You're Not Missing My Updates (They're Over on Vocal)

Long-time readers know that I generally update this blog twice a week, once on Mondays, and once on either Friday or Saturday. Sometimes the weekend post gets wiped out because of a convention or other major event where I just can't sit down at my desk long enough to put some text on the page, but when that happens the Crunch, Fluff, Table Talk, or Unusual Character Concepts post usually goes up the following Monday.

However, you may have noticed there have been some... gaps on this page of late. You're not imagining things, but I wanted to take this week to let folks know what I've been changing up, why I'm changing it, and what sort of results I'm trying to generate with this shift in approach.

And like everything else, it's been a roll of the dice.

Before I get into the details, as always, make sure you sign up for my weekly newsletter if you want to get all of my updates, and if you've got a little extra cash to toss around for the holidays you should consider becoming a Patreon patron to help me keep the blog going.

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Vocal, And Return on Investment

I've been running Improved Initiative for quite a few years, and while my content, style, and organization have changed over time, one thing has remained the same... the blog doesn't really put any money in my pockets. Even if you don't have AdBlock on (and to the six of you that turned it off, my thanks), the ads that run on this site pay terribly. We're talking like $25 a year or so on a blog that (to toot my own horn a bit) draws between 20k and 50k views a month.

So if you wondered why it was I'm always pushing my Patreon page, my Ko-Fi link, or supplements like the Inns and Tavern Bundle or Evil Incorporated: 10 Pentex Subsidiaries, it's because the blog itself doesn't really earn any money on its own.

No student loans here, but definitely a cat who needs his treats.

As a way to shake things up a bit, I started experimenting with putting some of my regular, weekly updates over in my Vocal archive instead of on Improved Initiative, linking them in the master lists when the article goes live. I started with Table Talk, starting with That One Time My Bard Made The Dungeon Master's Girlfriend Jealous, and then I put the first 3 installments of the Silver Raven Chronicles up (my group's run through the Hell's Rebels adventure path). I also put a few of my Unusual Character Concepts posts up there, such as The Anti-Party and The Possessed, and I also put my most recent Crunch installment Tips For Writing RPG Character Conversions there as well.

For the record, it's been a bastard and a half to get eyes on The Silver Raven Chronicles. So if you haven't read any of the installments yet make sure you check out Devil's Night, From The Ashes, and The Raven's Nest. It would be greatly appreciated!

Why did I do this, you ask? Put simply, return on investment.

As a Vocal+ member, I make roughly $6 per 1k reads my articles on that site get. While it's true that they'd be more visible if I put them here on my blog, all the traffic in the world does you no good if it doesn't actually generate anything. I could write a blog entry that pushes all kinds of buttons and gets 20k hits in the space of a weekend, but it won't give me anything for my trouble. I could publish that same article on Vocal, get half the traffic, and still have $60 in my back pocket for the weekend's work.

Is This Blog Dying?

No, not in the slightest.

While I'm probably going to keep both my Table Talk and Unusual Character Concepts on Vocal (at least in the near future), Fluff, Crunch, and my Monday posts are going to keep showing up here. Mostly this change in platform for some of my articles is just me trying to diversify my income streams so I can keep doing what I'm doing, and ensure that rent gets paid. Because while I know I have fans out there who love my RPG work, as well as folks who want to see me release more novels, I'm trying to work smarter instead of harder.

Especially since I've been going at about 130% since last March, and I really need to take my foot off the gas a bit before something blows in my brain. There will be more of an update on that later, but the short version is that with so many clients going silent during the pandemic (and all the work I'd already done for them just not getting paid for) I've been on more of a scramble than normal. While I'm by no means on top of that, it's important to acknowledge that you can only run in the red for so long before you burn yourself out... and that isn't something I want to do.

As such, you're going to see me trying some new things, expanding into different areas, and trying to get better results. All I ask from you fine folks is that you keep giving me your eyeballs, and help me get back up on my feet before the rising tide comes for me.

Until then, though, go check out my Vocal archive! It's got over 200 articles in it, and if you haven't been there yet it should keep you scrolling for quite a few hours to come!

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!

Should I Tell More Tales? (Expanding Back Into Tie-In Fiction)

Folks who know me primarily for my gaming articles and RPG supplements may not be aware that when I decided I was going to be an author my original goal was to write novels and short stories; working on RPGs is something I just sort of fell into. While regular readers have no doubt noticed it peeking out in scenes like the dragon race in the beginning and end of Hoardreach: City of Wyrms, or in the introduction to character concept articles like The Anti-Party, I don't mention those projects as often as I might on this particular blog.

The closing section doesn't count. Practically no one actually reads that, much less follows the links in it.

I wish it were otherwise, but it is what it is.

With that said, I'm contemplating combining my writing about RPGs and my desire to put out more fiction. I've even been putting out some small feelers to see how feasible it is, and I wanted to take this Monday's post to draw folks' attention to them, and to lay out some of the ideas I had going forward along with the challenges inherent in these projects.

For folks who want to stay on top of all my latest content, subscribe to my weekly newsletter! Also, if you want to help me keep the wheels turning then you can also become a Patreon patron... even small donations make a big difference.

Trying Something Different (If Not, Exactly, New)

For folks who haven't checked it out (since my analytics tells me that Table Talk is one of my least read features on this blog) you may not have come across one of my latest projects. The Silver Raven Chronicles is my re-telling of my group's run through the Hell's Rebels adventure path... but rather than just writing the roll-by-roll recounting as I have in previous installments, I thought I'd do something different. So instead of following my old formula, I'm putting together a series of pulpy short stories that each focus on a notable event throughout the campaign as it unfolds.

And at time of writing, we're two tales in with a third on the way! We started off with a bit of a prequel in Devil's Night, told from the perspective of one of Kintargo's dottari who finds out that the rumors of a so-called ghost that's been leaving a trail of splintered bones and broken patrols is far more than an urban legend. From there we move onto From The Ashes, which details the riot in Aria Park instigated by Barzillai Thrune as he tries to teach the common folk a lesson... a lesson which sows the seeds of much more widespread rebellion!

Of course, folks who regularly check out what's new in my Vocal archive will note these aren't the first short tales I've published this year. I also penned Waking Dogs- A World Eaters Tale which takes place in the Warhammer 40K setting. If you ever wanted to see what happens when one of the berserkers of the World Eaters calmed down long enough to realize how thoroughly and completely they'd been screwed by their father, and their so-called allies, then you are definitely going to want to check out what happens when Crixus and the Butcher's Nails in his skull decide to be mad at the same people for a little while.

There's even a lovely audio rendition of it from A Vox in The Void if you haven't checked it out yet!

Folks who are more familiar with my older work might be asking why I'm posting stories on a free site like Vocal when I could sell stories on the various community use platforms out there? After all, a lot of folks read and enjoyed my Pathfinder Tale The Irregulars about a team of saboteurs sent out by Andoran to douse the fires of war before they ever really get going across the Inner Sea, so why not build on that with some sequels? Or tell some entirely fresh tales now that Pathfinder Infinite is a thing, along with the World of Darkness, Pugmire, the Shattered Lands, the various worlds and properties available on DM's Guild, and so on, and so forth?

Trying To Gauge What My Readers Want

The main reason I opted to use Vocal as a kind of test platform was to try to get some hard numbers for readership. I know there's a dedicated reader base out there who enjoys tie-in fiction, and it's a product that can also appeal to those who don't play certain RPGs, but who still enjoy getting lost in stories about the world. It's also a lot easier to write stories in a pre-made setting where I don't have to do any ground-up construction or world building, which can be very freeing (especially after spending the past few years cranking out novels of my own).

The issue I run into with this project is, of course, the same issue most creators run into... walking that line between something we want to create, and something you want to read as our audience.

Seriously, gauging the market is like throwing runes or talking to demons at the best of times.

So that's what I wanted to ask this week... what would you be interested in as a reader? Current ideas include:

- Writing More Pathfinder Stories: I'd either put these on Vocal as with my Hell's Rebels breakdown, or doing fresh tales like sequels to the Irregulars, as well as some of the pitches for the Pathfinder Tales I never got a chance to write to be published on Pathfinder Infinite.

- Writing Stories Set in the World of Darkness: There is a collection coming out soon called Tales From The Moot with Werewolf: The Apocalypse stories which I'll be talking about when it drops since it has some of my work in it, but I'd like to write stories for Changeling, and possibly even for Vampire if there's an audience for it. For folks interested in a sample check out A Garou Thing by Justin Duncan, a good friend of mine who was quite eager to get in on the project.

- Writing Stories Set in Sundara: Since I already put the time and effort into creating places like Ironfire: City of Steel, Moüd: City of Bones, and Archbliss: City of The Sorcerers, it seems a shame not to build off of them as a foundation. Stories of Sundara would likely be short novellas detailing some of the adventures one could have in the setting, along with some gaming goodies at the end like write-ups on NPCs, or unique spells or magic items seen in the adventure itself.

Each of these strategies has their benefits and drawbacks. For example, both Pathfinder Infinite and Storyteller's Vault would tap into an existing audience, allow me to use premade settings, and I could get some of the stories I've had clogging up my brain out into the world. But a cut of all my earnings would go to Paizo or Onyx Path/White Wolf, too. Writing free stories means more people could read them (at least in theory), but the amount of traffic they'd need to get to be a return on investment is rather large. Sundara has the advantage of being my own setting, but it's less well known, and would generally be a harder sell to people not already familiar with it. Then you have the question of whether to write disparate short stories, novellas, or to go all-out and try to write a novel or two.

There's a lot of guesswork in here... which is why I wanted to ask folks reading this what they want to see!

Do you want to see me put out more free stories that you can just eyeball and share around without having to crack your wallet? Would you be more interested in stories in an established setting, or would you like to see how I'd expand Sundara going forward? And would you want something short, something mid-range, or a full-on novel?

Let me know... I'm listening.

And If You Can't Wait Till Then...

If you're in the market for fresh fiction, and you don't want to wait until I've finished spinning fresh yarns, well, I do have a library of novels you can check out if you haven't seen them yet!

Every copy you get means more treats and toys for me!

If you're the sort of person who loves cats and noir-style mysteries, then I'd recommend checking out my Hard-Boiled Cats series, starring Leo. Our Maine Coon heavy is always trying to keep his whiskers out of other people's business, but trouble keeps winding up in his back alley in the Big Apple. In Marked Territory he gets roped into a territorial dispute in the South Bronx that's more than it appears to be, and in Painted Cats he goes looking for a missing cat as a favor to an old flame. When bruisers start coming out of the woodwork to wave him off, Leo can't help but wonder what, exactly, happened to Mischief to bring all this heat his way?

If that series isn't your cup of tea, I have other options. My most recent release is a sci-fi dystopia where our protagonist is a de-commissioned bioweapon just trying to live among the civilian populace. When a conspiracy shows its hand, though, Pollux re-activates what's left of his old unit to go hunting in Old Soldiers. For the sword and sorcery fans, Crier's Knife may be more your speed. When his cousin goes missing, Dirk is tasked with bringing the boy back home to the mountain. Dark times lie ahead, according to his Sighted mother, so he brings his good dagger with him. As the foothill folk say, only a dead man crosses a Crier.

And for those looking for a variety plate, I'd recommend my short story collection The Rejects. The best of my stories over the past 10 years that just couldn't find a home this one has monsters and wizards, demons and mysteries... 13 tales in all!

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!

5 Overlooked Buff Spells (in Pathfinder)

People often say that Pathfinder characters are overpowered. That they're running on superhero levels of skills, power, and sheer wooge. That's not inherently wrong, but the problem is that when the monsters are just as extra as you are, you're still going to be the underdog when it comes time to roll initiative and throw down. Which is why it pays to have a few extra tricks up your sleeve the next time you get ready for battle.

For my money, these buff spells are far more useful than a lot of folks give them credit for.

How many hits of this am I supposed to take?

As always, if you want to get all my updates sent right to your email, sign up for my weekly newsletter. And if you want to do your part to help me keep the wheels turning and fresh content coming your way, then become a Patreon patron today! Even a small pledge makes a big difference.

Spell #1: Expeditious Retreat

I am speed!

The name of this spell always makes people think it's used solely for running away from something, but it just adds a 30-foot enhancement to your land speed for 1 minute per level. So while you could put that on your wizard in order to play ranged games with the slow-moving undead, you could also have a gnome fighter read off a scroll, or the halfling alchemist slam down an extract, so they can suddenly close with all kinds of enemies on the battlefield.

The major downside of this spell is that it's self only, so you can't have a caster beef up the party tank and then send them rocketing off into battle. But it can be quite useful all the same for those who find they're constantly a few squares short of being able to get where they need to go when battle is joined.

Spell #2: Feather Step

Difficult terrain? What's that?

Difficult terrain is one of those things that's never really an issue, until it is. Whether you're fighting in mountains, you need to rush up the stairs to get to a villain atop a dais, or there's just bones strewn all across the floor of a pit, having your movement suddenly and unexpectedly hampered can majorly tie your hands behind your back. Especially if your party already had limited movement due to heavy armor, small size, etc. Feather step is an ideal way to just ignore this problem.

While used fairly rarely, feather step can be a lifesaver in fights where difficult terrain is part of the challenge of the arena. Or if you have casters who are creating difficult terrain as part of area of effect spells, and you don't want your allies to get caught in the slog. In fact, that one-two punch can be particularly nasty for land-based foes, especially if you're high enough level to get mass feather step so the whole party can run around unhampered with a single casting.

Spell #3: Moment of Greatness

Now is the moment!

This is another of those spells that often gets overlooked because you really need to have the right components in place to get the most out of it. The most common situation is when you have a bard in the party who can use this to effectively double the bonus from many of their bardic music effects at a single go. However, it also applies to morale bonuses from things like barbarian rage, which can be quite useful when said barbarian is getting up to the point where they're adding +6 or more to their Strength and Constitution, and for a single moment they can double that.

Of all the spells on this list, moment of greatness is one that starts all right, but only gets better as long as the party has a reliable way to get serious morale bonuses slapped on them. And the more folks who get the bonus, the more useful this spell is.

Spell #4: Tactical Acumen

We've got the high ground!

Tactical positioning is always your friend when it comes to winning a battle, but tactical acumen can be a real bastard when it comes to boosting your party's effectiveness. The spell lasts 1 round per level, and goes off in a burst from the caster, hitting all allies in 30 feet. What it does, in short, is give you a +1 to attacks or AC anytime you'd receive a bonus due to positioning. So cover, flanking, higher ground, etc. are all worth an additional +1. What's even better is that it's an insight bonus, which isn't that common, so you don't have to worry about not stacking with luck bonuses, morale bonuses, enhancement bonuses, etc.

Best of all, this one goes up with you as you level, to a +2 at a 10th level caster, +3 at 15th level, and +4 at 20th. It won't make or break a fight all on its own, but if you've got allies who are already using enhanced mobility to get into advantageous positions, using mounts to attack ground-based allies, or who are flying to get above their foes (or who are using cover to defend themselves), this can add some more oomph to their efforts.

Spell #5: Visualization of The Body/Mind

If given a knife and a hand in which to hold it...

Slot #5 is a shared one, because these two spells just have a lot of potential. Whichever visualization version you use, the spell lasts 24 hours, or until discharged. It costs 200 GP in various items, so it's not one to just blow willy nilly, but the bonus is not to be sniffed at.

Firstly, it offers you an untyped +5 bonus to all skill and ability checks associated with one of your attributes for either the next 24 hours, or until it's discharged. That's not nothing, especially if you actively use, say, Bluff to feint in combat, or Intimidate to demoralize enemies, or you want to be sure that ALL your Knowledge checks have a nice, fat boost. Or course, each attribute also has a handy, immediate effect you can discharge the spell for to get.

This is one of those spell choices that works best in a scroll form, or something similar. Because you can't have the other members of the party slap it on you, but it does have a flat duration and a flat bonus regardless of how powerful the caster level is... and that makes a big difference. It will get expensive if you apply it every day, but it's a good thing to slap on before you start the heist, delve into the dungeon, etc.

Looking For Some Additional Reading?

If you're looking for new places to use some of these spells, making sure you check out my growing Sundara: Dawn of a New Age setting. It's available both in Pathfinder Classic, as well as for Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition if that's more your jam!

And if you want to see at least some of these spells in use, don't forget to check out the ongoing series of pulpy short stories that tell the tale of my group's run through the Hell's Rebels adventure path! Devil's Night is a bit of a prologue, setting the stage with whispers of an urban legend in Kintargo that's slowly making its presence known in the night terrors of the dottari. And the more recent installment, From The Ashes, tells about the riot at the opera house, and how Thrune has planted the seeds of their own undoing with the resurrection of the Silver Ravens!

Like, Share, and Follow For More!

That's all for this week's Crunch topic! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio! Or if you'd like to read some of my books, like my alley cat noir novel Marked Territory, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well! And if you'd like to help support me and my work, consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron! Even a little bit of help can go a long way, trust me on that one.