Why Do You Love The RPGs You Do? It's Worth Thinking About

If you've spent any time at all in RPG spaces, whether online or in-person, you've heard gamers talk about their favorite games. Whether it's one of the early games from the dawn of the hobby, something that exploded on the scene during the boom of the 90s, or one of the various settings that came out of the OSR revolution a few years back, gamers are not shy at all about bigging up the games we love.

However, a lot of these conversations devolve into arguments over time... particularly when we have a round robin regarding game recommendations. With that said, I feel like a lot of these arguments could be avoided if we took a moment to not only ask which games we like, but to actually take a moment to evaluate why we like them.

Really? That edition? Okay, make your case.

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

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

One Man's Meat is Another Man's Poison

All of us have favorite games, but even if two different people adore the same RPG, they may love it for wildly different reasons. For example, Pathfinder Classic is still my go-to game for high fantasy RPGs, as it was for a lot of people. But while I loved it primarily because of the robust mechanics that carried on from DND 3.5, for other folks it was their first RPG, and they have a lot of nostalgia for it. Other people really like certain classes like the magus, or they love the Golarion setting, and enjoy exploring its various nooks and crannies.

While all of these players might share the same table, chances are good they're all getting something different out of this one game system. And while you can have that much variation among people who like the same game, you can also have one person who doesn't care for a game for the exact same reason another person absolutely loves it!

As an example...

While a lot of the interest in the FATE Core System has fallen off over the past few years, I remember when this game was everywhere. If you were looking to adapt a property, or if you needed a fast turnaround, this was the system everyone recommended. Horror, fantasy, sci-fi, FATE could do it all! It was easy to learn, easy to play, and it was a story-forward, mechanics-minimum experience that removed a lot of the reading and number crunching from your game, allowing new and experienced players alike to get to grips with the action quickly.

All the stuff I just described is what a lot of people loved about this game. It's also a description of why I was never more than lukewarm on it at best.

Now, does my opinion that this game is primarily just an exercise in cooperative storytelling but which barely has enough components to it for it to claim to be a game mean it's bad? Absolutely not. I'm one RPG fan in a colossal sea of people, and it was plenty successful without me buying a copy and making it my game of choice. And just because I don't subjectively enjoy an experience, that does not mean it isn't the perfect experience for someone looking for that exact type of game.

It was just bad for me.

And this is what I wanted to get to as part of this week's update. Because a lot of the time we know whether we like a game or not... but we don't always stop and ask why we do or don't like something. Especially when the thing we do or don't like might not actually have been the game's fault; a bad GM, awful table mates, too many homebrewed mechanics that just didn't work... a lot of things can make or break a game that have nothing to do with what's between the covers. That's worth thinking about, not just because it can help give you a better sense of what appeals to you as a player (thus making things easier to recommend to you in the future because you can more precisely describe your enjoyments), but because it can help you figure out what experience someone else might be looking for before you tell them the game they definitely need to play next!

We can like our games for whatever reasons we want. We can dislike games for whatever reason we want. But if you can't articulate what about this experience sparks joy, and what does not, then you're going to get into a heated debate with someone while the two of you talk past one another because the fact that this game is a chopped down, rules-light affair where your characters have the survivability of a wet paper bag may very well be the reason one of you hates it, and the other loves it.

Lastly, even though I didn't find a place to work this link in earlier, take a moment to go and read my article 5 Things You Can Do To Be a Better Ambassador For Your Hobby. I figured that gelled nicely with this week's topic.

A Reminder, For Folks Who Haven't Subscribed Yet!

Regular readers have likely seen me talk about this before, but we're only 106 subscribers away from getting the Azukail Games YouTube channel over 1,000 people! Not only that, but we're slightly less than 1,000 hours of watch time away from getting the channel monetized!

Whether you just want to listen to me talk instead of always reading my blog, you're a fan of audio dramas, or you're looking to break into the TTRPG industry and you want the inside scoop from a professional, that channel has a little bit of everything. And once we get it monetized, we'll be able to expand, and do even more stuff! And if you want to support some of my other work, subscribe to my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary.

I am not allowed to have my own YouTube channel for complicated reasons, which is why I had to go to one of the site's only viable competitors. For the full run down, please read Trying Out Rumble as a Platform For My Audio Dramas (Join Me, Won't 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 Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

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

Game Masters, Get Your Hands on a Puzzle Board Immediately!

I am not a huge TikTok person. While I have nothing against short-form video clips, it just isn't my preferred form of entertainment, as I'm one of those people who tends to do nine different things at once. However, someone close to me sent me a particular video I have since lost in the shuffle of electronic media, but the advice in it was so good I wanted to boost the signal on it today.

If you are a Dungeon Master, or just a TTRPG player in general, get your hands on a puzzle board ASAP!

Seriously, look at this thing!

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

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

What The Hell is a Puzzle Board (And Why You Need One)

If you're like me, and you'd never heard of a puzzle board before, the simple explanation is they're a device used by jigsaw puzzle enthusiasts. The flat area in the center is huge (the Eneridio model pictured above is 28" by 40", for example), and as you can see there are shallow drawers all around it for storing extra pieces (or your map markers, as they're just big enough for that). Most models come with a reusable cover that slides over it which you can draw on (saving your mat underneath from stains), and most importantly, the good ones have a lazy Susan underneath that allows the board to be rotated to face any member of a table.

Just imagine all the campaigns you've had where it would have saved you so much time, energy, and effort, if you could just spin the board around to face you so that you had a clearer image of what was actually going on during a battle scene.

This is particularly true for big armies.

Now, while all of that is great, I will acknowledge that puzzle boards aren't cheap. The model I mentioned above is like $150, but you can find slightly smaller ones (26" by 35" if you go with the All4Jig model) for about $80. On the other hand, how many of us have spent that much on rulebooks, Kickstarters, or a set of really badass models? And like so many of our other gaming accessories, this is the sort of thing that if you regularly host games it can be a lifesaver.

It also fits under couches, beds, or on the top levels of high shelves, without too much difficulty. Assuming you don't have a dedicated gaming space where you can just leave it out.

Also, before I sign off this week, I'd like to remind folks that there's all kinds of weird finds on Amazon that can make your life easier. Like this old piece Need Cheap Minis? SCS Has You Covered! where I talk about those gray monsters pictured above!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

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

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

What Would You Like To See in Sundara in 2024?

As I step into 2024, I realize that I'm closing in on 3 years of releasing content for my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age setting. It all started with the initial release of Ironfire: The City of Steel back in 2021, and since then I've put out a total of 17 unique splat books for it (many of which have been double released for Pathfinder and Dungeons and Dragons), with one more on the docket to be released later this month. That book, for those who've been wondering, is Merchants of Sundara, which I've been hyping up for a little bit.

However, with the year still fresh, I wanted to ask you all something... what would you like to see for Sundara while we start wading into 2024?

More like this supplement, perhaps?

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

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

There's So Much Of The Setting That's Still Open

While Sundara has been one of my biggest ongoing projects, I've been placing less emphasis on it over the past year and change. However, it's definitely still on my work desk as a place I'd like to add more stuff to... if there's an audience for it, of course.

So whether you're someone who's been following the setting since I first started putting out splats for it, or you're one of the recent arrivals to these strange and unusual lands, now is your time to raise your voice and let me know what you'd like to see for both the setting's official releases, but also for the supplemental material and associated media that I (and other folks) put together for it!

For example, do you want to see more cities in the setting? Or, since Cities of Sundara: Hoardreach seems to have become popular overnight for no particular reason (other than the fact that it's awesome), should I delve deeper into this location run by a Cooperation of 5 dragons and write an adventure module that takes place there? Or should I write a piece of fiction set in the city, either as text, as an audio drama, or perhaps both if the audience likes it enough?

Something that expands on the story I already wrote for the supplement, and which has been made into an audio story on the channel, Testing Your Wings, perhaps?

As you can see, these questions go beyond just which pieces of content should I put up for sale on DTRPG. For example, would you like to see a follow up to my Ask Me Anything About Sundara that I made a little over a year ago, answering fresh questions about the setting? Do you have a particular rules system that you'd like to see already existing supplements ported to, whether it's Castles and Crusades, Savage Worlds, or any others? Do you have something that you feel has been overlooked in Sundara so far that you want to see addressed, either on this blog, on the YouTube series Speaking of Sundara, if not as part of future releases?

I'm asking you all directly because while there are lots of things I'd like to do with Sundara as a setting, a soldier marches on his stomach. The fewer copies the setting moves, and the fewer views videos about it generate, the tougher it is to go back to the well to draw up more water... not only that, but the less activity the setting generates, the harder a sell future content becomes. Because if something hasn't proven profitable, then why would a publisher want to keep doubling down on it in the hopes that it might, maybe, possibly become popular in the future?

So if there's something you would like to see, whatever form it takes, make your voice heard! And if there's something that already exists in the setting that you want to see more of, please consider boosting the signal on that story, supplement, video, etc., so that more people can become aware of it. The better the setting does, after all, the higher a priority I can make it for future releases.

Need To Catch Up On Sundara?

Whether this is the first you're hearing about Sundara, or you're one of the folks who picked up the Deal of The Day and are curious about what else you can find in this setting, the older supplements are all listed below! Additionally, I've been putting together episodes of Speaking of Sundara on the Azukail Games YouTube channel (which you should definitely subscribe to) talking about some of the design strategies I've used, breaking down what's in particular supplements, and explaining some of the changes I've made to what folks might expect from a traditional fantasy RPG setting, from how I chopped out alignment, to the uncertain nature of gods, to how technology and magic both lead to unique inventions among the people of Sundara!

Check out the full 26-video Speaking of Sundara playlist, in addition to the following supplements!

Cities of Sundara

The setting first began with the Cities of Sundara splats. Self-contained guides to some of the larger and more powerful centers of trade, industry, arms, and magic, these unique locations provide plenty of fodder for character generation and plots. Not only that, but each one comes with unique, mechanical goodies for players and GMs alike to take out for a spin!

- Ironfire: The City of Steel (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Built around the Dragon Forge, Ironfire is where the secret to dragon steel was first cracked. The center of the mercenary trade in the region, as well as boasting some of the finest schools for teaching practical sciences, Ironfire is a place where discovery and danger walk hand in hand!

- Moüd: The City of Bones (Pathfinder and DND 5E): An ancient center of trade and magic, Moüd was lost to a cataclysm, and then buried in myth. Reclaimed by the necromantic arts of the Silver Wraiths guild, this city has once again become a place teeming with life. Despite the burgeoning population, though, it is the continued presence of the undead that helps keep the city running, ensuring that Moüd is not swallowed up once more.

- Silkgift: The City of Sails (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Built on the cottage industry of Archer cloth (an extremely durable material used for sails, windmills, etc.), Silkgift is a place that prizes invention and discovery. From gravity batteries that store the potential of the wind, to unique irrigation systems, to aether weapons, the city positively churns out discoveries... and then there's the canal they cut through the mountains that makes them a major center of trade across the region.

- Hoardreach: The City of Wyrms (Pathfinder and DND 5E): A center of power across an entire region, Hoardreach is ruled over by a Cooperation of five different dragons. A place for refugees and outcasts of all sorts, Hoardreach boasts some of the most unusual citizens and creations from across Sundara. Infamous for their sky ships, which require the cast-off scales and unique arcane sciences of the Dragon Works to take to the air, one never knows just what they'll find in this city built atop a mountain.

- Archbliss: The City of The Sorcerers (Pathfinder and DND 5E): A floating city in the sky, Archbliss has been a refuge for sorcerers for thousands of years. It's only in relatively recent years that the city has allowed those from the ground below who lack the power of a bloodline to join them in the clouds. However, while there are certainly amazing wonders to behold, there is a darkness in Archbliss. Something rotting away at its heart that could, if not healed, bring the city crashing to the ground once more.

Gods of Sundara

- Gods of Sundara (available for Pathfinder and DND 5E): In a world with no alignment, and where the gods are often genuinely mysterious forces that are far too large for mortals to truly comprehend, the divine feels genuinely strange and unknown... something that really does have to be taken on faith. This supplement provides a sample pantheon for Sundara, but also provides instructions on how to easily make your own gods in a world where you can't cast a spell and tell whether someone is good or evil.

Species of Sundara

Sundara is filled with creatures that many of us recognize, but I wanted to give greater depth to their cultures, and a wider variety of options. After all, humans always get 15+ ethnicities, languages, and unique histories, while elves, dwarves, orcs, halflings, etc. are almost always left with footnotes, or maybe with a handful of offshoots. So, in short, I wanted to give all the fantastical creatures the treatment that humans usually get in our games.

And there is no human book yet. If readers demand to know more, then I may sit down to pen one... but I figured that humans didn't need to be front-and-center in this setting just yet.

- Elves of Sundara (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Elves are one of the most quintessential fantasy creatures... but if you want to see more than just high elves, wood elves, and elves of the sun and moon, then this supplement has you covered!

- Dwarves of Sundara (Pathfinder and DND 5E): The children of the primordial giants who were meant to fill in the details of the world they'd made (or so the myths say) there are as many kinds of dwarves as their are kinds of giants... and possibly more, depending on who is keeping count.

- Orcs of Sundara (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Supposedly a creation of the elves, none can say for certain exactly how or why orcs have been made. What most agree on is that these creatures are far more than most may think at first glance.

- Halflings of Sundara (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Little cousins to the dwarves, halflings are tough, clever, and not to be underestimated. From living beneath the hills, to taking up residence in the deep forests, halflings in Sundara come in quite a variety!

- The Blooded (Half-Elves and Half-Orcs) [Pathfinder and DND 5E]: When orcs and elves mix their bloodlines with other creatures, the result is one of the Blooded. This inheritance takes many forms, and it can even wait generations before manifesting when the right combination of individuals come together to have a child.

- Gnomes of Sundara (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Gnomes are strange creatures, found in places where the spirit of the land has coalesced and made children of its own. The sons and daughters of the ancient nymphs, they are the stewards of these places, and they change as often as the weather and the land.

Organizations of Sundara

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

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

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

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

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

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

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

"Threat Assessments," "Medals of Honor," and More in 2024 For Army Men!

While I've been quiet about the project for the past several months as proofs get sent out, and prints get finalized, my first ever TTRPG Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic is currently on-schedule to be released in Spring of 2024! And in case you missed it, forgot about it, or you find yourself with a little extra holiday cash to spend, you can still grab a copy for yourself.

However, I don't just want to remind folks that this game exists. Rather, I wanted to give regular readers some updates on what's going on behind the scenes, and some of the things I'm currently working on for additional supplements and expansions that should be hitting the ground right behind the initial release!

We've got incoming!

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

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

Reinforcements on The Horizon!

While the initial Kickstarter for Army Men was a success (once again, a huge thank you to everyone who helped make it a reality), we didn't quite manage to reach any of our stretch goals, much less make the huge splash that some projects out there have. So while we don't have the extra scratch to put together any extra large rulebooks to cover additional genres and styles of play (yet) my hope is that the game will grow in popularity, and that there will be an audience demand for more once people get a look at what I and the rest of the team made.

However, there are a couple of smaller supplements that I'm currently tinkering with that I feel I can talk about to peak folks' interest. Because while the initial project was a rather large labor of love, there's still so much more that I feel we can cover with this game!

For unflinching valor under fire...

One of the first supplements I've been working on is something I'm tentatively titling Army Men: Medals of Honor. In this RPG you don't really have personal equipment the same way you do in traditional games; rather, you requisition your equipment before your mission. This cuts down on the constant treasure grabbing, and it provides your Game Master a relatively easy method of helping set the tone for your mission, as well as your difficulty. However, something I wanted to introduce as a kind of milestone mechanic was the concept of medals you can be awarded for your conduct. So whether you performed deeds of great valor, you saved companions at great risk to yourself, or in some cases survived what should have been a suicide mission, characters (or even entire squads) may be awarded these medals.

While that's fun for your story, and really adds to the military flair of the game (pun very much intended), the idea behind the medals system is that it will give you some kind of bonus that you can carry forth from that point onward. For relatively "easy" medals, like the Crimson Badge (the Styric Republic's equivalent of the Purple Heart with Silver Cluster, for those in the know), this might allow a recipient to, once per mission, gain temporary hit points when they would otherwise start making death saves because they're so used to fighting through injuries in the field. Alternatively, the Order of The Circle is a medal that denoted those who have been recognized by the ruler of United Polymeria (the equivalent of being knighted by the British crown, and just as with this honor, those not from the nation may only be given an honorary version of this medal). This medal may grant one bonuses in social situations, access to facilities they would normally be restricted from, and other benefits.

My hope is that all of these medals will be fun and useful, and that it's one of the many systems in this game that end up getting expansions both by myself, as well as by people who play Army Men!

They're in the goddamn trees!

The other supplement I'm currently working on which doesn't have a title as far as I know (but which I have labeled Threat Assessments in my notes), is a collection of additional antagonists for folks to use in their missions to spice things up a bit!

The base book has a bestiary of threats, ranging from regular animals one might have to deal with, through a dozen different varieties of Vespoid (the colossal, insectoid menaces that caused the different nations to unite into the Plastos Federation in the first place), but one of the original tiers on offer was to help design new monsters and threats... so that's what this project is going to do!

While there are going to be new vespoid forms and mutations, there are also going to be a variety of other types of enemy introduced through this supplement. Some are riffs on other types of toys (both the Creepy Crawlers and Easy Bake Oven were put forth by folks who supported the Kickstarter), but you're likely to also find those cheap, space-age looking robots, along with some unsettling military experiments that may have slipped the leash, and escaped from the laboratories of the various Federation nations.

EDIT: Threat Assessments and Medals of Honor are both now live on DTRPG!

What Could Be Next?

My hope is that these relatively modest projects are just stepping stones to bigger things for this game. As I mentioned in older posts like What's Next For "Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic" After The Kickstarter?, I still want to put together supplements like Motor Pool where I get into vehicles and vehicular combat. I'd also like to work on the next book Soldiers of Fortune, which discusses missions undertaken as freelancers and mercenaries, which will introduce new casts (classes), weapons, monetary tracking systems, and even a reputation system that will play into what kinds of clients you may attract, as well as how famous (or infamous) you and your fellow contractors are.

And, of course, I'd love to produce mission packs so that you have some objectives to send your various squads after. Covert operations, bug hunts, reconnaissance, naval patrol... there's a whole lot of possibilities out there! But, as with all things, how much time, effort, and energy can be dedicated to that will depend partially on you. You are the players and the Game Masters, and we need your support to make the game bigger, better, and more expansive than it already is!

So please, get yourself a copy if you haven't yet, and tell your friends about us so we can keep building interest and excitement in this game, and its unique setting. And if you're just hearing about this game for the first time, and you're wondering just what all this hype is about (not unusual, FB ate a lot of my attempts to spread the word earlier in 2023), then check out Under The Hood With "Army Men": A 5E Game With A Lot of Tactical Add-Ons to get the low-down on what the game itself is like, and some of its more unique selling points. And in the event you didn't see it, check out the short video I made for the Kickstarter itself to really get folks in the spirits of the game!

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 dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my noir cat novels Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

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

What Shows Would You Like To See on The Azukail Games Channel in 2024?

So, we're approaching the end-of-year wrap up. While I've still got plenty of stuff to polish off, edit up, and turn in, I'm trying to keep an eye on the calendar, and to figure out what I'm planning on doing for the coming year. While I've got quite a few TTRPG supplements planned, along with the full release of my first RPG Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic, I've been putting a lot of stuff out for the Azukail Games YouTube channel (which you should subscribe to if you haven't yet), and my hope is that I'll be able to really expand that in the coming year.

However, part of that is going to be up to you all! So before we ring in 2024, I wanted to test the waters, and see if I could get some thoughts from folks out there who regularly read this blog about what they'd like to see regarding the shows we have, and potential expansions in the coming year.

Because there's a lot of stuff in the works right now...

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

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

Show #1: Discussions of Darkness

Going strong for just about a year now, the 19th episode of Discussions of Darkness should be up on the channel before the year is over, and I'm currently working on the 20th episode. That's something of a milestone, so I'm hoping to make it a little special.

A majority of the episodes have, thus far, been focused on advice for Storytellers who are planning on running a World or Chronicles of Darkness game, the big traps to avoid falling into, and some tips on how to really challenge your players, or to make the atmosphere of your game better. And while some topics seem to be more popular than others, I wanted to hear from my audience if there was anything you wanted to see covered in the future, or if you'd like to see me change-up the formula and try out different things.

For example, would you like to see something more scripted where my face isn't as present? Would you like some background music to go along with me talking? Should I bring in some mechanical topics, or review some products out there to give my viewers some insight into useful supplements for their games? Or would folks like to see me really sink my teeth into particular games within this setting, such as Changeling, Geist, Vampire, Werewolf, etc., and talk about topics specifically related to those games?

This last one might be important for the next section, as they might dovetail together quite nicely...

Show #2: Expanded Audio Fiction

Audio dramas are one of the oldest types of videos I've been making for the channel, and they also hold the top slot for most views something I've made has received. For those who are curious, my most-viewed piece at 1.6K is the Changeling: The Lost story The Butcher's Door. However, all of the audio dramas that appear on the Azukail Games channel are so small because they're the dramatized introductions to various TTRPG supplements I've written, which the company has published. They're meant to give the listener a peek into the world, and to figure out if this is something they'd like to get a copy of for their table.

However, over the past few years, several of my listeners have asked me why I don't make full-length podcast-style stories. And the answer is, quite frankly, money. However, if we can get the channel monetized (we still needed about 1,000 hours of watch time when I last checked in) that is something I'd love to dedicate time and energy to!

My original idea was to make a Dark Pack project for the Chronicles of Darkness, and to piggyback off of several of the shorts I've already made, and to use the series as a way to see what kinds of supplements listeners might want more of. If this is the first you're hearing of it, I suggested a Changeling season 1 titled Grim Promises in "Windy City Shadows," A Chronicles of Darkness Podcast Proposal, and then I recently followed it up with a more recent Table Talk post titled Dead City Blues: A Potential Second Season For "Windy City Shadows" for those who were interested in where it could expand to once the first season was done.

I must re-iterate that this project would be a huge undertaking. While I have plots and ideas, along with several other voice actors who've helped me out over the years, I have not written scripts or confirmed anything. Which means that if you'd rather see a fantasy audio drama series told in my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age setting, or you'd rather I continue on with some of my sci-fi audio dramas, that is still an option as well. And if that's something you'd like to see, then make your voice heard in the comments, and share the videos for the stories you'd most like to see expanded on in a big way!

And if you're someone who'd like to check out longer audio dramas by yours truly, make sure you stop in and subscribe to my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary! I've been slowly adding content there for a while, and I've dramatized several short stories, along with using the channel as a back-up for my show Tabletop Mercenary!

Show #3: Tabletop Mercenary

Speaking of Tabletop Mercenary, this is my newest show on the channel. With the 3rd episode dropping last week, and the 4th one being chosen as I write this, the goal of this show is to pull back the curtain and talk about how the sausage gets made when it comes to being a professional TTRPG designer. And since I've been in the trade for about a decade now, I figured that I'd share what I know, and do my best to help folks out there avoid making the same mistakes I made earlier in my career.

This show is still in its infancy, and though I have a lot of topics to cover, I want to make sure that I'm answering the questions you all have in the audience. So, to that end, what is something you've always wanted to know about the TTRPG industry, but you've been unsure who the hell to ask about it?

While I've received some questions about crowdfunding (and I have an expert waiting in the wings to help me tackle that topic), along with some questions about intellectual property, there have been relatively few specific inquiries thus far. So whether you're wondering about whether or not you can write for a particular game, or use a particular system, or what sort of supplements work best in the market, my ears are open! Just leave a comment (preferably on the video itself, so my publisher sees them as well), and I'll make sure to bump up that topic in the script line!

And, once again, make sure you subscribe to my channel The Literary Mercenary on Rumble, in addition to the Azukail Games YouTube channel to stay on top of this particular show!

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 dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, 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!

How To Help The Creators You Love This Holiday Season!

The holidays are upon us once again, and now that Spookyween and Turkey Day are behind us, we move onto the expensive one. However, with everyone out there getting their last minute shopping trips in, I wanted to take a moment to remind folks out there that independent creators need your help more than ever around this time of year.

So please, take a moment, and consider what you can do to help support the TTRPG creators, writers, artists, YouTubers, and others you depend on for entertainment and content so that we will still be here once 2024 rolls around, and we can keep giving you what you've come to expect from us.

Any and all help you can provide is much appreciated.

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

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

The Struggles of The Year

Being a creative professional is no cakewalk. We're called "starving artists" for a reason, after all. However, 2023 has basically been kicking most of us in the stomach while we're trying to get up off of our hands and knees... and a majority of this is related to recent changes in the social media landscape, and the fresh set of hellish problems this has given all of us to overcome.

What was once a boon has turned to poison in our mouths.

At the top of the list, we have the dumpster fire that Twitter has become. This website was a central gathering place for authors, RPG creators, and YouTubers (along with a huge number of other creative professionals), and it has been absolutely gutted since the owner-who-shall-not-be-named acquired it. This completely destroyed the platform that a lot of us had built over years of time, and even those of us who didn't use Twitter as our main source of social media promotion still felt the impact as it damaged all of our efforts to share our creations with an enthused and engaged audience. It still exists, but only as a shadow of its former self.

That would have been bad enough, but then things got worse.

This past spring, Facebook underwent some major changes to how the site works. While we've always had to fight the algorithm to get seen on that site, it's been absolute mess for most of 2023. Only a handful of posts actually get through into groups, and the rest are pushed into spam folders that many admins don't even see, effectively throttling your signal as a creator. On top of that, the site has grown even more restrictive with who sees your posts on your personal or business account, with the latter prodding creators to buy a signal boost with every post we make if we want our followers to actually see them.

Even Reddit hasn't been immune to this. Dozens of subreddits were shut down over the summer, and there were blackout protests over the tools being removed from the moderators. The list of websites and content varieties that the site's spam bots automatically removes grows daily, or so it seems, and there are several communities that were once oases that are now dry as deserts, as far as creators are concerned.

When you add in the massive surge in generative engines that are plagiarizing work left and right, the sectioning off of audiences under platforms like Discord and Mastadon, and how even the YouTube algorithm is making it more difficult for smaller creators to get their voices heard, the end result is that only those people who already had a large, vibrant following are still being seen and reacted to... and even they aren't immune to the squeeze being put on all of us by platforms that are getting more and more restrictive by the day.

What this means is that our reach has been cut, our views, our reads, and our sales (to say nothing of patronage and sponsorship) is drying up all across the board because no one can find us, and attempts to actually get seen are shut down almost before they begin. And if no one follows us and supports us, then creators simply cannot afford to keep making things.

Direct Support is The Best Support

If you want to help the creators you care about keep a roof over their heads, and food on the table, there are some specific actions you can take to make that happen. Not only that, but you should do as many of these things as you possibly can, because we need all the help we can get!

First and foremost... buy our merch!

Seriously... this is the MOST important thing you can do.

You've likely heard the numbers recently regarding how Weird Al Yankovic, who had millions of streams on Spotify, was paid $12 for all of that listening time. That is the unfortunate reality that a lot of creators are currently dealing with. We might have gigantic numbers when it comes to pages read on Kindle Direct, or a huge number of reads on our blogs, or a massive amount of streams... and when the year is over, all of that effort is good for a sandwich. Whereas if someone pays to download one of Al's albums? Or buys a tee shirt, or other piece of merch? That single sale likely pays him as much (if not more) than 80 million streams on Spotify.

So whether you buy an album, a tee shirt, a novel, a TTRPG supplement, a patch, a pin, or even a sticker, you will have done more to support a creator with that single purchase than if you left their podcast or YouTube channel running in the background every hour of every day for an entire month!

And if a given creator doesn't have something for sale that you want? Well, you can sign up to become a Patreon patron, or buy them a Ko-Fi to essentially just put a tip in their jar so they can keep things going. This is especially important for creators who produce mostly free content (like my blogs, YouTube videos, etc.), because it's a form of direct support that has immediate consequences for us.

Incidentally, check me out at The Literary Mercenary on both Patreon and on Ko-Fi if you want to help me weather the holidays in one piece!

There Are Other Things You Can Do, Too

If you don't have the spare scratch to buy merch and leave tips for every creator, does that mean you just can't help anyone? Of course not! However, it is important to remember that these steps are the next tier down... so they do help, but not as much as just giving artists money to help pay their bills.

We must do battle with the algorithm.

First and foremost, do interact with the stuff made by creators you love. If someone makes a video or writes an article you like, watch it, upvote it, leave a comment (even if you're just saying, "I'm so excited to see where this series goes from here!"), and share it on your own social media pages, or in your groups. If you bought a book or a TTRPG supplement, do all of these things, but also leave a review on Amazon, Drive Thru RPG, Goodreads, or whatever other platforms you can find it on!

As I explained in Leveraging The Algorithm: How You Can Help Creators You Love Get Seen, while your individual interaction may be very small, every one of these things helps meaningfully boost a creator's signal. Each interaction makes us more popular in the eyes of the algorithm, and that makes it more likely to work for us, rather than against us, helping us actually reach more people. The more people we reach, the more fans we can find, and the more interactions we will get... it's even possible that we'll make more sales, too!

Perhaps most importantly, though, is to remember that even if the traffic we generate doesn't pay us a lot of money (whether it's a Spotify stream, a Twitch chat, or a YouTube video), creators who have a sizable audience are also the ones who get approached by companies with sponsorship deals. So while we might only get a handful of dollars in exchange for hundreds of thousands of views, a sponsor might pay us a thousand or more to mention their product, or even to create a piece of content around it to help promote it to our audience, if we have enough reliable eyeballs on us.

I talked about this back in Unfortunate Facts: Without Sponsorship, Most Artists Can't Eat, for those who want a more detailed breakdown.

Lastly, make sure that you're connecting with the creators you want to support so that you don't miss when they're releasing new stuff, or working on new projects. Whatever social media sites they're on, follow their pages. If they're on video platforms, subscribe to their channels, and turn on your notifications. If they have a newsletter, subscribe to it (and make sure you actually get it, and it isn't just being eaten by your spam folder).

We don't ask you to do these things for funsies... we do it because these are literally the lengths we have to go to in order to make sure our audience actually sees the posts we make, and that we aren't being throttled to death by the algorithm!

Where You Can Support Me!

So, everything I've said up to this point could apply to any creator out there, and I fully support everyone who has read this far in going and helping as many artists as you can so we can all get through the holidays, and start 2024 off on the right foot!

But if you're someone who specifically wants to help me, first of all, thank you. Secondly, please consider the following:

First, check out the Azukail Games YouTube channel, which hosts a lot of my audio dramas, in addition to the shows Speaking of Sundara, Discussions of Darkness, and now Tabletop Mercenary! We're about a thousand watched hours out from getting monetized by YouTube, so please put on a playlist while you're wrapping presents, or just trying to avoid awkward family discussions!

Also, If you want even more content (particularly bigger, more expansive audio dramas) you should also subscribe to my Rumble account, The Literary Mercenary!

If videos aren't your thing, though, I've got plenty of other options for you!

For example, in addition to my blogs The Literary Mercenary, and Improved Initiative, I also have a Vocal Media archive! It just hit 300 articles this week, and I make $6 for every 1,000 reads those articles get. So if you want something to scroll through on your lunch break, consider checking out some of my stuff over there, and sharing it around if you find something you really like!

And, of course, you can always buy some of the stuff I've written!

My novels and short story collections are all listed on my Amazon author page, and there should be some new releases getting added there in the near future! These are particularly nice stocking stuffers, which is worth keeping in mind this time of year. Additionally, I currently have 168 titles on Drive Thru RPG, which vary from World/Chronicles of Darkness, to DND 5E, to Pathfinder, general genre supplements, modules, and more! Whether you buy one, a few, or a slew of them, that would go a long way to keeping the wolf from the door!

Lastly, you can follow me on all my social media spaces. Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and Pinterest are the places where I'm most active, but you can also get a bunch of my news and updates by checking out my Link.tree, or subscribing to my bi-monthly newsletter... that's twice a month, not once every two months, to be sure you know what you're in for!

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 dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, 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!

Adventures in Sundara- Where Should They Begin?

While I'm taking a break on fresh Sundara: Dawn of a New Age content this month (though Merchants of Sundara is done, dusted, and should be coming out soon!), I am putting together plans for what I want to do in the coming year with my setting. I've done location books, species books, a book on the gods, and books of factions... but it feels like it's time to finally get down to business and give you all some adventures to try out.

The real question is, of course, where in the setting would you like to explore?

And what sort of things would you like to do?

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

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

The Trouble With Adventure Modules (Can Sundara Avoid It?)

I've been a TTRPG writer for a while now, and I've written my share of modules. From the murder mystery False Valor, to the horror movie/Beowulf mashup of The Curse of Sapphire Lake, to the spine-tingling encounters in Ghosts of Sorrow Marsh, the dark fey incursions of The Price of Iron, and even a mystery involving mad science in the Victorian Gothic system's Dreadful Tales, I'm no stranger to these bite-sized adventures.

If you've ever wanted to kick fantasy Proud Boys in the teeth, check it out!

The trouble with adventure modules is that, even though everyone asks for them, not a lot of people actually buy them when they're finally out. Perhaps the best example of this is that while The Price of Iron was part of a Kickstarter run by High Level Games, it's only sold about 5 copies after the campaign was done. Of the others, False Valor is probably the top seller, and it's moved less than 100 copies since it came out several years ago at this point.

That's not a great return on investment for the publisher, nor is it great for my royalty earnings as the creator. Still, there has been a fairly steady demand for modules from folks who do enjoy Sundara, so I figured that it would be worth at least dipping in a toe to see whether this time things would be different. Because in addition to just being a fun adventure to really bring your party together, modules would also act as ways to bring players into the setting, and to explore it from the street level instead of from the bird's eye view we usually have when we get the broad overview from a supplement.

What Part of The Setting Would You Like To Explore?

At time of writing, I've released 5 full city books set in Sundara, along with a single book of 10 smaller towns and villages scattered across the map. And while I could just look at the numbers and see which one has sold the most copies, I wanted to take a moment to ask my regular readers what they would like to see in this project.

So what would strike your fancy? Mercenaries in the City of Steel? Delving into the tunnels beneath the City of Bones? Navigating the City of Wyrms and getting involved in the affairs of dragons? Or would you like to meddle with mad scientists in the City of Sails, or enter the floating city of Archbliss? Or would you prefer something smaller scale, set in one of the outlying villages or towns that dot the map? Perhaps getting dragged out into the wilderness, or dealing with a Primquake when there's no one else around to handle the fallout?

The sky is the limit (and even that, only barely).

In addition to where in the setting you'd like to see a module, feel free to give as much input as you'd like to shape the project as I start putting my ideas together. From genre/subgenres you'd like included, to preferred level of play, to whether it should be the start of a longer-running series of adventures, or just a stand alone story, please toss your thoughts into the comments below, or share them on social media where you found this post!

And for some idea as to what these modules may be like, I talked about this a while back in an episode of Speaking of Sundara. So if you haven't kept up with that series, consider stopping by the Azukail Games YouTube channel and giving them a watch to see just what awaits you in this setting!

Locations in Sundara

In case you aren't familiar with the parts of the setting that have been released so far, consider checking out the following supplements:

- Ironfire: The City of Steel (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Built around the Dragon Forge, Ironfire is where the secret to dragon steel was first cracked. The center of the mercenary trade in the region, as well as boasting some of the finest schools for teaching practical sciences, Ironfire is a place where discovery and danger walk hand in hand!

- Moüd: The City of Bones (Pathfinder and DND 5E): An ancient center of trade and magic, Moüd was lost to a cataclysm, and then buried in myth. Reclaimed by the necromantic arts of the Silver Wraiths guild, this city has once again become a place teeming with life. Despite the burgeoning population, though, it is the continued presence of the undead that helps keep the city running, ensuring that Moüd is not swallowed up once more.

- Silkgift: The City of Sails (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Built on the cottage industry of Archer cloth (an extremely durable material used for sails, windmills, etc.), Silkgift is a place that prizes invention and discovery. From gravity batteries that store the potential of the wind, to unique irrigation systems, to aether weapons, the city positively churns out discoveries... and then there's the canal they cut through the mountains that makes them a major center of trade across the region.

- Hoardreach: The City of Wyrms (Pathfinder and DND 5E): A center of power across an entire region, Hoardreach is ruled over by a Cooperation of five different dragons. A place for refugees and outcasts of all sorts, Hoardreach boasts some of the most unusual citizens and creations from across Sundara. Infamous for their sky ships, which require the cast-off scales and unique arcane sciences of the Dragon Works to take to the air, one never knows just what they'll find in this city built atop a mountain.

- Archbliss: The City of The Sorcerers (Pathfinder and DND 5E): A floating city in the sky, Archbliss has been a refuge for sorcerers for thousands of years. It's only in relatively recent years that the city has allowed those from the ground below who lack the power of a bloodline to join them in the clouds. However, while there are certainly amazing wonders to behold, there is a darkness in Archbliss. Something rotting away at its heart that could, if not healed, bring the city crashing to the ground once more.

- Towns of Sundara: A collection of 10 towns and villages scattered across the countryside, this supplement has maps, histories, NPCs, whispers and rumors, and more which could all make for particularly good fodder for adventure modules going forward!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Daily Motion channel!. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, 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!