, few things will draw players in quite the same way as these little extras.

And they can even be fun to make!

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!

Newspapers, Radio Broadcasts, and More!

As an example of what I'm talking about, let's take your average high fantasy game. Maybe it's Dungeons and Dragons, maybe it's Pathfinder, or maybe it's something else entirely... whatever your system, you should find a way to put in some kind of local newspaper (or at least a broadsheet) that can act as both a recap of your party's adventures thus far, but also as a combination job board, and way for them to potentially get news about the rest of the setting.

This could be a straightforward re-telling, or you could even add a bit of a slant depending on what kind of public persona your PCs have. You might even give it the Jonah Jameson treatment, where the person behind the paper is constantly trying to paint the party as a menace, acting as whole other obstacle to be overcome. You could have quotes from NPCs they've interacted with, eyewitness reports about particular noteworthy moments, and then in the back pages, some personal ads. If you want to get extra clever you can even bury secrets in those want ads so that characters who know spy codes or thief craft may realize there's a bit of doublespeak going on there, and that if they dig deeper there could even be hidden plot points to pursue.

For another example, consider these broadcasts I create from Mr. Nowhere, a representative of Radio Free Fae in my Changeling: The Lost game.

For those who have not played the game before, Changeling: The Lost is about people who are kidnapped by god-like, alien entities from another dimension. These True Fae tear out a captive's soul, pour fae magic into the gap, and then alter these people to be their servants. Those who escape and make it back to the real world find themselves changed, hence the name changelings, and they tend to come together for mutual protection, as well as to help one another cope with (and perhaps even heal from) their traumatic experiences.

Changelings often join large organizations called courts for mutual protection and support, and one of the most common types of courtly arrangement are the courts of the four seasons. The Winter Court are known as spymasters, information brokers, and when necessary, assassins. Radio Free Fae is one way that Winter Courtiers will occasionally broadcast information to other changelings, letting them know about dangers and risks in the area... though these broadcasts tend to be put into coded language so that only those in the know can interpret the true meaning.

The above broadcast was the one I made for my players this Summer. This emotional weather report (named for the Tom Waits song, and because changelings feed off powerful emotions to fuel their magic) talked about which areas of the city are currently dangerous (north side is vampire turf, hence why it might seem dead, but is quite dangerous), where there will be good places to harvest emotions (construction season is peak time for absorbing rage from passerby), and even warnings about dangers that are coming in from outside (a specific reference to white supremacist groups that were causing problems in the city).

And since it's been up for a few months, I went a step further. For those who go to the full page for Emotional Weather Report (Broadcast From Mr. Nowhere), you will find some clues buried in the video tags. Winter Courtiers love to talk in code, after all, and the phrase "Beware The Ashen Lady," was an early warning about one of the True Fae who was making her way to the area. Mr. Nowhere didn't know what her deal was, but knew she was dangerous, and that everyone in the area needed to be warned. To put the other tag in context, Froebischer is a large, emperor penguin in a Hawaiian shirt that breathes fire who wanders through the local Hedge... the message that he is not a penguin could simply be a red herring, or there might be a deeper meaning to it.

If any of my players are reading this, consider whether or not this is a clue.

The first Emotional Weather Report turned out so well (and was so positively regarded by my players) that I've decided to make it something of a seasonal thing. Now Mr. Nowhere acts as an early warning system, allowing players to glean some hints and clues about things that are coming, so long as they put in the effort to maintain good rapport with him, and to do their part to make sure tragedy doesn't befall him, or his broadcasts.

As to what this most recent report above means... well, it's still fresh, so I don't want to spoil anything. But rest assured, I will have a full write-up down the line, once all the actions are taken, and the story is complete. For those who want to stay on top of these broadcasts, as well as other audio dramas I make, don't forget to subscribe to the Azukail Games channel on YouTube, as well as to my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary!

And if you're curious, Froebischer is one of my creations that came out of the supplement 100 Hobs to Meet in The Hedge, so check that out if you'd like to add some odd little NPCs to your own Lost chronicle!

It's Work, But It's Worth It

I'm the first to admit that making this kind of media for your players is definitely a lot of extra work, even if you have the know-how and resources to put it together. However, it is a great way to take your game up to the next level, and to really get your players' enthusiastic about the campaign.

Not only that, but if you're crafty, you can even get your players to participate in the creation process, which spreads the work out for you!

For instance, if you have a player who likes to write short stories, they might do a dramatic write-up of an adventure, and then that could be published as a kind of dime novel in your game's setting (not dissimilar to what I did for my Hell's Rebels game with The Silver Raven Chronicles). You might have someone who makes music, and their tunes end up getting played at the next bar you go to (whether the songs are about the heroes, or praising the villains, that depends on the inspiration). You could have players volunteer to write the secondary articles or ads in the newspaper so that you can focus on the game relevant ones (and leave the players guessing since they don't know who wrote which parts of the newspaper). And if you want a super easy way to keep folks involved, have players write letters to NPCs (with return letters coming their way over time), or keep journals to chronicle their adventures going forward.

All of this takes energy, no doubt. But when it comes to RPGs, you get out what you put in... and if you've never tried your hand as this sort of thing before, at least give it a whirl! If nothing else, it's often one of the things you're players are going to latch onto, and tell stories about for years to come!

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 dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, 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!

Making Improvements Over Time (Progress on My RPG-Inspired Audio Stories)

Back in February I started doing something a little different in terms of producing content. I've been a lifelong enjoyer of audio dramas and audio books, so I wanted to toss my hat into that arena while still staying firmly within my pond as an RPG writer. Not wanting to get too ambitious right out of the gate, I thought I'd turn the intro fiction in several of my recent RPG releases into audio dramas that might get folks interested in the products they came from!

As with anything else, you never start off being the best. But looking back on what I've learned the past few months, I can definitely see the difference.

Well, hear it. You know what I mean!

Before we get into it 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!

Theater of The Mind

The first piece that I dramatized way back in February came from the supplement 100 Resources and Rumors to Find on SchreckNet. Though it didn't have an official title in the supplement, I tend to think of it as Missed Connections, as we have a Nosferatu attempting to arrange a rendezvous with a contact via the network. While the result wasn't bad (I don't think) it does have a rawness to it, and it comes across a little flat.

Still, not bad for all that.

Over the past few months I've made 8 such audios, taken from both my Cities of Sundara series, as well as other World of Darkness supplements like 100 Hobs to Meet in The Hedge, 100 Mourning Cant Dialects, Phrases, and Meanings, and most recently 100 Gateways Into (And Out Of) The Hedge. While I did acquire a new mic since I made the first video, I also started figuring out editing tricks, returning to old places where I used to get foley sounds, and watching tutorials from other creators on how they make their audios more unique and engaging.

And this is where I'm at now.

While this isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, I'm trying to improve one thing per video. Whether that's finally figuring out normalization settings (which is what I did with this piece), fine-tuning voice editing effects, trying out new tricks on creating monster voices (I have something planned for that when I do the story from Hoardreach), or even using a totally different recording program so viewers don't have to deal with that ugly and distracting watermark, I'm sticking with my one-thing-per-video rule.

I have half a dozen more of these to put together going forward, and they're going to be from both older supplements, and upcoming ones. If this is something you'd like to see more of, the head over to the Azukail Games YouTube channel, watch more, and subscribe while you're there! It takes 1k subscribers and 4k hours of watched content in the past year (which is 11.5 hours per day, for those who like numbers), so we're going to need all the help we can get if we're going to pull that off!

Lastly, if you have any particular stories you'd like to see me tell in this audio format, or if you'd like to see me do longer videos with more involved tales (I have kicked around the possibility of doing an audio rendition for Devil's Night, as an example), leave a comment below and let me hear your thoughts!

And for anyone else running a podcast, making videos, etc., I highly recommend Tabletop Audio! If you haven't checked them out yet, and you're working on a small to nonexistent budget, you really need to give them a look.

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!

Dungeon Keeper Radio Needs Your Help!

If you're a regular reader on my blog, then you know I've got a dozen different plates spinning at any given time. One of those plates is Dungeon Keeper Radio, a YouTube gaming channel that I help out with, along with several local gamers I know. Our goal, when we decided to start it, was to have some fun, immortalize a few of our characters, and see if we could entertain other players out there. We also wanted to get the channel monetized, though, because while it's fun, there are investments that come with making this kind of content. There's the mic, trying to find quality software, and at the end of the day we'd like to offer our voice actors more than our thanks, and a few pieces of pizza. That's in addition to all the time, travel expenses, and work it takes to turn something from an idea into even a few minutes of audio/video content.

Sadly, our hoard isn't much to write home about.

The problem we've run into is that we thought we'd made our goal... but then the goal posts mysteriously moved on us.

Sorcery Most Foul

Back when we first started this channel about a year ago, before we even uploaded our first episode of Dungeon Hacks, we clicked through the fine print to figure out just how feasible it would be to get our channel monetized. According to the site at the time, for a channel to apply for monetization, it had to have a minimum of 10,000 views. That's a decent barrier to entry, especially if you're a relatively niche channel like a radio show that talks about tabletop games, but it was far from impossible to reach.

As evidenced by the fact that we reached it earlier this month.

Thanks for all the traffic! Your money is in another castle.

The problem, of course, is that by the time we hit that goal, the goal posts had been moved. You see, beginning 2018, YouTube decided that in order to get monetized, a channel must have 4,000 hours of views in the past 12 months, and it must also have a minimum of 1,000 subscribers.

Needless to say, that is not something we have at present. In fact, we are nowhere even close to hitting that goal.

Which is why, as we get ready to record our 18th episode of the show (Mythconceptions about clerics, for those who are interested), I wanted to do my part to reach out to my audience. We're doing all right in terms of viewing time (under the 4,000 hours, but we're gaining steadily as we increase our archive), but we are just under 310 subscribers at time of writing. Which means we are, at minimum, 31% of the way to the "new" monetization goal.

So please, stop in and check out what we're doing over on Dungeon Keeper Radio. And, if you like it, please subscribe to the channel. And tell your friends about us... that helps. And if you really like what we're doing, we have the Dungeon Keeper Radio Patreon page in addition to a Ko-Fi page if you want to give us a tip or two to help us along until we can get ads put on our videos... just like this one, our most popular video to-date.

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday update. If you want more content from yours truly, you should check out my Vocal archive. To keep up-to-date on all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. Lastly, if you want to help support Improved Initiative so I can keep bringing content straight to your door, head over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page, or click here to Buy Me A Coffee!