Should I Return To Starfinder For Future Supplements?

I've been writing game supplements for a pretty long while now, and I've covered a lot of different games in my time. I've written things that can be used with Pathfinder, Dungeons and Dragons, Call of Cthulhu, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Vampire: The Masquerade, Changeling: The Lost, Mage: The Awakening, Geist: The Sin Eaters, Zweihander, Castles and Crusades, and probably one or two other systems if I really scrolled through my archive item-by-item.

However, it's been a while since I've done something specifically for Starfinder. And since I'm dipping a toe back into a lot of games and worlds I've taken a break from for a while, I thought that I'd see whether this is something you all would actually like to see me expand on!

Come weigh in, because your opinion makes a difference!

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, 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!

My Starfinder Journey So Far

I'll be the first to admit, Starfinder is one of those games I return to occasionally rather than one of my mainstays. That said, my first ever sci-fi RPG supplement was 100 Characters You Might Meet In A Starport. It came out in the early part of 2019, and since then it's managed to hit Gold metal status on Drive Thru RPG. I didn't write anything else that was specifically Starfinder compatible until earlier this year, when 100 Station Security Officers dropped, to a pretty decent overall release.

It's still at Copper status, though, so grab a copy if you haven't!

Now, that's not to say in the 6 years between these two supplements that I didn't write any more sci fi stuff. In fact, folks familiar with my archive know that I've put out a pretty steady stream of sci fi supplements, with titles like 100 Sci Fi Mercenary Companies, 100 Knightly Orders For A Sci Fi Setting, and even the rather unusual 100 Sci Fi Bands for folks who want to know what artist is playing in this cantina in the midst of a hive of scum and villainy.

Now, there were a little over a dozen general use sci fi supplements between the two Starfinder compatible ones, and the reason for that is that it seems like most sci fi settings have their own species, their own timelines, and their own unique quirks to them, so it becomes difficult to make something that's still applicable to several different systems the way it is in fantasy games. After all, if you have an NPC list with elves, dwarves, and orcs in it, that will cover a rather large variety of different fantasy RPGs and settings... but unless you're making something specific to Star Trek, you can't really put in Klingons, and unless you're in the grim darkness of Warhammer 40K you can't have a list of tau and their allied species, and so on, and so forth.

However, there are only so many general use things you can make supplements about (especially when you don't want to duplicate what other writers have already done for your publisher). I've covered secret societies, knightly orders, bands, mercenary companies, gangs, cults... and while NPC lists and plot hooks are always something of a crowd pleaser, and I steered away from them specifically because I'd have to nail down the particulars of what universe these are meant to be used for.

And that's why I wanted to check-in with my regular readers this week. Because I've got plenty of ideas, but I want to test which direction the wind is blowing before I commit to something. And since I'm currently editing the audio drama for Showdown At Site 33 (the opening fiction for the security officers supplement mentioned above), I figured I'd ask folks before I get too far into other projects!

Also, check out the Azukail Games YouTube channel if you haven't yet, and subscribe to make sure you don't miss the story when it drops. My hope is that it's my most involved sci fi piece yet! And to tide you over, check out this little trilogy of cyberpunk shorts I made for three of my supplements a while back!

Also, for folks who are interested, the audio drama for this supplement is finally complete! Trying something new for the format, so if you like it then leave a comment on YouTube to let me know if I should keep this up.

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 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!

Back To Arkham... But Should I Stay There?

Arkham, Massachusetts is the iconic city created by horror author H.P. Lovecraft, and it is as much the center of the Cthulhu Mythos as anywhere else in his fictional setting. A seaside town that boasts the prestigious Miskatonic University, an asylum, and a black market of gangsters and rum runners, it's quite a cosmopolitan place to say the least.

And while I've spent a little time there as a designer, it wasn't until July 2022 that I put out something for the place with 100 Businesses to Find in Arkham. While it was fun writing a period piece, I didn't follow it up until 2023 with 100 Gangsters, Gun Molls, and Goons, which was meant to expand on the underworld present in Arkham. And while I took a hiatus from community creation platforms (largely due to the fact that they don't really pay me enough to keep my bills square), I decided to dip my toe back into the waters with my latest release 100 Books To Find in The Miskatonic Library (That AREN'T In The Restricted Section). The idea for this supplement was to fill out the books available in the campus library, and to offer alternative methods to get information into the players' hands that didn't require them breaking into the special collections where the real dark grimoires and tomes of power are kept.

However, I wanted to ask my readers something this week. Namely, do you want to see me keep kicking around in Lovecraft Country?

There's a lot to see there, and I haven't explored it all yet!

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, 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!

Should I Let The Investigation Die? Or Keep Digging?

I've been a fan of the Cthulhu Mythos as a whole since my teen years, and I love the twists and turns one can find in even a "normal" Call of Cthulhu game. However, as I mentioned above, I stepped back from community creation platforms because they only pay half as much up-front to me as original content does, which makes paying my bills tough. Still, variety is the spice of life, and I figured that adding another chapter to a couple of my older series might get some fresh readers interested in not just what's dropping now, but what I worked on a few years ago.

Additionally, while the stories for the Businesses and Gangsters supplements wrapped up in a two-part adventure, there is a fresh investigation beginning in 100 Books To Find in The Miskatonic Library (That AREN'T In The Restricted Section). So in addition to getting additional supplements in the future, it's very likely that readers would also get serial installments of the case being taken up by a Miskatonic academic and his strongarm associate as they head out beyond Arkham in search of lost tomes of eldritch knowledge.

So, if that's the sort of thing you'd like to see, now is your chance to weigh in!

What Do You Need To Do To Send A Message?

If you're the sort of player out there who enjoys my Call of Cthulhu content, and you'd like to see more of it, there are a few things you can do to help ensure that more of it gets put out. I've listed them in descending order of effectiveness, as well, so if you feel strongly about me staying in this particular arena, start at the top of the list and work your way down!

- Buy and review a copy of the three supplements I listed in the introductory section. The first two are at Silver metal status at time of writing, and the third is creeping up toward Copper. If those start pulling increased numbers and attention, that motivates me, personally.

- Check out the rest of the titles Azukail Games has for the Miskatonic Repository! While these are by various authors, the main reason these kinds of supplements have slackened has been lack of audience interest. The more people who pick up copies, and the more reviews they leave, the more likely the publisher is to put more energy into future titles from myself and others!

- Watch and share the videos I linked above, and leave comments on them! The Azukail Games YouTube channel is finally monetized, and getting a few thousand fresh views on these videos would make them stand out among our other audio dramas, and show that there's definitely interest in more Mythos expansion. Subscribing to the channel would also help us get closer to our next milestone, which would give us more resources to take more risks with.

- Leave comments on this blog, and on social media, to let us know what you'd like to see! While it's definitely valuable to give us your feedback, it's very easy to say what you want, but those kinds of asks carry a lot more weight when they come from folks who are buying our supplements, and boosting our signal!

And for folks who are curious, these same steps can help you get the attention of basically any publisher that you want to see go in a particular direction, but it's particularly effective with indie publishers because it doesn't take a whole lot of activity for them to perk up their ears and take notice. Hell, if even 100 people bought a copy of each of the three supplements I mentioned (a relatively small number when you think about the industry as a whole) that would basically be a shot across the bow that more CoC material is wanted immediately.

So, just something to think about in case you're one of my readers who like to see me venture out a little deeper into Lovecraft Country!

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 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!

Supplement Sequels- What Would You Like To See?

Folks who've been following my work for a while know that the bulk of my TTRPG supplements have been described as GM Prep splats. In short, I write a lot of lists of people, places, things, random encounters, setting flavor, plot hooks, rumors, and so on, and so forth. And while I've tried to keep things fresh over the years, some ideas clearly hit (like my 100 NPCs You Might Meet at The Tavern, which was my first platinum-level supplement, or A Baker's Dozen of Brothels, which is my fastest Electrum-level seller ever), while others have missed the mark somewhat.

However, since I've had to change-up some of my content strategies recently, I wanted to run an idea past some of my readers out there. To that end, would any of you be interested in sequels to any of my existing supplements where I give you even more of a particular topic to work with at your table?

After all, I want to give folks stuff they'll actually use.

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!

Trying To Take The Audience's Temperature

I want to start off here by saying that I am far from dry on ideas. I've got stuff I'm actively working on slated to get turned in over the next 2-3 months, and a list of potential projects that goes on for a page or two in my deskside notebook once I manage to finish those off. For those who are curious, it includes a meta supplement, some more stuff for Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic, as well as some miscellaneous fantasy and sci-fi supplements I've been kicking around for a bit.

However, rather than rolling the dice and hoping that one of my new ideas is going to be something that really strikes a chord with GMs and players out there, I figured I'd see if there were any particular wells people wanted me to go back to, and expand on a little more.

Such as with this early Electrum seller.

The setup these sequels would take would be something like, "100 More Cults to Encounter," if I were to try to write a sequel to the splat book linked above, or "Another Baker's Dozen Pieces of Lore," if I wanted to write a sequel to one of my earlier books A Baker's Dozen Pieces of Lore. The general idea is, of course, that I would cover the same topic with new entries, giving GMs even more things to work with that fit this mold.

Or, if folks would like a more detailed version of a longer list, I could take an existing "100 X" list, and instead make a "Baker's Dozen" version of it where I either choose existing entries to really flesh out, or where I provide new entries with a lot more heft to them than the original book. This is not dissimilar to how I used the freelances in 100 Random Mercenary Companies as my fodder for Sellswords of Sundara, or how several of the entries in 100 Fantasy Guilds acted as inspiration for the follow-up supplement Guilds of Sundara.

This Is, Of Course, Just An Option

As with so many other things I propose here on this blog, this is just an idea. If the audience isn't really feeling this direction, I can pursue a variety of other projects. But if this is something you'd like to see from me in the coming months, here's what I need you to do for me:

- Leave a comment below, telling me whether you want more 100 lists, or Baker's Dozens

- Tell me which of my existing lists you'd like revisited (full archive here)

- Mention which RPG system, if any, you'd like to see the books made for

And, of course, if you'd rather see me break new ground on new material, rather than revisit old topics, let me know that in the comments as well! The whole goal of this update is to figure out what it is you all want to see coming out in the near future, after all!

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!

What Would You Like To See Me Write Next?

For those who are regular readers here on Improved Initiative, I know it can be tough to keep track of everything I'm working on and putting out. I've got two blogs here a week, one blog a week over on The Literary Mercenary, an ever-growing Vocal archive covering everything from weird history to character conversion builds, and an entire Amazon author page where you can find books like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my short story collection The Rejects. Then on top of all of that, I've got dozens of modules, supplements, and other RPG-related products on the market right now.

It's that last one that I'd like to talk to you about today, though. Because while I enjoy at least a little bit of creative freedom with the projects I propose and the things I work on, at the end of the day this is still my job. As such, I want to create the sorts of things you all want as my readers, because doing so allows me to keep my landlady happy with enough left over at the end of the month for tacos.

Like this one, for those who didn't see it. Go check it out now!

It Is Really Hard To Read The Room Sometimes

What would you think are some of the most popular RPG products I've had a hand in making? What are the things that have climbed their way up the metal charts on Drive Thru RPG to put me in some rather select company?

Well, at time of writing, my top sellers seem to be:

- 100 NPCs You Might Meet at The Tavern (Electrum edging toward Gold)

- 100 Merchants to Encounter (Electrum)

- 100 Random Taverns (Electrum)

There are over 80 projects out there right now with my name on them, and they run the gamut. Some of them were proposed by me, some were given on assignment, and I wrote them for half a dozen different companies. If you'd asked me which ones I thought were going to do really well, I probably would have guessed one of my current top three. Maybe. If I was lucky.

You know what I didn't predict, though? I didn't predict that the pair of supplements 100 Unusual Aasimar and 100 Tieflings to Meet in Your Travels would basically stall out and go nowhere. I'd intended them to be the vanguard of a whole NPC supplement series where I gave DMs and players alike lists of elves, halflings, orcs, etc. since it seemed that NPC lists always did well. When these two flopped, I pivoted completely and basically haven't written a fantasy NPC list since, despite two of them being my top sellers.

Speaking of things I thought would do well... and this one's the top seller!

One of those projects that sounded like it would do really well was the Critical Hits series that I wrote for TPK Games a yonk or two ago. By order of release these one-shot modules went like this:

- False Valor: A murder mystery where the players need to uncover who's responsible for the death of a local girl before old grievances ignite the grudge the local dale has with the elves of the nearby forest, restarting a war that took a heavy toll on both sides.

- The Curse of Sapphire Lake: When a new crop of settlers attempts to reclaim Kingsbridge, a ghost from the past haunts them. A bone-white face lurks in the woods, and misfortune crouches in every shadow... but is there something deeper to the curse that seems to hang in the air around Sapphire Lake?

- Ghosts of Sorrow Marsh: Something is prowling the old Marsh Road, and it's left the town of Bracken cut off and desperate. Are you brave enough to venture into the marsh and uncover the dark truth of what is slowly closing its fist around the town?

These modules were written for Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition, which is hands-down the most popular RPG going right now, as well as the most popular one on Drive Thru RPG by a long shot. TPK Games had a pretty solid history of sales with pre-written games, and the original plan floated at the time the project commenced was for me to write 10 one shots that could then be bundled both digitally and as a book for gamers who wanted to keep a variety on-hand.

Despite video reviews and play throughs on YouTube, along with positive reviews from many people who have played it, only one of these modules even managed to claw its way to Copper. The others make an occasional sale here and there, but nothing that would warrant the time, effort, and expense of expanding the series beyond this original trilogy.

This Week, Just Tell Me What You'd Like To See!

I've had some projects that absolutely explode when I do not expect them to (such as my Pathfinder Character Conversion For Andrew Jackson), and others that I expect to do well completely fizzle. As such I thought I'd take this Monday to cut out the guess work and ask you, my readers, what you want to see.

So, what would you like?

Help me narrow down the field.

Absolutely all suggestions are welcome. Do you want to see more specific world lore pieces, like my 13 Fiends: A Baker's Dozen of Devils, or the Baker's Dozen of Rumors (And The Truth Behind Them)? Would you rather see more mechanical content geared toward a particular system, such as 5E or Pathfinder? Or would you prefer background world lore like 100 Gangs For Your Urban Campaigns as well as 100 Knightly Orders?

If you're a reader who doesn't buy supplements, but likes my work, I want your opinion as well. Should I go back and write a fresh batch of Character Conversions? For which edition would you like to see them, if so? Or should I expand my 5 Tips collection, and cover some more base classes or fantasy races? Perhaps step into another game/setting entirely, such as the World/Chronicles of Darkness and talk about playing better vampires, werewolves, etc.?

The sky is the limit here! Anything you want to see, just tell me in the comments to have your vote counted.

I will let you in on a secret, though. The best way to get my attention, as well as a publisher's attention, is to try to boost the signal on the things we put out. Because if something sells a lot of copies (or gets a lot of reads, in the case of a free article), that sends a message to us loud and clear; the readers want more of this thing. So by all means, tell me what you want... but just to underline it, make sure you share some links on your social media to similar products, or boost the signal on particular guides/projects.

Because as long as there's audience interest, I'll be more than happy to keep the party going.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my 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!