Supplemental Merch For "Army Men" (What Should Make The Cut?)

As most regular readers on this blog know, my game Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic dropped earlier this year. While the base book gives you everything you need to play the game (including a sample mission for you and your fellow troopers), since then we've also released Army Men: Threat Assessments (for extra creatures and dangers), Army Men: Medals of Honor (which introduces the Medals system for rewarding player achievements in the field), and Ungentlemanly Warfare: A Baker's Dozen of Booby Traps (which is full of deadly traps to sprinkle across the battlefield).

While I've got at least one more supplement awaiting release (which will mark the first mission outside of the sample one in the base book), I've also been taking Army Men to various conventions since it came out. Though I intend to start running some game demo sessions in the future, I was thinking that I should have more than just the base book for sale at my booth. And since the supplements mentioned above are digital-only offerings, it's got me thinking... what other things would folks like to see?

I don't have the resources for making medals yet... but...

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!

Some Ideas I'm Currently Kicking Around...

Now, I'm planning on doing more conventions (and more different conventions) starting in 2025. While there are a few smaller events left in 2024, I'm not going to scramble to try to get any merch ready for this year. And while I'm reaching out to manufacturers, trying to get quotes, and to see what's feasible, the feedback and interest from my audience is also extremely important to me. So if there is an idea you particularly like, make sure that you let me know in the comments below, along with why you like it, and what you would consider a fair price for the item in question (so I can see if it matches up with what it would cost to get it made).

Also, Army Men is getting it's own show over on the Azukail Games YouTube channel! So check out the first episode if you haven't, and leave your comments for what you'd like to see on it.

Now, the current ideas include...

#1: Faction Dice Sets (And Crate)

Standard-issue, of course.

Custom dice were, of course, one of the original items we were hoping to get with the Kickstarter stretch goals for Army Men, but we fell a little short of the numbers we needed to make that a reality. However, good ideas often take on a new life in a new form, which is why I had the thought of offering faction dice at my booth for those who want a little something extra for their next mission (or who just think it would be cool).

The modified version of this idea is faction dice. Each set will be a standard, solid-color set of d20 dice that is largely representative of a particular nation of the Plastos Federation, as well as a set for the Federation itself. The dice won't be custom, in that they won't have unique pips, inclusions, or anything like that. The idea is that these are the "standard-issue" weapons you're given before going out into the field. While custom dice could still be something done for a future Kickstarter, these are going to be a more humble, more reliable, offering.

What makes them special, then? Well, my hope is to find a unique case for them, such as a metal, slide-top tin that will have the Army Men logo either etched or printed onto the lid. While I would love to find a tiny ammo crate, I'm still trying to find an option that will be affordable for both myself, and for folks interested in this offering!

#2: Uniform Patches & Pins

Acrylican 301st: "No Horizon Unexplored"

I'm a sucker for patches, and I had a few made a year or so ago featuring my Literary Mercenary skull, and a motto that got me a lot of dirty looks from parents who didn't want their little ones reading a bad word. But given the military setup of Army Men as a game, I thought it might also be fun to have patches for the various nation's militaries, or even pins made to go on one's lapel, pocket, etc.

However, there are additional hurdles with this option.

First and foremost, I'd have to work things out with our book's artist if I want to use any of her assets on these patches or pins (such as the versions of the flags she made). Alternatively, if I wanted to use different assets, well, I'd have to either make them myself, or commission new ones from someone. Both are an expensive process. Then there's the extra up-front cost for patches getting printed, the question of whether we want iron-ons, sew-ons, or velcro patches, and whether they're rubberized or not... it's a long list of nonsense!

Doable nonsense, of course, but nonsense nevertheless!

Now, my original idea was to pair this kind of merch with something like Army Men: Regiments of Renown (as a sample title), where I would provide additional lore for the setting through creating various irregular units and special forces for the different nations' militaries, while providing players with additional subclasses, gear, etc., that they could bring into the field if they wanted to be part of these units (or, at least, have been part of them at one time). That way in addition to the standard military choices, players could get a little niche with their loyalties.

#3: Stickers

All right, this one MIGHT be a little obvious...

In fairness, this is probably the most obvious bit of extra merch, and one of the most affordable. Whether you're using it to label your folders, everything from the logo to the flags (again, post-negotiation) could be on this list if that's something players are interested in. But I've found, overall, that stickers are a very hit-or-miss thing. On the one hand, they're very low investment for the dealer, and they can have a very low price point. On the other hand, there seems to be either a lot of interest in them, or absolutely none.

So what about you? Would you be interested in stickers? And if so, what kind would you like to see?

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!

Long Shots: Updates On "Sundara: Dawn of a New Age" and "Army Men" Releases!

I've been talking a lot recently about the nuts and bolts of what it requires to take creative visions and turn them into hard realities that will pay your bills, and keep you afloat as a creator. One of my recent posts of on The Literary Mercenary, "Passion" Is Not A Replacement For A Solid Business Plan, actually harped on this issue in a way that started some interesting discussions (and at least one flame war). And not all that long ago I put up an episode of Tabletop Mercenary talking about how You Get Paid For What You Sell, Not What You Create, linked below.

And I tell you all of that to sort of set the scene for this week's discussion. Because I've been putting a lot of sweat into two of my ongoing projects, my PF and DND setting Sundara: Dawn of a New Age, as well as my first full RPG Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic. However, there's only so much I can do on my own, and I'm hoping that giving you all a look behind the curtain might help rally a few folks to my banner before I lose my grip on it!

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!

Building A Base, Or Wasting Time?

There's a story that was floating around Facebook a while ago, and it's transcribed from the oral history of the publishing industry. The way it goes is there's a guy from accounting at a major publisher, and he's talking to one of the editors. He's been going over the numbers, and he's just flabbergasted that a majority of the publisher's earnings come from a handful of superstar authors, while the rest of the titles they publish barely move any copies at all. The editor, unsurprised by this news, agrees that the accountant's read of the situation is correct. The accountant, frustrated by this, demands to know why the publisher wastes their time with all of these other books. Why aren't they just publishing the ones that sell?

The editor gives the accountant the thousand-yard-stare, sighs, and tells him that's what they're trying to do. No one ever approves a book for publication if they don't think it has potential. But there's no such thing as a guarantee, and every, single book that goes out is a roll of the die.

I'm recounting this story because, regarding these two projects of mine, it feels like this is extremely true. When I first started working on Sundara, I reached out to groups dedicated to those who played Pathfinder and DND 5E, and I asked them what would appeal to them as part of a new setting. I incorporated a lot of the answers I got, and for a time folks seemed interested. The very concept of Army Men, where you play living plastic people fighting tactical skirmishes against alien, insectile foes, got a lot of players excited when the idea was going around, and it was good enough to fund the Kickstarter to get the game released.

However, I have no way of knowing if the next supplement, or series of supplements, I write for these games and settings that are going to light a fire under the player base, or if I'm just shoveling a few thousand more words into the abyss when no matter what I do all I'm going to get are echoes of my own voice.

So... do I roll the dice?

The Plan

Let's back up a second, and I'll do my best to make some sense of what my approach has been, and where I'm currently at.

I started releasing supplements for Sundara: Dawn of a New Age a few years ago. The idea was that it would be a modular fantasy TTRPG setting where Game Masters could either play in the world as it existed, or they could take the parts of it they liked and add it to their own settings and games with relatively little hassle. Some supplements, like Merchants of Sundara, are explicitly written to be system-neutral additions, while others like the Cities of Sundara: Ironfire supplement come in a version for Pathfinder and a version for DND 5E.

Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic went a more traditional route. We Kickstarted the base book, and after it came out I got to work on writing supplemental materials for it. This includes extra monsters and challenges in Army Men: Threat Assessments, the Medals System for rewarding player achievements in-game in Army Men: Medals of Honor, and the most recent update Army Men: Ungentlemanly Warfare, which was full of all sorts of horrible booby traps to spread over your maps.

Seriously, grab a copy if you haven't yet.

The basic idea was pretty striaghtforward; keep making interesting, unique supplements for these two products, and to grow the player base by giving people more cool stuff. After all, the more material a game/setting has available for it, the better the chance there is that players will check it out. And if new releases are constantly coming out, it lets players know there's support for the game, and they aren't going to be playing something that has already hit the wall, and been abandoned.

Of course, that wasn't the ONLY thing I did. I've covered both of these projects repeatedly right here on Improved Initiaitve, I've talked about them on various podcasts and YT channels (such as my recent interview over on Third Floor Wars for Episode 244), and I have entire video series for each of them on the Azukail Games YouTube channel, which you should definitely check out.

The idea was that if I just kept writing supplements for these game, if I kept talking about them, and kept giving players new and interesting paths to pursue, then eventually they'd start getting traction. However, it is really tough to keep putting out my best work when it feels like no one out there is really enjoying it, or like the only person I'm making these for is me.

The reason I say that, and the reason I took you through all of that lead up, dear readers, is because I need your help.

I've said this time and time again, but it is impossible for an author to make themselves successful in publishing (ditto for a YouTuber or a podcaster to make themselves successful). We can put out all the projects we want, and we can log all the hours and words we can think of... but if no one reads, listens, or buys copies, we're just shouting into a hurricane. At the end of the day, it's like we didn't do anything at all.

So if you're someone who has gotten copies of Army Men, or any of my Sundara books, please go to Drive Thru RPG, rate them, and review them. Additionally, consider boosting the signal for them on your social media pages, whether you're on Twitter, FB, Reddit, or anywhere else, so that I can reach some fresh eyes (and because admins are less uptight about fans sharing links to things than they are about creators trying to do self-promotion). If you haven't gotten copies for yourself yet, then consider picking them up, and then leaving the aforementioned reviews and signal boosts.

It seems basic, but at the end of the day, numbers are what keep projects going. Authors don't want to keep writing supplements no one seems interested in, and even if they do, eventually publishers are going to stop greenlighting projects if they don't lead to increased sales.

Without support, we have to move on to something else. So if you want to see Sundara or Army Men continue on, please take a moment to make your voice heard!

To Catch Up On Sundara: Dawn of a New Age

The links to all of my current Army Men books are listed above in this entry. However, Sundara is a little larger, and so I've listed out all the supplements here for folks to follow up on. Start wherever you want, there is no wrong door. And, of course, you can check out the full Speaking of Sundara playlist, in addition to the following supplements!

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.

Organizations of Sundara

Phase 3 has been going strong, but there's still a few titles left in it! So if you haven't seen them, consider checking out:

- Sellswords of Sundara: With power structures being smaller in scale in Sundara, standing armies aren't often maintained for long. As such, soldiers of fortune are quite common! This supplement contains 10 mercenary companies, their history, uniform, sample members, whispers and rumors, as well as either an archetype or subclass for playing these unique warriors. Grab your copy for Pathfinder of DND 5E.

- Cults of Sundara: Faith comes in many forms in Sundara, and there are as many gods in the Prim as there are dreams in the minds of people. This supplement contains write-ups for 10 cults, their histories, sample members, rumors about them, their beliefs and tenets, and a unique magic item for each. Get your copy for Pathfinder or DND 5E.

- Guilds of Sundara: While cities and villages may be relatively local, guilds are spread across the length and width of Sundara. From professional orders of skilled miners and dredgers, to monster slayers and bounty hunters, this supplement has 10 guilds with histories, sample members, rumors, as well as unique feats one can take to represent the skill and benefits of joining this order. Available for Pathfinder as well as DND 5E.

- Merchants of Sundara: While city states might be the largest form of government you find in the setting, merchants hold an outsized amount of power. From huge mercantile houses, to small brands infamous for their quality as much as for their price, there are a lot of options listed in this particular world building supplement.

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!

Always Fill In Background Details To Make Your Character MORE Involved Rather Than LESS

In a lot of games that use a Vancian magic system (the one most common to Dungeons and Dragons, and similar systems) there is often an interesting trick that allows prepared spellcasters (such as clerics who pray for specific spells, wizards who go through the rituals out of their spellbooks, etc.) can use to maintain their flexibility. What they do is allow you to essentially reserve a spell slot (or several of them, if you so choose), leaving it purposefully empty so that it can be filled with a spell at a later time. So if the party is traveling along, and they find an inhospitable environment, a poisonous fog, or some other condition that knowing just the right spell could fix, the caster can take a few minutes to memorize the appropriate spell, and then deploy it using that empty slot.

Now, there are discussions about just how effective this can be as a strategy in a mechanical sense. However, this logic of leaving wiggle room so that you can adapt to unforeseen circumstances is something I'd recommend more of us actually do with our characters when it comes to the details of their stories. Because even those of us who write several pages of background often leave plenty of white space that we can fill up at appropriate story moments to help keep things moving forward.

Let me explain...

Even with all these notes, there's a LOT you didn't cover.

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!

If There's Nothing There, You Can Fill It In!

To illustrate what I'm talking about, let's take a very low-stakes example. Say that your party is all meeting at the local tavern, and you ask your Game Master what the current specials on the menu are. And because your GM recently picked up a copy of my 100 Fantasy Foods, they tell you that salamander steaks are currently on offer. A unique meal due to the salamander's resilience to heat and fire, they tend to be raw and bloody, scorched with acid and flavored with citrus. That sounds interesting, so you decide that your dwarven wizard is going to order that.

However, you choose to take things a little further. Because you know that Hervarth was raised in a forge mountain, skilled at enchanting magic weapons and armor as part of his learning in the ways of spellcraft, you decide to add into his backstory that salamander meat was something he fell in love with during his study as an apprentice because it was always available around the mountain (since the beasts were drawn to the fiery hearts of the forge). Perhaps this is a sign that this particular tavern is relatively close to the mountain he trained at, or it's surprising for him that this meal is available so far afield, but either way it sets up a little detail, and gives your character something to be excited about, while paying off a minor detail the GM slipped into the session.

The power of imagination!

This is the sort of thing I mean about filling in the blank parts of your character's canvas. If there's a detail about their past that hasn't been established as canon yet (like their favorite food), then when an opportunity arises you can capitalize on that detail to fill in a previously unexplored part of their character, revealing it to the rest of the table in a way that adds to the scene.

However, you can do this for big details, as well as small ones.

For example, say you're playing a hard-as-nails rogue. You've been a bandit and a highwaymen, you were a gang enforcer, and there is no dirty job you won't do... but when a bunch of kids start eyeing the party, he pulls a small, bean-stuffed leather ball out of nowhere, and teaches them a game they can play with it. Soon they're laughing, kicking it back and forth in a little circle, using their elbows, feet, knees, and heads to keep it in the air as long as they can.

Why does the scarred, cold-hearted bruiser have a soft spot for kids? Maybe he had some of his own that he hasn't seen since their mother left. Or since they died; collateral for the life he led. Maybe he was an elder sibling, and he got into the life he's in now to get the money to take care of his baby brother and sister, so he knows how to entertain and bond with younglings. And if a quest hook comes up where the children are in danger, a quest hook with little to no monetary reward, that little background detail might be enough to drag the money-up-front mercenary into a fight for a good cause.

These background details you add to your character on the fly could be as a simple result of a roleplay opportunity, as mentioned above. They might be a result of an absurdly good skill check (perhaps the dark-eyed ranger knows so much about religion because their mother is a priestess, and the two of them haven't spoken since she rejected the cloth and the oath of her order). But the idea behind filling in your backstory is that it should always be done with the express purpose of adding to a scene, rather than taking your character out of it.

For example, if you hear that a monastery was attacked, you could add in that your brother was inducted into that order, and you have to find out if he's all right. You shouldn't decide that your character has a negative history with that monastic order, using this grudge as a reason not to get involved. If you hear there are bandits terrorizing a town, you should feel free to add in that you have history with one or more of the bandits in that gang, and you're going to at least stop them, and possibly settle a grudge or two along the way. You should not decide you have a heretofore-unmentioned bounty on your head in that region, so you can't go there and risk being recognized and arrested.

And so on, and so forth.

The goal should always be to keep the momentum of a scene going, not to put the brakes on. If the addition you're going to make is going to stop your character from getting involved, or give you an excuse not to go down a story path, or to remove you from a scene, that's not a good addition. Much like improv, you want to be able to say, "Yes, and," when you add something from your character to the scene.

For additional, related examples and advice, consider checking out Find A Reason For Your Character To Get Involved. And if you're a Game Master who wants to build off of the supplement I plugged earlier, then I'd recommend grabbing your very own copy of the Inn & Tavern Bundle to get a slew of useful resources that just might end up adding to your characters' backstories, as well as fleshing out your setting!

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!

Con Was A Bust, And Improved Initiative Could Use A Little Help!

Like a lot of authors and RPG makers out there, I try my best to make it out to conventions. Sometimes I'm a panelist, sometimes I'm doing readings of my work, sometimes I'm running sample games, and sometimes I'm holding down a table in the dealer's hall. It's been rough coming back to in-person events after the pandemic, and I've been trying to make my way out to a wider variety of events so that it's not just me in front of the same crowds at the same conventions with the same books time after time.

When you branch out to new cons, sometimes you find great crowds, a good reaction, and lots of sales. And other times... well, other times you find yourself at Raptor Con.

A penny for a tale would go quite a long way this month...

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 I Spent My Weekend...

For folks who noticed the hiccup in both my social media posting, as well as my missed updates on my blogs, I was at Raptor Con down in Evansville, Indiana this past weekend, holding down a table in the dealer's hall with Alice Liddell. And let me tell you, it was a trial. Preparations started Thursday afternoon, and I didn't stop sweating and straining until Friday night, which is how long it took to load up all our combined merch, drive 5.5 hours across Indiana, load that merch into the dealer's hall, and set it up so it looked nice and presentable.

And from the outside, this con looked like it had a lot going for it. The dealer's hall was quite large, the venue was located in a good spot, there were some fairly big names on the celebrity guest list, and there were even additional programming options attendees could participate in. Not only that, but our fellow dealers came in all shapes and sizes, selling everything from handmade plushies, to wooden dice towers, to laser-engraved and 3D printed everyday carry items and geek paraphanalia.

The numbers were looking good, is what I'm saying.

I can tell you quite honestly that the con did pull a lot of attendees. A few hundred people went past our booth in the two days we were there, and it very well might have been well over a thousand by the time all was said and done. The con also ran a live stream of the hall to get folks interested, and the event was covered by several local news stations. Despite all of that, though, I didn't sell a single thing. Most folks who showed up to the event barely scraped by with a few sales, and everyone I talked to during load out was grumbling about how they didn't make back anywhere near the cost of this event.

Now, I hadn't come to this event expecting to sell out of all my novels and RPG books... but of all the events I've gone to over the years, this is the first time I had a table, and I sold nothing. Hell, I can count the number of people who even picked up a book and looked at it on one hand, and that was also something I'd never seen happen before at all the shows I've been to.

Which is why I wanted to take a moment to ask folks reading this if they could help me out a little before this month is over.

What I Do (And Don't) Mean By "Help Me Out A Little"

Some folks who read those words are thinking that I'm just shaking my cup and asking for donations. That is not what I'm doing here, though if you did want to buy me a Ko-Fi or become a Patreon patron I certainly wouldn't say no to that.

However, I'm also aware that times are tough, and belts are being tightened all around. So rather than just asking for direct assistance, I wanted to instead ask my readers this week to please help support some of my ongoing projects. As always, if you have the spare dosh, consider buying some of the books and supplements I'm going to mention. If not, though, consider sharing a link to them, reading some of the articles I mention below, or watching some of the videos, because that also helps more than I can adequately explain.

Okay? Okay.

#1: Check Out "Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic"

We're so close to Copper sales status I can smell it!

Earlier this year I released my first RPG every, Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic where you and your follow players take on the roles of soldiers fighting for the Plastos Federation against the incursions of monstrous insectoid creatures called vespoids. Since the initial game dropped there have also bee 4 separate supplements released for it (listed below). The game uses a modifed version of the DND 5E rules set, but with a lot more tactical rules added back in so that players need strategy as much as they do the luck of the die to help them clinch victory in their missions!

This is a project I've been trying to build momentum on for a while, and it's been an uphill battle. So if you haven't checked it out yet, please give it (and the other supplements I've released so far) a look! And if you are one of the folks who bought a copy or backed the Kickstarter, then please leave me a review and a rating on Drive Thru RPG, as well as boosting the signal about it so others can find the game!

- Army Men: Threat Assessments (Extra Monsters and Threats)

- Army Men: Medal of Honor (Introduction of The Medals System For Rewarding Players)

- Army Men: Ungentlemanly Warfare (Booby Traps)

#2: "Windy City Shadows" and The Azukail Games YouTube Channel

I've been talking about this for a while on this blog, but the Azukail Games Youtube channel has been steadily getting closer and closer to reaching the goals for monetization. At the moment we have shows about my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age fantasy setting, Discussions of Darkness where I talk about the World and Chronicles of Darkness system, audio dramas taken from my various supplements, and Tabletop Mercenary where I talk about the business of TTRPGs behind the curtain.

However, we need about 200 or so more hours of watched content (that is, amount of time that the audience watches our videos) to get us over the hump to get us monetized... which would be a huge accomplishment under my belt, and it won't cose you all a dime (just a little bit of time and energy).

Additionally, once we cross that threshold, I am hoping to use that momentum to put together a Chronicles of Darkness audio drama podcast titled Windy City Shadows. I recently talked about this project on the channel, as well as on this blog, so if you'd like to listen to a show that can best be described as Dark Fae John Wick, take a moment of your time to check it out, subscribe to the channel, and help us reach our goals so I can push this up my priority list!

The initial elevator pitch can be found at "Windy City Shadows" A Chronicles of Darkness Podcast Proposal, and the recent Ask Me Anything I did about it is below!

#3: Check Out My "Sundara: Dawn of a New Age" Setting

I've been releasing splat books for my own fantasy RPG setting Sundara: Dawn of a New Age for several years now, and while something occasionally breaks the surface, it's been harder and harder to get any sort of eyeballs or interest regarding it. While I'm currently in the midst of doing another concerted push to build off of the already-released cities books (which are designed to be useful for any Game Master, whether they want to run my setting, or import the cities into their own setting), I really need any and all attention folks could give this project. Whether you watch the Speaking of Sundara playlist, where I talk about the various parts of the world and my process for making them, or you buy, review, or share the links to the supplements below, I would appreciate any signal boost you could offer!

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.

Organizations of Sundara

Phase 3 has been going strong, but there's still a few titles left in it! So if you haven't seen them, consider checking out:

- Sellswords of Sundara: With power structures being smaller in scale in Sundara, standing armies aren't often maintained for long. As such, soldiers of fortune are quite common! This supplement contains 10 mercenary companies, their history, uniform, sample members, whispers and rumors, as well as either an archetype or subclass for playing these unique warriors. Grab your copy for Pathfinder of DND 5E.

- Cults of Sundara: Faith comes in many forms in Sundara, and there are as many gods in the Prim as there are dreams in the minds of people. This supplement contains write-ups for 10 cults, their histories, sample members, rumors about them, their beliefs and tenets, and a unique magic item for each. Get your copy for Pathfinder or DND 5E.

- Guilds of Sundara: While cities and villages may be relatively local, guilds are spread across the length and width of Sundara. From professional orders of skilled miners and dredgers, to monster slayers and bounty hunters, this supplement has 10 guilds with histories, sample members, rumors, as well as unique feats one can take to represent the skill and benefits of joining this order. Available for Pathfinder as well as DND 5E.

- Merchants of Sundara: Whether a small shop of highly specialized craftsmen, or an organization whose brand is recognized across the world, merchants can add a great deal of story to your setting. The most recent release at time of writing, check out Merchants of Sundara for yourself!

My Thanks In Advance!

Being a professional creator is a crap shoot, and you never know what is going to explode, and what's just going to be a dud. You have to keep rolling, though, because giving up isn't an option in this line of work. So if you're one of the folks who supports me, whatever form that takes, thank you. It means a lot to know that the things I manage to pry out of my mind and set down on the page are things that at least some folks out there really enjoy, and want to see more of!

Just like PBS, without viewers like you, none of what I do (or really what any professional creative does) would be possible.

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!

Which Classes Mesh Well With "Way of The Shooting Star"? (Pathfinder Advice)

A little while back I put out the blog post Divine Fighting Technique: An Often-Overlooked Pathfinder Feat, and I was honestly surprised at the reaction. Because while this is a feat that hasn't seen a lot of love at my tables, it's apparently seen a lot of love from the community in general. That's on me... I got that one wrong. However, what really surprised me was that the favorite among everyone seemed to be Way of The Shooting Star, the feat associated with Desna and the starknife. That confused the hell out of me... but the more I thought about it, the more potential I saw in it.

So, I've seen the light on this one, and I thought I'd share some of the thoughts that came to me while it was rolling around in my head. I'm sure these will be old hat for a lot of folks, but for all the folks who were in the same boat as I was, I figured this might help mark out a few interesting paths for them to check out and explore!

This particular version of the feat should be in Divine Anthology, for those who want a copy.

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 Is "Way of The Shooting Star"?

For those who aren't familiar, the Divine Fighting Technique feat comes in two varieties. The one taken from Divine Anthology requires you to have the deity associated with the feat as a patron deity. The first ability this feat gives you when you take it (which can also be taken in place of a versatile performance if one is a chaotic good bard) is that when you make an attack with a starknife that you use your Charisma modifier for both attack and damage. The advanced benefit (which requires a Dexterity of 17, Point Blank Shot, Diving Fighting Technique, Rapid Shot, and Base Attack Bonus +11 or 11 ranks of Sleight of Hand or being a chaotic good bard at level 10 and replacing one of your versatile performances) allows you to throw a starknife as a full-round action, and if you hit roll 1d4 to see how many of the weapon's spikes strike the target. 

And, as a caveat, precision damage and critical hits only count once, even if you strike 4 times. So that does put something of a damper on the broken power of this feat's secondary ability.

Now, for my two cents, I'm not going to be focusing on the second ability of this feat. Sure, it's a fun trick, but the limitations on it can make it tough to really turn into a spinning death cloud (though if you have a combination that works really well for you, please leave it in the comments below!). I'm going to largely focus on the lower-level ability, as it's something you can build quite a solid character around if you choose to.

Which Classes & Abilities Pair Well With This Feat?

The ability to fight with your Charisma right out of the gate is a serious boon to high-Charisma builds. After all, if you can only have 1 attribute at a 20 (and you're going to focus on bulking it up as large as you can), then getting that +5 (or more) on attack and damage is a great way to compensate for the starknife's paltry damage die.

However, that solid start lends itself to some interesting class abilities. For instance...

Things are going to get a little... unusual.

One of the options at the top of my recommendation list is the Arcane Duelist bard archetype from the Advanced Player's Guide. Something of a proto-magus, this archetype lets you use the chaotic good bard option for both parts of the feat if you desire, and it gives you the ability Bladethirst. This class feature lets you add magical ability to your (and later to your companions') weapon, letting you make your starknife more deadly as situations unfold. And if you choose to get the larger ability of this feat, one of the abilities you can put on your starknife is returning, which can be very useful if you intend to be slinging it around the field.

When combined with spell storing put onto a starknife for a little extra oomph, this is one of my top-tier recommendations.

Speaking of the magus, another solid combination is the Eldritch Scion archetype from the Advanced Class Guide. This limits the spells you can cast per day, but it allows you to cast from your Charisma score, and it gives you a bloodline similar to a sorcerer. For those who want to make the use of the magus's spell combat feature, their ability to wear armor, and who like to be able to add magical abilities to their starknife in the midst of combat, this is another solid option to pursue.

My next recommendation is the swashbuckler, and for folks who want to get particular, the Flying Blade archetype from the Advanced Class Guide. While a standard swashbuckler will get a great deal of mileage out of focusing on sheer Charisma and using a starknife, combining that with their Precise Strike deed to get some extra damage out of such a relatively small weapon. The ability to use their biggest stat as the basis for their parry also makes the swashbuckler a fine choice defensively, as well as offensively. However, the Flying Blade archetype limits you to daggers and starknives, but it provides you with a list of interesting deed options, and lets you get more benefit out of throwing your blades (which will be particularly useful if you do want to use your starknife as a thrown weapon in combat).

While the swashbuckler lacks the magical options of the first two class choices, it makes up for it in martial versatility in a lot of ways that shouldn't be dismissed out of hand... especially since these abilities start out strong at first level, and grow with the character as the game progresses.

These were, personally, my top 3 choices for class combination based on the abilities. However, there are several that I'd give honorable mention to, while stating that these are not bad choices if you want to go that route (especially since more than a few of these came up in folks' favored picks).

- Oracle: Oracles are pretty solid in melee, and they're Charisma casters. When combined with an appropriate mystery like Battle, this helps give them a leg up over other divine casters who mix it up in melee. (EDIT: Choosing the mysteries Lunar, Nature, or Lore provides you some of the best benefits for this class. Prophetic Armor lets you use Charisma instead of Dexterity for your AC and Reflex saves, Nature's Whispers allows you to use Charisma instead of Dexterity for your AC and CMB, and Sidestep Secret allows you to use your Charisma instead of Dexterity for your AC and Reflex saves).

- Skald: With a lot of the same advantages as bards, skalds are a solid fall back choice. Their raging song, however, is a lot less useful if you're relying on your Charisma for your attacks and damage.. but if you have a lot of characters with Rage class features in your party, this could still be a smart choice. (EDIT: The Court Poet archetype from Heroes of The High Court alters Raging Song so it boosts Intelligence and Charisma, which can boost the skald up in effectiveness for this strategy.)

Before I finish out this section, I wanted to add the caveat that I am certain I missed certain class archetypes or features for clerics, cavaliers, rangers, slayers, and even fighters and bloodragers that make them ideal for this feat. There may even be a way to get a warpriest to cast off Charisma that I don't know... if you do know it, though, please leave it in the comments below with what book it's from (Paizo books only, please) so I can expand this list!

Feats and Boosts

Your character class isn't the only consideration when it comes to how effectively you can put this feat into play. You should ask what other feats support it, and how you can put them all together.

- Weapon Focus and Improved Weapon Focus: If you're going to be using a starknife nearly exclusively, might as well get the most bang for your buck with it.

- Weapon Specialization and Improved Weapon Specialization: If you qualify for it (and that's a big if) these can help you boost your individual attacks' damage.

- Pirahna Strike: While this one does have Weapon Finesse as a prerequisite (which you won't be using), the bonus damage is extremely helpful. This is basically a gimme option for swashbucklers, since Swashbuckler's Finesse qualifies you for this feat.

- Combat Reflexes: Though technically good for anyone with the feat slots to spare, this one is particularly important for swashbucklers (as well as any archetype with the parry deed).

There is also one, last trick I'd suggest for anyone planning to use this feat, and it comes in the form of one of my few, genuine contributions to Pathfinder as a game, and Golarion as a setting. In Bastards of Golarion I created a potent drug called Silvertongue. It provides a 1d2 alchemical bonus to your Charisma, in addition to granting a +2 alchemical bonus against mind affecting effects. The former bonus lasts for 1 hour, while the latter bonus lasts for 4. It does have some noticeable effects (1d4 Constitution damage and a DC 16 Fortitude save to avoid addiction), but it's not a bad thing to keep in your back pocket, especially if your Charisma is on one of those odd numbers and you're guaranteed that a dose will give you that extra +1 you need in a pinch.

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!

Make Sure You Have A Story To Tell (Whether You're A Player Or The Game Master)

Roleplaying games, generally speaking, come in two parts. One part is the game, where you roll your dice, add up the numbers, cast your spells, swing your swords, and determine whether you succeed or fail in the task you wanted to complete. The other half of the game, though, is the roleplaying. It's creating unique characters, and telling their stories as they attempt to achieve their goals, whether it's something as grand as saving the world from the threat of extinction, or as relatively small as solving a murder and catching the person responsible.

However, too many of us think that the responsibility of story rests with either the players or the Game Master. This week I wanted to remind folks that, just as the GM is also a player at the table, so too they should be a part of the collaborative storytelling exercise you're all participating in.

It's all about give and take.

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!

Everyone Should Be Contributing

One of the primary mistakes that I see at tables is that either the players will assume that all story needs to come from the Game Master (and so they bring only bare bones archetypes, rather than fully fleshed-out characters with their own histories, goals, etc.), or the Game Master will assume that the players are here to drive the story, and so they sit back and wait for the table to pursue leads and make decisions that are important to the characters (a mistake that has sunk more than a few attempts from GMs to run sandbox-style games).

However, as with almost everything else at the table, this effort needs to be a cooperative one. Players and GMs shouldn't be dictating the story to one another, insisting that X, Y, or Z events need to happen. It's more like moving a couch. Each of you picks up your end of things, and you move it along a path, calling out warnings to one another as necessary, and trying to avoid as many hazards as possible.

You don't want one person carrying, and the other one sitting on the couch asking them why they aren't making progress.

Hey... how come we aren't getting anywhere?

If you're a player at the table, you should have a character who is willing to participate as part of a team (as TTRPGs tend to be team-focused activities), and who is willing to follow plot hooks as they're dropped. However, you should also have a character who has a history, who has goals, and who has a story both for who they were before the game started, but who also has a story of their own you want to tell with them as the game goes on. Whether they're a masked vigilante looking to topple a fascist regime, a farmgirl hero who wants to prove herself worthy of knighthood, or a government experiment who is trying to find their origin while escaping from their handlers, your character should have a story of their own you want to tell.

The Game Master should also have a story they're looking to tell as part of this campaign. This story might be how a gang of brigands and thieves became the heroes of the land when they helped overthrow a corrupt monarch, or it might be how a band of noble warriors stood against the lich king when no others would. It might be the story of Project Apotheosis, who tried to unlock superhuman powers in unwilling candidates, or it might be the story of how a generation ship floundering in the deep black was brought back online, and an entire generation of colonists were saved.

The key is that everyone on both sides of the screen should be helping tell both their own stories, and those of other people around the table. To do this we need to be open with our Game Masters and our players about the kinds of stories we want to tell, and to offer to integrate our stories together as part of the exercise.

That sounds simple enough, but it's something that takes practice.

For example, say you have two players who want to enmesh their stories together. One player is a holy warrior who is looking for a sibling they lost while they were in the orphanage, but who has also set their sights on being knighted for their efforts. We have a rogue who ran with a street gang as a child when they ran away from the orphanage, and then became a bandit when they got older and had to duck the law or wind up in prison. They've amassed quite a bounty on their head, and this life has caused them to grow hard over the years, though they often wonder what might have been.

Those two players could decide to wind their stories together. Maybe the brother was too young to come with, and the older sister promised she'd come back for him, but she never could. Plucked up by the church, he was trained to fight, to read, and to pray, while she led a hardscrabble life. They may not recognize one another at first, but they slowly begin to change each other's black-and-white views, and to grow closer. He begins to realize there are shades of gray in the world, and to be more flexible, while she learns that her skills can be used for good ends, and there really are people out there who care about her, and who will protect her if she'll just let down her guard enough to let it happen.

And then the Game Master could take that combined story, and weave it into the story they're telling. For example, was their mother slaughtered by the warlord who is currently conquering the northern fold, which is why they were in an orphanage in the first place? Is that warlord the father of these two characters, and their mother spirited them away to try to hide them from what being the heirs apparent to a kingdom of blood would do to them? And will they attempt to save their father, end him for what he's done, or will they join with him in hopes to achieve their own goals, twisted or otherwise?

I never had a chance to be other than I am... neither did you. Will you change that?

There are, of course, a variety of considerations to keep in mind. Whether it's dedicating too much involvement or story to too few players, ensuring everyone gets adequate time in the spotlight, etc. However, the basic idea shown here is that all of you should have different threads of story when you come to the table... and all of you should participate in weaving those disparate elements together to create a single, more cohesive, whole!

Need Help With The Heavy Lifting?

Coming up with all the different story elements isn't easy, especially for those of us who aren't used to building bigger, more involved stories, consider trying out some of the following tools:

- 100 Character Goals and Motivations: If you need a list of things to help make your character's journey stand out, and to help you shape their story, check these ideas out!

- 100 Dark Secrets: Everyone has secrets... and these secrets can make an excellent basis for your story. Both as a player and as a Game Master.

- 100 Questions To Ask About Your Characters: Sometimes it helps to look at our characters from perspectives we didn't previously consider, whatever side of the GM screen you're on.

- 100 Fantasy Professions (That Aren't "Adventurer"): It helps to mix it up from time to time, and your professional handle can say a lot about who you are, and what you do.

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!

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