Make Sure You Have A Story To Tell (Whether You're A Player Or The Game Master)

Roleplaying games, generally speaking, come in two parts. One part is the game, where you roll your dice, add up the numbers, cast your spells, swing your swords, and determine whether you succeed or fail in the task you wanted to complete. The other half of the game, though, is the roleplaying. It's creating unique characters, and telling their stories as they attempt to achieve their goals, whether it's something as grand as saving the world from the threat of extinction, or as relatively small as solving a murder and catching the person responsible.

However, too many of us think that the responsibility of story rests with either the players or the Game Master. This week I wanted to remind folks that, just as the GM is also a player at the table, so too they should be a part of the collaborative storytelling exercise you're all participating in.

It's all about give and take.

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!

Everyone Should Be Contributing

One of the primary mistakes that I see at tables is that either the players will assume that all story needs to come from the Game Master (and so they bring only bare bones archetypes, rather than fully fleshed-out characters with their own histories, goals, etc.), or the Game Master will assume that the players are here to drive the story, and so they sit back and wait for the table to pursue leads and make decisions that are important to the characters (a mistake that has sunk more than a few attempts from GMs to run sandbox-style games).

However, as with almost everything else at the table, this effort needs to be a cooperative one. Players and GMs shouldn't be dictating the story to one another, insisting that X, Y, or Z events need to happen. It's more like moving a couch. Each of you picks up your end of things, and you move it along a path, calling out warnings to one another as necessary, and trying to avoid as many hazards as possible.

You don't want one person carrying, and the other one sitting on the couch asking them why they aren't making progress.

Hey... how come we aren't getting anywhere?

If you're a player at the table, you should have a character who is willing to participate as part of a team (as TTRPGs tend to be team-focused activities), and who is willing to follow plot hooks as they're dropped. However, you should also have a character who has a history, who has goals, and who has a story both for who they were before the game started, but who also has a story of their own you want to tell with them as the game goes on. Whether they're a masked vigilante looking to topple a fascist regime, a farmgirl hero who wants to prove herself worthy of knighthood, or a government experiment who is trying to find their origin while escaping from their handlers, your character should have a story of their own you want to tell.

The Game Master should also have a story they're looking to tell as part of this campaign. This story might be how a gang of brigands and thieves became the heroes of the land when they helped overthrow a corrupt monarch, or it might be how a band of noble warriors stood against the lich king when no others would. It might be the story of Project Apotheosis, who tried to unlock superhuman powers in unwilling candidates, or it might be the story of how a generation ship floundering in the deep black was brought back online, and an entire generation of colonists were saved.

The key is that everyone on both sides of the screen should be helping tell both their own stories, and those of other people around the table. To do this we need to be open with our Game Masters and our players about the kinds of stories we want to tell, and to offer to integrate our stories together as part of the exercise.

That sounds simple enough, but it's something that takes practice.

For example, say you have two players who want to enmesh their stories together. One player is a holy warrior who is looking for a sibling they lost while they were in the orphanage, but who has also set their sights on being knighted for their efforts. We have a rogue who ran with a street gang as a child when they ran away from the orphanage, and then became a bandit when they got older and had to duck the law or wind up in prison. They've amassed quite a bounty on their head, and this life has caused them to grow hard over the years, though they often wonder what might have been.

Those two players could decide to wind their stories together. Maybe the brother was too young to come with, and the older sister promised she'd come back for him, but she never could. Plucked up by the church, he was trained to fight, to read, and to pray, while she led a hardscrabble life. They may not recognize one another at first, but they slowly begin to change each other's black-and-white views, and to grow closer. He begins to realize there are shades of gray in the world, and to be more flexible, while she learns that her skills can be used for good ends, and there really are people out there who care about her, and who will protect her if she'll just let down her guard enough to let it happen.

And then the Game Master could take that combined story, and weave it into the story they're telling. For example, was their mother slaughtered by the warlord who is currently conquering the northern fold, which is why they were in an orphanage in the first place? Is that warlord the father of these two characters, and their mother spirited them away to try to hide them from what being the heirs apparent to a kingdom of blood would do to them? And will they attempt to save their father, end him for what he's done, or will they join with him in hopes to achieve their own goals, twisted or otherwise?

I never had a chance to be other than I am... neither did you. Will you change that?

There are, of course, a variety of considerations to keep in mind. Whether it's dedicating too much involvement or story to too few players, ensuring everyone gets adequate time in the spotlight, etc. However, the basic idea shown here is that all of you should have different threads of story when you come to the table... and all of you should participate in weaving those disparate elements together to create a single, more cohesive, whole!

Need Help With The Heavy Lifting?

Coming up with all the different story elements isn't easy, especially for those of us who aren't used to building bigger, more involved stories, consider trying out some of the following tools:

- 100 Character Goals and Motivations: If you need a list of things to help make your character's journey stand out, and to help you shape their story, check these ideas out!

- 100 Dark Secrets: Everyone has secrets... and these secrets can make an excellent basis for your story. Both as a player and as a Game Master.

- 100 Questions To Ask About Your Characters: Sometimes it helps to look at our characters from perspectives we didn't previously consider, whatever side of the GM screen you're on.

- 100 Fantasy Professions (That Aren't "Adventurer"): It helps to mix it up from time to time, and your professional handle can say a lot about who you are, and what you do.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

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

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

Tie-In Publications From Sundara (Novels, Table Games, and More!)

My fantasy TTRPG setting Sundara: Dawn of a New Age had its first release going on three years ago, and I've been steadily expanding the map a little bit at a time. The original splat books for Cities of Sundara were pretty popular, as were the Species of Sundara books where I talked about the fantastical creatures you could play as, and for the past year or so I've been working my way through what is (more or less) the Factions of Sundara series, with installments like Sellswords of Sundara (for Pathfinder and DND 5E) as well as Cults of Sundara (for Pathfinder and DND 5E).

However, it was with the recently released Merchants of Sundara that I had an idea for a new project for the setting... making some tie-in projects for this setting!

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

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

Building on The Foundation We've Already Laid

For folks who've been keeping an eye on Sundara as a setting, you know we've already had our share of tie-in media. The above video, for instance, is a dramatization of the introductory story from the supplement 100 Effects of a Primquake, which came out a little while ago. In addition to all of the audio dramas you can find on the Azukail Games YouTube channel, there's also projects like the story Legacy of Flames by Isaiah Burt.

However, Merchants of Sundara presents interesting opportunities for something we haven't tried yet... meta tie-in projects.

You ever play a game of Regicide before?

In particular, this supplement discusses two merchants of note; Black Feather Books, and Alabast Games. The former is a publisher of unique treatises on history, ghost stories, and tales of adventure, while the latter is a little niche store run by a clever halfling who enjoys making unique card games, board games, and even dice games using little toy soldiers deployed on sand tables to fight their tiny wars.

Most of the time when creators make tie-in projects for their settings, these projects are meant to tell stories that take place in the setting itself. For example, Tales From The Moot is a collection of short stories of the deeds of werewolves in the World of Darkness, and The Irregulars is a story of an Andoran strike force set in the world of Golarion. These stories happen in the setting, and they could even cross paths with the campaign you're running. You could have characters influenced by the events of these stories, or who have some relationship to the characters or events in them, working them into your game as it unfolds.

This is a little different, though. For this project I'd be writing short stories or books that one could find in the setting itself, allowing players to read the same stories their characters would be reading if they picked up a book at a trading post to keep them entertained on their upcoming journey. This is not too dissimilar from what I proposed a while back in Would You Like To See Books From Golarion? In addition to books that might appear in the setting, though, I've considered the idea of putting together games that people might play in Sundara which are produced by Alabast Games. Games like Regicide or Gravedigger, which are played using a set of Crown Dice, for example, along with a chart explaining what die type Crown Dice are, and how to translate the dice from your personal dice bag so you can play the game with your fellows around the table... either just for fun, or to add to the immersion of your RP.

The question, of course, is whether this is something you would like to see as one of my readers? So if you're a fan of the setting (whether or not you picked up a copy of Merchants of Sundara for yourself yet), tell me the sort of thing you'd like to see in the comments below! The more folks who speak out, and let both myself and the publisher know what they'd like to see, the greater the chance that it's something I can make room for in the near future!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

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

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

Would You Like To See Books From Golarion? (A Meta Game Project Proposal)

Folks who've been following my blog for a while know that, in addition to writing straight-up rules content and GM supplements for RPGs, I have a soft spot for tie-in fiction. Given that The Irregulars was my first professional credit with an RPG company (a short story about a team of black ops saboteurs working for Andoran in the Golarion setting), that shouldn't really surprise anyone. While I've written my share of other stories, such as the Silver Raven Chronicles that details my group's journey through the Hell's Rebels adventure path, as well as Warhammer 40K short stories like Blackest Knights and The Emperor's Hand (stories about Deathwatch black shields, and a new Gav and Bob adventure respectively), I had an idea for a new project that might grab some folks' interest.

In short, rather than writing stories about fictional settings, the idea would be to write books found within those fictional settings... and Golarion is where I'd specifically start this proposed project.

Also, seriously, grab a copy of this if you haven't yet!

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

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

A Little Piece of The Setting in Your Hands

For folks who haven't checked it out yet, 100 Books To Find Across The Inner Sea dropped this past weekend. It's my second Pathfinder Infinite supplement, and while it's a little more general than my first piece 150 Sights To See (And Rumors To Hear) in Absalom, it also gave me a weird idea as I was putting it together.

What if I actually wrote some of the books on this list, and made them available through the Pathfinder Infinite platform?

It's a little unconventional, I'll admit.

For anyone who's played Skyrim, the basic idea would be do what that game did and actually write books players could find in the setting in their entirety. While fun to read on their own, they would also act as examples of the books that characters might have read growing up, or which they might wile away the hours wtih on long journeys as they pursue the objectives of their various quests. Whether folks wanted to grab one of the Dark Tales volumes, which contain gothic horrors and romances in the style of Ustalavian author Ailson Kindler, stories from The Lion's Quiet Roar which are basically a fantasy version of James Bond's tales told with Taldor as the heroes, or even a novel like Love and Blood: A Romance in Gray which tells the tale of a young noblewoman hiding her bloodline in Galt who's new lover is actually one of the nation's infamous Gray Gardeners.

On the one hand, I'm the first to admit this is kind of a silly idea for a project. It would also be extremely time and energy intensive, even if I managed to get other creators in on it to make the project go a little faster, much like I did with the Tales From The Moot collection of short stories for Werewolf: The Apocalypse. And, much as it pains me to say this, the rules of platforms like Pathfinder Infinite are quite clear; products made through them are digital only, so these wouldn't be novels like the Pathfinder Tales that you could buy at cons, or down at your local bookstore. They'd be ebooks only under the current rules.

Unless someone reading this happens to have the ear of Paizo's publishing team, in which case have them shoot me an email and I'll work up a full proposal for any of these books!

But that's my question for my readers this week. Is this the sort of project you think you'd be interested in? If so, which of the titles in 100 Books To Find Across The Inner Sea would you like to see expanded into a full meta book? Or if you're more interested in more game materials, what other supplements would you like to see me add to Golarion in the future? Are there any particular nations, cities, classes, or topics you want to see covered?

Toss it all in the comments below!

Lastly, There's The Possibility of a Podcast

If you've been watching my updates, then you know that I've been making a lot of audio dramas over the past year or so. I've even considered finishing out the Silver Raven Chronicles (which only 4 parts at time of writing) in an audio format. However, if folks would like a series of tales told round the campfire, stories of the Baba Yaga, the adventures of legendary figures that may or may not have happened in Golarion, etc., that is also a possibility if it's something folks would tune-in to listen to.

Speaking of ongoing narrations, I also wanted to remind readers that right now I'm putting together a series of crossover stories between Geist: The Sin Eaters and Mage: The Awakening. The above story is taken from my 50 Geists supplement, and it tells the story of how former mob hitter Johnny Hammer came to be the right hand of the creature called the Six Gun Saint. In 100 Shadow Names (And Their Meanings) we find out that Johnny's former boss, Tony Gracchus, awakened as a newly-minted Moros. Young and arrogant, he took the name Cyprian, and the necromancer has been using his power in ways that have alienated a lot of the community. It's likely that behavior is one reason the Saint chose Johnny as his new triggerman, and the two of them are set on a collision course for one hell of a reckoning.

So if that's something you'd like to see me add to in the coming months, consider grabbing copies of the supplements so I can convince the publisher that these game lines are worth making more material for, subscribe to the Azukail Games YouTube channel, and help me spread the word!

And, of course, if you have any particular supplements you'd like to see for those game lines, leave those in the comments as well!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

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

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

More Meta Supplements Are Coming Your Way!

Folks who've been following my work over the past few years have seen all kinds of different supplements with my name on them. I've had general fill-in content for Game Masters like 100 Random Oracular Pronouncements, or 100 Random Mercenary Companies. I've released DND 5E adventure modules such as my murder mystery False Valor, or the horror-themed Ghosts of Sorrow Marsh. I've written 14 different supplements for my Sundara setting at time of writing, all of which are conveniently listed out in my previous entry What Do You Want To See Next in Sundara: Dawn of a New Age? And that's not even counting the various World of Darkness supplements I've put out, or the short stories I've got on the market, like my contributions to the Werewolf: The Apocalypse collection Tales From The Moot, or my Pathfinder Tale The Irregulars.

Needless to say, it's been a busy few years.

However, something that was meant to be kind of a one-off palate cleanser for me as a creator ended up making a far bigger impact than I expected. So, in a classic case of, "follow the audience's interest," it looks like I'm switching to a new project for at least the next few months. And for lack of a better term I'm calling them my meta supplements.

Just in case you didn't see this when it dropped.

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

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

Making More of The Meta

Typically when I put together a supplement it's full of stuff that's meant to be in-world. It's NPCs you might meet, or encounters you might have, taverns you could meet in, guilds or cults you might cross, things of that nature. However, when 100 Tips and Tricks For Being a Better Game Master first dropped, it went Silver within the first few days. I won't say that's never happened to me before, but it is rare enough that when it does happen I sit up and take notice.

Since the response to that supplement was bigger than I expected, I figured I'd try another couple of titles out to see if the response was similar. And while 100 Character Goals and Motivations didn't explode quite as hard as the Game Master tips supplement did, it still went Silver faster than most of my other supplements have. While the third installment, which will be 100 Tips and Tricks For Being a Better RPG Player hasn't dropped yet (though it should be out this weekend, and I'll update the link to reflect that when it comes out), I am currently plotting more of these supplements for the future as long as readers keep checking them out.

So, what makes a meta supplement, exactly? Well, one thing is that they tend to have a lighter tone, as evidenced by Why Are You Here? the introduction from the goals and motivations supplement where we find that the fighter's true motivation is nowhere near as dark, serious, or gritty as everyone else in the party.

Perhaps more important than a lighter tone mixed with a little humor, though, meta supplements aren't in-game resources that are meant to be plopped down as a piece of set design. Instead they're advice on how you can be a better player, a better Game Master, or a discussion of the meta aspects of the story you're trying to tell. In a lot of ways this makes these supplements less concrete than some of the other examples I mentioned in the opener, because they were meant to be point-and-shoot. If you need a bartender, open this supplement. A cult, open this one. A knightly order, a mercenary company, a guild, there's a supplement you can pluck them out of and fill in the blank.

At the same time, though, I have a sneaking suspicion that it is the less concrete aspects of these supplements that might be what makes them popular. There's dozens of splats out there full of character names and the contents of treasure piles, but not a lot of them discussing character motivations, story beats, player habits, and general table behavior. But we'll see how folks respond to the upcoming releases, and whether the demand maintains. Because as I repeatedly say on this platform, as long as readers are buying copies and asking for more, that's a vein I'll continue to mine until I'm completely out of ideas.

Also, if you enjoyed the little audio drama above, consider subscribing to the Azukail Games YouTube channel. We need every set of eyeballs we can get, since YouTube won't monetize it till after it gets 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watched content within the past year... we're nowhere near either of those, and every drop fills the bucket up a little bit more!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my cat noir thriller Marked Territory, its sequel Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

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

Do Not Hide Bad Behavior Behind The Game's Meta

In the event that you're living under a rock these days, you probably haven't heard all the discussions about the triumphant return of the kender and the gully dwarves. If you're even marginally plugged-in to the happenings in gaming circles, though, you have likely seen three hundred or more discussions of these, along with a lot of other aspects of the Dragonlance setting the World of Krynn, since it was announced it was going to get a re-release recently.

However, while this has sparked its share of flame wars, I wanted to focus on a specific aspect of the conversation going on right now. Because this is bringing to light how a lot of players will use the meta of a game or setting to cover up their own bad behavior... and that's something we all need to learn to recognize, and put a stop to before it ruins the game for everyone.

Because the problem isn't the kender... most of the time.

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

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

Thieving, Practical Jokes, and Responsibility

For those who aren't familiar with Dragonlance, this setting goes all the way back to the first edition of Dungeons and Dragons. Last I saw any content for it was in the 3.5 edition, and it seems to have skipped over the 4th edition entirely. But now it's coming out for 5th edition, and a whole new crop of gamers who've never heard of it are dealing with a lot of old gripes and even older horror stories from the so-called old guard.

Sitting at the top of that list is the kender.

If you have not encountered a kender before, picture a halfling. Now add an unquenchable wanderlust, an utter lack of understanding of the concept of personal property, a cultural emphasis on cutting insults as a form of entertainment, and curiosity that borders on a death wish. For the book series, where a single author was in charge of how scenes went and how characters acted, kender were amusing creatures that we often found entertaining or endearing. However, if you handed that to the wrong player (and most people who ask to have it will reveal if they were the wrong player soon enough) that is a recipe for frustration, irritation, and a lot of player-v-player combat.

Do not anger the barbarian. They don't take jokes well.

A lot of folks will say the problem is the kender for the way they're written. Or the gulley dwarves, which are, at best, a silly take on gnomes attempting to be dwarves in the most absurd way possible (and at worst they're a way to punch down at people who live with mental disorders). Or how many settings describe gnomes specifically as, "playing practical jokes on people," as part of their write up. The list goes on.

Honestly, at the end of the day, this is just another version of someone saying, "But it's what my character would do!" as a way to duck responsibility for stirring the pot, and being a pain in the rest of the table's collective backside.

You Can Play Any of These (Without Irritating Everyone Else)

All of the characters mentioned above are completely playable concepts. Just like how you can play an evil character in a non-evil party (as I mentioned in Making The Lone Evil Character in a Good Party Work), if you really want to. The key to it is to look at the character you're playing, at the table you're playing with, and to ask yourself, "How do I have fun with this concept in a way that won't piss everyone else off?"

Some concepts are, admittedly, tougher than others.

I covered this in Make Sure Your Character is as Much Fun To Play With as They Are To Play, and all those lessons stand. Everyone else at the table is spending hours of their time in-game with this character; at least do them the courtesy of making the experience as positive as you can.

That doesn't mean you need to utterly ignore the meta, either... you simply need to adjust the dial to fit the table you're at.

For example, if you're playing a kender, you may still randomly pocket stuff on your day-to-day... but make sure you aren't pocketing the rest of the party's stuff. Hell, you can't carry the fighter's great sword, and the barbarian's shield is bigger than you are, so what would even be the point? Instead, swipe some apples from a cart as you walk by, and toss one to the sorcerer because they didn't have an apple and they looked hungry. Take the jailer's keys when they walk past, and then just hand them over to the rogue who is now in on the joke with you. And if you really want to go whole hog with it, walk away from any kind of treasure that's heavy or pointless, because if you don't acknowledge personal ownership chances are good economics is far beyond you, and someone else in the party tracks your share and covers your bills.

That kind of stuff might be amusing, and while it could generate some negative situations between you and NPCs, it isn't putting you directly at-odds with the rest of the party. And as long as you're contributing to the group's efforts you're more likely to be seen as a scamp or a minor troublemaker than a nuisance that has to be dealt with.

Long story short, don't be a jerk. Have fun with your character, and mold them to fit in with everyone else. This is a team sport, and everyone needs to be having fun if you expect the group to get back together next week.

Also, even though I couldn't find a convenient place to fit it in here, don't forget to check out my 5 Tips For Playing Better Evil Characters along with 5 Tips For Playing Better Noble Characters. They tend to generate a lot of friction as well, so I wanted to toss them here at the end.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my cat noir thriller Marked Territory, its sequel Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

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

When The Party Decided To Play "HeroQuest" To Kill Time Between Adventures

The Crew had been hard at work since they'd first been hired to work the job. It had been a simple smash and grab in a dungeon, and so the guild had scraped the bottom of the barrel to see who they could come up with. What they got was a bunch of do-most-dirty-job crooks and hard cases who got put together on a team, and told to go find a magic globe. A dragonborn deserter from the army who was always ready to bust heads, a kobold sorceress with a rap sheet longer than her tail, a tiefling warlock with a specialty in blackmail, and a half-orc who'd escaped from a prison colony on false papers, they were a motley bunch who were always hard up for cash. They didn't know what the globe was, and didn't really care, as long as they got their membership cut of the job when everything was said and done.

Will Work 4 Phat Lootz

They outdid themselves, and pretty soon that one job spiraled out into madness. The Crew found themselves on retainer to a secretive organization hunting magic items across the world, facing the marshaling forces of a dire threat from a forgotten world, and dealing with bloodthirsty assassins and fellow thieves around every corner. They even won a landmark court case at one point, as mentioned in That One Time The Party Solved The Plot With a Legal Battle.

Of course, the organization that employed them was run by a dragon, and as long as little pieces of his hoard made its way into their hands, the Crew was more than happy to keep fighting the good fight.

However, as with every campaign, we eventually hit a long, slow patch where schedules got disrupted, the DM was feeling stressed, and we were just having some trouble getting together at our usual time and place. When that happened the Crew was on an airship, flying toward an island of underground tieflings who worshiped the lord of shadows. So, to pass the time without losing the spirit of the game, the DM did something interesting...

He had us play HeroQuest... in game, and in-character!

The Best Game Ever Made!

While HeroQuest was a gateway to RPGs for most folks, my group hadn't really heard of it until we came across the above video from Bardic Broadcasts. And as you can see, it's the best commercial that was never made for the game. For those of you who haven't played HeroQuest personally, it's basically a tabletop fantasy board game that's one step down from a full RPG similar to the games Wrath of Ashardalon or Castle Ravenloft from Wizards of The Coast. You all take on roles of the barbarian, the dwarf, the elf, and the wizard, put into a dozen different scenarios that make up their own campaign. You contend with monsters, and the machinations of the evil wizard who sits behind the screen and attempts to lead the heroes to their doom.

Our DM had been searching for a copy of this old game for a while (they tend to go for a few hundred dollars at best, given that it's out of print), and he'd finally gotten his hands on one around the time the campaign hit a snag. So we all decided to let the campaign sit, and play HeroQuest for a while... but we were going to do it as our characters while we were in transit to the next part of the adventure.

And it was goddamn hilarious.

The green dragonborn took the role of the barbarian, and for a while did his best to roleplay the stalwart hero instead of the heavy-drinking, hard-partying skullcracker that he actually was. The kobold sorcerer grabbed the dwarf, adding new aspects to the character's backstory, and bringing in a slew of extended family members whenever one dwarf died. The half-orc monk took on the role of the elf, trying to use grace and flourishes but always falling back on smashing stuff in the face. Even the tiefling warlock occasionally dropped in as the wizard, who was without fail smoking a particularly large blunt in between flinging fireballs and lightning. All the while the game was being run by one of the goliath crew members on the airship, who suggested it as a way to pass the time on their journey.

The Game Within The Game

HeroQuest is a fun game all on its own, and if you can find a copy you should pick it up as long as the price isn't too unreasonable. But roleplaying characters who are, in turn, roleplaying other characters was a trippy experiment, and one that yielded some amusing moments. More than a few jokes between the PCs while they were sitting around the game board recurred even after the campaign picked up and kept going, which was particularly funny.

Every now and again we still do a time skip, and rewind to the HeroQuest scenarios. And I have a feeling that, once the actual campaign is over and the villain vanquished, our heroes will once again pick up their dice cups a flagons to find out just what sort of adventures they can have sitting around that table in the back of the tavern.

Next Time on Table Talk!

With so many games paused thanks to the pandemic, my Runelords tales are on-hold for the time being. But hopefully I can keep sharing a few amusing asides like this week's tale until we can finish out the last of that campaign. So stay tuned, and I'll see you next time on Table Talk!

For more of my work, check out my Vocal archives, as well as the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio where I help out from time to time. Or, to check out books like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my recent short story collection The Rejects, head over to My Amazon Author Page!

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The Five-Man Band and Your Party (Something to Think About)

Most of us know that the general purpose of an adventuring party is to make sure that everyone contributes a different strength to the group. The idea is that if one member can't handle a task (interpreting an ancient text, sneaking past the guards, smashing in the ogre champion's skull), then another member can step up and take point on it. This makes everyone a main character, and equally responsible for moving the story as it unfolds around them.

However, examining the literary trope behind this setup can be quite useful. If you've never come across it before, it's called the Five-Man Band.

The short version is that a balanced party, using this blueprint, consists of the following members according to TV Tropes.

- The Leader (Lead Singer): If the party had a protagonist, it would be this character. Whether it's the charismatic paladin who draws their friends into their adventures or the mastermind who runs the team for the heist, the leader is the one the others tend to defer to when it comes time to speak for the group.

- The Lancer (Lead Guitar): The Lancer is the balance to the Leader. They are, in many ways, the opposite side of the same coin, providing the elements the Leader lacks. If the Leader is clean-cut and noble, the Lancer may be grizzled and pessimistic. If the Leader is an opportunist who's more than a little amoral, the Lancer often acts as their conscience, etc.

- The Smart Guy (Keyboardist): This character is immediately recognizable across genres. The wizard, the hacker, the antiquarian... the Smart Guy is the one who knows things. Often physically weak, they tend to be good friends with the Big Guy... the Loki to their Thor, if you will.

- The Big Guy (Drummer): The bulk of the band, this guy is the tank. Sometimes the Big Guy is reluctant to really bring their strength out, like we see with Colossus in the X-Men, and sometimes they revel in it, like whenever the Hulk is let off the chain. Sometimes the Big Guy is slow on the uptake, sometimes they're mute, but they're the only ones who can literally carry the party.

- The Heart (Vocals): Typically referred to as The Chick in the classic Five-Man Band setup, the Heart is more often than not the only female character in the group (though this is changing as time goes on). The Heart is the one who brings everybody together, and who helps maintain balance while keeping a happy medium. It's argued that if the Heart is male that it's not a Five-Man Band, but for anyone who saw the episode of Captain Planet when Mati wasn't included (and the Captain was a merciless, uncaring force of pure destruction let loose on the world to scour it clean), we can all agree that a Heart is a necessity.

Incidentally, for anyone who wants to make a party that is also an actual band, you might want to take a moment to check out 100 Fantasy Bands for a little inspiration.

Ask Yourself What Your Job in The Band Is

Something I have come across a lot, both as a player and as a dungeon master, are folks who design their PCs in a vacuum. They know, academically, they're going to be part of a group, but they haven't really thought about how that's going to work.

This is why understanding the Five-Man Band, and seeing it in action in fiction, can be quite useful.

Avengers fans are already ahead of the curve on this one.

Even if you know your character's role mechanically (meat shield, fire support, buffer, healer, debuffer, terrain control, the list goes on), it's worth thinking about where they're going to fall into a group in general, and the group you're planning on joining in particular.

It's also worth considering that different characters can sometimes take up different roles when they're placed on different teams. Captain America is basically the Leader no matter what squad he joins up with, but Thor is more often the Big Guy when he's with other Avengers, while he can become the Leader when he's paired with other Asgardians. That makeup of the rest of the team matters, and even if you saw your character in one role, they might fall into another when paired with a different party.

Just as with mechanical roles in the party, it's important to ask if the story role you need has already been filled. Because you may have a similar skill set to another character, but a wildly different story position.

For example, your party's Big Guy might be Helgar Hopswithe, the Silent Knight. A towering figure in black armor, his lance is almost as deadly as his sword, and he stands as the party's muscle. Crayton Bloodacre, the Rager of Render's Deep, might seem to be a very similar character at first glance, because he fills a similar role mechanically. But while the barbarian and the fighter may have similar styles and purposes once initiative is rolled, Crayton is instead the Lancer to Amelie Steadfast, the dwarven cleric who heads up the party. Amelie is noble and determined, and Crayton is the brutish opportunist who tries to get her to be reasonable... even if reasonable for him is amoral to anyone else.

While there's nothing that says a party can't have more than one of these roles (two Big Guys, for example, or two Smart Guys), you can end up stepping on each other's story beats the same way you could get crowded if two of you are basically using the exact same character build.

It's a Template, Not an Absolute

There is nothing saying your party needs to ascribe to this setup. If you want to completely ignore it and do your own thing, or double up on roles, you're free to do that if it makes for a better story that you and your table enjoy.


However, with that said, it's still important to think about story in the meta-context. And for those not used to analyzing a game, this trope is often a very useful place to get started.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. Hopefully you found this suggestions useful!

For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

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