I wanted to start off this Monday's post with an apology. August was one hell of a month, and a lot of stuff slid through the cracks... including my regular monthly shout-out for my patrons who are at the appropriate level! So I wanted to offer my apologies, as well as my continued thanks to:
- Chris Dundon (To Valhalla, my friend!)
- Brenton Ayres (You're doing more than your part to keep the wheels turning!)
- Tracy Bailey-Mathews (Hopefully some of what I write is helping with the campaign!)
- Joy Von Holle (One of my oldest and most appreciated supporters on this list!)
My patrons are what make these blogs possible... so if you want to make sure I keep putting out fresh posts, consider heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page, and consider making a pledge today. Or, if you don't want a subscription, consider tossing a tip into my jar on The Literary Mercenary's Ko-Fi page instead!
No pressure, though...
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!
And Now, A Pair Of Bundles You Should Really Check Out!
An unfortunate trend we've been seeing a lot with RPGs lately is tragedy befalling many of our creators. And since we're surviving under late stage capitalism, there aren't exactly safety nets in place to help them get what they need, or stay on their feet. Which is why I wanted to highlight two bundles this week that you should definitely take a look at!
The first is the Ross A. Isaacs Emergency Fund, which is going to help support Ross, who is trying not to get swallowed up by expenses for his various life expenses (including, as I understand it, medical needs). There's supplements for Pathfinder, Starfinder, Icons, Call of Cthulhu, DND 5E, After Zombies, OSR systems like OSRIC, and more! Great value, and a particularly good cause that I recommend folks check out.
The second bundle is Mutual Aid For Darren Pearce. Another RPG designer, he's experienced major familial losses, and is currently trying to keep his head above water while grieving, and trying to handle all of the expenses and changes that come with such losses. This bundle includes supplements for Fantasy Age, the world book for Punktown, OSR adventure modules, the RPG Bloodwraith and its follow up books, and a slew of other games and supplements. It's pricey, yes, but you get three times the value of the content in it, and it goes to help someone who is reeling right now.
So if you're looking to help out a good cause, and to get an absolute treasure trove of gaming materials, I'd recommend picking up these bundles if you can. And, of course, spread the word about them as as many folks as possible see them. Sharing this blog entry is a great way to make that happen, in case you were wondering!
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!
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 question I have for everyone out there, though, is very simple. Should I continue with more mythos-inspired supplements? And if so, what would you like to see more of?
But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.
Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!
What Parts of Miskatonic Country Would You Like To See?
The reason I keep getting drawn back into the terrible world of the Cthulhu Mythos is that it's a breath of black, cosmic wind when other supplements start feeling too samey, and I need to get a bit of variety into my day. That, and I'm a lifelong fan of cosmic horror, and Lovecraft's work was one of the early introductions for me into the genre.
And those mystery-style games are hard as hell to run... so I figure Game Masters who take up the challenge are going to need all the help they can get.
Madness and cosmic terror are hard as hell to run. Just saying.
And while I've only got five supplements for Miskatonic Country, I'd be more than happy to increase that number, as long as folks out there would find it useful. So, if you enjoy these supplements, and you'd like to see me write some more, which of the following would appeal to you most?
#1. Time Period?
My supplements have, thus far, been geared for the classic Prohibition-era where a lot of Call of Cthulhu and Lovecraft-adjacent games take place. However, would shifting that time period be of-interest to you as a reader? Supplements set during the second World War (or even the first) might work for games where mankind is trying to utilize the mythos as a weapon. Supplements for the 1950s might play into Red Scare paranoia, and supplements during the 1960s could capture the hippie movement. The hedonism of the 1980s, or even something like Modern Miskatonic might all offer their own, unique twists as well!
#2. Mortal or Mythos?
Most of the supplements I've written focus on the mortal side of things. They're full of books one might find, characters one might come across, places to visit, rumors to hear, and so on. While there are mythos implications of many parts of these supplements, they tend to focus on the more grounded side of an investigation... should I stick with that strategy? Or would aspects of the various things that dwell in the darkness be more useful? Whether it's cultists to encounter, visions to see while in the Dreamlands, or even more unusual things, should I get weird with future installments?
#3. Persons, Places, or Things?
I like to joke that my supplements tend to be nouns, as they're full of NPCs, locations, and items to encounter during an investigation. However, what are some of the things you would find most useful? Do you find yourself more in need of NPCs to build interactions around? Rumors for players to hear, and to use as a basis for plot arcs and investigations? Or items to locate while searching private libraries, or going through a missing person's apartment? Even visions to see, monsters to encounter, or cults that aren't detailed in Lovecraft's work or in the stories written by other contributors to the setting?
Make Your Voice Heard!
Since my crystal ball has been on the fritz for the past several years, I'm depending on my readers to tell me what they want to see. As such, please leave a comment below, or hit me up on social media, to detail the sorts of supplements that you would like to see me pen for the mythos going forward! The more folks who raise their voices, the more likely it is that you're going to get precisely what you want to see sometime in the next couple of months.
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!
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!
As folks around here know, I typically wait until the third installment of an audio drama series to write a blog about it for the Table Talk section of this blog... however, this is one that I want to touch on a bit early, because I really do need readers' feedback before I decide how much further I'm going to take it. There are a lot of irons in the fire right now, and I want to make sure I'm giving the most attention to the ones that people are actually interested in.
Which is why I wanted to talk about A Trail in The Margins, which appears on the Azukail Games YouTube channel, and where this dark little noir drama set in Lovecraft's back yard is going.
After all... some cases do remain permanently unsolved.
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!
A Private Eye, A Forged Tome, and A Deadly Cult
Our tale begins with A Trail in The Margins, which is the introduction story in the supplement 100 Books To Find in The Miskatonic Library (That Aren't in The Restricted Section), which was the first supplement for a Lovecraftian game I'd written in some time. In this story we meet Archie, a researcher and academic who works for Miskatonic University, and his friend Jonathan "Jack" Walker, a gumshoe who works out of an office on Arkham's north side. The two have had dealings before, and Archie has need of his friend's help when he discovers that one of the books in the university's collection is in all likelihood a forgery.
Following up from this tale, we find Jack back at his office in The Men Behind The Curtain,the opening story in 100 Whispers and Rumors to Hear in and Around Arkham. An unexpected visitor comes on behalf of a family well known for being on the wrong side of the law, telling Jack that his and Archie's mission is of great importance to these movers and shakers in the underworld. Jack doesn't take this news well, but he made a promise to his friend... it just seems like now Archie might actually need somebody with Jack's skill set to watch his back.
The third tale is coming out this month in a new Lovecraft-inspired supplement that covers informants, academics, and adventurers, and while I fully intend on adding that audio drama to the ongoing project, I wanted to ask my audience this week if this story is one they're really interested in? And, by association, do you feel I should add a few more Lovecraft-related supplements onto my to-do list for this year, or would you rather I spend my time working on something else?
Please leave your answers in the comments for the two videos above. This ensures that my publisher sees them, that I can see and respond to them, and that we can get an accurate count regarding audience enthusiasm. And if you want more people to see this story, make sure your comments are at least 7 words long, because that will make the videos rank higher in YouTube's algorithm!
Lastly, if you do enjoy these, and you'd like to see even more of my Lovecraft-adjacent work, please consider checking out the following:
- 100 Businesses To Find in Arkham: A supplement to fill out the town of Arkham itself while also providing plot hooks, this was my first contribution to Call of Cthulhu... but certainly not my last.
- 100 Gangsters, Gun Molls, and Goons: A collection of dangerous NPCs for Arkham's underworld, these characters can add that extra edge that an investigation sometimes needs.
Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!
That's all for this week's Table Talk. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!
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!
There is a fear I have seen among a lot of writers out there. In short, it's a desire to make something genuinely new and different the no one has seen before, which is driven by a fear that someone will accuse their work of being derivative, or of simply being too similar to other stories that have been told before. And, for some reason, this fear seems to affect Game Masters (particularly newer Game Masters) to an even greater extent. They worry their players will guess their twists, figure out their inspirations, or that once they get a bit of insight they'll be completely uninterested in the game because it won't be new or fresh anymore.
Now, I don't often turn to the bible in situations like this. Not my faith, not my book. With that said, though, I'd recommend Ecclesiates 1:9 for advice. What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
I'll be damned... it's right in the book.
But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.
Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!
Seriously, Just Embrace It!
There are a lot of Game Masters who likely laughed, shook their heads, or rolled their eyes at the introductory paragraphs. I've lost count of the number of people who are all too happy to list the books, movies, and even other RPG settings they've stolen their ideas from, talking about the various NPCs, locales, and plot arcs they've snagged from other places to make their own Frankenstein creatures to serve up to their players.
And in some cases the GM had wider, deeper, or older tastes than the players, so nobody realized the campaign, world, etc. wasn't spun entirely out of whole cloth. However, most of the time realizing that a Game Master took inspiration from a particular property (or even an entire part of history, for those who know that Game of Thrones is based on the War of The Roses) doesn't ruin the experience for the players... because it's not about being utterly and completely unique in a way that no one has ever done things before. It's about providing your players an experience that's unique to them and which has your signature style on it.
Put another way, think of your campaign as a grilled cheese. Everyone knows what a grilled cheese is, and everyone has probably had them dozens of different ways over their lifetime. Now, you might make yours in a slightly different way that some people (maybe your cheese is spicy, maybe you use mayo instead of butter to ensure the bread is toasty, perhaps you like to put bacon bits in it, whatever it is you do), but others are going to take one bite and it will be instantly familiar to them. That doesn't mean they stop eating the sandwich, especially if you prepared something they like in a way that is fresh, delicious, and which is served up on a platter to them.
I've got plenty of examples in my own catalog where I embraced the inspirations for a particular project. My elevator pitch for The Curse of Sapphire Lake is, "The love child of Beowulf and Friday the 13th," after all. And fans of classic action movies will quickly recognize the inspiration behind my Army Men mission module Assault on Outpost 13, since even the title is an homage to the film Assault on Precinct 13. My Sundara: Dawn of a New Age fantasy RPG setting completely does away with the convoluted multiplanar structure used in Pathfinder and Dungeons and Dragons, opting for a simpler, more streamlined system of the material world and the Prim, which I explained in Gods of Sundara... and it's going to look very familiar to any fans of the Warp in Warhammer 40K as far as structure goes.
Hell, even my World of Darkness supplement Evil Incorporated just looked at historical atrocities (and modern ones) committed by corporations and billionaires. The introductory fiction even has a veiled call-out to the owners of Hobby Lobby who (at least allegedly) paid a ridiculous amount of money to terrorists in the Middle East to purchase stolen relics which they kept in their own homes.
Now, I'm far from unique in this aspect. Zon-Kuthon, from Pathfinder is clearly heavily inspired by the cenobites of Hellraiser, but not only that, the nation that worships him is steeped in winks and nods to Melnibone, the nation from the Elric novels by Moorcock. The same can be said of the supposedly cursed kingdom of Valyria from Game of Thrones, for the record. There are references all over our games to works by H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard, to say nothing of Tolkien. And that's before we get into the copious use of world mythology, and great works of fiction like Arthur and his knights of the round table.
So while a particular game might have a different flavor, or a unique twist on things (such as a medieval fantasy game where you have to investigate the Cthulhu Mythos, or recreating the Trojan War as a starfaring space battle using mech combat), the inspirations are going to be present. There is always going to be a story that came before you, or a character someone else has seen, that bears some similarity to what you're doing at your table. More importantly, if you spend all your time focusing on what you don't want your game to be, then you're going to define it by what it isn't, rather than what it is.
I'm not saying you should shamelessly copy someone else's homework and just change a couple of the names around (I'm looking at you, Games Workshop). However, if you're tying yourself into knots worried that your players are going to figure out that your particular order of cavaliers is based on Lancelot, or that they're going to guess the plot twist for the traitorous noble because he's basically Count Dooku with a bastard sword, don't sweat those kinds of things. Instead, focus on the presentation and preparation for your game.
Everyone has had a grilled cheese before. Just make sure the one you serve them is perfectly crispy, melty, and delicious, and everyone will probably enjoy it!
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!
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!
Arkham, Massachusetts is the iconic city created by horror author H.P. Lovecraft, and it is as much the center of the Cthulhu Mythos as anywhere else in his fictional setting. A seaside town that boasts the prestigious Miskatonic University, an asylum, and a black market of gangsters and rum runners, it's quite a cosmopolitan place to say the least.
And while I've spent a little time there as a designer, it wasn't until July 2022 that I put out something for the place with 100 Businesses to Find in Arkham. While it was fun writing a period piece, I didn't follow it up until 2023 with 100 Gangsters, Gun Molls, and Goons, which was meant to expand on the underworld present in Arkham. And while I took a hiatus from community creation platforms (largely due to the fact that they don't really pay me enough to keep my bills square), I decided to dip my toe back into the waters with my latest release 100 Books To Find in The Miskatonic Library (That AREN'T In The Restricted Section). The idea for this supplement was to fill out the books available in the campus library, and to offer alternative methods to get information into the players' hands that didn't require them breaking into the special collections where the real dark grimoires and tomes of power are kept.
However, I wanted to ask my readers something this week. Namely, do you want to see me keep kicking around in Lovecraft Country?
There's a lot to see there, and I haven't explored it all yet!
But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.
Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!
Should I Let The Investigation Die? Or Keep Digging?
I've been a fan of the Cthulhu Mythos as a whole since my teen years, and I love the twists and turns one can find in even a "normal" Call of Cthulhu game. However, as I mentioned above, I stepped back from community creation platforms because they only pay half as much up-front to me as original content does, which makes paying my bills tough. Still, variety is the spice of life, and I figured that adding another chapter to a couple of my older series might get some fresh readers interested in not just what's dropping now, but what I worked on a few years ago.
Additionally, while the stories for the Businesses and Gangsters supplements wrapped up in a two-part adventure, there is a fresh investigation beginning in 100 Books To Find in The Miskatonic Library (That AREN'T In The Restricted Section). So in addition to getting additional supplements in the future, it's very likely that readers would also get serial installments of the case being taken up by a Miskatonic academic and his strongarm associate as they head out beyond Arkham in search of lost tomes of eldritch knowledge.
So, if that's the sort of thing you'd like to see, now is your chance to weigh in!
What Do You Need To Do To Send A Message?
If you're the sort of player out there who enjoys my Call of Cthulhu content, and you'd like to see more of it, there are a few things you can do to help ensure that more of it gets put out. I've listed them in descending order of effectiveness, as well, so if you feel strongly about me staying in this particular arena, start at the top of the list and work your way down!
- Buy and review a copy of the three supplements I listed in the introductory section. The first two are at Silver metal status at time of writing, and the third is creeping up toward Copper. If those start pulling increased numbers and attention, that motivates me, personally.
- Check out the rest of the titles Azukail Games has for the Miskatonic Repository! While these are by various authors, the main reason these kinds of supplements have slackened has been lack of audience interest. The more people who pick up copies, and the more reviews they leave, the more likely the publisher is to put more energy into future titles from myself and others!
- Watch and share the videos I linked above, and leave comments on them! The Azukail Games YouTube channel is finally monetized, and getting a few thousand fresh views on these videos would make them stand out among our other audio dramas, and show that there's definitely interest in more Mythos expansion. Subscribing to the channel would also help us get closer to our next milestone, which would give us more resources to take more risks with.
- Leave comments on this blog, and on social media, to let us know what you'd like to see! While it's definitely valuable to give us your feedback, it's very easy to say what you want, but those kinds of asks carry a lot more weight when they come from folks who are buying our supplements, and boosting our signal!
And for folks who are curious, these same steps can help you get the attention of basically any publisher that you want to see go in a particular direction, but it's particularly effective with indie publishers because it doesn't take a whole lot of activity for them to perk up their ears and take notice. Hell, if even 100 people bought a copy of each of the three supplements I mentioned (a relatively small number when you think about the industry as a whole) that would basically be a shot across the bow that more CoC material is wanted immediately.
So, just something to think about in case you're one of my readers who like to see me venture out a little deeper into Lovecraft Country!
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!
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!
As regular readers of this blog know, it's been about a year and a half since I put out any RPG supplements that used a community creation platform. I talked about this back in Why I Will Have Fewer Community Created TTRPG Products Coming Out back in July of 2023, but for those who don't want to read the older entry, it boiled down to money. At the time I'd been given a raise by Azukail Games for my up-front payment as an author to 2 cents per word for content that wasn't made using a community creation platform like Storyteller's Vault, Pathfinder Infinite, and so on. While I was still completely allowed to write supplements for those platforms, I'd only receive 1 cent per word as an up-front payment... and given that my word count tends to rest between 11,000 and 15,000 words on one of these supplements, that's not a small difference.
In fact, to make up the difference in earnings, one of these supplements would have to sell between 183 and 366 copies (depending on the sale price), just for me to break even with the royalties on the back-end. Given that only about 20% of the supplements sold on DTRPG even break 50 copies sold, and that I can count on one hand the number of projects of mine that eventually broke the 350 mark after years of being on the market, this is a pretty dismal prospect.
So why am I going to voluntarily work on some of these in the coming year?
There is method to my madness...
The short version is that variety is the spice of life, and I can only work on the same genre, style of product, etc., for so long before I need to shift gears and give my brain something else to work on. Not only that, but I had a bunch of supplement ideas that I hadn't gotten to yet, and frankly leaving them dangling is starting to really bother me. I need a change of pace, and I need to work a different set of mental muscles... and I need it badly enough I'm willing to leave money on the table, despite all the storm clouds on the horizon, and the fact that I haven't managed to claw my way up out of the hole I got kicked into over a decade ago at this point.
But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.
Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!
Which Platform/Game/Setting Do You Most Want To See?
As hinted at above, I don't honestly believe that anything I write for a community creation platform is going to do the kind of numbers I need in order for it not to be a loss over a different project... but that doesn't mean I'm just going to throw caution to the winds! I've narrowed my current projects down to a relatively short list, and this week I wanted to ask my readers to please cast their votes for what they'd like to see! The options are listed below, but in addition to which platform/game you want to see me make more supplements for, please take a moment to suggest the format you'd like to see (adventure module, 100 list, Baker's Dozen list, list of 10, etc.), as well as any specific suggestions you might have.
And if you made it this far in this week's post, but you're not sure what a community creation platform is yet, I made a video about them a while back on Tabletop Mercenary. So check it out, and if you enjoy it, consider subscribing to the Azukail Games YouTube channel and checking out some of the other stuff there as well!
Option #1: Werewolf The Apocalypse
A lot of folks who know my work at all know me because they found my World of Darkness supplements, and specifically my Werewolf: The Apocalypse supplements. From my 100 Kinfolk Collections (100 per tribe, with something like 1,500 characters or more last I looked), to my supplement Evil Incorporated: 10 Pentex Subsidiaries, I've spent a goodly amount of time in the world of Werewolf.
While I've considered expanding the NPC roster with ideas like A Baker's Dozen of Elders To Encounter (for those who need powerful NPC werewolves), or A Baker's Dozen of Tales to Tell at a Moot (for spicing up these fireside meetings), something that I figured more players and Storytellers would get use out of would be a series of supplements for fleshing out the Umbra in a way similar to what I did for the Hedge in Changeling: The Lost. So supplements like 100 Sights To See in The Umbra, 100 Spirits To Meet in The Umbra, and so on, and so forth would be what I'd work on for this game. At first, at least.
I know Werewolf has had its ups and downs, but folks still grab copies of the supplements I've already written for it, so I figured there's still an audience. And if you're in that audience, and you'd like to see me add to what I've already made for it, make sure you cast your vote below!
Option #2: Exalted
Exalted is a game that I went elbow-deep into a while back, trying to make sure I had all the ins and outs for my character ready to go. While the campaign is currently on-pause, I spun up quite a lot of nonsense while putting together Barabbas the Butcher, and I figured that putting some of it out there for folks to use in their games might be of-use/interest!
For example, something like Whispers From The Void: 100 Messages From The Neverborn might be useful for all the Abyssal players, and the Storytellers trying to help give them a memorable experience. 100 Demons To Find in The Brass City could be helpful for those venturing to hell, or even 100 Gods To Encounter for Storytellers who are looking to fill the corners of the setting with gods big and small to really bring home the strangeness of this setting.
While I know there's a lot of Exalted lovers out there, and everyone has their preferred edition, my hope is to try to make my first steps actually fit a pretty universal mold... and then if folks really want more of this, I'll do my best to branch out into a wider array of options.
Option #3: Call of Cthulhu
While I've worked on my share of Cthulhu Mythos stuff (up to and including my 50 Two-Sentence Horror Stories, Cthulhu Mythos Edition, which has an audio drama version linked in the list), a lot of it honestly seems to have died before it was released. However, two supplements that did make it through editorial and which are available today include 100 Shops, Stores, and Businesses to Find in Arkham as well as a follow-up/supplementary piece 100 Gangsters, Gun Molls, and Goons, which was meant to flesh out the criminal underbelly in Arkham during Prohibition.
I'll be straight with folks, this setting already has something in the works simply because of the ease of putting it together. However, I could expand my scope beyond Arkham, and the Prohibition period, if that's something folks would want to see? Whether it would be something like 100 Rumors To Hear in Lovecraft Country, 100 Dreams To Have In The Witch House, or even something like 100 Cultists To Encounter, allowing Game Masters to flesh out the ranks of their conspiracies and plots.
If you do vote for this option, make sure you make clear which era of the game you're most interested in as well! Also, as a note, this game doesn't have a community creation platform, but Azukail Games does have the ability and willingness to pay the licensing fee for these supplements, so that's why it's on the list.
Option #4: Pathfinder/Golarion
Pathfinder is the game I've played the most, and Golarion is one of the settings I deeply enjoy because I love kitchen sink nonsense in fantasy games. I've only dipped my toe into Pathfinder Infinite twice, though, penning the very popular 150 Sights To See in Absalom (which has gone Electrum due to a popular bundle it was included in), as well as the less-popular but well-loved 100 Books To Find Across The Inner Sea (which includes the story narrated above).
There was a rather drastic difference in the two supplements I put out, and after all the hullabaloo with Paizo changing things around and shifting priorities, I didn't want to be in the midst of working on anything while major changes were happening. But it seems to have mostly calmed/quieted, and if folks wanted me to, I could put out some of the ideas I had to help expand Golarion that much more. While some of the ideas were flavorful, like 100 Rumors To Hear in Sandpoint (because the best adventures always seem to start there) or A Baker's Dozen of Tortures To Endure in Nidal, I also had some more mechanical ideas, such as expanding the Divine Fighting Technique feat to include minor gods, or putting together a fresh hellknight order, complete with their own mythos, legends, and prestige class options should you wish to play one.
If you want to see me return to Golarion, make sure you tell me what kind of thing you'd like to see, and what part of the world you want to see it in. After all, there's so much of Golarion to explore, and I'd like to know which corner you think needs some love.
Option #5: Pugmire
If you haven't played it, you are missing out, not gonna lie!
Pugmire is a game I have a lot of affection for, and it inspired a lot of the direction I went with my own RPG Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic. In short, it's a game set in the far, FAR future where humans are gone, dogs, cats, and other creatures have evolved into a medieval-esque society, and they have all kinds of bizarre adventures in the deeply changed world. It's a load of fun, and while Azukail Games has released supplements for it like 100 Birds For Pirates of Pugmire or 100 Cats To Meet in The Monarchy of Mau I haven't actually turned my hand to this game just yet.
Would folks like to see me expand the NPCs one can find in the city of Pugmire? Would you like rumors, books, letters, or even organizations that could play into your campaign? Because I've had ideas for a while now, but just haven't taken them out of the box to turn them into finished products yet.
How You Can Make Your Voice Heard!
If any of these ideas are something you would like to see, then here's what you need to do:
- Comment down below what you want to see, and be as specific as possible.
- Comment on social media, if you saw this post there. 7 words or more really helps drive engagement!
- Share this post around so that other folks can see it, and weigh in on what they'd like to see!
And once you've done all that, conider buying available supplements from a given setting, platform, world, etc. that I've already put out, and linked in the appropriate sections. While votes are certainly a good way to cast your ballot, supplements that do numbers make it much easier to get projects greenlit by the publisher.
And, like I said, over 130 sales minimum just to break even. It's definitely not easy making a living on this grind.
Also, Don't Forget To Check Out My Own Settings and Games!
If none of the above really caught your interest, I'd like to remind folks I have my own settings and games that I've been hard at work on expanding for the past year and change! So if you'd like to see more of Army Men, or of my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age setting for Pathfinder Classic or DND 5E, then leave a comment requesting more of that! And if you haven't checked out any of the supplements for these games yet, the lists are below!
Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic
A game where you take on the roles of troopers fighting for their homelands in the Plastos Federation against the insectoid monsters of the vespoids!
- Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic: The base book for the game, this is technically the only book you need to play this game... but it never hurts to get some of the others as well!
- Army Men: Threat Assessments: The first collection released after the original game dropped, this supplement is full of new creatures for your squad to have to deal with when out in the field.
- Army Men: Medals of Honor: This supplement introduced the Medals System, allowing players to earn medals for their troopers, gaining unique bonuses and abilities usable for the rest of the campaign.
- Ungentlemanly Warfare: A Baker's Dozen of Booby Traps: Giant bugs and enemy combatants aren't the only threats you'll have to deal with in the field. Booby traps are a serious concern among troopers looking to leave their service with as many limbs as they started.
- Army Men Missions: A Night At Breckon's Beacon: When a squad goes missing while they're on patrol, it's your squad's mission to find them, and bring them home... or to avenge them, if that can't be done.
Sundara: Dawn of A New Age
This is a setting I've been gradually expanding for several years now, and there's a new series of supplements coming out for it in the near future! Sundara can be played on its own, or it can be added piecemeal to your own settings to fill in gaps and blanks so that you don't have to do as much heavy lifting the next time you get folks around your table!
Cities of Sundara
The setting first began with the Cities of Sundara splats. Self-contained guides to some of the larger and more powerful centers of trade, industry, arms, and magic, these unique locations provide plenty of fodder for character generation and plots. Not only that, but each one comes with unique, mechanical goodies for players and GMs alike to take out for a spin!
- Ironfire: The City of Steel (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Built around the Dragon Forge, Ironfire is where the secret to dragon steel was first cracked. The center of the mercenary trade in the region, as well as boasting some of the finest schools for teaching practical sciences, Ironfire is a place where discovery and danger walk hand in hand!
- Moüd: The City of Bones (Pathfinder and DND 5E): An ancient center of trade and magic, Moüd was lost to a cataclysm, and then buried in myth. Reclaimed by the necromantic arts of the Silver Wraiths guild, this city has once again become a place teeming with life. Despite the burgeoning population, though, it is the continued presence of the undead that helps keep the city running, ensuring that Moüd is not swallowed up once more.
- Silkgift: The City of Sails (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Built on the cottage industry of Archer cloth (an extremely durable material used for sails, windmills, etc.), Silkgift is a place that prizes invention and discovery. From gravity batteries that store the potential of the wind, to unique irrigation systems, to aether weapons, the city positively churns out discoveries... and then there's the canal they cut through the mountains that makes them a major center of trade across the region.
- Hoardreach: The City of Wyrms (Pathfinder and DND 5E): A center of power across an entire region, Hoardreach is ruled over by a Cooperation of five different dragons. A place for refugees and outcasts of all sorts, Hoardreach boasts some of the most unusual citizens and creations from across Sundara. Infamous for their sky ships, which require the cast-off scales and unique arcane sciences of the Dragon Works to take to the air, one never knows just what they'll find in this city built atop a mountain.
- Archbliss: The City of The Sorcerers (Pathfinder and DND 5E): A floating city in the sky, Archbliss has been a refuge for sorcerers for thousands of years. It's only in relatively recent years that the city has allowed those from the ground below who lack the power of a bloodline to join them in the clouds. However, while there are certainly amazing wonders to behold, there is a darkness in Archbliss. Something rotting away at its heart that could, if not healed, bring the city crashing to the ground once more.
Gods of Sundara
- Gods of Sundara (available for Pathfinder and DND 5E): In a world with no alignment, and where the gods are often genuinely mysterious forces that are far too large for mortals to truly comprehend, the divine feels genuinely strange and unknown... something that really does have to be taken on faith. This supplement provides a sample pantheon for Sundara, but also provides instructions on how to easily make your own gods in a world where you can't cast a spell and tell whether someone is good or evil.
Species of Sundara
Sundara is filled with creatures that many of us recognize, but I wanted to give greater depth to their cultures, and a wider variety of options. After all, humans always get 15+ ethnicities, languages, and unique histories, while elves, dwarves, orcs, halflings, etc. are almost always left with footnotes, or maybe with a handful of offshoots. So, in short, I wanted to give all the fantastical creatures the treatment that humans usually get in our games.
And there is no human book yet. If readers demand to know more, then I may sit down to pen one... but I figured that humans didn't need to be front-and-center in this setting just yet.
- Elves of Sundara (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Elves are one of the most quintessential fantasy creatures... but if you want to see more than just high elves, wood elves, and elves of the sun and moon, then this supplement has you covered!
- Dwarves of Sundara (Pathfinder and DND 5E): The children of the primordial giants who were meant to fill in the details of the world they'd made (or so the myths say) there are as many kinds of dwarves as their are kinds of giants... and possibly more, depending on who is keeping count.
- Orcs of Sundara (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Supposedly a creation of the elves, none can say for certain exactly how or why orcs have been made. What most agree on is that these creatures are far more than most may think at first glance.
- Halflings of Sundara (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Little cousins to the dwarves, halflings are tough, clever, and not to be underestimated. From living beneath the hills, to taking up residence in the deep forests, halflings in Sundara come in quite a variety!
- The Blooded (Half-Elves and Half-Orcs) [Pathfinder and DND 5E]: When orcs and elves mix their bloodlines with other creatures, the result is one of the Blooded. This inheritance takes many forms, and it can even wait generations before manifesting when the right combination of individuals come together to have a child.
- Gnomes of Sundara (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Gnomes are strange creatures, found in places where the spirit of the land has coalesced and made children of its own. The sons and daughters of the ancient nymphs, they are the stewards of these places, and they change as often as the weather and the land.
Organizations of Sundara
Phase 3 has been going strong, but there's still a few titles left in it! So if you haven't seen them, consider checking out:
- Sellswords of Sundara: With power structures being smaller in scale in Sundara, standing armies aren't often maintained for long. As such, soldiers of fortune are quite common! This supplement contains 10 mercenary companies, their history, uniform, sample members, whispers and rumors, as well as either an archetype or subclass for playing these unique warriors. Grab your copy for Pathfinder of DND 5E.
- Cults of Sundara: Faith comes in many forms in Sundara, and there are as many gods in the Prim as there are dreams in the minds of people. This supplement contains write-ups for 10 cults, their histories, sample members, rumors about them, their beliefs and tenets, and a unique magic item for each. Get your copy for Pathfinder or DND 5E.
- Guilds of Sundara: While cities and villages may be relatively local, guilds are spread across the length and width of Sundara. From professional orders of skilled miners and dredgers, to monster slayers and bounty hunters, this supplement has 10 guilds with histories, sample members, rumors, as well as unique feats one can take to represent the skill and benefits of joining this order. Available for Pathfinder as well as DND 5E.
- Merchants of Sundara: While city states might be the largest form of government you find in the setting, merchants hold an outsized amount of power. From huge mercantile houses, to small brands infamous for their quality as much as for their price, there are a lot of options listed in this particular world building supplement.
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!
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!
As most members of the TTRPG community know by now, Owen KC Stephens is battling cancer. This has been the case for a while, and since Owen is one of my fellow American creators, he's got a two-front war to fight; one against cancer, and one against capitalism. Since healthcare in America has its hand in your pocket up to the elbow, he needs all the help he can get!
Which is why, first and foremost, I wanted to remind everyone to donate to Owen's Go Fund Me to cover his cancer payments. This is the most direct way to help, and it is one of the best ways to provide assistance.
With that said, if you're someone who likes TTRPG products and bundles, but you still want the proceeds to go to a good cause, then check out the list below!
There's some great stuff in here!
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!
At the top of the order we've got the Owen Stephens is... RAD! bundle. This bundle has well over $1,000 worth of supplements in it for Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder, D20 Modern, Starfinder, Star Wars, Call of Cthulhu, and many, many more... all of it for about $30 or so.
That is a deal you absolutely cannot beat! And if you haven't grabbed your copy of this yet, you should put it in your cart ASAP so that you don't miss out, and so that Owen can get one more arrow in his quiver for winning this fight.
For those who didn't see this stylish piece of stock art from Publisher's Choice stock art, Owen The Sage is another fun piece whose proceeds go to help Owen win his fight, and get back on his feet so he can keep doing what he does best for many years to come! Whether you just want to have a fun little piece of art for your home game, or you feel like Owen's all-knowing art would be an ideal addition to your supplement, don't let this one pass you by either!
This is all we have going on for now, but you can rest assured that as new bundles crop up I'll be doing my best to boost the signal on them!
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!
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!
This past summer was my first time attending World Con in Chicago. While I can't say it was a phenomenal experience, I did get the opportunity to meet a lot of fellow authors, and to be on some fun panels. One that stuck with me (both because it was my first panel of the convention, and because it turned out I was the moderator) was the panel about the genre of Midwest Gothic, what it was, and how to apply it to your stories as an author.
While it's been some time since that panel, I started rolling it around in my head, and wondering... would a guide about this particular genre be something that Game Masters out there would find useful? If so, should it be the first of a series about exploring such genres through the medium of TTRPGs?
It could be done... if it's something folks want to see.
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!
Genre Guides For All Your GMing Needs
Regular readers who've checked out my supplements before now know that I tend to stick to two major formats; 100 Random X, and A Baker's Dozen of More Detailed Y. In case you're one of the folks out there who hasn't gotten a copy of any of my supplements so far, the former category has entries like my Platinum-selling supplement 100 NPCs You Might Meet At The Tavern or the slightly-less-popular 100 Sci Fi Bands. The latter category has entries like my somewhat-controversial bestseller World's Oldest Profession: A Baker's Dozen of Brothels, as well as the Electrum-selling 10 Fantasy Villages.
While I've also written world guides, feat lists, modules, and other styles of supplements, these two formats make up the bulk of my catalog. What makes them so popular, based on feedback from the audience as well as observed trends, seems to be the following factors:
- Game Neutral: A long as you're playing within a given genre, the supplement is still usable.
- Supplemental Resource: These guides fill-in things that GMs don't want to make up on the fly, but they aren't, themselves, necessary for running any particular game.
- Evergreen: Whether you're playing now, or in 25 years, these resources will still be usable.
Looking at these broad strokes, the GM's Genre Guide project fits within all of these parameters, so I feel like it could work... if, that is, it's something readers show an interest in.
What Would Be Included?
I have not yet nailed down the specific format for how this guide would go, and what would be between the pages. With that said, I do have a general layout in mind, and some things I would like it to offer players. Those include:
- Introductory Story: This would set the tone, and be written in the style of the genre in question.
- Genre Overview: The first section would explore the broad strokes of the genre, giving GMs a foundation to work from.
- Genre Elements: Once the overview is established, and examples are given, we break down the genre's most important elements, providing them like the ingredients in a recipe.
- Running The Genre: After the genre has been explained and explored somewhat, this section would offer advice for how to run games set in this genre, along with tips and tricks to make the game stand out, and how to get your players in the spirit.
- Reading and Viewing Recommendations: Since genre can be a complex beast, I'd like to follow the best practices I've seen in other gaming books, and offer some examples for GMs to also take in to immerse themselves in a particular genre.
All of that would, ideally, come out to about 10,000 words or so by the time all is said and done. It might run a little longer, or a little shorter, but that's about the word count I'd be aiming for with these. And while I'd like to start with a Gothic line (Midwest Gothic, New England Gothic, Southern Gothic, you get the idea), if folks enjoy the project I'd be more than happy to stretch out to other genres and provide insight into how to best make those work, too.
How You Can Help
If this sounds like a neat idea, there's a couple of things you can do to help make it a reality. First and foremost, share this post around to get as many eyes on it as possible, and to help gather support. Secondly, leave a comment (here, as well as on social media if that's where you found this blog post) with the genre or subgenre you'd most like to see get its own guide in this series. Gothic preferred, but not required!
The other thing that will really help is, once the series starts coming out, make sure you pick up your copy, and leave a review so that more folks will see the supplement. The more copies something sells, and the more ratings and reviews it gets, the more likely it is that the algorithm will promote it, which creates a cycle where the publisher will want to keep the train rolling... so keep that in mind if you want to see this idea made into a reality sometime in 2024!
Also, if you'd like a short, snappy guide to tide you over till then (and to give you an idea of the sorts of advice I normally give in a project like this), you might want to check out 100 Tips and Tricks For Being a Better Game Master!
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!
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!
