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!
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:
- 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!
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!
As regular readers know, I've been releasing supplements for my fantasy setting Sundara: Dawn of a New Age for several years now. I've covered cities, species, organizations, whispers & rumors, as well as cosmology and cults. A new year is coming, though, and I feel like it's time to step back into this setting and do something fresh with it.
The question is, of course... what do you all want to see?
There's all sorts of space on the map to fill still!
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!
Some Potential Directions For 2026
I recently made a video to close out 2026 on the Azukail Games YouTube channel, and I decided to address Sundara, and some of the potential directions I could go from here. And if you didn't watch it, go check it out (and subscribe to the channel while you're at it).
In short, though, I mentioned there were a couple of directions I could go in 2026 with the setting, hoping to get folks' thoughts on it. Those include:
- Expanding the cities and towns you find in Sundara.
- Writing adventure modules that take place in some of the already-established locations.
- Expanding the player species options (minotaurs and gargoyles have been oft-requested).
However, I want to hear from all of you, the folks who read my blog and actually play my games, as to what you would like to see in the new year for this setting! I've already gotten one good suggestion that's in the running, Airships of Sundara, which would be both a big undertaking as well as a fun expansion for the sort of adventure one could have in the clouds. It might also pair nicely with a module, for those who would like to see some literal high-flying adventure for the setting!
So if you have something you'd really like to see for Sundara going forward, whether it's a particular kind of supplement, more videos, more stories, more lore, or anything at all, leave it in the comments of the video above. I'm hoping to collect all the suggestions there so that I can go through them as 2026 gets rolling, and I start deciding what I'm going to work on, and in what order.
And, as a bonus, I'm going to start working on the other 4 stories that go into the Ironfire Compact. And in case you missed the first story, you can check that out for free on the Azukail Games channel as well!
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!
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!
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 algorithm is the strange (and often malignant) god of the Internet age. It determines who lives, dies, who fails and thrives. Its decisions appear utterly random, and while it purports to be all-knowing, it never seems to actually be able to give you precisely what it is you want.
The truth is that the algorithm is a blind, idiot god. It sees everything, but truly understands nothing... but if you wish the blessings of the attention economy, it must lift you up as a creator. I talked about this more in-depth recently in As An Author The Algorithm Controls Your Fate (And It Determines Your Success), but this week I wanted to ask for your help in binding this technological force in order to use its power.
In short, the year is drawing to an end, and Azukail Games could use your help!
We won't be able to do this without you!
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!
How You Can Pull Us Out Of The Mud!
So, full context for folks who haven't been around these parts before, I am one of the major contributors to the Azukail Games YouTube channel, which is where I host 3-4 regular shows with occasional dramatized stories from the TTRPG supplements I write. And while the channel got monetized earlier this year, it's been a slog for us to actually climb up the hill and get noticed.
And there are two major reasons for this:
- YouTube changes to the algorithm, which has taken our average views from 300-400 per video, to 100, and sometimes as little as 50 views per video.
- Subscriber slow-down. Unless your channel is constantly growing (or reaches a massive subscriber level in the hundreds of thousands) the algorithm hides/de-prioritizes your content, and doesn't share it with people.
The issue that we're running into is that while we can make all the videos we want, and try to share them around as much as we can, we can't tap a magical button and increase our views, or get people to subscribe to us as a channel. And that is what this post is for today... because we could really use a few helping hands before the year is over.
And best of all, it won't cost you a dime!
All we need folks to do is, basically, help us fight the two issues I mentioned above! So, if you want to help us keep pushing forward:
- Subscribe to the Azukail Games YouTube channel. For bonus points, hit the bell to be sure that you get notified so the algorithm can't just bury our videos when they drop.
- Watch our videos. If you're already subscribed, just take a few minutes out of your day to watch at least 1 video. Or, if you enjoy a particular show on the channel, watch one of the full playlists!
- For bonus credit, upvote videos you like, and leave comments of at least 7 words on them. Those are signals to the algorithm that a video is popular, and it makes a difference regarding how much attention our content gets. You could also share links to the videos on your own social media pages, which can have a surprisingly large impact.
And that's it!
My personal goal is to get the channel over 2,000 subscribers by Christmas, and we're currently at around 1,760. So if we can find about 240 folks, more or less, that growth will be a big help that will allow us to regain some of our momentum. And if we could also get a bigger percentage of folks to hit that bell and watch our new releases (as well as sharing older videos they think more folks should see) that would be huge for us. Because while the channel is monetized, it isn't exactly pulling down notable ad revenue... which is something you can help us do just by using your eyes and ears to send a message to the algorithm on our behalf.
Thanks for reading this far. This has been an ongoing project, and I have so many topics I still want to cover, and more involved videos I want to make. But to justify the cost in time, energy, etc., I'm going to need all the help I can get!
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!
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!
I started releasing supplements for my own fantasy RPG setting Sundara: Dawn of a New Age nearly 5 years ago at time of writing. A setting that does away with the Tolkien-esque habit of looking back to some lost golden age, Sundara is a ground-level fantasy full of magic, mayhem, and monsters, but it's meant to focus on solving problems instead of just pulling steel or slinging spells.
However, while I'm making room for future Sundara releases in the schedule, I wanted to take a moment to draw everyone's attention to a proposal I put forth over on the Azukail Games YouTube channel (since I know that not everyone who reads this blog watches those videos).
In short, would you like to see more tie-in fiction for this setting?
I've got ideas... I just want to make sure folks are here for them!
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 Ironfire Compact Is Only The Beginning!
So, a while back, Isaiah Burt released two novellas for my setting. Legacy of Flames is a tale of a lizardfolk on the trail of a deadly dragon, and Blight Bane's Gambit follows a squad of orc mercenaries as they take on a rather strange challenge. However, if one digs through the setting supplements they'll also find a wide variety of short stories that detail characters and adventures in the setting... and many of these have wound up as audio dramas over on the Azukail Games channel.
One that I'm currently gearing up for, which I mentioned a little while back, is a connected series of stories that ran all throughout the Whispers and Rumors supplements... a connected series that I named The Ironfire Compact, which started off with the story Killers, Thieves, and Liars.
While the final installment of this story isn't out yet, I feel that this could give folks a bit of a taste of what's possible in the setting. Because I want to keep expanding Sundara, but I can't do that without feedback and input from players and readers out there! And while I threw a message in a bottle out into the waters back in May (around the time that Killers, Thieves, and Liars first went up on the channel), I recently dedicated an episode of Speaking of Sundara to the topic.
I would really appreciate it if folks could watch the video (direct link here), and leave their feedback in the comments section there. It would mean a lot to me.
Why Your Feedback Matters So Much
There might be some loyal readers out there who have seen me ask this question before, and if you're one of them, I wanted to thank you for getting this far in this week's post. However, due to the nature of social media, it's highly unlikely that the same group of people is going to get the message every time I try to broadcast it, so I need to boost that signal and try to reach more people so I can actually get an answer.
And that is why I am asking for your direct feedback. Because when you watch that video and leave comments on it this:
- Allows myself and my publisher to get an accurate idea of audience enthusiasm for the project
- Increases our reach through the algorithm, making it more likely other folks will see the video
- Helps guide future decision making so the audience gets what they want
If you're someone who loves the idea of more tie-in fiction, telling us that helps! If you're not a huge fan of fiction, but you wish we'd get some new Cities of Sundara, that is also useful feedback! If you are wondering when we're going to finally release adventure modules, or get around to that book for humans, that's also a viable question to ask. Whether you want to see the setting translated to a different game, or you'd like to see more print-on-demand products, leaving your feedback on that video REALLY helps.
I capitalized this for emphasis, because this one, simple action can actually make a HUGE difference to me as a creator, and to the direction this project takes going forward. So please, whether you're a long-time fan of Sundara as a setting, or you're just now finding out about it, take a few seconds to leave some feedback... and maybe check out the rest of the videos and supplements that make it up!
Catch Up On "Sundara: Dawn of A New Age"
If you're looking to get an introduction to the setting, check out the Speaking of Sundara playlist to check out the 50+ videos I've made about the setting!
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!
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!
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!
So, about 4 and a half years ago now, I embarked on something of an ambitious project... I wanted to start building my own fantasy RPG setting! Sparked off by Cities of Sundara: Ironfire for Pathfinder's first edition, once the rock started rolling ideas just came pouring out of me. I covered other cities, other towns, guides for species and subspecies, cults, mercenary companies, guilds, gods, and most recently I finished up a 5-supplement series of Whispers & Rumors to go with each of the initial city releases. And in addition to all of that, I've made more than 50 videos talking about the setting, and narrating stories set within it.
And I started wondering the other day exactly how much work have I put into the setting. Well, there's 22 supplements out for it (without double-counting the ones that are just conversions to other systems), with a 23rd that I've turned in that's currently in layout. And given that each supplement is well over 10,000 words (with a few of them reaching as high as 15,000), it seems that this setting has over a quarter of a million words dedicated to it... and that's just when you consider the work that I've put in.
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!
Where Should We Go In This New Age?
When I started writing Sundara: Dawn of a New Age, the idea was to have a high fantasy setting that was full of monsters, magic, and mayhem, but which was (perhaps most importantly) weird. A world where several of the classic creatures got a bit of a twist on them, where science and alchemy combined with magic in unusual ways, and where things felt familiar, but players and Game Masters knew they couldn't just take tropes and fantasy conventions at face value. Most importantly, I wanted a setting that felt like it was going forward, and where problem solving was encouraged using whatever various means folks around the table could conceive of.
Not only that, but the parts and pieces of this setting are deliberately designed to be sort of like Lego. If you like a given city, or a town, or a guild, you can just pluck them up, and add them to your own homebrew setting... or even to an established game world! While there is an interconnected history one can trace through reading the various supplements, it's not set in stone, and it's meant to be flexible precisely to facilitate this kind of picking and choosing by GMs looking for additions to their worlds.
That's the broad strokes, though if you're curious I made an AMA about the setting forever and a day ago that explains a lot of what's come out, and how my process works.
In the past few blogs I've written about the setting, and in several of the more recent videos I made regarding Sundara, I've remarked that it's been sort of put on the back burner for me as a creator. Not because I lack ideas, or because I don't want to expand it, but because there just doesn't seem to be that much interest from the public... and the problem is that I can't tell what that reason is (especially since the setting started off pretty strong in terms of sales and interest).
For example, the general categories I can think of are:
- People Don't Know About It: With social media tamping down on signals, and algorithms silencing folks who don't pay them, it's entirely possible this is just a result of the word not getting out.
- It's The Wrong Game: Sundara is available for both Pathfinder's 1st Edition, and DND's 5th one, but so far we haven't translated it to other engines. There's been talk of a PF 2E update, a Savage Worlds expansion, and a few others, but there's never been a lot of enthusiasm for it from our audience.
- Folks Saw It, But Don't Like It: Whether it's that folks aren't interested in a modular setting, they don't really care for my brand of high fantasy, or they aren't interested in yet another setting, what I'm offering just isn't something they like.
The difficulty I'm running into is... I don't know which of these things is (or isn't) the issue! And given that I've put out the word count equivalent of probably 4 full novels (speaking of which, check out my books Old Soldiers for a dystopian sci fi thriller with space marines, or Marked Territoryfor gangland noir starring a Maine Coon alley cat), I've sunk quite a lot of time, energy, and thought into this setting.
So, to help me figure out where to go from here, what I need is input from you! If you've read this far, please leave comments down at the end of this article (or on the social media post where I'm guessing you came across this blog entry), and tell me why you are a fan of Sundara, or you aren't a fan of it... and in either case, tell me what you like, dislike, or what I could offer/change to get your interest!
Additionally, if you are someone who wants to see Sundara keep growing and expanding (especially if you want to see it put back on the front burner for myself and the other collaborators for the setting), then please consider the following actions:
- Buy copies of the setting supplements (links are below in the expanded list)
- Leave ratings and reviews on any of the supplements you DO have (so other users on DTRPG might be able to find them)
For the record, these actions will also work for other creators and their projects as well. Just in case you had other settings and projects you wanted to see more expansions for, but you weren't sure how to get the wheels turning in the direction you wanted.
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!
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!
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!
Regular readers around these parts know that I've been putting together supplements for my fantasy RPG setting Sundara: Dawn of a New Age for a few years now. However, I've also mentioned every now and again that I'm not the sole contributor to this setting. While I've done the bulk of the work chipping it out and laying the foundations, there are more and more parts of the setting being added by contributors like Adrian Kennelly and Isaiah Burt.
Speaking of Adrian, he's been adding to an ongoing series that I haven't talked about on this blog... but if you're a fan of my setting, I'd highly recommend giving the Locales of Sundara supplements 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!
What Locales Have Been Released Already?
The idea behind the Locales of Sundara series is that they provide GMs (and players) with extra tidbits of lore, and more locations for Sundara as a setting. Of course, much like the Cities of Sundara, these locales can be picked up and shifted around, put into existing game worlds, or a GM's home game, as needed.
But which locales have been released so far? Well, I'm glad you asked!
- Dyehunting: Found on the outskirts of Silkgift, the City of Sails, this unique business allows customers to use modified aether weapons which fire harmless paint to compete in friendly (and sometimes not-so-friendly) matches. High fantasy paintball, this could fit into downtime as surely as into part of a larger plot arc.
- The Silkgift Gazette: The second location found in the City of Sails, the Silkgift Gazette has a surprisingly large circulation due to the amount of traffic that goes through the port city. Found in Fool Street, the Gazette covers a variety of news stories and local happenings which could easily act as a way to get plot-relevant information into your players' hands! And if they make friends with the reporters, who knows what sort of benefits they could get when gathering information?
- The Skelet-Inn: Found in the West Gate district of Moüd, City of Bones, this location has most of the day-to-day tasks completed by domestic skeletons. While there are living employees as well, this place is far from unusual in Moüd when it comes to how it employs the dead to do the hard work that living people would rather not handle.
- Darega's Bones: Another location in the City of Bones, Darega's is where those seeking rather... unusual constructs can go to examine what old Darega has put out on the market. Prices may be higher than one expects, but it's always worth seeing if you can make a deal... isn't it?
These are, of course, just a handful of supplements that have come out so far, but I'm really excited to see what it is that Adrian comes up with next! And, of course, the easiest way to keep him working on more of these is to grab a copy of one (or even all) of the ones that have come out so far!
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!
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!
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!
