Bloodlines & Black Magic - Going Beyond The World of Darkness

There is something about the yawning mouth of a dark alley, the furtive look of people briefly caught beneath arc sodium lamps, and in the whispers heard in smoky bars, and gathered round burn barrels late at night. There's a draw to dark worlds, and something in your soul that makes you feel like there's more going on than what your eyes can see. A feeling that old gods still lurk in hidden temples, and that demons wait behind toothy grins to shake hands, and bind the unsuspecting to bloody bargains. There is a knowing in your bones that magic and madness both dance in the gutters, and that once you hear the tune, you won't be able to resist joining them.

And if you want to dance with the devil in the pale moonlight, then you should take a moment to check out Bloodlines and Black Magic, from Storm Bunny Studios!

Seriously, I highly recommend checking this one out!

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!

 

Dark Streets With A Different System

When most people think of a modern game of dark fantasy or horror with monsters hiding between the cracks and terrible truths lurking just out of sight, they picture a World or Chronicles of Darkness game. It has been one of the standby settings of the genre, after all, and is responsible for a lot of the accepted norms and tropes of this style of gameplay. However, there are some folks who feel too heavily bound by the lore of those games, or who want a different system to play that lets them capture the feeling of this genre in a wholly different way.

And that's where Bloodlines & Black Magic comes in!

 

The original version of the game used the Pathfinder classic system, using what was called an O7 game. Because while traditional Pathfinder games can go up to level 20, an O7 game only goes up to the first 7 levels of a campaign. While player characters might gain more knowledge, powerful equipment, etc., their level will never go above that rather low bar, which keeps things tense and dangerous. The updated version of the game, however, uses its own, unique system to explore the same world while giving players even more options to customize their characters.

Whichever you choose, there's a dark, damned world out there to explore.

The idea behind these games is that the characters are all tied to one of the bloodlines that run through the world. Magic is real, but it hides behind rain-slick windows, in the back rooms of hellfire clubs, and the upper echelons of power. The world is shaped by global elites who play games of shadows, and who are trying to control the narrative for their own reason. The real question is where will the player characters turn, and what factions will they seek shelter from, and lend their strength to?

 

Honestly, while I could provide details about the factions, the history, the world setup (I did contribute a bit to it a while back in Bloodlines & Black Magic, Whispers and Rumors Issue 4), this is a time that I recommend going in with knowledge of the vibe and little else so that you can absorb the game and its world as you read and play. However, for folks who want a bit of a glimpse behind the tapestry, there is a Bloodlines & Black Magic Quickstart Guide that I'd recommend downloading and giving a once over before you crack open your wallets.

 

Because whether you're not a fan of the Storyteller System, you want a world with a fresh cosmology underpinning its secret histories and occult truths, or you just like trying out RPGs that throw you into a game of shadows as colossal, unseen forces vie for position, this is a tabletop experience I would highly recommend checking out! And while things have been quiet over at Storm Bunny Studios for a bit, they're getting louder by the day, which means we should be seeing a lot of fresh updates and new material for this world.

 

So if you've slept on it, now is a good time to open your eyes!

As A Bonus For Those Stepping Into The Darkness...

If you're someone who enjoys secret world of magic and lost gods that lurk in plain sight, then I'd highly recommend checking out Suffer The Children, a tale of an Old Testament angel settling a grudge with a cult of Moloch in modern-day Los Angeles as he tries to rescue a child sacrifice. This story is the latest audio drama to land over on The A.L.I.C.E. Files. This is a YouTube channel I launched a little while back with Alice Liddell, and it caters to many of the same themes as Bloodlines & Black Magic, though from a more sci fi angle. Still, there are secrets lurking in plain sight, and even clues to deeper mysteries in some of the videos, so check out the channel, subscribe, and leave us some comments if you think you found an Easter egg, or you caught something that might be important later!

We need all the help we can get to keep this endeavor going, and it's free to all our viewers!

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!

What Made Your Changeling What They Are? (Changeling: The Lost)

"You ever wonder about us?" Killian asked. The hulking wolf's nose leather twitched as he sniffed, and he idly drummed his claws on the bench's metal supports.

"No," David grunted, pushing the bar up inch after trembling inch. The ogre sucked a breath over his jutting lower jaw, and lowered the weight one more time.

"Seriously, though," Killian asked, his golden eyes falling to David's elbows as he placed his own furry hands just below the bar. "We were taken on the same day, kept by the same Keeper, treated almost the same... why are we so different?"

David snarled, shoving the weight up, and slamming it into the rack hard enough to make the plates bounce. He sat up, snatched his towel, and wiped at his face. He stood, blotting out most of the light on that side of the room as he did so.

"Almost ain't the same," David said, pointing at the bench. "Your turn. Twelve reps."

We are what we are made to be.

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!

Nature Versus Nurture

While I took a bit of a break from the Chronicles of Darkness, I did have a Changeling: The Lost release a little while back with Like A Good Neighbor - Portraying True Fae in Your Chronicle. However, that dip back into the waters got the gears in my head turning, and it made me ruminate on something that I feel a lot of players overlook when it comes to their character's Seeming in these games.

Because yes, mechanically, you choose a Seeming that gives you access to the powers and abilities you most want for your character. However, what turns a human into a particular kind of changeling isn't just about who they are as a person, and what is revealed about them by fae magic and the Wyrd; it's also (at least in part) dependent on their treatment at the hands of their Keepers.

You merely carve away everything that isn't the statue inside the marble.

For example, say a Gentry has two people who are very alike before them; socially adept humans who are good at making friends, each of which has a force of personality all their own. One of them, as expected, ends up as a Fairest... but the other doesn't. The other finds themselves becoming a beautiful Beast. While it might be due to an inherent difference in the two people (the former attempted to be an equal participant in conversations and riddle games, while the latter merely fawned over the Keeper to try to keep themselves safe), it could also be the way the Gentry treated the two of them. The former's behavior meant the True Fae was intrigued and engaged, verbally sparring with the mortal, the conversations rubbing off on them. The latter, though, was merely giving passive attention, and treated more like a yapping dog than they were someone deserving of the Gentry's attention and respect, minor though it is.

Say the Gentry punished two of its kept humans. They were very similar, but one was punished for actions they actually committed, making it clear they were being trained for a purpose. That leads them to become a hound; strong and fierce, but reacting without thought to commands that have been drilled into them. The second person, though, is punished cruelly, or even unnecessarily, twisting the knife in their wound. That hatred, that malignance, leads them to become an ogre, instead.

And even if a True Fae is purposefully reducing different people into the same kind of changeling, who is to say the methods and treatment don't produce different results? Like how you might take two ingots of the same raw material, but turn them into radically different alloys? Even a pair of twins, put into different scenarios and situations, would end up with utterly unique fates. For example, the True Fae might take one brother, and keep him on a mountaintop where the wind eventually blows him away one layer at a time, until wind is all he is, turning him into a gusting gale. The other brother, just as stubborn and just as willful, might be buried deep beneath the earth. And the longer he pits his will against the rock and mud, the more he becomes a part of the earth, until his skin becomes craggy, and his blood slows to thick, pumping clay.

Thematic Interactions Are What Make Changelings Unique

While it's perfectly within the bounds of the game to have a character who just doesn't remember how they became what they are, or to have someone who was simply cursed or changed by a True Fae into the form they have now, digging a little deeper into why and how your character became what they are can add extra elements to their story. Did the Gentry merely reveal their true nature, imbuing it with magic, making this form an even truer version of who the changeling was in their soul? Were they twisted out of true as the Gentry attempted to force them into a shape and being that didn't fit them? Or did they, through their own actions and behaviors, end up sealing their fate?

Again, these aren't necessary parts of a character... but they can act as seeds that will grow throughout a chronicle, giving you deeper interactions, and more impactful story!

And, lastly, I'd recommend picking up your own copy of Like A Good Neighbor, as well as one of my older supplements 100 Frailties to help you build these necessary weaknesses into your player characters and antagonists alike!

I would also recommend checking out the following free articles about this game:

- The Chessboard Motley

- A Little Taste of Glamour

- 5 Tips For Running a Changeling: The Lost Chronicle

- 5 Questions Every Changeling: The Lost Player Should Ask (About Their Characters)

- 5 Films You Should Watch To "Get" Changeling: The Lost

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

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

Stay Up-To-Date On All The Latest "Army Men" Developments!

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!

However, there are a lot of fresh things coming up for the game, and I'm hard at work on even more... so if you don't want to miss what's going on, make sure you join the newly created Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic group over on Facebook today!

Seriously, if you're going to play this game, you're going to want this one!

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!

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!

Genre Guides For Game Masters... What Would You Want To See?

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!

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

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

5 "Modern" Ideas You Should Try Adding To Your Fantasy World

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!

So, if you enjoyed previous posts like Introduce Some "Period" Technology Into Your Game, or the much more recent What Is Graffiti Like In Your World?, this one will build on some of the ideas put forth in there.

#1: The Highway Rest Stop

Oh... well isn't this lovely?

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.