YouTube Terms Are Changing, and Azukail Games Needs Your Help!

Folks who frequent this blog no doubt know that I do a lot of TTRPG work with Azukail Games. They publish my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age setting, and they handle most of my month-to-month RPG supplements. However, for going on the past year and a half I've also been regularly contributing content to the company's YouTube channel (to the point that a lot of people think that it's my personal channel, rather than belonging to my publisher).

While it's been my goal to get that channel monetized, and to grow the audience for the content on there, YouTube has recently announced they're going to be making changes to who will and won't be allowed to earn ad revenue on the platform... and while it's partially a boon for smaller creators and channels like Azukail Games, it doesn't mean we don't have a hill to take.

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! To be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

Also, since it keeps getting lost in the shuffle, check out my Vocal archive for more articles about RPGs, character conversions, character concepts, weird history, nerdy topics, and more!

And, of course, if you are subscribed to the Azukail Games YouTube channel, please consider doing so!

So What Is Happening?

For those who aren't in the know, in order to get a share of the ad revenue your videos generate on YouTube, you need to meet certain qualifications set by the site. Until recently you had to have a minimum of 1,000 subscribers (Azukail Games has 719 at time of writing), and you needed to have 4,000 hours of watched video time in the past year (which comes out to about 11.5 hours of watch time a day).

Needless to say, we were nowhere near that amount in either category.

And trust me, we're trying everything we can.

However, as numerous locations publicized recently, YouTube is changing those requirements to make things easier on smaller channels who are just looking to get their piece of the pie. As of June 13th, the new requirements are 500 subscribers (which we have managed!), and 3,000 hours of watch time in the past year (which is only 8 hours and change of viewing per day for a year... still a Herculean effort, but less than what was previously demanded).

Where does this put Azukail Games, though?

As I said, I'm not the person who owns the channel. I don't have access to any of its information, nor do I do anything with it. I just make the videos, and hand them over to my publisher. so I had no clue how our watch time was doing until I asked... and according to our current numbers, we've got about 864 hours of watch time in the past year. Which is less than a third of what we'd need to reach that monetization goal.

What We Need From You, Our Audience

Put quite simply, the channel needs eyes on the stuff we're making for it. Whether you're interested in the audio dramas taken from my various TTRPG supplements, you're interested in learning more about my setting and design philosophy in the show Speaking of Sundara, or you're a fan of the World/Chronicles of Darkness setting and my other show Discussions of Darkness, every view you can provide matters!

Our videos tend to be on the shorter side, and while we have a lot of subscribers, that number doesn't always translate to a regular viewer. So please, take a moment to check out some of the channel's content if you haven't yet. And if you have, then consider sharing a video, or even an entire playlist, on your socials. Not only will it help us get that much closer to our monetization goal, but it might just help some of my more obscure TTRPG supplements find themselves a new audience as well!

#1: Audio Dramas

When I started really expanding my involvement in the Azukail Games channel, my first project was dramatizing the introductory stories in a lot of my existing supplements. As such there are dozens of stories on the channel, ranging from back alley brawls among changelings, to short snippets of adventure in my Sundara setting, to dark dramas like the one above where a bad life catches up to Johnny Hammer, and he has to make a deal with a devil to keep himself above ground.

These are some of my favorite things to design, since I grew up listening to old radio shows. I've even been linking the fiction together for the past half a year or so, creating small series of tales that tell an ongoing narrative.  And while I'm very proud of these short pieces, I would love to make something a little meatier, but I feel like bigger, more involved stories aren't something I can really get greenlit until the channel is generating revenue for the publisher. So if you'd like to be part of that kind of project, consider checking out the full Spoken Word playlist to hear all 32 stories on the channel so far!

#2: Speaking of Sundara

A little over two years ago, I started putting out content for my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age fantasy setting for Pathfinder and DND 5E. While there are two dozen books out for it right now, I thought that a regular series to tie the various splats together, let the audience in on my design philosophy, and to talk about updates and what's going on with the setting, would be a good way to let more people know that it exists.

So if you're a fan of Sundara, but haven't seen the series, consider checking out the 36 videos in the Sundara playlist (which does include the audio dramas that are part of this setting). And if you haven't checked out Sundara yet, and you want to try to get a feeling for what this setting is all about before you start buying any supplements for it, then this series is a no-cost way to do just that!

#3: Discussions of Darkness

Back in 2021 I started working on a variety of World/Chronicles of Darkness supplements released via Storyteller's Vault, with Azukail Games handling layout, art, etc. once the writing portion of things was complete. Since it's a setting I really enjoy, and I've had a lot of ideas for, I figured that it might be a good idea to put together an additional show talking about the setting, offering advice for playing in it, and talking about some of the supplements I've designed thus far.

While it had a bit of a shaky start due to deadlines and such, Discussions of Darkness just released its 10th episode! So whether you're a fan of the old World of Darkness games, or you find yourself more of a Chronicles of Darkness fan, my intention is to have something for everyone. So consider giving the Discussions of Darkness playlist a look, and if you have a particular topic you want to see covered, or a game line talked about, then leave it in the comments so I can make sure your suggestion receives due consideration!

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 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 System and Setting Supplements Would You Like To See in The Future?

As my regular readers saw in last week's post, I Have Officially Broken 150 TTRPG Supplements!, I've hit something of a career milestone. However, being an RPG designer doesn't pay so well that I can actually kick up my feet and take a day off. No, I'd probably need to have 1,000 supplements on the market before I could contemplate that kind of luxury.

So since I have a long way to go until I can stop writing new supplements, I figured I'd take this Monday's update to ask my readers what it was you'd like to see more of, and what would persuade you all to open up your pocket book as players.

It's been one hell of a journey, and I've got a long way to go still...

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! To be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

Also, since it keeps getting lost in the shuffle, check out my Vocal archive for more articles about RPGs, character conversions, character concepts, weird history, nerdy topics, and more!

First Things First, What System/Setting Do You All Want?

Out of those 150 supplements (or 151, now that I've had a new release recently), I've covered a lot of different games and settings. And while part of that was to help keep my mind sharp so that I didn't get too bogged down in only doing one thing over and over again, it also means my catalog has a lot of different facets to it. Those include:

And you've got quite a lot of choices.

- Pathfinder/Golarion: As of time of writing, I have 2 Pathfinder Infinite supplements on the market: 150 Sights to See (And Rumors to Hear) in Absalom, and 100 Books to Find Across The Inner Sea. I love Golarion as a setting, and I really enjoy making stuff for it, but it's been a tough sell thus far.

- Call of Cthulhu: Another game I've dipped my toe into, my 2 supplements for this setting (that have been released so far) are 100 Businesses to Find in Arkham, as well as my recently released 100 Gangsters, Gun Molls, and Goons, which is also set in the iconic town of Arkham.

- World/Chronicles of Darkness: I've got a slew of stuff for these games, and while I haven't touched on all the spheres, I've covered quite a lot. So far I've hit Geist: the Sin Eaters, Changeling: The Lost, Mage: The Awakening, Vampire (both Requiem and Masquerade), Werewolf: The Apocalypse, and even general use WoD/CoD supplements. It's probably easier to just go to the World of Darkness Pinterest Board I've set up to see the 40+ supplements I've put together for these games.

- Sundara: Dawn of a New Age: My personal setting Sundara: Dawn of a New Age has been putting out content pretty regularly for about two years now. While there was a bit of a hiccough due to the OGL shenanigans, it's certainly on the table for expansions in both Pathfinder classic and DND 5E, as well as other systems folks might request. A mostly-complete list of Sundara's releases can be found in my post If You Want To See More of a Game, Help Make It Popular!

- Setting/Game Neutral: This category covers all my supplements that aren't specific to a particular game, or a particular setting, but are more meant to be used within a given genre. It's where you find stuff like 100 Knightly Orders For a Sci Fi Setting, or 10 Fantasy Villages. It's honestly the bulk of my supplements, because these are the ones that folks seem to respond to the most.

Secondly, What Sort of Products Interest You Most?

In addition to the particular game system and game setting (or the lack thereof), there's also the matter of what category of supplement folks want to see most. So would you like to see more:

- Fiction: Whether it's something like Tales From The Moot for Werewolf, or The Irregulars for Golarion, I really enjoy writing fiction (as evidenced by all of the audio dramas you can find on the Azukail Games YouTube channel). However, we're talking about what you want as the audience, here.

- Modules: While this one has often been suggested, modules have traditionally been one of the worst-selling types of supplements. But whether folks want to kick in the teeth of a fantasy version of the proud boys in False Valor, or get involved in bizarre fey dangers in The Price of Iron, I'd recommend grabbing a few of my existing modules to get a feel for the sort of thing you're likely to get going forward if you choose this option.

- Numbered Lists: Honestly the most popular supplement type, this can include everything from 100 Body Mods and Augmentations For a Sci Fi Game, to 100 Cults to Encounter, to the very meta bestseller 100 Tips and Tricks For Being a Better Game Master. While there may be as few as 10 entries of great detail, or as many as 100 shorter ones, these lists are good for both players and Game Masters alike to help fill out a character background, setting, etc.

- Setting Guides: A catch-all category for supplements that add locations, spells, feats, equipment, etc., to a setting, this is where I'd put books like Cities of Sundara: Ironfire or Sellswords of Sundara. While I've only made these for my own setting thus far, I could easily expand them to cover cities for the Chronicles of Darkness, add to areas already established in Golarion, and so on, if that was something readers were interested in.

Ultimately, It's Going To Be Up To You!

I've said it before, but it bears repeating. Generally speaking, I tend to go where the audience interest is, and where the sales come from. So even if I want to make something for a particular setting, rules system, or in a particular format, if I know that it isn't going to make enough sales to warrant the time and energy I'm putting into it, that project goes onto the back burner. And rather than throwing blind-folded darts and hoping for the best, I'd rather have my readers tell me straight-up what they'd like to see from me, and what they want to get copies of.

So don't be shy! Let me know in the comments section below, on my social media pages, or just in the comments of whatever forum you happened to find this link in what you'd like to see from me next! My ears are open, and as I alluded to at the start of this blog, I'm not going to be able to take any kind of break for the foreseeable future.

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 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!

Changing Your Alignment is Like Changing Your Diet

For folks who've been listening to the latest news, it seems that (at least at Paizo), alignment is going the way of the dodo. Whether this becomes the industry standard or not is something I talked about a little while ago on the Azukail Games YouTube channel (which you should subscribe to, if you haven't yet), but it seems there are a lot of folks who really want to keep the alignment system in their games going forward.

And it's for those folks that I thought I'd touch on something I've been noodling about for a while. Mainly that alignment shouldn't be something that just changes rapidly back and forth, or which is nothing more than ticks on a moral abacus.

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! To be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

Also, since it keeps getting lost in the shuffle, check out my Vocal archive for more articles about RPGs, character conversions, character concepts, weird history, nerdy topics, and more!

Giving Up Evil, and Eating More Salads

Most of us, at some point in time, have gone on a diet for one reason or another. Maybe you wanted to finally lose some weight. Perhaps you were diagnosed with a condition that meant you couldn't have as much sugar, fat, or red meat as you used to have. You might even have decided that you wanted to change your diet because you wanted to live a more cruelty-free life. These changes, though, require you to stick with them for the long-term, and to make permanent changes to who you are, and the way you live your life. A crash diet may get you some short-term results, but if you don't really commit to living in a different way, soon you're going to wind up right back where you were.

If you're looking for a way to think about alignment and how it shifts, I find that this metaphor works pretty well.

I know I said no more beheadings... but maybe one or two more before I stop completely?

Thinking of alignment as your morality diet may be helpful because, for your alignment to change, you have to actively alter the way you live your life, and to commit to it. It's hard to not fall into old habits, or to crave the things that used to be your go-to solutions, and this can be reflected in a character's attitude and struggles.

Lastly, while it's technically possible to use magic to shift one's alignment (through casting spells with the Good descriptor, failing the save against cursed items like the helm of opposite alignment, etc.) you could think of this as using extreme supplements, chemical treatments, or surgical solutions. Because while these things will work, they may not be able to stop you from falling into old habits, and dragging yourself back to the same place you were at.

Making a serious commitment to altering yourself is difficult... but more importantly, it can take a long time. And even if someone manages to take a shortcut through something like a sudden magical effect, they still have to maintain that effect. It's going to be tough, and occasionally frustrating, but it can make for a particularly rewarding character arc that's worth committing to.

Lastly, it's important to keep in mind that your actions still have consequences. Even if someone manages to alter their alignment to redeem themselves from evil to become good, they will still have to answer for the crimes they committed. And even if someone only dips from good to become evil for a brief time before they're redeemed, they'll still be held to account for any atrocities they were responsible for. And even evil characters who are doing good acts specifically to get a reward will still be rewarded for the good things they did.

While alignment might be the general state of one's morality, never forget that the consequences of your actions (good or bad) may always be coming around the corner.

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 Daily Motion channel!. 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!

I Have Officially Broken 150 TTRPG Supplements!

It's been a crazy few months around my neck of the woods, what with preparing for the Army Men Kickstarter, setting up interviews, finishing up short stories, and trying to get some scripts done for a project I can't reveal just yet. I've been so busy, in fact, that I completely missed the fact that I passed something of a milestone recently.

As this week's title says, I've broken 150 TTRPG supplements!

It's been one hell of a ride...

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! To be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

Also, since it keeps getting lost in the shuffle, check out my Vocal archive for more articles about RPGs, character conversions, character concepts, weird history, nerdy topics, and more!

It's Taken a While To Climb This High

While taking a moment to reflect on how I got here, it seems that I've been doing this job just a little bit longer than I initially thought I had. One of the earliest projects I worked on that's still available is Bastards of Golarion, and it looks like that book came out back in 2014! That was not too long after my short story The Irregulars went up on the Paizo blog, even though it just became available for purchase fairly recently.

Not my first, but damn near!

It wasn't off to the races straight away, though. It took me more than a year to start taking on additional TTRPG projects. In 2015 I started working with TPK Games, contributing to The Demonologist base class for Pathfinder, as well as writing Feats Reforged IV. In 2016 I was part of the overlooked supplement Inspired by Heraldry for Pathfinder from Flaming Crab Games. I worked on Whispers and Rumors: Borderland Town for Raging Swan in July 2017 (currently the only project I've done with them, and it wasn't long after that when I wrote 100 Bits of Miscellaneous Tat to Find for Azukail Games... my first, but far from my last, supplement they'd publish.

While I was definitely a TTRPG designer and writer at that point in my life, I think that 2019 is when I really had to kick things into overdrive. I was already putting out regular supplements for Azukail Games every month, in addition to managing this blog and writing gaming articles, but it was the first time I took on a second, long-term project at the same time. My 100 Kinfolk project marked the first time I'd done something more than blogs for High Level Games, and it began with 100 Get of Fenris Kinfolk, ending (nominally) with 100 Stargazer Kinfolk. While I took a bit of a break after that series of 14 supplements was over (and it's available as the 100 Kinfolk Bundle, for those who are interested), going back to 1 supplement most months, it was in 2021 when I had to start putting the pedal back to the metal. Since then I've been doing my best to put out at least 2 supplements a month just to make sure the lights stay on, and the bills get paid.

It's really easy to lose track of stuff, especially when you have to keep your nose so close to the grindstone that you can't take a look back the way you've come. But I wanted to take a moment, and let out a breath. Because I can't afford to stop making things (I don't make that many sales), but sometimes it's important to take stock, and examine the bricks you laid to build the road leading to where you are today.

Speaking of supplements #149 and #150, though...

I wanted to end this week's blog with a shout out for my two most recent supplements for those who hadn't seen them. For my Changeling: The Lost players, don't forget to check out 100 Rumors to Hear at The Freehold, which is full of weird urban legends, strange beliefs, and potential plot hooks for your chronicle. Secondly is the supplement pictured above. 100 Body Mods and Augmentations For Your Sci Fi Game does exactly what it says on the tin, providing you a bunch of accessories for your cyborgs.

If you haven't given them a look yet, consider grabbing yours today! And if you're curious about all my other RPGs, either search my name on DTRPG, or check out my TTRPG pinboard, which has links to all of my supplements, and is updated on the regular.

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 Daily Motion channel!. 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!

My Sci-Fi Audio Drama Trilogy is Complete!

As regular readers are no doubt aware, I've been putting together little audio dramas on the Azukail Games YouTube channel for a hot minute now. It all started when I began adding introductory vignettes to my gaming supplements, and I wanted to give readers some kind of preview as to what they were going to be getting if they picked up a copy. So while you might argue these are glorified commercials, I thought I'd try something a little sneaky and string together some of the stories into a single, continuous plot.

I first did this with some of my Changeling: The Lost supplements, but those are kind of niche as far as gaming interests go. So I thought I'd go a little bit bigger with a series of sci-fi shorts, given that the supplements they were attached to seem to be quite popular.

And in case you haven't seen them, I didn't want anyone to miss the update!

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, 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!

Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

A Trilogy of Tales

This whole thing began with the supplement 100 Spacer Superstitions, which was a sci fi response to the popularity of 100 Superstitions For a Fantasy Setting. A relatively short tale, it gives us some insight into the world of long-haul space transport, and the adjustments one can have moving from military life onto a simple ice hauler. It also has a warning about the sirens that dwell in the void, and the strange things that might (or might not) lurk out in the deep black.

That story was originally just a stand-alone piece, not really meant to go anywhere, but both the video and the supplement were so popular that I decided to expand on them, and go a little grander with the next installment. In 100 Sci-Fi Cults (which was the answer to 100 Cults To Encounter) we find that the ice hauler from the first story has been set upon by space pirates. All seems lost, until a single boarding torpedo delivers them their salvation, in the form of a member of the Knights of The Void.

The last part of the story takes place in the middle of a warzone. In the intro story from 100 Knightly Orders For a Sci Fi Setting (which follows on from the fantasy supplement 100 Knightly Orders), we find a squad of Titansworn Knights, and their colossal war machines defending the space port our ice hauler was bound for... and they are in for one hell of a fight!

Would You Like To See More?

I've been interconnecting my stories more and more frequently as I write more TTRPG supplements. I mentioned I've done it with Changeling, but there's also a deliberate plotline that starts in my 50 Geists supplement where a former hitman named Johnny Hammer makes a deal with a creature called the Six-Gun Saint, and we follow that up with the tale from 100 Shadow Names (And Their Meanings), where the mafioso who took over Johnny's family is revealed to be the Moros known to the Mage community as Cyprian.

I would like to expand this part of my work, though, and do something a little grander.

This video, for those who aren't familiar with it, is something I put together a little while ago. Suffer The Children is a modern fantasy short story taken from my collection The Rejects, and it follows an Old Testament angel Malachi as he stalks through the bloody back alleys of Los Angeles. Old gods and new sins lurk in that place, and he does what he can within the rules he's been set. He bears witness to the worst humanity has to offer, but when a kidnapper takes a child under Malachi's protection, he intervenes before it's sacrificed to one of the true powers that claims dominion in Hollywood.

This is one of several videos I'm intending on sharing on my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary, so consider stopping by, following, and giving me some likes and comments if you have the time!

The question I have for folks this week, however, is do you want to see more stuff like this? If so, what form would you like to see? Would you be more interested in:

- More vignettes (which will likely just be more audio versions of supplement short stories).

- Longer, complete short stories (stand-alone pieces like Suffer The Children, and others).

- Longer, connected series (likely in the form of a podcast).

Lastly, if you have a preference, would you like to see more content for:

- World/Chronicles of Darkness

- Call of Cthulhu

- Golarion

- Sundara

- Unspecified Sci Fi Setting

- Stories not related to pre-existing TTRPG content/settings

Please leave your thoughts in the comments, as well as on my social media channels! I like to try to give my readers things they're actually interested in, and I don't want to put in the hours making something folks don't really want to see... or hear, as the case may be.

What's Next on Table Talk?

That's it for this installment of Table Talk! What would you like to see next? I'm listening for your comments and votes!

For more of my work, check out my Vocal archives, as well as the YouTube channel for Azukail Games. Or, to check out books like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my recent 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, and Twitter, as well as on Pinterest where I'm building all sorts of boards dedicated to my books, RPG supplements, and greatest hits. Lastly, 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 donation can have a big impact.

I Was Recently Featured on "Manufactured Myth and Legerdemain"!

This one is a bit of an 11th hour update for a lot of reasons, but I'm really excited about it, and I wanted to share it with folks. I just finished up chatting with Matt Yancik over on Manufactured Myth and Legerdemain, and in the event you didn't catch it when it streamed live, go watch the interview for yourself!

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!

Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

Is That All?

Well, yes and no.

On the one hand, it was very kind of Matt to have me on his channel, and I wanted to give him a shout out to see if my audience could do him a solid. So let's see if we can get enough folks to subscribe to Manufactured Myth and Legerdemain to put them over 500 people (the channel is sitting at 480 at time of writing). And if you want to stay on top of all the folks who come on the channel (and there are some seriously heavy hitters in TTRPG circles who've been interviewed), make sure you also follow Manufactured Myth and Legerdemain on Facebook, as well as on Twitter.

The other thing I wanted to talk about is that the Kickstarter for "Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic" has 36 hours to go at time of writing. We are also just under $1,600 away from our first stretch goal, or 40 book-level backers on the project.

EDIT: Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic, is now available on DTRPG!

So if you haven't backed the game yet, please consider tossing a little extra weight behind us. If you have, then please reach out and tell your friends about it, or share the campaign on your social media channels, because we need one, big push to seal the deal, and to at least get those "standard-issue" green army dice to sweeten the game for all the folks who want to play 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 Daily Motion channel!. 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!

Help Us Take The Hill! Stretch Goals For "Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic"

As I'm sure regular readers are aware, the Kickstarter for my first full RPG "Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic" is still ongoing! There's 9 days left at time of writing, so please consider backing it if you haven't yet.

EDIT: We reached out goal, and Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic is now on DTRPG!

The good news is that we have reached the minimum funding we need for the game to be released. However, before we all start high-fiving and pouring champagne, I wanted to take a moment to talk about the stretch goals for the game, and why it's important for projects like this to get more than just the minimum amount of funding they ask for.

We've got them on the run... take that hill!

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!

Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

The Difference Between Funded and "Funded" on KS

Crowdfunding has been a viable way of getting games made for a while now, but there's still a lot of us who don't know what goes on behind the scenes. Academically we know that the more money and pledges a project gets, the more money the creator makes, but it can be tough to really grasp what that means when it comes to specific terms. So I wanted to pull back the curtain a bit on my project, and give my readers an unvarnished look at what goes on behind the scenes.

Watch the shell casings. There's been a lot of test runs around here.

Typically when a creator asks for a minimum funding amount, that's the price tag it takes to get all of the initial bills paid so that a thing can exist. In the case of this RPG, that's the amount of money it takes to pay the other writers (I did the bulk of the work, but this was not a one-man show), the artists, to print and distribute the books, to pay for layout, and all of the other necessities.

So while getting over the minimum goal is definitely a good thing, it's by no means a full "Mission Accomplished" kind of situation.

If I were making a movie, or writing a novel, then this might be a one-and-done sort of setup. Backers give me the funds I need to finish the product, I deliver it to them, and everyone walks away happy. However, while Army Men is a stand-alone RPG you can play in its entirety with just the base book, I have additional supplements and follow-ups that I'd like to write for it. I mentioned some of them a while back in What's Next For "Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic" After The Kickstarter?, but from expanding the rules to include vehicles, mounts, and animal companions, to writing out mission packs, making new monsters, adding new factions, and generally expanding the setting, my hope was that this book would be the first stepping stone in a series that would grow over time.

And while that's still very possible, the best way to ensure that happens is if Army Men manages to hit its stretch goals so that this extra funding can be used to make those additional installments happen.

I can certainly write supplements and expansions for Army Men; that's not even a question. However, it would be a lot easier to write them if there was a little nest egg of extra funding that came from the initial Kickstarter that would allow me to keep the lights on and the rent paid for a little while, allowing me to dedicate my full time and energy to the project. If there's extra money in the pot, then I won't have to take on additional freelance work for other systems to pay my bills. I won't have to pitch fresh projects to other companies, and find time for Army Men in between paying gigs. I could just focus on these expansions, giving them the attention and polish they need to put our best foot forward!

If the audience makes it clear they want more content, then more content is what I'll provide... I'll just be able to do so a lot faster if I'm not juggling a dozen other assignments, and I can focus entirely on building up and expanding this game.

Which Brings Us To Those Stretch Goals!

The main way that you persuade your audience to help you expand a project, and to fund it past the base level (aside from just making something that a lot of people want to see become a reality) is to offer stretch goals. For those who aren't familiar, these are options that unlock once a campaign has reached a certain level, and they're usually fun, extra things to go along with the base product.

So what does Army Men have to offer?

Glad you asked!

The first stretch goal we have unlocks at $10K, and it's a "standard-issue" set of army green dice. While it may not have the floating skulls, light up numbers, or irreverent phrases some specialty dice have, that's almost kind of the point. Just like how bags of the little plastic toys were always the same, these dice are meant to give you that feeling. Instead of being issued a pair of combat boots, a set of BDUs, and a rifle, these dice are meant to be the weapons you take out into the world with you to help you achieve your missions in this RPG.

The second stretch goal is something I absolutely love, because it was partially (though not completely) my idea. Some folks might remember how, in decades past, you could sometimes get a foot locker of little plastic army toys. Well, to sort of recreate that feeling, we wanted to offer an ammo can that will hold your book, minis, dice, and other accessories that will unlock at $15K.

At time of writing we've slipped down just under $7K... so while both of these stretch goals are a goodly ways off, there's no telling what the Internet may do with a little bit of prodding.

So if you'd like to help us reach those goals, and help myself and other members of the team get the resources we need to work on everything from rules expansions, to mission packs, to future installments of game books, please back Army Men on Kickstarter, and share the link in your social media for folks to see. We're in an uphill battle against the algorithm, and even against gamer apathy, and we need all the help we can to plant our flag so folks can see it from miles around!

Thanks in advance for all of your help... we really can't do this without you!

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 Daily Motion channel!. 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!