What's The Most Popular Piece of Sundara So Far? (And Where Will I Go From Here?)

For folks who didn't see it, earlier last week my supplement Cities of Sundara: Archbliss was the deal of the day on Drive Thru RPG! This sale was for the DND 5E edition of the supplement, which takes folks through the floating city of the sorcerers, providing insight to one of the stranger parts of my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age fantasy RPG setting.

That sale moved 34 copies for this piece during that 24 hours (not exactly gangbusters, but for a setting guide that's a big number), and it actually got me thinking... what is the most popular part of Sundara that's been released thus far? Not only that, but what do those numbers seem to say about this setting, the audience, and where I should go from here?

And if you missed your chance, go get a copy today!

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!

So, What Do The Numbers Say?

Before we delve too deeply, I want to catch folks up on what Sundara is. In short, Sundara: Dawn of a New Age is a setting I wrote for Pathfinder's first edition, and which has also been offered for Dungeons and Dragons 5E. A setting filled with wild magic, impossible monsters, and a thousand competing factions, Sundara is notable for its strangeness, the sheer variety of creatures, and its ground-level approach (as there aren't traditional countries, but rather a world made up of constantly shifting alliances, principalities, organizations, city states, and more whose alliances may shift and change as events unfold).

And, for those who don't know, the metal award levels used for TTRPGs on Drive Thru RPG indicate how many copies have been sold. While there's some argument as to the specific numbers, what we know is that if a supplement sells 50 copies, it goes Copper. If it sells 100, it goes Silver. After that is Electrum, but unfortunately that isn't going to be a part of the discussion surrounding Sundara as a setting... yet, at least.

With that said, looking at the numbers, the initial 5 releases (the Cities of Sundara supplements) are definitely the most popular ones that have been released so far. While most versions of these cities have achieved at least Copper status, 3 of the 5 of them for DND 5E have gone Silver (Ironfire, The City of Steel, Moüd, City of Bones, and of course the recently on-sale Archbliss: City of The Sorcerers). When we compare that with the Pathfinder Classic supplements, 3 of them have made it to Copper status, one hasn't received a single metal yet, and only Ironfire, The City of Steel has gone Silver.

Which makes sense... after all, it's a cool place to have in your game, if I do say so myself.

While I had a slew of other releases after those initial 5 supplements, including the second phase that was Species of Sundara, none of those supplements proved as popular as the cities, regardless of the edition they were published in. The faction books that are making up phase three have largely gone unnoticed, as well, though the 5E versions still sell better than the Pathfinder versions, with Sellswords of Sundara's DND 5E version going at least Copper.

Though it could be argued that the cities have done better because they've been around longer, and they were the first part of a new setting, and they've all had their own sales to boost their numbers, it's also worth noting that the edition-neutral Towns of Sundara (which was released between the second and third phases of supplements) has also gone Silver, making it one of the most popular titles released thus far.

What Conclusions Can We Draw From This Data?

While there are always factors that I cannot control for (which supplements other people share links to, which cover art draws more eyes, things of that nature), there are a few things that seem quite clear from this review. First and foremost, of the types of supplements that have been introduced so far, locations are far and away the most popular. And even though I designed this setting intending for it to be primarily a Pathfinder Classic setting, it has caught on far more with the Dungeons and Dragons 5E audience than it has with the old edition Pathfinder crowd.

So, at this point, I'd like to revisit some of the things I said recently when I talked about my plans for Phase 4 for this setting, and what might have to change.

As a for-instance, of the two games this setting is currently made for, DND 5E is clearly making more sales. However, conversions for Pathfinder's second edition have been mentioned, as have conversions to Savage Worlds, or other systems. Could this unseat DND 5E is that most popular system? Maybe yes, maybe no, but it seems that if we're going to start those conversions, they should definitely start with the city books first.

Second, we see that locations are more popular than both species books and faction books. That's not entirely unexpected, since the locations offer a wider spread of material for Game Masters to use, where species are more for players, and the factions are much more narrowly focused. However, it might be a good idea to release at least 1 module set in Sundara to provide an adventure for players, and to hedge that bet, to tie it to the previously-established locations. This could allow Game Masters to really put the city splats to use, bringing in the extra material to flesh out the adventure, and it could lead to future modules being released if the first adventure goes well (possible giving each city its own adventure).

Or perhaps Phase 4 should return to the well and provide more unique locations in the setting? Whether it be underground cities, mountaintop strongholds, underwater settlements, etc., as a spiritual sequel to the original run of Cities of Sundara, these supplements should push the envelope to be bigger, bolder, and weirder than what's already been established.

At the end of the day, though, it's going to depend on what you, the audience, want to see.

How You Can Make Your Voices Heard

If you're a fan of Sundara, whether you're been following it since I started releasing the supplements, or you just picked some up recently due to the sale, I want to hear from you regarding what should be included in the setting going forward. What do you want to see, and what would peak your interest?

And if you want to make sure I hear you, here's some stuff you can do (in order of impact):

- Buy Copies: As you can see, this is one of the major metrics used to determine what gets made going forward. So the more copies something sells, the more attention that kind of supplement gets.

- Leave Reviews: Reviews boost the signal, so if you've gotten copies of any of my Sundara supplements, please leave a rating and review so that more people see them, and check out the setting.

- Share Links: If you have a supplement from the setting you enjoyed, boost the signal by sharing it on your social media platform of choice, and tell folks why they should check it out.

- Subscribe to The Azukail Games YouTube Channel: This is more of a side project, but the show Speaking of Sundara, as well as the audio dramas from the setting, are on that channel. The more views, comments, shares, etc., those episodes get, the more likely I am to expand the setting going forward.

- Leave Comments on This Blog, The YouTube Channel, etc.: Comments are a great way to tell me directly what you like, and what you want to see more of. This is best used in conjunction with the above steps.

Azukail Games is a small games publisher, and while a lot of folks know me, I'm not a major player in the industry. I need every sale, every review, and every signal boost I can get in order to keep Sundara going and expanding, and if that's something you want to see, then please consider helping make it happen.

Thank 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 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!

"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!

My Cyberpunk Audio Drama Trilogy is Complete!

As my regular readers know, I've been working on stringing together the opening vignettes in a lot of my TTRPG supplements to create longer-running stories for folks who pick up all my gaming guides. And since folks enjoyed the last time I finished up a trilogy, back in My Sci-Fi Audio Drama Trilogy is Now Complete!, I figured that this week I'd share the most recent wrap-up for the ongoing cyberpunk narrative I've been working on for the past several months.

Because it seems that you all enjoy them, judging from the numbers.

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!

Capitalism, Corporations, and Consequences

The tale starts off with the introductory fiction from 100 Sci Fi Guilds. There's a lockdown at the star port, since the dockers there are attempting to form a union, and corporate isn't having it. When the station's security proves unable to browbeat the dockers into compliance, the company calls in the Harriers, a guild made up entirely of specialized mercenary companies. Of course, corporate realizes too late that they didn't read the contract closely enough in Fine Print.

After corporate realizes that it's bitten off more than it can chew (and that it's facing a real body count along with lost revenue), the dockers get their union. In 100 Body Mods and Augmentations For Your Sci Fi Game, we cut into the celebration that's raging throughout the red light district. Particularly since the dockers got all their back pay from the corporation, and as far as they're concerned, the Harriers all drink free, since without the aid of the mercs there's no way they would have been victorious. Of course, corporate isn't going to take this laying down, but the gun lugger Hadrian along with a docker named Torg, get in the way of the company's revenge in Paying Your Dues.

Our final installment (for now, at least) comes in the supplement 100 Sci Fi Bands. After all the shots have been fired, and the adrenaline shakes wear off, Hadrian and Torg share a nightcap in a busted down, out-of-the-way auto jack. The after effects of combat are well-known to Hadrian, but this is Torg's first time being this up-close and personal with it. As such, it's important to find some quiet, and to put on some tunes that will relax his jangled nerves in Soothe The Savage Beasts.

Where Should I Go From Here?

While I've currently got 2 complete trilogies of sci-fi audio dramas on the Azukail Games YouTube channel (which you should go subscribe to, if you haven't done so yet), and I've started something fresh with the intro tale Ordered Arms found in 100 Secret Societies For a Sci Fi Setting, I'd love to hear your thoughts as my readers. Should I pen crossovers in future stories? Should Hadrian and his unit end up getting reinforced by the Titansworn Knights in their colossal war machines? Should the Knights of The Void end up joining Gabriel in his attempts to take down the syndicates that have eaten into the lower hab blocks like cancer?

I'm open to ideas, and since several of these audio dramas are my most listened-to ones on the channel, I figured this might be something folks might want to weigh in on!

What's Next on Table Talk?

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

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

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

One of My TTRPG Supplements Has Gone Platinum (And a Few Others Are Close Behind)!

The past few weeks have been... an ordeal over on Drive Thru RPG. The site has been working on a huge overhaul for a long time, and it's finally removed the option for all of us to go back to the legacy version of the site. This has thrown a real spanner into the works for those of us who are writing supplements, since the new versions of the various pages aren't showing previews, and are causing headaches all around while we try to get eyes on our projects.

With all of this chaos happening, I needed a bit of good news... and I got some! Because my supplement 100 NPCs You Might Meet at The Tavern has just gone platinum!

And hopefully it's got some gas left in the tank, as well!

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!

Going Beyond Gold

In addition to this latest accomplishment (which I didn't see coming, honestly), I've got several supplements that have reached Gold status that are still clawing their way up the metal categories on DTRPG. For example, the follow-up to this platinum seller was my Starfinder supplement 100 Characters You Might Meet in a Star Port Bar, and it broke the Gold limit a couple months back. It is one of two sci-fi supplements of mine that's made it into this category, the other being 100 Space Bars.

So check it out, if you haven't yet!

The other entries of mine that have made it into the Gold category are fantasy supplements. Leading the pack is 100 Random Taverns, which is one of the earliest pieces I wrote for Azukail Games. In addition to the tavern collection, though, there's also my supplement 100 Merchants to Encounter which, if I'm honest, is far more popular than I ever expected it to be!

Bundles, Deals, and Progress

There's no guaranteed formula when it comes to getting a TTRPG up to a bestseller spot... because if there was I would have a lot more of my entries up in the Platinum category. However, one thing that has helped almost all of these supplements is their inclusion in some long-running, pretty popular bundle deals. Which is why I wanted to call them out, and provide folks links in the event you haven't gotten your copies yet!

Those bundles are:

- Inn and Tavern Bundle (Fantasy)

- Sci Fi Bar Bundle (Sci Fi)

Numbers Set The Agenda

While this entry is largely taking a moment to pat myself on the back, and to let my regular readers know about a little milestone I recently passed, I also wanted to remind folks of something that we can sometimes forget; publishers make their decisions based on the numbers.

Love of the game is measured in dollar signs.

So if there's a particular supplement of mine (or anyone's really) that caught your eye, keep in mind that how many copies it moves (and how quickly) is one of the primary statistic that publishers will use to give readers more projects just like it. So grab a copy of the game books you like, leave a review, and share the link to boost the signal... because it's a lot easier for writers to get our proposals approved if we move a couple hundred (or a couple thousand) copies of the last installment!

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!

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

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

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

And they can even be fun to make!

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

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

Newspapers, Radio Broadcasts, and More!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It's Work, But It's Worth It

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

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

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

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

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

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

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

If It Can't Be Killed, Don't Put It On The Board

I've been playing tabletop RPGs for the entirety of my adult life, and I've been a Game Master for a not-insignificant portion of my time at the table. And while there are a thousand and one moving parts that we could talk about when it comes to our games, I want to discuss one of the most important aspects that it is all too easy to fumble when you sit behind the screen.

Namely that if you're going to put something on the table, then you need to be prepared for it to be killed. Even if there's no reason your players should try, or if the chance of them succeeding in this task seems infinitesimal, you need to be ready for it. Because if the impossible happens, it's important to concede with grace, rather than trying to pull some last-minute deus ex machina because you wanted to use that character again at a later juncture in the campaign.

I am speaking from experience, here.

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!

The Agreement Between Players and Game Masters

There's a social contract between players and Game Masters that is often unspoken, but quite important. Among other things, we all agree that the world in which our stories take place will weigh equally upon all characters in the game. Now that's not to say that all characters will be equal in power level, ability, or toughness (that's clearly not true), but we all agree that the rules are there to govern everything in the world.

If the troll hits the wizard, and does enough damage to crush his skull, then that's what happened. However, if the sorcerer hits the troll with a fireball that does enough damage to reduce the troll to a cinder, then the GM should let said troll die. Even if they were meant to be a bigger threat, or to flee from the combat to inform their superior about the intruders, or if they were supposed to be a recurring bad guy throughout the campaign who would be beaten time and again, sometimes the math says no, this character is dead.

Fortunately, dead isn't always dead for long.

Now, as an important caveat to this statement, both player characters and their antagonists often have ways of undoing (or outright cheating) death in a particular RPG. In Paranoia, for example, player characters all start with a certain number of clones that can be shipped in when they're dead. Similar contingencies can be used for villains, as that's part of the existing ruleset. Dark Heresy, and other Warhammer 40K RPGs, use your Fate attribute as a resource you can spend to avoid being permanently killed. And while average NPCs don't have enough Fate to pull this off, important, named antagonists do, meaning there's a contingency option if players pull off a surprise victory and you want your villain to live another day.

This isn't always a game-specific caveat, either. Games like Pathfinder, Dungeons and Dragons, and others often have some form of resurrection magic in them, as well as various lesser forms of re-animating someone if they've died. In addition to spells like raise dead and reincarnation, one might also be turned into a powerful undead, be sworn to the service of a devil, or granted a favor by an angel to come back. There's all sorts of reasons for characters to come back on the board, and if you need any kind of inspiration all it takes is a basic flip through the supplement I'm Back- 25 Reasons For a Villain's Survival to get your juices flowing!

However, all of these items mentioned function off of mechanics that exist in the game, and these are (at least in theory) things that anyone could access under the right circumstances. More importantly, use of these options does not take away a victory from the players if they earned it; their accomplishment still stands, even if a villain they killed or defeated is resurrected somehow at a later time into a new, deadlier foe.

With all of that said, I feel this next piece is important, and I say this as someone who has made this mistake in the past (namely in my module The Curse of Sapphire Lake for those who have played it). In short, you should not build a campaign assuming that a villain can get away when you want them to. Whether it's a monstrous war leader, a cowardly necromancer, or just a noble lord revealed as a twist villain that you expected to be able to escape from your party in a dramatic moment, if the player characters caught or killed them fair and square, don't take that away from your players... even if it means you have to get creative with how you continue the story from that point forward!

A Note on Gods, Outsiders, and "Untouchables"

A large number of games (particularly fantasy games) tend to escalate things to the point that players take on the gods themselves, attempting to kill them with the power of math. Games like Call of Cthulhu or Changeling: The Lost might even go so far as to directly position gods (or at least godly figures) as the antagonists of their games. However, the question you need to ask for yourself, and for your game, is whether these godly entities operate on the same playing field as the rest of the characters, and if they are going to interact with the player characters in any meaningful way.

If these godly entities are bound by the same mechanics as other characters, and if they operate on the same plane of reality as other characters, then these things are also able to be defeated (even if true death is a far more difficult state to achieve for them). If they aren't bound by the same mechanics, or they don't exist on the same plane of reality, then one could argue that these entities shouldn't be involved in the campaign beyond the absolute necessities, if at all.

This will vary by table and taste, of course. However, if there are powers beyond the players' ability to challenge, and those powers are going to be playing an active hand in the story they're participating in, then it can feel like those things are just the GM's hand in a very visible sock puppet. That's not to say that you should tirelessly stat out every single entity the players might possibly come into contact with, but rather, ask yourself if there is a dialogue in the challenge, or if it's utterly one-sided. If something can affect the player characters, but there is nothing those characters could do in any way to affect that something in return (perhaps because it simply doesn't have stats) sit with that for a bit and consider the message that might send to your players.

Further Reading

If any of today's post resonated with you, or if you'd like to check out more advice like this, I'd recommend taking a look at 100 Tips and Tricks For Being a Better Game Master as well as 100 Tips and Tricks For Being a Better RPG Player. A lot of the advice in these supplements condenses the best tips I've given here on this blog over the past decade or so, squeezing them down into a simple, easy-to-digest format!

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!

Another Shout Out For Owen K.C. Stephens (And Some Supplements Designers Should Grab)

There are several, unfortunate truths that we are all dealing with these days. First and foremost, the American healthcare system is absolutely terrible. Secondly, creative professionals as a whole don't get paid well, and TTRPG designers are a tiny subset of the publishing world that get paid especially poorly. Third, cancer sucks, and the very concept of it can die in a fire.

Folks who read my post Help Owen K.C. Stephens Roll His Save Against Cancer (And The Healthcare System) last April know that one of our own has been stuck at the intersection of all three of these unfortunate circles in this Venn Diagram of Suck, and he's doing his best to stay one step ahead of the bills as they pile up. While he's got a lot of stuff out on the market at present, and there's been quite a few charity bundles for folks who have been looking to buy some TTRPG supplements to help him keep fighting, there are two in particular that I wanted to shine a light on this week. Mostly because there's a lot of content out there for players and Game Masters, but not as much for designers.

And if there's one thing Owen knows a lot about, it's designing games as a professional.

Even if they were both the face of the initial two charity bundles.

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!

Seriously, If You're Getting Into The Trenches, Get These

The two supplements in question are Essays on Freelance Tabletop Writing and Publishing (which at time of writing has hit Platinum status), and Essays on Surviving an Independent Tabletop RPG Career (currently at Gold status).

If these two supplements look familiar, it's because they were each the cover of Owen's initial charity bundles on Drive Thru RPG back in April. And while lots of folks have focused on many of Owen's other projects such as Like a Boss: The Book of Boss Encounters, or The Genius Guide To Loot 4 Less: Things That Make You Go Boom, those essay collections are something that I think more folks really need to check out.

Because there are a lot of folks out there who know how to create game mechanics. They know how to tell good stories, build atmosphere, and their tables really enjoy the games they run. But while those are all good skills to have, and make a solid foundation to build on, those aren't going to be nearly enough for you to be successful if you want to be a professional game designer.

A lot of folks can handle the "game" part of the job. But the business side... well, it can sneak up and slap you right upside the head if you don't know what to expect. So it's best to go into things with your eyes open, because forewarned really is forearmed in this case.

Because it's a lot more complicated than a lot of folks think.

Lastly, I wanted to remind folks that every little bit helps. So if you've already grabbed what you can of Owen's work, but you still want to pitch in to help in this uphill battle, then I wanted to remind you to do the following things, as well:

- Becoming one of Owen's Patreon patrons.

- Bookmark and follow his blog.

- Follow Owen on Twitter (yeah, it's falling apart, but a replacement has yet to take its place)

It might not seem like much, but as someone who's been in this profession a few years myself, it does make a difference. Even if you can only afford to give a little tip every now and again on Patreon, or you just act as a regular participant and commenter on social media, if a lot of people all do that, it really does add up when all is said and done.

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!