The A.L.I.C.E. Files Is Here (And Will Soon Be Featuring Various Audio Dramas)!

I mentioned earlier this year that I had a secret project I was working on, and that I would provide more information when it was ready to be revealed... well, that time is now! I've started a new YouTube channel in partnership with Alice Liddell called The A.L.I.C.E. Files, and it's going to be an ongoing audio drama with two different layers. On the one hand there's the tale of a young woman who ends up working for the mysterious Carroll Institute as a witness cataloger, and she gets drawn deeper into the bizarre nature of the organization's endeavors to explore parallel dimensions through the unique device known only as the Rabbit Hole. On the other hand, though, there are the stories in the files themselves; agent reports in the form of dramatized fiction from Alice, myself, and from a variety of other authors.

And at least some of these stories are going to take place in various tabletop RPG settings, which is why I'm giving the project a shout out in this section of my blog.

And if we're going to make this project soar, we're going to need your help!

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my bi-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!

The Settings I Have Ready To Go

While I'm writing, recording, and editing the meta stories about Alice, the Institute, and the dark mysteries that lurk within its walls, I do have a variety of stories that are ready to go, and which will begin appearing on the channel very soon! Some of these include:

- An Exalted story (which falls under the Dark Pack rules)

- A Warhammer 40K collection

- Some Lovecraft/Call of Cthulhu short horrors

- A Deadlands-inspired tale from my short story collection The Rejects

In addition to these settings (and several original stories of my own that either have been, or will be, dramatized), I also have some plans to adapt my story Devil's Night, which was the first story for my group's run through the Pathfinder adventure path Hell's Rebels.

In case folks were interested in more tales from Golarion.

I wanted to take a moment to ask my readers, however, which settings they'd like to see featured on the show. While not all of them will be feasible, I want to at least look into it, and see which stories I could spin into at least one episode of the show... though popular stories are much more likely to get sequels as long as folks keep putting their eyes and ears on what we're doing!

What Makes This Channel Different Than Azukail Games?

As regular readers know, I've been making audio dramas for the Azukail Games YouTube channel for a while now. Which, speaking of, go check out my videos over there and subscribe to the channel is you haven't done so already!

However, there are two things that make The A.L.I.C.E. Files different from what I've been doing for Azukail Games. The first is that while my Azukail Games stories are sometimes connected, generally they're stand alone stories, or they're only loosely related because the shorts come from the introductions to my TTRPG supplements that I write for the company. They're meant to draw in the viewer/listener, and to get them interested in seeing more... they're basically an RPG commercial with voice acting.

The second thing that's different, though, is the length of the average story over on the new channel. For example, consider the trailer:

It comes in at 7:33. It's short, sweet, and to-the-point, while also making sure that the listener gets a full story to draw them deeper into the Institute. However, the first episode of the show is over 20 minutes, and Dead Man's Bluff (which should be dropping next Friday) is also well over the 20 minute mark.

So, this new channel won't just have an ongoing connected story to follow (both in terms of full meta episodes, but the introduction snippets for unrelated stories will also feed into the ongoing narrative), but it will give us room to tell longer, more involved stories in ways that I haven't done before.

What We Need From You As Listeners

First of all, we aren't asking for money. We're very new, and we're trying to earn it ourselves. However, YouTube doesn't share any of the ad revenue with creators until they have at least 1,000 subscribers to their channel AND 4,000 hours of watched content (which is over 11 watch hours per day for an entire year).

And just to add insult to injury, those watch hours can't be from people with ad block. Because our first week had 65 hours of real watch time according to our metrics, but YouTube only counted 4 of those hours as real for the purposes of our monetization.

So... you see the sort of hill we're going to have to climb here.

What I need from you, dear readers, is simple, straightforward, and best of all, it's free! Just:

- Subscribe to The A.L.I.C.E. Files on YouTube (we're 1/5 of the way to the subscriber goal)

- Watch the videos we have up (preferably with your ad block turned off, if you can)

- Upvote the videos, and leave comments of at least 7 words on them (it's for the algorithm)

- Share our videos and channel on your own social media pages (we need a bigger reach)

That's it!

My experience with getting the Azukail Games channel monetized is that what we really need is folks to show up, listen, and share if we want to get our numbers up. Because if something went truly viral today (let's say the trailer garnered oh... I don't know... 20K fresh hits who all watched the whole thing, and then at least half of those people watched episode 1 in its entirety), we'd basically be monetized by the time Monday rolls around.

But that kind of success doesn't just happen out of nowhere. It happens because an audience watches, comments, and shares videos, boosting the size of the potential audience, and getting more folks to walk in the door. So if you're one of the folks out there who has enjoyed my audio drama work, and you'd like to see me really expand on the stories I tell (and you're enjoying a broader cast of voice actors), then follow the steps above to help make it happen!

There Is A Bonus Option, As Well...

I said above that we aren't asking our listeners for money, and I mean that. At the moment we are very focused on getting the channel monetized so that we can just focus on telling good stories.

With that said, though, if you do want to monetarily support us, check the video descriptions because we will have links to the books we're dramatizing stories from. Whether it's my own book The Rejects, one of Alice's short story collections, or even novels like Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, buying from the links we have will help ensure that the channel makes some money while we struggle up the hill to force YouTube to actually share some of the profits our work is generating.

Thanks in advance to all who take the bonus option!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Table Talk. 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 more involved audio drama channel 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!

What Would It Take For You To Check Out "Sundara: Dawn of a New Age"? (Pathfinder & DND Setting)

As regular readers around here know, I've been releasing content for my own fantasy RPG setting Sundara: Dawn of a New Age for about four years or so. A supplement-based setting that can be used either on its own, or pulled apart into its component pieces and integrated into your own homebrew world, the idea seemed pretty sound when I first started putting out stuff for it. And while there has been some interest in the setting as the years have gone on, it does seem to have waned over the past year and change.

The question is whether that's a result of changes to the algorithm, or changes in the audience... which is what I'm asking everyone out there to help me with this week.

Such as this one, which is a setting bestseller.

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!

What Is Sundara, Exactly?

In case this is your first time hearing about it, Sundara: Dawn of a New Age is a setting that's been released for both Pathfinder's first edition, as well as for Dungeons and Dragons' 5th Edition. The setting removes alignment entirely, and simplifies the metaphysical into a single realm referred to as the Prim; a place of raw possibility, where dwell thousands of gods, spirits, and outsiders, and which is the place all magic is drawn from. The setting also attempts to move away from the idea of a backward-looking golden age, and it's intended for players and Game Masters to be able to engage with the world and come up with creative solutions to the problems they face in their adventures.

And, as was mentioned above, the setting has been released in condensed supplements, rather than in a single setting book. The reason for this is two-fold. Firstly, it really brings home the modular nature of the setting, allowing you to get and use what you want at your tables. Secondly, this is a very small operation from a relatively small publisher; releasing the setting in parts and pieces like this is far more feasible for me to keep working and paying my bills than rolling the dice and hoping I can successfully Kickstart it if and when I get all the parts and pieces assembled over several years of work.

There's also a 50-video series about the setting over on the Azukail Games YouTube channel, and you can check them out in the Speaking of Sundara playlist if you wish!

So... What Would Get You Interested in This Setting?

If you want a game, setting, or even a novel series to keep expanding, it needs to have a core audience that supports it so that it can justify its existence to the publisher. And while there's plenty of stuff left that I'd like to explore with Sundara as a setting, I'm trying to get a sense of whether or not there are players out there who would support it... and if you don't support it as it stands now, what is something that could be done to change your mind, and potentially get you to walk through that door?

There are some people reading this post right now (I hope) who don't need to hear any more; they've already interested. For those folks, please scroll down and check out the links to the various Sundara releases that are currently available at the bottom of this post. However, if you're still not entirely sold, or there is something you would need to see in order to get you to check out the setting for yourself, what would do it for you?

For example:

- System Conversions: While available in DND 5E and Pathfinder, do you play a different system that you would like to see a conversion for? Would you like to see the setting converted to Pathfinder's 2nd edition, perhaps? Or Savage Worlds? Even something like Castles and Crusades, for those who enjoy a more niche game?

- Different Products: We currently have setting books, factions, gods, player species, and even tables of Whispers and Rumors to go along with the various cities, as well as novellas set in Sundara... but would you want to see something else? Adventure modules have been discussed as a possibility, for example, but there would need to be a loud demand for them. Would you like to see additional stories? Guides for playing additional species (gargoyles and minotaurs have both been discussed)?

- Actual Plays: While I will be the first to admit that actual plays take a lot of time, energy, and work to put together, that is something that could be possible if there was enough support over on the Azukail Games YouTube channel for it. It might also be possible to run games at conventions, if and when I reach the point where I'm attending events that have a game room once again.

Or is there something else you would like to see from this setting as a player? Villainous factions, perhaps? Lost legends that could lead to additional campaign seeds? Or something else entirely? Leave it in the comments below, or better yet, comment on this video (Speaking of Sundara: Is There Support For The Setting?) to guarantee that my publisher sees your words so we can hear your thoughts loud and clear.

I come to you all this week and ask this because, like I've said in other posts and videos, I do like making content for this setting. I love when players and GMs who've followed it get excited about the new releases... but I'm not psychic. So I'd rather just ask folks what they want to see more of, than to sit here with a crystal ball guessing at shadows. I want people to actually play in the sandbox I'm building, and to try to make that happen, I want to know what it is that's going to get you excited to really dig in!

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!

- Whisper and Rumors For Silkgift, The City of Sails!

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!

Steps of The Dark Tower: A Stephen King Campaign

Every person that has gotten bit by the GMing bug has had at least one idea for a campaign that feels like a white whale. Either it's too big for them to realistically make it happen, they can't find players enthusiastic enough to see it through to the end, or it's just so bizarre that it would take a huge amount of brain juice and willpower to convert all the ideas and options into math and stats so the game could actually be played.

For me, this campaign is something I'm calling Steps of The Dark Tower: Chasing The Black Rainbow, and I thought that since this is Monday I'd share some of my thoughts, and see if this is something someone out there would like to try if they're a madder lad or lass than I am.

Did someone call for a ka-tet?

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!

All Things Serve The Beam...

The basic idea behind this campaign is that the PCs are among the hundreds (if not thousands) of small events taking place in the background of the central quest of Stephen King's Dark Tower universe. Roland and his ka-tet seek the room at the top of the tower, and they are being opposed by the Crimson King and his servants. They walk through realities the way you or I might step through puddles, and there are a thousand times a thousand reverberations that fill the worlds. Ancient wizards and corrupt technologies seek to stop them, as do common thugs, vampires, orders of mystic bugs, rad mutants, invisible men, shapeshifting monsters, and so, so much more!

And that's just a sample of some of the nonsense that exists!

When I originally conceived this idea, it was inspired by some of the plot of the novel Black House, where our protagonists' actions set the scene for the gunslinger and his companions to complete their own quest. In Chasing The Black Rainbow, our protagonists are drawn to the last remnants of Gilead. Consumed by civil war and death, the place is a smoldering ruin, much of which has been destroyed or abandoned. There are things left there, however, to test the mettle of those who have the spirit, if not the blood, of the Eld. Once our protagonists fight past the shades of the old order, besting the undead remains of Cort, they find themselves before the shattered throne. The last vestiges of the old king sits there, refusing to move on, using the last of its strength to assign a quest to those worthy. The remnants of Maerlyn's Rainbow have been scattered across the various levels and worlds of the tower, and for reasons beyond his understanding, the party are the ones who have been selected by ka to track it down.

The characters could be drawn from any world attached to King's Dark Tower series, with the exception of 2. Characters could not be from Keystone Earth, where Sai King writes all these books, and they could not be from Roland's world. Any other world, no matter how mundane or how absolutely terrifying, was fair game as long as there was a definite connection to the Dark Tower from that story and world.

And depending on which stories and worlds the players picked for their characters, the Game Master should distribute the remaining spheres of Maerlyn's Rainbow so that at least a few of them were found back in the PCs' home worlds.

For example, if a PC wanted to be from the world of Salem's Lot, then they might find the Crimson orb in possession of a vampire like Barlow. Alternatively, they might have to hunt through the wreckage of the world of The Stand in search of the Pink ball, as that was where Randall Flagg had it last. Is the Yellow ball in possession of the strange government entities that may be coralling psychics in Hearts in Atlantis (separate from the Low Men and the Beam Breakers, as Ted revealed himself to the U.S. government before his mysterious disappearance)? Is the Green ball lurking in the burnt out ruins of the world of Cell, and the players have to find it while avoiding the bizarre zombies and irrational humans who still wander that world? Is the Pearl Gray ball somehow connected to the bizarre gunk in the story Gray Matter found in Night Shift?

All of these are options, and that doesn't even touch things like time travel, killer clowns, evil hotels, aliens putting domes over towns, and all the other bizarre stuff that takes place in King's sprawling Dark Tower setting! The key is to decide which balls are still around, with a low number of 6, and a high number of all 13. And since so many of the balls' powers are left undefined and vague, the Game Master could use each of them to give the party some kind of boon, and to point the way to the next piece of the quest.

No matter which version of the quest one does, however, the end goal is always Black 13, and it's always located in the same place... the hellish darkness of the world we see in The Mist. Maybe it was messing with the ball that split the barriers between worlds, letting in the monstrous things from the outside to run rampant over earth. Maybe the event was manipulated by servants of the Crimson King. However, whatever the case is, the PCs need to get to that last ball before the Crimson King uses it for his own ends.

Now, we all know that Sai King receives a lot of crap for his terrible endings. So the thought I had for the end of the campaign (though I don't actually recommend anyone do this as it is deliberately anticlimactic) is the following.

As you all close the bowling bag over the shimmering, malignant surface of Black 13, you breathe a sign of relief. You have it, now. Your quest is done, but for the epilogue. Five shots ring out, a deadly salute that sprays blood, bone, and brain matter everywhere. Bad luck manifests as a single set of footsteps approaches the circle of corpses. As he lifts the bag in the hand not holding a smoking gun, the Man in Black smiles, and speaks a phrase as simple as it is nonsensical.

"Bool, the end," he says.

My Recommendation For Running This

Now, if this absolute madness is the sort of thing that fires your imagination, and gets you interested in giving it a whirl, far be it from me to stop you. However, I've had a lot of thoughts about this game over the years, and there's a recommendation I'd make for turning this thing into a reality.

Namely that you should really consider using the Savage Worlds system for it.

Versatile, powerful, and user-friendly.

I don't make this recommendation lightly, either. Because while it's true that this RPG system is flexible enough that you could make all of the things the universe of the Dark Tower might boast, there's also enough existing content that you can fold into the game with a few little changes here and there that you don't have to do all of the work yourself.

As an example, if you have someone who wants to bring a character from the world of The Eyes of The Dragon, you have the Savage Worlds Fantasy Companion to help you. If you need to drag in threats from stories like The Little Sisters of Eluria or The Wind Through The Keyhole, then you have Deadlands you can pull creatures, magic, and even fear level rules from. There's even stuff you can grab out of the Savage Worlds RIFTS game, or even the basic Savage Worlds Horror Companion.

No matter which part of the Dark Tower your party ventures to, or what decisions they make, this is the game I'd say is flexible enough to provide you all the options you could want, while making sure the playing field is level enough that you won't have all your players choosing to be from the same part of the King-verse.

So go forth, and may ka be with you should you attempt to walk this path!

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!

Myrrorside- A Horror Experience You Should Definitely Check Out

While the Halloween season is officially over, there is one, last item on my to-do list that I've been meaning to cross off. And since I don't want to be haunted by a review I didn't get around to, I figured there's no time like the present. So if your need for a horror game hasn't left you quite yet, and you still haven't tried anything that's really scratched that itch, let me invite you to take a walk with me.

... a walk to the Myrrorside.

It's wild out there, trust me.

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

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

So Just What IS Myrrorside?

The world around us seems solid enough, at a glance. And in the light of day, all the myths and whispers about people who've disappeared, or monsters crawling out of the shadows, seem ridiculous. There are some places, though, where the boundaries wear thin, and where one might find themselves falling through a hole in the world. A hole that tumbles them into a place where everything is upside down, and where the normal rules of reality don't make sense. A place filled with the hostile, and the alien, where the comforts of logic and science crack apart, and where dark magics and terrible legends reign supreme. It is a place where nightmares stalk, where the currency is screams, and where terror is the only feeling that can survive.

A dark reflection of the world we know, this place is the Myrrorside.

It is a grim world full of horror and dread.

As a setting, Myrrorside puts me most in mind of Changeling: The Lost, though with heavier doses of Beksinki in its makeup. Not only that, but characters are even more at risk, since they are assumed to be normal mortals who have stumbled through the darkened mirror, and found themselves on the other side of reality. A place where monsters dwell, and where true horror stalk their steps. If they survive long enough they might grow wise to the ways of this place, and perhaps even learn some of the tricks known to the creatures who reside here. Of course, those who remain too long may find themselves unable to return back to the mortal world, finding that in their attempts to merely survive they've grown too adapted to the Myrrorside to ever leave.

Adding into the horror, the Myrrorside is accessed through places that have endured great tragedies, and suffering. Sites of mass violence, torture, senseless crimes, and other places that usually end up with the label of haunted are often the thin places in reality where one might step through into this dark and dreadful realm. Or, almost as bad, these are places where residents of the Myrrorside might emerge, hungry, and looking for prey... or just to lay hands on a piece of the mortal world before their time runs out, and they must return to the terrible place they call home.

Maybe your players fell through a hole in the world, and they're trying to get out again. Maybe a monster is stalking their home, or their neighborhood, and they have to figure out how to send it back. Perhaps they wind up in a psych ward where no one believes the patients' panicked screams about the things living in the walls. There's all sorts of ways this game could go, depending on how creative you want to get.

How Does It Play?

Regular readers know that, generally speaking, I'm not a fan of rules-lite games. With that said, Myrrorside bears a strong resemblance to Savage Worlds, which is about as rules-lite as I'm willing to go when it comes to sitting down and rolling the dice at my own table.

Like most RPGs, Myrrorside gives you a list of Attributes, and a list of Skills, and like Savage Worlds each one of them has a die type ranging from 1d4 to 1d12. When you roll a check, you roll both applicable dice (Attribute and Skill), and take the better result before adding any appropriate modifiers. 0 is considered a Pyrrhic victory, where you do what you wanted, but there's complications. A -1 is just barely failing to do what you wanted. +10 is considered a monumental success. -10 is considered a colossal failure. If you come into a situation where you don't have a particular skill then you can often roll just your Attribute die, and hope for the best. Additionally, you may have situations where you gain Advantage and Disadvantage, and it works the same way as in DND 5E; except in this game you might be rolling 4 dice and choosing the best of your results.

The last thing that makes it really similar to Savage Worlds, to me, is that there's no hit points. I know the SWADE system isn't the only one that does that, but it sort of goes with the comparison. Where Myrrorside innovates is that you can go down levels physically, psychologically, and socially, meaning that you can injure your body, your mind, and your reputation, which can make for interesting challenges as the tale unfolds. And of course your body heals faster than your mind, which heals faster than your social standing... particularly among those who call the Myrrorside home.

Consider Giving It a Try!

The usual warning for content here, Myrrorside is not a game for the faint-hearted. It really embraces the horror aspect, and from the eldritch to the splatter there's some stuff in here that might be disturbing for some gamers. So before you crack these covers, take a deep breath, and make sure you're in the headspace for a game that can get bleak if the dice aren't with you.

If that sounds like your cup of bloody tea, though, then grab a copy of Myrrorside, as well as The White House, an adventure that will really grab you, and suck you into the setting for your first time!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

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

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

3 Systems I Would Recommend For Running an SCP Foundation Game

While I might be a little late to the game, so to speak, I've been really enjoying the SCP Foundation as a fictional entity. From short stories, to YouTube lore channels, to short films, there's a lot of it to take in, and it's getting a little bit bigger every day. Heck, I even made my own contribution a little while back with 50 Two-Sentence Horror Stories, SCP Edition, and the audio drama version I put together below.

Consider checking those out, if you haven't seen them yet. It's been tough getting views on them, and I'd like to justify doing a little bit more in this setting, if I can.

However, with so much rich content under creative commons license, it was only a matter of time until someone put out an SCP roleplaying game. And while there is an SCP-specific game on the market now, simply titled SCP The Tabletop RPG, I haven't found it to be a game that really grabs me.

This got me thinking about what other games there are out there one could use to run an RPG campaign in the SCP universe. And while I'm sure there are a lot of games that I missed, I think that the following list makes for some pretty strong starting places.

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

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Game #1: Delta Green

Just the facts, please, sir.

The first game on this list, and perhaps the most obvious, is Delta Green. This secretive government entity exists in the shadows, and since the raid on the town of Innsmouth in the 1920s the agents of this bureau have combatted the horrors of the Cthulhu Mythos wherever they find them, protecting the world and safeguarding us against the machinations of mad cults and dark gods alike.

While this game started off life connected to the Call of Cthulhu RPG, they've grown and changed to the point that they're separate entities at this juncture. However, honorable mention to Call of Cthulhu as another option for those who want their players to be even more vulnerable than your average Delta Green agent. If that's an option you want to pursue, consider grabbing the Investigator Handbook and the Keeper's Rulebook for the 7th Edition of the game!

Game #2: Hunter: The Vigil

Werewolves, you say? Shame... I'll just have to shoot them a LOT.

If you want a game where the characters are a little more durable, but have to deal with just as much supernatural nonsense, I'd also recommend checking out Hunter: The Vigil. Part of the Chronicles of Darkness series of RPGs, Hunters are the ones who bump off the things that go bump in the night, and they're often used by storytellers as a threat when players are being a little too loud, and breaking the veil of secrecy a little too often in the other spheres.

While the variability in Hunter can be used to scale the power and equipment your agents have access to, you can also use the other spheres of the Chronicles of Darkness to bring in the various aspects of the SCP universe. If you need reality benders and bizarre magic users, Mage: The Awakening has you covered. If you want beings of phenomenal, cosmic power to act as allies or antagonists, you can find them in Demon: The Descent. And if you want that mid-range of mutants and monsters, then all of the creatures and power sets located in Deviant: The Renegades might be right up your alley.

This option has the most scalability of the choices, but it does require a lot of reading on the part of the ST, and it would require the largest number of books. Still, if you happen to have the Chronicles of Darkness books gathering dust on a shelf, and you're looking for a new way to breathe life into them, consider giving this a try!

Game #3: Savage Worlds

Absolute savages.

Much as with the Chronicles of Darkness, the Savage Worlds RPG system has a lot of different games you could bring to bear on creating an interconnected SCP universe game. However, Savage Worlds tends to be a lot lighter on mechanics, which might be more appealing to some players who like the idea of a big, sprawling, multi-book game, but who don't want to have a stack of tomes on the floor that reaches to the top of the table should they need to reference something during the campaign.

While you'll definitely need the Savage Worlds Adventure Edition as well as Dark States to start with, I'd also recommend using a combination of the weird Western game Deadlands, and the Victorian monster hunting game Rippers as the basis for the campaign. While both of these are period piece games, they provide a lot of the rules and backgrounds one could easily use to get an SCP campaign going. You might even want to expand into books like Weird War I, or even Necessary Evil which includes rules for super powered characters, but that will be up to your particular game, and what sort of elements you want to bring in.

What Games Did I Miss?

Do you have a game or system that you feel would make a good basis for covering the wide variety of genres and stories found in the SCP universe that didn't make this (admittedly very short) list? Toss it in the comments below! I'm always looking for new stuff to check out, so I'm happy to take a gander at any recommendations folks want to throw my way.

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 the ongoing audio drama series The A.L.I.C.E. Files! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like 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!

Dark Horizons: A Post-Apocalyptic 1d10 Gaming Review

It's been a fair bit of time since I took one of my early week posts to review an RPG, so I figured it was well past time for another installment. And if you're one of those players or Game Masters who wants a game that is relatively simple to play, but which still gives you a lot of options for customization and game options, then you should definitely check out the 1d10 gaming system by GG Games.

And if you've been craving a game set in a post-apocalyptic dystopia that's notably different from the one we live in day-to-day, then you should definitely give Dark Horizons a look for yourself!

Gas mask optional, depending on table vaccination status.

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

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

The 1d10 System, And The End of The World

Folks who know me know my opinion on rules light games. Generally speaking I don't really enjoy them, as I like games that provide players with a lot of options and choices so they can meaningfully customize the characters they're playing, and interact with the world in a myriad of ways. However, the 1d10 system by GG Games is something I haven't come across since Savage Worlds; a game that feels like a rules light game, but which doesn't skimp on options and customization.

There's a lot beneath the surface, is what I'm saying.

As an example, take Dark Horizons, the game that was sent to me for review purposes by the publisher. The book is meant for those who want to run a post-apocalyptic RPG, but there isn't a specific meta attached to this game. So whether you want to run a zombie apocalypse, a plague world, a nuclear hellscape full of rad mutants, or any other kind of setting, this book is meant to help you do that. Beyond that, though, making a character is extremely simple. You have three stats (Social, Mental, Physical), a handful of skills, your character species, and bam, you're off to the races! Not only that, but all you need to play the game is a single, 10-sided die. Roll the die, add your bonuses from your attribute and/or skill, any special abilities, and you're done!

At this point I was beginning to feel some trepidation. I'm all for games that don't introduce needless overcomplication, but that seemed a little simplistic for a full RPG. It was almost simple enough you could do a board game with it, a la Hero Quest. But then I looked up and realized I was less than a third of the way through the book. That was when the ride started picking up speed!

Because not long after this initial run down of starting attributes and skills, the game started going into the Features you could add to your character. Similar to feats in Pathfinder, or merits in World of Darkness, these Features gave you all sorts of interesting abilities you could use to really customize your play style, power set, and abilities. In addition to the Features you have Mutations (since mutants are an old standby of the post-apocalyptic genre), and these provided a whole new way for you to add abilities and unique powers to a character. Lastly, in addition to the basic starting character species, there's a whole slew of alternatives Game Masters can make available based on the type of apocalypse they're running, ranging from aliens, to androids, to fey creatures, and more!

Lots of Options, Not a Lot of Numbers

The actual numbers you deal with in Dark Horizons are relatively small. Unless you gear every aspect of your character to being good at particular tasks, it's unlikely you'll ever have a bonus in the double digits until you're approaching the end of the campaign. However, while the game has a leveling system, it simply gives you a certain amount of points each level to distribute as you wish to. So whether you want to add new mutations to your character, increase your starting attributes, acquire a new Feature, etc., those decisions are left up to you!

This provides a unique experience, and it's one that definitely hits all those sweet spots for me as a player. Because there's nothing like knowing you can make your character as simple and straightforward, or as batshit nuts, as you want to get with it!

End of the day, I would highly recommend this game. Especially if you're the sort of Game Master who likes an RPG that fits a genre, but doesn't want to limit you too much when it comes to world building, setting, and the specifics of the game you're actually running.

But wait, there's more!

If Dark Horizons isn't your jam, though, don't worry! GG Games has other options for you, each of which contains the necessary rules and system overview to play without needing to buy a base book as well. So if you're in the market for any of the following genres, check these out!

- Wild Frontiers: A Wild West RPG with focus on gambling, reputations, duels, and dime novel legends!

- Uncharted Territory: A pulp-era RPG, mysticism and adventure run rampant between these pages!

- Distant Lands: Fantasy done differently... try this one if you want something different than D&D.

- Beyond Terra: Sci-fi in all its myriad forms! Cyborgs and aliens, to high-tech low-lifes.

- Galvanic Adventures: Victorian fiction in all its dark and dreary details. What lurks in the darkness of the hearts of the world's cities?

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 Rules Light RPGs (That I'd Actually Recommend Playing)

Most regular readers know that, given the choice, I will take a rules-heavy RPG over a rules light one any day of the week. I enjoy being able to really tinker with systems, customize characters in meaningful ways, and explore a wide and varied toolkit of options. With that said, I understand there are also players out there who like a game they can pick up and play with minimal learning curve, and who don't need an extensive underlying skeleton to enjoy the game; they just want to get into the action.

If you're one of those players (or you just feel the need to put your complex planning instincts on a shelf for a little while), there's plenty of stuff out there to try. And if you haven't tried the following games, these are a few that I would actually recommend along with what I think makes them a cut above the competition.

#1: Grimm

Get your hands on it if you can.

Sadly it seems like Fantasy Flight's Grimm is out of print at time of writing, though I'd highly recommend checking back from time to time to see if a copy resurfaces... because this game is great!

Originally a complicated offshoot of the D20 Modern line, Fantasy Flight stripped Grimm down to its essentials. Players take on the role of children lost in the horrific realm of the Grimm Lands, and they have to figure out a way to survive and escape using only their wits and imagination! The game takes about 10 minutes to learn, and really takes nothing more than 2d6 to play. It's cut down, super simple, and the world it's set in is strange and bizarre enough that the archetypal nature of the classes sort of fits the theme. While the kids are still characters, they're also very clearly being pressed into broad archetypes of children, and allowed to fill traditional roles in a story.

I gave this one the top slot for a reason.

#2: Feng Shui

Hong Kong action theater, anyone?

Feng Shui was the first time I'd ever played a rules-light game, and it was an engaging experience. Billing itself as a Hong Kong action style game, it's far more concerned with the story beats, cinematic descriptions, and awesome look of a scene, rather than in overly complicated die rolls, precise distances on a map, or the exact radius of the explosion caused by the grenade you threw.

What really makes this game work is that it leans into the cinematic conceit, making it something of a ball for fans of action films who want to let loose their inner John Woo. My two cents, that's the key to enjoyment; if you lose that, "This is supposed to be a movie," feeling then the game is going to start going sour pretty soon.

#3: Savage Worlds

If you're going to get one game, get this one.

Some folks might argue that Savage Worlds doesn't belong on this list because it provides you with a huge variety of options and game genres you can play. However, a rules light game is one with relatively simple mechanics, and in my experience you can teach someone to play this game in about half an hour or so. Most questions they've got will be completely answered within the first hour of a given session, and from that point onward they're good to go.

Where Savage Worlds really excels is in the sheer variety of genres and settings it offers, all using this simple, near-universal system. Whether you want to do Weird West shenanigans in Deadlands Reloaded, or you want to stalk monsters through the London back alleys in Rippers Resurrected, there's something for every taste with this game!

#4: Pie Shop

This is one of the weird ones.

Pie Shop is one of the most bizarre RPGs I have ever played. In case the Sweeney Todd reference didn't give it away, you and all the other players are serial killers. There's no metaphysical happenings, no demons, no vampires... you're all just deeply disturbed individuals who feel a compulsive need to murder other people.

What makes Pie Shop so strange is that in order to create a workable premise for a party (since serial killers so often work alone) you almost have to put together some bizarre, fantastical setup. Whether it's a dark web gladiatorial bout, or a government experiment using murderers as disposable assassins, or some underground convention of crazed killers, it can get ridiculous.

My two cents; embrace the discomfort of the premise as it's delivered. This is a game for adults, and if you feel squirmy playing it don't worry... that just means you're not really a serial killer on the inside.

#5: Dread

Ah... we meet again.

If you haven't heard about Dread, what makes this game infamous is that it has a particularly unique mechanic. In short, it uses a Jenga tower instead of dice, cards, or something else to determine the results of your actions. Even if you're good at moving the pieces in one of these tower games, the very mechanics of Dread means that sooner or later one of your actions is going to fail. And when the tower comes down, that's lights-out for your character.

That said, if you want to give the rest of the table a chance, you can opt to knock the tower over to sacrifice yourself to save the others.

I will add a caveat to this endorsement, however. Because while Dread is a phenomenal system for running one-shot horror games where it's likely that most (if not all) of the characters are going to die horrible deaths before the night is done, the game is not really good for anything beyond that. This makes it an extremely niche activity that's really more use for seasonal one-offs or occasional light fare... you're not going to get a long-running campaign out of this unless you pull a Friday the 13th and the only recurring character is whatever monster the GM keeps killing you all with!

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, 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!