World's Oldest Profession- Salacious Sales in The TTRPG Space?

For folks who don't keep a close eye on my releases, I recently had an impressive showing with my new supplement. World's Oldest Profession: 100 Courtesans and Concubines managed to do something that very few of my supplements have managed, which was to hit Copper status on its first day of release! Not only that, but it also hit Silver status by the end of 48 hours, which is something that's only happened a handful of times in the past for something I've made.

Oddly enough, the last time this happened was with the original supplement that led to this project, World's Oldest Profession: A Baker's Dozen of Brothels... a supplement which is now sitting at Electrum status, and still rising!

If something happens one time, it could be a fluke. Twice could be a coincidence. But three times? Well that just might be a trend...

Do you want to see more entries in this series?

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Does Salacious Content Generate Sales?

We've all heard the phrase sex sells, and even if we haven't heard it before we've all seen those commercials filled with bikini-clad supermodels, and voice overs from sultry performers trying to reach in through your ear to your wallet. And we've had our share of questionable covers of Dragon magazine, and occasional tables, monsters, and even asides in adventure paths, but outside of tomes like The Book of Erotic Fantasy (yes it's real, don't try to check it out if you're not of age) we don't have a lot of major examples of books predicated entirely on the selling power of adult (or at least mature) content.

Don't get me wrong, we have a lot of examples of this kind of content (such as the entire catalog of Lewd Dungeon Adventures), but it's usually been something we keep in the background, and which only bubbles to the surface from time to time.

And I'll be the first one to say that neither of my World's Oldest Profession supplements is particularly lewd. The first installment details brothels, as well as those who staff them, but there's nothing explicit in that supplement. The second installment is also more suggestive than anything else, with a lot of nodding and winking among the list of 100 prostitutes, but there's nothing in it that would prompt more than a PG-13 rating. At best.

Despite that, though, both of these supplements have sold like gangbusters!

What conclusions can I draw from this? Well, first and foremost, the price point for NPC and locations lists continues to be important for supplements I write. Secondly, cover art is also pretty important, and this particular piece by Dara Williamson is definitely eye-catching. However, the content is definitely responsible for both the initial sales, as well as the long-term viability of the supplement. And even with the age restriction on these supplements, they still outsell well over 95% of the stuff I produce.

Are the folks who buy either A Baker's Dozen of Brothels or 100 Courtesans and Concubines suddenly going to have uniquely spicy locations and NPCs in their games once they buy them? Probably not... but they at least have the opportunity, if that's what they and their players want to do!

A Final Note

As I so often say when I talk about the business side of TTRPGs, you have to follow the money. And while are all kinds of things I could work on (and things I definitely want to work on), this pattern has definitely drawn both my attention, as well as my publisher's attention.

So I wanted to ask... would folks like to see this become a longer-running series? Whether it's making sci-fi versions of these two supplements, or adding to them with other, similarly bawdy titles (things like 100 Laws Regarding Prostitution, 100 Slang Terms For Sultry Activities, A Baker's Dozen of Flesh Trade Guilds, etc.)?

I've got ideas... the question is, what would you all like to see going forward?

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!

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"Edgy" Games Require Trust

There are some players out there who like simple, cut-and-dry games. They like to be heroes, doing heroic things... or maybe just adventurers doing whatever comes their way that they can make a profit off of. But there are some gamers who like to push the envelope when it comes to subject matter. People who like to descend the dark staircase into the taboo, the wicked, and the macabre.

Those kinds of games aren't for everyone. However, if you expect people to play them with you, then you need to establish some kind of trust with your group. Otherwise you're not going to get anywhere.

Open yourself up to the knife. Trust me.

Maturity Applies To The Players and Storyteller, Too

We're all adults here (or, at least, we like to think that we are), so I'm going to use a metaphor to make a point. Stick with me, this will make sense by the time we get to the other side.

A standard RPG is like having normal, conventional sex. Maybe you were awkward your first time, you weren't really sure what all the bits involved did, but you were having fun and you wanted to keep doing it. Then you figured out how it worked, what you were good at, and what you could bring to the game.

Edgy games, though, are more like a BDSM encounter. They tend to be darker, and seen as more taboo. They cater to a very specific kind of play style, and include elements that you usually won't find in conventional games (psychological trauma, more brutal depictions of violence, sexual themes... you know, 18+ kinds of stuff). The most important way that these more mature, adult games are like BDSM though is that you need to open up to the potential of the story in order for it to actually affect you... and to do that, you have to trust the people you're playing with.

Without trust, this whole thing falls apart.

Take Vampire: The Masquerade, for example. The game has a Humanity tracker, which is actively affected by your actions, and how you struggle to maintain being the person you were while filled with animalistic hungers. The game often deals with the loss of self, with the struggle of the human mind to cope with the idea of infinity, as well as the sheer body horror that comes with having your skin warped, bones restructured, and your form remade by an angry Tzimisce.

That's far from the only example, either. One of the central themes of Werewolf: The Apocalypse is the balance of trying to turn Rage into a weapon against your enemies, and to avoid it splashing onto your friends and loved ones. And if you lose control of that Rage, you might truly turn into a monster; brutalizing those you care about, and in some circumstances feeling compelled to dismember them, eat them, or to sexually assault them (in case you think I'm making that up, it's in the Thrall of the Wyrm section for Metis characters). Changeling: The Lost deals with the question of identity and losing your grip on reality as you witness (and sometimes commit) atrocities, and try to find your place in a world you know is a half-truth at best, and an outright lie at worst.

My point is, there are a lot of games with dark themes, horrible subject matter, and which are meant to dig around in the bleaker parts of the human psyche. That's not a flaw... that's the feature! And even games that aren't expressly meant to touch those darker places can still be made to do so. Drow cities in Dungeons and Dragons, the existence of dark gods like Zon-Kuthon and his cults in Pathfinder... you get the idea.

However, you can think of these games as the collars, the whips, the paddles, and all the other accessories that come with a BDSM-style session. They're the most visible part of the play that's going on, but too often people mistake them for the play itself; as with any good tabletop game, the play is going on inside your mind. In order to have the proper experience, you need to open yourself up to it. Play along, in other words. That means making yourself vulnerable to the experience, because without allowing it to get inside you and affect you, you're missing out on what it's supposed to do. At that point it's just words, dice, numbers, and a whole lot of empty wind.

What's Trust Got To Do With It?

It's a common misconception that if you put a crop into someone's hands that you want them to beat you with it. Sometimes you just want the threat of it looming over you as a potential for punishment. Maybe you want to be teased with it, but not actually hit. Or maybe you want a sharp strike, but just enough to sting, and not enough to do any permanent damage.

Ugh, guy, are we still talking about roleplaying that actually involves dice?

The crop, in this case, is a metaphor. For example, say you're playing a Werewolf game, and to increase the dramatic tension you have a kinfolk partner who's your responsibility (kinfolk, for those not in the know, are normal people related to lines of werewolves, so they aren't affected by their presence the same way other humans are). Maybe the two of you even have children. Now do you, as a player, want your character's family to be at-risk, but not really harmed (a driving threat, but something you can prevent fairly easily), do you want them to be in danger (the potential for something bad to happen to them that will be tough to avoid), or do you want that sensitive spot to be lashed (your spouse is killed or crippled, or your children kidnapped, etc., etc.)?

These are the sorts of questions the person running this game should be asking. Just because someone wants to play a more "mature" game with darker themes, that doesn't necessarily mean they want you to strap them up on St. Jacob's Cross and go whole hog on them. You need to judge what your players want, what they don't want, and you need to discuss areas that are off-limits.

Just because you're all right with implied torture and some psychological distress being part of the game, that doesn't mean you're down with literally having your character flayed and made into an amputee when you get captured by a villain. There are degrees of awfulness (or "maturity" as I guess we'll continue to call it), and you can think of it like a hot sauce scale at a wing restaurant. Just because a player wanted something with a little spice, that doesn't mean the next order should be spiked with the Atomic Tongue Melter just because they were enjoying the heat from the Mildly Dark sauce you gave them.

If Players Don't Trust You, They Won't Open Up

If you can't get your players to trust you, they aren't going to engage with the game you're running. For darker themes to work, players have to be participating. Not just present and taking actions, but allowing it to wash over them. It's like a horror movie; if you're only half paying attention, you don't really care, and you take out your cellphone anytime the angry cello starts threatening to eat you, then it's not going to affect you. Even if it's a visceral, horrifying experience to some people, if you're not engaging it's just a mildly upsetting piece of background noise.

"You can feel your bones break as he... Brandon, are you even listening?"

The same thing happens if you handle the mature elements of your game poorly. To go back to our example, if your players hand you a crop, and you immediately start beating them with it without a lead-in, a discussion of what's okay, and what isn't, then it is very likely that all you're going to do is ruin their fun. This is especially true if you just start hammering on red buttons to purposefully try to get a reaction out of a player. If someone tells you not to push something, don't push it. You have other tools to work with as a storyteller.

And if something does go wrong, and you end up introducing an element that upsets a player? You stop the game, apologize to them, and assure them that it's okay. You make sure they know you take their concerns seriously, and that you respect them as a part of your table. What you do not do is shrug your shoulders and say, "Well, that's the rules. Why did you show up to play this game if a little bit of blood/trauma was going to make you cry?"

The storyteller is not the antagonist, and shouldn't make it their goal to upset their players. Because they're not here to be upset. Scared, maybe. Tense, sure. On edge, definitely. But the goal of these games is the same as their more conventional cousins; to tell a story that everyone at the table enjoys. If people at your table are not enjoying your story (or even just the way you're telling that story), then it's on you to fix it.

If your players aren't having fun, they aren't going to stick around and keep playing. And if they don't trust you to handle that crop, they aren't going to make themselves vulnerable to it. As soon as that happens, you can't affect them anymore, and the whole thing just falls apart.

How Do You Get Players To Trust You?

I've had my share of experiences at the head of more mature-themed games, and there are some things I did right, and some things I did wrong. So I'll end this article out with some tips that I'd recommend taking to heart to help prevent unnecessary awkwardness and problems at the table.

- Put Together a Character Creation Document: These things are lifesavers when it comes to getting a complete look at a PC, and you can ask right on the form what your players' no-go topics are, which ones they're lukewarm about, and which ones are absolutely okay. Provide a list of examples (torture, sexual assault, gore, traumatic events, children being killed, etc.) and pay close attention to the results. More about these at 10 Questions To Put On Your Character Creation Document.

- Communicate: Reach out to your players, and talk with them about the content of your game, and their characters. Ask them the sorts of directions they want to go with their backstories, and provide examples. Be pointed (so, your PC's dad is missing; do you want him to come back, do you want him to be dead, do you want him to be a villain... what are you thinking?), but don't just give the game away entirely.

- Give Some Warning: In the groups I've been in, it's considered good form to let the group know, "Hey, the chance of your character dying tonight is a serious one. Gird yourselves, we're getting serious!" The same thing should apply if you're going to unusually dark places. Let your players get into the proper mindset, and make sure they're down for that sort of content that night. Because they might be having an off night, or just one where they aren't ready for that fast ball. It's better to know that before the game starts than to realize it in the middle of your scene.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. Hopefully you enjoyed, and if you've used run these kinds of games before, leave us a comment to let us know what worked for you!

For more of my work, check out my Vocal and Gamers archives, 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, 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!

Sexuality Matters in Roleplaying Games (And Here's Why)

Anyone who's played Pathfinder, or the 5th edition of Dungeons and Dragons, has likely noticed the effort both Paizo and Wizards of the Coast have put in to attract a more diverse audience to their games. Pathfinder's adventures involve NPCs of various genders and sexualities, and Dungeons and Dragons opened with language that made it clear that the game world doesn't necessarily resemble the world we live in when it comes to sexual and romantic norms. Both of these were covered in greater detail over at Mighty Meep, for those who want to know more.

The companies' decisions to use more inclusive language, and to present a wider diversity in their game worlds, was met with a positive reception from many players. Some players had a significantly more negative response to the language, and the conversations they sparked. Those who didn't want to hear any more about it, or who simply didn't want to deal with an expanded spectrum of sexual orientation, asked a very loud question to which they didn't actually want an answer.

WHY DOES ANY OF THIS MATTER!?

The question "Why does any of this matter?" or "Why do we care?" is an attempt to silence discussion by implying that the issue of sexuality either doesn't matter, or is inappropriate for roleplaying games. You know, the games that have succubi in them.

So, let's dig a little deeper, shall we?

Sex and Sexuality Have Always Been Part of RPGs

Before we go any further, let's dispel the myth that RPGs were clean, wholesome things that had no sexual aspects to them in the past. As far back as the first edition of Dungeons and Dragons there was a chart for what kind of prostitutes players encountered. There are entire encounters which hinge on the strategy of sexual temptation, from female bandits in the forest, to vampires that press themselves against you before sinking their fangs into your neck. Sure, we can have a chicken or the egg discussion about whether it's the game or the mythology it draws on, but the point is that there have always been aspects of sex and sexuality in RPGs.

If there weren't, then the joke about how the bard sleeps with everything would never have become a stereotype.

Representation, and Identification With Your Character

Representation and identification are two, big issues when it comes to RPGs. On the one hand, we want to play people who are very different from who we are so we can escape into the fantasy. At the same time, though, we want to be able to identify with these characters in some way. So, while the greatsword wielding barbarian may be literally twice the player's size, maybe he shares the player's ethnicity. Alternatively, maybe the character and the player grew up in similar places (rural, urban, etc.), or have similar family structures. Maybe they share certain religious convictions, or philosophical beliefs (the strong protect the weak, for example).

In many cases the low-hanging fruit is that the character and the player have the same sexual preferences.

Whatever those may be.

If a player is heterosexual, then there's not likely going to be an issue. That sort of sexuality is built into most games, even if it never shows up on screen, so to speak. But imagine if you had a player at the table who was gay. Will they receive a similar experience?

Let's create a situation for comparison. Say that Dave joins your game, and he brings a cleric. We're all forward-thinking, inclusive players, so we accept that Dave, as a person, likes men. Dave likes to game, and he runs a good cleric. But we make it very clear that gay characters are not allowed in this game world, and when they do show up they face extreme prejudice. So, while John's bard can leave a trail of illegitimate pregnancies from one town to the next without any trouble, if Dave's cleric looks too longingly at the bartender, it might result in him having to roll initiative.

Sounds like things are a little out of whack, doesn't it? Flip that scenario on its head, and ask yourself if heterosexual players were told that heterosexual characters would be mistreated and punished in the game world, while homosexual characters would be accepted as average. Would we be quick to answer any player displeasure by telling them to just deal with the way the world is?

The scenario doesn't have to be that blatant, either. It could simply be that, no matter what Dave's character does to find NPC companionship (perhaps because he wants to create actual ties to the community, and possibly gain a cohort who also happens to be his lover), the DM just refuses to allow him to succeed. In this case no one is saying Dave's character can't be gay, but there is a not-so-subtle message that he'll be the only gay male character in the entire world.

That's more than a little alienating, since the implication is that heterosexuality is fine, and can easily be met with character development and/or off-screen love affairs, but homosexuality will receive no such attention.

I Don't Want Sex In My Game At ALL, Though!

Here's something that often gets overlooked in this discussion. Sex and sexuality are two different things.

Though I can see how you might confuse the two.

Saying that sex is inappropriate for your game, for whatever reason, is fine. Perhaps you feel it cheapens the story, or it simply makes other players uncomfortable. That's something every table will have to work out for itself regarding what it wants out of a game. Sexuality isn't sex, though. Sexuality is someone's preferences, and what that person is attracted to.

Those things matter in order to flesh the character out more fully.

There's the aspect of character identification and representation that we already covered. Beyond that, though, a character's sexuality is an important part of who they are, and how they came to be where they are now. Sexuality, and the character's feelings about sexuality, comes as a result of life events and experience, and it may play into character motivations and life goals, in addition to just informing part of the character's personality.

As an example, let's say someone is playing a cleric of a god or goddess of love. Were they allowed to explore their own personal tastes in a secure environment in order to bring them a greater understanding of attraction and relationships? Would that sort of faith lead to someone who is empathetic toward the plight of others, and who is tolerant of the needs different people have? Alternatively, say you're playing a transmuter. As the wizard grows in power, ideas like race, and even gender, may cease to have meaning. When you can change yourself into so many different things, what does that do to your perception of sexuality and desire? Does the wizard, for example, find certain forms to be more pleasurable than others? Or does the transmuter cease to see someone's body, since all bodies can be altered, and learn to form connections with deeper aspects of who people truly are?

Does the tribal hunter want to prove his strength so he can be deemed a fit match for the shaman's daughter? Will the knight attempt to win honors in order to seem a more appealing prospect as a husband? Do the rogue and the paladin become friends, and then lovers, traveling and adventuring together in order to keep the other safe? These are just a few possible ways that a character's sexuality can mix into their goals and motivations.

A character may also be someone who is asexual, focusing on non-sexual relationships exclusively. Characters may also be pansexual, and could be attracted to a wide variety of genders, as well as races in a fantasy setting. In short, by ignoring a character's sexuality you are ignoring a huge part of who they are, and how they developed. Even if those aspects never show up in the game itself, they may affect what kinds of decisions PCs make, and how they act. Sexuality, gender, physical appearance, these are all things that have no spot on the character sheet, but they can be a serious difference between a unique, interesting character, and one that is completely forgettable.

It could also lead to plot complications when the ninja decides she's going to seduce the baron, only to find that his preferences tend to run more toward bearded, broad-shouldered knights.

EDIT: A point was brought up during discussion of this topic that sex and sexuality affects more than just one player's character. In a very real sense, it touches all aspects of a society, and the culture that helps shape people's attitudes about what is desirable, and what is allowed. Different cultures have different mating rituals, and different ways that desire is expressed. Some societies may assign the role of stoic resistor to one party while the other pursues, whereas others may have formalized rules of courtship. Some may have certain vows or promises that must be made, or gifts that must be exchanged. Some societies place a high value on a single pairing, whereas others will have more complicated rules for polyamorous relationships. Even if a character isn't actively pursuing sex, or looking to form sexual relationships, their perspectives of "normal" will be influenced by these cultural norms, and what they experienced growing up before becoming adventurers.

Thanks for reading to the end of this entry. I know it's a tough one, but next week I'll have something a little more light-hearted to make up for it. If you want to make sure you don't miss any of my updates, then follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. If you want to help support me and my blog, then drop by my Patreon page to toss a little bread in my jar. If you become a patron before the end of November, there's even a free book in it for you!

"Tournament of Rapists" Creates Unpleasant Wave of Sick in The RPG Community

Gaming, as a community, has been going through some serious growing pains over the past few years. A big part of those pains have been how open and welcoming it is to women, minorities, the transgender community, and other communities who have not exactly experienced big hugs from gaming in the past. There have been arguments (some of them vicious) over just how women are treated in the community, or whether or not it's okay to make certain jokes, or to allow certain kinds of themes into a game.

The latest controversy is Tournament of Rapists.

If you experience extreme discomfort, just look at this silly goat for a bit.

So, if you're not familiar with the latest kerfuffle in the community, here's what happened. Skorched Urf Studios released a third-party supplement titled Tournament of Rapists. The rule book introduces players to a world where "An assortment of superhumanly powerful and inhumanly misogynistic men," compete in a fighting tournament where the loser is killed, raped, or some combination of the two. Given that this was created for the Black Tokyo campaign setting (according to the creator, who spoke about it on The RPG Site), the supplement seems like it's meant to tap into the fetishization of rape found in certain kinds of anime.

It should be clear that the players in this game are supposed to take on the role of the heroes, who are uncovering this brutal underground fighting ring and opposing the aforementioned super-misogynists. Even with that caveat, though, the supplement sounds like a terrible fan fiction playing on a loop in the darkest depths of a teenage sex offenders subconscious after watching too much body horror and doing peyote. While there is a market for this kind of fetishization (if the listings on hentai sites are to be believed), the reaction to it being put into the RPG market has been violently negative. It has even led to reputable RPG stores striking the game from their archives, making it much harder to find or purchase. Beside Notepad has more information on the sale of the game and some of the details.

That should be the end of it, right?

The Defenders of The Game

To be clear, this game wasn't something like Pie Shop, where rape might be an element associated with a single character's psychosis, or a game like Shadow of The Demon Lord where visceral horrors should be expected. In those examples rape is an element that can show up in the mix. In Tournament of Rapists, rape is the entire point. Sure, it's being done by the apparent villains of the game, but it is a necessary and central part of the overall premise. If you exclude rape from the game, you take away part of the title.

The goat required reinforcements.

As callous and poorly-presented as the subject is, there are people who have risen from the muck and the murk to defend it. A game like this, they may argue, is a test of the community's tolerance and respect for the first amendment. In order to prove how loyal they are to their ideals, it's paramount that we let this thing exist. And besides, we're clearly misunderstanding that if a game's villains are horrible rapists, then it's okay to have it featured so prominently in the game.

That sounds like a straw man argument on my part, but check some of the 4Chan forums about it and you'll see opinions that aren't too far off. Let's be clear here: this game is repugnant. As a product it sends all the wrong messages. Messages which the gaming community at large has demanded to be stricken from the shelves.

Which is, pretty much, how the first amendment actually works in practice. The top slot on the bill of rights stops the government for punishing you for what you say. No one from homeland security is coming down on the game designer's head for this. The publisher created a product, and that product has come under heavy criticism from customers, which have demanded it be taken down. When customers aren't happy, they demand changes. RPG sellers want to keep customers happy, so they get rid of games with the word rapist in the title.

Sorry I didn't have something more uplifting to report this week! If you want to get all of my updates (both the good and the bad), then follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. If you'd like to help support me and my blog, then drop by my Patreon page to toss a few crumbs in my jar.