I've been writing gaming supplements for something like 10 years now, and in that time I've wound up on the front page of Drive Thru RPG on more than one occasion. However, since the "updates" and the deluge of AI slop swept the Internet, it's been hard as hell to get noticed over there. This past week, though, some higher power decided I'd been working hard and deserved a treat.
But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my newsletter to
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People are complicated, and it takes work to figure them out.
There are two things I'd like to request for readers who've made it this far, though. First and foremost, go pick up your copy of Finishing Touches today! The Internet black out really broke my flow, and I could use all the help I can get to push it up to Silver status. Secondly, though, if you'd like to see more supplements released for this series, consider some of the following titles:
- 100 Hooks For Your Characters (which would allow players to hand their GM options for story hooks)
- 100 Family Members (for players who need some help fleshing out their family tree)
- 100 Mentors (for players who want someone important, but not a family member, to fill that role)
These are just a few of the potential titles I've come up with, but I figured I'd open the floor to readers who'd like to see others join the list. So tell me, what would you like to see from me in the future? Because this list has had a couple of popular titles so far, and I'd like to keep it going if I could.
If one of these catches your attention, let me know down in the comments below! Or if you have a different topic you'd like to see me cover, mention that instead. My ears are open, and I'll keep listening as long as folks want to see new titles come out for this series... or really any series I've been working on. But I would prefer to get it straight from the horse's mouth.
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Food is an often overlooked part of any RPG setting. I can tell you this with at least a bit of authority, since my supplements 100 Fantasy Foods and 100 Sci Fi Foods are two of the better sellers in my catalog (and it's stretching up toward the 220-title mark). However, even if you have specific images in your head for what food looks like in your setting, take a moment to consider what restaurants (or just food vendors) look like in this world.
And, if you want to get really creative, how widespread have certain practices or styles become over the years?
Do you have a reservation?
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From Greasy Spoons To White Tablecloths
For most fantasy games, the closest things we have to a restaurant are the taverns and inns the party stay at on their travels. Not only that, but for the most part the party just receives the "standard" fare; hearty stews, brown bread, and every now and again some roasted fowl or boar if they happen to be in the right area during the proper season. And... well, that's really it.
However, when it comes to restaurants, there's a couple of questions you need to ask:
- What kind of food is being offered?
- How is that food cooked?
- How is that food eaten?
- What are the standards and culture around eating out?
Just applying these to a fantasy setting (or a sci fi one) can start to change the shape of your world, while also giving some real form and feeling to particular places.
As an example, ask what the main livestock is for a particular place. For example, if one is out in cattle country, then steaks, ground beef, and similar foods may be readily available. But cities are dense and crowded, making it difficult to keep such large animals unless they come by on cattle drives. Does this make beef cheap to get out in the hinterlands, where it's seen as the common food of working men and women, but it's considered a luxury in the city because it's so difficult to get? Is chicken more common as a protein, especially since chickens can be kept in a wider variety of settings? Or are larger animals rare and difficult to find, so this culture harvests insects, preparing them in a variety of dishes?
Once you know the plants, livestock, etc. that are offered in a given area, ask what kinds of vendors and restaurants exist in these places and cultures, and how commonly available prepared dishes are, and what form they take.
What can I get for ya, friend?
As an example, are there food vendors in the markets, near parks, or around tournaments? Do they sell pouches of roasted nuts, cooked sausages, or even broiled lizards on a stick? And are these meals meant to be eaten with one's fingers, off a skewer, or using chop sticks (which were created as a disposable utensil for street food)? What spices are readily available, and does that change the way these snacks are prepared? Is salt readily available, for instance? Or are hot peppers more common in a given region, making food a trial to eat for those who aren't used to it?
Once you know what is available in terms of the types of foods and spices, then you need to ask yourself what kind of cooking methods are available. For example, are foods boiled in a given region? Are they grilled? Is food eaten raw because most of the local diet is made up of fruits and vegetables? Are foods battered and deep fried? Are they cooked in oil, fat, or something else entirely? Because once you know how food is prepared, you can get some idea of how mobile a kitchen can be, or if customers have to come to a specific location because these foods cannot be put on a cart and sold on the street.
Lastly, consider what kind of restaurants might spring up around these foods, and their preparation methods.
For instance, are there sidewalk cafes where people sip tea and eat simple breakfast foods? Is there a performance-cooking experience similar to hibachi restaurants, but the people at the grill are sorcerers or bards who mix magic with the meal? Are there places filled with greenery that claim they prepare food in the manner of the Mosswood elves? Are there restaurants filled with bonfires that specialize in the half-raw meat eaten by orc tribes, which grew in popularity due to supposedly making one stronger and more robust?
And for a finishing touch, take a moment to ask what culture there is around a particular type of restaurant, and who the ideal clientele they're trying to attract is.
As an example, was a particular restaurant opened by a former gladiator who claims the meals they serve will help someone become a champion? Are there matches in the center pit where young and hungry fighters come to get noticed, making it a place for dinner and a show? Is there a regional chain of restaurants who are all run by a particular family, so they all boast the same menu, and their quality is reliable no matter which place someone frequents? Is it considered rude to wear weapons or armor to dinner within the culture of a particular restaurant, or is this encouraged because a particular restaurant wants a reputation as a dangerous place frequented by hard cases? For that matter, do retired "adventurers" open restaurants as a way to showcase their trophies and glories, often showing up to hobnob with their patrons, and perhaps share a few stories about where a particular blade, a noted cuirass, or a mounted head of a deadly creature came from?
In a setting with dragons, powerful wizards, roaming demons, and crazed cults, consider how strange something as common as a restaurant might be, and just what folks might find if they walk through the doors. And if you're looking for a couple of ideas to jump start your imagination, check out 100 Random Taverns, as well as 100 Space Bars.
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When people first get into roleplaying games, it can feel like diving into a deep and chaotic sea. There's all the rules, builds, combinations, and mechanical options, but there's also the lore, roleplaying, history, and setting. It can all feel like one giant mishmash, and that can be overwhelming for a lot of players. And it's for that reason that a lot of players (and a lot of Game Masters) tend to stick to archetypes, stereotypes, and classic interpretations. It's sort of like strapping on a life preserver... you're still in the sea, but you've got some support to help stop you from getting lost in the sauce.
However, a lot of the time we can cling to these interpretations, even when the frameworks we were using to support our ideas instead start limiting our ideas. Which is why I wanted to take a moment to do something sort of silly, but which might be helpful for some folks.
You have my permission to be weird. To be creative. Anything you come up with that doesn't violate the letter of the rules, or your GM's edicts for the campaign, is fair game. So go, and be free!
The only limitations are your mind, and the consent of your table.
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Who Am I (And Why Does My Permission Matter?)
First and foremost, I am just a guy on the Internet who writes about games. I have also been writing for RPGs for something like 14 years or so now, and a lot of the titles I've put out on the market like 100 Tips For Being A Better RPG Player or 100 Questions To Ask About Your Characters are meant to help players make the most out of their time at the table. However, it's my Unusual Character Concepts series (and the reactions to it) that reminded me to reach out to players who might be hesitating this week.
For folks who haven't checked out my articles like The Hedge Knight or The Janissary, the basic idea of this series is to come up with unusual or unexpected twists on character classes and stories to create something new, unique, and fun. And a lot of folks comment that they hadn't thought of a class in those terms before, or how this background makes something they thought was boring and buttoned up into a much more interesting concept.
There are some players, and even some Game Masters, who aren't used to swimming without that life preserver on. Because while it keeps you safe, it also limits you in a lot of ways. Creative freedom can feel risky, but it can also feel liberating... but sometimes you just need a little reminder of your power. A little push in the right direction.
And I'm happy to give folks a pressure valve.
Because you have always had the power. You can do anything you want when you explore your imagination. However, it can sometimes feel like you're doing something wrong when you step off the well-trodden path. Whether you want to make a Beer Brewing Witch, or a Fire and Brimstone Cleric, you can do all that without even twisting the rules of the game.
So go forth, be weird, and if you'd like even more suggestions, then check out the rest of the Unusual Character Concepts list for yourself!
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!
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The dread necromancer Elara Shann, wreathed in funerary black. Kurdack Deadhand, a hulking orc-blooded brigand that's Wanted in seven nations. Litana Veil, Voice of the Queen of Shadows. Vor, the red-skinned devil speaker born from the ancient Rite of Conjunction beneath the darkened moon. While each of these characters might be interesting on their own, each with their own backstories like what you'd find in The Small Legend, it's important to ask how it is they all know one another, and what brings them together in this endeavor?
Because that knowledge can make your campaign go a lot more smoothly... and sometimes it can be funny as hell!
It has been some time, my old friend. I suppose I have one more adventure in me.
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Who Are You Adventuring Beside... And Why?
Campaigns take a wide variety of forms. From glorified bank heists, to tracking down dangerous bounties, to fighting cults and stopping ancient prophecies, so-called adventurers tackle all sorts of deadly tasks that are beyond the skills of any single individual. The question you should ask, though, is when you need to deal with a dragon problem, or root out a roost of manticores, who are you going to ask to come along on this errand with you?
Because that can be an interesting story all on its own!
Ragnar, you old sot! Remember that favor you said you owed me...?
On the one hand, we can have the vague, fill-in backstories to justify the party coming together. Perhaps a local lord put out the word for adventurers to deal with an infestation of the undead, the party were all taken captive by slavers and they band together to free themselves, or they all happened to be in the local tavern when something happened that required them to leap into action. And if the players around the table are willing to take the plot hooks dangled in front of them, this can work fairly well.
But consider what additional story could be made by creating the bonds between the characters in order to create extra context and story. For folks who don't usually try this method, the best way to do this is by examining what things the characters have in common, or what things might act as a bond between them.
As an example, consider a party where all the characters have a missing father. Maybe that was done intentionally, and maybe it wasn't, but it's a commonality with them. Is it possible that all of them have the same father, and they're looking for him? If you want to play into a silly stereotype, said father might be a wandering bard who moved on from town before realizing his previous partners had fallen pregnant. And each of his children has a very different tale to tell, from the half-elf wizard whose mother described him as learned and quick, to the half-orc fighter whose was told her father was a fierce champion with a battle cry that could banish fear and a rage that couldn't be matched, to the farm girl paladin who was told her father was the most handsome man who ever graced the village, and that he'd sung the dead back into their graves when they wouldn't lie still. Each tale is true, in its way, but each paints the man in a very different light... and when the siblings find each other, they have a chance to find more than just their absent father. Bonus points for him being the BBEG of the game!
Come my children... join me, and together we can rule!
Things don't have to be so explicit and overlapping, of course. Characters might have an individual connection to one another, and it becomes a game of tag along. For instance, one character might be a noble born wizard, and when attacks from raiders harry the border of his family's lands, he's bound by honor and duty to go stop it. However, he knows going alone is a death sentence, so he asks his father's Mistress of The Hunt to come with him. The ranger understands the danger, so she reaches out to a warrior she served with in the army. The fighter has a bit of a limp and several scars, but he agrees to come with on one condition... the wizard gets a pardon for his half brother. The half-elf rogue has been rotting in jail for months, but jumps at a chance at freedom, even if it's a dangerous one... and his partial sibling will be keeping an eye on him the whole time.
In this scenario, all the characters are still highly motivated to deal with the problem that's been presented, and each of them has a connection to at least one other player character that's strong enough to solidify them as a member of the party. However, this still allows them to form impressions, roleplay organically, and come together as a closer group by the time the initial challenge is done with... and that bond likely means that when they uncover a deeper threat, or a new problem rears its head, the party will saddle up once more to handle business.
This Is One Of The More Fun Parts of The Game
A lot of players don't go through this stage of the story, they just create their characters in a vacuum and expect them to come together when it's a necessity... but a lot of the time this leads to friction and problems because players had different ideas and visions for how the game was going to go. That can all be avoided by sitting down and adding a little extra polish to the story.
For instance, does one player have a barbarian character who loathes spellcasters, and another player is bringing a sorcerer? Well, figuring out a way to make that less of an issue before the dice hit the mat can be an interesting challenge. For instance, does the barbarian believe the sorcerer was touched by the gods because he was there when their bloodline manifested, so that character is an exception in his mind? Do both characters want revenge on the same person, so they've agreed to work together until that goal is achieved before they settle their differences? Are they actually related, and no matter how much it twists the barbarian's gut, it is dishonorable in the extreme to slay one's own kin?
Getting your table into these little story writing sessions, and finding answers that gets everyone excited for the game, is a great way to start off your first session with a bit of momentum, and I highly recommend folks at least try this method out if it isn't a part of your Session 0 setup yet!
Lastly, if you'd like to check out some supplements of mine that can help with chiseling out the details on your character, consider taking a look at:
- 100 Character Goals and Motivations: Picking a direction and putting gas in the tank, this supplement helps you figure out what they want, and even why they want it.
- 100 Questions To Ask About Your Characters: Everything from what their favorite food is, to what kind of partner they'd like to marry, and even how they want to die, there's a lot of questions in here!
- 100 Dark Secrets: If your character is holding something close to their vest, something that could change the way people perceive them, this supplement can get your imagination flowing.
Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!
That's all for this week's Fluff post. 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!
When playing an RPG, the mechanics are how you interact with the world your character exists in. The mechanics are what determine whether a blow lands or misses, whether a character can lift a particular burden or not, whether a spell is successfully cast, and whether someone is robust enough to overcome a deadly poison.
With that said, just because the mechanics allow you to do something, that doesn't mean that you should do that thing. And players and Game Masters need to learn to have these conversations respectfully so that everyone can enjoy the game, and set their expectations accordingly.
Just because the manual says you can, please don't.
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What If We Removed The Naval Blockade?
An example of what I'm talking about comes from book 1 of the Pathfinder adventure path Hell's Rebels, Hell's Bright Shadow (and there's a Pathfinder 2E conversion for this adventure path, for those who are interested). For those who haven't played it, the adventure begins as a fascist tyrant takes control of the city of Kintargo, and the city is cut off from trade via a naval blockade. The purpose of the blockade is to make it clear that there are a limited amount of resources in the city, and that players will not be able to simply travel somewhere else in order to acquire more limited resources. While it exists, mechanically, the purpose it serves is to turn the city into a pressure cooker.
You aren't supposed to try to remove the blockade. Even if you are technically capable of doing so.
When I played this adventure path, my vigilante and his sorcerous sidekick figured out that we could destroy this blockade with relative ease at early levels (it was after level 2, but before level 7, my memory is vague). The vigilante had acquired an adamantine gauntlet, and with his focus on delivering punch-based attacks, that gauntlet had proven the bane of locked doors, jawbones, and a building or two in the city. We sat down, and did the math. Using magic to allow the vigilante to breathe underwater, and a pair of swim fins for movement, he could easily scuttle the warships without the crews being able to do much in the way of retaliation before the ship sank. The sailors were prepared to fight the city, or other ships, not to go beneath the waves.
Not even bell diving marines!
However, when we came to our Game Master with this information, we did so asking, "If we did this, would it work?" Both in the sense that we wanted to know if our math and rule interpretations were correct, and if there was something we didn't know about that might come to bite us. Paraphrased, the answer we received was, "Yes, you could do this, but please don't, I'm not set up for that."
And upon receiving that answer the two of us nodded, fist-bumped, and then went back to the plot we'd actually been hip deep in, regarding fighting back against the city's new "mayor" and his crack down on freedom and expression.
Capabilities, Actions, And The Arms Race
I've talked about this before on this blog, but when players and Game Masters are adversarial, the use of mechanics can become and arms race. Players are trying to find the super special combination of abilities and resources that will allow them to destroy the Game Master's plot entirely, while the Game Master focuses less on creating a world or telling a story and attempting to control, punish, or counter what the players are doing.
And I can tell you from experience, this is a bad dynamic to put in place. Firstly, because it divides the game into winners and losers (something you should try to avoid in most RPGs), and because the Game Master always has more than the players do. They have access to every monster, every spell, every magic item and conditions... but "defeating" the players isn't the goal of the game.
It's a zero sum game, and those aren't fun to play.
Take the above example, and consider what would have happened if there had been an adversarial approach. The Game Master could have installed secret panels underneath the ships, blocking attempts to scuttle them by putting in hidden adamantine armor. They could have put shock troops on the vessels, ready to be deployed at a moment's notice to deal with the vigilante's plan. Or they could have upped the ante, let us scuttle the blockade, and then sent in a far more aggressive force that would have complicated everything else from that point forward, giving us more enemies, more resistance, and so on.
But it was just easier, and more expedient, to have a simple conversation where it was made clear those ships don't have stats in the book, and they exist as a plot device to facilitate the current challenge. While our numbers were correct, bringing in such an outside event would lead to ripples they didn't want to deal with. And we, as players, respected that.
And this is the kind of conversation you should be able to have between GMs and players. Whether it's players going too far afield in a direction that will make FAR more work for the GM than they signed up for, a player misunderstanding how a mechanic works and being corrected by a GM, or even a GM asking a player to please limit their use of particular abilities or resources that are becoming a problem, it's important to be able to talk things out collaboratively.
Generally speaking, acknowledge that all of you are there to make a better story, and to have fun doing it. In this case, consider the players as actors, and the Game Master as the director... you're all allowed your own visions, and you should be working together so that the final product best suits what all of you want.
You all have the same goal... or, at least, you should. And cooperation always leads to a better result than instigating a mathematical arms race over whose methods will be victorious.
Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!
That's all for this week's Crunch post! 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!
A while back I offered a popular piece of advice in Dungeon Design Tips: Find A Reason For PCs To Survive (And Try Again). The purpose behind the post was to remind Game Masters that in a lot of RPGs, death is a particularly boring fail state. After all, you want your players to keep playing, to overcome challenges, and to keep striving... but if they feel like they're going to have to roll up a new character every time they fail a saving throw, or choose the wrong door to walk through, that can get discouraging.
While I stand by that advice, I feel it is important to mention that it is advice given mainly for games where the entire goal is to follow the saga and growth of a single party of characters throughout their adventures. Whether it's one of the later editions of Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder, most of the Chronicles of Darkness, Exalted, or any of three dozen other games I could mention, they are structured so that player characters can survive trials and tribulations to persevere. Many of these games even have resurrection spells that allow players past a certain point of growth and resource acquisition to return to the world to continue their quests.
But that is not some universal truth of RPGs. There are games that are intended to be highly lethal. Games for which that is not a flaw, but a feature of the challenge. It's part of the tension that keeps them running, and it's part of the appeal of that kind of play... but if you're going to run a game with high lethality, then you need to make sure you're telling the kind of story that benefits from that kind of Sword of Damocles hanging over the table.
I feel we might be in danger, my friends...
As always, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to
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Fragile Characters, More Contained Stories
Whether you're running something like the doom metal game Mork Borg or one of its imprints, something like OSRIC, or something a little more mechanically complicated like the latest edition of Warhammer Fantasy, there are a lot of RPGs out there where the world is supposed to be lethally dangerous. Games where even experienced characters can die due to a lucky shot from an enemy archer, a missed save against a spell, or just being surprised by an enemy at the wrong time.
However, when that is part and parcel of your game, it's important to recognize that you need to change your storytelling style, stakes, or both to reflect this sharp curve up in lethality. And there are a couple of games I would recommend GMs examine, as well as an entire genre that a lot of people have forgotten about in the dusty tomes of the pulp era.
Namely the Sword and Sorcery genre, which had a much greater impact on the early days of gaming before high fantasy rose to eclipse it.
Things are terrible, and they're only going to get worse.
The first game I would recommend is Darkest Dungeon, a dungeon-crawling RPG where your "heroes" delve deeper and deeper into dark dungeons in search of treasure and answers, surviving battle with horrible foes and fighting off madness. The second game I would recommend is Fear and Hunger, where players must survive the terrors that lurk in the forgotten depths of an ancient dungeon, and where the simple, initial motivation of freeing a prisoner becomes far more convoluted by the game's end.
Content warning for both of these video games if you've never come across them. We're talking some Lamentations of The Flame Princess level stuff, so proceed with caution.
However, while both of these video games are survival horror wearing the skin of sword and sorcery, they illustrate in both tone and mechanics what I'm talking about in this week's post. Because in both games there is a high amount of lethality, and even if characters survive they may be crippled in mind, body, or both. Every encounter poses a serious risk, and every step further into the darkness comes with the potential for risk and reward alike. Additionally, both games are built on a basis of players feeling like they're gambling with their character's lives with every decision they make.
This speaks to the kinds of stories high lethality games tend to tell. Because if player characters could die on any given roll of the dice, then grand, sweeping epics where we follow their entire journey aren't really a good fit for those mechanics. Rather it's a good idea to focus on something smaller, tighter, and more serialized. Also, it's a good idea to not put combat as the central focus of the games, or the sole method for achieving goals.
For those who haven't seen this video, I talked about this diversity of solutions regarding the World/Chronicles of Darkness a while back.
Consider, as an example, the humble dungeon crawl. Yes, these adventures are inherently dangerous, and there is at least the opportunity for combat to occur, but these locations are also filled with traps, puzzles, and natural disasters. And while we often focus on the dungeon part of things, the crawl is there because they're meant to be tense. Players are meant to move quietly, carefully, and to make sure they don't step on a concealed switch, rest their weight on the wrong board, or rush headlong into an ambush. While the foolhardy might charge forward shouting a battle cry and banging their ax on their shield, that's a good way to die a quick, pointless death.
But high-lethality games are good for more than just dungeon crawls. They're great for high-stakes heists, for mysteries (particularly murder mysteries), and for games that tend to focus on a single, relatively contained story. Rather than using the Lord of The Rings as the framework, where we follow the fellowship across their massive walk across the continent, consider something more akin to Conan, Solomon Kane, or even the James Bond stories where we follow the characters through adventures that each stand alone as their own chapter but could be connected into a series if you wanted them to be.
Build The Story As It Goes
Another contention I have seen from the old guard who grew up playing high lethality games is the aggression toward the idea of working out a character's story before the game even starts. As the argument goes, "Your character should be a blank slate, and they should be shaped by the adventures they have!"
I disagree with this on a fundamental level, however, I feel like this comes from a lesson learned in high lethality games. Namely that you need to come to terms with the fact that your character is likely going to die long before they get within bow shot of old age, unless they're starting the game as a senior looking to go out in a blaze of glory. If you're going into a meat grinder, don't get attached to an endgame you're probably never going to reach.
This goes for players and Game Masters alike, though, so perk up your ears for this one!
Because there's a LOT of stuff to take in here.
Just as players should probably have backup characters and concepts for when their current character dies a horrible death (it's statistically likely, after all), Game Masters shouldn't count on the characters making specific decisions, acquiring particular items, or even surviving in order to create a single, unbroken plot.
Now, those who've played adventure paths or pre-written campaigns have likely noticed that they read like long novels. You can switch characters in and out as it goes, but they're meant to act as supporting stories for the same characters from beginning to end. High lethality games, though, work better as a series of modules, each of which might be a chapter of an unfolding campaign. Because characters might die, but it's far easier to come up with some kind of way to continue on (and to introduce replacements) if you're just flipping back to the start of last session.
Think of it like how a video game might start you back at the current level when your character dies, instead of sending you back to the start screen to do it ALL over again.
But this is where building the story as it goes comes in, as well as collaborative efforts between the GM and the players. Do the players just want to put together a whole new party, and start a whole different adventure? Do they want to put together a new party that all have reasons to seek out their previous characters? Do they want to put together a new party to complete the adventure that killed them, but they want these new characters to be utterly unconnected to their previous characters and whatever stories they had going on?
If you've been planning specific arcs and long-term goals, then as a GM this will be intensely frustrating for you, because now all the things you'd planned as character moments or opportunities for the first band is going to waste because they're dead. So the Game Master also benefits from not planning too far beyond the current chapter, because they don't know if the characters are even going to be around when it wraps. So plotting for a high lethality campaign is basically akin to prepping a series of modules... you can't go too far down the line, because if you do there's a good chance the characters in question will all be dead, replaced by fresher faces.
Why You Can't Just Bring Them Back
Have you ever seen a parent that counts down from 3 when a child is misbehaving? The child knows that if the parent counts down to0 then something is going to happen... but if the parent gets to 0 and they don't do anything, now the kid knows it's a bluff. From that point onward, there's always a chance that nothing is going to happen.
This is also what happens if you have a high-lethality game, but you look for reasons to resurrect/save characters who should be dead. Much as with several of the games mentioned above, once resurrection makes an appearance (or once death stays its hand), it takes away the tension and the bite. So while I will absolutely advocate for chases, and the lesser fail states like being taken prisoner or having to face some kind of additional challenge, games that are supposed to be lethal are the ones that don't benefit from allowing characters to just come back from the dead... not unless there's something going on beneath the surface, at least.
After all... coming back wrong can be useful for Game Masters. Especially if it means there's a ticking clock over the character's head that might lead them to taking a few more risks than they normally would to try and escape their dark fate.
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One of the major parts of any RPG character is their equipment. Whether you're sailing the stars in the sci-fi future, chasing mysteries down the dark back alleys of the modern day, or you're raiding tombs and crawling dungeons in an ancient fantasy setting, the gear you bring with you is going to make a big difference on your adventures.
But your equipment might be more than just a useful toolbox for you to dip into to solve problems; it can also tell someone a lot about a character. Which is why you should take a moment to think about your character's signature equipment, what it means, and the messages it might send to someone in the know.
A man should have his portrait taken with the spoils of his wars.
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Telling A Silent Story
I touched on this concept a while back in What Is Your Character's Everyday Carry (And What Does It Say About Them)? as well as in Reveal Details About Your Character Through Flavor-Based Skill Checks. However, this week's post is sort of combining these previous suggestions, and turning them into something different. Because the things we carry are a part of our story, and it can be worth thinking about when you ask what aspects of a character's history, background, etc. can be silently filled in by someone who recognizes what they're wearing or carrying... and doubly so if that item appears to be something that never leaves the character's person.
For very long, at least.
The blade has a long and bloody history.
The key for making a piece of signature equipment for a character is to make sure it has a meaningful story to tell, and to be sure there is some way for that story to be conveyed to other characters. Whether that's other PCs rolling a check to recognize the symbolism of a given item, or an NPC who recognizes it and reacts to it, at the end of the day what matters is that the clue adds into the character's story.
So what might that look like? Well, consider some of the following examples:
- The silver skull ring that marks someone as a member (or former member) of the Silver Wraiths necromancer's guild (found in Cities of Sundara: Moüd for Pathfinder or DND 5E)
- A battle banner with a roaring green lion that they unfurl during charges. Is it the sigil of a lost noble house? A defunct mercenary company? Such as those found in A Baker's Dozen of Noble Families, or 100 Mercenary Companies?
- Does their shield bear the remnants of an ancient oak tree with silver leaves, marking the liege lord they once served? What happened to them? Why do they still bear the mark?
- Do they wear a legionnaire's long coat, marking them as someone who completed a tour of duty as an officer in the 117th Coranthan Expansion?
Whether it's subtle or obvious, and whether the character keeps the item hidden or flaunts it, the point is that it should be something they will keep with them, that is important to them, and that it has an impact on the characters they interact with. And, ideally, this item should be something that isn't just going to get tossed aside as soon as an upgrade presents itself. Because you don't want to put a bunch of story into the blade they took from their father's dead hands that they've sworn to wield in the service of noble causes, only to immediately replace it as soon as the character finds a more powerful sword to swing.
There are a couple of ways around this. One is to use something like the Weapons of Legacy book which came out for Dungeons and Dragons 3.5. The idea was that a character's weapon would grow and change along with them, remaining a constant companion for the entire adventure. Alternatively, ask if there are parts or pieces of the old equipment that can be merged with the newer items that have been found. For example, if you find something like a powerful wizard's robe, could you turn it into a lining beneath the character's battered leather duster that they wore when they were still an officer in the legion? Do they keep their old scabbard for the new weapon, merging their old life with their new one? Or does some strange magical effect leave a stamp of the character's history on their new weapon, such as the pommel's shape shifting into their old family crest, or engravings taking on the form of their personal sigil to represent their new bond?
Whatever form the story continuity takes, a character's signature equipment should be a physical representation of where they've been, who they are, or something they've experienced. And it should be something that stays with them in some way, shape, or form, showing that no matter what they experience going forward, they're still carrying a part of their past... even if it's also grown and changed with them.
Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!
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For a lot of us, the idea of completing a full campaign with a single party of characters is the height of gaming accomplishment. And if you've managed to do that, then you might very well want to play a different system or setting entirely as a kind of palate cleanser. But if you're the sort of player (or the sort of Game Master) who enjoys continuity and sequels, then I would recommend considering the idea of a legacy campaign... because they can take a variety of forms, and you can usually tailor them to fit your game, and your players.
As we turn the page, another set of heroes are enmeshed in our tale...
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A New Chapter In Your Quest
There are a couple of different ways a legacy campaign can go. First and foremost, it can be the literal legacy of the former PCs, whether it's their children, students they've trained, squires they've knighted, etc. The idea is that the PCs of the last campaign are passing the torch to the new party, providing some kind of continuity between the characters, if not the actual story of the campaign. Alternatively, the legacy might be a continuation of the events and story from the first campaign, but in a different location with different characters who aren't necessarily connected to the characters of the previous campaign. For a quick reference, the connectivity between the Pathfinder adventure paths Shattered Star, Rise of The Runelords, and Return of The Runelords follows this path.
However, it's also possible to combine the two into a single campaign, if that's what you and your players want to do!
I am here to earn my spurs, and to make my father proud.
Now, that doesn't mean the Game Master has to plan a three-campaign series right from the jump. But you do have to have the first campaign planned, plotted, and completed so that you have all the information about what happened during the first story that you can use as a springboard for the second one (and from the second to the third, if you want to be industrious). You need to know which characters completed what deeds, which NPCs lived and died, and which of the villains were sentenced, which ones were slain, and which ones returned to the outer darkness to join their alien masters. And once you have all of that information, you can then properly plan the sequel to that game!
If you're the Game Master, picture yourself as the head of a successful TV series. You received enough of a budget to shoot the first season, so you made something relatively self-contained, but which has the potential for spin-offs and sequels. You finished it, and it was popular enough that your audience wants more. Maybe you had some ideas in mind for where it could go next. Maybe you were just hoping the first season did well enough you could scoot across the line. Either way, with this format, and your very narrow audience, it's a good idea to make sure the first season is as polished and enjoyable as possible before you spend too much time working on the second or third season that you might not even get.
The most important thing, though, is that you need to be sure you have player enthusiasm to see more. Because while the idea of following up a campaign with a legacy sequel might be intriguing (especially if the players get to see the results of the previous game, and hear the tales of their old characters' adventures), it's equally possible that your audience might have been just fine with a one-and-done for that game, that story, or that system. Don't over-invest in making a multi-part story told over several campaigns if you know your players don't have that kind of stamina.
With that said, however, keep in mind that a "campaign" doesn't have to be a years-long, level 1 to level 20 endeavor. A campaign could just as easily be a story that takes characters through a 5 level progression, or even a 10 level progression. As long as the story is complete, the GM reaches the end point, and the plot is solved, that's a full campaign... just make sure you let your players know how long the story will last before you get started so they can plan accordingly!
Game Master Resources
If you're planning on running a legacy campaign, whether it's for a passing of the torch, or you want players to have to deal with further permutations of the threats that were seen and opposed in the first story, I would recommend getting your hands on some of the following supplements:
- I'm Back! 25 Reasons For A Villain's Survival: Whether it's the big bad they thought was defeated, a hated henchman, or even an ally they thought was dead, this book can be fun for more continuity.
- 100 Character Goals and Motivations: Good for your players to take a flip through, but very important for understanding the motivations and machinations of your game's villains.
- 100 Dark Secrets: Something that can put allied NPCs into a different context, and which could provide something deeper to find for your villains, can also be good for giving your PCs something to keep under wraps.
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!
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