"Tabletop Mercenary," A New Show in The Making For Azukail Games

Regular readers around these parts are likely aware that in addition to running two blogs, putting out articles, and constantly jamming away on TTRPG supplements, I also make a variety of content over on the Azukail Games YouTube channel. It started out with the show Speaking of Sundara, where I talked about the various releases and developments in my fantasy TTRPG setting "Sundara: Dawn of a New Age," and to go along with that series I started dramatizing the introductory fiction for various supplements to give listeners a little glimpse into the kinds of stories you could tell with those supplements. Then, most recently, I started a show called Discussions of Darkness, where I talk about various aspects of the World/Chronicles of Darkness, and how to get the most out of it while avoiding problematic pitfalls.

And with all of that going on, I thought it was time to put one more ball in the air... a little show I'm calling Tabletop Mercenary!

Keep your eyes out for this logo going forward!

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!

Getting Into The Trenches

To catch everyone up, I've been helping out by expanding the content on the Azukail Games channel for a while now, and we've been slowly chugging our way toward getting the channel monetized (according to my last check-in, we were rounding 1,600 of the 3,000 hours we need). Since we're a little over the halfway point (and I wanted to start putting out more staggered Speaking of Sundara episodes, since the setting isn't expanding as rapidly as it was in the past), I wanted to give our viewers out there something new to check out.

While I mentioned several options in An Update on Our Progress Toward Monetization, the one that the numbers looked strongest for was Tabletop Mercenary.

So what is this show going to be about? Well, in the broad sense, I want to talk about what it takes to be a TTRPG professional, the pitfalls you're likely to contend with, and what you should actually expect if you want to get into this niche of the publishing industry. For specifics, though, I wanted to ask all my readers out there what topics you would like to see covered!

For some context, I've been a professional writer for going on a decade, and for a lot of that time I've also been putting out TTRPG content in some way, shape or form. I've worked as a freelancer for big names and small, I've written a variety of supplements, I've slogged through contracts, and I've watched the landscape change bit by bit as titans of the industry fell by the wayside, and new ideas, methods, and games rose to prominence. A lot of the knowledge and expertise I have has been learned through trial and error, and I'd like to save all the folks watching as much of that experience as possible.

That's why I wanted to ask my readers out there... what questions would you like to see answered on this show?

There's all sorts of directions we could go, after all.

Some of the topics that have been proposed include:

- How Did I Get Into This Field?

- How Much Can TTRPG Designers Expect To Make?

- What Are The Advantages and Disadvantages of Community Creation Platforms?

- What Products Sell Well, and What Products Never Sell At All?

These are just a few, general topics to sort of prime the pump, and get us going, but I want to hear from you all what topics you're curious about. What have you always been curious about? Or, if you're thinking about throwing your hat into the arena to design games, what's a practical thing that you don't know that I might be able to answer for you?

Toss your comments below, or if you found this on social media, feel free to leave your ideas there as well. The first episode should be recorded in the very near future, so please, don't be shy with your queries!

Lastly, in addition to episodes showing up on the Azukail Games YouTube channel, they will also be found on my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary. So if you haven't followed both of those channels yet, please consider doing so to be sure you don't miss an episode going forward!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Daily Motion channel!. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

A Year-Long Experiment With Vocal Media (And Why I Need Your Help)

For all the readers out there who go all the way to the end of my blog posts, you may have noticed a change over the past year. If you scroll down the page, the only section you really see represented is Moon Pope Monday, which are the catch-all Monday posts I put up on Improved Initiative. There may be an occasional entry from Table Talk, or Crunch, but for the most part folks who just come by this blog haven't seen any posts for Fluff or Unusual Character Concepts in over a year.

I didn't stop writing them... they've just been appearing over on my Vocal.Media archive for the past year or so. It's been an ongoing experiment, but it hasn't been going as well as I'd like. As such, I figured this week I'd deliver the preliminary results, and give folks the behind-the-scenes rundown of what I've been doing, the problems I've run into, and how you can help.

It's been... less successful than I'd hoped it would be.

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!

Vocal, Improved Initiative, and What I Was Trying To Do

I've been writing blogs for Improved Initiative for a decade or so, now, and my format has been pretty standard for years. I would write a Monday post, and then a second post that would go Crunch, Fluff, Unusual Character Concept, and Table Talk, before starting over again. This helped ensure variety in my articles, and it meant there was something different every week for folks who didn't just want more of the same content over and over again.

However, what some of my readers may not know, is that I don't make any money from the traffic on this blog. Even when my ads did function (which was a while ago), so many people have some form of ad blocker that it just wasn't worth the effort. My Patreon and my Ko-Fi are the primary way that my blog gets support, but I know that not everyone out there has money to just throw at me every month to help me keep the lights on while I write.

But it would help, if you wanted to go that route. Just saying.

For all the gentle reminders I put in my blogs about crowdfunding, and for all the links to the TTRPG supplements I write, though, I really don't like asking people to just give me money. I'd much rather have the traffic I earn translate into cash, because that allows a direct transfer of the amount of attention my work receives into how much money I earn. There's also a certain kind of frustration that comes with seeing an article get thousands (or sometimes tens of thousands) of reads, and knowing that none of that activity is going to put money in my pocket.

Enter Vocal.Media.

For those who've never been to this site, it's a place that lets writers create and publish their own work. It's where all of my Character Conversion Guides are published, and it's where I've written a lot of articles about miscellaneous history, geek things, weird etymology, etc. Hell, my article It's Okay To Admit There Are Problems in Your Hobby once blew up so big that someone turned me into a meme because they were so tired of seeing it. And generating traffic on that site does actually pay me money. It's $6 per every 1,000 reads (not just views, actual reads), which means that if something explodes it will actually put cash in my hand.

For the first few years I wrote articles for Vocal, I got some pretty good views. I was generally managing between 14,000 and 20,000 reads a month, which comes out to between $70 and $120, give or take. Not life changing, but it was enough to literally keep my lights on, and fill in the gaps when other projects fell through, or didn't sell enough copies, or when some of my patrons had to stop supporting me because they could no longer afford to. Reading articles was free, after all, so it was something everyone could do.

Then the social media landscape changed, and that oasis dried up.

You see, a majority of the reads I was getting were from my Character Conversions. However, as Pathfinder's first edition wound down, they were becoming less and less popular. That was always going to happen, which was why I tried to pivot and write other articles, like 5 Tips For Playing Better Evil Characters, or my more recent Find a Reason For Your Character To Get Involved. However, while I was diversifying my content, the algorithm underwent an abrupt shift over the space of a few weeks. This meant that Reddit, which I'd been using for years to boost the signal on these articles, now automatically removed any links to Vocal.Media. This wiped out years of my submissions across dozens of subreddits, and set me back in a big way. Then as the follow-up to that heavy punch, Facebook altered their algorithm so that if you included a link in your post it got shoved all the way to the bottom, and nobody saw it.

In real terms, I went from getting 400-500 reads a day, to barely cracking 70... and I wanted to try to fix that.

When in doubt, create more content!

This brings us up to about a year and change ago. I figured that if I could create more Vocal content, then maybe the sheer amount of it would help overcome the resistance of the algorithm. And if I could get my existing audience to help me boost those numbers, maybe I could turn Vocal back into a viable source of income... but I couldn't do that while also writing 2 blogs a week here on Improved Initiative.

So I kept my Monday posts right where they were, but I moved the second post of the week over to Vocal, hoping that it would drive the folks who enjoyed my content to check those articles out over there instead.

It Didn't Work... But Could It?

As of time of writing, I have 285 articles in my Vocal archive. Additionally, my daily reads haven't been above 100 for at least 2 months now. Which is, as the kids say these days, not great. Because if you've read my other post, If 90,000 People Read This Article, I Can Pay My Bills This Month, you know that it takes a colossal amount of attention for writers depending on per-read pay to stay one step ahead of the rent.

The question, of course, is what do I do about this?

It's big brain time!

Now, on the one hand, it's true that articles here on Improved Initiative are easier to market. My blog is perfectly shareable on Reddit (for the most part), and it does no worse on Facebook than Vocal does in terms of attention. However, as I mentioned above, even if 10,000, 50,000, or 100,000 people all read an article on this blog, it isn't going to pay my bills. I won't see a single, red cent from any of that traffic.

Popularity isn't something you can eat, sadly, or the choice would be pretty easy.

What I need to help me keep the lights on and the content flowing is for people to support my work. While direct support through my Patreon or my Ko-Fi is always going to be preferred (immediate support yields immediate results), helping my Vocal articles get traction is something folks can do for free right now!

Consider the following actions:

- If you have a Vocal account, subscribe to me! Also, throw a like onto my articles, and leave some comments. The algorithm likes those things, and it helps me stand out. If you don't have a Vocal account, it's free to make one, and it makes organizing your subscriptions easier.

- Bookmark my page, and check back. I typically have at least 1 update a week on Vocal, so there's usually new stuff waiting for you to take a look at.

- Read through my Vocal archive. You don't have to do it all at once. If 100 people each read an article a day for a month, that would be 30,000 reads, and it would put me 1/3 of the way toward paying my rent... which is nothing to sneeze at!

- Share my articles so other people can see them. This is probably the most important, and if it was paired with the above request, it might actually get me the 90,000 reads I would need to cover a full month of bills. Because 30,000 reads is great ($180 and change). But 30,000 shares, whether it's on Facebook, Twitter, Blue Sky, your gaming Discord, or anywhere else... that makes a massive difference!

Little things really do add up if enough people participate... the problem is getting a lot of people to all pitch in, and to pitch in consistently, so that the numbers stay high. So please, if you haven't seen any of my Vocal articles before (or if you have, but didn't know there were quite that many of them) go take a look around! Every read helps me stay one step ahead of my landlord, and that lets me keep making more content for all the gamers out there.

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 sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, my dystopian sci fi thriller Old Soldiers, 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!

Getting Into RPGs as a Business? You Need To Know How You're Making Money

Since shut downs and social distancing started, a lot of folks have decided to throw their hats in the RPG ring. Some people have used their systems and settings as a kind of pandemic project, taking all the time they now have to get their games ship-shape and market ready. Others are just looking for an outlet, or to build up a side hustle they can work from home. Some aren't really sure what they're doing yet, but they've always wanted to turn their hobby into their job.

And to all these game creators out there, both those who never thought they'd be here and those who've been hemming and hawing about taking the plunge for years; welcome. It's a rough gig, and sometimes it can feel like it's literally a roll of the dice whether you sink or swim. However, I wanted to point out something I've seen from a lot of creators, old and new alike.

In short, if you don't have a plan for how you're going to turn a profit, you need to stop what you're doing right this second. Go back to the drawing board, and do not resume work until you know exactly how this thing you're making is going to not just pay for itself, but put money in your bank account.

 

Also, for folks who want to get all of my updates (including future posts about marketing, sales, affiliate earnings, etc.) don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter!

Step One: Create Content, Step Two: ???, Step Three: Profit!

It's a Fun Job, But It's Still a Job

I've talked about this before on my sister blog The Literary Mercenary, but today I want to address RPGs specifically. Because there's a lot of numbers involved in this game, and a lot of the folks who are getting into it right now don't know what they're looking at, or what they should expect.

So I'm going to do my best to break it down for you.

Because as with any game, it's all about the numbers.

First things first; you need to understand that you are creating a product. That is your job as an RPG creator. Maybe you're assembling map packs, or you're writing blog entries to help GMs run better games, or you're going the distance and creating a full RPG of your own; end of the day, you are making a product. For you to actually turn a profit, that product has to in some way earn you money.

For example, say you've got a bunch of files you've created for really cool cavern maps you've used in a home game. It's your art, so you can do whatever you want with it! So you put them together into a pack, and you toss it up on Drive Thru RPG for a couple of bucks. Whenever someone buys a map pack, part of the profit goes to the website as the host, and the rest of it goes right into your pocket.

Pretty simple so far, right?

The problem that a lot of folks I've spoken to recently is they're starting from scratch. They don't have any art assets, they don't have any modules they've been tinkering with, and they've got no supplements (or anything else) for them to put out there to try to start some money flowing to them. Alternatively, someone might have a little bit of cash flow, but they want to do something big and ambitious; like set up an entire online platform for game masters, or put together a full campaign that's going to be 4-6 books of content by the time it's done.

I don't want to be the bearer of bad news... but it is highly unlikely that you'll be able to sell enough copies of something that big in order to break even, much less turn a profit. Also it can take a long time to complete something like that... and if you're using that time to create, your profits need to cover your future expenses, as well as pay your bills for the time being.

Making enough to pay one month's rent doesn't do you a lot of good if it took you 6 months to make the thing, if you see what I mean?

Time, Effort, and Keeping The Lights On

I talked about this in Writing a Book is an Investment, as Well as a Gamble, but creating a product takes time. Whether it's a relatively small and straightforward supplement like 100 Merchants to Encounter, or a module like Ghosts of Sorrow Marsh, or something bigger like a core rulebook for a unique game, or a full-sized campaign, everything takes time.

As an example, my turnaround time on a simple supplement like the merchant list above? It's at least a few weeks. Once I have it written and edited, it has to go through proofreading, it needs to be properly formatted, given art and a cover, priced, etc., etc. I don't handle those aspects of the publishing, but those things still need to be done.

Minimum turnaround time on something like that? Two to three weeks if you're thorough, but if it's the only thing on your to-do list you might be able to get it done faster. So let's say, nose to the grindstone, you put out 2 small supplements a month. You might be able to do more, but that's a realistic estimation of time, energy, and progress.

And then money, yes?

So, let's say you busted your butt during that month, and you got your supplements polished up and looking pretty. The art pops, the text is tight, and you do a big fanfare for release. Great, you got it done!

Most RPG products that go up on the market, though, don't even sell 50 copies (hitting Copper status on Drive Thru RPG). So a "good" debut of 50 copies each might net you... anywhere between $50 and $100 depending on your pricing, and how much of that cost actually ends up in your pockets. Even if you produced that supplement, module, whatever for no cost, using only software you had, free-to-use art, writing and editing the text all on your own, chances are good that your monthly expenses for food, rent, etc. are a lot more than a C-note.

And that's if you did well. If you don't already have an existing audience, or you don't manage to catch the eye of passing traffic, it's entirely possible that you could bust your hump all month, sweating and straining to get these products out there, and then sell exactly 0 copies, making no profit whatsoever.

 

The good thing is that once you complete something and get it up, it stays up. So it's possible that something that has a slow debut may build steam over time. Something that starts popular may even stay popular, selling steadily as time goes on. But realistically, you need to build up an archive of products/work; making a big profit off of your first two or three offerings is basically buying a random scratch-off and hitting the $24 million prize out of sheer, stupid luck.

Mercenaries Aren't The Answer To Your Problem, Either

 

A lot of new creators on the scene try to shorten their design time by hiring folks like me to help turn their ideas into reality. The problem you're going to run into there is that mercenaries need to get paid. While rates for RPGs are criminally low (half a cent per-word on the laughable end and 3 cents per word from more reputable companies), even low rates are very quickly going to dig you into a hole if your sales don't keep pace with what you're paying out. And the more text, art, etc. you want to get from freelancers to shorten your development time, the more copies you're going to have to sell in order to turn a profit when all is said and done.

Not only that, but freelancers get paid up-front. So if you shell out a couple hundred bucks to get your writing or art done by someone else, and then you only sell a handful of copies once your product has released, you're firmly in the red when it comes time to try to make and market the next thing. Again, you might make it back over time, but if you don't have any cushion then that's not very comforting.

You don't want to be halfway through your jump before realizing you miscalculated.

This doesn't just apply to full RPG products, either. A lot of folks try to maintain blogs, hoping to draw fresh eyes to their sites so they can get a larger audience for their future content. If you need content, the cheapest most writers are going to go is $20 for an article. Unless you have ads, or a Patreon page, or some way for your blog to pay you, there's no WAY you're going to make that back off of content that is, essentially, free for your audience to view.

For reference, It would take me about 3,500 reads on articles in my Vocal archive to earn back that much money. So unless you have sponsored content, affiliate sales links (more about those in If You're An Author, You REALLY Need an Affiliate Marketing Account), a crowd funding audience, or some other way to make back the investment you're paying out to other folks, you're basically throwing your money into a hole in terms of generating profits so you can keep making more stuff in the future.

Kickstarter Isn't a One-Size-Fits All Solution, Either

This one is for all the folks out there who think that crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter (and Patreon to a lesser degree) are going to swoop in and save you. I can tell you from experience that getting Patreon patrons is a bitch and a half, and that keeping them around is even harder. For a Kickstarter, you should really have a majority of the work done before you try to fund it, as well, thus ensuring minimal chances of failure, and showing your audience you're a reliable investment in the future.

You also need to market whatever it is you're creating. And you need to figure out how to raise your voice above every other Joe Schmo with an idea for a new, fast-paced RPG, board game, deck builder, etc. who's up on their own soap box, cane slapping and voice raised to try to get folks into the tent.

By all means, roll the dice... but know you're taking a risk.

In a lot of ways this is the creative equivalent of, "Hell with it, I'll just become a stripper!" It takes a lot of work to make something so intensive (between makeup, physical exertion, performing skill, customer service chops, persona creation, etc.) look effortless. Selling a game is the same way.

Just because you hear one success story of someone hitting it big with a patron landslide, or a huge Kickstarter campaign, keep in mind that you're not hearing about the dozens (or more realistically hundreds) of people who aren't getting any traction on the platform at all.

With All of That Said, You Should Still Do The Thing!

It might feel like I've just been tossing out doom and gloom this whole time, but you are far more likely to succeed if you set yourself realistic goals, and keep attainable expectations. And though RPGs are possibly bigger than they've been since the hobby began, it's important to remember this is still a pretty niche market.

However, with that said, you should still do your best to make your mark. So whether you want to start a blog writing reviews, make a new game, put out modules and supplements, or just make maps and cool gaming art, do that thing! Because making games matters, and if you don't take your shot then you're never going to get anywhere.

But remember, if you're doing this either as a side hustle or with the intention of making it your job, you've got to treat it as such. You're not just making a pet project for yourself and your friends, or messing around creatively for fun... you're creating a product. And you need to find (and entice) an audience who wants or needs the thing you're making if you want to stay in business.

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!

The D20PFSRD Open Gaming Store Wants to Help You Make Money

Are you a gaming blogger? Do you write popular, in-depth reviews on gaming books, rules, and settings that make your readers go out and buy books? Well, if you are, then the Open Gaming Store wants you as an affiliate marketer!

Yes you! No, not you... the pretty one!

What's Going on Now?

Perhaps I should begin at the beginning.

If you're a fan of Pathfinder, you've likely been to the D20PFSRD. It's the site that has a huge repository of information, including most of Paizo's published material, and a huge chunk of third party material as well. You're probably aware, too, that the site boasts the Open Gaming Store, which is the go-to place for many gamers who want to browse through big and small publishers alike.

The Open Gaming Store is currently accepting applications for affiliate marketers.

What is That, and How Does it Help Me?

I talked about this more in-depth in my post How To Make Money on Your Blog With Affiliate Marketing, but I'll give you a simple example for quick clarity. Let's say that you are an RPG blogger, and you are a fan of a particular third party book that doesn't get a lot of press. A book like The Demonologist, from TPK Games, which is all about an infernal-themed summoner archetype. You write an article about how cool the demonologist is as a class, and you put a link for people who want to check out the book. For every person who clicks your link, and then buys a copy of the book through you, the Open Gaming Store gives you a commission.

How big of a commission? 5 percent of the customer's purchase.

Be honest, you've raided dungeons for less than that.

That 5 percent might not sound like a lot, but it will depend directly on your readership, and how popular your particular post is. After all, the more people who check out your proposed character build for a devil-summoning spellcaster, the more people you expose your link to. And, if you're lucky, your readers will come to trust your recommendations, and they'll see what you have to say about a product before they get it. Which gives you a change to put your commission link in front of their faces before they go off and spend their money without your involvement.

You are being paid because you're helping the Open Gaming Store make money. The more they make, the more you make.

How Do I Get In On This?

If you want to roll up your sleeves and start making some commissions, then all you have to do is contact the Open Gaming Store, and ask to become part of the program. You fill out a simple form, and then boom, you're ready to get started.

Have you started yet?

I have, since you asked, Perturbed Swan. In fact, I've been poking around my dashboard for several days now, figuring out how all the gadgets work, and how I can incorporate them into my past and future posts here on Improved Initiative.

So, if you've been waiting until now to pick up some of the products I've had a hand in creating, why not get them through these links?

- Feats Reforged IV: My first major project from Total Party Kill Games, I went through all the feats in Ultimate Magic, and juiced them up a bit.

- Feats of Legend: The Celestial Feats: A list of 20 feats brought to you by myself, and talented designer Simon Peter Munoz. If you want angel's blood flowing through your heroes, this one's not to be missed.

- Feats of Legend: The Infernal Feats: A list of 20 blasphemous feats, used by devils and devil-hunters alike.

- The Demonologist: I already listed this one, but the Demonologist is too much fun to miss. If you're worried your DM won't let you have something evil in game, relax, yours truly created a good-aligned archetype for this hellraiser that's included in the book.

I'm sure this list will get longer, and quite soon. I'm wrapping up a lot of projects, and I can't wait to tell you all about them!

As always, I hope you found this week's Moon Pope Monday post informative. If you know anyone who wants to turn their hobby into an income stream, if not an actual career, make sure you spread the word! If you'd like to help fund Improved Initiative, but you don't feel a need to buy any new gaming books, then why not stop by The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page? All it takes is $1 a month for me to keep bringing you the sort of content you want to see. Lastly, if you haven't done so already, why not follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter?

A Forum For Finding RPG Job Postings

For those of you who don't know, in addition to running Improved Initiative and doing freelance RPG design, I'm also an author. When I put on my fiction-writing hat (which is a green beret bearing a Celtic wolf, for those who are curious), I bill myself as the Literary Mercenary (hence the name of my author blog). And, as I said in one of my earliest blog posts over there, if you're good at something you should never do it for free.

That's why, this week, I'd like to let all my fellow RPG enthusiasts out there know there's a forum where companies post jobs, and it's a place where gamers just like you can become the game designers of tomorrow.

Time to start stacking GP, you know what I'm saying?

Where Is This Forum?

It's over at Paizo's homepage, since you ask. To prevent you from digging through the archive, and asking around until you learn the secret code word, here's a link to the forum in question. It may take you a bit of perusing to find a job that fits your skills, and you might not find a project the first time through, but that's no reason to despair. After all, new projects are coming up all the time.

For a primer on how to handle yourself before you dive into the shark tank, check out my previous post How To Get A Job Designing RPGs.

If you found this post useful, and you want to be sure you don't miss any future updates, then follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. If you'd like to toss some coins in the coffers to keep the updates coming, then go to my Patreon page and become a patron today!