"Boots On The Ground" Is Out For Army Men (The Potential Start of a New Series)

It's been a few years since my RPG Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic dropped after a successful Kickstarter, and some time on BackerKit. And since it's come out there have been supplements for additional enemies (Army Men: Threat Assessments), supplements for booby traps (Ungentlemanly Warfare: A Baker's Dozen of Booby Traps), the medals system to award players for their performance in the field (Army Men: Medals of Honor), and two additional mission modules (A Night At Breckon's Beacon and Assault on Outpost 13).

However, there has been a request for a particular kind of supplement I hadn't released for the game yet; collections of iconic characters. Because while folks playing the game at home with their friends usually wanted to make their own troopers and squads, there were some folks who wanted to run the game at conventions, or at their local gaming stores. And there were some GMs who thought having premade characters would help get their players into the spirit of the game to see if they wanted to go even deeper.

So I put together what I'm hoping will be the start of a series... Boots On The Ground: Baker Team!

And if you haven't grabbed a copy of it yet, do so today!

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, 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!

A Starting Squad, and An Homage

The idea behind Boots On The Ground, as a series of supplements, is to provide players and Game Masters alike with complete squads of troopers, each of which has its own history and iconography, and where the troopers themselves have motivations, broad personalities, and a bit of history with one another. In short, the supplements are meant to give you everything you need to run a quick and dirty game without everyone needing to dig through the rulebook and spend hours on character creation if they just want to get stuck in and see how the game plays.

I even talked about this a bit in Tactical Plastic Report, Episode 10: Future Expansions For Army Men, over on the Azukail Games YouTube channel.

And because I'm a sucker for a good homage (Assault on Outpost 13 is an obvious callback to the film Assault on Precinct 13, after all), I decided to draw on one of the most famous action movies out there. For folks who can't pin down the tickle in the back of their minds, Baker Team was the elite unit that John Rambo fought with in Vietnam... and the Baker Team presented for Army Men has a similar vibe. They are the ace-in-the-hole team that's sent in to do the dirty jobs nobody else will, and even if they meet their end the brass will consider it a win if they sold their lives for significant enemy numbers.

Originally I was going to put together 5 entire squads in a single book, but the size of that project would have been prohibitive in terms of both time and sheer word count. So to test the waters, I released this first installment of Boots On The Ground to feel out audience response, and to see if more supplements in this line would be something folks would respond to.

So, if this is something you'd like to see more of, pick up a copy of Boots On The Ground: Baker Team today, and leave a rating and review on it once you've given it a read! Also, feel free to tell me which nation you'd like to see a squad from next either in your review, or in the comments below... especially if there's another homage you feel would be right at home in this game of tactical plastic!

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

A Glimpse Into Potential Future Releases For "Sundara: Dawn of a New Age"

Regular readers around these parts know that my fantasy setting Sundara: Dawn of a New Age (available for Pathfinder's 1st edition and Dungeon and Dragons' 5th) has been coming out for years now. A modular setting, it's made up entirely of splat books that can be used on their own, or which can be incorporated into your own setting.

While I've produced a lot of content for it (links below for those who are curious), there have also been other contributors who have expanded the setting with me over the past few years. And I recently sat down to talk with one of them about it... so whether you're a fan of mine, a fan of Isaiah Burt, or you're just curious where this setting is going to go in the near future, I highly suggest everyone reading this week's update check out the video below, along with my highlights from the conversation!

Along with some of the releases we've been putting out!

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, 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!

Proposals For New Directions!

A couple of weeks ago in my post More Updates For "Sundara: Dawn of a New Age" Are On The Horizon I discussed some of what's going on with Sundara, but I primarily talked about finishing up the 4th phase of supplements (the Whispers & Rumors series), as well as teasing the video below. However, now that Isaiah and I have had our interview, I wanted to touch on some of the things we talked about, and get our audience's thoughts on it!

For those who haven't watched the video (though you should to help us boost our numbers, and subscribe to the Azukail Games channel while you're at it), some of the major ideas that I feel had promise were:

- Expanded player species options for the setting, with the first two being gargoyles and minotaurs (though not necessarily in that order).

- A book of prestige classes to tie characters more firmly to the setting (and likely additional Cities of Sundara releases to fill out the setting a little more first).

- Even more arcane and advanced tech options that, while rare, are certainly out there (possibly adding mechs into the mix alongside air ships and pressurized gas weaponry).

- (Stretch Goals) More in-depth fiction, as well as adventure modules (if the setting's popularity and player base increase).

While we still have a couple of existing supplements to wrap up and release (I still have 2 more supplements for the Whispers & Rumors phase to actually write, and only 1 of them has dropped so far), I feel there is a lot of potential in the ideas Isaiah and I discussed, and they're something we could definitely work on going forward.

However, and say it with me now everyone...

All Of This Depends On You!

I say this in probably half the posts I write, but I feel this is important to remind people. Folks who write professionally, whether they're novelists, RPG creators, or even folks who make scripts for YouTube videos, are not solely driven by passion and creativity. We aren't doing this for ourselves... we're doing this, hopefully, for you!

So if these projects sound like something you'd get a kick out of, and it's something you want to support, Sundara needs you to keep growing! And if you aren't sure how, you can do any of the following things to make a difference:

- Buy copies of the supplements (listed below), and review them on Drive Thru RPG

- Subscribe to the Azukail Games YouTube channel and watch the playlist for Speaking of Sundara (where I talk about the releases we've had, the setting so far, and bring everyone up to date)

- Boost Sundara's signal on your own social media feeds (the algorithm is a serious bastard to overcome without a lot of community help)

If you can take the time to do those things, it will help more people find out about Sundara, boost the metal tiers the supplements reach on Drive Thru RPG (which puts them in front of more people's eyes on the site), and it will help show that content about Sundara is getting more attention, which means the publisher (along with myself and other contributors) will be able to afford to lean into the setting. If you have money you want to throw at Sundara, or you just have enough curiousity to watch some videos about it and dig through this blog, anything that makes the numbers go up helps at the end of the day.

And speaking of links for all the interested gamers out there...

Catch Up On "Sundara: Dawn of A New Age"

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.

Rumors of Sundara

The newest series of supplements in the setting, these are meant to add to the cities, and to give GMs ideas for plots, or just to provide a little extra grist for the mill in terms of what people are gossiping about!

- Whispers and Rumors For Ironfire, The City of Steel!

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 Blue Sky, 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!

5 Reasons You Should Check Out "Sundara: Dawn of a New Age"

Several years ago I started work on my own fantasy RPG setting titled Sundara: Dawn of a New Age. At my last count, there were over 20 separate splat books for this setting including locations, player species, gods, merchants, guilds, and even events of a Primquake (a magical natural disaster unique to the setting). However, I took something of a break on releasing new content for Sundara for a while since it was getting tough to move copies, and I was feeling a little burned out as a result.

However, with the new year approaching, I wanted to choke up on the bat, and take another swing at things! So whether you've seen Sundara in passing, or this is your first time hearing about it, I wanted to give you 5 reasons why you should consider checking it out for yourself!

And for those who are curious, I've also included videos from my series Speaking of Sundara, where I go on at length about my setting, my philosophy as a designer, and what I was trying to accomplish with it. If you enjoy these snippets, check out the full Speaking of Sundara playlist, and consider subscribing to the Azukail Games YouTube channel while you're at it!

The city where it all began...

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, 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!

Reason #1: No Alignment

One of the earliest pieces of feedback I got from my audience was they wanted a fantasy game without alignment... and so that was what I did my best to deliver! I yanked it out by the roots, so that every aspect of Sundara is utterly divorced from the alignment system. Gods, magic, class restrictions, etc., were all freed up. It did, however, also remove demons, devils, angels, and all other alignment-centric outsiders, leading to the creation of the Prim (or the Primal, as many spellcasters call it), but that is getting ahead of ourselves.

If you always wanted a game where you could avoid the constant debates over whether something was or wasn't good or evil, lawful or chaotic, then Sundara is a great place to go!

Reason #2: Modular Nature of The Setting

Unlike a lot of other RPG settings, Sundara doesn't have a single, thick setting book. Instead the setting has been released 1 splat book at a time. The reason for that is I don't have the time and banked capital to take 1-3 years to write a single, all-inclusive fantasy setting, so a monthly release schedule was what we started with. But knowing there are a lot of Game Masters out there who like to make their own settings, I wanted to make sure that Sundara was modular enough that you could take places like the entries in Towns of Sundara, or organizations out of Merchants of Sundara, and put them into your setting to do some of the heavy lifting for you.

So whether you want to use Sundara in its entirety, or just snag parts of it you like, that is baked into the setting's design structure!

Reason #3: Weirdness!

As a player, I love putting together weird things! I have an entire page dedicated to Unusual Character Concepts, after all, and the purpose of that series is to chip away at this idea that certain classes need to present in certain ways, or that our pre-existing ideas of magic, gods, or inhuman fantasy creatures have to conform to anything outside of what's listed in the rules of the game. Whether you want to play monstrous characters that you've always been told weren't allowed (despite being listed as available for players), or you've wanted to have something more than just "standard" black powder in your games (for more on weird guns, check out Seeking Alternative Firearms For Your Game? Check Out "Sundara: Dawn of a New Age"), the whole idea behind Sundara is that everything that's "too weird" for other games is perfectly fine here.

Hoardreach, City of Wyrms, is perhaps the best example of this sort of thinking thus far!

Reason #4: A Variety of Political Paradigms

All too often when we play a fantasy RPG we fall back into the same old monarchy. Some kingdoms might be good, some might be evil, some might be ruled by elves, dwarves, or orcs, but most places that you go will have the same nobles, and the same hierarchy.

I wanted to change that up with Sundara by introducing a variety of different locations with different ideas about how society should be run, along with keeping the scale relatively low to the ground with city-states being the largest single power structure one will come across.

Ironfire runs of a kind of industrial free market, which is what makes the city the center of the mercenary trade, and it's why so many things that are illegal elsewhere are perfectly allowed. Silkgift is a kind of mad science haven with a socialist mindset, ensuring the inventions and discoveries of the Ingeneurium benefit all citizens, and that no one is left wanting. Moüd is a city run by a guild of necromancers, and the Silver Wraiths are the power structure that keeps the City of Bones alive. The only city with a traditional, inherited position and noble hierarchy thus far is Archbliss, the City of The Sorcerers... and they're more than a little villain-coded.

So if you want to explore the possibilities beyond the usual dukes, barons, princes, and queens, Sundara may just be a breath of fresh air for you!

Reason #5: It's Still Growing!

Sundara, as a setting, started a small seed of an idea, and it grows a little bit more with every fresh supplement, every novella, and every video made about it. However, like any property out there, it can only grow in proportion to the number of people who are helping to support it. So the more folks who check it out, who buy copies, who leave reviews, watch the videos, and so on, then the more and more I'll be able to add to the setting!

Not only that, but if Sundara grows past a certain point, I may be able to put out bigger, more involved projects for it, to get it converted to other games and editions, and more! So if you dip a toe in, and you really like it, leave some thoughts in a review, or toss comments into the videos. Who knows... you may just get what it is you're asking for!

Catch Up On "Sundara: Dawn of A New Age"

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.

Rumors of Sundara

The newest series of supplements in the setting, these are meant to add to the cities, and to give GMs ideas for plots, or just to provide a little extra grist for the mill in terms of what people are gossiping about!

- Whispers and Rumors For Ironfire, The City of Steel!

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

A Call To Arms For "Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic"!

2024 has been nothing but struggles and setbacks, or so it feels like for a lot of us. The year started off pretty great for me, with the release of my RPG Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic, and I felt like I was going to move forward on the right foot. After all, the game had exceeded the initial goal on Kickstarter (though we were just shy on some of the stretch goals), and it seemed like a lot of folks were interested in it. As such, I rolled up my sleeves and I did my best to make sure there was plenty of supplemental material available for the game once it came out.

However, with 2024 quickly drawing to a close, I'm still behind one on of my goals... namely, Army Men still hasn't hit Copper status! So whether you're looking for a last-minute gift, or you just want to give me a smile as I check one more item off my list, consider grabbing yourself a copy before the year is done.

Seriously... go check it out for yourself!

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, 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!

Calling The Banners For An End-Of-Year Charge!

A statistic that I've quoted repeatedly in this blog is that something like 80% of the RPG books, supplements, stories, art, etc., that wind up on Drive Thru RPG don't even sell 50 copies, which is what tips you over into Copper, the first metal category. And while most of my smaller supplements get at least that far (with a handful of them reaching, and surpassing, the Gold metal category), Army Men just isn't quite there yet...

But it's pretty damn close.

Just a handful of copies away...

When last I checked the numbers, we needed fewer than 10 more copies of the game sold to get us up to that Copper status. While there were a lot of folks who backed the Kickstarter who already got their books... perhaps you have a friend or a family member you'd like to play with? Someone that you think would really get a kick out of Army Men, and that you think would get that bug we all experience when a really good RPG sinks its teeth into us?

Or, if this is your first time hearing about the game, just pick it up for yourself! Digital or hard copy, you deserve a weird little treat, and Army Men is certainly that. Of course, if you're still on the fence about it, check out Tactical Plastic Report, the series of videos I've been doing on the Azukail Games YouTube channel about Army Men to give folks a bit of a taste of the world and the game play before opening up their wallets.

But What If You Already Have The Core Book?

If you're one of the folks out there who have the core book for the game, you have technically thrown your weight into the project already. However, consider leaving a review on DTRPG, subscribing to the Azukail Games channel so we can keep making videos and content about Army Men, and lastly, consider grabbing some of the supplements that have come out for it!

Because of course I spent a lot of the last year trying to expand the game, hoping to grow the audience just a bit.

- Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic: The base book for the game, this is technically the only book you need to play this game... but it never hurts to get some of the others as well!

- Army Men: Threat Assessments: The first collection released after the original game dropped, this supplement is full of new creatures for your squad to have to deal with when out in the field.

- Army Men: Medals of Honor: This supplement introduced the Medals System, allowing players to earn medals for their troopers, gaining unique bonuses and abilities usable for the rest of the campaign.

- Ungentlemanly Warfare: A Baker's Dozen of Booby Traps: Giant bugs and enemy combatants aren't the only threats you'll have to deal with in the field. Booby traps are a serious concern among troopers looking to leave their service with as many limbs as they started.

- Army Men Missions: A Night At Breckon's Beacon: When a squad goes missing while they're on patrol, it's your squad's mission to find them, and bring them home... or to avenge them, if that can't be done.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my 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 Blue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

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

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

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

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

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

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

So, What Do The Numbers Say?

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

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

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

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

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

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

What Conclusions Can We Draw From This Data?

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

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

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

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

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

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

How You Can Make Your Voices Heard

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thank you.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

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

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

Looks Like Paradox Did It Again (The Fallout Over "Werewolf: The Apocalypse" 5th Edition)

Over the past several years I've put together quite a number of supplements for the World of Darkness setting, and of the pieces I've written a majority of them have been for Werewolf: The Apocalypse. From my 1,600 NPCs in The 100 Kinfolk Project, to a list of potential antagonists in Evil Incorporated: 10 Pentex Subsidiaries, and I even helped push through an anthology of short fiction titled Tales From The Moot, where I wrote both the introductory framing short, as well as the Silver Fang tale Late Bloomer. I say this to establish that I've played my share of Werewolf as a game, that I am quite well aware of the issues it had with racism and representation, and that I tried to do what little I could to mitigate that with my additions to the world.

I had not been keeping up on the changes made to the setting as it was updated to the 5th Edition... but seeing the behind-the-scenes from J.F. Sambrano left my jaw on the floor with how badly the ball was fumbled in trying to "improve" this game's less-than-stellar record.

Younger Brother cannot believe this shit.

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

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

So What The Hell is Going On?

For those who haven't seen it yet, check out Sambrano's detailed post about what went on. And, if you can afford to, I'd recommend becoming his patron to help him out as a creator. But for those who just want the short version, I'll do my best to sum it up.

All right, deep breath...

In its original incarnation, Werewolf: The Apocalypse was a game that drew on a lot of Native American ideas of spirituality and legend, but it did so in the most crass, poorly-understood way you could. The short version is that while it was really unique having native representation at all in a major property in the 90s, a lot of it can be summed up with a sigh, and then following it up with, "Well... you did your best, I suppose."

This didn't stop the game from being successful, of course. Far from it, Werewolf is probably one of the best well-known parts of the World of Darkness, just behind the flagship game Vampire: The Masquerade. So when the 5th Edition came along and it was time to update the game and setting to bring it more in-line with modern sensibilities, and to make it a more inclusive product, designers like Sambrano were brought on board...

Only, it seems, to be promptly ignored.

Those are all great ideas... we're not using any of them.

From what was shared in the above post (which has already made the rounds), it seems like the design team made two, major errors. The first is that they kept too many of the problematic relics of the past (even when a lot of the designers they explicitly hired to help them fix these problems told them to chuck said relics), and the second is that they seem focused on including as little complexity and gray area as possible... which has led to them, once again, have problems with white supremacists, eugenicists, and Nazis.

Now, just for clarity, Nazis make great bad guys. If the goal had been merely to add white supremacists, nationalist terrorists, and other groups to the game as servants of the Wyrm in much the same way the original game did with capitalism in the form of Pentex, that would have actually been a smart move. Especially since the 5th edition release of Vampire: The Masquerade was plagued with problems regarding the inclusion of racism and white supremacy as story and game design in certain books (largely due, if memory serves, to a designer who was part of those communities). The wrong way to do this was what they chose, which was turning the Get of Fenris (arguably one of the most popular tribes among the player base) into a Nazi-majority tribe. Because, as Sambrano points out, this is inevitably going to lead to players trying to figure out how to keep the characters they had and liked to play, while attempting to include this new story element, rather than all players just letting the Get of Fenris go as a player option and relegating them entirely to villains.

Honestly, it just feels like bad design choices were made all around, and I'm glad I chose not to step into any of the 5th Edition releases for the World of Darkness as a whole.

While We're On The Subject...

I've been talking a lot about World and Chronicles of Darkness projects of late, and I wanted to take a moment to clarify something that got some folks asking questions. As I said recently in Why I Will Have Fewer Community Created TTRPG Products Coming Out, I'm going to be taking a small break from working on platforms like Pathfinder Infinite, Storyteller's Vault, and even on Call of Cthulhu titles, simply because of the increased rate-of-pay my publisher agreed to for my work on other, non-CCP products.

However, I also posted recently about "Windy City Shadows" A Chronicles of Darkness Podcast Proposal, talking about putting together a long-form audio drama podcast set in the world of the Chronicles of Darkness. For clarification, the podcast is a separate endeavor from my supplements set in the World/Chronicles of Darkness, and even if I'm writing fewer supplements (which people have to buy in order for me to get paid as the creator), I would still like to put together the podcast (which will be free to anyone who wants to listen to it).

So if it's something you'd interested in, check out the article above, and the video below, for how you can help make it happen!

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 sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, my dystopian sci fi thriller Old Soldiers, 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!

Surprised Paizo is Releasing 5E Content? You Really Shouldn't Be

For those who've been paying attention to gaming news, it seems that Paizo (the company behind Pathfinder) will soon be releasing one of its older adventure paths for 5th Edition DND players. So if you're a 5E main who's been looking for something to really sink your teeth into, soon The Abomination Vaults will be ready and waiting for you to dig right in!

Incidentally, you might also want to pick up something like the Abomination Vaults GM's Guide, as keeping megadungeons flowing is far from the easiest trick to manage, whatever edition you're playing.

I'd forgotten about this one, so I may try the original recipe.

Some people have been loudly asking what I think is a very silly question. It boils down to, "Wait, isn't Paizo like the Sega to Wizards of The Coast's Super Nintendo? Why would they release content for the game that is their main competitor?" While I'm not the first person to answer this question, as someone who deals with this setup in a microcosm as a creator, I figured I'd add my voice to the growing stream.

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!

Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

Why Is This Happening? Money, And Audience Share

I am not the oldest creator in the game, but even I've been around long enough to understand something very important when it comes to making RPGs as your job. First, there's a limited audience you're playing to. Even with the huge surges in interest the hobby has seen, RPGs are still a niche part of the publishing industry. This is why pay rates are so low, and why budgets tend toward the shoestring, and why risk is a word most folks in charge don't like to hear; long and short, even "successful" RPG companies don't have a lot of spare cash in their war chest if something tanks, unless they're part of a parent company that can bail them out when something goes poorly.

And let's not forget, we're talking about companies here. Players love these games. Designers love these games. Companies make decisions based on bottom line, risk, and return on investment. Given that viewpoint, I'm honestly surprised it took this long for Paizo to start porting their content to the 5E system to try to get a bigger piece of the pie.

Make no mistake, this is a very smart business move.

As regular readers know, I've been releasing content for my own setting Sundara: Dawn of a New Age for a little over a year at time of writing. While I originally planned and designed this setting to run on the Pathfinder system, I was more or less required to port every release I had to Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition as well. Why? Because numbers that I've seen peg DND 5E as being something like 80% of the total RPG marketplace. That game system has the fastest growing fan base, the largest number of players, and it represents the biggest pool for designers to go fishing in. So while a lot of content for my setting is a bastard and a half to translate to 5E in any meaningful way (given that PF has a vastly more complex and robust rules system that my world design sort of revolves around), not doing it would make the project a non-starter for my publisher, who'd like to actually make money off the content I design.

Same deal for Paizo, but on a larger scale.

Because Paizo has spent more than a decade developing a complicated, interesting setting. There's a massive variety of classes and archetypes, dozens of fully-written campaigns, and a staggering number of smaller modules out there which all take place in Golarion. This is intellectual property that Paizo already owns, and which it is already selling. However, by translating this content to a 5E compatible version they're making all of this older work accessible to players who previously may never have had a reason to check it out for themselves, or who are leery of leaving the comfort zone of their preferred system, Paizo stands to snag a large group of players who never would have tried their products otherwise. While it could lead to players buying additional PF Classic or PF 2E books and content, that would be more of a fringe benefit. The primary purpose would be to re-use all the assets Paizo already paid for, but to sell them to a new audience, thus making a tidy profit with less initial investment.

Incidentally, before moving on here, you can find a full list of all the splat books I've been releasing listed in Speaking of Sundara (My Latest Video Series With Azukail Games), if you're interested in checking out what I've been putting together, whether you prefer PF or DND 5E at your table.

This Isn't an Either/Or Situation

A final thing I feel should be made clear here (and which most designers who do this for a living already understand) is that this isn't a one-or-the-other setup when we're talking about a company as big as Paizo. They have the ability to hire freelancers and recruit designers to keep several plates spinning at a time in order to tap multiple markets. So while they seem to be testing the waters with this release, it would be entirely possible for them to keep releasing new content for their existing players with one hand, while converting their older content to a different edition with the other.

However, if you're someone who's worried that Paizo is going to stop supporting your favored edition of the game, then make sure you're voting with your wallet, and doing what you can to big-up the signal to spread the word. Buy copies, leave reviews of what you get, start conversations, get people interested, and so on. When companies review the charts are the end of the day, they're looking at what products got a big response from the audience, and that's where more effort and energy is going to go.

Keep that in mind, because it's the voice of almighty dollar folks tend to listen to when making decisions about what they're going to produce next.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

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

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