Villains Can Cheat Death (Without Taking Away Your Players' Victory)

I recently wrote a post over on my sister blog The Literary Mercenary titled Undercutting Death Can Undercut Your Story. And while I wrote this from the mindset of an author, there were quite a few references to RPGs and comic books about how introducing mechanics that render death mutable or reversible can have a major effect on your story's stakes, and with how seriously we take death as a consequence.

And this week I wanted to elaborate on this a bit for the Game Masters out there... because while it's true that what's available to the player characters is available to their enemies, if you're going to bring back a villain after they were killed then you need to do so in a way that doesn't feel cheap, or undermine your players' success, and which adds to the ongoing story.

Also, a shout out to Adrian Kennelly's supplement I'm Back! - 25 Reasons For A Villain's Survival for Game Masters who could use a bit of a kickstart on this topic.

It's a delicate balance... but you can manage it.

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

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

Should You Bring This Villain Back?

Its happens to all of us. Your players get lucky, and they sink a critical hit at a bad time. Or maybe you forgot about an ability on their sheet that stripped away your villain's exit strategy. Or for the first time in recorded history one of those one-hit-kill powers actually worked, and it dropped your big bad instantly. Well, you had plans for this villain in the narrative going forward, but the numbers made it clear that your players won this round, and your villain is dead.

First and foremost, ask yourself why they shouldn't stay that way. Aside from the fact that it would make your life easier as the GM, who in your ongoing campaign has a vested interest in that villain remaining on the mortal plane? And, perhaps even more importantly, what role are they supposed to actually serve in the ongoing narrative?

You had one job, Crassus... now go do it!

Take a moment, and ask who this villain is. Are they a hired mercenary who was just working for the real villain? Are they a servant of a cult, who might have access to relics or rituals that can bring back their servants? Or does this villain serve a dark god, or powerful necromancer, who might decide their minion has skills and abilities that would be too hard to replace at this stage of their plans? Did they make a deal with someone, or something that isn't going to let them out of it so easily?

All of that context matters. Because if your villain was just some guy who had a certain set of skills, but not a particularly rare one, then they shouldn't be resurrected unless the circumstances of their death were genuinely up in the air. If they fell off of a cliff and into a rushing river, then maybe they could survive, for instance. But if the PCs stabbed them to death, dismembered them, and burned their body, that villain is dead for sure. In that situation it's better to bring in a new villain who will take their place, and who might be looking for vengeance on those who killed that original bad guy. Maybe it's an old war buddy, an enraged father, a vengeful mother, an even more evil twin... someone who fills the role nicely, and who shows the party their actions have consequences, and what they do affects the story as it unfolds.

However, if this villain was truly difficult to replace either because of their unique power level, or you really wanted to build up more of the personal antagonism between them and the PCs, then consider using any of the absurd methods you have on-hand for resurrecting them. For example, could their parts and pieces be reassembled with dark technology, or terrible magic into some kind of angry cyborg a la Darth Vader, or an evil Robocop? Could they be truly resurrected by a patron, or a deity, who marks them in some way to remind them they have failed (perhaps removing a finger, like a Yakuza soldier, or marking them with terrible brands, taking an eye, etc.)? Or are they resurrected with a template added onto them, perhaps as a powerful undead, or some kind of horrible demon hybrid creature?

Or are they operating under a curse, like those who wield the Widowmaker, a terrible, corrupt weapon found in The Blade Itself for Hunter: The Vigil?

Give it a look if you haven't yet!

Now, the key here is that for this villain to come back it can't feel like you just hit the undo button behind the GM screen, and invalidated your players' victory because it was inconvenient to the narrative. This resurrection should clearly have come at some kind of cost to the villain, and it should be uncertain as to whether it will happen again. Even if you want to use resurrection or reincarnation as a kind of power for this particular enemy, the challenge will then become finding the thing that truly kills them for good so they stop coming back. But it should never feel like a victory (hard won or otherwise) is just being handwaved away because you couldn't be bothered to draw up a fresh villain, or to modify a story because you were operating under the assumption that this particular bad guy would be present and un-murdered for what comes next.

Remember that you can get creative with this! Just be sure that your resurrection feels well thought-out, appropriate to the story, and that the cost of it undercuts exactly how far the villain is willing to go to thwart the party... especially because their new lease on life may very well depend on them succeeding where previously they failed!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

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

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

Willpower Is One Of The Most Important Resources in Hunter: The Vigil

The darkness encroaches on the edges of the world, but there are some who are willing to take up the sword and the flame to hold the line. People who will look the monsters of the world in the eye, and refuse to back down. Hunters of the Vigil have many resources to call on in this fight, but one of the most important things they need to hold the line is sheer Willpower... and it's a resource that both players and Storytellers occasionally overlook.

Also, if you want to add a double-edged sword or two into your game for Hunter, consider picking up a copy of The Blade Itself: Corrupt Equipment For Hunter: The Vigil.

No... you move.

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!

Hunters Are Creatures of Focus... Of Sheer Will

Your Willpower in the Chronicles of Darkness is the combination of your Resolve and Composure. This gives you a minimum of 2 dots of Willpower (for the exceptionally weak-willed) and a maximum of 10 Willpower (for the absolutely iron-willed). Hunters can spend a point of Willpower (usually as a Reflexive action) to do one of the following:

- Gain a 3-die bonus on a single roll

- Gain +2 to resistance against a single action

- Activate miscellaneous powers (Endowments, psychic/supernatural merits, etc.)

And hunters can typically regain Willpower by:

- Getting a full night's sleep (1 Willpower)

- Meaningfully act in accordance with their Virtue (twice per chapter for full Willpower recovery)

- Meaningfully act in accordance with their Vice (once per scene for 1 Willpower)

- Defending a relationship with one of their Touchstones (1 or full, depending on the gravity and risk)

- Risking Willpower (gain 1 point on success)

It's quite a game of math.

As a side note, Risking Willpower is something hunters have access to, and mortals don't. When a hunter is acting in pursuit of the Vigil (according to page 135 of Hunter: The Vigil), they can choose to risk a Willpower instead of just spending one. When they risk a Willpower it allows them to gain 2 benefits off the list on page 135, and if they succeed they keep the point of Willpower they risked, and they gain another point (up to their maximum).

Now, I front-loaded all of that information to explain how important Willpower is. It is a way for hunters to give themselves the necessary edge over the monsters of the world, and to activate the various powers from the different Conspiracies. It's also a necessity for activating many supernatural and psychic merits. Hence why it is important for a hunter to build up their Willpower as high as possible.

The key, if you are a player, is to juggle/cycle your Willpower use. Whether it's by regularly indulging in their vices, risking their Willpower in calculated ways to never use too much at once, or using merits like the Harvest Psyche ability in Psychokinetic Combat merit, players should be regularly spending/risking their Willpower in order to get the most bang for their buck.

From Behind The Storyteller's Screen

If you're a Storyteller, you've got a lot of things coming your way from a cell of hunters. Whether it's hellfire and castigations, psychic fury, or just a barrage of slings and arrows, it's a miracle any of your monsters make it out alive.

However, when it comes to Willpower, you need to think of it like bullets in a gun. This resource is potent, but it isn't bottomless. So make sure you're keeping track of it, and throwing a couple of spanners into the works so your players have to think about what they're blowing their chips on.

How are they going to spend these points?

Because on the one hand, hunters are using their Willpower to give themselves that necessary edge to resist dangerous powers, activate their own supernatural abilities, or just to give themselves a better shot at slaying the monster of the week. However, if your hunters are constantly topping themselves off on Willpower (especially if you've implemented the Beats as Bennies rule that was suggested in Deviant: The Renegades), then it might feel like they have a bottomless fuel tank.

Remember that anyone who receives a single point of lethal damage, or has all their Health boxes filled in with bashing damage, gains the Beaten Down tilt (which means they have to spend a point of Willpower every time they want to take a violent action in the current combat). Ask yourself if monsters whose Dread Powers siphon off Willpower are an appropriate threat. And, above all, remember that the number of enemies, and the number of encounters, can make a huge difference.

If a cell of hunters can just kick in the door and fight a single vampire, or a gigantic spider, or a werewolf, then they can probably go all-out and win. But if they first have to slog through layers of ghoul security, or a brood of lesser spiders, or they have to deal with the werewolf's mate and kin, then suddenly a battle that was quite winnable is looking like a dangerous, resource-intensive slog.

Hunters travel in packs... but keep in mind that monsters are rarely lone wolves.

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!

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

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

To Ragnarok! (A Big Thank You To Several of My Patrons)

When I made the changeover to a monthly charge instead of a per-item basis over on Patreon, I had to come up with new tiers to try to get folks invested and involved. And like most folks who've been on the platform for a while, I made the first tier the $1 level (essentially just a way for folks to leave me a tip as a thank you). The second was the $5 tier, and that's where you actually get some kind of reward (free copies of my latest supplements when I get giveaway links). At $10 you get a shout out (thanks very much to Phillip Litherland and Tracy), and at $15 I'll put out a monthly query asking your opinion on future posts. There's a few more above that, but most folks have ignored those so far.

I put the $50 a month tier in mostly as a joke, because I didn't expect anyone to go that hard. But for both Joy Von Holle and Brenton Ayres, I salute you! When I find myself upon the field of Ragnarok, know that my battle charge shall be in dedication to your aid!

I will see you there, at the end of the cycle.

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

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

Any Other Takers?

I really cannot overemphasize how surprised I was when someone stepped up to the Ragnarok tier... but I figured I'd at least ask... do we have anyone else interested in that einherjar-level support?

Because I know I emphasize this fairly often, but my Patreon really has been a huge boon to me for the past decade or so I've been on the platform. And though there have been ups and downs, over the past several years I've come to depend on it for food and expenses during the month. I've never been well-funded enough that it was rent money... but hey, I can dream can't I?

It would be nice, not gonna lie.

I just wanted to take a moment to remind folks that the changeover has been rough, but I feel like I'm finally getting back on my feet a little bit thanks to the generosity of some of my patrons. If you're a regular reader who wants to help, though, consider tossing me an extra $1 a month or so... or if you want some free swag, $5 is my recommended amount. Heck, if everyone currently on my free subscription converted to that level, I really would be making rent money...

As always, don't go into debt to support me as a creator. I know money is tighter than ever for a lot of folks out there. But if you do have a bit spare, I can promise you that I'll be paying bills and buying tacos with it. No funny business over here... just fuel for the brain so I can keep the lights on and the wheels turning!

Also, If You Enjoy Free Stuff, Check Out This Channel

Regular readers already know this, but if you enjoy all the free stuff I'm putting out (and you're looking for more gaming and gaming-related entertainment on a budget) I'd highly recommend checking out the YouTube channel The A.L.I.C.E. Files! An ongoing fiction channel I launched with Alice Liddell a little while back, it tells the story of a young woman given a job by the mysterious Carroll Institute... but in between installments of that story, we get tales of alternate dimensions where you hear about weird west card sharps, literal avenging angels, deals with devils, and more!

And if you're wondering how those two plot lines merge, check out the first episode below... and if you want to help me keep this project going, please subscribe to The A.L.I.C.E. Files, and watch the videos we're putting up. We need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 view hours, but at time of writing we've got 271 people, and about 205 hours.

It's a long way to go, but you could help us get there!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

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

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

Need More Grimdark Tales? I've Got My Own Playlist Over On "A Vox in The Void"!

For all the books I've written and short story anthologies I've been a part of, it seems like most people who know my name recognize me from the work I've had featured over on the YouTube channel A Vox in The Void. From tales of the grim darkness of the far future like Waking Dogs or The Final Lamentation, to installments like my Pacific Weird War story Where The Red Flowers Bloom, or the Dead Space tale Black Marks, literally tens of thousands of people have heard those stories because they appeared on the channel.

But I've hit something of a milestone recently, and I wanted to share it this week... because enough of my tales have appeared on A Vox in The Void that I now have my own playlist!

Seriously, go check it out if you haven't yet!

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

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

13 Tales of Blood, Death, and Vengeance!

I've been working with A Vox in The Void for several years now, and I've watched their channel grow, and their professional career take off. I won't say I'm responsible for it by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm glad to have done my part to help grow things, and I'm glad the audience seems to like my work overall. However, given how the Internet is these days, it's entirely possible that there are regular readers here who haven't been over there yet... and if you're one of those folks, take a moment to, at the very least, give my stories a listen!

Additionally, if you find a story on that list that you really like, consider leaving a comment and saying what appealed to you about it! And if you want sequels to any of the stories, make sure you let me know. I only add to things that it seems folks want to read, so your voice is what helps me lock-in to make more stuff!

And Once You're Done With Those Stories...

I will admit, I've only got 13 stories on that playlist. For most folks, that's going to be a long day of chores, or maybe half a week of commuting. If you need more, I have two specific recommendations for you to check out, both of which would help me a great deal!

The first is the ongoing audio drama YouTube channel I just launched with Alice Liddell titled The A.L.I.C.E. Files. In addition to the individual, stand alone stories we're presenting, there's also an ongoing narrative about the new "Alice" who just accepted a job with the mysterious Carroll Institute which is finally starting to rev up a little bit. We've had trouble getting eyes on this channel, and any subscriptions and views would be greatly appreciated!

If you managed to get through all of that, and you still find yourself wanting to listen to more audio fiction from yours truly, I have a rather sizable playlist on the Azukail Games YouTube channel. This is where I first started refining my skills, and if you listen to the playlist from back to front you can actually watch as my audio dramas evolve in real-time. All views are appreciated, as they help put pennies in the jar for Azukail Games, which is my main employer and publisher these days.

For all the folks who check these stories out, upvote, and subscribe, thank you. I like writing stories, and I like making audio versions of them... but doing it for free takes a lot of eyes to make the wheels turn. So if you're willing to put your shoulder to that wheel to help push, I (and all the other folks who work to bring these stories to life) are very grateful for it.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

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

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

Another Dip Back Into Changeling: The Lost (Since Folks Asked For It)

While a majority of the gaming supplements I've written over the years have been for general RPG genres, a not-inconsiderable amount of my work has gone into the Storyteller's Vault platform. The simple reason why is that I love the World & Chronicles of Darkness games, and I want to leave my own little mark on them. And while I had taken a break for financial reasons, I've been dipping a toe back into the platform to see how viable a return might be... and this time around I decided to write a companion piece to an older supplement of mine that was based on reader requests.

In case folks out there wondered, I do listen, and I do take feedback into account for my writing schedule.

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

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

New Changeling (And Potential Future Additions)

For folks who missed the announcement, the supplement that dropped this past weekend was 100 Unusual Things To Find At A Goblin Market. This list includes bizarre items from Arcadia and the Hedge, unsettling things like a sealed jar of baby teeth, as well as physical embodiments of unusual emotions, or whimsical proverbs that have become actual merchandise (since any Changeling game is made better by the inclusion of a few puns). This was a topic that was oft-requested over on the Reddit forums, and it dovetails perfectly with one of my earlier supplements Buyer Beware: 10 Goblin Markets.

Seriously, go pick yours up today if you haven't yet!

In addition to being my favorite game in the Chronicles of Darkness (though Hunter is earning a lot of points with me, which is why I recently put out The Blade Itself for the new Corrupt Equipment mechanic), Changeling also has the second-largest number of supplements I've written for a single game line coming in at 11. And while I do have a few more rounds in the magazine as far as my ideas go, neither the current supplement, nor the previous book Like A Good Neighbor - Portraying True Fae in Your Chronicle have been burning up the charts of-late. There's some sales here and there, don't get me wrong, but it's definitely more of a trickle than it is a flood.

And while I've explained this in earlier posts, as well as in the video linked above, I'll restate it for folks who don't know. When I write Storyteller's Vault supplements I take a 50% reduction in up-front payment from my publisher. Given the word count for some of these, that's not a small sacrifice. To make up some of that amount in sales, I'd need to move at least 100 copies every time something new drops... and most of my supplements have struggled to even cross the 50 sale line to make it to Copper metal status of-late.

So, if you are someone who enjoys my Storyteller's Vault supplements in general, and my Changeling: The Lost work in particular, please take a moment to consider supporting me by doing the following:

- Buy any supplements that appeal to you.

- Leave reviews on the supplements you have (even just 5 stars and a "Good Job!" goes a long way).

- Leave comments on the video I linked telling me what Changeling supplements you'd like to see in the future.

As always, if buying new stuff isn't in your budget, I completely understand. But watching through the Discussions of Darkness series I have over on the Azukail Games YouTube channel is also a handy way to show your support, and to make sure that both my publisher and myself are hearing what you want!

Requests For A Changeling Story (And The A.L.I.C.E. Files)

On a final note for this week's update, I've recently launched a new audio drama channel on YouTube in partnership with Alice Liddell, and it's called The A.L.I.C.E. Files. I talked about the show more in-depth in the recent post The A.L.I.C.E. Files Is Here (And Will Soon Be Featuring Various Audio Dramas), but the short version is that the channel has an overarching story about the mysterious Carroll Institute, but a bunch of mini-stories about the different dimensions its agents have visited. A lot of those mini stories will be set in worlds that are inspired by (or come directly from) various tabletop RPGs.

I bring this up because one of the channel's big supporters, Sam Furlano, has specifically requested a Changeling story to be found in the files. Given that this falls under the Dark Pack agreement, this is absolutely something I could do... the question I have is whether it's something my readers/listeners out there want me to do?

So, if you'd like to have one (or maybe several) stories from the Chronicles of Darkness turn up in The A.L.I.C.E. files, here's how you can make your voices heard:

- Subscribe to The A.L.I.C.E. Files on YouTube.

- In the comments section for the Trailer, tell us which Chronicles of Darkness setting you'd like to see stories from (preferably with 7 words or more, just to kick the algorithm into gear).

- Watch the rest of the videos, and upvote the ones you like!

It's still a new channel, so if there's any spike in activity we are going to notice it. And if there's enough folks to get us up to the 3,000 watch hours and 500 subscribers we need to hit our next goal? Well... then whatever it is you all ask for, I can promise you we're going to try to deliver on it!

(Lastly, if you've been waiting for updates on Windy City Shadows, I assure you have neither forgotten about it, nor abandoned the project. But there are only so many hours in a day, and I'm trying to free up as much time and energy as I can to complete as many projects as possible. Stay tuned for updates on that podcast as they develop!)

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

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

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

My First Worldbuilding Supplement Just Dropped... Should I Make This A Series?

While most of the supplements I've written over the years have focused on Game Master tools like extra NPCs, plot hooks, businesses, rumors, and places, this past weekend was the release of something a little bit different... the first supplement I've written that is genuinely meant for GMs looking for a little guidance on worldbuilding.

And 100 Worldbuilding Questions To Ask For A Fantasy City has gotten a better response than anything else I've dropped in 2026 so far. As such I wanted to take a moment to ask my regular readers... do you think I should expand this into a supplement series?

Seriously, if you haven't picked up a copy yet, take a look at it!

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

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

Starting Small And Spiraling Outward

For folks who've been following my releases over the past few years, I've done a lot of work on fantasy cities. Whether it's Ironfire, the City of Steel, or a place like Archbliss, The Floating City of The Sorcerers (both found in my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age setting for Pathfinder and DND 5E), I've thought through a lot of the necessary building blocks for a fantastical city to feel organic, which helps it feel lived-in and authentic. And while I'm gearing up for adding more cities to my Sundara setting this year, I figured I'd pen this supplement as a little warm up, and offer fellow Game Masters some of the questions I ask myself when going through the process.

It takes practice, not going to lie.

What I'm trying to determine at this point is whether this kind of supplement is something that folks out there are going to vibe with, and if I should do more like this? Much like how the success of 100 Tips and Tricks For Being A Better Game Master led to me writing a bunch of follow-ups like 100 Dark Secrets or 100 Questions To Ask About Your Characters, this could lead to additional lists of worldbuilding questions to help Game Masters (and even authors) iron out all the wrinkles in their settings to ensure everything is solid before the story gets started.

The real question, of course, is what are some things you all would like to see as readers? Because some of the ideas off the top of my head include:

- 100 Worldbuilding Questions For Fantasy Faiths (zeroing in on the divine)

- 100 Worldbuilding Questions For Sci Fi Stations (going into space where things are isolated)

- 100 Worldbuilding Questions For Fantasy Realms (discussing macro worldbuilding)

These are just skimming some of the creamier concepts off the top of my cheese barrel, but I wanted to ask my readers out there this week if this is something they'd be interested in? If so, would you like to see one of these topics, or something I didn't mention? Another genre, perhaps?

Whatever your thoughts, please take a moment to leave a comment on this article, or to punch your thoughts into the comment section on social media that led you to this page! I've got several other supplements on my work desk as we speak, but I could circle back to this one by the time spring is well and truly here, and if it's something readers want to see I'm only too happy to give you what you want!

Also, if you're curious about my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age setting, I'd highly recommend heading over to the post A New Year Is Coming For "Sundara: Dawn of a New Age" (What Would You Like To See?), which I wrote earlier this year to try to keep folks abreast of changes coming to the setting.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

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

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

Character Secrets Don't Matter If No One Finds Out About Them

Everyone loves a good plot twist, or a fun character reveal. The problem arises, though, when players (or even the GM) squeeze the story so tight to their chest that they end up smothering the secrets they were holding. Because while having a big reveal in your back pocket can be fun, if no one else is ever going to find out about it then it may as well not exist.

Which is why you shouldn't just know what your character's secrets are, as I mentioned in What Secrets Does Your Character Hide?, and elaborated on in the character concept The Onion of Secrets. You should also know how that secret is going to matter to the story you're all telling, and have some idea of how you're going to start revealing it to the people sitting around the table with you.

If they never dive down, how would they know?

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 Spice Needs To Go Into The Soup

Once you know what your character's secrets are (whether they're a secret vigilante, they were born to a noble family, they were a bandit in a former life, etc.) you can think of them as a little dash of spice. However, if you never actually add that spice into the dish, then it won't make any difference to the overall experience. However, adding in the spice at the wrong time, or in the wrong amount, can also ruin the presentation and flavor when all is said and done.

And this is why it's important for you to consult with the head chef (the Game Master) to make things come out just right!

Mmm... this one might be too salty. Let's do a half dose of this, how's that sound?

First things first, character secrets should be a collaborative effort between you and your Game Master. The reason for that is because the GM is the one who needs to facilitate a good reveal, and to help you set the stage so you can stand in the spotlight for a moment when it comes time to let everyone else in on the secret.

Secondly, once the Game Master agrees your secret will become part of the story, try to work with them to come to that appropriate place so that the collaboration stays strong. As an example, if your character used to be an infamous assassin before they joined the church and took the vows of a cleric, work with the GM to figure out when (and how) you want that information to come out. For example, do they have secretive tattoos or brands they keep hidden until they're revealed when the party is taken prisoner? Do they speak a particular language only known by members of this secretive order, and they have to reveal that to translate critical intelligence? Or do they find people who recognize them from their old life for one reason or another? Because sprinkling in these clues, or just adding in the big reveal at a dramatic moment, can really make the story sing.

Where a lot of players mess this up, though, is they will either keep their secrets extremely close to their vests to the point that they never come up in the game at all, or they will try to spring this surprise on their fellow players and on the Game Master, which is a terrible plan because it can create unnecessary confusion that will undercut the reveal.

Timing and placement is extremely important for maximum story impact. Because say that your character was actually a princess, but she ran away from her royal responsibilities to become an adventurer. Classic twist, very fun. However, if you aren't coordinating this with your Game Master then you don't have any in-world structural support for this character's entire secret backstory... and even if it is allowed to stand, there won't be anything in-place for the plot that this reveal will actually affect. But consider what might happen if you were in communication with your Game Master. Because if you wanted a secret princess reveal, and the Game Master agreed, then at the very least there's likely to be people looking for the missing princess. But it's also possible that the villain for the campaign will be a family member of hers, and that she has a legitimate claim to the throne that could lead the party to commit a coup rather than leaving her evil uncle or sadistic brother sitting on the throne.

Long story short, if you want your character reveal to have a real impact then it's going to require scaffolding and set dressing to really facilitate it. And if you don't work with your Game Master to set the stage, then the reveal is going to fizzle out... so make sure all the setup is in place before you step onto your mark!

Lastly, if you found this week's post of-interest, then take a moment or three to check out my supplements 100 Dark Secrets as well as 100 Questions To Ask About Your Characters.

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!

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

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

Compersion Is An Important Aspect of Being a Game Master

Compersion is a term that a lot of gamers are familiar with, because a polyamorous lifestyle is the easiest way to ensure that you have enough people for a regular RPG or board game night. However, if you've never heard the term before, the most general definition is that it is when a person feels a sense of happiness cause by seeing someone else's happiness; particularly someone important to that person.

And generally speaking, I think this is something a lot of Game Masters should take to heart, because the idea is one that can make game night a lot more enjoyable for everyone involved.

Lastly, before we get started this week, you should check out my older article Partners and Polycules: Polyamorous Designations Based Off Dungeons and Dragons Dice in the event you need a chuckle today.

It can really help to have your head, and heart, in the right place.

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

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

Making It About Your Players (Instead of Yourself)

Since I can hear the clearing of some throats out there, I wanted to give the more in-depth definition of this term as it applies to polyamorous people. Mostly because I feel that will give the following topic a little additional weight. Now, for those who don't know, polyamory is a relationship style where people have multiple romantic and/or sexual partners at a time, and there is open communication and knowledge among everyone involved. Now, in this case, compersion is often about seeing one of your partners being happy with another partner, and feeling happy that they're happy.

And I bring this up because for a lot of people seeing their partner go out on dates with another person (or knowing they were up to something more intimate) would give them very negative feelings like jealousy, sadness, or anger. And while those things can still happen, for a lot of folks the idea that you would see your partner in this situation, and be happy that they're having fun and excited, can be a lot to wrap their heads around.

But I would posit that there's a parallel here for a lot of Game Masters. Because it feels like a lot of folks who run games can sometimes put their players' happiness and excitement last, which leads to problems.

I hope they're having a good time right now. I really do.

Now, to start us off on the right foot, I agree with the sentiment that the Game Master is also a player at the table. They have a very different role, but they should absolutely be enjoying themselves as much as anyone else. However, with that said, it's important for a Game Master to ask themselves if they're excited when their players are excited, or if seeing their players having fun gives them a rush of positive feelings. Even if the players are doing something unconventional.

Because there are a lot of Game Masters out there who get frustrated or upset with players when they use an ability in an unexpected way, when they try out a strategy the GM didn't see coming, or just when the dice gods smile upon the players and things really go their way with a natural 20 or critical success at a clinch moment. And sure, maybe you were hoping that your villain would make more of an impression on the players, or you're frustrated their figured out a plot twist sooner than you wanted them to, or a fight they were supposed to lose is one they actually walked away from victorious... and it's all right to feel those things. But ask yourself if your players are having fun, and if that shouldn't be more important in this moment?

The ability to take your ego out of things, and to bask in your players' enjoyment, is really important for having a good experience as a GM. Because even if your players ignored a dungeon you'd hoped they would go down, or they solved a mystery two sessions early, or a twist of fate allowed them to absolutely wreck a villain you'd hoped would have been more of a challenge, if your players are having fun, ask yourself if those other things are more important at the end of the day?

That perspective, and that shift in mind set, can make a lot of difference. It can also allow you to shrug off things that would otherwise bother you. If you develop the ability to say, "Well, as long as everyone is having fun," and to really mean it, that will make your life a great deal easier.

And if you haven't picked up my 100 Tips and Tricks For Being A Better Game Master, as well as the companion piece 100 Tips and Tricks For Being A Better RPG Player, I'd highly recommend grabbing some copies for yourself!

As A Final Note: Compersion and Bad Behavior

I heard a few folks cracking their knuckles for comments, so I wanted to tack a section onto the end of this week's post. It's important for you, as a Game Master, to tell the difference between harmless behaviors from your players, or your own hang ups as a GM, and problem behavior. As I mentioned, the goal here is for everyone at the table to be having fun, the GM included. And there is a world of difference between allowing your players to go off-script, or allowing an unexpected but earned victory to stand, and putting up with bad behavior from your players.

However, in another polyamory comparison, the best course of action is to talk about things. Whether you feel your players aren't being appreciative of the effort you're putting into the game because they keep ignoring what you're telling them, or you feel that they're deliberately undermining the tone you all agreed to at the outset, or you feel that tea-bagging your minis is disrespectful, and they're going to hurt themselves when they eventually fall off the table, have a conversation about it.

And don't wait until there's months (or years) of pent up negativity and bad blood about something that can come boiling out. Just talk to your players, open up a dialogue, and tell them, "Hey, I'm having some thoughts/feelings about this. I don't want it to become an issue, but I'd appreciate if we could talk this out."

It really does solve problems.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

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

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

Dungeon Design Tips: Provide Targets For Your Players' Big Guns

The Internet is full of Game Masters asking for advice on how to best counter the abilities and powers the player characters acquire in their games. And while I've given my share of advice on the subject (many of which are previous entries in this very series like getting rid of doors, actually triggering multiple encounters when warranted, terrain and cover, etc.), this week I'd like to remind Game Masters that if your players go through all the effort and struggle to acquire a big gun... well, you should at least let them knock down a couple of targets with it from time to time.

They're clustered in a 20-foot radius circle, you say...

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!

Set Encounters Up (So Your Players Can Knock Them Down)

Picture this scenario. You're running a campaign, and the evoker has finally survived to 5th level. They've just picked up fireball, and their trigger finger is itching to give it a go. As a Game Master do you, A) ensure there are never groups of enemies in close proximity to one another, thus making sure this spell meant for horde elimination is never used for what it was designed for, or B) do you conjure a scenario or two where your wizard gets to sling their new spell, and feel that it made a significant difference in the encounter?

A lot of Game Masters go for the first option because they don't want their players to feel too powerful, or like they're somehow winning in the arms race versus their enemies. But you should really opt for the latter for at least a few reasons.

And morale is just one of them.

First and foremost, letting players flex their new abilities and tools is good for the game. It keeps players invested and paying attention, and it lets them come to grips with how a spell or power is supposed to work. Additionally, by creating scenarios where players get to use their abilities, it keeps them participating in scenarios... and it often uses up their resources, which is the actual point of most encounters, and what creates challenge. Encounters are supposed to be gone through in a sequence, with each one being progressively harder as players use more and more of their daily allotment of abilities to survive.

Let us say, for example, that you are running a scenario where the party has to defend a tumbledown fortress from a massive hoard of the undead. There are waves of shambling zombies and skeletons, and then after their initial assault there are disease-spreading ghouls, and then at the end the commanding death knight takes the field. You can key different aspects of this encounter specifically to the abilities of your party so that everyone feels useful, and like they're getting moments to shine.

We lead with the evoker and their fireball, because it allows them to act as an artillery piece, firing from extremely long range and punching holes in the enemy's forward line. It's possible that, if the rolls are good enough, the wizard might destroy the walkers altogether. Then the ghouls start rushing in, and as they close it's the ranger's turn to use their new feat, rapid-firing their bow to try to bring the monsters down before they can reach the walls. And if the ghouls do manage to close, the monk has placed himself in the gap, preventing the ghouls from entering, the monk's recently acquired passive immunity to disease taking away the ghouls' most dangerous weapon. Then when the death knight takes the field, the paladin steps out to smite them, backed up by the rest of the party.

Now, this encounter could be shifted and changed to make every aspect of it even more frustrating for the players. A Game Master could choose to have the undead approach under cover of darkness or mist, making them difficult to target until they're at the gates. The field could be filled with trees or ruins, giving the approaching enemies ample cover, frustrating the party's ability to actually do anything to halt their progress. There could even be a secret way into the fortress, leading to undead coming out of tunnels inside the walls, leaving the party scrambling about whether to fight the monsters within, or the monsters without, first.

The damn things are everywhere!

It's easier to add difficulty to a scenario than it is to take it away, and it's important that your players feel challenged, without feeling overwhelmed. Most importantly, though, you don't want to punish them for trying to play the game. So when you're concocting an encounter (and the dungeons/adventures they make up), make sure that you're offering square pegs for square holes so that your players can accomplish the task in order to overcome the challenge, and move on to the next step. At the end of the day, you want them to be able to finish this. You want them to succeed, because if they fail then the campaign ends.

So whether the barbarian picked up the ability to attack in a whirlwind and hit every target around them, or the bard just grabbed the power to fascinate a crowd of people, or the rogue finally got the ability to add poisons to their attacks, facilitate them actually getting some mileage out of these abilities. They just got a new hammer, and you should let them drive some nails with it. It will, overall, make your game a great deal more fun for everyone involved.

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!

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

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

The Literary Mercenary's (And Improved Initiative's) Recent Newsletter Change

The chaos of the year keeps on shifting, and over here on Improved Initiative I'm doing my best to roll with the punches. Which is why, first off, I want to give my monthly shout out to my patrons Phillip Litherland and Tracy for being my VIPs over on The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page. I'm still reeling from the changeover (I lost more than half of my Patreon earnings switching from a per-item account to a single, monthly fee account), so if you want to help me keep my bills paid while working on stuff like this blog, please consider becoming a paid member this month!

However, as if that wasn't enough to deal with, it seems that a certain Digital Ape wanted more bananas from myself, and a bunch of other creators who were just trying to get the word out about our work. Which is why I recently had to switch my bi-weekly newsletter to a new service. So, keep an eye out for Email Octopus, if you haven't seen it yet!

Come, friends. Let me tell you the latest happenings!

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

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

So... What Happened (And What This Will Change)

For folks who haven't been with me for a while, a few years back I took the advice from various folks, and put together a newsletter to keep all my interested readers updated on all my recent releases. The idea was that people who like my work could get personal, up-to-date content round ups coming straight from me, rather than depending on social media algorithms to see my posts (since these sites have been blocking, strangling, and silencing creators across the board). I never had a big following (10,000 is generally the number you need for a newsletter to be a money maker), but there were 300-500 folks subscribed to my newsletter at any given time.

And for all the time since I started this newsletter, I was a Mail Chimp user. You could send out up to 1,000 emails or so a month on your free account, and since I never really grew large enough to worry about going over that (as long as I did bi-weekly newsletters), it was a business arrangement that worked for me.

Until last week, when I settled in to send out the latest, and found the monkey with his hand out, demanding that I pay to play.

Your subscribers are waiting... what's it gonna be?

It seems that when I wasn't looking that Mail Chimp changed their policy so that anyone with over 250 subscribers on their list (I believe that was the number, at least) now had to pay to use their service. Well, given that only about 20% of my list actually reads their messages, and I don't really make any money from sending out these two newsletters a month, I wasn't going to just start tossing cash into a hole.

So I decided to use a different service... and that was why I've migrated my service over to Email Octopus (and you can sign up for the new location right here)!

I was fortunate in that all my previous users were downloaded and slotted right into the new service (so if you were already on the newsletter, you don't have to sign up again), but I'm going to be changing over links and trying to make sure that new folks don't end up on the old service as best I can. Sadly, that's a LOT of posts, so it's possible a few will slip through the cracks. My apologies in advance, but having to go through and change everything individually is going to take me a bit of time.

On A Final Note...

Speaking of going back through and swapping out links, I'm going to be replacing a lot of video links in both this blog, and over on The Literary Mercenary. For folks who haven't seen any of the updates, I recently launched a new YouTube channel with Alice Liddell called The A.L.I.C.E. Files, which is going to have a lot of my older RPG audio dramas on it, in addition to all the fresh content we're going to be making for it!

You'll see videos like this latest Deadlands-inspired tale Dead Man's Bluff, which appeared in my collection The Rejects. So stop on in, give us an extra view, subscribe if you like what we're doing, and consider sharing it around so I can keep making more stuff just like this!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

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

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