If You're a Pathfinder Caster, Try Spell Tracker For Free!

I've been a Pathfinder player and DM for years, and I've seen a lot of players who like the idea of playing a spellcaster, but who simply cannot deal with all of the record-keeping involved with it. Whether it's the tome of potential that magi and wizards can wield, or the sheer volume of spells that clerics and warpriests can pray for, it's all a bit overwhelming. Even the "simpler" sorcerers and bards can be tough to track when you consider metamagic, rods, feats, and other abilities that may be added into the mix.

Whether you're someone who's looking for a tool to break through the wall, or you're a long-time caster main who'd just like a helping hand, I highly recommend trying out Spell Tracker as soon as possible.

Because once I get organized, it's over for all of you!

What is Spell Tracker?

The short version is that Spell Tracker is an app that does just what it says on the tin; it keeps track of the spells your character knows, the one's you've prepared that day, and it runs all the numbers for you regarding your saves, your attacks, your DCs, and all the fiddly little details that can be a pain to remember when the swords come out, and the magic starts flying. Most importantly, it shows you which ones you've cast, and keeps the full text and description of the spell at your fingertips so you never need to pause mid-combat to crack open a rulebook again!

Fail me some saves, boys!

Not only that, but Spell Tracker also keeps track of how many rounds your spells have been going on, giving you a clear image of which effects are enduring, and which ones are ending. When you add in that it can often act as an add-on for many existing character creation programs for Pathfinder, you've got an app that puts a lot of power in your hand, and which makes split-second casting decisions as easy as tapping your screen.

And if you're a fan of Improved Initiative, you can try the app out for free!

All you have to do is go to this special Spell Tracker link, and sign up! The first 10 people who sign up will get 3 free months, and everyone else gets 1 free month, as well as entry into a drawing for a free extension of their time with Spell Tracker Pro. Since so many of us are trying to keep our games alive, why not use a tool that really takes the guess work out of your casting?

Seriously, give it a try. You've got nothing to lose, and everything to gain!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

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

The Antipaladin of Pride

Gadran knelt on the stone of the causeway, blood running from beneath his armor. His handsome face was cut, one eye swollen shut. His holy symbol had been scorched from his shield, and smashed from his armor. His breath was ragged, and as he swayed, his head bowed, he prayed. Above him, his opponent removed her helm. She case it aside, and looked down at him. Her face was full and lush, beautiful in the way that a sword could be beautiful. There was pity in her expression, but no mercy.

"The hammer of the gods," she said, speaking Gadran's title with contempt. "The shield of the realm. A warrior the likes of which is only seen once a generation, and this is what you fall to?" Valoran put the tip of her sullied blade beneath Gadran's chin and tilted his head up. She looked at him for a long, silent moment. "That is the problem with you, and with all the others like you, Gadran. All that power, but the only thing you know how to do with it is kneel."

She didn't wait for his response. There was nothing he could have said that would have surprised her, and she'd had enough of platitudes and empty writ to last her an eternity. She slid her blade forward, and walked past the Godhammer as he choked to death on his own blood.

All that potential, gone down to dust.

If You're Going Through Hell, Walk Like You Own The Place

Pride goeth before a fall, or so the saying goes, and if there is one flaw that's likely to lead to a paladin's fall from grace this is the one. Because when everyone tells you that you are righteous, that you do only good, and that you are the right hand of justice, it becomes very easy to equate your own wants and desires with what is right. While some paladins can step back to examine their own actions, spending time in contemplation in order to hold onto a humble perspective, others can't.

Those others often become antipaladins of pride.

So, you're approaching me? That's not wise.

An antipaladin of pride is an evil warrior who believes wholly and completely in their own powers. They take what they want, feeling themselves entitled to it. They may take foolish (or seemingly foolish) risks, such as fighting with their face exposed, giving their opponents advantages just to show how outmatched they are, or choosing to step in to personally make an example of their enemies rather than letting others fight for them.

However, an antipaladin of pride didn't get where they are without being cunning, vicious, and willing to do whatever it takes to achieve their ends. While they may come across as a narcissist (as many of them no doubt are), these antipaladins are willing to go to horrifying lengths to salve their egos, and to justify their pride. There is no weapon too dire, no god too blasphemous, and no deed too dark if it means they can, indeed, prove that they were right all along.

When One is Guided by Pride

When putting together an antipaladin of pride, it's important to follow one of the key pieces of advice in 5 Tips For Playing Better Evil Characters and ask what their motivation is, and how it ties into their pride. Are they out to conquer a kingdom because their counsel was ignored, leading to a lost war, or a revolt? Do they feel the gods turned a deaf ear to the suffering of others, putting all these petty rules into place, so they become judge, jury, and executioner, walking a darker path and proclaiming themselves above the gods? Are they killing their former brothers in arms, showing that they were always the strongest among their old order, and they should have been placed in rulership over them?

Swear your oaths anew, and when you rise you will be stronger than you ever imagined.

The thing to remember is that, while satisfying one's ego should always be a key part of an antipaladin of pride's modus operandi, they can be very complicated individuals within that framework. In fact, many of them may see themselves as obligated to look over those they deem as their people, because who else will do it? In some instances this may lead to crazed despots who demand the public sing their praises, but it could also lead to intensely loyal nation stations who view the antipaladin as a benevolent dictator despite their wars and the summoned demons who guard their black palace. The antipaladin protects them, and for that the people will worship them.

It's also important to make sure you know how your antipaladin of pride will fit into a group, and how they work within a party (whether they're good or evil, as the Tyrant with their LE alignment can often work with those of a varied background). In this situation, don't bring a character who flies off the handle and demands a duel to the death whenever someone criticizes them. Instead, it might be a better idea to bring someone who can act as the party's face, and who may think of the others as their minions (though it would be rude to call them such). Perhaps they will only put forth a minimal effort unless they deem a threat worth their attention, or they will lord their unique capabilities over the others, such as an antipaladin's immunity to the effects of disease, using their ability to spread a contagion to cripple a city and all its inhabitants as proof they are the most powerful among their companions.

These characters may come across a little arch, and slightly operatic, but those are things you should lean into if you really want to have fun with them. Whether you're going for a Darth Vader or Dr. Doom vibe, just remember, you didn't fall... you dove, just to show you could.

Lastly, if you're looking for some wicked inspiration, check out my most recent release 100 Cults to Encounter, as well as the recent Electrum seller 100 Random Bandits to Meet where you'll meat cannibalistic killers, as well as legendary bandit captains like the possessed Darkskull!

Like, Follow, and Stay Tuned For More!

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 dungeon master.

For more of my work, check out my Vocal and Gamers archives, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my most recent collection of short stories 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!

A Good DM Understands The Rules Before Changing Them

There is, perhaps, no more hotly debated topic than Rule 0 when it comes to RPGs. For those who aren't familiar, Rule 0 is the one that's usually stated in the introduction to a game where the creators point out that this is your game, and you bought it. If you feel that certain aspects should be ignored, changed, or tinkered with, that's your decision, and you should run the game that makes you and your players the happiest.

Do whatever, we've already got your money!

This is very similar to the advice that I've seen in a lot of creative writing classes. It goes something along the lines of, "It's your story, write it however you want to. The rules only exist as guidelines!"

While this advice is inherently true, anyone who's tried to read fiction written by someone who thought their story was so brilliant that it shouldn't have to adhere to convention or common story structure knows just how badly awry this can go. Because as I said over on The Literary Mercenary, Good Writers Understand The Rules Before They Break Them, and the same goes for all the dungeon masters out there.

You can change absolutely anything in the game. But you need to understand what you're changing, and the wide-reaching effects it might have, or you could end up chopping off your nose to spite your face. Because you're basically pulling up the files that make the game run, and making your own changes to the code. If you're not sure what you're changing, or all the aspects of the game it can affect, you can do more harm than good.

Wait... Was That a Load-Bearing Rule?

Oh shit... I might have just made things worse...

I've been in a lot of games over the years, and more than a few of them were run by dungeon masters who were more than happy to change rules they didn't like, or to port things in from other games to suit their fancy. Generally speaking, I've found that DMs who understood the game and had a firm grasp on the rules could make this work. Those who had only a rudimentary understanding of the game, though, ended up making things much worse than the so-called problem they were trying to fix.

As an example, I've met several dungeon masters who wanted to take Pathfinder, and run it as a low-to-no magic system. As such they limited, or outright banned, spellcasting classes for players, and made magic items rare-to-nonexistent in their campaign. While this eliminated fully half of the game's playable content (given that a roughly half of the classes and archetypes in the game get some form of magic or magical abilities), that's completely possible to do. However, when these DMs tried to run a game that followed the usual progression of challenge by level, they noticed something straight away... the difficulty curve went vertical in a big damn hurry.

Shit! That's the third TPK this level... what the hell?

The reason for this is that Pathfinder is a high fantasy game, and the progression of threats players face at higher and higher levels assumes they have access to magic. Not just for the purposes of healing (though that is a concern, since taking total rest heals double your class levels in a day, and that means a fighter could be in traction for a month just to get back to full strength from a single mid-level scrap), but just to be able to face certain monsters with any expectation of wining. Damage reduction that specifically ignores attacks not considered magical is very common starting at around CR 5, and it only gets harder and steeper from there.

Now, that doesn't mean you can't run a relatively low-fantasy game using Pathfinder... but you need to understand that just eliminating your players' access to magic is essentially removing half the pistons from your engine, and expecting it to run more efficiently now that there's less weight. You need to consider all of the things that choice effects, from how you expect PCs to heal, to which monsters they can realistically fight, to how that changes the value of certain classes and abilities.

In this situation, it's often just a lot easier to run a system that does what you want in the first place, such as Conan: Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of or perhaps Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition, instead of trying to twist the core system in knots to do something it wasn't really meant for.

Whether you want to eliminate alignment in a game where it actually has effects on your character actions and the world around you, you want to throw out feat taxes because you think they're a drain on gameplay, or you just want to import a different game's rules for handling grappling, energy resistance, or weapon degradation, you need to be able to see all the ways this change is going to effect the game going forward.

Because if you change something, you're essentially throwing a rock into a pond. As such, you should have some idea of where the ripples are going.

Avoid The Cascade Cock Up

For those fortunate enough to have never experienced this phenomenon, a cascade cock up is when one thing goes wrong, which makes something else go wrong, and it continues on until you realize you've pulled the level on a Rube Goldberg device you hadn't realized was there, and whose end goal you're not entirely sure of.

Oh crap... where's the stop button?

You started with something small, maybe. But that small change had an unforeseen outcome, and now you've got a problem. So to try to fix the first problem you make another change, but that also results in a fresh set of problems. Now you've got to change something else in order to keep your first change valid, but it opens up a whole different can of worms.

There are two things you need to help prevent this. The first is to know the game you're modding so that you understand how all the moving parts are connected. The higher your degree of system mastery (or the fewer moving parts your game has), the better the chance that your changes will work they way you intend them to with minimal side effects. The second thing you need to do is actually run a few scenarios, even if it's just you sitting at your kitchen table and rolling dice, to see just how well this change holds up to the action.

Because when you make a house rule, you're essentially writing a patch for the existing game. You need to make sure your patch doesn't accidentally put your players on god-mode, or end up making your enemies into unstoppable monsters because of an unforeseen complication.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

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

What Are Your Character's Cultural Misunderstandings?

"This food, it's good," Grond said, tossing the rest of the bones onto his plate. They'd been seated on the higher tier, the fireplace off to one side to ensure they were warm. Filial had only managed to get Grond to dress his best with the promise of a hearty meal. He looked a little strange wearing fresh linen and a velvet doublet with his wild hair and scarred hands, but he was clean and presentable, which was a feat in and of itself.

"Didn't I tell you?" Filial asked, toasting his hulking companion with a wine glass.

Grond raised his glass, returning the toast, but rather than sipping he tilted his head back and drank deeply. The smile fled from Filial's face, but before he could say something Grond opened his mouth and let forth a deep, echoing belch that was just this side of a roar. Silverware clattered, and people stared, their eyes wide. Filial put his hand to his face, shame turning his ears red. Grond nodded, and picked up one of the last rolls, buttering it with his belt knife.

"The kitchens are far from here," he said, taking a bite of the bread. "I wanted to be sure the cooks knew of my appreciation."

Is something wrong, my friend?

Cultural Misunderstandings, Quirks, and Personalities

Everyone's unique perception of the world is colored by where, how, and by whom they were raised. While some of us are more cosmopolitan than others, we still have certain baseline behaviors and cultural taboos that we consider "normal" in our lives. Our characters are typically the same way. This often leads to cultural misunderstandings that can really bring across how different things are in a fantasy world, and make characters instantly memorable.

Most of us have done some spin on this at one point or another in our lives. Maybe you had a half-orc version of Crocodile Dundee, who took the most terrifying monsters and brutal hellscapes in their stride, and who was confused by the sheer panic and terror other party members reacted with. Maybe you played around with an elf who had exacting rules of decorum, and whose behavior could often seem strange or alien to those who have never studied the social structure of their home city. Perhaps it was a dwarven crusader with unusual grooming requirements as part of their oath, a tattooed mystic from a fringe school of sorcery, or someone who was raised by an evil cult and who has to unlearn the habits of their strange and brutal upbringing (check out my recent 100 Cults to Encounter if you're looking for inspiration on that front).

However, this is something I'd encourage us to do more of as players. Because even if we build in something as a joke, it can end up telling us a lot about a character, where they come from, and the way they see the world around them.

Making Misunderstandings That Work

The key to setting up a unique misunderstanding or cultural quick typically relies on something that is either unusual in the individual background, or which is different about how an individual character experiences the world. These things can be blatant or subtle, but the real trick is to make sure that that these misunderstandings are interesting or unique, and that they tell us something meaningful about the character.

Only one who has walked the peaks of Zhai Zho can bear such marks.

As an example of a cultural misunderstanding, say a character was raised deep in the blowing sands of the desert. Over the years the cultural norms evolved to say that people must keep themselves covered except when in the presence of friends and loved ones. This may have started out as a matter of practicality to avoid harm from sandstorms and the sun, but it's become ingrained in the society as a whole. So among those from this part of the world, long, flowing robes are common, and veils are often worn whenever one is in public. Someone who doesn't understand this culture may not understand that telling someone to show their face is the equivalent of demanding they undress in front of you, meaning they could give grave insult without intending it.

On the flip side of things, say a character comes from the frozen north where hot springs are often turned into communal bathhouses. Regular washing and grooming may be an intimate part of their culture, and as a byproduct of necessity nudity is not seen as shameful or even unusual in any way, shape or form. You could even take it to a Drax the Destroyer level of casualness, where the character finds southern notions of propriety and modesty to be strange and confusing.

Alternatively, you could ask what sorts of cultural norms develop around a character's inherent abilities, if they possess any. Does an elf rarely raise their voice, for example, because of how sensitive their people's ears are? Thus when they do actually shout, it's shocking to those who know them, and it lets people know they mean business. Does your dwarf tend to dress in shades of black and white, because in the hold they were raised in most people used their natural darkvision, so colors were never a part of a fashion motif? Perhaps this went even further, with intricate and broad-sweeping makeup and hairstyles marking one out by standing and profession that could be recognized from afar? Does your halfling, or by contrast a half-orc or a goliath, just not grasp a world built to a scale that doesn't fit them? Constantly ordering food, or drink, and being surprised or disappointed at the portion size they receive, or finding that room accommodations are never something they can take for granted? Or do they have their own norms for meals, or sleeping arrangements, that outsiders just don't understand?

While it's tempting to make these changes really big and really obvious (the fighter whose culture is to always grapple with a friend you haven't seen for some time to test each other's strength, the barbarian who comes from a tribe that states lingering eye contact is a challenge to one's rank, etc.), sometimes you can get just as much out of the smaller, subtler things that are unusual about a character's view of the world.

Do Not Set This Up To Be A Jerk

And now we play the ax-catching game, as tradition dictates.

As I said back in The Dangers of The Phrase "I'm Just Playing My Character", it's important to remember that you are directly responsible for everything that goes onto your character's sheet, and all the things they think, say, do, or believe. So while it's entirely possible for you to make a character who considers any slight an occasion to begin a duel to the death, that doesn't excuse you from constantly going around and attacking anyone who takes the piss out of you. It still makes you look like a jerk, because you tried to design a quirk that demanded your character make everyone else's life difficult.

Now, to be clear, a character who is willing to duel for their honor with those who've slighted them is a fun little background tidbit. Especially if that character has something of a reputation as a duelist, and if you use the threat sparingly, or only when it's warranted. But just as with any other quirk, or unusual bit of cultural difference, think about whether it's going to add to the story, or take away from it. Because if you're constantly throwing a monkey wrench into the game and justifying it with, "Well, that's the way they were raised," that is going to get really old really fast.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Fluff post! If you've used this in your games, share a story down in the comments!

For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my recent 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!

I Write More Than RPGs (Games and Giveaways!)

Most folks who stop by this blog do so because they're looking for thoughts, advice, reviews, and news on tabletop gaming. That's kind of my schtick, after all. However, for those who don't know, I also create other types of content! And given that so many of us are currently practicing social distancing, I figured I'd take this week to offer some sign posts, and some free material, so we can all avoid the encroaching boredom that's starting to grow teeth in some areas.

Such as this reading I recently did of the short story "Dressing The Flesh" from my new collection The Rejects!

Also, a big thanks to Dungeon Keeper Radio for hosting this video, as I ran into last-minute problems with it and had nowhere else to plop it down for listeners' consumption.

What Else I've Made (That You Should Totally Go Check Out)

So what else do I have out there right now? Well, I'm glad you asked!

The list is growing a little... expansive.

Let's begin at the beginning. If you want more free gaming resources, then you should definitely check out my Vocal archive. For those of you who read my character conversion guides and my 5 Tips lists, you're probably familiar with some of what I've put on that site, but my archive has grown a great deal over the past year. I've been transferring over a lot of content from an older site that had some of my work, and at time of writing there's 145 articles in that archive. They're all free to you to read, so take a spin through and see if you like something! Every read helps my earnings, and one way I decide what sorts of content I'm going to create more of is what gets read, and what doesn't. So please, if you like a thing, share it around so I can make more like it!

Speaking of free gaming resources, you should also check out the channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. In addition to hosting my latest reading, there's more than a year of videos that I helped write and voice. The channel has mostly been in stasis for the past several months because YouTube moved their goal posts, making it very difficult for the channel to get monetized, but if folks show an interest then that could re-light the spark under the team. Especially if you've got the spare scratch for a Patreon pledge for them. Just saying.

In addition to gaming content, though, I also write fiction. Since some of my readers on here have mentioned that the little bits of story I put into my unusual character concepts are always interesting, I figured I'd direct those folks to my broader body of work.

If you're in the mood to read something that's free, and Pathfinder related, you should take a moment to read the short story The Irregulars that I wrote for Paizo several years ago. While that story got a lot of praise from early readers, I was sadly not asked to turn it into anything bigger for the company. If you'd like more short stories, then you should also check out The Rejects, but if you're more in the mood for a sword and sorcery novel, I'd direct your attention to Crier's Knife instead. Both books have fairly long free samples that should let you know just what you're in for. And if you find yourself curious about other books I've been a part of, then I'd urge you to check out my Amazon author page and take a look around!

What About The Giveaway?

As I said in the title, I've decided to run a giveaway over the next month or so. In addition to all the free stuff I've got listed above, if you'd like a collection of DMing supplements, a one-shot module written by yours truly, or even a free ebook, all you have to do is use the Contact Me gadget on this blog to send me a message. Just reach out to me with your email address, and the free thing you'd like (supplements, module, or ebook), and I'll make sure it's on its way to you promptly!

Supplies are unlimited when stuff is digital after all!

And if you wanted to make some specific requests, feel free to take a look at my Drive Thru RPG listings! I've got over 73 products with my name on them, and though I don't have giveaway copies of everything, I will try my best to get people stuff they'd like.

Also, if you're interested in supporting Improved Initiative as a Patreon patron, keep in mind that I host regular giveaways for my patrons. Just something to keep in mind if you could stand to part with at least $1 a month!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday! Hopefully it's given some of my readers some fresh avenues of content to check out to while away their hours!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

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

3 Advantages of Wands in Pathfinder

It's all too easy in Pathfinder to get lost in the raw, reality-warping power of high-level spells, or to focus solely on capstone abilities, and heavy-hitting class features. While most of us use wands in our games, they often fall by the wayside around mid-levels except for specific uses (such as the first aid wands with cure and lesser restoration spells in them) due to reduced effectiveness, spell resistance, short duration, and the fact that wands can only hold spells up to a certain level.

However, with that said, there are a lot of serious advantages that come with wands in Pathfinder. Since they're playing such a big part in my current game, I thought I'd talk about some of them this week.

They are all shapes. All sizes.

What Are Wands?

There's a lot of fine print in Pathfinder, so let's make sure we're all on the same page. A wand is a spell-trigger item that holds a single spell of 4th-level or lower. A wand can be used without a check by any character who has the spell contained on their class's spell list, even if they can't currently cast the spell (such as a 3rd-level paladin being able to use a wand with a paladin spell in it). Those who lack the spell, or who lack spellcasting at all, can make a simple Use Magic Device check to activate the wand. Once activated the spell is cast, and it uses the caster stats of the person who created the wand. If you made the wand, then it uses your stats as the creator at the time you made it. If it's a wand you found or purchased, then it assumes minimum stats to cast the spell, unless you paid for more according to the chart on page 496 of the Core Rulebook.

There now, we all on the same page? Lovely! On to why wands are great.

Advantage #1: Wands Do Not Provoke Attacks of Opportunity

Nice try!

As pointed out on page 184 of the Core Rulebook, wands as a spell trigger item do not provoke attacks of opportunity when used. This means that wands give you the ability to sling all kinds of spells when surrounded by enemies that, under other circumstances, could get you slapped in the head, or which would require a problematic Concentration check.

This is particularly useful if you need to heal yourself from that last smash you took to the head, but it's equally handy if you plan on attacking with a wand. Even small spells like shocking grasp can be devastating if they're in the hands of a rogue or a slayer, who now needs nothing more than a touch attack to get their sneak attack off (though getting through spell resistance with a wand is tricky at the best of times). Activating a wand is a standard action, but it's worth noting you can draw it as a swift action from a spring-loaded wrist sheathe, or as part of a move action if you have a BAB of +1 or higher and you're keeping it in a bandolier. You can't Quick Draw them, generally speaking, but it's possible there's an archetype or feat that I've missed that lets you do so. If there is, toss it in the comments so I can add it in here for people's reference!

Advantage #2: Wands Free Up Spell Slots

Well, guess I don't need to ready that one for today, do I?

Wands only go up to 4th level spells, that's true, but the sheer variety of options they offer means that you can take those situational or in-between fight spells (or the ones that you pre-buff with that last a long time), and store them in your wands. Then the casters can use their actual spell slots to prep spells that don't work so well in wands due to needed higher caster levels, better casting stats, etc.

For example, endure elements is an extremely useful spell if you're going to the tundra, or to the desert. And regardless of the caster's level, it lasts for 24 hours once it's been cast. So rather than eating up a bunch of spell slots with that one, put it in a wand, and bam, you're all safe from environmental penalties for a day. Delay disease is another useful spell to have in a wand, because it provides 24-hour protection from any disease, giving you time to ready a spell to cure it if you didn't have any available at the time. Spells like mage armor and defending bone which last for hours per level benefit from having a higher caster level on the wand, but the caster's stats have no effects on the spell other than the duration, making them two more solid candidates. And, of course, wands of cure spells are always handy for knitting yourself back together after brawls, or in a tight spot where you don't want a poor concentration check to get someone killed.

Most importantly, by not eating up your spell slots by keeping these preparatory spells on-hand (because you won't always need to protect yourself from disease or poison, but when you do it's good to have that spell ready-to-hand in a wand), you can prepare a wider variety of spells overall. And for those you're using your actual spell slots for, you should focus on spells where your caster level and stats make more of a difference (increasing damage, DCs to save against the spell, etc.). Because if being a higher-level caster or having higher casting stats doesn't change the spell in a meaningful way, then a wand should be able to handle it just fine.

Advantage #3: Wands Spread Around The Action Economy

Don't worry, boss, I got this. You get the cleric back up!

Magic is a tool, and that tool can be used to fill a lot of different roles. However, when there's only one party member wielding that tool, it stymies the flow, and makes it hard to use it efficiently. Wands spread out the ability to use magic, and they put more spells in the hands of more party members. And in some cases they put the tools in the hands of party members who can put them to the best possible use.

As an example, say the magus makes a wand of haste. Said magus could use their action to boost the party, but they could also hand the wand over to the monk who's invested in Use Magic Device. This gives the monk the ability to boost themselves, and the rest of the party, freeing up the magus to cast other spells when it's their turn rather than trying to do all of the magic on their own.

Additionally, if more members of the party have the ability to act quickly, or to do damage control, then it provides more options to the group as a whole. If someone is hurt, and the cleric has the chance to either destroy a big threat with a spell that could end the fight, or stopping a compatriot from dying, that's a tough choice. If the magus can step in with a wand to cure the downed party's wounds, bringing them back up to positives and stopping their bleed, now the cleric can apply their action to what's most effective. And gods forbid if the cleric goes down, because that's when the ability for someone else in the party to snatch out a wand and de-fib them back to life comes in quite handy.

Also, as a fun side note, there's a magus arcana that lets you use wands with spell combat, turning you into a dervish of casting and slashing on nearly every turn. And since wands don't provoke, this allows you to get the most out of your turn as long as you've got a full clip of these spell trigger items.

Bonus Advantages!

It seems like I always miss a few things, so I wanted to add these in. Thanks to the readers who brought them to my attention!

- Wands do not require material components. While you pay the cost of components when you make the wand, you don't need to haul those components on the road with you. Everything is in one neat, compact package.

- Wands require no somatic component to use. This makes them ideal for getting out of sticky situations, like being grappled when you could really use a coating of grease on your armor for that +10 to escape. And since they can be wielded one-handed and don't provoke attacks of opportunity, they're a nice trick to keep up your sleeve.

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That's all for this week's Crunch topic! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio! Or if you'd like to read some of my books, like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well! And if you'd like to help support me and my work, consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron! Even a little bit of help can go a long way, trust me on that one.

DMs, Learn To Take Your Foot Off The Brake

About a year and change ago, I was grumbling that no one was running LARPs for Changeling: The Lost out in my neck of the woods anymore. All of my friends sitting around the table agreed that it would be great if someone would step up and start a new game. Since all eyes were on me, I realized that since I was the one who spoke the desire aloud, I was the one who now had to make it a reality if I wanted it to happen.

And that was when the brainstorming began.

I spent the next several months laying the ground work for the setting, digging up all the digital copies of the books that I had, and talking to my players about the sorts of things they wanted to see. I incorporated those things into the overall sandbox, and started putting out the word that I was looking for even more players to populate the game once it was ready. As more folks expressed interest, though, I kept getting the same question over and over again.

"So what are the house rules you're using?"

And my answer was, with the exception of clarifying which double-printed merit I was using, none. I wanted to run the game as the book laid it out. If folks wanted to give their characters a certain fighting style, I was all for that. If they wanted to put together a bizarre combination of seeming and kith, or if they wanted to join an entitlement that was usually kept under lock and key, I would work with them to make sure they found an in for their character.

In short, it was my job to facilitate the characters my players actually wanted to have, and I did not see how laying out dozens of pages of provisos and conditions was going to help that.

At first I didn't think anything of it when my players smiled, happy that I'd told them absolutely, they can use this ability that's clearly in the book as long as they pay the XP cost for it. But it happened so many times that I started to realize something... practically everyone who signed up to play in my game is used to a storyteller saying no. Not, "as long as you use this responsibly," or, "eventually, once you've earned it," but just a flat-out no. No to mechanics that already exist in the book, and are more often than not a core part of the game. Mechanics that, on a larger scope, are just ripples in the pond in terms of the what they can do.

I would like to take today's entry to reach out to all the storytellers whose reaction is to say no. This message is for you.

Take Your Foot Off The Brake

Let the players drive. You're here to facilitate their fun.

For all the DMs out there who like to hold tight to the reins, and who are even now leaving comments about how you had to change X, Y, and Z mechanics because of your game structure, group, setup, etc. just stop, and take a moment to listen to what I've got to say. Don't get defensive, or make justifications, just listen to what I've got to say here; one DM to another.

First of all, as I've said before, if you are running a homebrew setting that deviates from the core material of a game in certain, meaningful ways, then obviously there are going to be absences or restrictions in order to make sure the setting and rules agree with each other. If your DND game takes place in a world with no angels, devils, or demons in existence, you don't have tieflings and aasimar as character options. That's simple cause and effect, and not what I'm talking about.

What I am talking about is balancing the scales. Whenever you change a game from how it's written and presented, you need to ask yourself what you're giving your players, and what you're taking away from them. Because every change that affects what mechanics players can use, what sort of characters they can play, etc., is directly taking away their options and limiting their choices. So, to compensate for taking something away, ask what you're giving them in return.

It might be something simple, such as running a world that's a majority human, but you make a bunch of different bloodlines so that different humans all have different and unique templates. You might want to run a Pathfinder game without guns or gun-capable classes, but instead of just ignoring the lore you rewind the world's timeline and run the game before the discovery of black powder so that players can experience the last days before Aroden died and the setting of Golarion was plunged into chaos. Whatever you're taking away needs to have a specific rationale, and it needs to be compensated for in some way if it impacts your players' choices.

Also, Let Your Players Feel Special

It's what keeps them coming back for more.

I said this back in If You Don't Want Your Players To Win, Get Out of The DM Chair!, but it bears repeating here. Every villain you field, and every challenge you present, is supposed to be overcome. The goal is not for you to stymie your players, or to make them bleed for every inch of ground they cover. This isn't a game of attrition where you grudgingly give your players a victory every now and again (unless they specifically signed up for that, naturally). Generally speaking, the players are supposed to win when all is said and done.

And, in line with that, they should feel special when they're doing it... because they're the main characters of this story!

I have lost track of the number of storytellers I've met who, because they were frustrated that their players were actually accomplishing the challenges they put in front of them, decided to start eliminating options or refusing to allow certain classes and abilities out of the core books of their games. I've seen World of Darkness STs who have dialed firearms down to pea shooters so they didn't "destroy" encounters too easily, Dungeons and Dragons DMs who have out-and-out refused to let rogues get their sneak attack because it's "too overpowered," and Pathfinder GMs who ban paladins entirely because they can't deal with smite as an ability.

If the reason you restrict things as a dungeon master or storyteller is so that the players don't win too easily, may I suggest instead that you stop giving them a steady diet of nails, and then act surprised when they hit them with a hammer?

But this is literally the problem I was made to solve!

Let's go back to Changeling for a moment. The game is a modern fantasy or modern horror, depending on how you spin the flavor, but that means it exists in the modern world. If you want to build the ultimate swordsman, or the most dangerous gunslinger, there is absolutely nothing stopping you from putting together a laundry list of abilities that turn you into death on two legs for any mortal opponent, and which would make you a significant threat even to other supernatural enemies.

What would I gain, as a storyteller, from stopping a player from pursuing those abilities?

Sure, it would mean I don't have a wizened Doc Holliday or an ogre version of Inigo Montoya to deal with, but what have I given my player in exchange? Nothing. It's possible that a player who wanted to field one of these concepts might play something different, but will their heart be in it the way it would have been if I'd said yes? Even if that yes came with conditions that staggered out their badassery, ensuring they had to complete training and character arcs to become that thing they sought? Probably not, because I asked them to settle for their second choice... and why? Because I didn't want a character that could shoot too well, or buckle too much swash?

This is a secret I have for all my fellow storytellers who can't take their foot off the brake; you always have a bigger trump card up your sleeve than your players do.

If a player builds a sniper, make a Predator for them to stalk and be stalked by. If you have a Conan, give them a brute mauler to contend with. If the player builds their character to be a shadow player of wealth and influence, create a corporation to act as their nemesis and challenge them. Don't negate their strengths outright, but present them something that challenges them. You can literally make anything, and you have access to unfettered resources! This goes double for tabletop games over LARPs, because it means everyone at the table will have a need to bring out their strengths, and they'll all get a moment to shine while pushing along the plot.

Does it take more work to do this? Absolutely. Can it get frustrating? Sometimes. But when you are the storyteller, your job is to facilitate everyone else at the table playing their characters and sharing in the story, not to take away their pens because you don't like the color they wanted to write in.

Closing Note

To make sure I'm crystal clear, here, I am not saying that DMs who homebrew their games are doing it wrong. I'm not saying that restricting player options means you're a bad DM. I am not saying there is only one right way to play a game. We can all literally do whatever we want, as long as it makes our tables happy.

What I am asking is for all the dungeon masters and storytellers to take a step back, and ask what reason they're using to justify changes at their tables when those changes negatively impact their players' options and choices. Are you legitimately making those changes because they improve the game, and make the setting or story better? Or are you making those changes to eliminate things you personally don't want to deal with, or because you think someone might misuse it in the future?

Because if it's all about you, then you might want to check with your players to see how your proposed changes impact them. The game should be about them and their characters, after all, because without the main characters all the setting and plot in the world won't make a single lick of difference.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday! I have a feeling it will stimulate some spirited conversations, but this is something I felt should be put out there.

For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

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