Magic weapons are one of those things characters tend to acquire as they advance in level in Pathfinder classic. However, it's particularly easy to get caught up in all the choices for weapon enchantments as we try to figure out which options are going to be most effective against the particular enemies we're fighting, which ones work best with our character's class features, and which ones provide the most bang for our buck.
There is an enchantment that often falls through the cracks, though, and it's easy to overlook it if you aren't the sort of player who goes through rulebooks from cover to cover. And if you didn't dig into Ultimate Equipment (which I would recommend getting a copy of if you haven't), you may have missed the Furyborn enchantment.
Do not test me, for my fury has no limits.
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 Deadly Enchantment For All Occasions
The Furyborn enchantment is born of the frustration from a warrior whose enemy refuses to lay down and die. It is a +2 enchantment that can be placed on any melee weapon, and every time the weapon hits a single target, the enhancement bonus increases by +1 to a total of +5. So even if you have your weapon as a +1 furyborn weapon, a single hit raises it to +2, a second raises it to +3, and so on, and so forth, until you have a +5 furyborn weapon.
The bonus resets if you attack a different target than the original, the original target dies, or 1 hour passes.
Just die... it's the only way to end this!
Now, on the one hand, that likely sounds pretty good. After all, if you have a character with a full base attack bonus who can take iterative attacks, every hit you land makes you more likely to hit again, and adds a little bit of bonus damage. Because a +5 enhacement to hit (and the +5 enhancement to damage that comes with it), ain't nothing to sneeze at.
But there's another benefit that comes with a weapon's enhancement bonus that a lot of us simply don't think about. If you look in the back of the Pathfinder Core Rulebook on page 562, it lists the kinds of damage reduction that's overcome when a weapon has a high enough enhancement bonus. If a creature has DR that's overcome by silver or cold iron, then a weapon with an enhancement bonus of +3 ignores that ability. DR that normally requires an adamantine weapon to bypass can be ignored by a weapon that has an enhancement bonus of +4. And if a creature has alignment-based DR, that can be overcome by a weapon with an enhancement bonus of +5.
So if you're fighting a werewolf with your furyborn weapon, the first two hits will apply its DR, but after that your furry friend will take the full brunt of your blows. If it's later in the game and you're opposing devils, demons, or even angels (it's hard to say where your campaign will go), connecting with 4 hits means that your weapon is now going to pierce their protections and cut into them... and if you're a full-BAB martial character, that can mean you're only sacrificing a round or two to overcome your enemy's biggest defense.
And, of course, an extra handful of damage can really make a difference in conjunction with your general combat strategy... especially if you're confirming critical hits and multiplying that damage by 2, 3, or more!
So, if you're not sure what kind of weapon enchantment will work for your next game, consider grabbing this one for your melee weapon. Especially if you are the sort of player who likes to focus on a single enemy until they are down for the count, and out of the fight.
Further Reading Recommendations
If you enjoyed this week's advice, consider checking out the following Pathfinder RPG supplements as well!
- Sellswords of Sundara: A collection of 10 mercenary companies, each one comes with its own, unique class archetype!
- Feats of Legend: 20 Story Feats: One of the capstone pieces from the Feats of Legend series, this one covers one of the most under-utilized feat choices that can be extremely rewarding in a Pathfinder campaign.
- Pathfinder Player Companion: Bastards of Golarion: My first official contribution to the Golarion setting, this one covers a variety of tricks that can be a serious boon to adventurers who want to come out ahead.
Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!
That's all for this week's Crunch post! To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!
To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Blue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!
Those of you who've been regular readers for the past year or so know that I've been trying to big-up the signal for TTRPG designer Owen K.C. Stephens. He's had his hands in some of the biggest games to come out in decades, and all of us have probably played something that has his name in the credits, or his fingerprints on the design. And while designing TTRPGs is often as frustrating as it is satisfying, one unavoidable truth is that it is not the most lucrative career in the world... even for those of us who are legends in our own time.
Let's cut right to the chase, here; Owen's Go Fund Me for his cancer treatment is trying to raise $150,000. And I think we should do everything we can to get him there!
One of our own calls for aid... can we answer?
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!
Help If You Can, And Spread The Word!
There's no beating around the bush with this week's update. I'm not trying to sell you on a bundle, or boost the signal on somebody's YouTube channel... this is literal life and death. Unfortunately, America has decided to make how much money you can cough up the most important facet of whether or not you get to keep living, and the difficulty curve just goes up when you get really sick.
But there's no point in hemming and hawing over how things should be. We can worry about those things after Owen wins this battle, and more importantly, can afford to keep living his life once he's defeated the enemy within.
When it comes to situations like this, numbers are what matter!
So please, if you can help donate to Owen's Go Fund Me! Even just a small payment can make a big difference if enough of us do it.
And if you want to do more than just a one-time tip to help with this process, consider sharing the link to the fundraiser, or even to this blog to help boost awareness, and overcome the algorithm! Also, consider doing the following:
- Follow Owen on Twitter (yeah, it's falling apart, but a replacement has yet to take its place)
While it might not seem as important as providing direct assistance, remember, social media boosts our signals as creators based on our audience share. So making sure you plug-in to Owen's channels still helps his messages reach a wider audience. Still, give if you can, and boost the signal regardless of the state of your wallet. All it takes is a few minutes of your time!
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!
It's been a crazy few months around my neck of the woods, what with preparing for the Army Men Kickstarter, setting up interviews, finishing up short stories, and trying to get some scripts done for a project I can't reveal just yet. I've been so busy, in fact, that I completely missed the fact that I passed something of a milestone recently.
As this week's title says, I've broken 150 TTRPG supplements!
It's been one hell of a ride...
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! To be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!
Also, since it keeps getting lost in the shuffle, check out my Vocal archive for more articles about RPGs, character conversions, character concepts, weird history, nerdy topics, and more!
It's Taken a While To Climb This High
While taking a moment to reflect on how I got here, it seems that I've been doing this job just a little bit longer than I initially thought I had. One of the earliest projects I worked on that's still available is Bastards of Golarion, and it looks like that book came out back in 2014! That was not too long after my short story The Irregulars went up on the Paizo blog, even though it just became available for purchase fairly recently.
Not my first, but damn near!
It wasn't off to the races straight away, though. It took me more than a year to start taking on additional TTRPG projects. In 2015 I started working with TPK Games, contributing to The Demonologist base class for Pathfinder, as well as writing Feats Reforged IV. In 2016 I was part of the overlooked supplement Inspired by Heraldry for Pathfinder from Flaming Crab Games. I worked on Whispers and Rumors: Borderland Town for Raging Swan in July 2017 (currently the only project I've done with them, and it wasn't long after that when I wrote 100 Bits of Miscellaneous Tat to Find for Azukail Games... my first, but far from my last, supplement they'd publish.
While I was definitely a TTRPG designer and writer at that point in my life, I think that 2019 is when I really had to kick things into overdrive. I was already putting out regular supplements for Azukail Games every month, in addition to managing this blog and writing gaming articles, but it was the first time I took on a second, long-term project at the same time. My 100 Kinfolk project marked the first time I'd done something more than blogs for High Level Games, and it began with 100 Get of Fenris Kinfolk, ending (nominally) with 100 Stargazer Kinfolk. While I took a bit of a break after that series of 14 supplements was over (and it's available as the 100 Kinfolk Bundle, for those who are interested), going back to 1 supplement most months, it was in 2021 when I had to start putting the pedal back to the metal. Since then I've been doing my best to put out at least 2 supplements a month just to make sure the lights stay on, and the bills get paid.
It's really easy to lose track of stuff, especially when you have to keep your nose so close to the grindstone that you can't take a look back the way you've come. But I wanted to take a moment, and let out a breath. Because I can't afford to stop making things (I don't make that many sales), but sometimes it's important to take stock, and examine the bricks you laid to build the road leading to where you are today.
Speaking of supplements #149 and #150, though...
I wanted to end this week's blog with a shout out for my two most recent supplements for those who hadn't seen them. For my Changeling: The Lost players, don't forget to check out 100 Rumors to Hear at The Freehold, which is full of weird urban legends, strange beliefs, and potential plot hooks for your chronicle. Secondly is the supplement pictured above. 100 Body Mods and Augmentations For Your Sci Fi Game does exactly what it says on the tin, providing you a bunch of accessories for your cyborgs.
If you haven't given them a look yet, consider grabbing yours today! And if you're curious about all my other RPGs, either search my name on DTRPG, or check out my TTRPG pinboard, which has links to all of my supplements, and is updated on the regular.
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!
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.
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!
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!
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!
At any given time I've got maybe a dozen different projects spinning around my work desk. From articles and blogs, to TTRPG supplements, to videos, audio dramas, and more, I generally keep things pretty busy on my end. However, one of the shifts that I made during the recent uncertainty regarding the OGL was that I started putting together some more ideas for Pathfinder Infinite content... and while doing that, an idea that I've been hemming and hawing over for a while came back to me.
In short, I'd like to get the team back together, and redeploy The Irregulars into Golarion. If I did, where would you like to see them go next?
Seriously, check it out if you haven't yet!
Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my 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!
Who Are The Irregulars?
My first professional writing credit as an RPG creator was a short story for Paizo's Pathfinder Tales titled The Irregulars, which is now available on Drive Thru RPG. Described as the best and the brightest of the bottom of the barrel, this squad of irregular troops specialize in sabotage, ungentlemanly warfare, impossible missions, and disruption on a scale that far exceeds their numbers. Outcasts and rebels from the ranks of Andoran's armed forces, they were given one last chance to prove themselves... and they took to the freedom of their new task with gusto!
In short, they're kind of my fantastical take on the A-Team.
We could be anywhere. Anytime. Sleep well.
I really enjoyed writing their debut adventure (the start of a campaign of sabotage in Molthune, suggested to me by James Sutter, who was head of fiction at the time), and ever since the story came out I've wanted to more with Garm, Trilaina, Chaplain, Gunner, and their half-mad commander Lieutenant Sturgeon Hook. I never really did more work for Paizo at the time, though, and response to their original tale wasn't overwhelming enough to talk about a novel for them at the time. Thanks to the existence of Pathfinder Infinite, though, I could call the squad out of retirement, and send them off to do what they do best once again!
My question for you, dear readers, is where would you like to see the Irregulars causing mayhem this time? Should they go into Isger, trying to do what they can to pry the fingers of Cheliax off the thrall state's throat? Should they infiltrate the Shackles to retrieve information, or possibly a person, important to Andoran? Does one of the gray corsairs call in a favor, getting the squad to hit a location on Stonespine Island to free a group of slaves?
My ears are open... so leave a comment down below regarding where you would like to see the squad deployed. Because if folks want to see them come back, mayhem will quickly ensue!
Of Course, There Are Other Options As Well...
While I'm really excited about the idea of a novella about this squad, I understand that might not be everyone's cup of tea. However, if military fantasy set in Golarion doesn't strike you, what other kinds of stories would you care to see? Gothic romances in the style of Ailson Kindler? Heroic epics featuring small parties of heroes? Urban fantasy where elven private eyes have to match wits with skinwalker gang lords and hobgoblin loan sharks in the City at The Center of The World?
Cause I've got some ideas for those, as well.
And if you're looking for some free samples of my stories set in Golarion thus far, check out The Silver Raven Chronicles, the (albeit unfinished) tales of my group's run through the Hell's Rebels adventure path.
But maybe Golarion isn't a setting that really draws your interest... well, what about the World of Darkness? Because as I mentioned back in Stories of Sundara, Tales of The World of Darkness, and More!, I've been actively trying to build a jumping off point out of some of the flash fiction appearing in my World/Chronicles of Darkness supplements. Because while the anthology Tales From The Moot for Werewolf: The Apocalypse was met with a somewhat mixed response, I figured that changing things up might get readers' attention.
Would you like to see a novella, or even full novels, set in the World of Darkness or Chronicles of Darkness setting? Or would you prefer a podcast series with a team of readers acting out the audio drama, like you see on the Azukail Games YouTube channel where I put shorts like the one above? Regardless of which of those you prefer, which sphere of the game would draw you most? The beautiful madness of Changeling: The Lost? The weird lines of life and death of Geist: The Sin Eaters? Do you want to hear or see Mage done some justice, or do you feel like Promethean really deserves a moment in the spotlight?
Again, toss a comment below if this sounds like something that would interest you... of course, subscribing to the channel would also send a message to my publisher that people have their ears open for that kind of project going forward.
As a final option, though, I've also been building some other universes. There are several Sundara stories in the various splat books for the setting, and most of those have been dramatized on the Azukail Games YouTube channel as well. Then there's the sci-fi shorts, like the story above, that folks have been telling me I should weave into a more cohesive narrative in a future timeline... either for Sundara in the space age, or for another sci-fi setting all its own.
While Legacy of Flames by Isaiah Burt was the first Sundara novella to be released, I'd be more than happy to pen my own if folks wanted to hear stories of my setting from my perspective as the creator. Or if you're more of a listener than a reader, I could expand the audio efforts I've been putting forth to make bigger, longer projects in a serial format. Once Azukail Games gets the channel monetized, at least, and such efforts would generate ad revenue, in addition to getting more people interested in the setting as a whole.
Let Me Know What You Want To See!
I'm in something of a unique position right now. There was a big gap created by Wizards' OGL power grab, and I'm faced with either going back to the projects I had planned, or going off in a new direction. I won't lie, the idea of writing more stories, and building stronger fiction for any of the settings and worlds I mentioned above, would be a lovely breath of fresh air in my workload. Most of the time I'm just making one list, one setting splat, or one species adaptation after another, and it does tend to get a little dull after 2-3 years.
But living under late capitalism, I can't just decide to make something new. I need to make sure my readers are coming with me, and they're going to support that endeavor going forward. So please, leave your thoughts in the comments, or get at me on social media (links below in case you don't follow me already)! I'm looking forward to building something new, and I want as many folks in on the ground floor as I can find.
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!
Unless you're living under a rock, you've likely heard about Wizards of the Coast, and the Open Game License debacle that's going on right now. For those who haven't (somehow), let me catch you up to speed. 23 years ago Wizards of The Coast created an Open Game License so that third-party publishers could make games using their system. This led to a massive boom in publishers doing so, and it created a large ecosystem of companies that coalesced around the D20 system used by Dungeons and Dragons. Now to all appearances, Hasbro has decided it's tired of sharing these tools, and wants to put the genie back in the bottle. A leaked "new edition" of the Open Game License reads like an out-and-out threat, demanding cuts of earnings, rights to republish without paying original creators royalties, banning of anything outside of physical books and digital copies (YouTube channels, animation, novels, music, live action theater, etc.), and the list goes on.
It's bad. It is bad to the point that a lot of people who have seen the leak have basically compared it to an organized crime shakedown, threatening people's livelihoods if they don't pay up. And as someone who makes a majority of my livelihood off of tabletop RPGs, this is going to affect me going forward. So I wanted to take this week's update to explain the changes that are already happening, the changes that might happen going forward, and how you as players and readers can help the creators you love to support us through this nonsense.
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!
What I Stand To Lose
Now, as of time of writing, there is no official language in place from Wizards of The Coast and Hasbro. It is possible that they'll see this backlash against the leak, and decide this was a bad move on their part. It's possible they'll be challenged in court, and this power/cash grab is stopped by the court system, and we can all keep our OGL products and projects in place.
But when someone tells you there's a hurricane off the coast, you don't make some sweet tea and hope it will all blow over. You board up your windows, batten down your hatches, and if possible you leave to go somewhere safer. And that's what I, and hundreds of other creators, have to do right now.
Awww... I'm sure he's just hungry. Why don't you go pet him? I bet he doesn't eat YOU.
So what does that mean for me? Well, let's start with the worst case scenario.
Between my Pathfinder and DND 5E content, I've written 62 supplements that rely on the OGL in some way, shape, or form. That's a little over 1/3 of my total archive as a supplement writer, and it includes ALL of the releases for my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age setting that's been coming out over the past 2 years, except for Towns of Sundara. In addition to that, there's a large project I've been working on that was going to use the OGL titled Army Men, where players took on the roles of living plastic soldiers in a bizarre fantasy setting. It was a handful of weeks away from getting ready to go to Kickstarter, and while work on it hasn't stopped, this OGL scenario could mean either the project gets cancelled altogether, or it gets pushed back a year or more while I go back over it with a fine-toothed comb to re-design it.
All of that is bad, and it would leave me limping. But the damage doesn't stop there.
Let's say that Pathfinder's first edition gets wiped out by this whole scenario. Gone, kaput, erased. Sure, there will still be people playing it (you can't destroy books and archives people save on their own), but with zero support anywhere, the game will be as good as dead. That would be the final nail in the coffin for my Character Conversion project, and I would need to completely retool and refocus a lot of what gets discussed on my Crunch section. That's two major sections of this blog that are going to be eliminated, or severely damaged by this. I would also do a hard pivot away from anything Wizards-related, which would alter the kinds of games I talk about, and probably some of the advice I give here on this blog.
Lastly, this OGL decision is going to bury a lot of publishers. Publishers who, in the past, I would have been able to send an email to and pick up extra work from. And even if smaller publishers survive, they're likely going to be limping just as hard as I will be (having years of work wiped out and made irrelevant will do that to your bottom line), so they won't have extra money to hire a freelancer.
Certain Things Will Change Regardless of The Outcome
A lot of what I mentioned above are things that will happen if the worst-case scenario happens, and Wizards gets their way. If entire systems are removed from circulation (Pathfinder, old FATE, Starfinder, etc.), companies die left and right, and any product that used Pathfinder, any iteration of DND, etc. has to be pulled out of circulation, all of the above stands.
But what if that's not what happens? What if Wizards backs off, and decides it's a better look to leave the OGL as it stands? What if they try to enforce it, and the courts smack them down? What if this new agreement only applies to stuff published under the new 6th Edition they come out with, or for new publications that come out after a certain date? Wouldn't that make this all just a bunch of crying over spilt milk?
In some ways, yes. In other ways, though, the damage has been done. This leak has set certain decisions in motion that are not going to be corrected, even if Wizards holds up its hands, apologizes, and says that they're halting all plans to go forward with this as of right now. Because if they tried it once, they'll try it again, and that trust is now gone.
You're the ones who started this. I'm not putting my blade away now.
As an example, pretty much as soon as news of this leak dropped, my main publisher Azukail Games told me that we're putting a hold on all OGL products and supplements regarding my output. Which means that while I had plans for making some more Sundara books, that's not going to happen now because it's too big of a risk. There have been discussions about whether to translate them to a different rules framework (Savage Worlds has been talked about, and Kobold Press just announced their own open rules system they're going to be putting on the market), but it's also possible the setting will be put in cold storage for the rest of the year while this sorts itself out. Every, single publisher I've talked to is already halting OGL projects that were in the works, and moving to non-OGL systems and system-neutral products.
As for my docket, folks are going to see a lot of World/Chronicles of Darkness projects, Call of Cthulhu supplements like my 100 Shops, Stores, and Businesses to Find in Arkham, and system-neutral supplements like 100 Sci Fi Cults or 10 Fantasy Villages. This was already a majority of my planned output, but I had some light frameworks for modules, classes and archetypes, Pathfinder Infinite ideas, short stories, a possible podcast, and a bunch of other stuff that expected the OGL to remain the firm foundation it's been my entire gaming life. Even if this all blows over and nothing legally changes, none of those projects are going to get written because Wizards just showed their hand to us; as soon as they think they can get away with it, they're going to try to strongarm all of us into giving them our work so they can make a profit off of it.
It didn't work before, and I don't honestly think it will work this time. But even though I don't see Wizards winning, that doesn't mean a lot of vulnerable creators, companies, and gamers aren't going to suffer because capital once against decided to squeeze the golden goose to see if they couldn't eke out just a few more points of market share.
How You Can Help
In addition to making your voice heard by signing the open letter and petition I linked at the top of this post, creators will need your help more than ever before. Whether it's helping swell our numbers on social media, buying our supplements before we have to take them down, or sharing our new releases so we can find fresh eyes as we bring them out, your effort is what will make the difference between creators and publishers having to shut their doors, and being able to survive this crisis.
For folks who've stumbled across this post, and would like to help me haul myself up a rung or two, here's a handy list of the places you can go where your efforts would be much appreciated!
Lastly, consider checking out my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age setting. The more sales I can eke out before decisions come down on this OGL situation, the more likely it is my publisher will work with me to convert it to a new rules setting instead of just writing it off as a loss going forward.
Cities of Sundara
The setting first began with the Cities of Sundara splats. Self-contained guides to some of the larger and more powerful centers of trade, industry, arms, and magic, these unique locations provide plenty of fodder for character generation and plots. Not only that, but each one comes with unique, mechanical goodies for players and GMs alike to take out for a spin!
- Ironfire: The City of Steel (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Built around the Dragon Forge, Ironfire is where the secret to dragon steel was first cracked. The center of the mercenary trade in the region, as well as boasting some of the finest schools for teaching practical sciences, Ironfire is a place where discovery and danger walk hand in hand!
- Moüd: The City of Bones (Pathfinder and DND 5E): An ancient center of trade and magic, Moüd was lost to a cataclysm, and then buried in myth. Reclaimed by the necromantic arts of the Silver Wraiths guild, this city has once again become a place teeming with life. Despite the burgeoning population, though, it is the continued presence of the undead that helps keep the city running, ensuring that Moüd is not swallowed up once more.
- Silkgift: The City of Sails (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Built on the cottage industry of Archer cloth (an extremely durable material used for sails, windmills, etc.), Silkgift is a place that prizes invention and discovery. From gravity batteries that store the potential of the wind, to unique irrigation systems, to aether weapons, the city positively churns out discoveries... and then there's the canal they cut through the mountains that makes them a major center of trade across the region.
- Hoardreach: The City of Wyrms (Pathfinder and DND 5E): A center of power across an entire region, Hoardreach is ruled over by a Cooperation of five different dragons. A place for refugees and outcasts of all sorts, Hoardreach boasts some of the most unusual citizens and creations from across Sundara. Infamous for their sky ships, which require the cast-off scales and unique arcane sciences of the Dragon Works to take to the air, one never knows just what they'll find in this city built atop a mountain.
- Archbliss: The City of The Sorcerers (Pathfinder and DND 5E): A floating city in the sky, Archbliss has been a refuge for sorcerers for thousands of years. It's only in relatively recent years that the city has allowed those from the ground below who lack the power of a bloodline to join them in the clouds. However, while there are certainly amazing wonders to behold, there is a darkness in Archbliss. Something rotting away at its heart that could, if not healed, bring the city crashing to the ground once more.
Gods of Sundara
- Gods of Sundara (available for Pathfinder and DND 5E): In a world with no alignment, and where the gods are often genuinely mysterious forces that are far too large for mortals to truly comprehend, the divine feels genuinely strange and unknown... something that really does have to be taken on faith. This supplement provides a sample pantheon for Sundara, but also provides instructions on how to easily make your own gods in a world where you can't cast a spell and tell whether someone is good or evil.
Species of Sundara
Sundara is filled with creatures that many of us recognize, but I wanted to give greater depth to their cultures, and a wider variety of options. After all, humans always get 15+ ethnicities, languages, and unique histories, while elves, dwarves, orcs, halflings, etc. are almost always left with footnotes, or maybe with a handful of offshoots. So, in short, I wanted to give all the fantastical creatures the treatment that humans usually get in our games.
And there is no human book yet. If readers demand to know more, then I may sit down to pen one... but I figured that humans didn't need to be front-and-center in this setting just yet.
- Elves of Sundara (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Elves are one of the most quintessential fantasy creatures... but if you want to see more than just high elves, wood elves, and elves of the sun and moon, then this supplement has you covered!
- Dwarves of Sundara (Pathfinder and DND 5E): The children of the primordial giants who were meant to fill in the details of the world they'd made (or so the myths say) there are as many kinds of dwarves as their are kinds of giants... and possibly more, depending on who is keeping count.
- Orcs of Sundara (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Supposedly a creation of the elves, none can say for certain exactly how or why orcs have been made. What most agree on is that these creatures are far more than most may think at first glance.
- Halflings of Sundara (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Little cousins to the dwarves, halflings are tough, clever, and not to be underestimated. From living beneath the hills, to taking up residence in the deep forests, halflings in Sundara come in quite a variety!
- The Blooded (Half-Elves and Half-Orcs) [Pathfinder and DND 5E]: When orcs and elves mix their bloodlines with other creatures, the result is one of the Blooded. This inheritance takes many forms, and it can even wait generations before manifesting when the right combination of individuals come together to have a child.
- Gnomes of Sundara (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Gnomes are strange creatures, found in places where the spirit of the land has coalesced and made children of its own. The sons and daughters of the ancient nymphs, they are the stewards of these places, and they change as often as the weather and the land.
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!
For those who've been paying attention to gaming news, it seems that Paizo (the company behind Pathfinder) will soon be releasing one of its older adventure paths for 5th Edition DND players. So if you're a 5E main who's been looking for something to really sink your teeth into, soon The Abomination Vaults will be ready and waiting for you to dig right in!
Incidentally, you might also want to pick up something like the Abomination Vaults GM's Guide, as keeping megadungeons flowing is far from the easiest trick to manage, whatever edition you're playing.
I'd forgotten about this one, so I may try the original recipe.
Some people have been loudly asking what I think is a very silly question. It boils down to, "Wait, isn't Paizo like the Sega to Wizards of The Coast's Super Nintendo? Why would they release content for the game that is their main competitor?" While I'm not the first person to answer this question, as someone who deals with this setup in a microcosm as a creator, I figured I'd add my voice to the growing stream.
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!
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Why Is This Happening? Money, And Audience Share
I am not the oldest creator in the game, but even I've been around long enough to understand something very important when it comes to making RPGs as your job. First, there's a limited audience you're playing to. Even with the huge surges in interest the hobby has seen, RPGs are still a niche part of the publishing industry. This is why pay rates are so low, and why budgets tend toward the shoestring, and why risk is a word most folks in charge don't like to hear; long and short, even "successful" RPG companies don't have a lot of spare cash in their war chest if something tanks, unless they're part of a parent company that can bail them out when something goes poorly.
And let's not forget, we're talking about companies here. Players love these games. Designers love these games. Companies make decisions based on bottom line, risk, and return on investment. Given that viewpoint, I'm honestly surprised it took this long for Paizo to start porting their content to the 5E system to try to get a bigger piece of the pie.
Make no mistake, this is a very smart business move.
As regular readers know, I've been releasing content for my own setting Sundara: Dawn of a New Age for a little over a year at time of writing. While I originally planned and designed this setting to run on the Pathfinder system, I was more or less required to port every release I had to Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition as well. Why? Because numbers that I've seen peg DND 5E as being something like 80% of the total RPG marketplace. That game system has the fastest growing fan base, the largest number of players, and it represents the biggest pool for designers to go fishing in. So while a lot of content for my setting is a bastard and a half to translate to 5E in any meaningful way (given that PF has a vastly more complex and robust rules system that my world design sort of revolves around), not doing it would make the project a non-starter for my publisher, who'd like to actually make money off the content I design.
Same deal for Paizo, but on a larger scale.
Because Paizo has spent more than a decade developing a complicated, interesting setting. There's a massive variety of classes and archetypes, dozens of fully-written campaigns, and a staggering number of smaller modules out there which all take place in Golarion. This is intellectual property that Paizo already owns, and which it is already selling. However, by translating this content to a 5E compatible version they're making all of this older work accessible to players who previously may never have had a reason to check it out for themselves, or who are leery of leaving the comfort zone of their preferred system, Paizo stands to snag a large group of players who never would have tried their products otherwise. While it could lead to players buying additional PF Classic or PF 2E books and content, that would be more of a fringe benefit. The primary purpose would be to re-use all the assets Paizo already paid for, but to sell them to a new audience, thus making a tidy profit with less initial investment.
Incidentally, before moving on here, you can find a full list of all the splat books I've been releasing listed in Speaking of Sundara (My Latest Video Series With Azukail Games), if you're interested in checking out what I've been putting together, whether you prefer PF or DND 5E at your table.
This Isn't an Either/Or Situation
A final thing I feel should be made clear here (and which most designers who do this for a living already understand) is that this isn't a one-or-the-other setup when we're talking about a company as big as Paizo. They have the ability to hire freelancers and recruit designers to keep several plates spinning at a time in order to tap multiple markets. So while they seem to be testing the waters with this release, it would be entirely possible for them to keep releasing new content for their existing players with one hand, while converting their older content to a different edition with the other.
However, if you're someone who's worried that Paizo is going to stop supporting your favored edition of the game, then make sure you're voting with your wallet, and doing what you can to big-up the signal to spread the word. Buy copies, leave reviews of what you get, start conversations, get people interested, and so on. When companies review the charts are the end of the day, they're looking at what products got a big response from the audience, and that's where more effort and energy is going to go.
Keep that in mind, because it's the voice of almighty dollar folks tend to listen to when making decisions about what they're going to produce next.
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!
For those folks who unplugged themselves recently, there's been a lot of big news going on. The one that a lot of people are focusing on is the announcement of Pathfinder Infinite (and Starfinder Infinite as well, if that's your thing). In short, after years and years of steadfastly going things on their own, Paizo seems to have finally decided to get on the community creation bandwagon along with Onyx Path, Wizards of The Coast, and a lot of other developers out there.
So what does this mean, exactly?
Before we get into the nitty gritty details of how this is going to affect not just me, but other creators out there, take a moment to sign up for my weekly newsletter if you haven't already. And since my blogs basically run on the contributions of readers like you, consider becoming a Patreon patron if you haven't already!
How Does Community Content Work? What About The OGL?
For folks who aren't sure what's going on, I'll begin at the beginning. A community content platform is when a gaming company allows creators to use their intellectual property under the rules they set forth, typically with a royalty/profit split between the creator and the company. So if you wanted to put together an adventure set in, say, Ravenloft or the Forgotten Realms you could publish it through DMs Guild which is the platform for Dungeons and Dragons. Alternatively, if you wanted to put together a book expanding on the Hedge in Changeling: The Lost (such as my recent releases 100 Strange Sights to See in The Hedge as well as 100 (Mostly) Harmless Goblin Fruits and Oddments to Find in The Hedge) then you could publish that piece through Storyteller's Vault.
And once this project is up and running you'll be able to publish similar content using Golarion and its surrounding solar system with both Pathfinder and Starfinder content.
Yes, yes, the Open Game License, that's next.
For those of you not familiar with it, Pathfinder as well as Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition (and 3.5 and 4th Editions as well, to the best of my knowledge) are written under an Open Gaming License. This means that the mechanics, the systems of the games are open to anyone who wants to use them for their own worlds, settings, RPGs, etc. It's why I can put out something like my recent Species of Sundara: Dwarves book for both Pathfinder Classic and DND 5th Edition without even once worrying about getting sued over them, or having to share my profits with anyone. Because nothing in those books uses the intellectual property of either Paizo or Wizards of the Coast, even though they use the mechanics of both Pathfinder and DND 5E respectively. Because those things were basically open for anyone to use already.
So if you can use the mechanics freely, then why would anyone sign up for the platform where you have to split your earnings with the company who holds the intellectual property, and follow all the rules they set out for what you can and can't do with it?
The short answer is money. The longer answer is because it's a lot easier to get people interested in a new contribution to a property they already know and like than it is to get them completely invested in a new property they've never seen or played around in before. So while you might get some people to check out your completely unique fantasy setting where you get to keep all the profits of those sales, you're likely to make far more sales using a setting they already know, love, and probably have campaigns and characters active in. And so those increases in number of sales more than makes up for splitting your royalties with the company who holds the intellectual property you're being allowed to use.
But What About That "Other" News?
Again, for those who haven't been paying attention recently, you may not have heard about the other news story involving Paizo of late. In short, Jessica Price dropped a lot of accusations about scandalous behavior that other creators and freelancers have stepped forward to confirm (at least in part) in the week or so since it's come out.
I'd advise folks to read the thread in its entirety, but a lot of it is going to feel very familiar if you've been following revelations like this from big companies in general, and gaming companies in particular. We've got the classics like bullying female employers, management entrenching itself against progressive ideas and stifling voices from POC creators, not paying people who actually created the product enough to live on while hoarding profits for the higher-ups... but there are some I didn't expect. Not cleaning the office to the point that it was a health hazard for employees wasn't on my bingo card, nor was the weird obsession with Victorian occultism that led to... problematic discussions, to say the least.
Huh... didn't expect that one.
This puts a lot of us in a bind, creatively and professionally. Because on the one hand it's an opportunity to make the content we never had the chance to before (I would very much like to write sequels to The Irregulars, for example, since I was only ever allowed to write a single tale for the squad, and I had more adventures planned for them), and it would allow creators whose voices may not have been heard before to step up. This could allow a lot of us to make the setting genuinely more diverse, without meddling from management and higher-ups who (according to accusations, at least) often tried to rein those efforts in. On the other hand, that profit split means that everything sold through the platform puts money right back into Paizo's pockets as a company.
I can't speak for any other creators, as I haven't had any in-depth conversations with anyone on this subject yet. However, as folks have pointed out, a lot of the individuals accused of bad behavior at Paizo no longer work for the company. However, that doesn't let them off the hook for the accusations that prove true. Generally speaking I want to see things change (both at Paizo, and at companies in general) and for problems like these to be fixed so that I am not supporting bad faith and negative behavior. I'd like to be a part of making a gaming company whose products I like better and more profitable, but only if that company is going to treat its creators well, and not try to drag itself backward into all the -isms we've worked so hard to undo, shrug off, and cut away over the years.
So, while I'm still tentatively excited about the potential opportunity Pathfinder Infinite presents, I'm not going to sweep aside my other projects to jump right on it any time soon. The dice are still rolling, and I hope they come up good... but we'll just have to see how that turns out before I put my nose on this particular grindstone.
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!
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