Climbing YouTube's Mountain (And Boosting The Signal For Some Other Creators)

As most folks around here know, the Azukail Games YouTube channel finally got monetized at the start of 2025. It was a 3-year struggle to get it to that point, but with all of your help (and a little dash of luck) we managed to get over the hump! However, we don't want to rest on our laurels, so we're trying to push forward to hit our next goals, and to expand beyond where we are now.

That's why this week I wanted to give folks a break down on where we're at, what we're doing, where we'd like to go, and how you can help us make it happen! And after all that, I wanted to give a shoutout to some other channels that could use your help climbing up the mountain as well.

A hand up can make a WORLD of 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!

Where Azukail Games Is, And Where We're Aiming For!

When it comes to YouTube, numbers and statistics mean a lot to you as a creator. At time of writing we're just shy of 1,600 subscribers (tiny in terms of the platform, but really impressive for us as a very small channel), and our video views garner roughly $25 - $35 a month on average.

It's definitely not nothing... but we've got a lot of room to grow! I also talked about the process a little while back on an episode of Tabletop Mercenary, for those who are curious.

Where would we like to go, though? What is a reasonable, achievable goal? Well, I have some ideas.

What I would love to pull off is, by the end of 2025, to have the channel's subscriber count up to at least 2,000 people. 3,000 would be amazing, but I'm trying to set some reasonable expectations. And, ideally, I'd like to double the amount of videos getting seen so that we can bring in a minimum of $50 a month from our views.

More would be nice, but again, I'm trying to keep things reasonable.

What's my plan for making that happen, you might ask? Well, first and foremost, I aim to keep our current content going on a fairly regular schedule. That means more episodes of the shows Speaking of Sundara (where I talk about the Sundara: Dawn of a New Age setting for DND 5E and Pathfinder), Discussions of Darkness (where I talk about the World/Chronicles of Darkness setting and games to provide insight for those running and playing them), Tabletop Mercenary (where I talk about the behind-the-scenes aspects of working in the TTRPG field), Tactical Plastic Report (where I talk about my RPG Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic), as well as the audio dramas and short stories that regularly go up on the channel.

You can't get new results just doing the same thing, though, so I have some additions to this plan!

First and foremost, I'm still plotting additional video essays (since The Problem With Pentex blew up so big, and is the main reason we're currently monetized). The next one I have on the list is going to be regarding Radio Free Fae, which is an aspect of Changeling: The Lost that I feel often gets overlooked. And that particular video essay ties neatly into the upcoming audio drama podcast (which will be backed up on the channel) Windy City Shadows! The first season of this show is going to put us squarely into the world of Changeling, and if the first season goes over well, then I intend to do at least 2-3 more.

If you're interested in the show, then check out the AMA I did for it a little while back!

What Can You Do To Help Make These Things Happen?

If you want to help keep the Azukail Games channel going, and you want to make sure I can bring these projects to fruition, the two main things you can do are subscribe to the channel, and actually watch the content we make. While we have nearly 1,600 subscribers, new videos barely break 100 views most of the time... which is a problem, because the views are what earn us ad revenue. The subscriber count, bu contrast, is what lets the algorithm know that we're growing, so it should kick our videos out to more people.

Both of these are necessary, and we really need to increase the numbers on them!

But what if you're already subscribed to the Azukail Games YouTube channel, and you already watch our videos regularly? Well, you can hit the bell to make sure you get notifications, which will make sure you don't forget about us, and that our new videos show up on your feed. You can also leave comments of at least 7 words on our videos, because that's the number of words the algorithm needs to kick into gear. Lastly, share our video links on your social media platforms to help boost our signal... you might only be able to watch a video once, but if you've got 10, 50, or even 100 folks on your friends list, or in a FB group, discord, or subreddit that would like to check it out, that can make a big difference for someone that's still in the minor leagues on the platform.

As always, thank you in advance. Without you checking out the stuff we make, we wouldn't be able to make it.

A Few Other Channels You Should Check Out!

Before I go today, I wanted to give a shout out to some other folks on YouTube who could use a bit of a signal boost. My hope is that folks reading this can lend a helping hand, and give a few other creators a much-needed boost!

#1: Owen KC Stephens

For folks not familiar with the name, Owen KC Stephens is a fellow whose name is on a wide variety of RPG projects. Perhaps best-known for Pathfinder and Starfinder, he's been doing this at least twice as long as I have, and most folks refer to him as the favored uncle of the RPG space. He struggled recently with a cancer diagnosis, then beat the cancer, but is still fighting to pay down debt, cover bills, and keep his prescriptions filled.

He's got more than enough subscribers to get the channel monetized... but you can always use a few more. So stop in, watch some of his videos, leave some comments, and see if a sharp spike in his figures will help his YouTube presence!

#2: KHR Arts

If Alice looks (or sounds) familiar to some folks, it's because she's been in several of the videos over on the Azukail Games channel in the past. KHR arts is her video gaming channel, and it's packed full of Minecraft, classic SNES games, and more that can just be fun to listen to and relax. She has sort of the opposite problem of a lot of folks, though, in that she has plenty of views, but she's really having a hard time hitting the subscriber count (she's just past 600 at time of writing, and needs 1,000 to get fully monetized). So drop by KHR Arts and subscribe... and go through the archive while you're there!

And if you're more of a writer and board game enthusiast, you should also go by her second channel Alice The Author, which is full of unboxings, book reviews, and advice for folks who want to make a living as creative professionals.

#3: Altered State Adventures

Folks who know me know that I have a soft spot for the grim darkness of the far future. Forever and a day ago I wrote a story about a long-forgotten knight, and his return to the fray with a new pilot on a world that had forgotten him, and which had fallen into barbarism and darkness. If you never got a chance to read Broken Heroes, I'd highly suggest you check it out, along with my other stories over on Vocal... and then go subscribe to Altered State Adventures, and check out some of their audio dramas (including their production of my story) because they are a lot of fun to listen to!

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!

Reaching Fresh Milestones (Some Good News Among All The Fire and Brimstone)

Right now the world is on fire. If you're on social media, or you're watching the news, it feels like we're living through a prequel of some of the worst post-apocalypse movies of the 1980s. However, as a lot of folks are reminding us, it's important to take the victories where you can find them, and to acknowledge your successes where they exist.

So even though it can sometimes feel tough to keep working, and to keep making art in all its forms, I've recently had a couple of good things happen that I want to talk about. And if you're one of those folks who is looking for ways to pitch in on good causes, don't you worry, I've got a section for that below!

You take your wins where you can get them...

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!

Carving A Few New Notches

I wanted to start out of the gate with some stuff that I'm pretty pleased by, and that I could not have done without all of you!

First and foremost, when I wasn't looking, Improved Initiative crossed the 1,000 post line! I've been running this blog for over 10 years now, and it's got over a thousand unique posts and articles on it (and that's not including any of the posts I've written for my Vocal.media archive, which is another 300 and change). It's a really big number, but while I'm patting myself on the back for it, I wanted to remind folks that this blog doesn't actually make me any money, and it's basically underwritten by all my affiliate links for my TTRPG supplements, as well as my Patreon page. So if you want to make sure I can keep this blog going, consider becoming a Patreon patron today!

It's going to be an uphill journey!

In addition to the growing archive of this blog, another accomplishment for the year is that the Azukail Games YouTube channel got itself monetized right at the start of January, which was a goal I'd been hammering away at for 3 years or so. While I'm currently working on a video detailing the process, and how we went from where we were to where we are, trust me when I say it was... an endeavor. Not only that, but as of yesterday we hit 1,500 subscribers, which is tiny in terms of what YouTube thinks is big, but given that we had barely 300 people when I started contributing I'd say we've come a damn long way!

But I don't want to sit on my laurels with this one, so if you've been holding off on subscribing, I'm hoping to keep the channel growing. First to 3,000 subs if we can, and then to 5,000 if we can manage that! More is always better, but I'm trying not to get too far ahead of myself on this one.

Lastly, I wanted to talk about a goal I mentioned in the above video, because we are (technically) about halfway there at time of writing. I mention my RPG Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic, and how a lot of folks have wanted to see me put together an actual play of this game in action. That's a lot of time, energy, effort, and editing work, and it's unlikely to result in any real interest or sales of the game... however, I have pledged that if the game hits Silver metal status by the end of 2025, then I will put together such an episode, and upload it to the Azukail Games YouTube channel for everyone to see.

And as of time of writing, the base book just hit Copper metal status!

For those who aren't familiar with Drive Thru RPG and what the metal levels mean, Copper means at least 50 copies of the book have been sold, while Silver means it's crossed the 100 level mark. So if you're one of those folks who want to see me get a squad together to tackle one of the missions that's come out by then, get yourself a copy of Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic to get us closer to this goal!

And Now, Some Other Causes You Should Help Out!

Like I said, the world is on fire (both literally and metaphorically), but there were two particular causes I wanted to draw folks' attention to before I call this Monday's update done.

First, we're dealing with the California fires.

For most of us, the massive California wildfire is still fresh in our memories. A huge amount of homes were destroyed, people lost their livelihoods, and communities have been left smoldering. The California Wildfire Relief Bundle from Fainting Goat Games is trying to help those suffering from these events by donating a portion of proceeds to the American Red Cross... an agency that is definitely going to need all the help it can get! So whether you want a slew of fresh gaming products for your table, you want to help those in need, or both, consider grabbing a copy!

Secondly, I want to get some help for one of our own.

Most of us out there know that Owen K.C. Stephens recently beat cancer... but he hasn't yet defeated the U.S. healthcare system. So if you want to help him keep the wheels turning, and give him the resources he needs, head over to his Go Fund Me to add your strength to the cause!

If you do want to grab some of his work rather than just giving him money (or you want to do both!), I'd personally recommend getting Essays on Freelance Tabletop RPG Writing and Publishing, as well as the companion piece Essays on Surviving an Independent Tabletop RPG Career. And if you're the sort of person who wants something more mechanically useful for your table, you simply can't go wrong with Like A Boss- A Book of Boss Encounters which covers a variety of TTRPG systems!

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!

Playing Warhammer 40K, Trench Crusade, Or Army Men? Adrian Has Your Terrain Covered!

Many RPGs take place in the theater of the mind, using the pure imagination of those around the table to play out the story. And while that's all well and good for the cinematically inclined, other games focus on distances, cover, strategic maneuvers, and small-unit successes. These games can't rely on the imagination alone, because they depend on all the players viewing the same battlefield, and having the same understanding of what's happening. And whether you're assembling a table for the grim darkness of the far future in Warhammer 40K, you're joining the war against (or for) the heretic legions of hell in Trench Crusade, or you're taking up arms on behalf of the Plastos Federathion in my RPG Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic, you owe it to yourself to check out the terrain crafting videos being done by Adrian Kennelly over on the Azukail Games YouTube channel.

From Vracks to the Somme, you'll find something you like!

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!

Table Terrain To Make Your Battles Blaze!

Before I go too much further, I wanted to offer full disclosure for folks who aren't regular readers. I'm a contributor to the Azukail Games YT channel, and I'm an author of several of the game supplements the publisher has released. And while I make a majority of the shows that are hosted on the channel, when we really started gaining momentum, Adrian started doing semi-regular crafting videos for tabletop gaming. And while several of the early videos were very much geared toward traditional fantasy gaming, a lot of the more recent additions are for terrain pieces that are much more at-home in modern warfare scenarios.

Such as the first video he made for Army Men about how to make barbed wire!

In addition to the tutorial for barbed wire, Adrian has also covered videos for making a Czech hedgehog tank trap, how to make craters, how to make ruined walls, and even how to make supply pallets for your table terrain! All of which I happen to think is pretty damn neat, and were I a craftier sort of gamer (and had more space to assemble and store this kind of terrain) I'd likely have a bunch of my own examples to show off by now.

However, I wanted to give Adrian's content a shout out this week because I know exactly how much work it takes to make videos like this. From lighting and setup, to making sure that you have just the right angle and just the right voice overs and music to keep your viewers watching while also giving them value for their time isn't easy. Not only that, but a lot of the stuff he makes also gets me fired up to play (and design) more gaming stuff... which is important when the creative side of things starts to feel like a slog!

So if this is the sort of content you enjoy (whether it's because you like crafting tutorials or you just enjoy checking out the tips and tricks of the trade), subscribe to the Azukail Games YouTube channel today, and while you're at it watch the Crafting Playlist that has a complete run of all 35 of Adrian's videos on it. I'm urging folks to watch the videos, upvote the ones they like, leave comments of at least 7 words (because that's what tickles the algorithm's fancy), and maybe share them around on your own social media pages... because few things encourage folks who make videos, blogs, and games than hearing from our audience, and being told loud and clear that they like what we're making, and we should keep going!

Lastly, if there's a particular type of terrain you're interested in, make sure you leave a comment on the videos asking for a guide! Whether you want full trenches, bombed-out buildings, sniper nests, or anything else, making a suggestion (and getting it upvoted by others) is a great way to let us know what you want to see!

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!

A Holiday Wish From Improved Initiative

It's that time of year again. The decorations are going up, Mariah Carey has been defrosted, and everyone is looking for the best possible deals on what to get their loved ones before the upcoming holiday, and the end of 2024. And because I know that money is tight for everyone, I try to provide as much free content as I possibly can, both here on Improved Initiative, but also on our sister blog The Literary Mercenary for the writers out there, and in my Vocal archive, which has over 300 free articles (most of which are about gaming).

However, 2024 has been rough as hell with Drive Thru RPG basically slashing my earnings in half. Adding in the projections for 2025 that are all doom and gloom, I would like to take this week to ask for a favor from my audience... because I could definitely use a bit of that holiday spirit to help carry me through.

Every little bit helps...

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!

I Could Really Use A Hand Up This Holiday

Things have been rough all over for creatives the past few years, and the seas are looking pretty stormy right now. To make things worse, this is typically the time of year when folks decide to cancel Patreon patronage, stop tipping creators they follow, and so on because of all the other holiday costs they're amassing; gifts, travel, time off work, and so on, and so forth.

So, before I get into all the other stuff, if you want to help keep this blog going please consider becoming a Patreon patron, or buying me a Ko-Fi as a tip. That's the best bang for your buck, honestly, and that goes for basically any other artist out there you want to support this year, too.

That's not the ONLY option I'm asking folks to consider, though...

I know that's not for everyone. However, I wanted to lead with that one because it's the easiest way to ensure that I keep the lights on, and have a minimum of hardship as I pay all of my big bills in the coming year (taxes, renew car insurance, things like that). If you do want to help me keep the wheels turning, but you'd like other options, consider the following categories...

Free Stuff That Helps

Like I said, I know that everyone is having a tough time right now, and not all of us have cash to spare. So I wanted to list a bunch of stuff you can do for free right now that will help boost me up as a creator, and which will put money in my hand, and help me do more, without costing you a dime.

Watch My Azukail Games Videos

I have been making videos for the Azukail Games YouTube channel for going on 3 years now, and in all that time I've made a pretty wide variety of content. From audio dramas and channel updates, to talking about my settings Sundara: Dawn of a New Age and my RPG Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic, to industry talk in Tabletop Mercenary, and shows like Discussions of Darkness where I talk about the World and Chronicles of Darkness settings.

As of time of writing, we only need about 100 hours and change of watched content... meaning we need our audience to clock in a little over 100 hours more so that we can get monetized. Because for all the episodes I've put up (and all the work Adrian has done on his crafting videos), and all the signal boosting you see here and on social media, we haven't seen a single, red cent from YouTube because we haven't met the creator minimum yet on the amount of traffic we've generated. Hell, if everyone who subscribes to me @LiteraryMercenary on Blue Sky (far and away my smallest social media following) watched 1 video a day for the month of December, we'd clinch that number, and start the new year off right.

This is such a big deal to me because, though it isn't my channel, if it is earning revenue for my publisher, that's money that can be reinvested to make bigger, more engaging videos, TTRPG supplements, and a variety of other projects as well! So if you want to help me avoid stagnation, subscribe to the channel, watch some videos, leave comments on them at least 7 words long (that's the magic number on the algorithm), and share the ones you like on your social media pages. It makes a much bigger difference than you know!

Read My Vocal Articles

I have SO many of them...

Vocal.media is a website where authors are able to write whatever they want, and we get paid based on how popular our articles are. So if you wanted to read my classic top story It's Okay To Admit There Are Problems In Your Hobby (which always seems to light flame wars when I share it), you can do that for free, and I'll get paid for it. If you're a Warhammer 40K fan, my Leagues of Votann story Pyramid Scheme is on there as well, or if you're looking for a new character concept for your next Pathfinder game, consider my article The Beer Brewing Witch.

The issue is, of course, numbers. Because I make $6 for every 1,000 articles that get read on Vocal. Not clicked, mind you, but read. The pages have crawlers and bots on them that track who's reading, and their pace, ensuring that only read, organic reads go through.

Still, there's 321 stories on My Vocal Archive at time of writing, and I add at least 1 per month. So if 1,000 people all decided to just read 1 of them per day, I'd make about $6 a day for most of the next year. That doesn't sound like much, but I can confirm right now that an extra $180 or so a month would, in fact, be life-changing for me as a creator. So if you enjoy my gaming content on this blog, bookmark my Vocal author page, and make it part of your daily routine to dig through and see what's in there! I've got character conversions, character concepts, horror articles, short stories, instructionals, and a slew of other nonsense that's just waiting for you!

Follow My Social Media (And Interact With Me)

Social media is the backbone of modern creatives. We don't have money to buy ad banners on websites, and getting organic word-of-mouth about us and what we do is amazingly helpful. However, every platform out there has been choking our signals, and making it impossible for us to reach anyone with the stuff we make. A post we make today will get maybe 10% of what we would have gotten a few years ago, if we're lucky... and unless you can count your followers in the tens of thousands, the algorithm is going to put its boot firmly on your windpipe.

So help me overcome this by following my socials (listed below), and interacting when you see me post stuff! Hearts and shares are good, but so are 7+ word comments, because those get the algorithm to notice you... a good tip for any other creators you follow, too!

- Facebook

- Blue Sky

- Twitter (for now, at least)

- Reddit

- LinkTree (I promise I'm trying to update this more)

Also, as a bonus, subscribe to my newsletter to make sure you get all my content sent to your email every two weeks so you don't miss anything!

Things You Can Buy (Which Also Helps)

If you're looking for the ideal gift for a friend or family member, I've got a lot of stuff that's out there for-sale! And, as a bonus, the more numbers these things do, the more likely I am to put out additional stuff for these games, novel series, and so on!

And, as a bonus, all of these links (as I mention in my fine print on this site) are affiliate links... so even if you just click through to check something out, that still helps!

My Novels/Short Story Collections

I've had a lot of fiction come out over the years, and it's been a time and a half trying to get any of it into people's hands. So if you or someone you know is a reader, check out some of the following stories (and listen to the audio drama above linked from my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary).

- Old Soldiers (A dystopian sci fi novel about a defunct super soldier solving a mystery)

- Crier's Knife (A witchborn mountain boy goes to bring home his wayward cousin by any means)

- The Rejects (A collection of short stories that never quite made the cut in other anthologies)

The Hardboiled Cat

My noir series about Leo, a hardnosed Maine Coon from the Bronx, deals with the problems going on among the street beasts throughout the city. So if you want to make sure Leo gets a few more stories under his bottlebrush tail, grab the three books he's been featured in so far!

- From A Cat's View (The debut short story for Leo can be found in this anthology)

- Marked Territory (Leo ends up doing a favor for the raccoon mob, and stumbling on a conspiracy)

- Painted Cats (Leo ends up looking for a missing stray, and take care of her abandoned kitten)

Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic

A game where you take on the roles of troopers fighting for their homelands in the Plastos Federation against the insectoid monsters of the vespoids!

- Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic: The base book for the game, this is technically the only book you need to play this game... but it never hurts to get some of the others as well!

- Army Men: Threat Assessments: The first collection released after the original game dropped, this supplement is full of new creatures for your squad to have to deal with when out in the field.

- Army Men: Medals of Honor: This supplement introduced the Medals System, allowing players to earn medals for their troopers, gaining unique bonuses and abilities usable for the rest of the campaign.

- Ungentlemanly Warfare: A Baker's Dozen of Booby Traps: Giant bugs and enemy combatants aren't the only threats you'll have to deal with in the field. Booby traps are a serious concern among troopers looking to leave their service with as many limbs as they started.

- Army Men Missions: A Night At Breckon's Beacon: When a squad goes missing while they're on patrol, it's your squad's mission to find them, and bring them home... or to avenge them, if that can't be done.

Sundara: Dawn of A New Age

This is a setting I've been gradually expanding for several years now, and there's a new series of supplements coming out for it in the near future! Sundara can be played on its own, or it can be added piecemeal to your own settings to fill in gaps and blanks so that you don't have to do as much heavy lifting the next time you get folks around your table!

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.

Organizations of Sundara

Phase 3 has been going strong, but there's still a few titles left in it! So if you haven't seen them, consider checking out:

- Sellswords of Sundara: With power structures being smaller in scale in Sundara, standing armies aren't often maintained for long. As such, soldiers of fortune are quite common! This supplement contains 10 mercenary companies, their history, uniform, sample members, whispers and rumors, as well as either an archetype or subclass for playing these unique warriors. Grab your copy for Pathfinder of DND 5E.

- Cults of Sundara: Faith comes in many forms in Sundara, and there are as many gods in the Prim as there are dreams in the minds of people. This supplement contains write-ups for 10 cults, their histories, sample members, rumors about them, their beliefs and tenets, and a unique magic item for each. Get your copy for Pathfinder or DND 5E.

- Guilds of Sundara: While cities and villages may be relatively local, guilds are spread across the length and width of Sundara. From professional orders of skilled miners and dredgers, to monster slayers and bounty hunters, this supplement has 10 guilds with histories, sample members, rumors, as well as unique feats one can take to represent the skill and benefits of joining this order. Available for Pathfinder as well as DND 5E.

- Merchants of Sundara: While city states might be the largest form of government you find in the setting, merchants hold an outsized amount of power. From huge mercantile houses, to small brands infamous for their quality as much as for their price, there are a lot of options listed in this particular world building supplement.

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!

Should I Make Videos For "Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic"?

As most folks know, I've been contributing videos to the Azukail Games YouTube channel for a while now (and you should check them out and subscribe if you haven't yet). While I originally talked about my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age fantasy RPG setting for Pathfinder and DND 5E, I started making audio dramas for the vignettes found in my supplements soon after. That eventually grew into Discussions of Darkness where I talk about the World and Chronicles of Darkness, and Tabletop Mercenary, where I talk about the business side of publishing in general, and RPGs in particular.

However, I was wondering if folks would like to see me talk more about my first full RPG, Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic on the channel?

... what do you think?

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!

Fighting The War On All Fronts

There are some people who prefer to read articles because they consume text more easily. There are some people who prefer to see the face of the people who make the products they use, and to hear the thought process of the designer in an interview-style format. For the former there's plenty of blog entries right here on Improved Initiative about this game, why I designed it the way I did, and the potential it has going forward... but I figured that it might be worth expanding that a little bit.

And not just because the unboxing video for my copies of the game books was one of the higher-watched videos the channel has put out in a while.

While it's been on the market since this Spring, Army Men has already had 2 supplements drop for it (Threat Assessments, which has more monsters and enemies for troopers to deal with, and Medals of Honor, which includes a Medal System for giving permanent bonuses and rewards to troopers who accomplish particular feats in the field), and there are 2 more in the queu to be released by Azukail Games in the future.

Since I'm still fighting to get the game seen and played (we're only 7 sales away from hitting Copper status last I checked the figure sheets), I figured that this is one area I haven't expanded into yet, and I wanted to see what you thought of it as members of the potential audience? Would you be interested in watching me talk about Army Men, giving break downs of the game, the world, the ideas behind it, and the supplements I've both made for it, and would like to make for it?

Some topics that are currently under consideration include:

- Reviews/rundowns of the current supplements

- Discussions of future supplements/soliciting audience opinions on what should come next

- Breakdown of the lore/setting/timeline of the resinous peoples

- Advice for how to run missions with this game

If there's something you'd like to see that isn't on the list, please feel free to include it in the comments below, with one exception. While it's been mentioned a time or two that I should do a recorded play of the game with a group and put that up for folks to see how it plays in real time, that is something currently outside the scope of my space, my equipment, and my skills. If I were to put something like that together it would take a lot of scheduling, resources, and editing to make it look good, sound good, and play smoothly... and that just isn't something I'm capable of making at the moment.

So it's not out of the question, but it isn't something I'd be able to make happen this year, barring something going extremely well for the game, and a massive audience showing up out of nowhere to raise their voices for it.

With that said, though, as long as I'm putting together additional supplements, my hope is to (at the very least) continue giving my listeners glimpses into the world, and into what Army Men can be as a game, and all of the different genres it can cover, and the stories it can tell. Such as this piece, taken from Medals of Honor, which has a definite James Bond flair to it.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

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

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

Explaining The "Attention Economy" And Why It's Killing Creators

I had planned to write this up over on my sister blog The Literary Mercenary, but I know that this blog gets far more eyes on it, and this is a topic I feel quite strongly about. Not just because it affects my life, but because it is the way the entire publishing and entertainment industry works, and so I feel it's important for as many people as possible to really understand this struggle, their place in it, and what the creators they love need from them in order for us to stay out of the grave for one more day.

In case you haven't heard the term, we're all stuck in the Attention Economy... and it's drowning a lot of us.

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!

The Attention Economy: What It Is, And How It Works

The short version, as Coursera explains, is that the attention economy is just that; attempts to get people's attention (their engagement in social media parlance). There are only so many hours in a day, after all, and there's only so much content someone can consume in that time period. With millions of books, thousands of TV shows, decades of archived films, and untold hours of uploaded videos on the Internet, there's only so much that people can look at, and be engaged by before they run out of steam, and give-a-damn.

This is not, strictly speaking, a new phenomenon. It's the same basic principles that were used by TV and radio stations, as well as by movie studios and publishers in days gone by. People only have so many hours in the day, and with all the things they could be doing with what free time they have, how do you make them engage with what you're making? Especially since that engagement is what determines whether you have enough to eat this month, or if you have to pack it in?

After all, if you sell more copies of a book, then you make more royalties. If you can prove you have more people listening to your radio show, or watching you on TV, then you can sell more advertising spaces and get more sponsorship. The concept isn't new... but like so many things in our day and age, it's been pushed to such an extreme that the magnitude of it can feel insurmountable.

Gimme, it's mine!

That last part is important. Because your attention has always been a resource... but now it's more limited than it's ever been before, and there are more people using more tricks to try to get it through means that feel like something out of 1984. You receive notifications for every app you use, social media blasts you every day, advertising blares before nearly everything you consume, and there is so much happening so fast that you can only absorb a small part of it before you're utterly spent. Add to that all the misinformation, cickbait, and out-and-out bad actors stirring up drama solely because more eyes on them means more money in their pockets, and it's like being at a rave, in a concert, being held inside an active combine harvester.

Your attention is valuable, and this economy turns every minute you watch a video, every click of the Like button, every review you leave, and every follow on a page into a transaction as you signal what you want to see more of... but at the same time, that economy moves the goal posts for creators, and makes it even harder for us to reach our perpetually more tired audience. Because it also refines your searches, your feeds, and what you see and hear based on your previous activity. So if you don't take control of your own behavior, you're only ever going to see and hear the same things over and over again, because that's what this modern media landscape (and the algorithms that power them) are designed to do; keep feeding you whatever it is that will keep you reading, watching, or playing.

Attention and Exposure

I've said this before, but creators are like gladiators. If the audience isn't watching us, and isn't cheering for us, then no one cares what we do, or what happens to us. The more you cheer for us, and the more you follow our careers, and talk about us, the more successful we become. Your attention, your raised voices, make or break whether we live to fight another day, or whether we die on the sands to the indifferent silence all around us.

And that is true... but it's not the entire story.

There is no signalling for mercy in this economy.

Take a moment, and think about the creators you follow in the TTRPG space. Maybe they're bloggers, or YouTubers, or podcasters. All of those watched hours of content, all those reads, all those listens, as well as the likes and comments on social media, those are worth something in the attention economy... however, it is often not worth as much as you think.

It is, to use a dreaded word to every artist out there, exposure.

Consider that Weird Al Yankovic, arguably one of the most accomplished musicians of an era, was paid $12 for 80 million streams on Spotify. Consider the fact that, according to Descript, YouTubers need to get hundreds of thousands of people to subscribe to their channels, and to get hundreds of thousands of views on those videos before they make anything approaching a living wage. And that's on top of the fact that YT doesn't pay creators at all until they have at least 500 subscribers and 3,000 hours of watched content on their channels... until you hit that point, the only person making money is them. Over on Vocal, if you're a Vocal+ member, it takes 90,000 reads on your articles just to make $500. And that's the good rate.

We are competing for eyes and ears every day, yes... but to add insult to injury, even if we get the input and attention from people that the platforms and publishers want, that's still no guarantee that we actually get anything out of it. Because unless that attention is mystically transformed into dollars through ad revenue, sponsorship deals, or merch sales, it's the same as getting a million upvotes on Reddit.

Utterly useless if you need to pay your rent.

As I said in Writing Isn't What Makes Writers Succeed, this is a two-pronged problem for us. Because we need a sizable audience to know about us, and our work, and to give us all the things that make social media happy (clicks, follows, likes, etc.), because when that happens it means we get promoted by the algorithm. Which means that more people will see us, which means more people will find out about us and our work. But even if you manage millions of shares and a huge following, that exposure is no guarantee of income... and it's exhausting pursuing fame, but then having the powers-that-be refuse to give you fortune to go with it.

Which is why, as a consumer, you need to know the value of your attention, and your power, but also its limitations, and the reality creators you love are dealing with. Because as I've said, your actions are all tallied on the board by the machines that run the media landscape. They count your likes, your follows, your retweets, comments, and all those other social transactions. At the same time, if the 700 and change people following my Facebook author page all gave me $5 a month on my Patreon page so I could keep doing what I'm doing, I would never need to bother with social media again.

Just saying.

I want to end this with some words of commiseration. Because I know it is frustrating as someone who just wants to play a game, or just wants to watch videos or listen to podcasts that you are constantly bombarded with the knowledge that your support is what determines whether or not a creator can afford food, and pay their rent. You are often more interested in whether a novel is entertaining, or a comic is funny, than what your impact on the creator's life is going to be.

I get it. Feeling responsible for other people, even if you have a parasocial relationship, is exhausting. However, this is the unfortunate reality we live in. If you want to see creators you like keep making games, videos, podcasts, music, art, or whatever other product you want to see from them, they need your support in order to make that happen.

It is your decision when it comes to what kind of support you want to give, and what you are comfortable with. But there is no secret hand of fame and fortune that will pluck only the worthy and the talented from the dirt and ensure their success. 50 Shades of Gray isn't a bestselling record-breaker because it was an amazing work of literary brilliance... it got where it is because people bought copies, talked about it, left reviews, and supported it. The same is true of Alex Jones, Steve Bannon, and every other rich fraud, dodgy host, and terrible person who made fat stacks of cash.

It wasn't the quality of their art. It was the support of their audience, plain and simple.

On that note, if you haven't heard about the changes of on the Azukail Games YouTube channel, a fairly recent update talks about some of the things you can do to help support us if you want to be sure we keep making videos 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!

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!

Updates On The Azukail Games YouTube Channel (And Our Progress)!

This week I wanted to give something of an update for my readers out there! While I've talked about this on both Facebook, and in my most recent newsletter, I don't want anything getting lost in the fickle tides of the algorithm, and I've got some exciting developments I wanted everyone to be aware of. So keep reading, and I'll get to it shortly enough!

We've been putting in a lot of work on this!

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!

Patreon, Ko-Fi, And Getting Monetization!

So, first things first! As lots of folks know, YouTube altered their rules last year so that, in order to be approved for monetization (which is to say, you actually get paid some of the ad revenue on your videos, rather than all of it going straight into YouTube's pockets), you need to have 500 subscribers to your channel, and 3,000 hours of watched content in the past 365 days. At time of writing, we have 1,070 and change subscribers, and just over 2,500 hours of watched content... which means that another 500 hours will put us over the line, and allow us to finally start getting ad revenue from the videos we make!

That would be a huge boon all by itself, because right now none of the videos actually generate income for Azukail Games from YouTube. While there are ads on them, none of that goes to the company, which means the channel is not, currently, an income stream in this manner. And if we can start getting some of that cash to flow to the company, then it can start underwriting some larger, more ambitious projects. For those who didn't see the update on the channel itself, I talked about it back in May in the video below.

Another thing I mentioned in the video above is that Azukail Games now has its own Patreon and Ko-Fi accounts, and if you're feeling generous, don't be afraid to toss some coin over there! Now, I want to be clear, these are separate from my Literary Mercenary Patreon and Ko-Fi pages listed below, which go to help support these blogs. For those wondering why there are separate accounts, it's because I do not (contrary to a lot of common belief, it seems) run Azukail Games as a company, or a YouTube channel. Adrian Kennelly is the man behind that company; I'm just a writer and contributor who works for the enterprise.

Which is sort of the reason I want to see it grow... the better they do, the more of my shenanigans the company can publish and support for the entertainment of all of you out there!

For folks who are wondering why I don't have my own YouTube channel, I laid out the details on that issue a while back in Trying Out Rumble As A Platform For My Audio Dramas over on my sister blog The Literary Mercenary. The short version, though, is that even if I personally got the 500 subscribers and 3,000 hours needed to get monetized on my own channel, I couldn't get paid by YouTube because it requires a Google AdSense account, and Google blocked me from having one of these over a decade ago.

So in this case I'm going to remain a freelancer.

With that said, though, if the Azukail Games channel does get monetized, it's possible that I'll be able to start a bigger project that will be on multiple platforms, such as Spotify, in addition to just YouTube. If that's something you'd be interested in, then check out Windy City Shadows: A Chronicles of Darkness Podcast Proposal!

There are a lot of projects I'm starting to get excited about, but all of them sort of hinge on us getting the YouTube channel to a point where it's a legitimate earner, and not just a place for us to put our preview videos for the TTRPG supplements we put out. So if you want to help us get there, please subscribe to the Azukail Games YouTube channel if you haven't yet, watch our videos, and share them around so we can acquire the hours we need to blow past those goal posts, and really start revving our engines to make bigger, more involved stuff for you all to enjoy!

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!