Playing Outside The Box: There Should Always Be Multiple Ways To Achieve Campaign Goals

"No plan of operations can with any certainty reach beyond first contact with the enemy."

- Helmuth Von Moltke

"Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth."

- Mike Tyson

In addition to being a storyteller, world builder, and actor, one of the roles of the Game Master is a strategist. You want to create scenarios in the story where your players feel challenged, and where they have to find methods to overcome difficulties in the path of their plot. However, as both Helmuth and Mike have pointed out, the best laid plans of mice and men are often foiled by the actual events that unfold on the battlefield.

Which is why it's a good idea for you, as a Game Master, to embrace it when your players bring a diversity of tactics, and creative thinking, to the table.

Because chance and strategy make for terrifying foes.

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

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

How To Plan For The Unpredictable

There's a story I heard told a lot due to some recent events transpiring on the other side of the world. The way it goes is that a captain was speaking with a lieutenant after a victorious battle. When the captain asked how the lieutenant had accomplished such a feat, he smiled, and said it was the easiest thing.

"All I did was turn to my sergeant, and say, 'Sergeant, I want you and your men to take that hill.' Which they did."

You heard him, boys!

The purpose of this story was to highlight the difference between American military strategy, and Russian military strategy. According to the folks using this story as an example, American troops are given a set of objectives, and then they are trusted to adjust to the situation on the ground as it develops, giving them flexibility in chaotic and dangerous situations. Russian military doctrine, however, included both the goals and the method troops must use to achieve them. So if troops were transporting equipment, and it was found that the most optimal route was now lined with enemy snipers, American troops would have the freedom to choose another route with less danger, while Russian troops would have to drive the route they were given, regardless of how the situation had developed and grown far more dangerous, or else they would face serious consequences for disobeying orders.

Now, these are broad, sweeping generalizations, but the two philosophies I've described here can be very useful for you as a Game Master. Because Game Masters who use this Russian strategy will not only ask what their players need to accomplish, but they will lay out the specific methods for how they need to accomplish it. To contrast that, Game Masters using the American strategy will lay out a situation, provide their players with mission objectives, and then sit back to see how they choose to accomplish those goals.

You run into problems with the former strategy because you start scripting things out as the Game Master regarding what players must do, rather than seeing what creative solutions they come up with. Because yes, they might just do the obvious thing where they kick in the door to the dungeon, battle all the monsters, fight the mini boss, and claim the important plot item being guarded in the center of the stronghold. However, they might instead turn it into a heist, and sneak in through various other means, trying to avoid combat in order to swipe the item. They might attempt to open negotiations, or to start a coup d'etat among the minions guarding the item. They could even stage a distraction, drawing away a majority of the enemy attention and forces to one area, and then kicking in the door to deal with a minimized force.

There are so many options they could take, even for the simplest of situations, and that's before we bring dice and random chance into the equation. However, if you get it into your mind that they must use only a single method (or even a handful of methods) to achieve the result, you're going to run into problems. Because you might not be putting the game on rails, but you're certainly trying to put your players into a box, which can feel very constricting while undermining their enthusiasm for the game.

Craft The Situation, Then Let Go Of The Wheel

The best strategy I can give for Game Masters is to construct a situation that the players and their characters have to deal with, and then to take your hands off the wheel to see what they choose to do. And while you should have some responses for the most obvious reactions to the situation (they choose to go in guns blazing, they choose to sneak around, etc.) it's important that you try to keep an open mind, and look at what should happen organically based on the actions your players choose to take.

Both good, and bad.

Because smart strategy should pay off in some way. If you manage to distract the guards, maybe the Big Bad doesn't have as many allies during the title fight, or it's possible to pull a smash-and-grab and escape with the prize. If the characters spend their resources to acquire a devastating knockout poison, and they manage to get it into the air of a dungeon, they should be rewarded for that unusual battle plan. At the same time, if something goes wrong, or they mess up, or they make poor decisions, that should also make things harder on them (the guards are now more alert for attacks, new security protocols are put in place, and so on).

I'd recommend checking out both Game Masters, Make Sure The Villains Aren't Just Sitting Around Waiting, as well as Discussions of Darkness Episode 6, The Three Solutions Strategy For Storytellers for extra examples of how to construct an organic scenario that will react based on your players' actions, and some of the things you can do to shift your mindset as the Game Master.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

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

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on 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!

Seeking Alternative Firearms For Your Game? Check Out "Sundara: Dawn of a New Age"!

As regular readers know, I've been putting out fantasy TTRPG supplements for my own setting Sundara: Dawn of a New Age for going on four years now. I started off with city guides, but then I wrote up supplements for playable species, the gods, and even the unique supernatural disasters that plague the setting called primquakes. There's over two dozen supplements when last I checked, and they're available for both Pathfinder Classic, as well as Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition.

I've taken something of a hiatus from the setting for a while because while I hadn't run out of ideas for it, I had been pushing a little hard on the gas, and there didn't seem to be as many folks interested in reading and using the books as I was in writing them. However, earlier today I was reminded of a unique aspect I'd added to several of the supplements (as well as the world), and I thought, "I must have talked about that before..."

But it seems I didn't, so this Monday I wanted to take a second to remind people that Sundara has some rather unorthodox firearm options, if you're looking for something to include in your game that isn't just the normal black powder muskets and hair-trigger pepperboxes.

Ah, your initiative was low? Shame... shame...

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

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

Aether Weapons and Spell Warpers!

We've all had the conversations about black powder in our fantasy games. For some people, they feel it evokes the wrong kind of fantasy, and the wrong kind of time period. For others, the mass spread of guns should render more traditional methods of warfare (such as the armored knight on horseback) obsolete.

Those are all conversations you can, and should, have at your tables with your players so you can all figure out where you stand, and what you want to see. However, when I was working on Sundara, I wanted to give players more options, rather than less. And while the world has slowed down its expansion over the past year or so, I did have two rather unique alternatives to black powder weapons that still allow for gunslinger characters and firearm options that feel (at least in my opinion) more fantastical.

The first of those is aether weapons, which were made in Silkgift, The City of Sails.

Silkgift is a city whose main stock in trade is engineering, and invention. They create unique and unusual devices, and build things that most would say aren't possible without the aid of magic. From their water-driven machinery to their air-cooled homes, the city as a whole values ingenuity, creativity, and community... which is why the creation of one of the deadliest forms of weaponry in Sundara was, actually, something of an accident. During the ingeneurs' early experiments to build compressed gas reservoirs, an malfunction caused one to explode. The plug of the canister was driven through a wall, which led one of those present to wonder if they could build a tool that produced that result on purpose.

It was the creation of the superior material dragon steel, mass produced in the city of Ironfire, that led to reliable, safe, compressed air devices being built in Silkgift. This so-called aether technology comes in many shapes and forms, but one of the most recognizable are the hand weapons and two-handed rifles that use this pressurized air to deliver death to the wielder's enemies. These aether weapons use a simple pressurized reservoir of air which fires projectiles down the weapon's barrel. Inspired by the Giradoni air rifle, this is a unique option for those who want to have an unusual kind of gunslinger in their game.

For those who are interested in checking this out, consider the following supplements:

- Cities of Sundara: Silkgift (Pathfinder classic edition)

- Cities of Sundara: Silkgift (DND 5E Edition)

That isn't the only option for those who are looking for an unusual type of firearm in Sundara... but spell warper weapons are even more unique, and were made with an even darker purpose in mind.

Tightly controlled by Archbliss, the Floating City of The Sorcerers, spell warper weapons are built around a core of socerer's quartz; a unique material that can store magical energy like a battery. These weapons were first manufactured by House Torrent, the house of sorcerers that deals with evocation magic, and they were meant to allow the city's sorcerers to carry a deadly weapon on their person that could be used in the event they were either exhausted of their own magical energy, or which was simply not worth expending their own spells. Over time the weapons have been given to the city's guards and enforcers, and carrying one is typically a sign of fealty to the Floating City, or a sign that you managed to kill one of their representatives... both of which are marks of a person not to be trifled with.

These weapons require the expenditure of spell slots in order to charge them, though they can drain magic items like scrolls, wands, etc., to convert the stored magical energy into ammunition. Firing beams of force, spell warper weapons are often less effective against sorcerers and magic users, but they can be devastating against those who lack layered spell defenses. Many have whispered this is why the nobles were willing to give the weapons to those beneath them... after all, most sorcerers could easily protect themselves from these unique firearms, so they need not fear an uprising of those who had grown resentful of Archbliss's noble houses ruling over the city, and all those who lived in it.

If you'd like to get the supplements that detail these weapons, they're found in:

- Cities of Sundara: Archbliss (Pathfinder edition)

- Cities of Sundara: Archbliss (DND 5E edition)

I Have Plans For More, If You're Interested...

My original plan, as with everything else in Sundara, was to give players more options, rather than fewer. And while I was going to have an origin for black powder eventually (I believe it was going to be goblin powder, found in the as-yet-unwritten Species of Sundara: Goblins), I didn't want that to be seen as the default. Whether it was compressed air, magical energy, the explosive bile of exotic creatures (putting a pin in that for the next time I revisit dragons), or other propellants, I wanted the types of weapons available to be more unique than players had in other games.

More importantly, though, I wanted open access. I didn't want to have weapons that were roped off, or only available in X, Y, or Z places, or in certain types of games. Even Archbliss, tight-fisted as they are, makes it clear that spell warpers can be found elsewhere in Sundara, even if one has never traveled to the floating city themselves.

So, if this little glimpse into my fantasy setting intrigues you, consider grabbing a few more of the supplements. There are 5 cities in total (thus far), 6 different species books, as well as a book on the gods, a book on merchants, a book of towns, and more! The more folks who show an interest in the setting, whether they use it as it stands, import it into their home games, or just use the mechanics and ideas I present, I'll be happy to keep adding as long as folks keep reading!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

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

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on 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!

All The Little Details (Supplements For Filling In Your Character's Backstory)

Making organic, well-rounded characters is no easy task. Even if you have your mechanical progression completely sorted out, you still have all of the ins and outs of their history, family connections, love life (or lack thereof), titles, alliances, dark secrets, and more to figure out. And for folks who didn't see the news, a brand new supplement of mine just dropped on this subject (100 Questions To Ask About Your Characters, in case you want to pick it up).

However, I wanted to take this week's Fluff installment, and gather a bunch of my supplements and resources in one place for folks who are still figuring out their characters, and trying to make sure they feel as real as possible!

Because it's not as easy as we sometimes make it appear.

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

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

Filling In Your Background Details

I've been writing TTRPG supplements for quite a few years now, and a lot of the ones folks most readily think of are what I call my blue book supplements (as they were, by and large, assigned the same general blue cover image by my publisher). While a lot of these are meant for Game Masters to fill out the world, a lot of them are also useful for players who are looking to fill in parts of their characters' backstories.

For example, you might have come across:

- 100 Monastic Orders

- A Baker's Dozen of Noble Families

- 100 Knightly Orders

- 100 Secret Societies

- 100 Fantasy Guilds

And the honorary inclusions which aren't blue books, but still useful, 100 Random Mercenary Companies and 100 Fantasy Tattoos (And Their Meanings).

Seriously, go grab a copy if you haven't gotten it yet!

However, a while back, I started putting out supplements that were more geared toward players who were looking for ways to flesh out their characters, and to fill in all the details. These ice covers (the cover looks like cracking ice on a frozen river to me, so that's how I think of them) have been growing slowly but surely. And while these supplements are still useful for Game Masters (especially if they're looking to add some real depth to villains or important NPCs), they're written primarily with players in mind... particularly players who may not be authors or storytellers, and so they have a little trouble really sliding into a character's skin.

With the latest release included, the list currently consists of:

- 100 Questions To Ask About Your Characters

- 100 Dark Secrets

- 100 Fantasy Professions (That Aren't "Adventurer")

- 100 Character Goals and Motivations

And there are the two original supplements 100 Tips and Tricks For Being a Better Game Master and 100 Tips and Tricks For Being a Better Player, which are a little more meta than the others.

It's breezed past Copper, and is on its way to Silver... possibly even further!

Aside from just presenting this list of resources for folks this week (including the free article 10 Questions To Put On Your Character Creation Document, which you should also check out), I wanted to take a moment to ask folks what they'd like to see for future installments of either of these two series.

What blue book titles would you like to see added to the list? A baker's dozen of arcane colleges, perhaps? A sequel to any of the above books (or the half dozen I didn't mention, like 100 Cults to Encounter or 100 Fantasy Bands)? Or is there a list of character building questions or topics that you'd like to see added to the growing list of ice covers? Do you have any particular genres you'd like to see it focus on or expand into (such as books that cover sci fi topics, world building, or horror topics)?

Whatever you'd like to see in the future, leave it in the comments below, or reach out on social media to let myself and my publisher know! And if you get copies of any of these supplements (or you already picked some up when they first dropped) make sure you go back to Drive Thru RPG to leave a rating and a review to help us get found by other gamers looking for a little help with their heavy lifting.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

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

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on 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!

Should I Make Videos For "Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic"?

As most folks know, I've been contributing videos to the Azukail Games YouTube channel for a while now (and you should check them out and subscribe if you haven't yet). While I originally talked about my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age fantasy RPG setting for Pathfinder and DND 5E, I started making audio dramas for the vignettes found in my supplements soon after. That eventually grew into Discussions of Darkness where I talk about the World and Chronicles of Darkness, and Tabletop Mercenary, where I talk about the business side of publishing in general, and RPGs in particular.

However, I was wondering if folks would like to see me talk more about my first full RPG, Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic on the channel?

... what do you think?

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

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

Fighting The War On All Fronts

There are some people who prefer to read articles because they consume text more easily. There are some people who prefer to see the face of the people who make the products they use, and to hear the thought process of the designer in an interview-style format. For the former there's plenty of blog entries right here on Improved Initiative about this game, why I designed it the way I did, and the potential it has going forward... but I figured that it might be worth expanding that a little bit.

And not just because the unboxing video for my copies of the game books was one of the higher-watched videos the channel has put out in a while.

While it's been on the market since this Spring, Army Men has already had 2 supplements drop for it (Threat Assessments, which has more monsters and enemies for troopers to deal with, and Medals of Honor, which includes a Medal System for giving permanent bonuses and rewards to troopers who accomplish particular feats in the field), and there are 2 more in the queu to be released by Azukail Games in the future.

Since I'm still fighting to get the game seen and played (we're only 7 sales away from hitting Copper status last I checked the figure sheets), I figured that this is one area I haven't expanded into yet, and I wanted to see what you thought of it as members of the potential audience? Would you be interested in watching me talk about Army Men, giving break downs of the game, the world, the ideas behind it, and the supplements I've both made for it, and would like to make for it?

Some topics that are currently under consideration include:

- Reviews/rundowns of the current supplements

- Discussions of future supplements/soliciting audience opinions on what should come next

- Breakdown of the lore/setting/timeline of the resinous peoples

- Advice for how to run missions with this game

If there's something you'd like to see that isn't on the list, please feel free to include it in the comments below, with one exception. While it's been mentioned a time or two that I should do a recorded play of the game with a group and put that up for folks to see how it plays in real time, that is something currently outside the scope of my space, my equipment, and my skills. If I were to put something like that together it would take a lot of scheduling, resources, and editing to make it look good, sound good, and play smoothly... and that just isn't something I'm capable of making at the moment.

So it's not out of the question, but it isn't something I'd be able to make happen this year, barring something going extremely well for the game, and a massive audience showing up out of nowhere to raise their voices for it.

With that said, though, as long as I'm putting together additional supplements, my hope is to (at the very least) continue giving my listeners glimpses into the world, and into what Army Men can be as a game, and all of the different genres it can cover, and the stories it can tell. Such as this piece, taken from Medals of Honor, which has a definite James Bond flair to it.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

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

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on 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!

Divine Fighting Technique: An Often-Overlooked Pathfinder Feat

Feats are a contentious topic among Pathfinder players, and this is particularly true when we're talking about the first edition of the game. Because for some players they represented a buffet of blocks to build their own, unique characters from, and for other players they were a confusing slog that simply added more moving parts to an already complicated game. However, with that said, there is one feat that I don't think gets enough love, simply because of how wild it is... Divine Fighting Technique, which was first found in the Pathfinder Player Companion: Weapon Master's Handbook, and which was expanded on in the Pathfinder Player Companion: Divine Anthology.

And if you haven't gotten your own copy, you should consider checking it out!

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

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

What This Feat Is, And What It Does

Divine Fighting Technique is a feat with a lot of moving parts. However, what it does is that it creates a different benefit for every deity listed in the feat. It doesn't hit every deity in Golarion, but it touches on most of the big names. And when you take this feat, it represents you learning the unique fighting style practiced by the faithful when wielding the deity's chosen weapon, allowing you to do unusual things that other warriors won't be able to match.

The scimitar option is particularly fun!

Now, as I said, this feat is keyed to a particular deity, and each of them have their own set of prerequisites... but they also have secondary effects if you meet a secondary set of prerequisites, unlocking additional benefits of this feat.

I'll give you an example.

If you take Way of The Merciful, associated with Sarenrae, this allows you to deal non-lethal damage with a scimitar, as well as making any additional damage the strike deals (say from weapon enchantments, sneak attack, etc.) non-lethal as well. The kicker, though, is that you can deal non-lethal damage with any spell with the fire, light, or good descriptor which... is something that can drastically change the strategies you use in games where you may want to capture and interrogate enemies instead of outright killing them. Or when you want to put down a riot with a fireball that is unlikely to actually kill anyone (a huge deal in and of itself).

However, that is merely the initial benefit of this particular Divine Fighting Technique. If you also have Weapon Focus (scimitar), Great Fortitude, and 10 ranks of Heal you unlock the second ability, which allows you to heal yourself once per round. If you deal non-lethal damage to a foe with a weapon, you heal 1d6 hit points. If you deal this non-lethal damage with a scimitar, you heal 2d6 damage instead. Which has a bit of a hefty cost, but is certainly a neat benefit... especially if you're planning on playing any kind of dervish dancer who gets into melee and lays about them with their weapon!

Now, different gods have different rules for unlocking their primary and secondary features. For example, Erastil's Way of The Distracting Shot can be chosen by a lawful good ranger as one of their style feats if they choose Archery Style. Not only that, but they could forego the prerequisites for the second feature (normally Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Divine Fighting Technique, BAB of 10, and Dexterity of 17) if they replace the feat granted by their combat style at level 10. We also see this for bards with Desna's Way of The Shooting Star, or with Irori's Way of The Perfected Fist for monks and brawlers... but not all gods show such favoritism. Some require you to do things the hard way.

Which of These Feats Are The Best?

While it has a single write-up, Divine Fighting Technique has a lot of options and moving parts, such as some requiring worship of a particular deity, and other just requiring a certain alignment... but of the options presented, which ones are worth pursuing, and which ones are just dead ends?

Well, as with all other recommendations I make, take this list with a grain of salt. Because while some of these are worth investing in, just because I think the price of entry is too steep for others, that doesn't mean there isn't a build out there that will benefit from them. But if I don't mention them in the list below, assume that I don't think they're a great investment of your limited resources.

Okay? Okay.

Now let's get into it!

Top of the list for me is Way of The Merciful. The ability to do non-lethal damage with spells (especially some particularly damaging spells if you're used to fire-based clerics, sorcerers, wizards, etc.) is a huge boon for those who want to do non-lethal runs, or who want to be able to let-loose with spells that are normally not something you set off in urban environments unless you're looking to actively be charged with war crimes.

With that said, there are other options that still have really good uses that are worth pursuing.

Way of Hunger is a particularly nasty option, and a fun little power for all the scythe-wielders out there who need to grab all the temporary hit points they can get (especially with that x4 crit modifier on the scythe). The higher level unlock, which can make the diseases inside of a target manifest, has a significantly narrower application, though. Generally speaking, I'd argue that antipaladins with their plague bearer ability, and clerics and warpriests who can manifest diseaes in targets, will be the ones to get the most out of this secondary power.

And it's really evil, so it's not something that every group will take a shine to.

Way of The Silent Shiv at first allows you to deal damage as if you were a size category larger against opponents unaware of you, but the higher level unlock allows you to make a Stealth check as a swift action to treat a single target as unaware of you for the purposes of all your class features and abilities (if you beat their CMD by 5 or more, that is). That's a stiff challenge, but it is a godsend to rogues, assassins, ninjas, slayers, and even vigilantes who might rely on a maxed-out Stealth skill. So if you can really boost those numbers, and you want to be treated as having a target who's unaware of you every round (which can be hard at higher levels where enemies get see invisibility, scent, and other abilities that can give Stealth-based killers a run for their money, definitely invest in this one.

Again, it's an evil flavor, so make sure the group is willing to tolerate Norgorber's followers doing what they do best.

Flensing Chain is a nasty piece of work, particularly since it is difficult to get much out of the spiked chain as a weapon. If you're playing a full BAB character who worships Zon Kuthon (as Nidal has its share of fighters and barbarians), or even a warpriest who can pick up this weapon and focus on it via their class features, then the ability to leave an enemy first sickened, and then nauseated, can be a devastating debuff... especially if you, yourself, become immune to the sickened condition.

See previous notes regarding evil characters and the fighting styles of evil gods.

Lest you think all the evil gods get the good powers, the Inspiring Sword technique associated with Iomedae is great for paladins (who can swap additional mercies for both the initial feat, and its later unlock). The first ability, which lets you grant allies within 30 feet who can see and hear you a +2 sacred bonus on attacks, skill checks, and saving throws for 1 round + 1 bonus round per 5 points of BAB you have isn't bad (especially if you can't reach the enemy, so you may as well boost your allies using a bonus type that won't interfere with the bard). The later unlock, which allows you to use a standard action to hit a foe with a longsword (or to use the ability as part of a charge) grants the same bonus to all allies who see you.

While you can go through the rigamarole of giving this to other martial classes, I'd say that fighters are the only ones who will really have the feats to spare (and even then, they pay more than a paladin does for a useful, but not crucial, boost).

Greatsword Battler is good for all followers of Gorum who are going to invest in the Vital Strike tree. While barbarians can exchange a Rage Power for the feat, fighters, slayers, rangers, and any other melee bruiser who will be charging into battle with a greatsword while using Vital Strike are going to get the most out of this fighting style. The later unlock isn't great, but the lower-level ability basically allows you to do what so many of us who use Vital Strike with oversized weapons have always wanted to do, and use it as part of a charge.

Lastly, Divine Crossbow is fun and stylish, but there are so many other options for ranged disarm and steal that it isn't really the best strategy for achieving this method of shooting items off of your opponent... however, the ability to carry items a range increment away from them is both stylish and effective if you want to strip your enemy of their magic items, wands, spellbook, etc., and put them too far out of reach to easily reacquire. Which is something that makes it at least worth mentioning, even if the later ability it grants of pinning enemies in place with crossbow bolts is replicated in other feats and class features.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

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

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on 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!

Zombie Games Are Almost Never About Zombies

While I was writing a recent article, The Zerg Rush (An Underused Combat Encounter), I started thinking about zombie games. Because whether you're running an All Flesh Must Be Eaten game, a Dark Horizons campaign, or something else that involves hordes of the walking dead, it's important to remember a truism of the genre.

Namely that the best zombie stories are never really about zombies.

So... existential dread and the death of human community? That's way worse than zombies...

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

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

Zombies Are The Means, Not The End

From Night of The Living Dead, all the way up to The Last of Us, zombies have become a staple of the horror genre. They fill movies, TV shows, comic books, and of course tabletop RPGs. They're some of the most standard enemies you can face in most fantasy modules, and even some sci fi ones, and there are entire games dedicated to zombie apocalypse style setups.

In these stories, the zombies are the means (or one of the means) you use to tell the story in question... but in the really good stories, the zombies are never the end your players are striving for.

We are the mirror you hold up to show society, and one's own humanity.

Let me take an example from popular fiction to explain what I mean, here. The book World War Z: An Oral History of The Zombie War is a collection of interviews and accounts with people who lived through this horrifying conflict, and it immerses the reader in this fictional time and place. It tells us the stories of civilians who hid out in the wilds, of politicians who tried to respond to the crisis, of soldiers on the front lines, and of people who were just average, working stiffs who were just trying to rebuild their communities in this horrifying new world. It's a fantastic read, and well worth all the praise it receives. The film based on the book, though, is a generic action movie that gives us a single perspective of a single character who ends up being the doctor that finds how to beat the virus, and to save the world by removing the zombies entirely.

Do you see the difference between these two things?

As an alternative example, take my All Flesh experience that I talked about in The Best Zombie Game I Ever Played (Where Nothing Happened). To recap, the game was set in Northwest Indiana, and our characters were all perfectly normal people caught up in a zombie outbreak. The goal of this single session was for us to get to an extraction point, and escape the infested region. The purpose of the storyline, though, was for characters who didn't know each other to develop connections, to learn to work together, and to pool their abilities to overcome threats while developing a bond together. You could have replaced the zombies with an army of aggressive black bears, an outbreak of any other disease, or even a natural disaster like a flood or a massive fire, and the story still would have had those elements front and center.

The zombies were not the point of the game, they were merely the factor that facilitated the characters' needing to come together to save themselves. This is, I would argue, the way zombies are supposed to be used. Because they are dangerous, yes, but they shouldn't be just a monster. Not only that, but opposing them, defeating them, eradicating them, shouldn't really be the point of the game.

So before you run a zombie game, ask what the purpose of the zombies are and what are you going to use them for?

Are your zombies the factor that led to certain world changes, leading to crumbling societies so there are now warring tribes of people trying to scrounge for resources? Are they a representation of empty consumerism, showing that to overcome them people have to move beyond selfishness, and to embrace a community in order to survive? Are they representative of how you can lose loved ones to cult mentality, or how hard it is to let go of people who've become toxic and don't want to get better, showing people who have to fight against those they once held dear? Are the zombies being exploited for gain by some powerful faction, showing how those with a vicious mindset will do anything, no matter how terrible, if it means maintaining power?

In most of these cases, the zombies could be replaced with a slew of other things, and the stories would still be poignant, and the games would still have challenges to overcome, while dripping with drama. The story isn't, at its core, about just caving in skulls and running over shambling corpses that have been reanimated into a shuffling, groaning parody of life.

I mean, you should have those things, but that shouldn't be as deep as it goes, or things are going to get really repetitive really fast!

Resources For Your Zombie Games

It's tough running a good zombie game. If you need some help with the heavy lifting, might I suggest checking out some of the following supplements to give yourself a couple of handy cheat sheets?

- 100 Descriptions For Modern Zombies

- 100 Descriptions For Modern Zombies II (all good zombie products need sequels)

- 100 Transmissions To Hear During The Zombie Apocalypse

- 100 Sights To See During The Zombie Apocalypse

- 100 Improvised Weapons To Find During The Zombie Apocalypse

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

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

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on 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 "Windy City Shadows" A Chronicles of Darkness Podcast

Roughly a year ago I proposed a project for all the folks who were enjoying my Chronicles of Darkness RPG supplements and audio offerings. The idea was to write a narrative podcast that would tell a story set in the darkest corners of Chicago, dragging listeners into the shadows and giving them a glimpse of the horrors that lurk just beneath the surface of the world they know. And if listeners enjoyed the first season, I would then spiral out into subsequent seasons that showed just how interconnected events in this setting truly are when the monsters all live cheek-by-jowl in a place as hard and mean as the Windy City.

On this, the anniversary of the original proposal for Windy City Shadows, I wanted to open up the floor to my readers and listeners to see what questions you had about the show, as well as what it will take for this project to finally happen!

Because we're getting quite close to the edge...

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

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

What Is Windy City Shadows?

For folks who haven't heard of this project before, the short version is that it's a narrative, audio drama podcast set in a version of Chicago in the Chronicles of Darkness RPG setting. The podcast will be a Dark Pack project, and it will start in the realm of Changeling: The Lost, but subsequent seasons will likely take a side step into Geist: The Sin Eaters, Mage: The Awakening, and others if folks enjoy it!

For those who want to catch up on the previous times I've talked about this project, please check out:

- Windy City Shadows, A Chronicles of Darkness Podcast Proposal

- Dead City Blues, A Possible Second Season For Windy City Shadows

- Vox Mortis- Radiohead (A Geist: The Sin Eaters Concept)

What Would You Like To Know?

When I first proposed this project, it was something of a pipe dream because I just did not have the time and energy to dedicated to it in order to make it really happen. However, I've been making all kinds of audio dramas over the past few years, and I think I finally have the necessary resources to really make the stories shine... and I've got enough other folks who've volunteered their voices to breathe a little extra life into it, as well!

My question for all of you is... well, what questions would you like answered about this podcast?

My current plan is to dedicate the 30th episode of Discussions of Darkness to an Ask Me Anything video about Windy City Shadows where I will get answers for all the most popular questions. At present I'm going to cover:

- What is a Dark Pack project (and what does that mean for this podcast)?

- What funding solutions are currently being considered?

- When will it come out?

- How will we be able to find it?

While I can probably get a halfway decent episode out of those questions alone, I want to make sure that anyone who wants to see this project come to fruition gets the answers to their questions. So if you've got a curiosity that isn't answered in any of my previous articles or videos about this project, please ask them in the comments below, on any social media page where you saw this article shared, or even on the Azukail Games YouTube channel so that both I and my publisher can see them!

This is something I've been really excited about for about a year now, and I feel like we're finally getting close to being able to make it a reality... so ask any questions you've got now, and please share this post around to help get new folks in on the ground floor of this project.

What's Next on Table Talk?

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

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

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