Tonal Dissonance, Demon, and The God Machine (Chronicles of Darkness)

As regular readers know, I am an avid fan of the World of Darkness. I've made about half a ton of content for it over the years, and I've got several more projects floating around in my mind for it that I'm putting proposals together for. And while I don't like a lot of the changes made for the Chronicles of Darkness releases, mechanically, most of what I liked about the games' original incarnations survived intact.

Except for Demon. And while I can acknowledge that what was tried wasn't inherently bad, I've been chewing over the God Machine for a while now, and I wanted to try to put into words why I think it didn't really work as an addition to the setting.

And then the Blue Screen awoke, and the universe ceased to be.

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Demons, Angels, and Clark's Third Law

In the long ago and far away, I devoured a friend's copy of Demon: The Fallen. While I would be the first to admit it was far from perfect in a mechanical sense, it had such a feeling of gothic depravity that fit neatly into the darker corners of the setting that I couldn't help but be intrigued by it. Though I made several characters for the game, every new chronicle I tried to join fell through before we could really get going. So when I heard that Demon was going to get a Chronicles of Darkness release, my ears perked up and I paid attention.

Demon: The Descent is not what I expected... and not really what I wanted.

Tonally, the two games are similar enough that they're clearly related. In presentation, though, they're worlds apart. In Fallen you have the setup that most players think of from an RPG titled Demon, in that you play a Demon who has broken loose from their nether realm, found their way to Earth, and they are laying the groundwork for their own plans. They're rebels, and while some may be here merely as agents of chaos to watch the world burn, others are attempting to lay more subtle plans, or merely to ensure their own, selfish ends.

Descent, though... well, it feels like the Matrix.

These were not the demons I was looking for.

The reason for this is the setup of the literal plot device of the God Machine.

The clue here is in the tagline on the cover; a storytelling game of techgnostic espionage. If that sounds like technobabble, let me break it down. Gnosticism is a spiritual practice whereby individuals believe that the material world around them is an illusion; a lie generated by a demi-godlike entity to imprison the minds and spiritual power of humans. It is only by subverting this lie, and acknowledging the truth of the universe, that one can escape the prison built by this demiurge.

If that sounds familiar, it's the same inspiration for both versions of Mage. But whereas Mage keeps the mystical angle (at least according to all the reading I've done so far), Descent leans into the technological. The God Machine is a literal alien machine that is infinitely more complex than merely mortal minds can conceive of. This intelligence understands far more than anyone possibly could, and it is ancient beyond knowing. And, as Clark's Third Law states, any technology sufficiently advanced is indistinguishable from magic.

So you have a game where a vast, cosmic horror computer spans the cosmos, and several of its programs (the titular demons) have gone rogue. Is that a playable game? Sure. Is it a horror game? You could make it one, if you wanted to. Gnosticism is, after all, pretty damn terrifying as an idea.

But does it jive with the rest of the Chronicles of Darkness setting?

Monsters and Computers Create Tonal Dissonance

One of the major, appealing factors of the Chronicles of Darkness setting (and the World of Darkness before that) is it's all meant to fit together. Sure, you can play a chronicle that's just about vampires, just about werewolves, or just about mages, changelings, or prometheans... but you can also play a chronicle where all of those things (as well as the communities they inhabit) overlap with one another. It creates a richer tapestry, and populates the shadows with all kinds of horrors and wonders just waiting to be discovered.

This is where the God Machine trips and falls on its face, in my opinion. Because it really doesn't feel like it belongs with the rest of the setting.

Vampires and werewolves are purely supernatural creatures, and have always had an air of dark mysticism to them. Changelings and the fae are capricious creatures from out of our folklore. Mages, though they use a similar framing device to Demon, fit much more firmly within the mystical than they do the technological. Even Promethean, based on the pseudo-science of alchemy, feels more magical than it does academic.

Then along comes the God Machine. While there's a lot of hemming and hawing in the text about how it is actually far more complex than presented in the rules, it's still broken down in a way that reflects on computers and technology that a modern audience will understand... and that really makes it feel like a dark sci-fi game, rather than a supernatural horror game. While that's not inherently an issue (magic and technology co-existing and mutating together have been themes of a lot of WoD content in the past), it feels like a square-peg-round-hole scenario.

And honestly, I feel like most of it is in the presentation.

Consider a different take. Think of the lost and buried places among the world. Forgotten ziggurats carved with long-dead languages where abominable deeds were done. Lost empires frozen in the polar regions that still teem with creatures that would drive one mad. Star-bound entities to whom humanity is a mere curiosity, and things with black wings who soar on the solar winds of the void. Beings who are built on ritual, on names, and on formulas.

What I just described is the Cthulhu Mythos, but that feeling could have been used to give Descent a sheen of the mystical, the weird, and the supernatural. Especially since as Lovecraft often said, the beings of the mythos are only gods to humanity, and their rites, rituals, and devices are simply so far beyond us that we can no more comprehend them than an ant might understand calculus.

This would, I think, have been a far better framing device for maintaining the consistent tone of the setting, and getting players onboard with the game as a whole. It could have maintained that air of ignorance versus knowledge, and given players the chance to inhabit truly alien mindsets. That's not what happened, of course, but I think it would have prevented a lot of players from straight-up walking away from this game because it was so distant from the supernatural angels and demons they expected, and which the setting would more easily support.

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 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!

What is a "Fair Death" in RPGs?

A few weeks back I talked about Death, And Its Role in RPGs. Folks seemed to really enjoy that entry, so I wanted to talk about something that didn't get mentioned at the time, but which is a topic that's been rolling around in my head for quite a while now... the idea of the "fair" death when it comes to our tabletop games.

Death, like a good GM, should be impartial.

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!

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Death, and The Roll of The Die

In the previous entry I talked about the role that death plays in a game, and how it needs to fit with the themes your game is about, and how it should be more than just a thoughtless "game over" screen. However, even if you know the role death plays in your game, the purpose it serves, and how it plays into your story, all of that is just figuring out where death is perching, so to speak.

When it pounces on a player, you need to be sure it does so in a way that feels fair.

Fortitude save? Why?

Death, like all consequences, needs to feel appropriate as a possibility for the actions taken by the players. As an example, entering combat usually has the lurking possibility of death. Some games may be more lethal than others (such as comparing Mörk Börg to Scion, for instance), but when the blades come out there's always a chance that death comes for the PCs rather than for their enemies. Death could also come from starvation, from exposure to the elements, or from traps sprung in a dungeon.

In all of these examples, the player should have agency in choosing the path that led them toward character death. If death is a result of their own decisions, then that is (at least partially) on them.

In addition to being a consequence for actions taken, death should be impartial. Or, put another way, the monsters want to kill the PCs, but the GM shouldn't. Death should be a result of strategy and dice rolls, rather than something that the GM purposefully tries to engineer for whatever reason. Whether it's stacking the deck by throwing monsters at the characters which are far too powerful to be defeated (or spawning new monsters on the field until the PCs finally die), or making sure the saving throws against lethal traps are impossible for the characters to make, this can feel like there was never a point in participating because the end was a foregone conclusion.

Perhaps most importantly, however, death should feel appropriate to the situation where it occurs. A random dragon passing overhead and strafing the party with its breath weapon while they're walking down a mountain path, being struck by lightning, or getting caught in the midst of a massive avalanche without any kind of build-up or context are just random deaths that serve no purpose, except to annoy and frustrate players.

Why You Should Care if Death Feels Fair

Full disclosure, I have never killed a PC as a GM. I'm one of those people who feels that the purpose of a game is to tell a story, and that killing off members of the main cast is going to create far more problems than it does solutions, so I try to make sure that death is held in reserve as a last resort.

Perhaps you take a different view of things. Maybe you feel that death is a natural consequence of playing an RPG, or that it should happen frequently in order to keep players on their toes. We could debate the merits and drawbacks of those beliefs, however, there is a practical reason why death needs to feel like it's fair.

Player engagement.

Buy-in is important, after all.

Generally speaking, when players make a character for a game it's because they want to tell that character's story. Death cuts that story short (unless we're in a Dark Souls RPG style game where death is expected to be fairly common), and even if it can be reversed it can cut down on player investment in the game. The less involved a player becomes, the shallower their participation becomes, and the worse the game gets overall.

This is where the fair death can make a big difference. Because if a character died in a situation that was fair (say they challenged an NPC warrior to a duel, and they were evenly matched, but they just didn't come out on top), then that's just the way the dice fell. It might be disheartening, but you pay your chips, you roll the dice, and sometimes luck isn't with you. That happens. But say that a character was forced into a 1-on-1 confrontation with a warrior double their level who had a bunch of other advantages... sure, the player still got to roll their dice, but doing the math probably feels like rearranging the deck furniture on the Titanic; no matter what you do, you're still going down. That sends a message that either the person running the game is incompetent (because they don't understand how to build an effective, fair challenge), they're cruel (they put you through a whole scene just to kill you in a way that's probably humiliating and frustrating), or some combination thereof.

Sometimes PCs are going to die. Sometimes villains are going to die. Those deaths shouldn't be retconned or dodged when they happened as a result of open dice rolls, and the natural physics of the game. At the same time, though, these deaths should not be a result of unfair circumstances, GM fiat, or completely random happenstance. Otherwise players are going to be less and less invested in their characters, since they could just die at any moment leaving their story completely unfinished.

Recommended Reading

This week's installment has been a deeper dive on some of the topics I mentioned in 100 Tips and Tricks For Being a Better Game Master. So if you found this week's installment interesting, consider picking up that splat book along with its sister supplement 100 Tips and Tricks For Being a Better RPG Player as well!

And as a bit of fun, I recently did an audio for the introduction to the latter book. Because nothing is worse than when the Big Bad gets halfway through their monologue, and realizes the murderhobos have utterly stopped paying attention. Worse, they have no idea who this monster is, why they're here, and what this moment represents in the culmination of their story. We are all Faragor the Undying sometimes.

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!

Membership in In-Game Organizations Shouldn't Require Specific Class Levels

I remember the first time I came across the opportunity to join in-game organizations was back when I was playing in the Forgotten Realms during the DND 3.5 era. From the Harpers to the Red Wizards of Thay there were particular prestige classes that granted you unique and unusual abilities that were outside the purview of any other classes, and you could join as soon as you met the necessary prerequisites. Even though I never got far enough in a game at that time to reach those prestige classes, it felt like a great, organic addition to my character that would tie me more firmly to the setting, and that desire always sat there in the back of my mind whenever a new game was announced.

Basically what I talked about in What Organizations Does Your Character Belong To?, a little while back.

While I've put my own spin on this idea (more on that later), I wanted to address the other side of the coin this week. Because membership in an in-game organization shouldn't require character levels... if something is a story element, let it be a story element without forcing your players to cut their nose off to spite their faces, mechanically speaking.

And if you haven't grabbed a copy of this book, I would highly recommend it.

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!

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Walking That Fine Line Between Roles and Rolls

I mentioned that I first noticed this unique opportunity back in the 3.5 era, but I feel like Pathfinder really brought it home. From prestige classes that covered most major organizations within the Golarion setting, and a slew of class archetypes that you could start taking straight from level one, it felt like the designers really wanted to provide players with opportunities to tie their story to the pillars within the setting to help players make their characters feel more organic... and maybe for some extra wooge.

You can never have too much wooge.

However, it's important to remember that while story and mechanics can converge in perfect harmony, sometimes that isn't the case. And when that happens, it's important to take a step back and find a solution that works well for your particular game.

As an example, consider the hellknight prestige class for Pathfinder. Now, the hellknights are a large organization made up of dozens of orders and chapters, each with its own unique set of special skills and creed that it follows. Whether it's the Order of the Nail and their focus on maintaining law and order, the Order of the Rack and their focus on breaking dissent and putting down rebellions, and so on, and so forth, there's a lot of personality to these orders.

Now, a player could angle themselves toward taking levels in this prestige class once they meet the prerequisites (which involve slaying a devil with hit dice greater than the character while being witnessed by existing hellknights, so not a walk in the park). At that point they can choose which order they join, and gain particular abilities that bolster their character build as they go up in the hellknight prestige class.

However, let's assume you have a character at the table who isn't going to benefit from that class's abilities. The player may not want to expend the extra resources to meet the prerequisites (like heavy armor proficiency, Intimidate ranks, etc.), but they still want their character to become a member of a particular hellknight order for story reasons. The GM is able to do that with a snap of their fingers.

I dub thee Sir Bastard. Now arise, and spread the Law!

Say, as an example, a player was going all-in on a ranger build that focused on tracking and bringing down specific enemies. This might be an ideal candidate for the Order of The Scar, a hellknight order that hunts down killers and assassins. But this character wouldn't benefit from joining the prestige class in a mechanical sense... however, as far as their story goes, they could very easily start the game as a hellknight armiger (essentially a squire), and then at an appropriate time in the story be officially raised to the social position of hellknight (probably after slaying the devil, just for appearances).

This provides the benefits of tying the character more firmly to the setting, providing them with a structure that dictates why they're involved in a given adventure, and the goals they're trying to achieve. It also helps the GM because it tells them what kind of NPCs are likely to figure into this character's interactions, along with the places they've been, and the things they've seen. It also helps lay out a good way to reward the PC for service, allowing them to climb the ranks of the organization and to gain access to other forms of aid, prestige, and social currency.

In the end, it's a win for everyone.

I Talked About This in an Earlier Splat Book of Mine

I told you we'd circle back around to Sellswords of Sundara (available for both Pathfinder and DND 5E), didn't I? For those who are curious, this splat recently got its own audio drama, "The Price of Steel" on the Azukail Games YouTube channel... so toss the channel a sub, and give the track a listen!

Now, Sellswords of Sundara is pretty much what it says on the tin. The splat contains 10 mercenary companies complete with their specialties, uniform style, brief history, combat doctrine, some notable NPCs and rumors, as well as either a subclass (for 5E) or an archetype (for Pathfinder) should one wish to really embody the style of character described.

However, as I explicitly stated in the introduction to the book, players should not be forced to use these mechanical options merely to have their characters be a part of one of these free companies. If someone wants to play a wizard who's part of the Widowmakers free company (a rowdy gang of bruisers and bastards that are little more than cutthroats), they should be allowed to do that. A cleric who specializes in raising and controlling the dead would rise to a command position in the Risen Legion, and shouldn't have to take the fighter-based archetype of the Risen Legionnaire.

And so on, and so forth.

Because the thing about organizations that makes them so useful to you as a GM is that they're never made up of just one kind of character. Even going back to the Forgotten Realms, the Red Wizards of Thay were, of course, all wizards... but those weren't the only people in the organization. There were Thayan Bodyguards (another fun prestige class that came out later) who acted as the muscle to keep the tattooed spellcasters safe. There are the soldiers, the informants, the assassins, and the myriad of people who owe their allegiance to the Red Wizards and their power structures, even if they themselves are not one of those wizards.

Ideally, you want to make these organizations as available as possible because it grounds your player characters in the setting, and provides you with an easier time as the Game Master for telling their stories. While not every character will be drawn to an organization, whether it's a bandit gang, a mercenary company, or a knightly order, they can help provide a lot of useful structure that will save you time and energy going forward.

Recommended Reading

If you're looking for some additional organizations beyond what's available in Sellswords of Sundara, consider the following supplements!

- 100 Secret Societies: Shadowy organizations who seem to have tendrils everywhere, it's possible everyone in the party might be a member of this order and not even know it... or that they each serve a different master when everyone else's back is turned!

- 100 Cults to Encounter: From those who seek the favor of the old gods, to those who delve into outré philosophies, cults come in many forms. Not only that, but they can make quite a useful organization for those seeking a place to... belong.

- 100 Fantasy Guilds: From inventors and explorers, to monster hunters and assassins, guilds dip their fingers into damn near everything... which is why they can be so useful, and flexible, as an organization in your game.

- A Baker's Dozen of Noble Families: From the swamp-dwelling clan fam of the Dredgers, to the deep pockets of High Hall, these 13 noble families are fleshed out enough that you can easily make your character a member.

- 100 Random Mercenary Companies: From the warrior wizards in the Acolytes of Arannis, to the black-clad battalions of the Harbingers of Sorrow, each of these companies offers unique ties for those who signed up for a tour of service.

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!

Death, and Its Role in RPGs

We've all had that moment of seeing the dice fall, looking up at the Game Master, and realizing it's over. That critical hit from the gnoll raider just drove a spike through your wizard's skull, and they're dead. All the plans you had, all the adventures you've managed, they're all for naught in the face of the grave. And even if the rest of the party piles onto that hyena-faced raider and smashes them to the ground, none of it will be enough to bring back Hedrick... he's gone.

Death is a part of the game, generally speaking, but we don't always stop and ask what role it should play. Which is why I thought I'd share some thoughts I had on death, dying, and questions surrounding it in our RPGs.

Let us hold up a mirror to the reaper, shall we?

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!

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How Common Should Death Be?

Death in RPGs is, generally speaking, supposed to represent the ultimate fail state. Whether it comes because the party was foolhardy or the villains were lucky, the dice giveth, and the dice taketh away. However, it's important to examine what getting that Game Over screen is going to do to your players, and to your game.

Do not worry... I can fix this.

The first question you need to ask about your game to put death into perspective is what sort of game is it? For example, a game like Mörk Börg is meant to have death lurking around every corner ready to come for you, because that's part of the doom metal feeling of the game. It's supposed to be bleak and dark, where no one is safe from even minor threats. On the other hand, death is even more prevalent in games like Paranoia or Dark Souls. However, in these games when you die you don't just roll up a new character. In the former, one of your preset number of clones is activated, and shipped out onto the field, and in the latter you are resurrected to try again.

Even in games where death is an ever-present constant, the purpose it serves is vastly different. And in games where death is permanent, it isn't always common. In some games death can be quite a rare occurrence, happening only when players truly screw up, or when the dice are really against them. So ask yourself what the purpose of death is in your game.

Is death meant to be final; something which the players must avoid at all costs lest they be forced to make a new character? Or is death merely an inconvenience, meant to be something you can overcome through determination, planning or resources? And is death meant to be common, or even expected, whether or not it's permanent? Is death to be used as a punishment, or as a neutral element?

These are all things you should know before making your pitch to someone to join your table.

Does Death Prevent Attachment?

As someone who likes RPGs, I try as many of them as I can when the opportunity presents itself. One of the factors that I find is the more certain death is, and the more often it's expected to happen, the less investment tends to come from the players in their characters. After all, if you know for certain that every roll of the die could lead to your character's death, then you tend not to make any big plans for that character. You avoid getting involved in their story, and you end up not getting very attached to them.

After all, if you get invested in seeing their story to the end, but they die three sessions in because of a random lightning strike, it can take a lot of energy to switch to a new character.

I know it's only been half an hour. You're dead, roll up a new character.

In this case, death in the game needs to be in-line with player expectations. If you're playing something like Dread, for example, then you know going in that you're probably just playing a one-shot game. Maybe 2-3 games at the most, because that's what the system is meant for. This allows players to come in with the right mentality and expectation, and to figure out the proper scope of experience to expect.

On the other hand, games like Starfinder and Pathfinder fully expect that you will keep the same character for the length of the campaign. While death is still a very real possibility in these games, there are lots of ways to avoid it, and there are even methods to reverse it should that be necessary at some point. The goal here is not just to complete the plot, but to expand and explore your own character's story. They're meant to survive, grow, and change so that by the time the campaign is over you've finished not just the Game Master's plot, but also told this particular PC's story. Then once the campaign is over you can close the cover, and move on to someone else.

When you have a game that's geared toward the actions and story of the player characters, players tend to get invested in the stories they're telling. They want to see their characters struggle, sure, but they also want to see them accomplish those goals, and finish the story off. If characters get killed off before they finish telling their story, that can lead to a serious lack of closure for the player. And if that happens often enough, pretty soon they're going to lose that attachment. It's also possible they just start making carbon copies of their last character (or as close as can be managed) and say it's their twin brother, their eldest son, etc. coming to finish what their dead family member started as some way to get a sense of continuity.

Consider Alternative Fail States

Death can serve many purposes in an RPG, but all too often Game Masters just default to death for everyone on the board; PCs and NPCs alike. However, there are alternative fail states to death that can be used, and they can allow the Game Master to lead by example.

Even if you're not just pulling from I'm Back! which acts as a list of back-pocket reasons your bad guys survived what should be very lethal circumstances.

- Capture: The character in question may be valuable in some way. They might be a noble who can be ransomed, a powerful champion of good that can be sacrificed in an upcoming ceremony, or even someone with a bounty on their heads. This can be used to explain why a lot of enemies may not wish to simply execute PCs, and vice versa if the PCs are the one taking the hostages.

- Flee: Enemies and players alike need to be given a chance to flee when things go poorly. They may still fail to get away, but a lot of players believe the choice is either death or victory. Chase decks are great for this, and I talk about them in If You're a DM, You Should Get Your Hands on a Chase Deck.

- Surrender: Whether done by the bad guys or the party, this is an option most of us simply don't consider. After all, the bad guys are just disposable mooks you threw down on the board, and the PCs are often too full of pride to consider this option. Making it clear that surrender can work, and that it's a lose state that's less permanent means some PCs may be willing to put up their hands if things go really poorly.

- Interruption: This can take many forms. Maybe it's a dragon wondering why a battle is taking place on its turf, or a herd of stampeding aurochs. An earthquake, flood, or volcanic eruption might also be appropriate, depending on the terrain. While this shouldn't be used without lead up, it can help add complications to battles that you want the villains and/or the heroes to survive as a kind of deus ex machina that makes fighting one another less important than surviving the new hazard.

I am not someone who advocates the removal of death from RPGs. Just like in any story, I believe that the possibility of death hanging over the narrative increases the stakes of said narrative. But if you add too much death, it can be like over-salting a meal; now the spice is the only thing you can taste. Alternatively, if you bend over backwards to avoid death, you end up with a game that can feel bland, and in desperate need of some spice.

Which one you need will depend on the length of the tale you're telling, what the rules governing your game are meant to support, and the kind of story your table wants to tell. Which is why it's important to stop and think about how you want death to play out in your game as part of your initial pitch to your players.

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!

Ask Me Anything About "Sundara: Dawn of a New Age" (Seriously, Please Do!)

As regular readers know, I've been putting out splat books for my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age fantasy RPG setting for more than a year now. Compatible with both Pathfinder Classic and Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition, the idea was to make a fantasy setting that gets back to basics, but then goes off in unexpected directions, while also standing certain givens of fantasy RPGs on their head. From eliminating alignment, to making gods multi-faceted and beyond the true understanding of mortals, to making a setting that foregoes nations as we know them in favor of towns, villages, and city states, Sundara feels familiar while still being an utterly new and unique place to play.

The setting is still fresh and growing, though, which is why I figured it was a good time to open the doors, and to start taking questions from the readers out there so I could get an idea of which areas folks wanted to see fleshed out more in-depth going forward!

Seriously, come take a look around!

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!

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Got Curiosities? Well, Ask Away!

As I mentioned in my most recent Speaking of Sundara video over on the Azukail Games YouTube channel (which you should totally go subscribe to so I can try to make bigger, longer, and more involved videos going forward), I recently hit a kind of end of Phase 1 release for Sundara. From the initial Cities of Sundara books, into Gods of Sundara, and then through Species of Sundara, I laid the ground work for locations, magic and the divine, and talked about how a lot of the available fantastical creatures work. And that all came full circle with Towns of Sundara, which provided a sampling of 10 towns complete with maps, histories, notable locations, named NPCs, and potential plot hooks for Game Masters to use as seeds for side quests.

As I mentioned in the video at the time, I've got some plans for what I want to do with Sundara going forward. I want to focus more on organizations, like I did with Sellswords of Sundara (for both Pathfinder and DND 5E) where I put together 10 different mercenary companies in the setting and used them to build stories and lore while also giving players and GMs some mechanical toys to play with. I'm thinking about cults, merchants, and guilds, just to start off with.

However, I also want to take a moment to bend an ear to those who are actually checking out the setting. That is where you all come in!

For an upcoming Speaking of Sundara video I want to address any questions, curiosities, or suggestions people in my audience have. Whether you're wondering about what kinds of governments exist across the setting, what weird kinds of technology are going to be added in the future, the plans I have for any of the existing cities that have come out, or a question you've been wondering about for a while now, I want you to ask it!

Where? Well, to ensure that I see it try to direct your questions to these spaces:

- In the comment section of this blog post

- In the comment section of Speaking of Sundara: How It All Got Started

- Sent directly to me via the contact widget on this blog

- Left in the comment section on social media where I share this blog post

My hope is that over the next week or so I can collect enough genuine inquiries from folks that I can put together a decent video to address your questions, and perhaps to get some idea of what players and Game Masters alike want to see from Sundara as it develops.

So don't be shy! If you've got a question, fire away.

Why Not Take a Closer Look For Yourself?

If this is the first time you've come across my Sundara setting, and you're not sure what it's all about, consider checking out the supplements below! Also, don't forget to stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel where I've talked about the setting at length, in addition to presenting some short audio dramas (like the one below) set in the world of Sundara!

Cities of Sundara

The setting first began with the Cities of Sundara splats. Self-contained guides to some of the larger and more powerful centers of trade, industry, arms, and magic, these unique locations provide plenty of fodder for character generation and plots. Not only that, but each one comes with unique, mechanical goodies for players and GMs alike to take out for a spin!

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

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

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

- Hoardreach: The City of Wyrms (Pathfinder and DND 5E): A center of power across an entire region, Hoardreach is ruled over by a Cooperation of five different dragons. A place for refugees and outcasts of all sorts, Hoardreach boasts some of the most unusual citizens and creations from across Sundara. Infamous for their sky ships, which require the cast-off scales and unique arcane sciences of the Dragon Works to take to the air, one never knows just what they'll find in this city built atop a mountain.

- Archbliss: The City of The Sorcerers (Pathfinder and DND 5E): A floating city in the sky, Archbliss has been a refuge for sorcerers for thousands of years. It's only in relatively recent years that the city has allowed those from the ground below who lack the power of a bloodline to join them in the clouds. However, while there are certainly amazing wonders to behold, there is a darkness in Archbliss. Something rotting away at its heart that could, if not healed, bring the city crashing to the ground once more.

Gods of Sundara

- Gods of Sundara (available for Pathfinder and DND 5E): In a world with no alignment, and where the gods are often genuinely mysterious forces that are far too large for mortals to truly comprehend, the divine feels genuinely strange and unknown... something that really does have to be taken on faith. This supplement provides a sample pantheon for Sundara, but also provides instructions on how to easily make your own gods in a world where you can't cast a spell and tell whether someone is good or evil.

Species of Sundara

Sundara is filled with creatures that many of us recognize, but I wanted to give greater depth to their cultures, and a wider variety of options. After all, humans always get 15+ ethnicities, languages, and unique histories, while elves, dwarves, orcs, halflings, etc. are almost always left with footnotes, or maybe with a handful of offshoots. So, in short, I wanted to give all the fantastical creatures the treatment that humans usually get in our games.

And there is no human book yet. If readers demand to know more, then I may sit down to pen one... but I figured that humans didn't need to be front-and-center in this setting just yet.

- Elves of Sundara (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Elves are one of the most quintessential fantasy creatures... but if you want to see more than just high elves, wood elves, and elves of the sun and moon, then this supplement has you covered!

- Dwarves of Sundara (Pathfinder and DND 5E): The children of the primordial giants who were meant to fill in the details of the world they'd made (or so the myths say) there are as many kinds of dwarves as their are kinds of giants... and possibly more, depending on who is keeping count.

- Orcs of Sundara (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Supposedly a creation of the elves, none can say for certain exactly how or why orcs have been made. What most agree on is that these creatures are far more than most may think at first glance.

- Halflings of Sundara (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Little cousins to the dwarves, halflings are tough, clever, and not to be underestimated. From living beneath the hills, to taking up residence in the deep forests, halflings in Sundara come in quite a variety!

- The Blooded (Half-Elves and Half-Orcs) [Pathfinder and DND 5E]: When orcs and elves mix their bloodlines with other creatures, the result is one of the Blooded. This inheritance takes many forms, and it can even wait generations before manifesting when the right combination of individuals come together to have a child.

- Gnomes of Sundara (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Gnomes are strange creatures, found in places where the spirit of the land has coalesced and made children of its own. The sons and daughters of the ancient nymphs, they are the stewards of these places, and they change as often as the weather and the land.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

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

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