As most folks know, my RPG Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic dropped a couple of months back. It was the Deal of The Day last month on Drive Thru RPG, which got a lot of fresh eyeballs on the game, and less than a month after its debut we already had the first supplement available. In the event you didn't grab your own copy yet, Army Men: Threat Assessments is ready for you to snatch up if you need more antagonists for your missions!
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!
A Central Location For Your "Army Men" Needs!
As we all know, social media has been tightening the leash more and more these days. Posts that used to be able to fly free are now routinely shot down by the algorithm, and this makes it significantly more difficult for gamers out there to stay tuned-in to what's going on with any given RPG... especially independently-produced and created ones, which don't have the budget or clout to get wider notice on a platform.
And while a lot of platforms were tossed around for where we wanted to start (including both a Discord and a subreddit), Facebook is where we decided on for the time being. Firstly because it's a platform that still has a lot of dedicated users, but also because it has discoverability (the potential for outsiders to stumble across the group and its content, even if they weren't specifically looking for it). Because the goal here is two-fold; to give existing players a place to congregate, but also to provide resources for new players who are looking for a community.
So what kinds of things can you find in this group if you join?
Well, it's certainly going to become a place for folks to share their experiences with the game, to find groups, and (hopefully) to post videos of live plays. It's very likely to be a place where additional tutorials (like the one above) are going to be shared as a way to help folks diversify their tables, and create more interesting arenas to battle in. It will also be a place to catch up on the latest news about supplements that are coming out, supplements that are currently being batted around as potential projects, short stories, audio dramas, and more!
So if you've wanted to give this game a try, or you want to talk to some of the folks who backed it and have been playing it, join the Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic Facebook group so that we can start growing our numbers. And if it gets large enough, who knows, we may even be able to expand and claim some territory on another platform as well!
It's also a great way to make sure that creators like myself, as well as other contributors, see what you would be interested in, so that we have some idea of what you want going forward as a community!
Lastly, make sure you subscribe to the Azukail Games YouTube channel. There's going to be a fair amount of Army Men content over that way in the near future, and I wouldn't want anyone to miss it!
Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!
That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!
To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on 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!
This past summer was my first time attending World Con in Chicago. While I can't say it was a phenomenal experience, I did get the opportunity to meet a lot of fellow authors, and to be on some fun panels. One that stuck with me (both because it was my first panel of the convention, and because it turned out I was the moderator) was the panel about the genre of Midwest Gothic, what it was, and how to apply it to your stories as an author.
While it's been some time since that panel, I started rolling it around in my head, and wondering... would a guide about this particular genre be something that Game Masters out there would find useful? If so, should it be the first of a series about exploring such genres through the medium of TTRPGs?
It could be done... if it's something folks want to see.
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!
Genre Guides For All Your GMing Needs
Regular readers who've checked out my supplements before now know that I tend to stick to two major formats; 100 Random X, and A Baker's Dozen of More Detailed Y. In case you're one of the folks out there who hasn't gotten a copy of any of my supplements so far, the former category has entries like my Platinum-selling supplement 100 NPCs You Might Meet At The Tavern or the slightly-less-popular 100 Sci Fi Bands. The latter category has entries like my somewhat-controversial bestseller World's Oldest Profession: A Baker's Dozen of Brothels, as well as the Electrum-selling 10 Fantasy Villages.
While I've also written world guides, feat lists, modules, and other styles of supplements, these two formats make up the bulk of my catalog. What makes them so popular, based on feedback from the audience as well as observed trends, seems to be the following factors:
- Game Neutral: A long as you're playing within a given genre, the supplement is still usable.
- Supplemental Resource: These guides fill-in things that GMs don't want to make up on the fly, but they aren't, themselves, necessary for running any particular game.
- Evergreen: Whether you're playing now, or in 25 years, these resources will still be usable.
Looking at these broad strokes, the GM's Genre Guide project fits within all of these parameters, so I feel like it could work... if, that is, it's something readers show an interest in.
What Would Be Included?
I have not yet nailed down the specific format for how this guide would go, and what would be between the pages. With that said, I do have a general layout in mind, and some things I would like it to offer players. Those include:
- Introductory Story: This would set the tone, and be written in the style of the genre in question.
- Genre Overview: The first section would explore the broad strokes of the genre, giving GMs a foundation to work from.
- Genre Elements: Once the overview is established, and examples are given, we break down the genre's most important elements, providing them like the ingredients in a recipe.
- Running The Genre: After the genre has been explained and explored somewhat, this section would offer advice for how to run games set in this genre, along with tips and tricks to make the game stand out, and how to get your players in the spirit.
- Reading and Viewing Recommendations: Since genre can be a complex beast, I'd like to follow the best practices I've seen in other gaming books, and offer some examples for GMs to also take in to immerse themselves in a particular genre.
All of that would, ideally, come out to about 10,000 words or so by the time all is said and done. It might run a little longer, or a little shorter, but that's about the word count I'd be aiming for with these. And while I'd like to start with a Gothic line (Midwest Gothic, New England Gothic, Southern Gothic, you get the idea), if folks enjoy the project I'd be more than happy to stretch out to other genres and provide insight into how to best make those work, too.
How You Can Help
If this sounds like a neat idea, there's a couple of things you can do to help make it a reality. First and foremost, share this post around to get as many eyes on it as possible, and to help gather support. Secondly, leave a comment (here, as well as on social media if that's where you found this blog post) with the genre or subgenre you'd most like to see get its own guide in this series. Gothic preferred, but not required!
The other thing that will really help is, once the series starts coming out, make sure you pick up your copy, and leave a review so that more folks will see the supplement. The more copies something sells, and the more ratings and reviews it gets, the more likely it is that the algorithm will promote it, which creates a cycle where the publisher will want to keep the train rolling... so keep that in mind if you want to see this idea made into a reality sometime in 2024!
Also, if you'd like a short, snappy guide to tide you over till then (and to give you an idea of the sorts of advice I normally give in a project like this), you might want to check out 100 Tips and Tricks For Being a Better Game Master!
Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!
That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!
To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on 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 devil is in the details, or so they say. So this week I thought I'd suggest a few, minor changes you could make to your game's world and setting that would make it feel more unique. After all, who doesn't love a fun little world-building exercise?
No one reading past this point, I'll tell you that much!
If you've ever been on a road trip, then you know exactly what a life saver a highway rest stop can be. It's your one-stop place for stretching your legs, refilling your water bottles, buying a quick snack, and getting information about the local area. You can even take a quick nap, if those highway lines are starting to blur together, and you need a bit of rest before you keep on trucking.
Given that we have all sorts of roads in our fantasy games, why don't we have pit stops like this every so many miles as a benefit of traveling along popular highways? If you want to go simple, they could be shelters that were built for use by travelers, and kept up by the same (introducing a whole cultural thing where it's considered good form to leave fresh firewood, make sure the doors are closed, etc. when you leave). Alternatively, if you're in deep woods, these locations might also be outposts maintained by a company of wardens. These woods guides could act as information sources, and they might be useful for quest hooks. Or perhaps these settlements have small enchantments on them, making them warm in the winter and cool in the summer, giving greetings using magic mouth, and other, similar luxuries.
The sky is the limit here! But they can make things a lot more interesting than, "Roll survival to find a bed of grass to sleep on tonight."
#2: Advertising
Drink at the Dirty Duck! Best pints in town!
When was the last time you saw advertising for something in a game world? Whether it was for a tavern, a curiosity shop, or even a pawn broker's where you could flog all your dungeon trash for drinking money? Probably never. Even in towns big enough to have more than one drinking hole, or a couple of different merchants, we never bother with one of the central conceits of capitalism.
So give it a try, and see what your players do.
If they're walking down a forest path, have them notice a huge painting on the side of a bounder advertising the Sunset Tap, fifteen miles north, take the fork at Durnhill. If your party is in a city, consider putting up actual signs, or have someone handing out leaflets (especially if paper is a fairly cheap resource that could be used for such "low" purposes). Or, if there is a lot of magic in a town, why not have an illusion that stumps for a particular place to eat, rest, get new gear, etc.? It might look like high fantasy Blade Runner, but who at your table would expect that kind of laser light show?
#3: Branding
Is that an ORIGINAL Ulfbehrt? Whoo, that must have set you back.
We tend to think of brand names as a modern conceit, but for goods manufacturers your brand has always been important. That's why smiths would leave their mark on something they'd forged, and why everyone from leather workers, to dress makers, to bakers would try to do something that stood out. In some cases, that mark became synonymous with quality and value, like the signature marks on the Viking Ulfbehrt blades that were made from crucible steel imported from the Middle East back in the iron age.
So what kind of brands exist in your setting?
For example, is the Ironcrest clan the standard for quality in dwarven steel weapons and armor? Are health potions brewed by the Godmouth Springs the equivalent of those who drink fancy, bottled water? Are there off-brand magic items that have drawbacks, but still work well enough under the right circumstances like some of the examples in Drawbacks on Magic Items Can Force Players To Make Tough Decisions in Pathfinder?
Even if the brand doesn't offer any inherit benefits to the user (though many of them might explain the masterwork cost, or be used exclusively for defining the forgers of particular magic items), they can add a great deal of flavor to your world. Particularly long-standing brands, such as those begun by nearly immortal races when early examples of their crafts are found in forgotten tombs, or ancient treasure hoards.
#4: Franchises
We tend to think of franchises as a uniquely modern thing, but they aren't really all that new. Especially when you consider that they could be built around a brand name from the section above, or they could be built around a particular service or creed. Like Crazy Olaf's Adventurer's Emporium, which prides itself on having every kind of gear an adventuring party might need, while offering trade-in value on anything they find in a dungeon. You can even get new and used equipment! While there are outposts for Crazy Olaf's all over, the ones in the hinterlands tend to transport their goods traded items into the big cities where people are more than happy to buy authentic goblin swords to hang on their walls, or to acquire a hill giant's club for use as a conversation piece (paying platinum for what Olaf got for a handful of silver). And then the expensive steel, magic items, alchemical weapons, etc., are shipped out to where such items are needed by monster hunters, rangers, militiamen, etc.
A franchise can be built around anything, though. Do Gillman's Stables offer the finest horse flesh? Do the Iron Riders guarantee that your letters and packages will get to their target safe and sound within a fortnight? Can you go to the furthest reaches of a trading road, and find a Stumble Inn ready and willing to put you up for the night?
It's a little thing, but it can add a lot of flavor to your world. Especially when it devolves into franchise v. local for your buying choices. Also, if you're looking for some franchises to put into your setting, you should check out 100 Merchants to Encounter from Azukail Games. I purposefully built several of them to act as widespread operations that can enhance any setting they're put in.
#5: Entertainment Options
We are Skullduggery! Now did you come here to rock!?
When we think of entertainment in most of our RPGs, we usually picture the local tavern. You can drink, get some food, and maybe play a few games of dice or cards in the corner tables. If you're lucky, there's a band playing to provide live music. And... that's about it unless your game specifically takes place during festivals, or in cities big enough to support a pleasure district.
While there's nothing wrong with that setup, consider expanding the entertainments on offer.
As an example, include an outdoor stage near the town, and post some goings on. Maybe the church does morality plays on their holy day, but traveling performers are welcome to use it as well. Everything from theater companies, to stage magicians, to insult comics. And, sometimes, well-known bands might set up their own show, complete with magical enhancements to play to bigger audiences (probably a festival-style audience).
Then there are sporting events. If a town has a team, then there should be regular events for the locals to follow. Whether it's Skrum (an orc take on rugby), Slammers (a kind of frenetic polo that requires both brutality and skill to play), or even more traditional sports like wrestling, boxing, or the joust, including those elements in the makeup of the local culture can make things more fun. Especially if the owner of the tavern supports a particular team or fighter, making it clear in their decorations who they stand with.
If you add in other potential entertainments, like curated arboretums, smoking dens, coffee houses, poetry slams, libraries, museums, and the latest novels released by retired adventurers telling the tales of their time in the field, then there's a whole plethora of background information you could use to fluff up your world, provide character hooks, or even include as part of your story arcs.
That's all for this week's Fluff installment. Hopefully it got some wheels turning out there in DM land. If you'd like to see some more of my work, drop by my Vocal author page (or just click over to my Gamers archive). Or you could head over to the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio, where Crazy Olaf and others make their homes. If you'd like to stay on top of all my latest releases, then follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. Lastly, to help support Improved Initiative you can either Buy Me A Ko-Fi, or go become a patron on The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page.
