The Pill-Popping Paladin

Farran had cleaned the blood from his sword, and smoothed the nicks from the blade with a whetstone. He washed the sweat and stink from his body. He polished his armor and shield until they shone, and the dents from the day's battle were little more than irregularities in the steel skins. He said his prayers. When all was said and done, though, he could not banish the sound of the demon's roar from his mind. The madness in its gaze, and the hunger as it tore at his shield even as ichor spilled across the temple's floor, were seared into his mind like a brand. He raised his pipe, lit it, and breathed deep.

The smoke filled his lungs, and it quieted the memories. He would sleep tonight, and with the blessing of the gods, his sleep would be dreamless.

The gods were good, to bless us with such bounty.

Drugs are one of those mechanics that most players simply don't toy with, excluding the sheer number of PCs who get completely hammered before, during, or after an adventure. But while ale and wine flow commonly in most games, it's fairly rare for player characters to touch the harder stuff. Why? Well, because it gives you a temporary benefit, but it damages one of your stats, and has the potential to cause addiction.

Of course, paladins have ways around that.

The Pill-Popping Paladin

Hard drugs in Pathfinder can give small, but effective, bonuses. Silvertongue, invented by yours truly, gives you a 1d2 bonus to your Charisma score for an hour, for example. Zerk provides a +1 bonus to your initiative, and +1d4 to your Strength, for the next hour. These drugs also do 1d4 and 1d2 Constitution damage, respectively. Also, as I pointed out in The Best Drugs in Pathfinder, every time you take a dose of one of these substances, you have to roll a Fortitude save to avoid addiction. That can be problematic, because drug addiction can have crippling effects on a character.

It's important to remember, though, that drug addiction is considered a disease, and can be cured by applicable magics. Paladins are immune to diseases both normal and magical as of 3rd level, however, which renders the Fortitude save a moot point. Even better, paladins who cast spells (since there are archetypes that give up spellcasting) have the ability to restore ability damage. This gives them the ability to reap the benefits of drug use, without all the negatives that come with it.

Antipaladins are worse. So much worse..

 

But even though paladins can do this, mechanically, are they allowed to thematically? After all, drug use is one of those things we tend to think goes against a paladin's code... but why would it? Especially if the substances a paladin is using, like elven absinthe or harlot sweets, are not illegal to buy, or use, and there are no proscriptions against those substances in that paladin's faith?

The closest argument that could be made regarding drug use is that it may be seen as dishonorable to give yourself an advantage with a performance-enhancing substance. However, if that is true, then where do you draw the line? Is wearing enchanted armor, or wielding a magical sword, giving you too much of an advantage for you to still be honorable? Is using magic against a creature who cannot cast spells using an unfair advantage? Are you allowed to accept morale bonuses from the bard, or transmutation spells from the wizard, to help in the heat of battle? Are you allowed to drink strong coffee to stave off the penalties from fatigue (which is an actual ruling)?

What Drives The Drug Use?

The mechanical quirk is fun, but hardly game breaking. The benefits gained from imbibing drugs are small, variable, and they do cause damages that have to be healed. Even if you get a free pass on the addiction roll, there's still the question of why your paladin feels the need to shoot up.

Is your paladin a front-line warrior, who prepares for every possible situation? In much the same way he'd carry healing potions, and alchemical weapons, why wouldn't he pack battlefield drugs to help him keep going when the chips were down, and lives were on the line? Does your paladin take drugs to help stave off the long-term effects of staring into the abyss of horror and damnation that he took vows to protect others against? Or does your paladin take drugs in order to reach a higher state of consciousness, communing more clearly with the gods in an altered state of consciousness?

Are the drugs a crutch, or a tool? An escape, or a prison? Those choices are yours to make, and they remain particularly interesting choices.

For more inspiration, check out 5 Tips For Playing Better Paladins!

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That's all for this installment of Unusual Character Concepts. Hopefully this one gave you something to chew over, whether you're a player, or a game master.

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 alley cat noir novel Marked Territory, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my most recent collection of short stories The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

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A Rebuttal to The "Hack" of Using Spells to Control Your Alignment

So, as we all know, Pathfinder now has rules in Horror Adventures that state expressly that casting spells with an alignment component can change your alignment. I covered this weeks ago in my Crunch post Horror Adventures Settles The Argument About Evil Spells and Alignments. However, as I've said before, absolutely no mechanic in gaming causes more vehement (and occasionally incoherent) arguments than alignment does. This was no exception. And the most common argument I heard for why this was a poor decision was that it meant spellcasters could now regulate their own alignment through the spells they used. Eaten too many babies? Don't worry, I'll just cast this good-aligned spell a few times, and there we go, back to neutral. Uh-oh, I used soul harvest as a way to get past a bad guy... guess I'll just use angel cuddle until I've been redeemed.

That's not how this works... that's not how any of this works...

Now, mechanically, that scenario (ridiculous as it is) is possible. However, by suggesting that's what players are going to do in order to somehow "game" their alignment ignores a lot of other facets.

Why This "Hack" is Pointless

In order for this sort of alignment maintenance to happen via spellcasting, it requires a spellcaster of a certain alignment to learn spells of an opposing alignment. If you're a good-aligned spellcaster, why would you learn animate dead, for example? And if you're an evil-aligned spellcaster, why would you learn celestial healing, particularly when infernal healing is an option? Perhaps a neutral spellcaster would know them both, and use them when appropriate, but why ensure that you cast an even number of good and evil spells? Because that's not, exactly, what "being neutral" means.

Seriously, this isn't a rhetorical question.

While it is possible for you to "atone" for your one evil spell with good spells, it's on the player to explain A) why the character would have spells from both ends of the spectrum, and B) why that character would feel the need to play one step forward, and one step back? Alignment is a meta concept, after all, which means that the characters are often unaware of where they sit on the spectrum without some form of highly-specific spell to tell them where they are.

More importantly, though, a player should ask why the character would even feel the need to bounce back and forth. Aside from the player's own, personal desire to fit squarely into a good or evil bracket that, as far as their characters know, doesn't even exist.

If a character is not a member of a class for whom alignment is important (such as a wizard, a magus, or even a bard), then there's no purpose to using spells to "cheat" the alignment rule that would make you good or evil for dipping your fingers into pools of liquid malevolence or beneficence. If a character is a member of a class for whom alignment is important (clerics, warpriests, inquisitors, etc.), then the question should be why would this person blatantly reach outside the alignment they're supposed to be maintaining to use tools that are outside their toolbox? This is particularly true for divine casters. Because while it's true that a good-aligned cleric could pray for spells with the evil descriptor, why would a good-aligned god grant those spells to them in the first place?

Roleplay Your Changing Alignment

The big question that playing footsie with your alignment by casting spells should ask, though, is what are the roleplay and story implications for that kind of flirtation? Does the wizard, who thought all magic was just a tool, develop a taste for true darkness? Does he begin relying on evil spells, even when he doesn't need them, just for the sickening rush of power? Will his reputation, and legacy, be twisted as he refuses to let go of his corruption?

Why did I change my seal? No reason, really.

The same is true from the other direction. What happens when the evil necromancer learns good-aligned spells in order to trick his opponents, but ends up seeing the light when he uses them too many times? Does he try to go back to his old ways, but the things he's done, and the person he was, are so revolting to him now that he can never understand how he once performed such awful acts without thought or care?

Lastly, it's important to note that a changed alignment doesn't wipe your slate clean as a character. For example, an evil character who, for some reason, becomes good-aligned through use of a good-aligned spell doesn't get to shirk responsibility for all the evil acts they may have committed. Their deeds were still done, and the enemies they made are still their enemies. There's also the question of what's going to happen when their masters find they've wandered off the proper alignment path. How hard will the character fight to maintain its new outlook on life when it knows that cult leaders, demon lords, and others have invested a great deal in them remaining evil?

Your alignment is an important aspect of your character, but it is not a get-out-of-jail free card. You can be good-aligned and still be wanted for crimes. You can be evil-aligned, and still find a way to never stray into illegitimate areas of the law. Finally, yes, you can alter your alignment by using good or evil spells... but the real question you should be asking yourself is what purpose does that kind of metagaming serve?

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday entry. Hopefully it helps some folks who've been grappling with this issue, and it stops some arguments at your tables. If you'd like to help support Improved Initiative, then drop by The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to make a small donation. Donate at least $1 a month, and there's some swag in it for you! Lastly, if you haven't followed me on Facebook, Tumblr, or Twitter yet, well, why not start today?

Make A Dating Profile For Your Character (Seriously, It Helps)

There are some players who have no trouble getting into character. All you need to do is ask, and they'll tell you everything of significance that happened to their PC from childhood, up to their introduction at the table. They know how the character looks, how they sound, their goals, their hopes, their dreams, and their fears. That isn't true for all players, though. Sometimes a player will just have a bare bones skeleton of class, race, and gender. Maybe you get a vague backstory out of them, but anything more can be like pulling teeth.

There's an easy way to get more info out of your players, though. Have them fill out a dating profile for their PCs.

Enjoys crushing his enemies, seeing them driven before him, and hearing the lamentations of the women.

This sounds like a joke, but I'm quite serious. If your players are having trouble giving you the detail you need as a DM, have them fill out a dating profile for the character in question. It asks all the right questions, and it will get players to talk about the mundane, average things, as well as the big, important details.

I Don't Want My Character Dating Anyone!

Don't get mixed up, this isn't about figuring out who your PCs are going to be shacking up with. I already covered that topic in Sexuality Matters in Roleplaying Games (And Here's Why). That isn't what we're talking about here. Because a dating profile isn't just about who you want to get romantic with. It's about giving a total stranger a snapshot of who you are. It shares your pertinent details (age, height, weight, ethnicity, gender, if you have kids, if you have pets, birth sign, etc.), and it allows you to tell people about yourself. Which is what a DM needs in order to understand the driving goals, history, and wants of the characters coming to the table.

5'10", enjoys long walks on the beach, and hopes to one day break the chains of oppression.

This idea can be altered, depending on the campaign in question, too. For example, if you're running a game like Spycraft, you could make up an agency dossier for each character instead of a dating profile. If you're playing a game like Vampire, then you could write up a history entry detailing the life and times of the bloodsucking immortals in question. Or, if you have certain things you personally want to know as a DM, then make up your own questionnaire to get your players thinking.

No matter what form it takes, though, the goal is always the same; get your players to fill in the details. Get them to think beyond race, class, height, weight, and weapon of choice. Ask what these characters do for fun, what their favorite food is, what their hobbies are, and if they're married, single, separate, or divorced. Were they raised by their parents, or by a sibling? Do they have an extended family? Do they smoke, or drink, and how often? How many tattoos and piercings do they have? What do they mean?

And, if you want to, describe what they're looking for in a partner. You know, just to round it out.

That's all for this week's Fluff topic. If you liked it, and you want to see more topics just like this one, why not drop a little change in my jar by becoming a patron? Just visit The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page, and donate at least $1 a month to get your free gift! Lastly, if you haven't followed me on Facebook, Tumblr, or Twitter yet, what's stopping you?

What is a Grognard?

If you've been in the RPG community for any length of time, you've likely come across the term "grognard" before. The term, as you see according to this Urban Dictionary entry, refers to a gamer who prefers an older edition of a game to any newer ones. This preference is often intense, and it may come with long diatribes about how their edition, despite being older, is superior to any games that came later. Sometimes it's used to refer to players who prefer the style of old-school RPGs over new-school ones, as well. Players who, for example, believe that the DM should be the creator and master of everything in the game, instead of a referee who simply interprets the rules as they exist in the book.

Back in AD&D, we got one spell, and we were happy!

Now, if you know me, you know that I have a special place in my heart for etymology. It's why I've written articles like What is a Swashbuckler? and What is a Paladin?, which both explore and explain the linguistic origins of these words, and how their original meanings were quite different from what we picture when we hear them. So, when it came to grognard, I was curious about where it came from, and how it came into use.

According to Merriam Webster, the primary definition of the word is, "an old soldier." Which makes sense when you think about it. After all, when we talk about gamers who have been in the community for some time, we often refer to them as the old guard. There is a more specific definition, though. When capitalized, the word refers to the original imperial guard formed by Napoleon. The old guard which led the final charge at the Battle of Waterloo, in fact.

There's a metaphor there, implying that grognards are the soldiers of a lost cause. The remnants of an empire whose time has passed, but who refuse to leave their posts. Whether that's an implication we meant to bring with the word, and if it's a veiled dig at gamers who always talk about the editions they first started playing with, I can't say. But it is something you might want to think about before you use this term, whether you mean it as a compliment or an insult.

That's all for this Moon Pope Monday update. While it was short and sweet, I do hope there are folks out there who enjoyed it. If you would like to support Improved Initiative so I can keep making posts like this one, then head over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to leave a little bread in my jar. Lastly, if you haven't followed me on Facebook, Tumblr, or Twitter yet, well, what's stopping you?

How to Finesse a Katana in The Pathfinder RPG

When Ultimate Combat came out, it gave us a lot of new toys to play around with. Toys like the gunslinger, their attendant firearms, and even cannons. Things that DMs, by and large, put under lock and key, then made their players fill out a permission slip in triplicate for before they were allowed to use them in game. Almost as big of a problem as guns, though, were the Eastern weapons. And of all the Eastern weapons, few of them have caused as many East V. West debates as the katana.

Especially for fans who think it is, for some reason, underpowered in Pathfinder.

Now, I've give my opinion on this weapon as a fictional trope in "Zen and The Art of Lazy Writing" or "Why You Should Stop Giving White People Katanas", but there are some advantages to using the katana in Pathfinder. It has the deadly property, for one thing, but it also has an 18-20 crit range, which can make it a tasty acquisition for someone who likes the idea of a bastard sword that crits like a rapier.

However, there are some players out there who are frustrated they can't use the Weapon Finesse feat on a katana. They want to capture the graceful fighting style that was a necessity in using these blades without shattering them, and it can feel like the rules are getting in the way.

Well, here's a simple method for achieving your goals.

How To Finesse a Katana in The Pathfinder RPG

The first thing you need to do is realize that feats will not allow you to accomplish this task in Pathfinder. The Weapon Finesse feat only works with light weapons, and those specifically listed in the feat's description like the spiked chain, whip, and rapier. What you need is a class ability, and it is not a class ability given to the samurai, or the ninja.

What ho, my friends!

The key ability you need is Swashbuckler's Finesse, which you receive as a 1st-level swashbuckler. This allows you to finesse any light or one-handed piercing weapon sized for you, applying your Dexterity modifier to your attack rolls instead of your Strength modifier. And though it takes the Exotic Weapon Proficiency to wield in one hand, it can be done the same way you could wield a bastard sword in one hand.

A katana is, however, a slashing weapon.

No worries. All you need to do is take Weapon Focus for the katana (because if you're going through all the effort to finesse it, why wouldn't it be your main melee weapon?), and then take the feat Slashing Grace. This not only allows you to treat the katana as a piercing weapon for your class features (like Swashbuckler's Finesse), but it also allows you to apply your Dexterity modifier to your damage.

This does mean one of two things, though. Either you are going to play a multiclass character, by taking at least a single level in swashbuckler, or it means you need to see if you can do all the things you want to do with the swashbuckler class. Choose wisely, though, because both options have their strengths, and both options have their weaknesses.

That's all for this week's Crunch post. Hopefully some folks out there found it useful. If you'd like to help Improved Initiative keep delivering more content just like this, then stop on by The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to leave some bread in my jar. As little as $1 a month goes a long way, and it gets you some sweet swag, too! Lastly, if you haven't followed me on Facebook, Tumblr, or Twitter yet, well, why not start now?

GM Rule #1: Always Review Characters Before Starting A Campaign

I'd like to tell you a story I came across on a Reddit page a little over a year ago. Players were giving advice, and telling stories of the dumbest moments they've seen at a table. One fellow brought a dwarven warrior to the table. He was deeply religious, as many warriors are, and he fought for his faith. The game had been going for some time, when said dwarf opted to crush an enemy's head with his hammer, rather than accept what he suspected was a dubious attempt at surrender. The DM then went into a big song and dance about how he felt his connection to his god slipping, and how the powers Torag had granted him had deserted him.

There was just one problem... the character didn't have any paladin levels. He was just a fighter.

Who, me? Nah, mate, I just work here.

This story was amusing, in that, "lol, the DM got so caught up in trying to make the paladin fall that he didn't even check to see if he was a paladin," kind of way, but I kept seeing other stories like this. Players who just show up to the table with no prior discussion of what they're playing, and who start rolling dice without once talking to the DM. I've also heard stories of DMs who just tell their players to, "bring whatever," and start a session without so much as glancing over the characters who were participating. The storyteller, in these cases, is finding out about the PCs at the same rate the rest of the party is.

Now, if you want to do that, more power to you. However, you're setting yourself up for serious problems.

Know Thy Challengers

The idea of just starting a game without talking to your players about their concepts, and looking over their sheets, is ludicrous. At the very least, running a game means you should make sure everyone followed the character creation rules you discussed in Session 0. This session is, of course, where you tell your crew what game you're playing, what limits are placed on character options and available books, and make suggestions on tone, styles, etc. More on why you should have one of these intro sessions can be found in The Importance of "Session 0" in Your Tabletop Games.

Goddammit, Steve, why are you playing an awakened bear?

Beyond checking everyone's math, and making sure no one decided to play as a frost giant or a mongrelman without permission, you also need to get a sense of what it is you're working with. This is true in a story aspect, since it pays to know that the alchemist has no interest in money, but he is something of a sucker for saving defenseless innocents, but it's also true in a mechanical aspect. For example, if you are planning on ambushing your party with a band of orcs, and there's a ranger with orc as a favored enemy, then you might need to alter the fight to ensure it doesn't end in two rounds. Maybe that means adding an extra ambusher, or using a template on the leader so he can stand up to the ranger, but regardless, you need to know what characters are starring in your story.

Can you run a game just trusting your players to abide by the rules, do their math correctly, and have them reveal to you the types of characters they're playing piecemeal? You can. You can also drive a car blind-folded. Even if you think you know where you're going, and you've driven the route a thousand times before, there's a much better chance that you'll plow into a wall if you can't see where you're going.

So why run a game with a blindfold on if you don't have to? Especially since you, and your players, would likely enjoy getting to the end of the campaign a lot more than you would crashing and burning due to unexpected circumstances in the third session. Plan out the long-game, and you're a lot more likely to get where you want to be. Incorporate the PCs' stories, abilities, and achievements into the game, and your players will never want it to end.

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. I don't think this is a controversial position to take, but who knows, I've been proven wrong before. As always, if you'd like to get more content like this, why not support Improved Initiative by putting a little bread in my jar? Just go to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page, and become a patron. As little as $1 a month goes a surprisingly long way. Lastly, if you haven't followed me on Facebook, Tumblr, or Twitter yet, well, why not start?

The Search For The Mummy's Mask Part One: The Desert Falcons, and The Littlest Pharaoh

For those of you who have enjoyed such tales as The Ballad of Baldric Brimstone, where a mad, gunslinging alchemist forged a kingdom from lead and blood, or The Saga of Majenko, where one little pseudodragon changed the course of an entire city's history, I've got a new one for you. You see, my regular group is nearly done with the Mummy's Mask adventure path for Pathfinder, and I'd like to recount the tale of our deeds for you here.

Of course, this recounting comes with a warning. For you see, our DM often takes liberties with the source material. So just because something happened one way in our game, that doesn't mean you will find it anywhere in the adventure path's books.

Now then, our tale begins in a small, desert town, beneath the heat of a dawning day...

This particular tale is now complete, as well. Every installment can easily be found at the links below.

Part One: The Desert Falcons, and The Littlest Pharaoh
Part Two: Undead Children, and Resurrected Puppies
Part Three: Enemies on All Sides
Part Four: Fight Night at The Necropolis
Part Five: Who is The Forgotten Pharaoh?
Part Six: No Harm Ever Came From Reading A Book...
Part Seven: Needle in a Haystack
Part Eight: Lamias and Genie Lords
Part Nine: The Mind of The Forgotten Pharaoh
Part Ten: The End of The Forgotten Pharaoh

The Desert Falcons

Our tale begins in the small town of Wati, where an unprecedented event is happening. The government of Osirion has stated that parties may enter into tombs to reclaim relics from within. These relics will be reviewed by the church of Pharasma, and those who reclaimed them (after dealing with traps, monsters, curses, and a plethora of other ancient security measures) will be compensated for their time and hazard.

As always, though, these reclamation teams are warned not to damage the tombs, and to be respectful of their inhabitants, as well as the history of these burial places.

Of course. The utmost respect. Hand me that pry bar, will you?

The lots are handed out at random, and every team must come to claim theirs. This ensures that those who find the tombs filled with great riches, and those who finds the ones filled with great danger, are chosen at random. Of course, if a team meets a grisly fate, then their lot will fall to someone else.

Enter the Desert Falcons. The team is made up of a dwarven tomb guard named Umaya, who feels a great duty to preserve the respect of the dead throughout this process, an elven dune ranger named Ra'ana, whose face is veiled against prying eyes and the desert sun alike, her companion Caladral, an elf for whom thievery and panache go hand-in-hand, a ragged mystic from the depths of the desert named Yana, and his companion the Large-sized sandworm B'wana, and finally a big-bellied, red-robed priest of Sarenrae named Mustafa.

We are given an assignment of great worth, and allowed to go in before nearly anyone else. So, prepared for the worst (or at least as prepared as we can be), we make our way to our allotted tomb hoping to be its latest explorers, instead of its latest residents.

The Tomb of The Lost General

Upon arriving at our site, we find an impressive-looking tomb. Clearly the person who occupied this part of the necropolis was someone of great importance, and they had lain there undisturbed for an age or longer. Despite being the first ones allowed into the city of the dead, though, we find someone waiting for us. A peddler in a donkey cart, with his keffiyeh pulled across his face. His name is Hakar, and he is here to help us. Or so he claims.

Do you need rope? I have rope!

We make a few purchases, including an extendable 10-foot pole, and some minor necessities. More importantly, though, we ask Hakar for information. He protests that he knows nothing, but he offers us a deal. A better price on the treasures we find in this tomb than the Pharasmans would ever pay, and in gold. No questions asked. Or we could take it in trade, if trade was what we wanted.

Suspicious, but curious as to what could possibly prompt someone to sneak into the city of the dead early enough to get there ahead of us, we begin our first delve into the unopened tomb. Once, that is, the dwarf puts her shoulder to the massive stone blocking the entryway, and shoves the offending rock out of the way.

What we find is unexpected. Wide-open spaces filled with crumbling wall scrolls and murals of past glories, there is something unique about them. Mustafa carefully wipes the dust from the art, transmuting the faded paint and chipped stone back to a shadow of its former glory. It seems to depict a great general from thousands of years ago, in the prime of her career. It lauds her victories, and her accomplishments, letting everyone know exactly how important this tomb's resident was during her life.

Once we had an idea of how important she was, we proceeded with caution. We found mirrors that tried to trap us, switches in the floor that launched darts, and strange, glass scorpions that tried to kill us (and that was just in the first room). We found statues of the old gods, an altar to the lords of the afterlife, and a treasure chamber full of gilded tablets, depictions of great victories, and a war chariot.

Dear gods... dual-axle 52-inch rims with decorative scroll. Late period... do you have any idea its worth?

While Mustafa was enamored with the chariot, his magic already caressing the dust and age from it, the strangest finding was still to come.

The Littlest Pharaoh

In the lowest chamber of the tomb, we found a tiny city. It looked like it had been constructed for elaborate play by a child, but as we watched we realized that the tiny clay men and women who filled the place were moving. They were going about tiny, unknowable lives. They regarded us, and many fled in panic from these strange giants who descended from above, bearing fire in their hands, and dressed in strange garb.

We were unsure what to do, but in the midst of discussing it we saw a tiny parade coming toward us. So we waited, and emissaries from the pharaoh bid the new gods to come and speak with him at the pyramid in the center of the city. We agreed, stepping gingerly through the cleared streets, and leaving B'wana to guard our back trail, since she never would have fit through the tiny boulevards.

Though if there was a cavalier among the city guard, they could have trained an unstoppable mount.

What we found was a clay man, easily twice the size of the others, waiting for us. He spoke to us in the tongue of ancient Osirion, a language we were proficient in, and asked if we would help protect his people. A threat had come from beyond the boundary, which was a large crack in the far wall, and they were powerless to stop it. Even he, with his vaunted might, could not protect his people on his own.

Before we could ask any questions, or even talk about terms, though, the threat attacked again. Huge-sized beetles crawled out of the wall, snarling and snapping as they assaulted the tiny city. This, we decided at once, would not stand.

Small units of tiny soldiers rode to the defense of the city, and the tiny pharaoh's pyramid floated into the air, beams of light firing from its apex. B'wana lashed her teeth and tail at the interlopers, and Mustafa flung holy fire from his hands. Umaya roared as she fought, and Ra'ana's blades cut deep. Even Caladral, a god more of speech and song than of battle landed a blow. While the beasts fought, it was a battle that, seen from the perspective of the tiny inhabitants, was truly mythic in proportion.

The Terrible Truth

With the battle won, wounds healed, and even the damage to clothing and armor repaired to the priest's satisfaction, we explored this tiny place we had saved. We found two coffins, where the general's sons were buried. We also found a flooding trap that had malfunctioned, creating the lake and river that gave life to the city, and allowed the clay people to continue to be formed. We also found something else. Clues buried in the records, and in the images, that hinted at another child. An illegitimate baby the general had borne, but which had never taken a place in the record.

And beneath the pyramid we found a recess. And in that recess, the remains of the child.

Well... that got dark in a hurry.

This revelation strikes different chords in different party members. Caladral is upset, trying to avoid emptying his guts at what he's seeing. Ra'ana is horrified, but stoic. Umaya is unaffected, having seen stranger in her time as a necropolis guard. Yana is confused, trying to understand the city, its people, and what gave rise to this whole thing. Mustafa is intrigued, the implications of the transmutation of the soul something he is intimately familiar with, and more impressed by than horrified at.

Once we've concluded out investigations, though, the pharaoh bids us speak with him again. He has decided, after fighting by our sides, that he and his people have been down her for too long. That he should come with us, and see the world beyond in order to find a new place for him and his people.

Who could deny him such an opportunity?

Also, for those interested, Mustafa went on to other, interesting endeavors after the adventure path was over. He even ended up on the Clerical Errors episode of Dungeon Keeper Radio's show Mythconceptions!

This is, of course, just the beginning of this great tale. For more stories, tune-in to Table Talk. And, if you'd like to help support Improved Initiative (so that I can keep telling stories like this one), consider stopping by The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page in order to leave a few crumbs of bread in my jar. Lastly, if you haven't followed me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter yet, why not start now?