TTRPG Earnings Breakdown 2025 (For Those Who Want A Glimpse Behind The Curtain)

So, even though we're entering a new year, I wanted to take a few to look back at 2025 and do a breakdown of what my experience as an independent TTRPG creator was like. Normally I just do this as a single FB post, but I wanted to get a little more detailed than I thought a single post could handle, and try to make some educated guesses about how and why things wound up the way they did. So if you're here for numbers and suppositions, strap in and take this journey with me!

Because autopsies can get messy.

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!

So, What's The Breakdown?

First things first, I want to go back to my 2024 wrap up. In that year my earnings on Drive Thru RPG were:

- Royalties: $1,984.45

- Affiliate Earnings: $1,242.20

- Top Seller of 2024: World's Oldest Profession: 100 Courtesans and Concubines (379 copies)

- Worst Seller of 2024: Three-way tie between A Baker's Dozen of Christmas Feats, Ghosts of Sorrow Marsh, and False Valor (1 sale each)

Something worth noting was that 2024 was the first year my affiliate earnings were lower than my royalties, and it was by a lot. However, in 2025 we see:

- Royalties: $1,517.62

- Affiliate Earnings: $1,184.86

- Top Seller of 2025: 100 Random Encounters For On The Road or In The Wilderness (SWADE Edition - 177 copies)

- Worst Seller of 2025: Seven-way tie with 1 sale each, but the most expected bottom seller was 100 Primquakes for my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age fantasy RPG setting.

So, the hard numbers are an overall loss in sales of $466.83 in royalties, and a loss of $57.34 in affiliate earnings... with a net loss of $524.17 overall.

That's... not great, if I'm honest. However, I didn't just want to post numbers for the year; I also wanted to list some of the factors and causes that went into generating this result.

What Led To These Numbers?

There are a lot of people (creators and critics alike) who will point at sales figures as some kind of divine proof of a writer's skill and creativity (or lack thereof). However, I want to remind folks that absolute trash sells gangbusters all the time, and works of genius can languish unseen for years until they find the light of day. Sales is about the market, and the trends in that market. Which is why I wanted to go step-by-step and lay out specific things that I saw which led to this result.

If you're a fellow creator, it's likely these things affected you as well. If there's something you feel belongs on this list that I didn't cover, please share it in the comments below!

Because there are a LOT of factors that go into things like this.

#1: The DTRPG "Upgrade"

I am one of several people who thought the Drive Thru RPG site change was unnecessary, and generally speaking as long as users had the option to use the legacy site things were fine. However, once the new site became the standard homepage, sales across the board for myself and every creator I know took a sharp dip. We're talking like a 50% per month dip. The algorithm stopped showing my work to anyone organically, and the only way people find my supplements is through this blog, the Azukail Games newsletter, or seeing a post I made about it on social media.

That was a bat to the shin. It didn't break the bone, but I felt that, and it hurt things in the marketing and sales departments.

#2: The Reddit "Update"

For folks who haven't seen me complain about it on social media, Reddit is basically one of the only social media platforms that actually gets results when it comes to moving copies of games and supplements... but it's a rough platform to ride. In early Fall of 2025 there was a ripple from the DTRPG upgrade that meant you could no longer share links to it on Reddit. The links would screw up, and look like ghosts; no preview image, no preview text, and without those two things nobody was going to be clicking, much less buying.

This screw up reduced my earnings from $250-$300 a month to about $180 a month... and that was after using workarounds to try to get the previews seen when making posts. Once DTRPG fixed this problem, and links went back to displaying properly, sales and traffic immediately shot right back to their previous levels and started climbing.

But that was about 2-3 months of trying to run the last part of the race with a ball and chain around both my ankles.

#3: Choice of Releases

I'll be honest, I did take a couple of risks in 2025, and I put out some supplements that I figured were long shots in terms of things that would get interest from readers and players. As an example, I released 4 supplements for the Whispers & Rumors phase of my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age fantasy RPG setting, starting with 100 Whispers & Rumors to Hear in Moüd City of Bones, and finishing with 99 Whispers & Rumors to Hear in Archbliss, City of The Sorcerers. While I'm glad I finished up that phase for the setting, and all of those releases sold more than 1 supplement, none of them managed the 51 copies sold it would take to hit Copper metal status. So that's 4 releases that weren't great in terms of adding to the year's achievements.

Sundara wasn't the only issue, either. I wanted to make sure there were fresh releases for my RPG Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic to try to maintain interest in it, and to give players and GMs some fresh things to bring to the table. Because I dropped my second mission module for the game Assault on Outpost 13 (which is an homage to the movie Assault on Precinct 13), as well as the supplement Boots on The Ground: Baker Team, which provides a collection of 5 detailed characters that can either be handed around the table to players, or used as NPCs at the GM's discretion.

Some of my other releases were calculated risks that didn't really go over well. For instance, since folks were asking me for more Werewolf: The Apocalypse supplements, I decided to release Dark Reflections: 50 Sights to See in The Penumbra... sadly, it just didn't catch on the way my 100 Kinfolk Collection of NPCs did (with something like 1,500+ NPCs the last time I checked).

On the other hand, I did have some projects that were surprise successes. I was part of the supplement Night Horrors: Primordial Peerage for Beast: The Primordial, and that one was a close second-place for my top seller of the year. I also had a pretty good success with the sci fi supplement Beyond The Black: 100 Dread Scenarios on Stranded Starships... though I fancy part of that success was due to the audio drama I made to go with it.

All in all, though, I had 20 some-odd releases in 2025, and about a quarter of them flopped. Not due to lack of quality, or marketing efforts, but because they were for specific games and settings that just weren't really jiving with my audience. I rolled the dice on those, and they did poorly... which is a partial factor, but far from the only one that led to the year's losses.

#4: Miscellaneous Issues

Rather than going into deep detail on the other problems of 2025, I figured I'd just crack off a rapid list. These don't get their own, detailed list because I don't really have numbers for them, but they were trends I noticed.

- AI Slop Tainting The Market: I've lost count of the number of people who accused my supplements (including ones written back in the 20-teens) of being AI-generated. It's a bad faith argument because no one took the time to look, but it shows that the format I favor (despite it still being the strongest seller) is meeting a lot of criticism from the audience (even if it's because they can't be bothered to check the sales page, and see the No AI label on my work).

- Platform Enshittification: So many platforms got worse in 2025. YouTube's algorithm took my videos from hundreds of views on debut, to 50 views and change, meaning that I'm reaching a much smaller audience, and have a significantly smaller chance of making sales from views. Facebook basically made it impossible to post more than a handful of links before it cut you off (while all but shadowbanning posts with links in them), Twitter exploded into a cesspool of Nazi nonsense and bots, and most remaining platforms actively stop posts and content from spreading. Hence why Reddit is my big earner.

- Economic Downturn: With massive layoffs, stagnating wages, and people everywhere running out of options for paying their bills, this means discretionary spending is going to go down. While it didn't really start hitting for my audience that I could tell, those rumblings are getting much louder now that 2025 has ended, and 2026 is beginning.

What You Can Do To Help Keep Me Afloat

Most of what I just described is outside of my control. All I can really do is try to make more engaging posts, expand the groups I post in, try to draw more attention to my work, and maybe play it a little safer with the supplements I work on. Far as the economy, algorithms, platform decay, and the insane schemes of world leaders go, I'm shit out of luck on those scores.

So if you want to help, please consider the following options:

- Follow My Facebook

- Follow My Blue Sky

- Follow My LinkTree

- Join My Weekly Newsletter

- Subscribe to The Azukail Games YouTube Channel (where I contribute video content)

And if you happen to have some spare dosh lying around, and you want to be sure my supply doesn't run low, consider become a Patreon patron, or leaving a tip by Buying Me a Ko-Fi! And if you want to help me move copies of my games, consider buying copies of some of the supplements I linked above, or just search my name on Drive Thru RPG and see if any of the 200+ supplements I've contributed to really catch your interest!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again; creators need the help of their audience to succeed. Whether that's buying copies of their books and merch, watching the videos they make, reading their blogs, or helping spread the word on social media, we only have so many things we can do ourselves; we need your help. And if everyone grabs the rope and pulls in whatever way you can, some of us might actually win this tug of war with the algorithm and manage to get some forward momentum again!

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!

Updates On The Azukail Games YouTube Channel (And Our Progress)!

This week I wanted to give something of an update for my readers out there! While I've talked about this on both Facebook, and in my most recent newsletter, I don't want anything getting lost in the fickle tides of the algorithm, and I've got some exciting developments I wanted everyone to be aware of. So keep reading, and I'll get to it shortly enough!

We've been putting in a lot of work on this!

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!

Patreon, Ko-Fi, And Getting Monetization!

So, first things first! As lots of folks know, YouTube altered their rules last year so that, in order to be approved for monetization (which is to say, you actually get paid some of the ad revenue on your videos, rather than all of it going straight into YouTube's pockets), you need to have 500 subscribers to your channel, and 3,000 hours of watched content in the past 365 days. At time of writing, we have 1,070 and change subscribers, and just over 2,500 hours of watched content... which means that another 500 hours will put us over the line, and allow us to finally start getting ad revenue from the videos we make!

That would be a huge boon all by itself, because right now none of the videos actually generate income for Azukail Games from YouTube. While there are ads on them, none of that goes to the company, which means the channel is not, currently, an income stream in this manner. And if we can start getting some of that cash to flow to the company, then it can start underwriting some larger, more ambitious projects. For those who didn't see the update on the channel itself, I talked about it back in May in the video below.

Another thing I mentioned in the video above is that Azukail Games now has its own Patreon and Ko-Fi accounts, and if you're feeling generous, don't be afraid to toss some coin over there! Now, I want to be clear, these are separate from my Literary Mercenary Patreon and Ko-Fi pages listed below, which go to help support these blogs. For those wondering why there are separate accounts, it's because I do not (contrary to a lot of common belief, it seems) run Azukail Games as a company, or a YouTube channel. Adrian Kennelly is the man behind that company; I'm just a writer and contributor who works for the enterprise.

Which is sort of the reason I want to see it grow... the better they do, the more of my shenanigans the company can publish and support for the entertainment of all of you out there!

For folks who are wondering why I don't have my own YouTube channel, I laid out the details on that issue a while back in Trying Out Rumble As A Platform For My Audio Dramas over on my sister blog The Literary Mercenary. The short version, though, is that even if I personally got the 500 subscribers and 3,000 hours needed to get monetized on my own channel, I couldn't get paid by YouTube because it requires a Google AdSense account, and Google blocked me from having one of these over a decade ago.

So in this case I'm going to remain a freelancer.

With that said, though, if the Azukail Games channel does get monetized, it's possible that I'll be able to start a bigger project that will be on multiple platforms, such as Spotify, in addition to just YouTube. If that's something you'd be interested in, then check out Windy City Shadows: A Chronicles of Darkness Podcast Proposal!

There are a lot of projects I'm starting to get excited about, but all of them sort of hinge on us getting the YouTube channel to a point where it's a legitimate earner, and not just a place for us to put our preview videos for the TTRPG supplements we put out. So if you want to help us get there, please subscribe to the Azukail Games YouTube channel if you haven't yet, watch our videos, and share them around so we can acquire the hours we need to blow past those goal posts, and really start revving our engines to make bigger, more involved stuff for you all to enjoy!

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!

Does A More Unique Setting Draw More Attention To Your Game? And Is It Worth The Risk?

There is no silver bullet when it comes to getting your gaming project popular among players. Not only that, but the results of all your factors are always going to be more than the sum of their individual parts. In short, every piece of advice is just us divining meaning by looking into a darkened mirror, and doing our best to interpret the shadows we see beneath the glass. And no piece of advice is ever perfect, because there will be something that defies that advice, and goes on to be extremely successful despite going against the grain of common wisdom.

With that said, it seems like audiences definitely perk up a lot more when you present them with a completely unique setting and world, rather than a world that looks and feels familiar, but which might have a couple of unique devils in the details.

My take on this is the difference in audience reaction between Sundara: Dawn of a New Age, and Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic.

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

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!

The Projects, and Reactions To Them

Sundara: Dawn of a New Age is a fantasy TTRPG setting that has been releasing in both Pathfinder and DND 5E formats for the past 3 years or so. The original release was Cities of Sundara: Ironfire, and since that time there have been 5 city guides, 6 species guides for players, and half a dozen faction guides covering everything from mercenary companies and cults, to merchants, guilds, and gods. And while these splats come packed with unique material for players and Game Masters alike, and they take several unique steps for their games (such as completely removing alignment from the games entirely), they are still recognizably part of a high fantasy TTRPG setting.

I'd say the reaction to Sundara has been mixed. Some players have enjoyed the splats, and there's a very small, but very vocal block of folks who are always asking for more. However, it doesn't get much of a reaction overall, and it is regularly outsold by my more generic supplements like 100 Body Mods and Augmentations For a Sci Fi Game or 10 Fantasy Villages.

But what about Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic? Well, for those who haven't heard me get on my soapbox about it, it's a game where players take on the roles of resinous persons, fighting to preserve the lives of the people of the Plastos Federation against the insectoid menace of the vespoids, which have united the four nations in a single purpose. The game is crunchy, tactical, and has a great deal of bizarre and unique lore to drag players and Game Masters alike into things.

So what were the results for this book? Well, this game has sold just over 30 books on DTRPG since its release, but there were over a hundred books (digital and physical) that went out as a result of the successful Kickstarter campaign that made it a reality in the first place. That makes it more popular than all but a handful of Sundara supplements (I believe Towns of Sundara is the only one that can beat those numbers), even though it's only been around for a few months (or just over a year, if we're counting the original Kickstarter and BackerKit purchases).

 What are people saying about these projects?

Before I get into analysis, I want to point out there are lots of differences in these projects. Army Men is a much bigger book, with a much bigger price point. Sundara is more numerous, has a smaller price tag, and it's been available (overall) for much longer. Sundara has received different types of marketing than Army Men has, and Army Men was crowdfunded rather than merely published and put on the market.

With all of that said, in addition to the sales numbers, I feel like the comments left by people on the projects can tell us a lot.

Because very few of my Sundara projects have received comments, whether it's in the social media posts I make about the supplements themselves, or about the blogs and videos I've made about them over the years. The attitude seems to be, by and large, that it's just another high fantasy TTRPG setting, and while it's got some fun aspects and unique flavors, it's more or less what one would expect. So if you've played Pathfinder or Dungeons and Dragons before, this is basically ordering the same pizza you're used to, but getting it from a restaurant that uses different cooking methods and ingredients.

The comments and questions regarding Army Men have been distinctly different.

Firstly, there's generally a lot more of them, as people ask what the game is about. A lot of folks also ask if it's connected to the video games from a decade or more ago (they're not). In addition to those two questions, people ask if you can use army men toys as miniatures, if it's a Toy Story situation, or if there's something else going on, and what sorts of adventures characters have in this RPG. A lot of folks comment on the art, and they'll ask what kinds of gear and equipment players have access to regarding artillery, vehicles, weapons, etc.

I covered some of these in the AMA that came out a while ago, if you're curious!

So, at the end of the day, this might feel like a bit of an apples and oranges comparison. However, acknowleding this is not a 1-to-1 situation, it definitely appears that games that have a unique style, which present players with an uncommon setting, and which give you a different kind of premise is more likely to turn heads than giving folks another helping of the same old same, but with slightly different ingredients... though it does seem to help if they underlying mechanics are recognizable, and draw on a well-known RPG that most folks will own copies of.

Just in case folks were curious.

Lastly, as it seems appropriate, I covered a topic on design trends recently on Tabletop Mercenary. Give it a watch, and if you enjoy it, subscribe to the Azukail Games YouTube channel to help keep that show (and others) going!

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!

Questions About Crowdfunding? Tabletop Mercenary Will Be Tackling That Topic Soon!

As regular readers know, in addition to running this blog, I make videos for the Azukail Games YouTube channel. And while I've talked about my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age setting, offered insight and advice for the World of Darkness, and I've got the unboxing for my new RPG Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic debuting this Friday, one of the series that I've been hard at work on recently is Tabletop Mercenary. And, as the name implies, this show is all about how to make a living working in tabletop RPGs for a living.

And so far the most commonly-requested topic for the series has been people asking me about Kickstarter. So I wanted you all to know that I'm listening, and I've got a clever plan to deliver on this topic.

And hopefully it will help other folks out, too!

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!

You Have Questions, I Have Someone That Has The Answers!

While there have been a lot of questions for a lot of different topics, the most common one thus far has been how to fund your RPG (or related project) through Kickstarter. And since my most recent release was successfully Kickstarted over a year ago, folks would naturally assume that this is a topic I know something about. However, I'll be the first to admit that I partnered with High Level Games specifically because I wanted the professionals to help me with that aspect of things. I could write the game myself, no sweat, but getting it funded was outside of my experience.

But fortunately for folks out there, Josh Heath has agreed to be a guest on the episode where we find answers to all your Kickstarter (and more general crowdfunding) questions!

Shut up and take my money!

So here's what I need from all of you!

- Leave Your Questions in The Comments: Here or on social media, both are acceptable.

- Share This Article: The more people who see this, the more questions we'll have to answer!

- Subscribe to Azukail Games, And Watch The Show: The more numbers we get, the better off we'll be!

If we can manage all of that, I dare say that we'll be able to collate, catalog, and ensure that we have the proper answers for the most commonly asked questions. However, if you have questions about stuff that isn't Kickstarter related (whether it's BackerKit, Patreon, or any of the other funding services and platforms out there) make sure you put those in your comments as well! If you're wondering about it, I promise you there are some other folks out there who are wondering as well.

Also, if you have a moment, consider checking out our most recent episode of the show where I discussed affiliate marketing, what it is, and why it should be a part of your strategy as a TTRPG designer.

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!

What Shows Would You Like To See on The Azukail Games Channel in 2024?

So, we're approaching the end-of-year wrap up. While I've still got plenty of stuff to polish off, edit up, and turn in, I'm trying to keep an eye on the calendar, and to figure out what I'm planning on doing for the coming year. While I've got quite a few TTRPG supplements planned, along with the full release of my first RPG Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic, I've been putting a lot of stuff out for the Azukail Games YouTube channel (which you should subscribe to if you haven't yet), and my hope is that I'll be able to really expand that in the coming year.

However, part of that is going to be up to you all! So before we ring in 2024, I wanted to test the waters, and see if I could get some thoughts from folks out there who regularly read this blog about what they'd like to see regarding the shows we have, and potential expansions in the coming year.

Because there's a lot of stuff in the works right now...

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!

Show #1: Discussions of Darkness

Going strong for just about a year now, the 19th episode of Discussions of Darkness should be up on the channel before the year is over, and I'm currently working on the 20th episode. That's something of a milestone, so I'm hoping to make it a little special.

A majority of the episodes have, thus far, been focused on advice for Storytellers who are planning on running a World or Chronicles of Darkness game, the big traps to avoid falling into, and some tips on how to really challenge your players, or to make the atmosphere of your game better. And while some topics seem to be more popular than others, I wanted to hear from my audience if there was anything you wanted to see covered in the future, or if you'd like to see me change-up the formula and try out different things.

For example, would you like to see something more scripted where my face isn't as present? Would you like some background music to go along with me talking? Should I bring in some mechanical topics, or review some products out there to give my viewers some insight into useful supplements for their games? Or would folks like to see me really sink my teeth into particular games within this setting, such as Changeling, Geist, Vampire, Werewolf, etc., and talk about topics specifically related to those games?

This last one might be important for the next section, as they might dovetail together quite nicely...

Show #2: Expanded Audio Fiction

Audio dramas are one of the oldest types of videos I've been making for the channel, and they also hold the top slot for most views something I've made has received. For those who are curious, my most-viewed piece at 1.6K is the Changeling: The Lost story The Butcher's Door. However, all of the audio dramas that appear on the Azukail Games channel are so small because they're the dramatized introductions to various TTRPG supplements I've written, which the company has published. They're meant to give the listener a peek into the world, and to figure out if this is something they'd like to get a copy of for their table.

However, over the past few years, several of my listeners have asked me why I don't make full-length podcast-style stories. And the answer is, quite frankly, money. However, if we can get the channel monetized (we still needed about 1,000 hours of watch time when I last checked in) that is something I'd love to dedicate time and energy to!

My original idea was to make a Dark Pack project for the Chronicles of Darkness, and to piggyback off of several of the shorts I've already made, and to use the series as a way to see what kinds of supplements listeners might want more of. If this is the first you're hearing of it, I suggested a Changeling season 1 titled Grim Promises in "Windy City Shadows," A Chronicles of Darkness Podcast Proposal, and then I recently followed it up with a more recent Table Talk post titled Dead City Blues: A Potential Second Season For "Windy City Shadows" for those who were interested in where it could expand to once the first season was done.

I must re-iterate that this project would be a huge undertaking. While I have plots and ideas, along with several other voice actors who've helped me out over the years, I have not written scripts or confirmed anything. Which means that if you'd rather see a fantasy audio drama series told in my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age setting, or you'd rather I continue on with some of my sci-fi audio dramas, that is still an option as well. And if that's something you'd like to see, then make your voice heard in the comments, and share the videos for the stories you'd most like to see expanded on in a big way!

And if you're someone who'd like to check out longer audio dramas by yours truly, make sure you stop in and subscribe to my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary! I've been slowly adding content there for a while, and I've dramatized several short stories, along with using the channel as a back-up for my show Tabletop Mercenary!

Show #3: Tabletop Mercenary

Speaking of Tabletop Mercenary, this is my newest show on the channel. With the 3rd episode dropping last week, and the 4th one being chosen as I write this, the goal of this show is to pull back the curtain and talk about how the sausage gets made when it comes to being a professional TTRPG designer. And since I've been in the trade for about a decade now, I figured that I'd share what I know, and do my best to help folks out there avoid making the same mistakes I made earlier in my career.

This show is still in its infancy, and though I have a lot of topics to cover, I want to make sure that I'm answering the questions you all have in the audience. So, to that end, what is something you've always wanted to know about the TTRPG industry, but you've been unsure who the hell to ask about it?

While I've received some questions about crowdfunding (and I have an expert waiting in the wings to help me tackle that topic), along with some questions about intellectual property, there have been relatively few specific inquiries thus far. So whether you're wondering about whether or not you can write for a particular game, or use a particular system, or what sort of supplements work best in the market, my ears are open! Just leave a comment (preferably on the video itself, so my publisher sees them as well), and I'll make sure to bump up that topic in the script line!

And, once again, make sure you subscribe to my channel The Literary Mercenary on Rumble, in addition to the Azukail Games YouTube channel to stay on top of this particular show!

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!

"Tabletop Mercenary," The New Show About The Business Side of TTRPGs, Is Here!

A few weeks ago I let people know that I was putting together a new show titled Tabletop Mercenary, which is going to be me (and possibly an occasional guest) trying to pull back the curtain, and to show people how the sausage gets made in the tiny niche of the publishing industry that is tabletop RPGs. Well, the first episode dropped this past Friday, and as I've said with my previous endeavors, if you want to help shape the content going forward, now is the time to make your voices heard!

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!

What The Show's About (And What I Need From You)

Just to re-iterate what I said above for those who skimmed to this point, Tabletop Mercenary is a show all about the business side of TTRPGs. I want to dispel the mystery behind being a creator, answer questions about what it is that goes on behind the scenes, and give what advice I can for those who are hoping to make gaming a side hustle, or perhaps their entire career. In addition to being featured on the Azukail Games YouTube channel, episodes of this show will also appear on my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary, alongside various audio dramas and other, long-form creative projects I've worked on previously.

And for those who have expressed curiosity as to why this show is appearing in two different places, it's at least partially as a dry-run for bigger, more involved content that would need to be able to both reach a bigger audience, and to have multiple income streams in order to keep it going. Especially since the Azukail Games YouTube channel is not yet monetized (we still need at least another 1,000 hours of watched content to make that happen), and I've got to do what I can to keep the lights on while I'm making things.

For those wondering what those "other" shows I'm talking about are, I mentioned this a while back on Discussions of Darkness.

But, back to Tabletop Mercenary and how you can help me going forward.

First and foremost, if you've ever had questions about how games go from ideas to products, or about how creators actually get paid, please go to the first episode of the show, and leave your question in the comments on the video! Additionally, it would mean a lot if you could share the video around on your own social media channels to help me reach a larger audience, and get more eyes on this show while it's in its larval stages so we can build up the momentum to keep going.

As to which link you should share, that will depend on how you want to help. If you share the episode on YouTube, that will bring more attention to the Azukail Games channel, and help get it monetized, while also growing the subscriber base. If you share the episode on Rumble, that will help me get noticed on that much smaller platform, but it will also help me build up the earnings from the video, since Rumble doesn't have a 500 subscribers and 3,000 watch hour requirement for creators... they just pay you straight from the get-go based on your traffic.

I would also appreciate it if folks could tell me what I could offer as a creator to get your support for this show via my Patreon page. Would you want early access to new episodes? Shout-outs in the outro for your support? The ability to request specific topics, rather than merely lobbing a suggestion at me and hoping I take it? These are all on the table at present, but if you have other thoughts that would get you to throw money at the operating budget, I'm all ears!

Speaking of funding...

On that note, if you want to help me keep this show going through the early stages (as well as support me keeping this blog and my sister blog The Literary Mercenary running), then please consider putting some money in my tip jar on Ko-Fi, or becoming my Patreon patron. It takes a lot to keep the content flowing, and the more fuel my readers help put in the tank, the more stuff I'll be able to make going forward.

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!

"Tabletop Mercenary," A New Show in The Making For Azukail Games

Regular readers around these parts are likely aware that in addition to running two blogs, putting out articles, and constantly jamming away on TTRPG supplements, I also make a variety of content over on the Azukail Games YouTube channel. It started out with the show Speaking of Sundara, where I talked about the various releases and developments in my fantasy TTRPG setting "Sundara: Dawn of a New Age," and to go along with that series I started dramatizing the introductory fiction for various supplements to give listeners a little glimpse into the kinds of stories you could tell with those supplements. Then, most recently, I started a show called Discussions of Darkness, where I talk about various aspects of the World/Chronicles of Darkness, and how to get the most out of it while avoiding problematic pitfalls.

And with all of that going on, I thought it was time to put one more ball in the air... a little show I'm calling Tabletop Mercenary!

Keep your eyes out for this logo going forward!

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!

Getting Into The Trenches

To catch everyone up, I've been helping out by expanding the content on the Azukail Games channel for a while now, and we've been slowly chugging our way toward getting the channel monetized (according to my last check-in, we were rounding 1,600 of the 3,000 hours we need). Since we're a little over the halfway point (and I wanted to start putting out more staggered Speaking of Sundara episodes, since the setting isn't expanding as rapidly as it was in the past), I wanted to give our viewers out there something new to check out.

While I mentioned several options in An Update on Our Progress Toward Monetization, the one that the numbers looked strongest for was Tabletop Mercenary.

So what is this show going to be about? Well, in the broad sense, I want to talk about what it takes to be a TTRPG professional, the pitfalls you're likely to contend with, and what you should actually expect if you want to get into this niche of the publishing industry. For specifics, though, I wanted to ask all my readers out there what topics you would like to see covered!

For some context, I've been a professional writer for going on a decade, and for a lot of that time I've also been putting out TTRPG content in some way, shape or form. I've worked as a freelancer for big names and small, I've written a variety of supplements, I've slogged through contracts, and I've watched the landscape change bit by bit as titans of the industry fell by the wayside, and new ideas, methods, and games rose to prominence. A lot of the knowledge and expertise I have has been learned through trial and error, and I'd like to save all the folks watching as much of that experience as possible.

That's why I wanted to ask my readers out there... what questions would you like to see answered on this show?

There's all sorts of directions we could go, after all.

Some of the topics that have been proposed include:

- How Did I Get Into This Field?

- How Much Can TTRPG Designers Expect To Make?

- What Are The Advantages and Disadvantages of Community Creation Platforms?

- What Products Sell Well, and What Products Never Sell At All?

These are just a few, general topics to sort of prime the pump, and get us going, but I want to hear from you all what topics you're curious about. What have you always been curious about? Or, if you're thinking about throwing your hat into the arena to design games, what's a practical thing that you don't know that I might be able to answer for you?

Toss your comments below, or if you found this on social media, feel free to leave your ideas there as well. The first episode should be recorded in the very near future, so please, don't be shy with your queries!

Lastly, in addition to episodes showing up on the Azukail Games YouTube channel, they will also be found on my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary. So if you haven't followed both of those channels yet, please consider doing so to be sure you don't miss an episode going forward!

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!