Breaking Into Mork Borg... Should I Continue?

Variety is the spice of life, or so the saying goes, and I've found that rings very true in my line of work. Because while I am more than happy to keep working on popular game lines, or to write series of stories and books, there comes a point where the brain needs a break. Even if you've been eating finely-cooked steak, you can only have it for so many meals in a row before you start craving some pasta, pizza, or chicken tacos just to shake up your status quo.

While I had my palate somewhat limited a while back (and I talked about it in Why I Will Have Fewer Community Created TTRPG Products Coming Out), I recently decided to step outside my comfort zone and try something new. I've had a real itch to step into some grimdark storytelling, and Mörk Borg really hit that sweet spot for me. Which is why I wanted to talk about 100 Prophecies and Proverbs From The Black Basilisk, as well as what I'd like to do in the future, if folks wanted to see me keep walking down this road.

We see in part, and thus is the mirror of prophecy darkened...

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!

There Are Dark Winds Blowing...

While I've been aware of Mörk Borg for some time now, I first gave it a full read about a year ago when I wrote my review The Unrelenting Cruelty of a Dark and Dying World: Looking At Mörk Borg. I was aware of it by reputation, of course, but it wasn't until I read the full text that I realized that for all its darkness and doom, the game's tongue is (at least as written) planted very firmly in its cheek. And while I can certainly appreciate those efforts, I wanted to err more on the side of the darker lore, and to provide some serious resources for Game Masters who wanted to lean more toward the dark aesthetic of the game.

To that end I wrote 100 Prophecies and Proverbs of The Black Basilisk. While I encourage everyone to go take a look at it, the basic idea behind the supplement was to provide some of the supposed prophecies spoken by Verhu, the forward-looking head of the basilisk, and to offer some history and interpretations of those prophecies in the event players wanted to build their backstories around them, or a Game Master wanted to use them as the plot for their game. Because even though you may be days away from utter extinction, there are plenty of prophecies in this list that might prolong that inevitable darkness... at least long enough for your characters to enjoy a few more sunrises.

Now, this isn't the first release from Azukail Games for Mörk Borg. The company has also put out the class The Morbid Bone Picker, as well as Expanded Tables For Mörk Borg in the past. And while Adrian was willing to let me push forward with this latest release, he'd also pointed out that this game wasn't exactly a big seller in terms of numbers... but I had to try for myself to see what kind of results it would net.

So, if you'd like to see us put out more Mörk Borg stuff going forward, consider checking out any of the three lists I've linked in this post, and stay tuned for an audio drama for a grimdark tale from this dying world that will soon appear on the Azukail Games YouTube channel! Also, I have an idea for a campaign for this game that takes inspiration from the game Fear and Hunger... so if that's something you'd be interested in seeing me create, let me know in the comments so that I can figure out whether it's something I should pursue, or if it's something I should put up on the shelf for a rainy day.

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 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!

Which of My Ongoing Series Would You Like To See Continue?

Over the 10 years or so that I've been running Improved Initiative I've started a lot of different series. While many of them have waxed and waned in popularity, I thought I'd take this Monday to ask my regular readers which one of these series you'd like to see get more attention going forward. And if you're a relatively recent addition to my audience on here, you might find a series you haven't even come across yet!

So if you have a strong opinion about what you want to see more of, leave it in the comments below! Or if you want me to start a new series discussing something I didn't mention here, or haven't covered yet, let me know. If enough people request the same thing then it's definitely something that will get my attention going forward.

The floor is yours!

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!

#1: Character Conversions List

Perhaps the biggest and longest-running list of all the ones on this blog, this series currently has 63 entries on it! They range as far afield as Tyrion Lannister from Game of Thrones, to Harley Quinn from DC Comics, to The Incredible Hulk, Guts from Berserk, all the way to the Death Korps of Krieg in the Warhammer 40K universe.

It's a pretty big project, admittedly.

This series was a major breadwinner for a time, but it's grown steadily less and less popular in terms of views. Which makes sense, given that it was conceived primarily for Pathfinder's first edition, and while I love that game it's definitely seen its player base diminished over the past few years. If you add in the lack of searchability that articles hosted on Vocal have, along with conversion fatigue (since it seems the thirst for this kind of content has largely passed), I've been only adding to it sporadically.

With that said, if folks want to see this project renewed, check out the Character Conversions master list, and share your favorite guides on social media! The more reads they get, the more likely it is that I'll boost this series up over 100 entries.

#2: 5 Tips

Speaking of long-running projects that have gotten pretty involved over the years, my 5 Tips series has quite a number of entries as well! Perhaps the runner-up in terms of numbers (depending on how you count the entries) there are over 40 articles in this series touching on everything from base classes, to player species, to broader pieces of advice like 5 Tips For Creating Fantasy Towns and Cities, 5 Tips For Roleplaying Characters With Mental Disorders, and even 5 Unusual Martial Arts For Your Monks.

There's still plenty of topics to cover with this one!

This series has met with a lot of successes, and a lot of duds, over the years. A recurring theme folks will notice, of course, is that stuff hosted on Vocal hasn't gotten the views I need it to in order to feel like it's worth continuing. That said there are still several books worth of classes I could cover, as well as everything outside the standard species players usually have access to. I could even expand the tips list to cover Starfinder classes and species, or switch this over to cover more World/Chronicles of Darkness concepts, which I already started with entries like 5 Tips For Running Better World of Darkness Games, as well as 5 Tips For Running Changeling: The Lost Games.

#3: Awful Characters You Meet in Your Gaming Career

This series got started off with a one-off joke in the form of The 5 Awful Paladins You Will Meet in Your Gaming Career. The sheer amount of stories people swapped over these 5 archetypes of painful player character took days to die down, and it still sees occasional spikes. It felt like I'd tapped into something people wanted more of, so I followed it up with other entries. While there was still interest, it seemed to have seriously diminishing returns over time. So far the list includes:

- 5 Eye-Rolling Rogues

- 5 Bothersome Bards

- 5 Infuriating Fighters

- 5 Cringey Clerics

While not as numerous as the first two entries on this list, this is the one that felt like it had the most potential in terms of audience interest. What I don't know is whether folks just stopped reading it because the novelty wore off (entirely possible), or the algorithm stopped it from finding its way to folks' faces. Regardless, though, if this is a series you'd like to see more of, share the entries, and maybe comment some of the classes (or even species) you'd like to see more of!

#4: Gaming Etymology

Etymology has a soft spot in my heart, and it's something that always fascinates me. This goes double when it comes to the creatures, classes, etc. that wind up in our games. From articles like What It Really Means To Be a Swashbuckler? to What is a Barbarian?, I had a lot of fun putting these together. When it comes to the projects I work on, though, fun takes a distant second to what will actually get the reads I need to keep the lights on around here.

There are a lot of other subjects to cover, still!

You know the drill by now, of course. If you liked this project, check out the Gaming Etymology master list, and help boost the signal so I can justify putting some more of these together in the near future!

#5: Alignment Deep Dives

While I eliminated the alignment system from my own setting, Sundara: Dawn of a New Age (more on that in the video below), I've always found the absolutism of alignment a fascinating, philosophical discussion. And while it's often very gray and very squishy, sometimes there are enough examples in a character's canon that you can genuinely sus out which of the 9 boxes they fit into... roughly speaking.

The project's original goal was to find at least one character of every alignment box to operate as an example of who best fit into that little square. However, I only got around to really covering The Punisher, Robocop, and Captain America before the project went into the fridge for a while. If you'd like me to pick it back up again, consider suggesting some characters along with sharing any of the existing articles!

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!

Tips For Unarmed Fighters in Pathfinder (Who Aren't Monks or Brawlers)

Those who fight with their fists, feet, and foreheads are a staple of fantastical tales. Most of us who want to embody someone who treats their body like a weapon will go to either the monk, or the brawler. However, there are times you don't really feel either concept truly embodies what you're going for... but building an effective unarmed fighter outside of those two classes can seem overwhelming.

The following tips don't encompass everything in the rules. They are, however, some useful places to start if you're looking for good ways to start stacking the numbers in your favor.

And they come in a lot of shapes and forms.

Before we get into the details 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!

First, What Are Unarmed Strikes?

First things first, it's important to note that all characters are capable of making unarmed strikes. They deal 1d3 damage, if you're a medium creature, and the damage is nonlethal unless you either take a penalty to that attack, or you have a feature that allows you to make your unarmed strikes lethal (such as the Improved Unarmed Strike feat). Unarmed strikes provoke attacks of opportunity from armed opponents without a feature that negates this. Unarmed strikes are light weapons, and the damage they deal is considered weapon damage for any features or abilities that increase weapon damage. That may be important for later, so tuck that away.

Also, consider these.

It is important to remember, as well, that attacks with gauntlets are still considered unarmed attacks. The only advantage they offer is that they allow you to deal lethal damage with your strikes, and later on they provide a convenient place to put a weapon enchantment (or to get metals like mithril or adamantine) to increase the damage your unarmed strikes are dealing.

Consider that a bonus tip! Now, let's get started.

Class Features

The bread and butter of any unarmed fighting build is going to be in the class features you choose to utilize. However, there are a lot of different options on the table that should be considered, depending on the approach you want to take.

Boot to the head, you say?

One of the first options that presents itself is the fighter. Because while the fighter may not gain bigger and bigger damage dice like a monk or a brawler, they do gain bonuses to hit and damage with their favored weapons (which can be unarmed strikes, gauntlets, and other weapons from the close group). So while the 1d3 damage die wouldn't change, that might not matter so much if you're stacking favored weapon damage onto it, along with your Strength modifier, and other bonuses from feats, magic items, spells, etc. If this were an option one wanted to pursue, I'd recommend the brawler fighter archetype (as opposed to the brawler hybrid class), as it gives you bonus attack and damage with your unarmed strikes, but it also allows you to penalize opponents in your threatened area, without making you trade in the defensibility of heavier armor.

Those who want to embrace dirty fighting in its truest form can use the sneak attack or sudden strike class features. The most common classes who get this are the rogue and the ninja (for those who are willing to deal with less-than-full BAB progression), and the slayer (for those who want a full-BAB precision fighter). While sneak attack won't apply to every strike, good positioning, proper use of abilities (like feinting against your foes), and other strategies can let you rock an enemy with a single kick. After all, your unarmed strike damage die is still 1d3, but when you're throwing 4-8d6 along with it, that doesn't matter quite as much.

The vigilante offers several devastating abilities one can use to increase the damage done when fighting unarmed (some of which we see in The Silver Raven Chronicles). Fist of The Avenger adds half an avenger vigilante's class level in damage to unarmed strikes (up to a +5 at level 10), or those made with a gauntlet. Lethal Grace is particularly useful for those who wish to fight with Weapon Finesse, but which still need extra damage dealt by their blows. Stalker vigilantes, of course, receive their own version of precision damage, which can make every blow devastating to their targets.

Keep in mind that spellcasters can incorporate unarmed strikes into their spells. As I mentioned way back in Playing By The Book: Some Rules Pathfinder Players Keep Forgetting, any spell that allows a touch attack may be delivered via an unarmed strike instead. However, it's no longer a touch attack at that point. That's a dangerous place for a wizard or a sorcerer to be, but it might be a solid place for a magus. It may be even better for a warpriest (whose damage die goes up as long as they have Weapon Focus for their unarmed strike), or even a paladin (with their smite damage and full BAB), as they can also add additional enchantments and bonuses to their blows (or to a gauntlet, should that be required).

Lastly, consider the swashbuckler. Their abilities are focused on using light or one-handed piercing weapons, and an unarmed strike normally deals bludgeoning damage. You could add a cestus or spiked gauntlet to overcome this issue, but both of these are weapons in their own right. However, there are feats like Snake Style (level 3) or Boar Ferocity (level 6) that you can take in order to deal piercing damage with your unarmed strikes. While not an ideal build option, this would allow you to get the benefit of your Swashbuckler's Finesse, Precise Strike, and other class features.

Feats

Feats are another important component of most combat builds, and an unarmed fighter is no different. While only dealing 1d3 as your base damage die might seem pathetic, keep in mind that it's really about how many other bonuses you can stack on top of it.

Trust me, you'll hit like a ton of bricks!

- Power Attack or Piranha Strike: Each of these feats lets you take a penalty to attacks for bonus damage on hits. Use the first for Strength, the second if you're going full Dexterity in combat.

- Weapon Specialization, Improved, and Greater: For those who have the ability to take these feats, they can stack a lot of damage onto your strikes. Especially if you're also adding precision damage from Precise Strike, or from Weapon Training as a fighter.

- Accomplished Sneak Attacker: If one multiclasses, or simply doesn't have the full benefits of sneak attack, this feat can add an extra 1d6 of damage to every time you deal this precision damage.

- Heavy Hitter: Technically a trait and not a feat, it still adds +1 damage on unarmed strikes.

- Boar Style: This style allows you to add 2d6 bonus damage whenever you hit an enemy with two unarmed strikes in one round.

- Two Weapon Rend: Deal a bonus 1d10 + 1.5 times your Strength modifier when you hit an enemy with your primary and off-hand weapon once per round. Best used with a two weapon fighting build, as this feat has several prerequisites, including a BAB of 11.

These are just a handful of options for dealing additional damage with unarmed strikes, but they can stack a lot of damage onto your blows... especially when combined with your class features!

Final Thoughts

There's enough variety in abilities and strategies that not everything is going to overlap. Some spells, like magic fang might be useful for you, and you might choose to seek out an amulet of mighty fists to ensure you have a way to enhance all your strikes. You might choose to grab an enchanted gauntlet with the glamered enchantment so it looks like you just have simple gloves on before you slam an iron fisted uppercut into someone's jaw. Belts that improve your physical stats, hand wraps that boost your damage output... there's all sorts of spells and enchanted items that may come into play. Sometimes they work on unarmed strikes, sometimes they expressly don't, and getting a full list of those will probably be its own, separate post.

However, the ability to hit harder, and to deal elemental damage, holy damage, etc., is where even a hard strike is going to turn into a serious weapon. Choose your magic items wisely, but remember that even without them you should still be able to pack a pretty solid punch. Or kick. Or headbutt.

And just in case you need even more...

Lastly, if you're looking for some extra wooge to add your unarmed fighters, consider some of the options I presented in Sellswords of Sundara recently! While there is a monk option for batting aside everything from swords to spells, there's 9 other martial archetypes ranging from the Widowmakers and their ungentlemanly forms of warfare, to the Gray Blades who've seen everything war has to offer, and done most of it at least twice. Check it out, and delve in for yourself!

Like, Share, and Follow For More!

That's all for this week's Crunch topic! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio! Or if you'd like to read some of my books, like my alley cat noir novel Marked Territory, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well! And if you'd like 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 bit of help can go a long way, trust me on that one.

What Do You Want To See Next in "Sundara: Dawn of a New Age"?

Regular readers know that since 2021 I've been releasing content for my own fantasy RPG setting Sundara: Dawn of a New Age. This setting is available both for Pathfinder Classic, as well as for Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition, and my goal with it was to upend a lot of the old stereotypes and conventions that come with fantasy RPGs, but without throwing the baby out with the bath water.

While I covered some of this in my blog What is "Sundara: Dawn of a New Age" All About?, the short version is that I wanted to make a game setting that tossed out monolithic aspects by adding more organic details, and which focused more on embracing new solutions and ways of doing things instead of feeling like it was constantly trying to re-capture some lost, mythic golden age.

Some of the things I've already done include:

- Removing alignment entirely.

- Making the gods more mysterious, and variable.

- Expanded non-human species so they are just as (if not more) varied than humans.

- Removed the concept of countries as we know them today, making power structures more varied.

- Added a bunch of weird guilds, technologies, and uses of magic across the setting.

Stuff is getting strange as the setting spreads out.

While I have plenty of ideas that I could spin up going forward, I wanted to take this week's Monday update to ask what you, the readers, would like to see?

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!

What Would Get You More Interested in The Setting?

When I started this series off it began with Cities of Sundara, providing guides for places like Ironfire: City of Steel and Moüd: City of Bones. After I'd established several of these locations I put out a guide to how gods and the divine work in the setting (which is a lot less structured and established than in many other settings I've seen, where the mythology we hear is often taken as fact), and then moved on to Species of Sundara where I laid out broader diasporas and cultures for dwarves, elves, gnomes, halflings, orcs, and the Blooded (a combination of so-called half-elves and half-orcs). The most recent release, Sellswords of Sundara, covered famous and infamous mercenary companies, and soon there will be a collection of 10 towns with full details.

My question for you, as a Game Master or a player, is what would you be interested in seeing more of going forward? Not just in a, "This would be neat," sense, but in a, "I would pay money to support that," sense.

It's what makes the wheels turn, after all.

Current possible plans include:

- Expansion of locations in the setting (more town and city guides).

- Expansion of species guides (with more creatures and unique player options for them).

- Campaign modules (so players could actually explore some of the setting in more detail).

- World detail guides (moving on from mercenaries to guilds, cults, and other organizations).

While these aren't the only options, there are two projects that are not currently on the roster, and that's releasing a full-sized setting guide, and releasing a full pre-written campaign. The big reason for this is not because I wouldn't be interested in these things, but because this is a one-man show, and those kinds of projects take a lot of time to put together. So, generally speaking, anything that can't be completed in 1-2 months isn't feasible with the audience size Sundara currently commands. If audience demand grows then those things might be possible down the line, but not for the immediate future.

Which is, incidentally, the main reason so much of this content is designed to slot into homebrew games as well. Because if you just want one or two aspects, you can pluck them out of the setting without requiring a bunch of strings to come with it.

Well, most of the time, at least.

Also, for added clarity, I am not the publisher for this setting. I'm just the writer; Azukail Games is the one who's putting out all these splats. So I'm not just asking you what folks would like to see going forward because I want to sell more copies (though that is part of it). It's also because I need to be able to show growing interest in the setting, and to create a track record of positive sales, in order to get further books approved for writing and release.

So tell me what you want to see! Leave a comment below, or reach out to me on social media, but my ears are open for what would get more folks interested in checking out this setting as I add on to it.

Lastly, if you're not familiar with the releases to-date, I've linked them all below with a general description for you. And if you do choose to check them out, I hope they surpass expectation! Don't forget to stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, as well, where I have several videos talking about Sundara, the philosophy behind it, and covering some of what I'm trying to do with this particular world. Consider subscribing, as well, as we need to hit 1k followers there, and we haven't even broken 300 yet.

Take a Look For Yourself!

I took a brief break on making new Sundara content at the start of the year, but I'm already back on the wagon! Sellswords of Sundara (available for Pathfinder Classic as well as DND 5E) is full of unique archetypes/subclasses for mercenary companies that come with their own themes, histories, NPCs, rumors, and more, and that should be coming out shortly. Coming soon you'll also have Towns of Sundara, so that folks have some smaller places to put between the cities that are just as interesting and unique in their own ways (and which acts as a good follow up to 10 Fantasy Villages, which kicked this whole project off in the first place).

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.

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!

A List of Ways To Become Immune to Fear in Pathfinder

There are few things as frustrating as fear effects in Pathfinder. While being shaken is irritating, if you get the frightened or panicked condition, all of a sudden your hulking brute or lifelong mercenary just tucks tail and runs from the fight. Most players I've shared a table with would rather have their characters bleeding out and dying than being forced to flee, because at least then getting sidelined would mean they went out fighting. And fear effects are just littered throughout the game, coming in the form of auras, monster powers, spells, and more, so this is something you're going to have to deal with a lot in basically every campaign you play.

And while there are plenty of ways you can get a boost to saves against fear effects, there's a 1 on every die. So if you're looking for some unique ways to get your next character completely immune to fear, I'd recommend trying out some of the following tricks.

Yes, yes, Aura of Dread, all that. We doing this or not?

For folks who are wondering, this may or may not have been part of the research for the guide that will be the follow up to my Imperial Commissar conversion that I posted a few weeks back. If you want to make sure you don't miss out on all that nonsense, the consider signing up for my weekly newsletter to ensure all my freshest releases go straight to your email!

Lastly, I'm sure this is far from a complete list given the amount of content out there. So if I missed something, make sure you toss it in the comments!

Class Features

The most common way for characters to gain immunity to fear is with 3 paladin levels. However, that class is by no means a universal fit for folks who don't want to deal with fear effects, but who may not necessarily want to maintain that LG alignment requirement. Or play a partial caster.

The land and title is nice, but I'm really here to face my fears.

For those who want to stay away from a lawful alignment, the barbarian has the rage power fearless rage, which does just what it says on the tin. Sadly it requires you to be level 12. However, for earlier levels you could take the feat Bear's Balance. This allows you to start raging whenever you'd fail a save against a fear effect, essentially allowing you to hold it at bay as long as you've still got Rage rounds left to burn, which is a pretty snazzy trick.

There are also a few options in the cavalier class. The ghost rider (an archetype that gets to summon its own phantom mount as well as a gaze attack, making it my basis for my Ghost Rider character conversion) gains immunity to fear at 3rd level, which is on par with the paladin. There's also the standard bearer archetype, whose banner grants everyone fear immunity... but at level 20. Sadly that's probably never going to really come up as most games don't even go that high.

And for those who want to try out an inquisitor, the Valor inquisition gives you fear immunity at 8th level. Still a bit of a wait, but definitely early enough to still have plenty of juice left in it.

If your GM allows you to bring 3rd party stuff to the table, you could try out the knight from Adventuring Classes: A Fistful of Denarii. It gets fear immunity at level one, which is all kinds of sexy. There's also the Order of The Flagon for cavaliers in Flaming Crab's Cavalier Orders, which gains immunity to fear whenever the cavalier issues a Challenge.

Alternatively, if you look at my own supplement Cities of Sundara: Moüd you'll find the Deathstalker archetype for slayers, which also grants immunity to fear at level one. Just something to think about if you're looking for another reason to check out my Sundara setting!

Magical Solutions

While I came across a lot of magical options that granted bonuses against fear, or which did things when you succeeded on a fear effect, there weren't that many that actually flat out gave you immunity. However, the ones I did manage to find are as follows.

I know, I figured there would have been more, too.

The grim helm, found in The Dead Roads, is one of the main ways I found to give one immunity to fear. It has the negative that you can't gain morale bonuses as long as you wear it, but it can also suck the morale bonuses out of people near you, so that's an added plus. It does cost a whopping 48k gold, though, so it may not be worth all that effort.

In addition, the spell Blessing of Luck and Resolve, taken out of the Advanced Race Guide, grants a +2 bonus on saves against fear, or makes you immune to fear if you already possess the fearless trait (read: you are a halfling). Another option, for those who didn't opt for the small sized race, is Litany of Defense out of Ultimate Combat. This spell doubles any enhancement bonus on your armor, and renders you immune to fear. If you're not a paladin, antipaladin, or inquisitor, though, you'll probably need to get it in a wand.

There's also, as one reader pointed out, greater heroism. Not sure how I missed that one, but it's one of the "easier" methods to get... it is a 5th or 6th-level spell slot, though, so keep that in mind when you prepare it. You could also grab the Padma Blossom (another suggestion by a reader), which costs 8k gold, but honestly is pretty great. Bonuses to concentration, twice per day cast calm emotions, and it suppresses a bunch of effects in addition to fear.

Miscellaneous Solutions

There are two other solutions I've come across for the problem of fear, and rendering it a moot point. The first, and arguably the one that will be the hardest to get most GMs to agree to, is to let you play an android. Fear is one of the many things they just don't have to deal with. At all.

What... is... fear?

The other useful option I found is the feat Stoic. While not a perfect solution, since it forces you to make the initial save against fear, it states that you are immune to any other fear effect from that source for 24 hours after making that initial save. So, while useful against things like auras that require you to make constant saves, this feat isn't a very useful solution when it comes to things like a one-time spell effect. Still, it's a +1 bonus in addition to the post-save immunity, so it's not going to be wasted if you think you're going to be in a lot of situations where you're going to have to cope with things that require you to keep your cool.

Another interesting combo a reader shared was by combining the feats Nameless One and Masked by Fear. It's a pricey combo, and doesn't technically make you immune to fear, but it means you can only be shaken rather than frightened or panicked, and that's good enough for my purposes! Especially since this is the trick I opted to use in my Death Korps of Krieg character conversion for Warhammer 40k!

Like, Share, and Follow For More!

That's all for this week's Crunch topic! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio! Or if you'd like to read some of my books, like my alley cat noir novel Marked Territory, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well! And if you'd like 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 bit of help can go a long way, trust me on that one.

GMs, Don't Make Players "Prove" Their Classes To You

I want you to take a moment and ask how many times you've had a really fun idea for a character that you were really excited to play. Maybe it was a swashbuckling bard, or a longbow wielding paladin, or a wizard astride a proud, white charger. If you are a fortunate player, your GM looked at the character, made sure it didn't break any agreed-upon rules, and said sure, sounds good!

However, there are a lot of GMs out there who will simply fold their arms and refuse unless your character looks and feels the way they think a member of this class should look and feel. This sort of behavior never improves a game, and it will always drive a player's interest right into the ground. So please, my fellow game masters, open your imagination and try to see things from your player's perspective.

Barbarian prince? No. You can't even read, much less run a country.

While we're on this topic, I'd urge readers to take a gander at my ever-expanding Unusual Character Concepts list to see some more examples of the sorts of characters that a lot of GMs will flat-out refuse even though they don't break any rules. Also, while we're at it, consider signing up for my weekly newsletter to make sure you don't miss anything that comes out in the future.

Lastly, for GMs who are looking for a new addition to their settings, "Silkgift: The City of Sails" is now out for my Sundara setting! Aether weapons, brigandines, net launchers, and a bunch of other nonsense is in this one, so check it out for either Pathfinder Classic or Dungeons and Dragons 5E!

Flavor To Taste (And Don't Keep The Gate)

Any time I suggest that GMs give players more freedom and options, the response is always something along the lines of, "Oh, so I should just let players bring a half-angel, half-demon dragon to my game? Uh-uh, not happening!"

So in the interest of crystal clear communication, I'm not saying that GMs should open up every book in the whole game and let players go wild. I'm saying they should stop gatekeeping the options the players actually have available to them (the ones in the character creation section, not the entirety of the Bestiary/Monster Manual) and demanding players somehow "prove" that their character should be allowed if the concept they're proposing doesn't violate the ground rules of the game.

Meaning they have chosen a class (or classes) you said were available and allowed, pairing them with a creature type that you also said was available and allowed. But, for one reason or another, you don't like the flavor of the character because it goes against what you think/feel/believe it should be, so you make the player jump through hoops, or outright deny them the ability to play that concept.

Should is open to interpretation. If the concept doesn't break the rules, let your players have their cookie.

Trust me... they will love you for it.

Like I said, dig through my archive and you'll find dozens of articles that have polarized GMs. Some of the more common include:

- The Noble Druid

- The Sudden Wizard

- The Drill Sergeant Bard

- The Mutant Sorcerer

Some of the debates over these concepts have been interesting. Others have been incendiary. But the point at the heart of it, nine times out of ten, is that the DM who would ban characters like this (base classes played in an unexpected way) simply cannot conceive of these characters in any way outside of the box they've been placed in either by their experience as a gamer, or in popular fiction. In their minds druids are always tree-hugging hippies who live in the woods like bears. Wizards must be geniuses who study for years of their life, rather than someone who develops an intrinsic grasp of the math of magic via an accident or injury. Bards are singers and storytellers, not bellowing commanders slinging spells and steel on the front lines. Sorcerers are either born that way, or they're not, they don't just gain spell slots by exposure to a lab accident like in a comic book.

Of course, none of that is in the game as it's written. There are tropes and stereotypes, and examples of classic versions of these characters, but there's nothing actively preventing these concepts in the rules. A barbarian can be a prince or princess as surely as they can be born in a windswept crag somewhere in the northern reaches, and a paladin can be a scarred, sour enforcer in studded armor with a longbow as surely as a beautiful knight in shining armor.

By all means, ask for a backstory. If something doesn't add up, ask for an explanation. But don't waste your GM fiat on telling a player no because their elf isn't barbaric enough to fit your pre-conceived notion of what a barbarian "should" be.

The class is just a rules chassis; the character isn't part of a union that demands codes of conduct, and will show up to take their class card away if they don't act a certain way. All they have to do is obey the rules actually written into their class, and if the class doesn't say they must be or do X, Y, or Z, then it isn't mandatory.

The "Well in My Game" Defense

Again, in the interests of clarity, this advice is to be taken for games as they're written, and as they're portrayed in common world guides for those books (Golarion, Forgotten Realms, etc., etc.). If you have made your own, custom game setting with additional red tape that isn't in the common rules, then there is no possible way I could know about it when writing this piece. However, before leaving comments, consider the wording of what I said above.

If a player's concept does not violate the rules, don't make them jump through additional hoops. That includes any additional rules you have put in place for your setting, or as part of character creation at your table.

However many rules those are.

As an example, if the major religions of your world are at war with arcane magic, then sure, it wouldn't make sense to have a sorcerer as a holy warrior beneath a church's banner. Same way that if you have decided paladins can only be made by taking vows before a holy order and being anointed by them, then of course you can't have someone being chosen out in the boondocks by a divine force to act as their champion.

But if a player's concept follows all the rules (including the ones you have added for whatever custom world you've made), then you're not doing yourself any favors as their GM by making them write a dissertation about why they should be allowed to play their concept. Because just like how railroading characters onto plot leads to player disconnect and a drop in interest, railroading their creativity can suck out their enthusiasm before the game ever really starts.

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, 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!

Guns Really Aren't As Powerful As You Think in Pathfinder

It has been nearly 10 years since Ultimate Combat dropped from Paizo, and with it the gunslinger class. And despite having had the following conversation in dozens of different forums, Facebook groups, and threads, I figured that I'd collect this all in one place in order to create a simple, easy-to-reference piece for any game runners out there who are worried that guns are just "too powerful" for your game.

They're really not. And I can break down why pretty easily.

There's about to be a lot of shots fired.

Also, for those who want to make sure they don't miss any of my updates, consider subscribing to my newsletter! And if at the end of this you've got a hankering for putting a shooter on your table, then consider checking out my Pathfinder character conversions for The Punisher, Doc Holliday, and John Wick.

 

Lastly, if you're looking for high-caliber action with the sort of guns that are as powerful as a lot of players seem to think, then you should really take a look at the Savage Company Campaign Setting as well as the recently released Savage Company Infantryman's Handbook. That's where you'll find the big guns.

Lastly, if you're looking for some additional fun and flavor, then you might want to check out my 5 Tips For Playing Better Gunslingers. Honestly, I think it's one of the more instructive articles in that particular series.

Let's Talk About The Touch Attack

The thing that gets a lot of people wound up is the fact that firearms are touch attacks. But a lot of players and game masters alike seem to skip past all of the fine print and qualifications that actually puts this into perspective.

Just some provisos... some quid pro quo...

First of all, an early firearm (the sort you're going to have access to in an average game run by the core setting's rules, or which you acquire as a class feature as a gunslinger) is only a touch attack within the first range increment. After that it takes the normal -2 to attack for distance, and resolves against standard armor class. That usually means you have to be within 20 feet to 50 feet at the very longest, which is more than close enough for the angry enemy they shot to charge them on their turn.

Secondly, a touch attack is not some huge upset that's going to reduce difficulty to nearly nothing. Size modifiers, Dexterity modifiers, cover, concealment, and a slew of other things still apply. Ducking behind a rock, or planting a tower shield, is often enough to keep one safe from even the deadliest gunfighter. Because it's true that someone firing a pistol is more likely to hit their target than they would if they were firing a hand crossbow... but it's no more likely than if they were shooting a wand with a ray spell. And chances are good the ray is going to have a lot better range.

Guns Aren't All That Powerful On Their Own

The other misconception people seem to have is that firearms are this encounter-killing mechanic that completely wrecks challenge level if they're present. Smaller firearms deal 1d6 of damage, and the largest reasonable two-handed firearm deals 1d12 damage. The double hackbutt deals 2d12 but it is not something you can easily acquire, and the damn thing is wheelbarrow-mounted, so it's not something players should be walking around with unless you're allowing ogrekin at your table.

And if you're doing that nonsense, guns are really a drop in the bucket.

Sure, it's a touch attack. If you're playing a character with a full BAB and a decent Dexterity score, chances are pretty good you're going to hit your target barring other obstacles (there's no concealment, they're within the first range increment, etc.). But if you hit, you've done either the equivalent of a short sword, or a great ax blow. Can that kill an enemy at low levels? Sure, if you're lucky it will blast a goblin's head off, or reduce a skeleton to a pile of bone dust. But even rolling max damage on that attack after a couple of levels is just going to annoy the monster, and mark the shooter out as a target. And if there's more than one threat present on the field, you likely won't have enough bullets to go around.

And the numbers only get worse as you level up.

Guns by themselves aren't a huge threat to one's enemies; they need something to dovetail with them in order to actually be effective. For instance, combining a gun with sneak attack is a great way to deal a lot of damage really quickly, without the need to rely on a spell to get a touch attack. If a gun is combined with class features that let you use them in unique ways (such as the gunsliner's deeds), or with a class that adds bonus damage (precision damage, adding Dexterity modifier to firearm damage, etc.) then that is quickly going to beef them up. Even something like the ranged magus archetype, or the spellslinger wizard archetype that lets you combine your gun with spells is going to give you more bang for your buck. Gunslinging paladins will dole out some serious harshness on devils, demons, and undead if they combine a shotgun with smite. And so on, and so forth.

But just the gun all by itself? Not that much of a threat. Especially when you consider some of the following...

They're Expensive (Both To Acquire, And To Use)

Guns are probably the most expensive non-magical weapons in the game. It's one reason that gunslingers are just handed a busted gat at level one, and why only they can use it without penalty. Basic guns can cost hundreds to thousands of gold just to acquire, and that's without any special abilities, masterwork detailing, etc.

 

We're discounting the fire lance here, because again it's the exceptions that prove the rule.

What did it cost? GDP of a mid-sized nation, since you ask.

And if you do want to buff up your firearms to be sure you can overcome damage reduction, and get some extra elemental effects or special abilities added to your shooting irons? Then you're pouring most of your gold into those upgrades. When you add in the cost of black powder, alchemical cartridges, and other aspects of firearm use, they suck up your adventuring earnings pretty damn fast. There are specific magic items that let you get around those costs, but again, you need to either find or make them.

Financial costs aren't the only thing to consider when it comes to firearm use, though; they're also fairly rare in a lot of locations. So if a player can't fix or modify the weapon themselves, and you're not in an area of the map where there are going to be gunsmiths about, that's going to create a problem. Guns are also pretty feat intensive if you want to really make them effective, and that goes double if you aren't marrying them to a potent class feature like the ones mentioned above.

First, you need proficiency in the weapon to avoid the -4 penalty (this is usually gained from a class feature, but not always). Then you need to acquire several ranged combat feats, such as Point Black Shot and Precise Shot to avoid penalties for shooting into melee while getting a small attack and damage boost. Rapid Reload is often a necessity, because much like crossbows guns can be an absolute ass-ache to keep loaded as combat goes on. Deadly Aim is often necessary for boosting your damage with these weapons, but it's a feat that you get the biggest benefit from when you have a full BAB. For those who want to make every shot count, feats like Vital Strike may be worthwhile. The Gunsmithing feat is often required for keeping guns repaired and loaded, and if a player isn't playing a gunslinger they may not get it for free.

In summary, if you're going to use guns effectively, that's where a great deal of your monetary resources, and your character resources, are going to go. Especially if they aren't just a convenient delivery system for a spell or a sneak attack.

They Come With Built-In Drawbacks

Guns have a lot of drawbacks that you need to overcome in order to use them effectively. Their relatively short range is one, and their expense is another. As mentioned, they can also be murder on your action economy, requiring you to really cut corners, or rely on spells and special abilities to make sure that you've always got a round in the pipe.

They can also blow up in your face.

Guys... I think Flint rolled another 1!

If you roll particularly low on an attack with an early firearm, then you have to deal with misfires. And misfires can cost you... especially if you're a player who rolls a lot of natural 1s, the way I tend to. While there are ways to downplay or negate misfires, their probability also increases when you do things like utilize alchemical cartridges... so they're going to happen at least a few times.

The other major built-in drawback of a firearm is powder. Black powder and ammunition is subject to water, subject to fire, and to all sorts of other situational issues. So if an enemy uses spells to ruin ammunition, or if a gunslinger gets caught in a dragon's breath weapon or a fireball, that incident could become far more costly than it otherwise might have been. Even something like being bullrushed into a river could destroy the ammunition in their weapon, as well as the bullets in their cartridge belt. And even when it does go off, it's loud as hell, which can alert other encounters there's something going on next door.

These are things you can overcome. There are items and magic cases that safeguard your equipment, as well as spells that can silence your area, but those also play into the cost of using a firearm in a hostile world. And while a game master may opt not to use these particular weaknesses to avoid ruining a player's fun and frustrating them, they are still there, and still viable.

Any Weapon Can Be Overpowered In The Right Hands

Hey there... heard someone was talking shit about archers?

I've been at a lot of tables over the years, and I've seen players crack out every, single weapon you could use. From frenzied berserkers whose greatswords can cleave dragons in half, to dagger-wielding assassins that tore encounters apart, to a wizard that turned a first-level spell into a nuclear hellstorm by applying just the right combination of feats, boosts, and metamagic rods... the weapon by itself was just one aspect of the character.

More to the point, though, I've seen a lot of game masters who end up getting steam-rolled by the party not because the party's too powerful, but because they aren't utilizing any sort of strategy for their villains.

I talked about this more in Party Balance is Mostly a Myth. Instead, Ask How You're Challenging The Party, but it bears repeating. Every character is going to be strong in some situations, and not as strong in others. If a target is within relatively close range and has a low touch AC, that is the gunfighter's time to shine. If a target has a high damage reduction, the ability to deflect bullets, is under a lot of cover, or is shrouded by illusion, then they're far more likely to end up shooting at shadows and not doing a whole hell of a lot while someone else steps up to get the job done.

If a gun could completely destroy your game's challenge, step back and ask why? Especially when you consider all of the weaknesses, limitations, and required support from class features, feats, etc. it takes to make these weapons really dangerous.

Lastly, a Note on Genre

This is Crunch week, and as such I've been largely focusing on the mechanical aspects of firearms (and particularly early firearms) as they're written for Pathfinder's first edition. As such, I have not gotten into setting, conventions, etc.

But I feel that should be addressed.

If you are running a Pathfinder campaign set in Golarion, then firearms are a part of that setting canon. If you are running a different setting (possibly one of your own design) where firearms do not exist, then they are not a part of that setting canon. Some players love guns in their fantasy settings, some players hate them, and some players are indifferent regarding their presence. But that is a discussion you can have on its own merits.

By the numbers, though, guns are not that big of a deal by themselves in a mechanical sense. As long as you run them as they're written, and track all of the things associated with their use, they're barely be a blip on the radar regarding challenge. You aren't required to use them at your table, but if the mechanics are really your concern, you can put that concern to bed.

Like, Share, and Follow For More!

That's all for this week's Crunch topic! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio! Or if you'd like to read some of my books, like my alley cat noir novel Marked Territory, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well! And if you'd like 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 bit of help can go a long way, trust me on that one.