"Sundara: Dawn of a New Age" Is Finally Getting Some Adventure Modules!

It's been several years since my fantasy RPG setting Sundara: Dawn of a New Age debuted with the first supplement, Cities of Sundara: Ironfire for Pathfinder. Since then there's been dozens of supplements covering cities, species, gods, cults, mercenary companies, and more, and well over a quarter million words have gone into building up this world (and that's just my contributions). One of the things we haven't released, though, has been adventure modules.

Until today, that is! Which is why I wanted to write this little update to let folks know that Isaiah Burt's module The Invocation of Bael-Kharn is now live on Drive Thru RPG and ready for you to play!

So check it out, and give this setting a look for yourself!

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!

A Call To Adventure in The City of Steel!

To begin at the beginning, this module is for a party of characters ranging from level 6 to level 8, and it uses the Pathfinder Classic system. According to the preview, an elf who has been working for centuries to bring down the vaunted City of Steel may be moving closer to her goal. And while there are enough mercenaries and alchemists in Ironfire to win most wars, all the weapons in the world will do one no good if you can't see the threat coming, and you don't understand where to aim them.

I don't want to give more than that away, because I want as many folks as possible to discover the world of Sundara, and this adventure, as they explore what's been presented. However, with that said, I would recommend checking out some of Isaiah's other contributions to the setting that will be great supplements to have on-hand for this module (at least for the Game Master): Settlements of The Dragonsbreath Mountains, 100 Lizardfolk of Sundara, and his novella Legacy of Flames, all of which provide solid support right alongside the initial Cities of Sundara: Ironfire book, and the companion piece 100 Whispers & Rumors For Ironfire, The City of Steel.

And for folks who want a rapid rundown, I talked about the City of Steel a few years back when I was in exile at a hotel. So consider checking out the video to see if this is something that will perk your interest!

Why Did It Take So Long For Modules To Start Dropping?

Folks have been trying to get me to write modules for Sundara almost since it started releasing going on 3 years ago. So why is this adventure the first one that we're seeing? Well, there are a lot of reasons for that, and I wanted to explain them to folks here so you all know the score.

First and foremost, adventure modules are overall one of the worst-selling types of supplements on the market. There are modules that do well, and there are writers out there who move a lot of copies of them... but that's like saying that because there are a few bestselling novelists that everyone who wrote a book is paying their bills. A lot of GMs outright refuse to use modules, so a majority of them languish, unseen, and unplayed.

Secondly, modules are hard as hell to write. You're basically writing a short story, with math, and you have to try to provide a wide list of things that individual players may choose to do so the GM has alternate paths available to them.

Thirdly, modules require more supplemental material than other kinds of RPG products. There's the interior art, the maps, the covers... all of that adds up over time. And while most writers have the ability or resources to some of the things a module requires, most of us do not have the ability to do all of those things.

And when you spread minuscule profits across a team of people... well...

Now, I will be the first to tell you there is another adventure module for Sundara coming down the pipe from yours truly... however, it comes with a catch. Because the publisher doesn't want to take a loss on producing modules (again, I do not own Azukail Games, they just publish a lot of my work), I'm accepting a smaller, up-front fee to get this thing published. However, if you want to see more modules for Sundara (or just more modules in general from Isaiah and myself), then make sure the numbers are doing some serious talking! Because if these modules sell a hundred copies (or even a few hundred copies) that is saying a lot in the TTRPG world... and a product that has a proven audience is a lot more likely to get approved in the future.

Lastly, if you've already picked up Isaiah's adventure, consider checking out some of the following from myself:

DND 5E Adventures

 

- The Ghosts of Sorrow Marsh - A trudge through a swamp full of terrors to save a small town

- False Valor - A murder mystery where the party must solve a killing to prevent a war

- The Curse of Sapphire Lake - Beowulf meets Friday the 13th in a frontier settlement to the north

- The Price of Iron - A single night watching a warehouse turns deadly when dark fey arrive

Army Men Mission Modules

 

- A Night At Breckon's Beacon - The search for a missing squad gets deadly on a stormy night

- Assault On Outpost 13 - Can the squad keep hold of a prisoner when an entire gang wants him freed?

Victorian Gothic

- Dreadful Tales - A collection of 3 short adventures for this percentile-based system for Victorian horror

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!

The Newest "Sundara: Dawn of a New Age" Release is Out From Isaiah Burt!

No matter how much passion or creativity one has, no matter how dedicated to a project you might be, there are only so many hours in a day, and so much gas in the tank when it comes to putting words on the page. Rome wasn't built in a day, as the saying goes, but it can still feel exhausting to get up day after day, come back to a project to try to get the next chapter for it done.

Which is why I'm pleased to say that this week's release for my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age setting is actually by Isaiah Burt... and if you haven't checked it out yet, you really should grab a copy ASAP!

Seriously, give it a look!

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!

Filling In More of The Map!

A brief catch-up for anyone not familiar with Sundara as a setting. Sundara is a fantasy RPG setting for use with both Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition, as well as Pathfinder's first edition, and it's a weird fantasy setting that aims to do away with a lot of the tropes and conceits of traditional fantasy RPGs, while still being easy for most fans of the genre to pick up and play. It's also meant to focus on finding solutions to problems, no matter what those solutions happen to be, or what form they take, with the idea that players should be given the freedom to explore options beyond hitting the problem with a hammer, or casting fireball at it.

Caught up? Lovely!

Isaiah's latest release, Settlements of The Dragonsbreath Mountains is an extension of the first location that was released for the setting, Ironfire: The City of Steel! This supplement contains 13 unique locations found in the Dragonsbreath Mountains, including maps, histories, and a complement of lore to really make the locations pop. While each of these places is meant to expand Sundara as a setting, they're also able to be plucked up and used in your own setting as independent locations, which makes it similar to one of my own earlier releases Towns of Sundara.

Of course, regular readers of this blog might recognize Isaiah's name, as this is by no means his first addition to the setting. He's also the author of the novellas Legacy of Flames (which also takes place in this area of the world), as well as Blight Bane's Gambit (a tale of an orc mercenary company that serves in Hoardreach, City of Wyrms). We even had a discussion on the Azukail Games YouTube channel not all that long ago talking about the future of Sundara as a setting, and some things we'd like to add into it going forward, in case you missed it!

As I said during the interview, I really want to see Sundara expand as a setting, and to see it grow. However, when it comes to where our energy goes as creators, generally we have to follow audience interest and sales figures. So if you're someone who would also like to see additions to Sundara, leave a comment on this blog (or the video above) regarding what you'd like to see turn up in the setting, and the kinds of projects you'd like to see us take on. If you already have copies of Sundara supplements, please head over to DTRPG and leave a rating and review on them, and if you haven't grabbed any yet... well, why not pick up a copy of Settlements of The Dragonsbreath Mountains to jump into the setting with both feet?

Or you could pick any of the supplements listed below!

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!

- Whispers and Rumors For Moüd, City of Bones!

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!

More Updates For "Sundara: Dawn of a New Age" Are On The Horizon!

As regular readers know, I've been sporadically putting out updates for my setting Sundara: Dawn of a New Age for a few years now. Currently available for Pathfinder Classic and Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition, the idea behind this setting was to have a world that's strange and unusual, which feels familiar enough that fantasy fans will be able to get their bearings, but which is different enough that there's always something new to discover!

From removing old standbys like the alignment system (and following the ripples that came with that decision), to replacing the complex multiverse with a single world of magic and one of material, to emphasizing problem solving and innovation, Sundara has a lot to offer! The difficulty has been, of course, getting people to come in and check it out.

Which is why I wanted to let folks know there are some fresh updates to the setting, as well as a few things that are coming over the horizon in the near future!

If you have a need, we have something to fill it!

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!

First and Foremost: AMA For An Upcoming Interview!

If you spend any time over on the Azukail Games YouTube channel (which your should subscribe to if you haven't already done so), then you probably know about my series Speaking of Sundara. This is a show where I talk about the setting, my inspirations for it, where some of my ideas and supplements are going, and so on. It operates as a kind of behind-the-scenes glance into Sundara, and I try to answer folks' questions while also giving everyone an elevator pitch about why they should come in and try it out for themselves!

It's been sort of irregular over the past year, mostly because I haven't been producing a lot of new Sundara content. However, there is going to be a new episode filmed soon, and it's going to be my first one with a special guest... author, and fellow Sundara creator, Isaiah Burt!

Seriously, check him out if you haven't yet!

Author of the novellas Legacy of Flames (a story about a unique lizardfolk taking his hunt into the mountains outside Ironfire), as well as Blight Bane's Gambit (a tale of a tricksy green dragon and a band of orc mercenaries), Isaiah has added many of his own brush strokes to the setting I started. And so we thought we'd have a collab about Sundara as a whole, what draws us to it, and what are some things we'd like to see it do in the future!

And if you, dear readers, had any questions you'd like to see answered then make sure you leave them in the comments below so we can address them! This will be the second AMA I've put together for Sundara, and if you haven't seen the first one, then check it out below!

A New Series: Locales of Sundara!

In addition to the Whispers & Rumors supplements I've been working on (currently the only one out is Whispers & Rumors For Ironfire, The City of Steel, but supplements are in editorial for Moüd, City of Bones and Silkgift, City of Sails), there is a new occasional supplement one should keep an eye out for... Locales of Sundara!

The first is Locales of Sundara: The Silkgift Gazette by Adrian Kennelly! Located within Fool Street, this newspaper is a hive of activity for all the news in the city, and its broadsheets are distributed all across the City of Sails... and given that Silkgift is a port city with a massive canal running through it, these newspapers can often end up quite far from the place they were printed!

Whether you're looking to run some games in Silkgift specifically, in Sundara in general, or you just want to have a gazette in your own fantasy world, I'd highly recommend grabbing yourself a copy of this supplement while it's still hot off the presses!

Seriously... don't sleep on this one!

My question for folks out there who think this would make for a snazzy series of supplements... what would you like to see next? And where in the setting would you like to see it? Would you like to see a combat school teaching the trade of steel in Ironfire? A pseudodragon cafe in Hoardreach? Or an enchanted notary in the floating city of Archbliss?

Throw your suggestions in the comments below, but also make sure you leave them on our social media pages so that both myself, and other contributors to this setting, can see them, and run with them!

Lastly, if this is something that perks your interest, I highly recommend checking out Merchants of Sundara, as it has 10 additional businesses/brands one can encounter across this setting... though you can pluck them out and put them in whatever world you wish! It's also the supplement that continued the story begun in the original release for the setting, which is dramatized below for all those who enjoy a bit of storytelling flair to draw them into a game world!

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!

"Blight Bane's Gambit," A New Story From Sundara, Is Finally Out!

Folks occasionally ask me when I'm going to put out new content for my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age setting. While I've been working on a lot of stuff for other properties for the past few months, Isaiah Burt's second story has dropped for the setting! So if you enjoyed Legacy of Flames, a tale about an unusual lizardfolk sellsword on a hunt for a deadly creature in the hills outside of Ironfire, then you are definitely going to want to pick up a copy of Blight Bane's Gambit for yourself!

A unique little story, to be sure..

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!

What Is This Story About?

Despite the story being named for one of the Founders of Hoardreach, the tale follows a story of a squad of orc mercenaries. Drawn from across Sundara's various clans, this squad came to Hoardreach in search of fame and fortune... and what they found was a unique opportunity from an unexpected patron. Blight Bane is well known for his tricks, but the green dragon also gives rewards to those who serve him. And if the squad can find the item he seeks, they may find that their fortunates will rise higher than they've ever thought before!

That is, of course, assuming the infamous green dragon isn't sending them on a wild wyrm hunt...

I told you not to trust anyone, didn't I?

For those who really want to check out this novella (and I urge you to do so), I wanted to also remind you to check out some of the source material in order to get yourself a little more familiar with this corner of Sundara as a setting first. It's not necessary, but it will help put things in context.

For coming to grip with our protagonists, consider picking up a copy of Species of Sundara: Orcs for either Pathfinder Classic, or DND 5E, whichever version you're more likely to use at your table!

Also, if you want to know more about Hoardreach, the City of Wyrms, it was the 4th of my Cities of Sundara to get a release! So check out this supplement for either Pathfinder Classic or for DND 5E, again, based on whichever one you're more likely to use at your table.

Lastly, for more information about how dragons work in the Sundara setting, and what makes them unique, consider checking out the following video I made about these amazong creatures! Also, while you're there, consider subscribing to the Azukail Games YouTube channel to help us keep the wheels turning!

Who Would Like To See Me Expand Sundara's Stories?

At the moment, Isaiah has written the only two novellas that take place in Sundara. Folks who know that I started out my career as a novelist might find this a little weird... after all, if I put so much effort into bringing Sundara to life as a setting, wouldn't I like to tell some of my own stories in it?

Yes, I would... but so far I've limited myself to the vignettes in the supplements, and the audio dramas that I've made from them.

The main reason that I haven't cracked open a fresh word document to write a novella or two of my own for the setting is, honestly, the same reason I haven't put together any adventure modules for Sundara yet... return on investment. It might sound crass to say, but these are (historically) the formats that sell the fewest copies, and which are hardest to make any kind of money from. This is the main reason I've consigned my fiction to the introductions of the supplements, and put it up on the company channel for free... I feel people are far more likely to come across it that way than they are to buy a full story by yours truly.

But tell me, is that true? Do you want to see more stories from Sundara? And if so, would you prefer them in text, in audio format, or something else entirely? Please, comment below, reach out on my social media, or leave comments on the Azukail Games YouTube channel, because those are the best ways to make your desires known!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

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

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