If Your Character Has An Edge, They Also Need a Point

Every one of us, as a gamer, has gone through an edgy phase. Whether it was because we read Frank Miller's work on Batman, or we had an abiding love of the Punisher, or we'd just seen Watchman and loved Rorschach as a character, we tried to bring some of that into our games. There is a reason, after all, that the Marquis de Edge is the first entry on my list The 5 Eye-Rolling Rogues You Meet in Your Gaming Career.

Two edges, but you still need a point.

However, there is a little piece of nuance that I think we often forget when it comes to the discussion of so-called "edgy" or "grim" characters. It's that, much like the media that inspired them, the really successful ones have a point they're trying to make. It's only when that point is absent that the concept falls apart, or starts moving into unintentional parody territory.

So I thought I'd talk about that this week.

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The Iron Age of Comics, And Edgy Characters

If you weren't a big fan of comics in the 1990s, then you might have missed the Edgining, or the Grimming of the medium in the wake of both The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen by Frank Miller and Alan Moore respectively. The former comic took the character of Batman to a new level, as an aging Bruce Wayne comes out of retirement to fight a new breed of criminal with progressively harsher and more demented tactics (most of which got spliced into Batman V. Superman). This culminates in a fight with Superman, Bruce faking his own death, and then training a new generation of Batmen to continue the fight for him. Watchmen was originally going to use a bunch of characters that had been acquired by DC Comics as a deconstruction of the superhero genre, essentially showing the sorts of damaged people and fractured psyches that would exist behind the mask, but DC wouldn't go for it so Moore made his own thinly-veiled versions of those characters as an extra layer of middle finger.

Case in point.

These comics had a massive impact on the medium, going to unique places as they explored the genre of superheroes in ways that hadn't been done before. They acted as the counterpoint to heroic narratives, and showed an underlying bleakness that resonated with readers in a profound way.

What happened next is what always happens next... the tide of imitators began to crash upon the shores.

If you dig through the 90s, you'll find a small ocean of content trying to capture the lightning in a bottle of the foundational titles. Characters like Cable and Deadpool are good examples, but so are the stories of Spawn. Characters who already existed, like the Punisher and Wolverine, were taken to ever bleaker, darker storylines they hadn't been allowed to be a part of before. It seemed like every writer and every artist was chasing that high mark Miller and Moore had laid down, each in their own way.

Some of these tonal imitations were pretty good. The re-invention of Daredevil into a tortured soul trying to balance his more violent desires for vengeance (and giving us the whole Man Without Fear arc) is an example of when this worked. But a lot of titles and stories just devolved into nihilism and brutality, filling pages with empty spectacle that sort of pretended it was trying to be about something, but never really got beyond the belt pouches, bullets, and blood.

What This Has To Do With RPGs

Art doesn't happen in a vacuum, and the explosion of grim, dark, and edgy content that lasted from the late 80s to the early 90s had a pretty notable effect on RPGs as well (not the least of which was the surging popularity of the World of Darkness, which is still with us today). And while there have been plenty of unique settings and games that use grim or edgy content as a vehicle for exploring deeper issues, or to act as a counterpoint to prevailing narratives in storytelling, there are also a lot of games that were just edgy for the sake of being edgy.

Sort of a tabletop version of how Dark Souls gave us deep, impactful worldbuilding, grim storytelling, and an utterly unique challenge and atmosphere, and that spawned an entire genre of imitators, many of whom captured the look but missed the point.

Die, die, die again... but is it a statement on the futility of heroism? Or just punishment?

So what does this have to do with players, and even GMs, who are looking to explore those sharper edges of morality? Those characters and games where adjectives like bleak, grim, or dark apply? Well, it means that you need to have more than just the surface-level aesthetics in order for someone to take what you're doing seriously, and for it to have an impact on the table.

Sometimes that means you're planning an arc for the character, and there's a story you're trying to tell. For instance, if you have a character who's driven primarily by hatred, or vengeance, is this a story about how hollow that victory can be, and the sort of monster it can turn you into despite what you tell yourself? Is it about trying to turn the character off of that path, to give them a bigger cause, to teach them to trust again, and to give them friends and an adopted family to help them heal? Is it about losing your grip on being that better person, and slipping back down into wrath and hatred? Because if you've seen Berserk, that's what happens for our protagonist over the years of serving with the same mercenary company... and let's not forget Guts was found wailing as a baby beneath his mother's hanged body, raised by a brutal "knight" who abused him in every way, and he knew nothing but violence and bloodshed until the Band of the Hawk taught him how to be a person.

That's Mörk Borg level dark, right there.

If you're the Game Master, though, it's equally important to ask what the purpose of the grim/edgy game is. Are you doing a deconstruction of a traditional fantasy tropes, the way Watchmen dissected the superhero? Are you attempting to make a game feel like it has higher stakes by increasing the difficulty and lethality to keep players on their toes, and/or to make things like running in shirtless, sword swinging something that is more likely to get them killed? Are you using the level-based system of power to make comments on hierarchies, personal achievements, or other aspects of a world?

To be clear, you don't have to be going deep and metaphorical with an edgy setting or character concept for it to still be valid. Maybe it just appeals to you in an aesthetic sense, you're more comfortable in that particular archetype, or it's something you haven't really gotten a chance to play. But it is important to do that as an active choice, rather than because you defaulted to it without questioning motives, desires, goals, etc.

And the more edge a character, setting, or campaign has, the easier it's going to be to swallow if there is a point to all of it. Because edge just for edge's own sake can get really tiring really quickly.

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That's all for this week's Fluff post!

For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my alley cat thriller Marked Territory, it's sequel Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my recent 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!

Hoardreach is The Place For All Those "Too Weird" Characters To Come From

There are, generally speaking, two kinds of GMs when it comes to fantasy RPGs. There's GMs who want to embrace the full scale and spectrum of possibility within the setting as it exists, and there's GMs who want to limit as many player options as possible when it comes to how weird, wild, or strange they get.

You can usually identify the latter because they'll tell players to stop trying to make "special snowflake" characters.

Now, I talked about all the issues I have with this line of thinking back in It Only Has To Happen Once (Weird PCs and The "Special Snowflake" Argument). In brief, though, if something is allowed by the rules of the game, and is possible within the setting, then players should be allowed to choose those options. Whether it's an orc paladin, a goblin wizard, a dwarven sorcerer, or any other basic combination of species and class that isn't expressly banned by the rules.

Because sure, it might be weird. It might be unconventional. But it's fantasy... stretch your imagination, because that's the name of the game!

Frost Fang approves of snowflakes of all kinds!

It is for this purpose that I created Hoardreach for my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age setting. So if you want the freedom to get weird, wild, and bizarre with your characters, this is going to be right up your alley!

For folks who want to stay on top of all my latest releases, sign up for my weekly newsletter! Also, if you enjoy my work, my latest novel Painted Cats just dropped this month. So if you want to check out a noir mystery with a Maine coon cat as the protagonist, this one is a wild ride!

Hoardreach is Where The Weirdness Lives

For folks who haven't been tuning in, one thing that I threw out the window with Sundara as a setting was the alignment system. While that means you no longer have alignment requirements for classes in Pathfinder, it also means there's no such thing as species-based alignments, or culture-based ones. Everything has to be evaluated on its own, rather than always having that Good, Neutral, or Evil label hanging over it to color your perspective of what you're looking at.

Oh don't you worry... there's still plenty of initiative that needs rolling.

However, while Sundara as a setting is about progress, discovery, and finding creative solutions to existing problems, several readers have mistakenly thought that makes it a world without conflict. There are plenty of conflicts for adventurers to get involved in, from protecting trade secrets, to dealing with outbreaks of undead, to trying to soothe tensions between two powers that might go to war... but what Sundara lacks is the idea that you can just kill certain creatures because they're evil without thinking twice about doing so.

And that, my friends, is where Hoardreach comes in.

Hoardreach is a sky island (a unique mountain location with drastically different conditions due to its height, as opposed to an island that floats in the sky... don't worry, we'll get to that later), and it was the strangeness of this location that drew the Founders. 5 dragons, rather than battling over the territory, agreed to each allow the others the part of the mountain they wanted for their lairs, and to act in the defense of all. While fairly young dragons individually, all 5 working in concert wielded far more power than anything short of a great wyrm could have managed.

After negotiations with one another, and meeting with a representative of the Adeptus Draconis (an order of knights tasked with keeping peace between dragons and non-dragons that was first mentioned back in 100 Knightly Orders), the Cooperation reached out to their neighbors. In exchange for tribute, they would extend their protection to surrounding areas, and assist with dangers they faced. While many were reluctant at first, the benefits of the dragons' aid far outweighed the cost asked.

As word of Hoardreach spread, people started coming to see it for themselves. While there were explorers and merchants, along with scholars, the city also drew outcasts who'd been forced away from their own homes. Goblin tribes that had been hunted, harpies who were unwanted, the remnants of orc mercenary bands who found no welcome, and dozens of others all sought places within Hoardreach. As the city grew it drew still more (and stranger) inhabitants who were able to lend their unique skills and abilities to make the city run smoothly. Soon the Founders were able to conserve their energies only for dire emergencies, while the various corps throughout the city took over the day-to-day labors.

Now Hoardreach is known far and wide. For in addition to being the City of Wyrms, it is also the place where the fledgling industry of air travel has been born. Ships shingled in the cast-off scales of the founders, and carefully constructed for form and function, have opened the possibilities of new types of trade and travel... as well as warfare, for those who would consider making the dragons of Hoardreach their enemies.

When Weird Becomes Normal

Everything in Hoardreach is utterly bonkers and bizarre... which means that to those who live there, this is completely normal.

It's not unusual to have different seasons going on in different districts, the very elements influenced by the presence of one of the Founder's Wyrm Marks. Flying ships are an everyday occurrence, as are pseudodragons, fey dragons, kobolds, and others. Sorcerers with draconic heritage are fairly common, many coming to the city hoping to learn at the feet of powerful dragons who might (albeit distantly) share their bloodlines. Ogres catch lines to help anchor ships, goblins and orcs sell soup in bowls around one of the main squares, and a frost giant is one of the head shipwrights who designs the unique sky ships of Hoardreach.

This is the Fantastical Mundane in action. If there's a monstrous species players have access to in the setting, chances are there's at least a handful of them in Hoardreach. If there's an unusual magical specialty, a strange family history, or just an odd magic item, it's a safe bet you could find it there. If you wanted to play a goblin who grew up in a major city surrounded by their family instead of being hunted like vermin, or a gnoll who was raised by an adopted halfling family, or a sorcerer who learned magic in the lair of a dragon, or an ogrekin looking to make their own way in the world... that's just Tuesday in Hoardreach.

So if any of that sounds like something you want to add to your game (as each of the Cities of Sundara can be enfolded into a different setting, or played as part of Sundara), get your copy of either the Pathfinder Edition of Hoardreach, or the DND 5th Edition of Hoardreach today!

Don't Forget The Rest of Sundara as Well!

If Hoardreach sounds like your cup of tea, remember that it's the 4th installment in the Sundara setting thus far! Not only that, but the others all have their own weird, wild, and unusual goodies to offer as well. So take a moment to check out:

- Ironfire: The City of Steel (Pathfinder and 5E): Built around the Dragon Forge, Ironfire is where the secret to dragon steel was first cracked. The center of the mercenary trade in the region, as well as boasting some of the finest schools for teaching practical sciences, Ironfire is a place where discovery and danger walk hand in hand!

- Moüd: The City of Bones (Pathfinder and 5E): An ancient center of trade and magic, Moüd was lost to a cataclysm, and then buried in myth. Reclaimed by the necromantic arts of the Silver Wraiths guild, this city has once again become a place teeming with life. Despite the burgeoning population, though, it is the continued presence of the undead that helps keep the city running, ensuring that Moüd is not swallowed up once more.

- Silkgift: The City of Sails (Pathfinder and 5E): Built on the cottage industry of Archer cloth (an extremely durable material used for sails, windmills, etc.), Silkgift is a place that prizes invention and discovery. From gravity batteries that store the potential of the wind, to unique irrigation systems, to aether weapons, the city positively churns out discoveries... and then there's the canal they cut through the mountains that makes them a major center of trade across the region.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my cat noir thriller Marked Territory, its sequel Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

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

A List of Ways To Become Immune to Fear in Pathfinder

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

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

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

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

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

Class Features

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Magical Solutions

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

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

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

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

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

Miscellaneous Solutions

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

What... is... fear?

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

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

Like, Share, and Follow For More!

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

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well! And if you'd like to help support me and my work, consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron! Even a little bit of help can go a long way, trust me on that one.

Tips For GMs on Avoiding Ludonarrative Dissonance in RPGs

To address the elephant in the room before we get started, the phrase ludonarrative dissonance began life as a fairly narrow critique of a specific experience, and it's bloomed into a broader, more sweeping term. Folks who are interested can get the full history and discussion of this in Ludonarrative Dissonance: What It Means and What It Means if they're interested. For our purposes we're going to use the much broader interpretation of this term, where ludonarrative dissonance is when the narrative elements of a game, and the gameplay elements of a game, butt heads to create inconsistencies.

Okay? Okay.

We need to make sure everyone is doing the same things, here.

So what does all that mean? Well, in short, it means that when you run an RPG you need to make sure that you keep the game flowing smoothly so that the narrative elements (your descriptions, your lore, etc.) and the gameplay elements (the class abilities, die rolls, etc.) match up to create a unified whole. Because otherwise you'll find yourself playing two different games, and where it transitions from one to the other will be noticeable at best, and jarring at worst.

And as always, make sure you sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates sent right to your inbox. And for those who haven't seen it yet, the latest location in my new setting has finally dropped! Hoardreach, available for Pathfinder Classic or Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition, is a city ruled over by a Cooperation of 5 dragons that's become a regional powerhouse. Taking in outcasts and refugees of every sort, the citizenry has lizardfolk, goblins, kobolds, orcs, harpies, and dozens of other "monstrous" species living and working side by side, so come check it out!

Any Examples of Ludonarrative Dissonance?

As mentioned in the references above, when you broaden ludonarrative dissonance it can take on a variety of different forms. Some common ones off the top of my head include:

- A character raised on a farm that's never seen a sword or worn armor before is immediately able to step onto the field and fight with a wide variety of weapons just as well as the career soldier who has years of training and experience thanks to their class choice.

- Characters who are played as squeamish or easily frightened who become hardened killing machines due to how battle mechanics function/are narrated.

- Supposedly impossible challenges that can be overcome with a relatively low roll of the die for a character with the right combination of abilities, skills, etc.

I've never even seen one before... I am proficient with it, though.

These are some of the easiest examples of how sometimes the story we're telling just doesn't match up with the mechanics on our sheets. Some players will recognize this, and choose to stick with their stories even if it means using subpar items and options (making their farm boy heroes use quarterstaffs, flails, and other weapons that are more in-line with their background). Others will invent ways to explain the mechanics to bring the two aspects of the game closer together (the sword has the magic of previous wielders, this great ax is almost like my father's ax on the farm, etc.).

However, RPGs are a group experience, and that interactions between players and storyteller, as well as between the game and the mechanics, can also create dissonance. Whether it's a GM who interprets a natural 1 as the seasoned mercenary slipping on a banana peel instead of their enemy raising their shield to block the blow, or a player who insists on playing a bubbly, bright, cartoonish character in a game with a grimdark tone (or the other way around, which one might argue is more common), these things can also give someone mental whiplash as they try to get into the game.

Fortunately, however, there is a way you can smooth these wrinkles out as a GM.

First, communicate with your players regarding expectations. Second, attempt to maintain consistency throughout the game and story so there are as few bumps in the road as you can. Third, make changes as necessary to marry the two halves as smoothly as you can.

When in Doubt, Favor Your Players

All of the examples given above, and the hundreds of others folks reading this no doubt thought of, could be dealt with by a GM who made consistent rulings regarding the story and game, how they interacted with one another, and who lead the table by example.

With that said, it's important to remember that your players need to have fun. So while maintaining consistency and fixing issues where the narrative and the mechanics seem to be at odds, always err on the side of not punishing your players.

Use your creativity to lift the table up, not push it down.

An ideal example hearkens back to the multiclassing section in Dungeons and Dragons 3rd edition (and it was in the 3.5 update as well). The game stated in the flavor that becoming a wizard took a great deal of time and study to manage. It didn't specify a need for a tutor, to become an apprentice, or to attend an arcane university, but such things were taken as some of the common ways one became a wizard. However, it was perfectly possible for any character to take wizard levels any time without any in-game requirement for the kind of work and background mentioned for starting wizards.

The way you marry the story and mechanics here was to find a reason that the PC found a way to understand how wizards did what they did. The example given was a bard (already an arcane caster) who was now multiclassing. By simply stating that, in downtime and between action scenes they'd been studying with the party wizard to achieve a greater understanding, the dissonance was cleared up and waved away. It gave the player the mechanical goal they wanted, while providing a story reason to satisfy the narrative that didn't bog the game down or restrict player choice. Other solutions I've found that are equally workable is that the PC taking the wizard level dropped out of their arcane college before they became an adventurer, but they still had the fundamental knowledge to cast low level spells. Alternatively, they'd been studying the grimoires and scrolls they've been raiding from dungeons, and they've managed an understanding of how magic is supposed to work.

This sort of example is what GMs should keep in mind when attempting to square narration with mechanics, and general game play. Players are already operating under rules constraints, and they have a limited pool of resources available to them; don't take away those options. Instead, find ways to preserve your players' freedom and choice, while also making sure the options they choose match up with the narration and story of the game.

It's not difficult, but it's going to happen a lot when you run a game. So make sure you get into the habit, and stay in the habit.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

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

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

Soft Power, And Winning in The World of Darkness

One of the major advantages of the World of Darkness (and its successor the Chronicles of Darkness) is that there is no way to "win" these settings in any definitive sense. No matter what threats you manage to deal with, or how many enemies you put in the ground, there are forces out there that are too big for you to handle individually. Things that are too powerful, too decentralized, or too all-encompassing to be slain with fang and claw, bullet and blade.

You can have victories, and you should. But the struggle will always continue on.

Because there's always one more hand to play.

However, something that both the World and Chronicles of Darkness settings emphasize that is often downplayed in other RPGs is the idea of victory through soft power. And since my 100 Mourning Cant Dialects, Phrases, and Meanings recently dropped for Changeling: The Lost, I thought I'd tell a story about a Winter Courtier of mine, and how his strategies went almost totally unopposed because no one saw the kind of game he was playing.

As always, if you want to stay on top of all my latest releases, don't forget to subscribe to my newsletter to get weekly updates! And as always, consider becoming a Patreon patron if you want to help me keep the blog going.

The Game of Whispers

Simon Blackridge was born into privilege, and raised by the cool professionalism of the servant class in the ivory towers of Chicago, Illinois. Maids and butlers, instructors and tutors left him a well-spoken but distant young man, who had more of a cordial than loving relationship with his parents. When his father died he tried to look mournful and introspective, because that was what was required of him. But he wandered off into the snow of the cemetery, and found himself in the Hedge.

It was through his wanderings, and his unfailing politeness, that he found himself in the court of the Snow Queen. The True Fae saw how this odd, distant boy had been formed, and took him beneath her wing. Under her tutelage his mind grew sharp, and his tongue grew cruel. Lights blossomed on his skin and in his eyes, and he took on the rainbow hues of the northern lights; beautiful, but cold, distant, and uncaring.

The last thing his Queen did was bid him to return to the world of mortals, and to find a place within the Winter Court. And to ensure he would be welcomed, she allowed him to think she was dead, breaking his heart as she took away the one connection he truly had. This left him in a state of sorrow, and frozen determination to do the last thing she asked of him.

Long live the Prince.

Simon returned, with the aid of his Lady's servants getting him back where he belonged, and he quickly used his skills and Contracts to establish a power base for himself. His fetch had inherited his family's real estate firm and holdings in his absence, and Simon arranged a bargain with the creature that he would help grow the firm even larger in exchange for cooperation. He was accepted to the Winter Court, telling them the truths they wanted to hear while lying only by omission. At that point, he began to build his influence.

While never one to sully his hands with blood, Simon was a strategist, and a master of manipulation. He rapidly amassed a huge fortune using the ability to see into the future, and to adjust his stock portfolios accordingly while avoiding the gaze of investigators. Using those funds he purchased housing and resources for the freehold, making sure other changelings had safe houses they could go to, smoothing the way toward acquiring false identities, and taking care of the costs of living when one has dropped out of the world. Though never fully trusted thanks to his easy smile, arrogant demeanor, and too-smooth answers, he was valued for the services he provided.

Simon's plan was to continue his acquisitions, and to make himself indispensable. To become what he had been under his Lady... a Prince. Alliances were forged with organized crime figures, money laundering operations were opened, and shell companies started in order to set other wheels in motion. Charity clinics were created to be used as fronts for body disposal, and to help changelings get medical care. Legal offices and representatives were acquired to provide cover from nosy investigators. Influence was purchased at political galas and fundraisers, ensuring that if Simon needed something to happen all it took was the right word in the right ear and it would get done.

He was not one of the Monarchs of the freehold, and in truth he had little enough desire to be one. Because he had learned a truth that few still truly understood; that the authority of the clenched fist was often far less persuasive than the debt of the open hand when it came to ensuring loyalty, and power.

Soft Power Gets Results

When most people think of power in a game, they tend to think of hard power. The character who kicks in a door, waves a gun in someone's face, or makes an explicit threat of violence is using hard power, coercing others to do what they want. Soft power, by contrast, is the use of cultural or economic influence to persuade someone else to do what you want. Soft power is using one's social position, greasing a palm with a bribe, or giving someone what they need in order to endear yourself to them so that, later on, they're more likely to side with you in a conflict.

This is usually discussed on the scale of nations, but you can break it down to smaller interactions as well. And it really helps in understanding how to achieve results in a setting like the Chronicles of Darkness.

Given that both World and Chronicles of Darkness are games of modern, dark fantasy, they deal with struggles in the huge, interconnected world we live in. And while there are always going to be small battles that will be fought in the small-scale, many of the chronicle plots involve looking at bigger problems that you simply cannot defeat solely through the barrel of a gun in a meaningful way.

However, through exerting soft power, you can often smooth out challenges, or overcome them entirely.

For example, if a Pentex subsidiary is causing problems in the local area, sure, you can blow up the refinery, or kill the mad scientists who are experimenting in there. It often means you'll just have a new facility with fresh faces moving back in, along with a bigger security team. But if you start up the rumor mill to create negative impressions in the media about the company's corruption, you tarnish their reputation, and create problems for them. If you get people who owe you favors on the planning commission, or in the permits department to review those cases in order to maintain their relationship with you, there might be further problems for the company. And even if you do need to eventually go in and kill the monsters being grown in the lab, that's easier to do when the tide of public opinion is already turned against the research facility, so if something bad does happen no one is going to leap to their defense.

The issue with soft power, though, is much the same as the issue with playing a support character; you don't spend a lot of time in the spotlight.

Soft power takes a lot of time to cultivate and grow in a game. It also tends to be done in downtime actions (whether you're at a tabletop or a LARP), and it can take a lot of XP to buy the dots you need in Resources, Allies, Contacts, etc. to back up your play. And then, when it does come time to wield that power, you do it by making a phone call, sending an email, or talking to a representative. It isn't as dramatic as a knock-down, drag-out brawl, or a contest of wills between potent magical beings, but more often than not it is this subtle ability to influence that solves problems neatly, and cleanly in a game known for being quite messy both literally and metaphorically.

There will always be a place for the blade, the gun, and the assassination. Spies, saboteurs, and enforcers are just as much a part of these settings as the monsters whose skins the players slip into. However, for those who want to try on the role of the velvet glove instead of the iron fist, it can be quite a rewarding experience.

What's Next on Table Talk?

That's it for this installment of Table Talk! What would you like to see next? Or do you have your own story you'd like to share with folks?

For more of my work, check out my Vocal archives, as well as the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio where I help out from time to time. Or, to check out books like my hard-boiled cat noir novel Marked Territory, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife 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.

If You're a Gamer Who Hasn't Checked Out GMS Magazine Yet, You Really Should!

It's Monday, and I'd like to take a break from my general advice pieces that have become the norm here to boost the signal on someone else's project. Because a video recently came out that I'd forgotten I was waiting for, and it just made my day.

Which is why I'd suggest everyone check out both Five Ways To Be a Better Ambassador For The RPG Hobby, as well as the channel that produced it GMS Magazine!

Regular readers might find the content familiar, for as the host points out this video is largely inspired by my article 5 Things You Can Do To Be a Better Ambassador For Your Hobby. What most folks might not know is that I'm a regular contributor in a Facebook group Paco Jean runs, and that's where our paths crossed. When I shared my article he mentioned he should do something in a similar vein, and I told him I looked forward to it.

Still, it put a smile on my face when the video finally dropped!

Support Creators, and Check Out GMS Magazine!

If there's one call to action I echo pretty regularly it's that creators out there need your support if they're going to continue doing what they do. Without an audience our numbers plummet, we can't get paid, and that means we stop making content. And you can never have too many people reading your blogs, watching your videos, listening to your podcast, etc.

While I haven't watched every video on the GMS Magazine YouTube channel, I have enjoyed most of what I have watched (even the stuff that doesn't talk about me!). So I thought I'd take this Monday to do what I could to boost a fellow creator's signal.

All of us need every bit of support we can manage. Especially these days, with everything so turbulent and fractious out there!

Also, speaking of supporting creators, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter if you want to stay on top of all my fresh content. And, if you've got a bit of spare dosh, consider becoming a Patreon patron, as that's the way I really keep the landlord from sniffing round my door!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

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

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

Embracing "The Tiffany Problem" in Vampire

The coterie stood in the receiving chamber, the air thick with tension. They'd left a bloodbath behind them, and the Prince had demanded their presence. None of them said anything, but none of them had to. They were in very deep shit, and if they didn't make good on this then they might not get the privilege of seeing another moonrise.

The carved doors opened, swinging on silent hinges that didn't so much as hint at the weight of the reinforced steel beneath the antique wood. Inside was a quietly lit meeting room, with thick carpet that absorbed sound, and tasteful furnishings on the walls. A ghoul sat on a piano bench in the corner, the music floating on the air as the coterie entered. A pale woman with honey hair stood at the far end, her back stiff and her eyes forward. She didn't act as if she saw the coterie, but she certainly did. The bloody cadre stopped what they hoped was a respectful distance away. Before they could say anything, a pair of fingers with manicured nails snapped, and the pianist ceased playing.

Seated in a high-backed chair, her dark hair in ringlets, was the Prince. Her skin was nearly as black as her hair, and her dress was the deep, royal blue of another era. The gem round her throat was worth more than the bank accounts of several CEOs combined, and the rubies sparkled in the dim light. She crossed one leg over another, and looked at her guests. As she watched them, the coterie felt the veil over her Beast slip slightly, and the air filled with the coppery threat of her predatory nature. They were jackals in the presence of a lioness.

"Presenting Theophania of the House of Albret-" the pale-haired bodyguard began before the Prince flicked her fingernails, and favored her guests with a smile that was not a smile.

"You may call me Tiffany," she said in a purring voice. "Once, that is, you explain to me exactly why I have had to spend capital both political and monetary to clean up the seventeen bodies you all stacked up tonight."

The coterie glanced at each other. Every, single one of them was thinking the same thought.

Tiffany?

History is an undiscovered country, kids!

Also, before we get into the meat of this week's discussion, I wanted to remind folks to sign up for my weekly newsletter if you haven't done so yet. And if you're looking for more World of Darkness nonsense to inspire, check out some of the following:

- 5 Non-Vampire Movies You Should Watch Before Running a Vampire Game

- New World Nights: 100 Ghouls For The American Camarilla

- 100 Kinfolk Project Bundle (1,400 kinfolk NPCs for Werewolf: The Apocalypse)

The Tiffany Problem Makes For Hilarious Vampire Moments

One of the interesting things about Vampire games (whether Masquerade or Requiem) is that they have the potential for characters to have seen history first-hand. Not only that, but they've seen our actual history from Earth (or at least the grim and grimy version we see in the World/Chronicles of Darkness), as opposed to the bygone centuries of a completely made-up fantasy setting. Whether it was someone who was embraced during the Roaring 20s, who saw the bloody fields of the American Civil War first-hand, or they existed in the days of Ancient Rome, there's just so much potential there.

However, something I see a lot of tables run into is The Tiffany Problem.

Yeah... Hollywood is at least part of this problem.

The short version is that The Tiffany Problem refers to how most people have a very skewed and factually incorrect version of what history was actually like, often to the point that when presented with facts about history they refuse to believe them because it doesn't jive with their preconceived notion of the past. Like how the name Tiffany actually goes all the way back to the 12th century, and isn't something from the 1960s just because that's when it got popular in America.

And I see this a lot when it comes to Vampire games where people just assume older vampires from certain eras will need to have modern ideas explained to them very gently. After all, they're very old and set in their ways, and the modern era can be very confusing and scary for someone not adjusted to it.

Take a kindred from the days of ancient Rome, for example. There will be some things that won't make sense to them, such as computers, smartphones, or the physics of the internal combustion engine. However, assuming they can make themselves understood in a modern language, there are going to be a lot of things in today's world they grasp easily, or which they'll see society as terribly backward on. A shopping mall, for instance, will feel very familiar, given that Rome had similar constructions filled with merchants and fast food thousands of years ago. They'll be able to recognize a boxing match easily enough, and the kindred might shake their head at celebrity endorsements since gladiators did much the same thing at the height of the empire (for much the same reasons). The only thing a kindred from those days might find confusing about the issue of gender and sexuality in today's world is why there are so many people who are so concerned with heteronormativity, as bisexuality was quite open during their time, and trans people were a part of everyday society. These were just standard, accepted facts, and seeing the arguments modern people have might leave them shaking their heads, asking why this of all things has become a hill people are willing to die on.

Embrace The Weirder Parts of Our World

The key for what I'll call a "Tiffany Vampire" is to take some aspect of history most people may not know about, and to make that a core part of your character's history or schtick. Playing a brujah embraced during the Victorian era? Make them a mixed martial artist who studied Bartitsu, and who is more than able to wax philosophical about the melding of unarmed combat styles. If your character is from the Viking age (easier to do in Requiem than Masquerade, but I digress), then make them someone immaculately groomed who challenges people to rap battles and uses the court system, as skaldings and legal cases were just as culturally significant in Scandinavia as piracy. At least give them a ghouled cat, since Vikings helped spread cats around the world.

And so on, and so forth.

History is a bizarre and undiscovered country. And whether your character was a female samurai, a pirate queen, an Olympic wrestler turned philosopher, or something else that sounds made up, you can find examples of all these and more in the annals of shit humanity has actually done in the past.

Like, Follow, and Stay Tuned For More!

That's all for this installment of Unusual Character Concepts. Hopefully this one gave you something to chew over, whether you're a player, or a game master.

For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my alley cat noir novel Marked Territory, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my most recent collection of short stories 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!

Sailcloth and Socialism in Silkgift, The Latest "Cities of Sundara" Supplement

A lot of the time when we look at fantasy cities we see they're built on a history of violence and bloodshed. They were often strategic military outposts, or places where great conquests have happened, and you often see timelines of wars, uprisings, pirate fleets, bandit legions, etc. in the annals of these places' histories. And while that's certainly one way to create a fun and unique part of the setting (and it was a strategy I used for Ironfire: The City of Steel for those who grabbed either the Pathfinder or Dungeons and Dragons 5E version), my goal with Sundara: Dawn of a New Age was to have places across the map that are different not just in appearance and culture, but also in history, philosophy, and goals.

Which leads us to Silkgift, a place where invention, ingenuity, and ideas are used to benefit the entire city, and to achieve things those who lack imagination would say were impossible.

This place is just as nuts, but from a different direction.

Before I get into the nitty gritty on this, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to stay on top of all my new releases. Additionally, if you want to help me keep the wheels turning then consider becoming a Patreon patron today!

We Built This City on Community and Industry

Before it was a city, Silkgift (available for both Pathfinder and Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition as well) was a collection of three villages. It had access to open water for fishing, and lumber for building, but it was the village of Archer that turned an unwanted crop into a necessity. Using spider weed, a plant that grew on the mountainside that seemed to have no real use, the spinsters of Archer created some of the strongest sailcloth anyone had ever seen. Able to withstand storms and last for years, it was relatively slow to make, but since it was so durable that never put a strain on the supply.

This cottage industry was enough to help support not just Archer, but all of the surrounding villages. Fishing boats used the cloth, as did windmills. And just as the labor to make the cloth was done as a group, so too were the resources it generated shared as a group, thus ensuring that everyone in the three villages had the things they needed.

What changed the scale of creation was the advent of Clever Elsie, and the institution she created known as the Ingeneurium.

Where ideas become reality.

Elsie understood the process for spinning and weaving the materials for Archer cloth, but it was not something her hands were skilled at. Fortunately, though, she was capable of making additions to the looms and spinning wheels used to make the cloth. When her additions increased the yield and decreased time and energy it took to make the cloth, Archer's spinsters were intrigued. And in a unanimous vote, Elsie was given a team of apprentices and told to explore until they found more useful discoveries.

And the Ingeneurium found answers. From more effective methods of irrigating crops, to breeding unique variants of spider weed and other plants, to storing energy from the wind by raising heavy weights via winches, to experimenting with compressed air tanks, the curiosity of the ingeneurs led to strange and bizarre discoveries. And in perhaps the most energy-intensive undertaking, it led to them cutting a huge canal through the countryside, effectively making Silkgift a massive center of trade when previously it had been nothing more than an out-of-the-way collection of towns with a unique product to trade.

Wealth, Freedom, and Community Support

Silkgift was based on the idea of community, and as it's increased in size and power that's only grown more ingrained into its official policies and government rules. With more work than ever before done with the strength of machines that utilize the wind, and the flow of water, citizens are allowed to reap the benefits. Everyone has a place to live in Silkgift. Everyone has food, clean water, and trades are taught freely to those who wish to learn. People are allowed to pursue their passions, and the city boasts a fair number of artists, crafters, and niche artisans who can pursue their calling thanks to the city's safety nets.

However, there's more that's unique to Silkgift than just its worker-owned means of production, and community-based decision making. Because those are the dropped stones that cause interesting ripples for the city.

Through cooperation you can do almost anything you set your mind to!

One major difference for Silkgift is that the city's setup eliminates several standbys of fantasy cities in RPGs. You won't find beggars in Silkgift because the city provides for all those who come to it that don't have the means. You don't find a lot of gangs or bandits for the same reason; when you have a house, a community that wants to help, and food in your belly, the potential of a violent death in the wilderness is a whole lot less appealing. You don't tend to find gaggles of mercenaries seeking work for the same reason; with no wide-sweeping threats to protect against, why would those in the iron trade be necessary on a large scale rather than as occasional guards for caravans or ships that are also just passing through?

Leaders are elected by the city, and profits from Silkgift's enterprises are decided by the residents, who own both the industries and the machinery that makes them run.

So Where's The Conflict, You Might Ask?

Silkgift, The City of Sails was a unique enough addition to the Cities of Sundara series that I felt I needed to add a section for game masters who wanted to use it. Because while the city has all sorts of unusual goodies like net launchers, aether weapons, and other unique tools for adventurers to get their hands on, it isn't the sort of place where the party gets caught up in street brawls between criminal enterprises, or where the local lord has raised crushing taxes, or is throwing political dissidents in jail.

That doesn't mean there isn't anything for adventurers to do, however.

Industrial espionage is one potential theme for a campaign. The Ingeneurium can be secretive, at times, and there are other organizations and powers in the setting that would like to steal research and ideas in order to turn them to their own advantage... or to bury them so it doesn't challenge their own power. Sabotage is another theme, as the Silkgift canal was a major game changer in terms of trade routes and travel, and it redirected a lot of people away from other cities who might want that commerce back. Some inventors might be fleeing shadowy pasts where they weren't as moral in their experiments as they might pretend, or prominent ingeneurs might be the subject of kidnapping by those who want them to turn their intellect to crafting weapons for a syndicate.

Those sorts of games might not be to everyone's tastes, and they may not be the first thing someone thinks of when they sit down to play a fantasy RPG. It is, however, the sort of things that Silkgift is best used for. Of course it's just one part of Sundara as a setting, and there are plenty of other corners you can explore to find the sorts of plots that appeal to you in this Dawn of a New Age!

The Setting So Far!

If Sundara sounds like the sort of world you want to get in on, there's several more installments yet to come! However, those that have been released include:

- Ironfire, The City of Steel: The center of the iron trade, the volcanic furnaces of Ironfire produce high-quality dragon steel, and draw every stripe of sellsword and adventurer from across the region. Available for Pathfinder and Dungeons and Dragons 5E.

- Moüd, The City of Bones: A lost city in a blasted desert, Moüd has gone from a necropolis to a metropolis once more thanks to the efforts of the Silver Wraiths. This guild of necromancers controls the city, sustaining it through their arts. Available for Pathfinder and Dungeons and Dragons 5E.

- Silkgift, The City of Sails: A place of ingenuity and invention, some are fascinated by the strange devices and methods devised within Silkgift. Others are just glad for the canal that turns months of travel into barely a week. Available for Pathfinder and Dungeons and Dragons 5E.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

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

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

Specific Background Details Make Your Character an Organic Part of The World

Character backgrounds are sometimes a contentious topic. On the one hand, you want to have enough of a history to get an idea of who your character is, what drives them, and how they picked up the skills and abilities they possess. On the other hand, there are folks who argue that you can put in too much extraneous detail about your character. After all, unless your character's younger brother that you spent half a page talking about is going to show up in your story somewhere, or their childhood friend who joined up with the militia has the potential to become a plot point, there's no point in insisting those details take up space in the GM's memory.

However, there is something I've seen trip players up when it comes to figuring out who their characters are. Because too often players will make generic backstories hoping to ensure their characters can fit in a variety of game settings, but that can have the effect of making a character feel more like a sketch rather than a fully-inked design.

My character? Yeah she's from... "small fishing village." No, I don't know where it's at!

That's why this week I want to talk about the little details you can add to make your character feel like an organic part of the world where the game is actually taking place. As always, if you haven't signed up for my weekly newsletter yet, consider doing that to get all my shiny updates right to your inbox!

Where Are You From... Specifically

When most of us make characters we tend to start with rough concepts. We know our paladin grew up in a remote farming community, or our sorceress is from a noble family in a major city, etc., but too often we just leave things at that point and forget to go back in and fill in the blanks.

If you're going to focus on necessary, impactful details that tie you more closely to the world you're actually playing in, that's a good place to start.

There's a hot spring in my wizard's home town. Where is that? Ugh...

The devil is in the details here. Because there's a difference between being from "a small faming community," and being from Astspear. The former is a general, vague sketch of a place, while Astspear is a town that focuses on fishing and farming, where there's a tradition of militia service among all young people of a certain age, and where there is a vehement anti-piracy stance. It's a place with a specific culture, and which has unique locations like Scalawag's End or Fletcher's Finds in it. Even if the party never ventures to this location, it provides concrete history for a character, along with references, and an idea of the particular forces that shaped this character. Also, if you look at where this town is, and where the party is now, you can see all the areas they traveled through to get where they currently are, giving you an idea of the sorts of sights they've seen and experiences they've had along the way.

For those who are curious, Astspear can be found in my 10 Fantasy Villages supplement.

And if your character is from a city rather than a smaller town or village... well, that's when these details become extremely important. Because if someone tells you they're from a city, that's a generic idea of the sort of place they come from. But the difference between New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Tokyo, London, Paris, or a hundred other places is marked, to say the least. So while knowing your character is from a city is important, the culture, styles, fashions, norms, etc. of that particular city can make them feel like they're a more organic part of the setting as a whole. Especially since cities can pack so much culture and variety inside them that you can really get down into the nitty gritty of a character's history.

For instance, a character that's a generic big city enforcer who used to work for a gang is a good starting sketch. If they were an Ironfire duelist who fought in the Red Circle, though, that's vastly different than someone who was a grave robber in Moüd, or someone who worked the canal docks shaking down sailors in Silkgift. Not just because each city will have its own gangs, its own guards, and its own laws, but there will be unique cultures and opportunities, as well as certain groups you may or may not have crossed paths with that can give a character a unique perspective on the setting.

Also, for those who are curious, each of the cities mentioned are part of my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age setting, and details can be found below:

- Ironfire: The City of Steel for Pathfinder 1st Edition and Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition

- Moüd: The City of Bones for Pathfinder 1st Edition and Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition

- Silkgift: The City of Sails for Pathfinder 1st Edition and Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition

Always Be Specific Where You Can

While the place a character is born and raised is a good spot to start, this same attitude can apply to every major aspect of the character's history. For instance, if your character is a noble, be specific about what kind they are, and what that responsibility entails. What is their title, where are their lands (if they have them), what's their crest, family reputation, etc., etc. I covered a lot of these things in 5 Tips For Playing Better Noble Characters, but since noble families are one of the bigger parts of any social fabric, you need to know how your character is tied into that society specifically instead of just in a vague sense.

You can apply this to basically every aspect of your character. If you were a criminal what gang did you run with? If you were a mercenary, what was the name and heraldry of your free company? If you graduated from a wizard's college, what is it's name, and where was it? If you were trained as a priest, who taught you, what branch of the church handled your tutelage, and what specific location did you live in while you handled your studies?

And so on, and so forth.

Any time you can tie an aspect of your character to the specific world you're actually playing in, do that. Because not only does it integrate your character with this setting in meaningful ways, but that is how you give your GM the strings they need to tug on. Because now you're not just creating random details; you're marking locations on their map that matter to your history, and which can be used as tools to motivate and reward your character.

Additional Resources

For those looking for additional inspiration when it comes to making their own settings, or finding details to include if a world doesn't have what you need, take a moment to check out some of the following:

- 5 Tips For Creating Fantasy Towns and Cities

- 100 Random Mercenary Companies

- A Baker's Dozen of Noble Families

- 100 Knightly Orders

- 100 Gangs For Your Urban Campaigns

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Fluff post!

For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my alley cat thriller Marked Territory, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my recent 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!