What Is Your Character's Relationship History (And How Has That Affected Them)?

Let's be honest with ourselves, there has always been a streak of romance in a lot of RPGs. Whether it was the relatively chaste quest to prove oneself worthy to wed the princess like something out of an Arthurian story, or the party heading down to the local brothel to spend a sack of coin they earned from their last bounty, the elements have always been present. However, that isn't what I'm talking about today. Because even if you're playing an RPG where you don't want romance-related plots (to say nothing of the more explicit content that exists in games like Lewd Dungeon Adventures or Foreplay: An Erotic Storytelling Game), it's worth asking what kinds of romantic experiences your character has had, and how that's shaped them over their lifetime.

Look, I'm telling you, make the proposal special. Trust me, I speak from experience.

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!

It's Part Of Your Path (Even If The Character Lacks Experience)

Whatever character you're playing, however strange, unusual, or perfectly plain they are, take a moment and ask yourself what kinds of romantic relationships or entanglements they've had, and how that has affected them as a person. And, before folks start typing in the comments that they don't need to think about their character's sexual history when making a dungeon crawler, that isn't what I'm talking about. Specifically ask what kind of relationships your character has had, what this says about them, and how it affects their outlook. Good or bad, abusive or loving, it will leave a mark on them.

As an example, take the archetype of the fresh-faced fighter. We'll even go the extra mile, and make him a farm boy hero with dreams of glory. If his whole romantic experience up until the time he leaves to go on an adventure, or perhaps to join the militia, is just reading fairy tales about happily ever afters then he's not going to have a frame of reference in mind for when he encounters people out in the world. What will he do when the bard tries to wingman him with the bar keep? How will he react of a noblewoman tries to twist him around her finger? What will he do if he encounters a succubus?

Now ask how that same character would be different if he had a girl back home that he's planning to come back to. He loves her very much, sends letters and money when he can, and he's out trying to make good, and to prove to her father that he can provide for her. What if this character was older, served time in the militia or the army, retired, got married, and now he's a widower who has to find a new way to earn a living, but can't stay in that home with all its memories?

 

She's in every brick of that place... I can't even sleep there anymore.

The types of relationships a character has had, the experience that's garnered them, and what kind of person that's made them into, is an often-overlooked aspect of their history... hence why it's worth thinking about. And the more unusual the character, the more unusual their frame of reference might be.

For example, did a bard master her song as a way to serenade a boy she was infatuated with, but he was betrothed to another? Did that rejection lead her to keep her future relationships shallow and physical, never letting someone get really close to her emotional core? Did the paladin swear an oath of chastity when he first took up the sword, and so all relationships must be physically chaste (even if he might be sorely tested)? Does the cleric serve a love god, and so they are intimately familiar with a variety of relationship styles and troubles, often acting as match maker or counselor? And has this helped their own relationships, or made it even more difficult for them? Does the barbarian come from a tribe where polyamory is normal (like the Takatori dwarves in my Species of Sundara supplement for both DND 5E and Pathfinder Classic), and thus they are used to a completely different relationship dynamic than more "civilized" folk, making mistakes and unintentionally insulting people because they don't understand one another's expectations?

There's no need to make a big deal out of the character's relationship history, but it can be an interesting or fun little mix-in for your game. For example, if your bounty hunter ranger is always talking about the one that got away, it might be a fun little twist that she's been hunting for her ex, who also happens to have a sizable reward on her head. Doubly so if she stole something expensive, hoping the ranger would come after her, because she was too awkward or scared to talk about her feelings. If the halfling rogue is always talking about his wife back home in terms that makes her seem dainty, soft, and delicate, but then the party meets said wife to find out she's a full-blooded orc who will destroy anything that comes between her and her husband, that juxtaposition can be fun and amusing. And if the grim-faced cleric of the death goddess melts whenever there are kids present, finding out that he and his wife never had a chance to have their own before she passed of a fever can add a dimension to him that the rest of the party didn't expect, and it adds a tragic, human side of him that he might keep under wraps until he truly trusts someone.

Which is why this aspect is worth thinking about. Because even if romance isn't a driving force behind a character, their experience with it, and desire for it (or the lack thereof), will be part of what has shaped them up until the point where they hit the mat.

Also, if you are looking for inclusions of something that is definitely going to be an adult element in a game (but which doesn't actually have any explicit content in it), then I'd recommend checking out the following series of supplements by yours truly:

- World's Oldest Profession: A Baker's Dozen of Brothels

- World's Oldest Profession: 100 Courtesans and Concubines

- World's Oldest Profession: 100 Rumors To Hear in a Brothel

- World's Oldest Profession: 100 Titillating Titles To Find in a Lewd Library

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 the dark sci fi saga of The A.L.I.C.E. Files! 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!

The Key To A Sandbox Is To Make Sure It's Populated, And Stuff Is Happening

One of the biggest complaints I hear from players is that they want to play in campaigns and settings where they feel like they have freedom and autonomy, and not that they're going to be put on rails and driven toward the Game Master's predetermined destination. The opposite end of that setting is, of course, the sandbox game. This is where players are plopped down into the game world, and they are free to explore, take up quests, meet NPCs, and get tangled up in whatever webs they please.

The thing is, for a sandbox to work, a Game Master has to actually populate it with stuff for the players to interact with, and events to take part in... otherwise you end up with a ghost town.

Also, if this subject interests you, then I highly recommend checking out River Games: Somewhere Between The Sandbox And The Railroad.

Between all these grains of sand, there should actually be stuff.

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!

Load Up The Sandbox, And They'll Never Run Out Of Things To Do

As someone who has run both linear games where there's a direct through line where the game starts and ends, as well as someone who has put together a handful of sandboxes, I can tell you that the latter take ten times as much time, energy, and effort to set up. This isn't just because you have to populate the world with NPCs, plot hooks, news, rumors, loot, dungeons, and more... you have to do that for a linear progression game as well. The difference is that for a sandbox you have to have more of everything, because you have no way of knowing what your players are going to do, or what direction they're going to go in.

Sandbox GMs are a majority of my readers.

Think about it for a second. If you're going to run a linear plot, you have a series of events that take your players from Point A, to Point B, to Point C, dragging them along a pathway toward the eventual showdown with the campaign's big bad. But if you are running a game where you simply set the world in motion, then turn your players loose, you need to have significantly more stuff for them to do, people to talk to, and happenings to get involved with!

For example, in a linear game, you might have one bar with plot-relevant characters, a couple of town guardsman with actual information worth delivering, and a series of dungeons where encounters will take place... but for a sandbox, you need to have that kind of setup for a wider variety of decisions the players might make. Not only that, but there's going to be a ticking time clock on events, because what the players choose to get involved with, and what they choose not to get involved with, can affect the machinery of the world.

Consider the town of Timbersong. It's a small port town with half a dozen fishermen and some traders and travelers. There's a lumber operation there (or at least there used to be), and most people who come up that way do so for the hot springs, or to look for work in the growing boom town and its surrounding farms. And there are dozens of things that can be done in this location, including:

- Taking on work at the Hardwick Agency as a private guard

- Examine the Palatine Spring, and the rumors of something unusual there

- Go into the old growth forest in search of treasure, ruins, or monsters

- Talk to sailors coming in from the sea to hear about rumors of pirates attacking coastal towns

- Escort a caravan down to the next town

- Take passage on a ship to go further along the coast

Now, if this was a linear game, you might have a specific idea of what you want your players to do. Hopefully they get hired by the detective agency, which then sends them to deal with something that's been seen out in the woods. They uncover an ancient cult, tie that to the springs, and realize the healing waters are drawn from an ancient genius loci. They form a pact with that spirit, and the old rituals are kept up to appease it, ensuring the town can grow around it. At that point the PCs leave Timbersong either by road or by ship to move onto the next town, and the next set of rumors, happenings, and people.

But that's one set of events. And sure, the PCs might take that specific bait and follow those particular events, but what if they step off that path? What if they instead want to try to recruit one of the odd cats that roam the town, either as a pet, or to have a familiar? What if they want to immediately go pirate hunting, trying to figure out if there are bounties and rewards for those who slay buccaneers, and trying to find a captain to take them on this errand? What if they take on tasks from Marlena Racks who needs surveys taken along the coast so she can draw accurate maps? What if, what it, what if...

None of these are random, either. Timbersong is one of the towns in my supplement 10 Fantasy Villages, and it's jammed with stuff like the above suggestions to give Game Masters an edge on laying the ground work for a localized sandbox.

Having a linear game means you have a single chain of events, more or less. There are likely a few side quests here and there, but nothing outside of the important main line is going to get really fleshed out. It's that old situation where there's one clearly important NPC in the bar, and while you can talk to other folk, that individual is the one with the information that's going to move the story along.

But if you have a sandbox game, you need to have either multiple chains of events that all branch off on their own stories, or you need to have a bunch of disconnected events and individuals, and allow the interactions of your players to build the story based off the things they choose to do or not do.

The World Needs To Move Without Them

I mentioned this concept back in Game Masters, Make Sure The Villains Aren't Just Sitting Around Waiting, but it's worth being repeated here. Because if you have an entire sandbox world, the player characters won't be able to respond to everything... so when they aren't involved, that also has consequences that can spiral out of control.

Consider Timbersong again. There's a cult in the forest trying to awaken the wrath of a genius loci to wipe out the town. There are pirates pillaging the coast. There are farmers being attacked by terrible beasts who lost their habitats. While it's possible for the party to solve all of these problems all at once, if they neglect something, or don't consider it worth their time, then it will come to a head without them.

For instance, if the party goes out to hunt pirates on the waters, they might find a bounty, and bring them down quickly, giving them the time to get back to Timbersong to deal with the cult. But if they're gone for too long due to storms, bad rolls, etc., then they might come back to a town that's been ruined by an angered spirit within the spring. Or, if they focus on the cult first, and then handle the pirates, by the time they come back to town they might find people deep in debt because the farms were overrun and all their food now has to be imported.

Or if the PCs chose to do an escort mission for a ship or a caravan, then they might hear about the uprising in Timbersong, or about how a disaster wiped it off the map, only for the survivors to be captured by pirates and sold into slavery.

It's a rough life on the bloody seas.

Now, the point is not that you need to give your players impossible decisions... the point is that for your sandbox to have meaning that there has to be a lot of stuff in it, and for the decisions your players make to have weight and gravitas. And while you might be able to tie various things together due to the players' actions (say they do capture a special cat from the forest, and it turns out to be able to talk. So now it can clue them in on secret knowledge of the cult, and the spring spirit, which they didn't have before because they did a seemingly pointless side quest), it needs to feel organic.

 

In other words, if you only have one bar, and it doesn't matter which one your players walk in they're getting the same NPCs and the same floor plan, that gamble only works if they don't realize you played switcheroo with them. Because if they feel you're just creating a Potemkin village that makes them feel like their actions have consequences, but really there's only ever been one path to walk, that's going to deeply disappoint people who showed up to play in a sandbox.

So yes, sandbox games require a lot more in terms of worldbuilding, NPCs, plot hooks, events, etc. But once you have all those things in place you can basically set the world in motion, and then just watch what your players choose to do, and ask how that affects the physics of the world that was already turning.

 

Harder to start, but fairly easy to keep running once you flick the switch and all the gears start running!

With that said, I would recommend checking out all of my 200+ TTRPG supplements that are largely meant to help you populate your game, and to be sure you save your brain power for the heavy lifting. You can take a look at this pinboard of all my supplements and games, but if you're looking to build a sandbox I would definitely suggest grabbing copies of:

- 100 Tips and Tricks For Being a Better Game Master

- Towns of Sundara

- 100 Character Goals and Motivations

- 100 Ways To Start a Campaign (That Aren't In a Tavern)

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 the dark sci fi channel I contribute stories to, The A.L.I.C.E. Files! 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!

Doing Something A Little Different With This Supplement For Arcane Academies

I've been writing TTRPG guides and supplements for quite a while now, and one of the unfortunate necessities of the job is that you need to write to the biggest market you can. After all, tabletop games are a pretty niche market as it is, and you need to command the biggest possible portion of that audience you can reach... which is why a majority of the stuff I've put out has been geared toward generic high fantasy with elves, dwarves, and orcs, or generic sci fi that could run the gamut from Starfinder to Mothership.

 

Sometimes, though, I find a way to step outside the usual boundaries, and to make something that will stretch into some more niche games... which is why I wanted to talk about my latest supplement 100 Sights To See At An Arcane Academy!

 

And if you haven't checked it out yet, you really should!

 

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my 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!

 

Putting A Twist On My Normal Releases

 

First and foremost, it's entirely possible to use this supplement in a high fantasy game, and the sights contained within it could show up in a Dungeons & Dragons or Pathfinder game, particularly in the worlds/settings that have arcane colleges that train arcane spell casters. However, the mix of the weird, whimsical, and outright dangerous were more meant to evoke the feeling one would find in the great tower in Grimm where kids can learn to become witches and wizards (at great peril to themselves), or in a game like Kids on Brooms. So in the event you're running a more niche game like that where you're going to have a magic school as one of the main locations or themes, I would highly recommend grabbing a copy of this supplement and flipping through it.

 

Also, as an aside, the necromantically-charged dust bunnies are probably one of my favorite pieces in here. Since dust is primarily made from dead, shed skin, the department that deals with darker magics needs to keep a clean house... otherwise they might end up with some truly dangerous dust devils trying to bite their fingers off!

 

Not all bunnies are cute and fluffy.

 While there are the usual sentient suits of armor and odd celestial happenings, this supplement also has angry, sentient mops that will bludgeon someone unconscious if they step on the wet floor, creeping ivy that tends to steal from students who leave the windows open, and even an ominous bell that tolls to warn of coming doom... supposedly, at least. So whether you just need a bit of inspiration for an encounter, you want a touch of mystery and lore to add to your academy, or you just want a couple of organic details floating around in the background, I highly recommend giving this one a look!

 

And if you're one of the folks out there who wished I would do more weird and unusual stuff like this that isn't entirely focused on Pathfinder, Starfinder, Dungeons & Dragons, etc., then the clearest way to send that message is with a purchase and a review. Because the main reason I stick to safer waters is that everything is getting more expensive, and I have to pinch every penny I can.

 

The more niche (or at least niche-usable) supplements sell, though, the more likely it is that Azukail Games is going to be willing to give me more leash to explore with. So help me help you!

 

And speaking of other supplements that are a little off the beaten path that I'd recommend folks check out, take a look at the following if you haven't yet!

- The Blade Itself - Corrupt Equipment For Hunter: The Vigil:  Hunter: The Vigil is a game I feel doesn't get enough love, and my first supplement for it focuses on the idea of Corrupt Equipment; items that are tied to the dark force that creates Slashers and Tainted Places alike!

- Like A Good Neighbor - Portraying The True Fae in Your Chronicle: The True Fae are beings of terrible power and bizarre, inhuman natures. This guide is for Storytellers who are planning to bring them into their Chronicles of Darkness game whether it's as antagonists, "allies," or anything in between.

- 100 Academics, Adventurers, And Information Brokers: While written for the traditional Jazz Age period where many Lovecraft-inspired games take place, this supplement can be used with any pulp adventure supplement... though it does work best for those exploring the horrors of the Mythos.

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 additional audio dramas over on The A.L.I.C.E. Files! 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!

Bloodlines & Black Magic - Going Beyond The World of Darkness

There is something about the yawning mouth of a dark alley, the furtive look of people briefly caught beneath arc sodium lamps, and in the whispers heard in smoky bars, and gathered round burn barrels late at night. There's a draw to dark worlds, and something in your soul that makes you feel like there's more going on than what your eyes can see. A feeling that old gods still lurk in hidden temples, and that demons wait behind toothy grins to shake hands, and bind the unsuspecting to bloody bargains. There is a knowing in your bones that magic and madness both dance in the gutters, and that once you hear the tune, you won't be able to resist joining them.

And if you want to dance with the devil in the pale moonlight, then you should take a moment to check out Bloodlines and Black Magic, from Storm Bunny Studios!

Seriously, I highly recommend checking this one out!

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my 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!

 

Dark Streets With A Different System

When most people think of a modern game of dark fantasy or horror with monsters hiding between the cracks and terrible truths lurking just out of sight, they picture a World or Chronicles of Darkness game. It has been one of the standby settings of the genre, after all, and is responsible for a lot of the accepted norms and tropes of this style of gameplay. However, there are some folks who feel too heavily bound by the lore of those games, or who want a different system to play that lets them capture the feeling of this genre in a wholly different way.

And that's where Bloodlines & Black Magic comes in!

 

The original version of the game used the Pathfinder classic system, using what was called an O7 game. Because while traditional Pathfinder games can go up to level 20, an O7 game only goes up to the first 7 levels of a campaign. While player characters might gain more knowledge, powerful equipment, etc., their level will never go above that rather low bar, which keeps things tense and dangerous. The updated version of the game, however, uses its own, unique system to explore the same world while giving players even more options to customize their characters.

Whichever you choose, there's a dark, damned world out there to explore.

The idea behind these games is that the characters are all tied to one of the bloodlines that run through the world. Magic is real, but it hides behind rain-slick windows, in the back rooms of hellfire clubs, and the upper echelons of power. The world is shaped by global elites who play games of shadows, and who are trying to control the narrative for their own reason. The real question is where will the player characters turn, and what factions will they seek shelter from, and lend their strength to?

 

Honestly, while I could provide details about the factions, the history, the world setup (I did contribute a bit to it a while back in Bloodlines & Black Magic, Whispers and Rumors Issue 4), this is a time that I recommend going in with knowledge of the vibe and little else so that you can absorb the game and its world as you read and play. However, for folks who want a bit of a glimpse behind the tapestry, there is a Bloodlines & Black Magic Quickstart Guide that I'd recommend downloading and giving a once over before you crack open your wallets.

 

Because whether you're not a fan of the Storyteller System, you want a world with a fresh cosmology underpinning its secret histories and occult truths, or you just like trying out RPGs that throw you into a game of shadows as colossal, unseen forces vie for position, this is a tabletop experience I would highly recommend checking out! And while things have been quiet over at Storm Bunny Studios for a bit, they're getting louder by the day, which means we should be seeing a lot of fresh updates and new material for this world.

 

So if you've slept on it, now is a good time to open your eyes!

As A Bonus For Those Stepping Into The Darkness...

If you're someone who enjoys secret world of magic and lost gods that lurk in plain sight, then I'd highly recommend checking out Suffer The Children, a tale of an Old Testament angel settling a grudge with a cult of Moloch in modern-day Los Angeles as he tries to rescue a child sacrifice. This story is the latest audio drama to land over on The A.L.I.C.E. Files. This is a YouTube channel I launched a little while back with Alice Liddell, and it caters to many of the same themes as Bloodlines & Black Magic, though from a more sci fi angle. Still, there are secrets lurking in plain sight, and even clues to deeper mysteries in some of the videos, so check out the channel, subscribe, and leave us some comments if you think you found an Easter egg, or you caught something that might be important later!

We need all the help we can get to keep this endeavor going, and it's free to all our viewers!

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 additional audio dramas over on The A.L.I.C.E. Files! 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!

Moving From Reactive Characters To Active Ones In Your Tabletop Games

There is a tendency among players to be reactive. There may still be roleplay going on, and the character may still be doing things, but those things are rarely important or goal-oriented. They'll be drinking at the tavern, cooking meals in a kitchen, splitting wood, wandering through a carnival, fighting in a local pit, or any of a thousand other things, but these tasks are rarely in service to actually accomplishing anything... instead, they're merely things that can be stopped as soon as the actual task is set before them by the Game Master.

Put another way, a lot of characters are swimming around like fish, waiting for something that looks vaguely like a hook to appear. And then when the hook is there, it's like they're waiting for it to grab them, and pull them to wherever it is they're supposed to be.

However, a game often goes far more smoothly (and can actually be a lot more fun) if the player characters are actively pursuing goals and plots, instead of passively waiting for something to happen to them in order to spark a reaction.

When was the last time the king cleared the board?

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!

Motivation Is Only Part Of The Formula

When it comes to character actions, the discussion often turns to motivations and goals. After all, if a character isn't pursuing what they want, then it must be because they don't have a clearly defined brass ring they're reaching for, right? The difficulty is that motivation is just the gas in the tank; you need to have it, but the fuel isn't what drives you forward... it's pushing your foot down on the pedal that does it. It is applying action and ignition to the motivation that makes the wheels turn.

 

To continue this metaphor, you can have a character with deep, abiding motivations. They may have causes they care passionately about, or goals they must achieve if they're to move on with their life... but picking a direction doesn't mean you are moving in that direction.

 

Knowing the route isn't the same as walking the road.

For a less metaphorical example, do you play your character like Fred or Shaggy? Are you actively looking for answers, trying to find solutions, or even setting up traps, or is your character constantly making excuses, ducking plot hooks, or trying to run away unless the plot grabs them by the scruff of the neck, or they're dragged into things by the rest of the party?

 

Now, that is not to say you can't play a Shaggy. But if the entire party is reluctant to participate in what's happening, and is looking for reasons to get out of it to be somewhere else, and to do something else, then there's either not going to be a game to play, or the plot is going to have hem the party in to force them to solve a problem. However, if 3 of the 4 characters are being proactive and jumping in with both feet, this typically drags a reluctant (or a purely reactive) character along in their wake.

 

If you find yourself constantly twiddling your thumbs, looking around the table for someone to make the first move, or constantly waiting around for your character to be told what to do next, consider taking the initiative instead. Be the one who makes a plan, and gets the table talking. Call out to your companions, and tell them what you plan to do, and ask them to come with you on this endeavor. You don't necessarily need to be the party leader, but sometimes all it takes is being willing to dive in to really get the gears turning.

 

It also saves your Game Master from having to constantly prime the pump, and come up with some kind of event or NPC to give everyone a push in order to keep things moving.

 

Lastly if you are interested in a little extra motivation for your characters, then I'd recommend checking out my supplements 100 Character Goals and Motivations, which went Electrum a while back, and 100 Dark Secrets which is still Silver at time of writing, but could move up to the next metal level with your help!

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 the dark sci fi saga of The A.L.I.C.E. Files! 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 Second Supplement Of Anti-Trope Suggestions (With A Snarky Title) Has Dropped!

So, I don't really know how to classify this particular series I've apparently started. Because they aren't limited to only worldbuilding questions, NPCs, lore, or background ideas. They're not primarily for players, or Game Masters. Mostly they're just inspired by seeing a prevalent trope in tabletop RPGs, and providing a list of ideas for folks who don't want to go along with the stereotype at their table, but who could use a bit of inspiration to move in a different direction.

The first supplement was 100 Fantasy Professions (That Aren't "Adventurer"), and it was something folks on both sides of the table could use for inspiration. The second supplement, which came out this past weekend, though, is 100 Ways To Start A Campaign (That Aren't In A Tavern).

And I highly recommend grabbing a copy if you haven't yet!

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my 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!

Which Tropes Should I Tackle Next?

Any time the audience sends me a message with their buying habits, I try to listen. And since 100 Ways To Start A Campaign (That Aren't In A Tavern) hit Copper today, and seems to be well on its way to cresting Silver before it fully runs out of momentum, this seems to be something that readers enjoy! As such, I wanted to tag in my regular readers, and ask you what RPG stereotypes you think deserve their own entry in this series? What would you actually use?

Some examples I've been kicking around include things like:

- 100 Friends and Family Members To Put In Your Backstory

- 100 Rewards (Other Than Gold)

- 100 Quirks For Your Character

 

These are just a couple ideas I've jotted down in my notebook of things to work on in the future, but I wanted to take a moment to see if this is something folks wanted to see more of, and if they'd like more tongue-in-cheek titles which were still offering useful resources to help improve your characters, your campaigns, and even your settings!

 

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 additional audio dramas over on The A.L.I.C.E. Files! 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!

Dungeon Design Tips: Limited Resources Can Lead To Creative Strategies

When you pop the hood on what makes an RPG challenging, there are a lot of different systems at play. However, if you dig down to the very foundations of what makes the game work, a lot of it comes down to a smart use of the available resources to complete a task, or achieve a goal. Whether it's spell slots, rage rounds, alchemical items, carrying capacity, or even time, limiting the resources your players have available is one of the main ways a Game Master establishes challenge... and it can often lead to creative strategies on your players' part.

We've got three of them left... how many villains are there?

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!

Putting Pressure On Your Players

Challenge is, on the surface, a very simple thing to create. There is an obstacle, and the players need to find a way over it, around it, under it, or through it... and whichever strategy they use is going to come with risk, and it will use some of their resources.

 

What you have to determine, as the Game Master, is how you're going to apply pressure to ensure that your players have to get creative with both their risks and their resources.

 

Think this will be enough ammo for the quest?

 

What resources you have on-hand typically determines what strategies players will want to try... however, the most important consideration for you, as the Game Master, is that every strategy to solve a meaningful problem should come with some kind of potential risk as well as a potential reward.

As an example, take one of the most basic situations found in fantasy RPGs; your party is going to a crumbling ruin that is infested with monsters (and potentially traps) in order to take the treasure inside for themselves. A simple dungeon crawl... however, there are some ways that this scenario might lack challenge. And while most Game Masters just add extra monsters, slap more hit points onto existing creatures, or increase the difficulty and damage on the traps, those things can feel arbitrary.

So instead, let's ask what other things might add pressure to this treasure hunt. Potential challenges include:

- Time Constraints: If the dungeon is only accessible during a specific time frame, say for three days, the party doesn't have a lot of spare 8-hour recharge times to use. The same is true if they manage to get to the dungeon first, but there are other so-called adventurers hot on their tails that they don't want to fight for the loot.

 

- Food: While most campaigns don't pay any real attention to how much your players eat, take a moment and ask how many provisions they brought with them out into the depths of this old-growth forest. Do they have the necessary skills to forage? Do they end up eating something poisonous or rotten, and getting sick? Even if they technically have all the time in the world, they can't keep fighting on an empty stomach.

- Tools: Typically RPGs don't worry about weapon and armor durability, but there are some tools that can break if checks go badly enough. If the rogue only has two sets of lockpicks, and one set gets broken on a door because they rolled poorly enough, will they press forward? Will they allow companions to kick in doors instead, risking drawing the attention of monsters? Or will they use another strategy entirely to open locked portals?

- Material Components: We typically don't worry much about these things, but they are a major necessity for spellcasting. So while relatively simple components might get a hand wave and a pass, ask which spells require notable costs, and expensive or rare components. Because if the party can only bring a handful of those, their absence is going to be felt sooner rather than later.

- Resetting Dungeon: If the players don't complete the dungeon crawl, it should reset or change in a meaningful way when they either abandon it, or hunker down to rest. Perhaps the creatures are reinforced with fresh recruits, or the dead get back up, reanimated by the nature of the place. Maybe creatures that were held in check by creatures the party slew can now expand their territory and wander freely. Maybe the locks reset themselves. Perhaps the traps come back online, or they're reset by monsters who regularly patrol the dungeon. If retreating is a strategic choice, then the dungeon shouldn't just remain in status in their absence.

 

All of these, and many others, are ways you can use limited resources to put a squeeze on your players... and every way they find around one of these constraints is a victory for them. For example, if a ranger can reliably forage well enough to feed themselves and their companions, that removes food as a constraint that can weigh on players. If players have access to fast travel through spells or unique mounts, that also buys them more time, and lets them bypass the dangers of the wilderness.

 

The key here is to get your players thinking in terms of what will use the fewest resources, or what will be most effective, and seeing if it will get them venturing off the beaten path as they search for solutions.

 

Because if you have a thousand arrows, a trunk of material components, and all the healing items in the world, then it's likely your players might try to brute force their way through overwhelming odds by fighting a grueling war of attrition against every monster, bandit, and assassin that comes for them. However, if they just don't have the resources to make that a winning strategy, it can be interesting to see what they do instead. Do the players instead embrace stealth, either ambushing enemies to get the upper hand, or skipping combat altogether to reach the treasure chamber? Do they employ guile, using lies and disguises to hide in plain sight? Do they set traps, or use the ones already in the dungeon to damage or destroy monsters they themselves couldn't fight on their own?

 

When you have access to all the resources in the world, you can get lazy and just do whatever. But when the pressure is on, and you have limited options, that's when people start getting creative with the choices they make... and it can overall lead to a much more satisfying experience!

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 the dark sci fi channel I contribute stories to, The A.L.I.C.E. Files! 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!

The Difficulty of Destined Heroes and Fail States

We have all been in those games where destiny takes a hand in the plot. Perhaps our heroes are chosen by the gods to act as their direct representatives in a spiritual proxy war (a similar setup to what I called The Cold War of The Gods). Maybe there was a prophecy that foretold them rising up to challenge a great power. Or this just happens to be the trope the GM is leaning on because it was difficult to find an organic way to get such a disparate group of killers, thieves, and liars to all come together to accomplish a shared goal.

However, there is nothing more likely to result in a clash between rules and plot than something going wrong in a destined hero game. Which is why, before you gear up to run one, you need to think through how you plan on dealing with a fail state.

The dragon warriors were supposed to free us all... but then they died. To one lucky goblin.

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my 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 Does Destiny Manage To Weave Through Failure?

We've all read a story where a hero or heroes were destined to do something, and while things might have seemed bleak or hopeless at times in that story, the characters always seemed to make it through in an interesting way. Which is why if you're playing a game where the plot device is that your party have been chosen by fate, the gods, or some other higher force, you need to take a moment to ask how you're going to keep the game going if bad luck stalls out the story's progress.

The gods are not so easily denied, small one...

Let's start with the obvious... what happens if one or more of the characters get killed? They've been chosen for this great destiny, and they're on their way to fulfill it, when an orc ambush goes a little too well, and the party goes down. Now you've lost the champions of the plot... what is destiny going to do now?

Well, I have a few recommendations for how to handle this.

Firstly, if you're going to run a chosen one plot, wait until the PCs have gained a few levels before you start throwing around that kind of language and making them officially chosen ones. The major advantage of this is that it gives your players a couple of levels to get into the groove of their characters, and to get past the point where one good critical hit can spell an unlucky game over. The secondary advantage is that it gives the party time to become cohesive, and for players to get really attached to their characters. After all, a player wanting to bring in a completely different PC can screw with the whole destined heroes plot just as much as a character death.

However, even waiting until the PCs are a little beefier doesn't guarantee they won't meet with an ignoble end. That's why it's a good idea to have some kind of force in place to give the characters a way to survive at least 1 death. However, as I mentioned recently in both Undercutting Death Can Undercut Your Story, as well as Villains Can Cheat Death (Without Taking Away Your Players' Victory), it's important that this doesn't feel like you're just throwing your players a bone. Overcoming death should come with some kind of cost or hardship, or it should be uncertain in some important way. Perhaps a divine being must stand in the place of a PC in the Underworld until they complete their quest, or they have to make some kind of bargain with a powerful outsider.

You can even have a whole separate part of the campaign happen in the land of the dead if you want to bring in a game resource like The Black Ballad, which is all about running campaigns that take place partially (or even entirely) in the hereafter. Alternatively, you might find some inspiration in I'm Back! - 25 Reasons For A Villain's Survival.

Resurrection can be a finnicky thing.

Lastly, and this might sound counterintuitive at first, you should try to come up with fail states beyond death for the PCs.

I've talked about this before, but when it comes to a destiny-style game, consider the implications of death in the ongoing power struggle. Will killing the heroes of the prophecy actually stop the prophecy from coming true? Or will this just allow the divine essence to slip away, where it will empower a different, unknown hero that the villains will have to find and track down all over again? Do the villains want to steal the PCs destiny, but they can't do that if they're dead, so they have to be kept alive and captured? Are the PCs themselves a necessity for the villain to win, whether it's by turning them away from their current path, making allies of them, or getting them to somehow renounce the quest laid before them?

It's your game, so you're the one who gets to decide how the prophecy, destiny, or driving plot force behaves. However, providing multiple fail states, or a way for players to fail-forward is a good idea. For example, have the villains been given explicit instructions by their master to take the PCs alive at all costs? If so, then they should find themselves held prisoner in the enemy's fortress when that was where they were going anyway... the difference is that now they have to engineer a jailbreak instead of just sneaking in. Alternatively, perhaps they're in a race to acquire magical artifacts, and the fail state for that arc of the quest is not being killed, but rather the enemy acquiring the items first, which puts the PCs at a disadvantage they need to recover from in the next arc.

And so on, and so forth.

To wrap things up, I'm not saying that games where PCs are the chosen ones, or where they're fulfilling some grand destiny, are bad. Far from it. After all, everyone likes to be special from time to time. However, if that is the trope you're using as the main thrust of your campaign, it's important for you to have off-ramps and work arounds in the event things don't go according to plan.

Which every Game Master will tell you is basically guaranteed to happen as soon as you hand the reins over to the players, and the dice start hitting the table.

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 additional audio dramas over on The A.L.I.C.E. Files! 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!

Should I Make "The Galaxy's Oldest Profession" Series of Supplements Next?

For folks who don't keep an eye on every one of my new releases, you might have missed my latest which dropped this past weekend; World's Oldest Profession: 100 Titillating Titles To Find in a Lewd Library. This is the 4th installment in the World's Oldest Profession series, and while some of the titles have been more popular than others, it seems to have been pretty popular overall.

Which is why I wanted to take this Monday's post to ask folks, should I expand this into another genre? Something like The Galaxy's Oldest Profession, perhaps?

Also, for those who want to check out the older releases, check out:

- World's Oldest Profession: A Baker's Dozen of Brothels

- World's Oldest Profession: 100 Courtesans and Concubines

- World's Oldest Profession: 100 Rumors To Hear At A Brothel

Seriously, pick up the latest if you haven't yet!

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my 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!

For All My Sci Fi Lovers Out There

Folks who've been reading my supplements for a while know this, but in the event you're new here, fantasy supplements are often the testing ground for a new format or idea for me. Fantasy RPGs are everywhere, and they're some of the most dominant choices on the market, so that's where I go to test my ideas. And if something seems to be going well in the fantasy genre, I might take the same concept and switch the genre for folks playing sci fi RPGs.

It's why when 100 Random Mercenary Companies did well, I put together 100 Sci Fi Mercenary Companies. When 100 Cults To Encounter was popular with folks, I came out with 100 Sci Fi Cults as a follow-up. And while the sci fi version often does well, sometimes I'm surprised an it actually does better than the original fantasy version of the supplement!

Which is why I wanted to ask folks this week if this should be a series that gets its own re-imagining into a new genre?

Don't let the Toy Box fool you... the place is a wild time!

If this is something you think I should pursue, please let me know in either the comments, or on my social media linked at the end of this post. However, rather than just a yay or nay, I'd appreciate if you could provide some of the following input:

- Is there a particular sub-genre of sci fi (cyberpunk, starfaring, grimdark, etc.) you want to see?

- Do you want locations, rumors, NPCs, or things to find?

- Would you want it compatible with any particular rule set (Cyberpunk, Starfinder, etc.)?

These three extra pieces of information will help determine where the starting point is for the series, and the amount of replies I receive overall will determine how quickly the project moves up my to-do list.

Lastly, if you've already purchased copies of any of the 4 World's Oldest Profession supplements, please take a moment to rate and review them on Drive Thru RPG. None of them have managed to hit Gold just yet, and I'd have quite a laugh if we could manage to get at least one title to that level by the end of the year. If that happens, I promise to write a Gold-Digger post to commemorate the occasion!

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 additional audio dramas over on The A.L.I.C.E. Files! 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!