You Aren't Your Character... You're The Author (A Perspective Shift)

We've all had those moments sitting around the table where things don't go our way, or the story gets complicated in a way we wish that it hadn't. Too many of us end up frustrated by this, and we can end up dejected, losing our zeal for the game. As someone who has rolled more natural 1s in a single session than some players have rolled in an entire campaign, I understand, and feel these feelings. However, there is an interesting mental trick you can use to help deal with fate going against you.

Remember that you aren't your character... you are the author of their story.

It can be a small thing... but a helpful one.

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

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

A Step Back, And A Different Perspective

When we make our characters for an RPG, we tend to get really close to them. We construct their lives, we talk with their voice, and in some cases we even crawl into their skin. However, when we take on the role entirely, we tend to equate the character's success with our own success... but also their failure with our own failure.

And on the one hand, that is the double-edged sword of roleplaying; you get the highs and the lows. However, it can be interesting to take a moment to purposefully consider yourself and your character as separate entities, and to treat yourself as the author of their destiny. So the question is not whether they win or lose... the question that you're treated to becomes, "And how are they going to deal with this twist of fate?"

Okay, that failed... but HOW did it fail?

Take a situation that is far from uncommon in RPGs at early levels. The party was ambushed on the road by something (bandits, goblins, or even a cadre of wandering undead at the behest of a necromancer), and despite their best efforts, they fell in battle. Now, that might be disheartening, but if the characters aren't dead yet, then the story continues on. If they awaken in the wilderness, injured but alive, now they have fresh challenges to meet. If they were taken prisoner, or are being held hostage for ransom, there is now a fresh arc in their story to tell.

A fresh arc that you, as the player, should be excited to tell. Because yes, it might be frustrating that the dice didn't reward your character with a victory in the last episode, but in this fresh episode there's a new danger, new stakes, and a fresh path to take and explore!

And just how the hell are we going to get out of here?

 

I will say that this shift in perspective only works if you have a GM who is following the advice I gave in Dungeon Design Tips: Find A Reason For PCs To Survive (And Try Again). Because there is a huge difference between being able to follow a character's journey through misfortune, and being able to just shrug off a character dying, and being told to go make a new one. Generally speaking, there needs to be some kind of reassurance that a character doesn't die upon their failure in order to keep players interested and engaged.

Put another way, if you're reading a fantasy novel, and the protagonist blacks out after being stabbed in a duel, and you still have half the book left to read, you usually keep reading because you want to see how they come back from this. Was the protagonist bound and put in prison? Are they wounded and on the run? Are their whereabouts kept secret for a few chapters until they return in some way? Because we will absolutely accept that a character has failed, fallen, and is facing fresh difficulties... but if we open a new chapter on the latest installment of our favorite series only to find that Conan is dead, and some random character we've never heard of is taking over for the titular barbarian, a lot of us are going to give up and stop reading entirely.

Clarification and Closing Notes

Now, to be absolutely clear here, I am not saying that GMs cannot kill PCs. I'm not saying that characters should never die, and that they should be given chance after chance to try, try again. However, what I am saying is that if the primary failure state is death with no way to undo it and continue the story (even if undoing it is difficult, convoluted, or both), it becomes very hard for players to get invested in their characters and to be excited to see what twists and turns are coming.

Because if the character dies, there's no more story to follow.

Additionally, I am not saying that players should think of themselves as the author of the entire campaign, and to view their character as the protagonist. Rather, every player is writing their character's story, but that story is prompted by the game world around them. This helps engage your sense of the dramatic, and to actually tell a story, instead of just focusing on whether the character is winning or losing, succeeding or failing, which can make for an overall more engaging story for yourself, and for everyone around the table!

It's a cooperative exercise, and putting on your writer's cap can get you thinking about your character and their actions as a part of an unfolding narrative, instead of just something personal to you and your own scoreboard. It also makes those fail states sting a little less when you view them as plot twists to roll with, instead of the dice punishing you arbitrarily.

And now, to tweak things just a little more...

Lastly, I wanted to offer some additional reading for folks out there. Because putting a few finishing touches on your character can make it that much more interesting to pull them along through their adventures! So, if you want to go a little deeper with the next character you put together, check out:

- 100 Character Goals and Motivations: Why does your character keep going? What are they trying to accomplish? Answers to these questions lie within!

- 100 Dark Secrets: Just what it says on the tin, this supplement provides you with a slew of secrets to bury in your backstory... you should probably tell your GM about them, though.

- 100 Questions About Your Characters: Everything from their favorite foods, to where they learned their skills, to how they want to die can be found in this supplement, rounding out a character's finer details.

- 100 Tips For Being A Better Player: Lastly, this is for the players behind the sheets. Everything from table etiquette to habits that will help you have more fun at the table, I highly suggest giving this one a read!

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 the ongoing audio drama channel The A.L.I.C.E. Files! 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 Blue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

Leaving Spell Slots Empty For Later (A Prepared Spellcaster Hack For Pathfinder)

There is a noted wariness among a lot of Pathfinder players when it comes to prepared spellcasting classes. Wizards, clerics, alchemists, and so on may have the ability to choose from larger lists of total spells, but they have to choose which spells they're putting in which slots, and if they choose the wrong spells, well, then they're screwed. Or so the thought process goes.

However, there's a piece of fine print that a lot of folks miss, or don't really think about. Prepared casters largely have the ability to leave a certain number of spell slots empty when they prepare their spells, and they can then perform a small ritual to fill that slot later, thus providing them some wiggle room to ensure the character can choose the proper spell when they actually need it.

It's a strategy that comes with its own risks, but it's still worth exploring to see if it will work for you.

Magic is all about rules, loves. Twist them until they serve.

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!

A Little Ace In The Hole

If you read through the description of classes like the wizard, cleric, and alchemist, you'll note in the fine print about their spells that the character may choose to leave spell slots open for the day, essentially acting as blank storage spots. These rules are also repeated in the Magic chapter of the Core Rulebook. At any time before the next time the character prepares their spells, they may go through a smaller version of their spell preparation ritual in order to fill that slot with a spell. Whether it's reading from a spellbook, going through a small religious rite, or breaking out their field laboratory to mix a fresh extract, these small rituals typically don't take more than 5 minutes.

This seems pretty straightforward. As a prepared caster, you are essentially hedging your bets that you might need a specific spell during the coming day that you can't predict, so you're leaving a slot open, and hoping that you have the time to prepare the spell safely. Time is the key, here, because as long as you're in a situation where you can crouch down and do some quick reading, praying, etc., this strategy is perfectly sound. When it isn't sound, though, is realizing that in the middle of combat, or when a trap has gone off and the walls are closing in to crush you, you have the perfect spell to deal with this situation... you just didn't pick it that day!

Ah, balls... I didn't take Commune With Eldritch Horror... it's on my list, though...

The strength of prepared casters is that they have access to a wider variety of spells than spontaneous casters do. Additionally, metamagic feats are more efficient when applied to prepared spells. However, while they might be a Swiss army knife in a lot of ways, the drawback is they can feel cumbersome. This is one strategy that can be quite useful, but it's one that should be done sparingly. Because sometimes you'll have the breathing room you need to memorize the new spell that will save the day... but other times if you can't whip out the solution in the next 6 seconds, it isn't going to matter.

As with everything else, though, it's important to have a varied approach to using magic as a tool... especially if you're a prepared spellcaster.

Consider checking out my older article 3 Advantages of Wands in Pathfinder, for instance. Because wands, potions, and scrolls are great for keeping access to certain spells on-hand that will be really powerful in specific situations, but they aren't something you want to keep memorized every day, taking up space in your spell allotment. Additionally, if you're playing a wizard or a cleric (or you're combining the two for a Mystic Theurge with 2 aces in the hole) take the bonded item feature for the former, and gain the bonded holy symbol option for the Ecclesitheurge archetype in the Advanced Class Guide. These features allow you to, once per day, immediately cast a spell that you know which is on your class list as if you had prepared it that day, making it a get-out-of-screwed-free card if you have the perfect tool for the job.

Taking a layered approach with a prepared caster can help ensure that you really are prepared for every situation you might come up against. So make sure you've got a variety of tools in your bag, and help get yourself (and your party) through your next adventure!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or the dark sci fi channel I contribute stories to, The A.L.I.C.E. Files! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

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

Avoid The Algorithm, And Follow Me Directly! (Troubleshooting Current Social Media Setbacks)

Folks who have been watching my saga recently (detailed in my post Another Social Media Struggle (Reddit Has Decided To Kick Me In The Teeth, And I Could Use Some Help)) have likely noticed that one of the major challenges that every creator in the world is dealing with is that we simply cannot reach our potential audience. And the reason we can't seem to reach people is because the social media sites and groups that used to help us connect are now throttling our signals, restricting our ability to post, and trusting to bots to determine what kind of posts are allowed, and when an account needs to be shut off... even when it's wrong.

And while I'm taking several steps at present (seeking out new Discords that might appreciate my work, coming up with a fresh Reddit strategy, trying to figure out why the hell Facebook stops me from making posts anywhere but my own personal pages, etc.), there is one thing that I would like all of you reading this to do for me. I would like you to please go to my Patreon and my Ko-Fi pages, and subscribe/follow me there.

 

If you want to tip me or support me for what I'm doing, I appreciate that. But mostly I'm going to be using those accounts a LOT more, because they seem to be some of the only places that I can actually let people who enjoy my work see what the hell it is I'm making.

Because a lot of what I'm putting out is getting lost in the screaming void, and I'd like you to see it.

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

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

You Get A Direct Feed (And It's Technically Free)!

The entire point of social media, from a creator's perspective, is to connect you with your audience, and your potential audience. As someone whose hair is more gray than not these days, I remember when it basically did this, too. I've quoted the numbers before, but a decade or so ago I could get hundreds of impressions from Facebook, thousands from Reddit, and tens of thousands on a good day from Digg or Stumbleupon (both of which have gone down into the dark depths of websites murdered by AI slop). These days, though, it feels like the same 17 people see all my posts on whatever social media I'm part of, and when I do manage to fly through the storm of algorithm interference it's like trying to get an emergency message to someone through a time machine.

Dearest Allies, I request your aid in this time of dire need...

Which is why I wanted to take this week's post to ask everyone who made it this far to follow me on Patreon and Ko-Fi. Because while both of those are crowdfunding websites, you can follow me for free on both of them, and get notified when I share things on them (it's usually once or twice a day in the evenings, so not a huge inbox stuffer). And I'm asking this because, just like my newsletter that I mentioned above, it's one of the only ways for you to actually see and hear what I'm doing without the algorithm getting in the way, waiting for moderators to approve a post (which can take hours, days, or weeks), or depending on your For You Page to decide that you get to see stuff that I've made, as opposed to your 19th advertisement of the day.

 

My hope is that if I can get enough folks onboard with this request that I can get direct feedback from people who want to be in my audience the way that I used to on the sites that have slammed all their doors, and which are burying creators under restrictions and inertia. Because I post dozens of things (sometimes as much as a hundred posts or more) every day... and there are a lot of people who have tried to follow me who just don't hear about it because the algorithm won't slide it into their feeds.

 

So get a direct line, and let me know what you think of my work today!

 

Lastly, speaking of Reddit, there are two subreddits that I moderate that I would like to invite folks to. I am the moderator of Tabletop Homebrew! So if you have things you'd like to share, or if you want to see the sort of things creators are making and sharing, stop in, get comfortable, and take a look around. We'd be happy to have you.

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 additional audio dramas over on The A.L.I.C.E. Files! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

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

Dungeon Design Tips: Limited Resources Can Lead To Creative Strategies

When you pop the hood on what makes an RPG challenging, there are a lot of different systems at play. However, if you dig down to the very foundations of what makes the game work, a lot of it comes down to a smart use of the available resources to complete a task, or achieve a goal. Whether it's spell slots, rage rounds, alchemical items, carrying capacity, or even time, limiting the resources your players have available is one of the main ways a Game Master establishes challenge... and it can often lead to creative strategies on your players' part.

We've got three of them left... how many villains are there?

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!

Putting Pressure On Your Players

Challenge is, on the surface, a very simple thing to create. There is an obstacle, and the players need to find a way over it, around it, under it, or through it... and whichever strategy they use is going to come with risk, and it will use some of their resources.

 

What you have to determine, as the Game Master, is how you're going to apply pressure to ensure that your players have to get creative with both their risks and their resources.

 

Think this will be enough ammo for the quest?

 

What resources you have on-hand typically determines what strategies players will want to try... however, the most important consideration for you, as the Game Master, is that every strategy to solve a meaningful problem should come with some kind of potential risk as well as a potential reward.

As an example, take one of the most basic situations found in fantasy RPGs; your party is going to a crumbling ruin that is infested with monsters (and potentially traps) in order to take the treasure inside for themselves. A simple dungeon crawl... however, there are some ways that this scenario might lack challenge. And while most Game Masters just add extra monsters, slap more hit points onto existing creatures, or increase the difficulty and damage on the traps, those things can feel arbitrary.

So instead, let's ask what other things might add pressure to this treasure hunt. Potential challenges include:

- Time Constraints: If the dungeon is only accessible during a specific time frame, say for three days, the party doesn't have a lot of spare 8-hour recharge times to use. The same is true if they manage to get to the dungeon first, but there are other so-called adventurers hot on their tails that they don't want to fight for the loot.

 

- Food: While most campaigns don't pay any real attention to how much your players eat, take a moment and ask how many provisions they brought with them out into the depths of this old-growth forest. Do they have the necessary skills to forage? Do they end up eating something poisonous or rotten, and getting sick? Even if they technically have all the time in the world, they can't keep fighting on an empty stomach.

- Tools: Typically RPGs don't worry about weapon and armor durability, but there are some tools that can break if checks go badly enough. If the rogue only has two sets of lockpicks, and one set gets broken on a door because they rolled poorly enough, will they press forward? Will they allow companions to kick in doors instead, risking drawing the attention of monsters? Or will they use another strategy entirely to open locked portals?

- Material Components: We typically don't worry much about these things, but they are a major necessity for spellcasting. So while relatively simple components might get a hand wave and a pass, ask which spells require notable costs, and expensive or rare components. Because if the party can only bring a handful of those, their absence is going to be felt sooner rather than later.

- Resetting Dungeon: If the players don't complete the dungeon crawl, it should reset or change in a meaningful way when they either abandon it, or hunker down to rest. Perhaps the creatures are reinforced with fresh recruits, or the dead get back up, reanimated by the nature of the place. Maybe creatures that were held in check by creatures the party slew can now expand their territory and wander freely. Maybe the locks reset themselves. Perhaps the traps come back online, or they're reset by monsters who regularly patrol the dungeon. If retreating is a strategic choice, then the dungeon shouldn't just remain in status in their absence.

 

All of these, and many others, are ways you can use limited resources to put a squeeze on your players... and every way they find around one of these constraints is a victory for them. For example, if a ranger can reliably forage well enough to feed themselves and their companions, that removes food as a constraint that can weigh on players. If players have access to fast travel through spells or unique mounts, that also buys them more time, and lets them bypass the dangers of the wilderness.

 

The key here is to get your players thinking in terms of what will use the fewest resources, or what will be most effective, and seeing if it will get them venturing off the beaten path as they search for solutions.

 

Because if you have a thousand arrows, a trunk of material components, and all the healing items in the world, then it's likely your players might try to brute force their way through overwhelming odds by fighting a grueling war of attrition against every monster, bandit, and assassin that comes for them. However, if they just don't have the resources to make that a winning strategy, it can be interesting to see what they do instead. Do the players instead embrace stealth, either ambushing enemies to get the upper hand, or skipping combat altogether to reach the treasure chamber? Do they employ guile, using lies and disguises to hide in plain sight? Do they set traps, or use the ones already in the dungeon to damage or destroy monsters they themselves couldn't fight on their own?

 

When you have access to all the resources in the world, you can get lazy and just do whatever. But when the pressure is on, and you have limited options, that's when people start getting creative with the choices they make... and it can overall lead to a much more satisfying experience!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or the dark sci fi channel I contribute stories to, The A.L.I.C.E. Files! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

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

Dungeon Design Tips: Provide Targets For Your Players' Big Guns

The Internet is full of Game Masters asking for advice on how to best counter the abilities and powers the player characters acquire in their games. And while I've given my share of advice on the subject (many of which are previous entries in this very series like getting rid of doors, actually triggering multiple encounters when warranted, terrain and cover, etc.), this week I'd like to remind Game Masters that if your players go through all the effort and struggle to acquire a big gun... well, you should at least let them knock down a couple of targets with it from time to time.

They're clustered in a 20-foot radius circle, you say...

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!

Set Encounters Up (So Your Players Can Knock Them Down)

Picture this scenario. You're running a campaign, and the evoker has finally survived to 5th level. They've just picked up fireball, and their trigger finger is itching to give it a go. As a Game Master do you, A) ensure there are never groups of enemies in close proximity to one another, thus making sure this spell meant for horde elimination is never used for what it was designed for, or B) do you conjure a scenario or two where your wizard gets to sling their new spell, and feel that it made a significant difference in the encounter?

A lot of Game Masters go for the first option because they don't want their players to feel too powerful, or like they're somehow winning in the arms race versus their enemies. But you should really opt for the latter for at least a few reasons.

And morale is just one of them.

First and foremost, letting players flex their new abilities and tools is good for the game. It keeps players invested and paying attention, and it lets them come to grips with how a spell or power is supposed to work. Additionally, by creating scenarios where players get to use their abilities, it keeps them participating in scenarios... and it often uses up their resources, which is the actual point of most encounters, and what creates challenge. Encounters are supposed to be gone through in a sequence, with each one being progressively harder as players use more and more of their daily allotment of abilities to survive.

Let us say, for example, that you are running a scenario where the party has to defend a tumbledown fortress from a massive hoard of the undead. There are waves of shambling zombies and skeletons, and then after their initial assault there are disease-spreading ghouls, and then at the end the commanding death knight takes the field. You can key different aspects of this encounter specifically to the abilities of your party so that everyone feels useful, and like they're getting moments to shine.

We lead with the evoker and their fireball, because it allows them to act as an artillery piece, firing from extremely long range and punching holes in the enemy's forward line. It's possible that, if the rolls are good enough, the wizard might destroy the walkers altogether. Then the ghouls start rushing in, and as they close it's the ranger's turn to use their new feat, rapid-firing their bow to try to bring the monsters down before they can reach the walls. And if the ghouls do manage to close, the monk has placed himself in the gap, preventing the ghouls from entering, the monk's recently acquired passive immunity to disease taking away the ghouls' most dangerous weapon. Then when the death knight takes the field, the paladin steps out to smite them, backed up by the rest of the party.

Now, this encounter could be shifted and changed to make every aspect of it even more frustrating for the players. A Game Master could choose to have the undead approach under cover of darkness or mist, making them difficult to target until they're at the gates. The field could be filled with trees or ruins, giving the approaching enemies ample cover, frustrating the party's ability to actually do anything to halt their progress. There could even be a secret way into the fortress, leading to undead coming out of tunnels inside the walls, leaving the party scrambling about whether to fight the monsters within, or the monsters without, first.

The damn things are everywhere!

It's easier to add difficulty to a scenario than it is to take it away, and it's important that your players feel challenged, without feeling overwhelmed. Most importantly, though, you don't want to punish them for trying to play the game. So when you're concocting an encounter (and the dungeons/adventures they make up), make sure that you're offering square pegs for square holes so that your players can accomplish the task in order to overcome the challenge, and move on to the next step. At the end of the day, you want them to be able to finish this. You want them to succeed, because if they fail then the campaign ends.

So whether the barbarian picked up the ability to attack in a whirlwind and hit every target around them, or the bard just grabbed the power to fascinate a crowd of people, or the rogue finally got the ability to add poisons to their attacks, facilitate them actually getting some mileage out of these abilities. They just got a new hammer, and you should let them drive some nails with it. It will, overall, make your game a great deal more fun for everyone involved.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or the dark sci fi channel I contribute stories to, The A.L.I.C.E. Files! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

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

Using Jungian Archetypes As A Way To Build Your Character

The early contributors to the modern art of psychology were really more philosophers than they were doctors in many respects. Because of this, most of the things they laid out as explanations for human behavior seem wildly off-base at best, and outright harmful at worst, mostly because of how far we've come since these initial explanations that are nearly a century old in some cases. While not really useful for modern therapists, however, the models and ideas they proposed can often be extremely useful to storytellers and players alike who might be having trouble getting a strong grip on their characters, and what their story is.

And if you're looking for a fun place to start, I recommend the 12 Jungian Archetypes.

As we enter the dark contemplation of the soul...

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.

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The 12 Archetypes (And Their Uses)

The idea behind the 12 Archetypes is that these are concepts that exist within the great collective unconscious of humanity. They are broad titles and ideas which, according to their inventor, provide insight into understanding the human psyche, and the challenges we face both inside and out. While this idea has long fallen by the wayside for medicinal purposes (right alongside cocaine being used to treat the ghosts in your blood), this idea can have several applications for your characters, and even your settings!

The 12 Archetypes of Jung are:

- The Innocent

- The Orphan

- The Hero

- The Caregiver

- The Explorer

- The Rebel

- The Lover

- The Creator

- The Jester

- The Sage

- The Magician

- The Ruler

This might put one in mind of ANOTHER tool that deals in archetypes and symbolism...

While a deeper description of the archetypes is listed in the link at the beginning of this post, the best way to think of them is kind of like a zodiac sign for a character. They represent a generalization, along with conflicts and struggles someone who fits this kind of concept might deal with, and the strengths and drives they might have. What can be even more fun, though, is that because there's 12 of them, you can roll 1d12 as a way to randomize part of what you want to do with your character's story, as well as their personality!

If you want to play a fighter, but you end up with the Creator, do they struggle with their skill in conflict? Do they hope to lay aside their sword one day, and to take up a life of carpentry, or another craft? Do they instead attempt to treat their weapon as an artist would a brush, developing a unique martial art, or perhaps weaving their own legend? Or do they seek mastery of strategy, creating entirely new ways of thinking about warfare? Does a wizard who winds up as the Ruler seek to solidify their grasp on power and authority through the arcane arts? Do they struggle with trust, or delegation to others, growing paranoid as they come ever closer to a seat of command? Or does the rule over mortals pale when compared to a rule over gods? Does the noble with a cold fortune and elite training fulfill the role of the Orphan, seeking to find (or perhaps to be) the family that was denied to them? Or do the challenges they face leave them as an outsider, despite their best attempts?

And if you're a Game Master who happens to be in the process of creating your world, consider using these 12 Archetypes as the basis for your cosmic pantheon. They make for great gods, and they can really get your brain churning regarding the types of divinities your players might serve... or even oppose! Making these Archetypes the names of constellations and actually turning them into the zodiac signs of your world is also a fun idea (especially if you're keeping a 12-month calendar), and this goes double if being born under certain signs does actually come with particular powers and blessings, as well as drawbacks.

Lastly, though, I have one for my World of Darkness players...

You summoned us?

If you're having trouble with a character's Nature and Demeanor, roll 2d12. The Archetypes work a treat for that system, and they're a great way to really stretch your creativity by seeing how these two randomly-selected broad generalizations come together, and coalesce into a single person. Especially when they seem contradictory, but truly aren't when you dig just a little bit beneath the skin.

Some More Recommended Reading Before You Go...

If this article caught your attention, I wanted to recommend a few supplements I've put out over the past few years that also might be of use to you! So if you've made it this far, consider picking up"

- 100 Questions To Ask About Your Characters

- 100 Character Goals and Motivations

- 100 Tips and Tricks For Being A Better Game Master

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

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

Not All Tactics Are Endgame Viable (Pathfinder)

There are few things more frustrating that when your character is in a situation where your character's main skill set isn't applicable or effective. Whether it's the greatsword-wielding barbarian who can't fight the flying dragon, or the wizard's spells slide right off the golems, or the rogue who just can't use their sneak attack on creatures who don't have a discernible anatomy, it can be incredibly frustrating.

But it's even worse when this becomes your character's permanent state of being. There are a lot of situations where this can happen, which is why it's important to take a step back, and really evaluate your strategy's viability.

Because it can be frustrating to get sidelined right as the campaign is coming to the climax... or even when you hit the midpoint.

Because no one wants to be Bruce Banner when they built the Hulk.

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!

What Are The Weaknesses in Your Strategy?

No matter what kind of character you're building, they're going to have some kind of weakness... something that is necessary for them to operate at full-strength, or which they are not going to be truly effective against. After all, if you're a fighter in heavy armor with a tower shield, then you probably aren't going to be great at a lot of saving throws. If you're a melee specialist then you have to be able to close with the enemy in order to hit them. If you're a ranged combatant you need to have line of effect to your target... and so on, and so forth.

And generally speaking, when you realize these flaws, you should take measures to deal with them. For example, if you know you need to be able to reach your foes in melee, you need to ensure you have some method of increasing your speed, or flying, etc. in those instances where an enemy would be otherwise out of reach. Alternatively, you need to be sure you have some kind of ranged weapon option that, while it might not be ideal, will still allow you to participate in a battle instead of just slogging forward and hoping for the best. If you know there will be situations where your spells can't hurt the enemy, then you keep a few party-buffers, defensive spells, or area manipulation spells up your sleeve so you can still do something.

But in Pathfinder the issue arises that some strategies simply are not long-term viable simply because of the nature of how so many adventures function.

We are legion, and we are many.

As an example, consider poison use. It takes a specific class feature in order to use poison safely as a PC, and the saves for most poisons are fairly minor. Poison itself is expensive to acquire, and time consuming to make... but all of these challenges can be overcome if a player really wants to make poison use a central feature of their character build. However, the issue is that many enemies that tend to make up the end-game threats of a campaign (powerful outsiders, deadly constructs, undead creatures, etc.) are outright immune to poison. So what might have once been a trump card becomes an absolute dead-end, and all the time, energy, and resources dedicated to honing poison into a genuine strategy becomes useless.

You see the same with a variety of other tactics. Mind control spells and certain types of illusions are all well and good when dealing with creatures that have minds to control, or who are subject to illusions. But if your enemies have immunity to mind-affecting effects, or if they tend to have true seeing or similar abilities, then these spells are going to fall flat. Even combat maneuvers like disarm, while they're useful at lower levels, tend to fall flat when your enemies are all monsters with natural weapons, or spellcasters who have no weapons that can be disarmed. Hell, even characters who focus on fire as their main damage element often run into issues because so many creatures have large resistances (or outright immunity) to fire when you hit higher challenge ratings.

None of this is meant to discourage players who want to pursue these options, and in many cases you can still use them effectively for a great deal of the campaign. However, it's important that you have secondary strategies you can rely on in the event your main strength doesn't work against a particular foe, and in a particular way.

Lastly, talk to your Game Master about what you're planning, and ask if this strategy is going to work when you reach the endgame. Don't ask specifically what's coming, but make sure that if you have a strategy in mind that you are going to lean into that your Game Master is aware of it so they can tell you yay or nay.

Because just like telling the ranger who just leveled up not to take Favored Enemy: Goblin, because you're never going to fight another goblin in the entire campaign, they should also tell you if your strategy of using the knockout venom from your pseudodragon companion is going to simply stop working after level 7 because every enemy after that point will simply be immune to it, and you'll need to do something else for the next 10 levels until you reach the conclusion.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

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

Dungeon Design Tips: Pay Attention To The Environment

Our adventures are supposed to take place in dangerous, terrifying places. From lost ruins, to dense forests, to haunted castles, our parties go to places where most normal people would never go. However, as Game Masters, we always seem to forget that the environment they're in isn't just limited to the box text we read at the beginning of the scene... it should show up on the mat as well!

Because environmental factors can be a huge component of any encounter.

Previous entries in this series (for those who haven't seen them) include:

- Consider Removing Doors From Your Dungeon

- Combine Combat With Traps

- Cover, Firing Lines, and Dynamic Arenas

- Antagonist Action Economy (Never Fight Just One BBEG)

Initiative? Ah hell... I can't see a damn thing!

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!

It's About More Than Light And Darkness

When it comes to environmental factors, the most common aspect Game Masters remember to use is light levels. If the party is sleeping around a campfire, and they're ambushed by orcs in the dead of night, then the firelight only goes so far, and beyond that there's darkness. This situation obviously benefits creatures with darkvision (such as the attacking orcs), and penalizes those who don't have the ability to see in the dark.

And while that is an important consideration for your combats, it is far from the only environmental condition one might have to overcome.

All right... let's get this fire going.

For example, consider some of the following environmental effects your party might have to deal with, and how they could drastically tilt the challenge level of a quest, and the encounters in it.

- Temperature: If the temperature is too cold, or too hot, it can require very specific gear, spells, and potions to combat it. This can also greatly reduce viable armor choices, or favor the natural abilities of certain species over others.

- Visibility: Whether it's from mist and fog, dense trees, or even rain, visibility is a huge deal when it comes to encounters. This is particularly true when it comes to enemy movements, and the difficulty this can inflict on those who focus on ranged weapons and spells during combat.

- Wind and Storms: There are half a dozen spells for dealing with wind, and we rarely end up using any of them. Whether it's affecting those trying to track by scent, interfering with arrows and bolts, or it's significant enough that it poses a real hazard to Small-sized creatures, this doesn't factor into nearly as many campaigns as you'd think it would. And when you add in lightning strikes, deafening thunder, and other aspects, it can be a real issue to overcome!

- Miasma: Whether it's the rotting stench of a swamp, or the bad air deep in a dungeon, breathing in the wrong thing can be unpleasant at best, or dangerous at worst. Add in the fact that it can hide the stench of dangerous enemies, or render the ability to track by scent impossible, and you have a serious obstacle.

- Water: The existence of water and water hazards changes things up entirely. Whether it's ankle-deep water that hinders movement, waist-deep water that can be a serious hazard for Small-sized characters, or deeper bodies that are a risk for anyone who can't breathe under the waves, water comes in many shapes, sizes, and choices.

These are just a few of the options when it comes to the enviornment that we often overlook as a Game Master. Because as I've mentioned in previous installments of this little series, putting your party in a plain, white room or an open field with perfect lighting, clear sight lines, and no cover on concealment means that you've handed your players a straight-up fight.

Why would your monsters ever do that?

While you don't have to stack the deck against your players like a death run by Tucker's Kobolds, consider the environmental effects that should be an issue for them, and possibly for their enemies. If the dungeon is underground, or it's night time, what source of light is the party making use of? Do their enemies also need a light source, or can they see using other means? Is the air laced with spores of poisonous mold that don't bother the necromancer's undead minions, but which can be a serious problem for the party? Is the exposed side of the Dragon Mountain a place of cutting winds and potential avalanches, both of which might be used by yeti and ice dragons to wear down and kill their enemies?

So before you decide to just add more hit points to your enemies, or to slap another dozen monsters onto an encounter, ask yourself whether you've considered possible environmental effects. Because they might not be a make-or-break part of an encounter, but they can be that little extra bit of challenge that can put an edge on your game.

Lastly, if you're looking for some extra things to throw into your games regarding weather and strange conditions, consider these classic encounter lists:

- 100 Random Encounters For On The Road Or In The Wilderness

- 100 Encounters In A Fey Forest

- 100 Pieces of Floatsam and Jetsom to Find on a Beach

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

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

Furyborn... An Overlooked Pathfinder Enchantment

Magic weapons are one of those things characters tend to acquire as they advance in level in Pathfinder classic. However, it's particularly easy to get caught up in all the choices for weapon enchantments as we try to figure out which options are going to be most effective against the particular enemies we're fighting, which ones work best with our character's class features, and which ones provide the most bang for our buck.

There is an enchantment that often falls through the cracks, though, and it's easy to overlook it if you aren't the sort of player who goes through rulebooks from cover to cover. And if you didn't dig into Ultimate Equipment (which I would recommend getting a copy of if you haven't), you may have missed the Furyborn enchantment.

Do not test me, for my fury has no limits.

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!

A Deadly Enchantment For All Occasions

The Furyborn enchantment is born of the frustration from a warrior whose enemy refuses to lay down and die. It is a +2 enchantment that can be placed on any melee weapon, and every time the weapon hits a single target, the enhancement bonus increases by +1 to a total of +5. So even if you have your weapon as a +1 furyborn weapon, a single hit raises it to +2, a second raises it to +3, and so on, and so forth, until you have a +5 furyborn weapon.

The bonus resets if you attack a different target than the original, the original target dies, or 1 hour passes.

Just die... it's the only way to end this!

Now, on the one hand, that likely sounds pretty good. After all, if you have a character with a full base attack bonus who can take iterative attacks, every hit you land makes you more likely to hit again, and adds a little bit of bonus damage. Because a +5 enhacement to hit (and the +5 enhancement to damage that comes with it), ain't nothing to sneeze at.

But there's another benefit that comes with a weapon's enhancement bonus that a lot of us simply don't think about. If you look in the back of the Pathfinder Core Rulebook on page 562, it lists the kinds of damage reduction that's overcome when a weapon has a high enough enhancement bonus. If a creature has DR that's overcome by silver or cold iron, then a weapon with an enhancement bonus of +3 ignores that ability. DR that normally requires an adamantine weapon to bypass can be ignored by a weapon that has an enhancement bonus of +4. And if a creature has alignment-based DR, that can be overcome by a weapon with an enhancement bonus of +5.

So if you're fighting a werewolf with your furyborn weapon, the first two hits will apply its DR, but after that your furry friend will take the full brunt of your blows. If it's later in the game and you're opposing devils, demons, or even angels (it's hard to say where your campaign will go), connecting with 4 hits means that your weapon is now going to pierce their protections and cut into them... and if you're a full-BAB martial character, that can mean you're only sacrificing a round or two to overcome your enemy's biggest defense.

And, of course, an extra handful of damage can really make a difference in conjunction with your general combat strategy... especially if you're confirming critical hits and multiplying that damage by 2, 3, or more!

So, if you're not sure what kind of weapon enchantment will work for your next game, consider grabbing this one for your melee weapon. Especially if you are the sort of player who likes to focus on a single enemy until they are down for the count, and out of the fight.

Further Reading Recommendations

If you enjoyed this week's advice, consider checking out the following Pathfinder RPG supplements as well!

- Sellswords of Sundara: A collection of 10 mercenary companies, each one comes with its own, unique class archetype!

- Feats of Legend: 20 Story Feats: One of the capstone pieces from the Feats of Legend series, this one covers one of the most under-utilized feat choices that can be extremely rewarding in a Pathfinder campaign.

- Pathfinder Player Companion: Bastards of Golarion: My first official contribution to the Golarion setting, this one covers a variety of tricks that can be a serious boon to adventurers who want to come out ahead.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

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