5 Overlooked Buff Spells (in Pathfinder)

People often say that Pathfinder characters are overpowered. That they're running on superhero levels of skills, power, and sheer wooge. That's not inherently wrong, but the problem is that when the monsters are just as extra as you are, you're still going to be the underdog when it comes time to roll initiative and throw down. Which is why it pays to have a few extra tricks up your sleeve the next time you get ready for battle.

For my money, these buff spells are far more useful than a lot of folks give them credit for.

How many hits of this am I supposed to take?

As always, if you want to get all my updates sent right to your email, sign up for my weekly newsletter. And if you want to do your part to help me keep the wheels turning and fresh content coming your way, then become a Patreon patron today! Even a small pledge makes a big difference.

Spell #1: Expeditious Retreat

I am speed!

The name of this spell always makes people think it's used solely for running away from something, but it just adds a 30-foot enhancement to your land speed for 1 minute per level. So while you could put that on your wizard in order to play ranged games with the slow-moving undead, you could also have a gnome fighter read off a scroll, or the halfling alchemist slam down an extract, so they can suddenly close with all kinds of enemies on the battlefield.

The major downside of this spell is that it's self only, so you can't have a caster beef up the party tank and then send them rocketing off into battle. But it can be quite useful all the same for those who find they're constantly a few squares short of being able to get where they need to go when battle is joined.

Spell #2: Feather Step

Difficult terrain? What's that?

Difficult terrain is one of those things that's never really an issue, until it is. Whether you're fighting in mountains, you need to rush up the stairs to get to a villain atop a dais, or there's just bones strewn all across the floor of a pit, having your movement suddenly and unexpectedly hampered can majorly tie your hands behind your back. Especially if your party already had limited movement due to heavy armor, small size, etc. Feather step is an ideal way to just ignore this problem.

While used fairly rarely, feather step can be a lifesaver in fights where difficult terrain is part of the challenge of the arena. Or if you have casters who are creating difficult terrain as part of area of effect spells, and you don't want your allies to get caught in the slog. In fact, that one-two punch can be particularly nasty for land-based foes, especially if you're high enough level to get mass feather step so the whole party can run around unhampered with a single casting.

Spell #3: Moment of Greatness

Now is the moment!

This is another of those spells that often gets overlooked because you really need to have the right components in place to get the most out of it. The most common situation is when you have a bard in the party who can use this to effectively double the bonus from many of their bardic music effects at a single go. However, it also applies to morale bonuses from things like barbarian rage, which can be quite useful when said barbarian is getting up to the point where they're adding +6 or more to their Strength and Constitution, and for a single moment they can double that.

Of all the spells on this list, moment of greatness is one that starts all right, but only gets better as long as the party has a reliable way to get serious morale bonuses slapped on them. And the more folks who get the bonus, the more useful this spell is.

Spell #4: Tactical Acumen

We've got the high ground!

Tactical positioning is always your friend when it comes to winning a battle, but tactical acumen can be a real bastard when it comes to boosting your party's effectiveness. The spell lasts 1 round per level, and goes off in a burst from the caster, hitting all allies in 30 feet. What it does, in short, is give you a +1 to attacks or AC anytime you'd receive a bonus due to positioning. So cover, flanking, higher ground, etc. are all worth an additional +1. What's even better is that it's an insight bonus, which isn't that common, so you don't have to worry about not stacking with luck bonuses, morale bonuses, enhancement bonuses, etc.

Best of all, this one goes up with you as you level, to a +2 at a 10th level caster, +3 at 15th level, and +4 at 20th. It won't make or break a fight all on its own, but if you've got allies who are already using enhanced mobility to get into advantageous positions, using mounts to attack ground-based allies, or who are flying to get above their foes (or who are using cover to defend themselves), this can add some more oomph to their efforts.

Spell #5: Visualization of The Body/Mind

If given a knife and a hand in which to hold it...

Slot #5 is a shared one, because these two spells just have a lot of potential. Whichever visualization version you use, the spell lasts 24 hours, or until discharged. It costs 200 GP in various items, so it's not one to just blow willy nilly, but the bonus is not to be sniffed at.

Firstly, it offers you an untyped +5 bonus to all skill and ability checks associated with one of your attributes for either the next 24 hours, or until it's discharged. That's not nothing, especially if you actively use, say, Bluff to feint in combat, or Intimidate to demoralize enemies, or you want to be sure that ALL your Knowledge checks have a nice, fat boost. Or course, each attribute also has a handy, immediate effect you can discharge the spell for to get.

This is one of those spell choices that works best in a scroll form, or something similar. Because you can't have the other members of the party slap it on you, but it does have a flat duration and a flat bonus regardless of how powerful the caster level is... and that makes a big difference. It will get expensive if you apply it every day, but it's a good thing to slap on before you start the heist, delve into the dungeon, etc.

Looking For Some Additional Reading?

If you're looking for new places to use some of these spells, making sure you check out my growing Sundara: Dawn of a New Age setting. It's available both in Pathfinder Classic, as well as for Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition if that's more your jam!

And if you want to see at least some of these spells in use, don't forget to check out the ongoing series of pulpy short stories that tell the tale of my group's run through the Hell's Rebels adventure path! Devil's Night is a bit of a prologue, setting the stage with whispers of an urban legend in Kintargo that's slowly making its presence known in the night terrors of the dottari. And the more recent installment, From The Ashes, tells about the riot at the opera house, and how Thrune has planted the seeds of their own undoing with the resurrection of the Silver Ravens!

Like, Share, and Follow For More!

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

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

Game Masters, Stop Trying to Hide Things From Your Players

Chances are good this is one of those entries that people are going to see the title of, and just start commenting before they actually read the entry. As such, I thought I'd provide my clarification right here, at the top of the page.

What I'm not suggesting is that Game Masters stop putting plot twists in their games. I'm not saying to never use shape changers or disguised villains, or suggesting that we never have the face-heel turn where the party's benefactor turns out to have been using them for their own ends. All of those things are good, and when done right, they can make a campaign extremely fun and memorable!

What I am saying is that, as Game Masters, we need to stop trying to keep our players in the dark about things, or deluding ourselves that our settings, our stories, and our plots are so unique, so original, and so mind-blowing, that we need to ensure our players go in knowing as little as possible in order to properly experience things. Because nine times out of ten that we pull this it's going to blow up in our faces.

Trust me, going in blank is doing no one any favors.

As always, if you want to get all of my updates sent to your email just subscribe to my weekly newsletter. And if you want to help me keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Even small donations make a big difference.

No Spoilers!

As a Game Master you have to walk a fine line. On the one hand, you want to get your players psyched up for the game you're running, and invested in the campaign. On the other hand, though, you want to allow them to organically explore the setting, and to experience the plots you have prepared. It is, in a lot of ways, akin to getting your friends together for a movie night. You want to make sure your selection for the evening is something everyone is into, but you also don't want to give too much away regarding what's going to happen.

I've run my share of games, and chosen my share of movies. I can safely say that you should always err on the side of telling someone too much, rather than playing things mysterious and just telling them, "Guess you'll have to wait and find out!"

I guarantee you're not as clever as you think you are.

There's two major reasons that I say this.

The first reason is that when you clam up about stuff, it illustrates where the limits are going to be between you and the players as a storyteller. So if your player asks you questions about the genre, the setting, what sorts of general plots to expect, and you turn getting those answers into pulling teeth, it sets the expectation that there's not going to be a lot of communication going forward. You can negate this somewhat by being as open as possible about other aspects of the game, giving out details that players are going to run into anyway in order to get them invested, but it's generally better to be as honest and open as possible when your players ask you questions.

The second reason is that if your table is genre savvy in the slightest there is no trick you can pull from behind the screen that's going to shock or surprise them in a good way. However, something that a lot of Game Masters forget is that most players aren't actually interested in being shocked or surprised... most of the time they're playing games in a particular setting or genre precisely because they know it well, and they like engaging with it.

The second reason is what's responsible for most of the table blow ups, in my experience.

I Was Told This Was a Fantasy Game?

Yes, well, ah, about that...

A while back I warned Game Masters not to pull what I call a total-genre-shift in their games. This is, more or less, where you sold the table one genre of game, then after giving them enough time to get really invested and having fun you pull a lever and reveal it's been a completely different genre the whole time! The fantasy game is actually a sci-fi dystopia, the space opera sci-fi turns out to be a video game and now we're logged-off in a modern investigation game, and so on, and so forth.

This is the most blatant example of a GM hiding something that should be mentioned up-front, and which all players need to sign on for. Because this shift could work if you have player buy-in. It might actually get some players more excited about the game. But out of the blue it feels like you all agreed to get pizza, but when it came time to open the pizza box inside there was lasagna. It might still be good lasagna, but that isn't what the players were told to expect.

Think of player questions in that light. Because you might think getting onions on the pizza really brings things together, but if one player is allergic to them, and another just doesn't like the taste, then you shouldn't put them on. Same thing with game content, and player questions. Because some players can roll with anything, and they'll be happy as long as there's a good game. Other players have certain genres they really don't like, or they have strong feelings on story content, or house rules versus rules as written. And if you're worried that answering too many questions or giving your players too much information is going to ruin the game and make things less enjoyable, consider the alternative; you held something back that your players wanted to know, and then when you present it they excuse themselves from the table and go home.

You shouldn't be telling your players who the hidden villain of the game is. Don't lay out the duke's double cross around level 5, and don't tell them how many trolls they're going to be fighting in the Frost Moors. They don't need to know the hidden weakness of the vampire queen. But if your players ask you questions about the world, about the premise, or about what they should expect, it's better to risk giving them minor spoilers to make them feel you're going to be open, honest, and up-front than to play things cloak-and-dagger and misjudge exactly whether a surprise is going to stick the landing.

Also, if you're looking for more advice on running your games, make sure you check out 100 Tips and Tricks For Being a Better Game Master!

Have You Checked Out The Silver Raven Chronicles Yet?

I talked about this a month or so ago, but I'm doing something a little different over on my Table Talk page. I'm currently doing the write-up for my group's run through the Hell's Rebels adventure path, but instead of the roll-by-roll break down I provided for past games I wanted to go in another direction. This time around I'm writing a series of pulp-style short stories about particular moments throughout the campaign which tell the tale of how Kintargo's resistance was built, and the challenges it's faced.

Seriously, come check it out!

Table Talk is my least-read feature, and hosting these stories on Vocal has made them hard to get eyes on (particularly since Reddit blacklisted the site and made it nearly impossible to share content from). So I wanted to ask my readers to check it out, and if you want to see me keep it going (perhaps extending this format to future write-ups) to share it on your social media pages, and leave a tip if you feel so inclined!

- Part One: Devil's Night

- Part Two: From The Ashes

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 YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my cat noir thriller Marked Territory, its sequel 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!

Orcs, Vikings, and Bias Within Survivor Narratives

When I say the word Viking to you, chances are it conjures a very particular image in your mind. You probably picture a huge warrior with a flowing beard, bellowing battle cries while he lays about with his ax, slaying men, burning towns, and stealing anything not nailed down. Even if you have enough historical literacy to know they didn't have horned helms, or that they may have had red hair instead of blonde, this image of the defiling raider is firmly etched into our collective consciousness.

And while this sort of individual certainly existed in the historical record (a Viking is, by trade, often a pirate after all), this one aspect has grown to encompass an entire people in the minds of a lot of us. Even if you were a trader, a farmer, a skald, or a normal sailor, there was the fear of what the most dangerous and violent of the Norsemen had done when one laid their eyes upon you.

Which brings me to orcs, and how we could have some fun examining them.

She was huge! Ten feet tall, with blood dripping from her tusks!

As always, before we get into it, remember to subscribe to my weekly newsletter to get all my updates sent right to you. And if you want to help me keep the blog going you should consider becoming a Patreon patron today! Every donation, no matter how small, helps keep the wheels turning.

What Contact Do You Have With Them, Really?

Despite the vast reach of Viking longships, which ranged from the shores of North America all the way to the heart of the Eastern Roman Empire, from the frozen Russian steppes to deep into the Muslim world, the Norse people weren't some huge players on the world stage in the way that empires tended to be. They were relatively small in number, came from a remote, frozen place, and though they did some very notable things (the raid on Lindisfarne and populating the ranks of The Varangian Guard as examples), they weren't some massive influence that was going to take over the world.

Probably the biggest thing about Vikings that has survived (we're talking specifically about the raiders and pirates, not Norse people in general) was the legendary fear they produced. Their raids were ruthless, they ignored the conventions that so many other cultures followed, and the sheer maneuverability of their ships meant they could turn up nearly anywhere. If there was water nearby (and even if the water was miles away) it meant the Vikings could reach you. And in the dark, with the fires barely holding the night at bay, it was easy to imagine dangerous pirates with minds full of murder and robbery, their hands tight on the hilts of their weapons as they drew ever closer at the behest of their strange, foreign gods.

Hope the waterfront property was worth it!

Because I've had orcs on the brain ever since my latest Species of Sundara dropped where I talked about several of the varieties of these creatures that populate my setting (available for both Pathfinder Classic and Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition), this has been a natural connection that I figured might be of-use to players and GMs alike.

To be clear, I'm not saying to pattern orcs off of the culture and/or pop culture we associate with the Norse (there's more than enough GMs and designers who've taken a stab at that already). However, as orcs and characters of orc heritage have grown and changed over the years we've had to re-imagine them, and expand on their place in our worlds and our games. Original orcs were the Tolkien model of monsters who served dark masters, and this is very much in line with the outlandish myths of Vikings told by those who survived their raids, or who merely observed the carnage left behind. The idea that the children of orcs with other species could only have been the product of violence or threats of violence is also much in-line with the sorts of tales told about the brutality of the Northmen.

As we expanded orcs further, we've seen that their violence toward towns and cities may be for more reasons than sheer wickedness, or raw personal gain. They might have been pushed off their old lands, and are fighting against resettlement. They might be fighting against prejudices that have led others to shun and mistreat them. They might even be fighting for the families and communities that those on the other side never even thought about, because to them there are no children or civilians among orcs; they're just a nameless, faceless hoard of roaring warriors because that's all they've ever seen, or all the legends have told of them. Yet much like the Norse people there was a vibrant, shifting, ever-changing culture that went beyond the Ulfbehrt and the Dane ax, and that was more than golden armbands and berserkers. Those things were a part of it, yes, but they were by no means what defined the whole of who they were. There were multiple nations, holds, and smaller clans within the larger whole, and examined on that small scale you could see stark differences between the myths of their culture, and who they really were at ground-level.

For GMs and players alike who want to bridge that gap between the orcs of older RPGs who were brutal, savage raiders at the behest of a violent, one-eyed god of battle and death, and newer RPGs where orcs are diverse and varied, each with their own cultures and interior life, this strategy might be worth thinking about.

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 YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my cat noir thriller Marked Territory, its sequel 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!

Why Are So Many Settings Post-Apocalyptic?

Folks who've been following my expansions for Sundara: Dawn of a New Age have noted several things about my setting that seem to buck the trend for a lot of other worlds we play in. For example, I'm doing everything I can to eliminate the idea of non-human characters all being part of religious and cultural monoliths by introducing a wider variety of cultures, physical adaptations, and faiths into the world. I'm foregoing the idea of national and even racial identities (which are surprisingly modern constructs), and focusing more on localities, clans, tribes, and a world in the smaller-scale. I'm including a lot of unique "period" technology, ranging from the dragon steel of Ironfire (a version of pattern-welded "Damascus" steel), to the wind catchers used for air conditioning in the towers of Silkgift.

But I realized something else that I did without even thinking about it, specifically because it's confused a lot of players used to traditional settings who are reviewing Sundara; namely they're under the impression that this is a young world, or that folks are playing during the golden age of this setting.

Young world? Not so much...

While several of the cities I've written guides for are only a hundred to a few hundred years old, Sundara is by no means a young world. Folks who checked out Archbliss: City of The Sorcerers (for either Pathfinder Classic or DND 5E) have seen that this floating city has been going strong for millennia. Moüd, pictured above, has only been recently re-inhabited, because the city was abandoned centuries ago due to a catastrophe that took an entire guild of modern necromancers to get under control until the place was habitable again. The cultures being released in my Species of Sundara books (particularly the ones for the elves and the dwarves) didn't just appear overnight; that kind of development takes a long time.

The longer I thought about what is giving this impression, though, the more I realized there's another relic of Tolkien's famous tales that made its way into our games without us really remarking on it. Because almost every setting I've ever played in has been a post-apocalyptic setting, or one that's in the middle of a Dark Age... and that's something I just didn't want to do when it was time to make my own world.

As always, subscribe to my weekly newsletter if you want to stay on top of all my releases. And if you want to help me keep this blog going, consider becoming a Patreon patron today!

And The World Fell Under a Shadow (Every Time)

One of the central themes of Tolkien's Lord of The Rings is that the world is in a dark place. Men have grown weaker and weaker, and amazing places and peoples have fallen into ruin, or been utterly forgotten. There is corruption everywhere, and the world is slowly approaching its last gasps. There are still some pinpricks of light where elder races preserve relics from the days of glory, but it is a dank, dreary, deadly world that has entered a twilight... basically a slightly more hopeful version of Dark Souls if you read between the lines.

And this is the same model so many, many RPG settings follow. All you need to do is look at the loot you find, and where you find it. It's why the Older is Better trope reigns supreme in so many of our games (I wrote more about that in Older is Better: A Trope That's Become a Reflex For Many Writers for those who need more details).

I didn't really intend to become the new standard, you know.

Because while most of us don't think of Middle Earth, Golarion, and other settings as post-apocalyptic (since we associate that with stuff like Mad Max, The Road, and zombie movies), most of them are. And if they didn't go full apocalypse (which Golarion has done half a dozen times according to the timeline), the game tends to be in a dark age. Old knowledge and techniques have been lost, relics of the past are rare but superior, and people are always trying to build back to where they were once more.

I didn't really stop to think about it, but Sundara does exist in opposition to this setup. Because the world isn't new. It isn't in some golden age. There have been catastrophes that have destroyed cities and altered regions in the past. There have been wars, and coups, and all the other growing pains of civilizations. But the purpose of the setting (and the themes of many of the cities I've released for it so far) is about progress. It's about moving forward, using the resources that exist to overcome trials and challenges. It's about invention and creation, rather than about looking backward to try to recreate the world as it was.

There are plenty of secrets, ruins, relics, and more scattered throughout the map, but what is just as common is that for every old way of doing something, there's a new way to improve on the process. A way to make it faster, stronger, better that represents a step forward in thinking, or in solving new problems... or solving the old problems that previous generations ignored, for those who read the secrets of what's going on in places like Moüd: City of Bones.

A Difference in Attitude

The more I thought about this, the more I wondered how deeply it affects our story desires, setting expectations, and even attitude as players and Game Masters. About how much of the "no guns in my fantasy" or "you can't make new magic items, only find lost and forgotten ones" attitudes are influenced specifically by this foundation. Wondering whether or not part of the restrictive attitudes a lot of games have is because it's baked into the setting that invention, progress, attempts to forge new paths are not what this world is about.

We aren't here to rebuild and move on, to become better than we were. Instead, we're just trying to survive in the shadow of lost glory.

Just some food for thought this week, and a request that all of us take a look inside and ask what we're trying to do with our games. As always, there's no right or wrong way to do this, and you should pursue the kind of games you want, and that are fun for you... but it's important to look at those games with a critical eye, and to break down the elements involved so you can recognize them for what they are.

If You Haven't Checked Out My Setting Yet...

For folks who are curious as to what a setting that's looking forward and trying to build a better tomorrow looks like, particularly in comparison to the more traditional settings we have where the world seems to be crumbling and civilization is just trying to hold on, consider checking out some of the releases I've put out so far!

- Ironfire: The City of Steel (Pathfinder and 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 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 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 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 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 (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.

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 YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my cat noir thriller Marked Territory, its sequel 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, Use Epithets to Help Players Keep Track of Your Setting

Keeping up with all of the information being conveyed in an RPG is tough enough when the game is set in a fantastical version of our reality like you see in Shadowrun, the World of Darkness, and similar settings. When we're in a realm that's utterly different from the mundane world we call home, whether it's a world of high fantasy adventure or beyond the furthest stars into the deep black of a sci-fi galaxy, it can feel downright impossible to keep track of where you are and what's going on.

It's easy to overload your players with made-up names that just bounce off their memories when those labels don't have any context to go with them. A simple trick that I've used to great effect, and which you'll see in settings ranging from Golarion to Hyborea is to use epithets to immediately convey the tone, character, and flavor of a place, while making it much easier for players to get a feel for immediately, and to remember long-term.

Okay... which place was that? Aromath? Anondale? It started with an A, right?

Before I get too deep into this topic, you all know the drill by now. If you want to stay on top of all my releases, sign up for my weekly newsletter. And if you want to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron today! Every little bit really does help.

Taking a Page From Robert E. Howard

If you're like a lot of folks out there, chances are you've only heard the word "epithet" used as a metaphor for curse words. It's an old strategy that lets writers sidestep editorial finger wagging. However, the word "epithet" actually refers to an accompanying word or phrase applied to a person or a place to describe either an actual or an attributed quality.

King Richard the First, for instance, was Richard the Lion-Hearted. That epithet immediately brings to mind virility, power, command, and other traits associated with it... and it makes him damnably easy to remember out of a cast of other nobles at court.

I know that heraldry... the Iron Wolf rides with us!

While this trick can work really well for making important characters stand out (which is why I recommended using it in Character Reputations in RPGs: The Small Legend), it's equally useful for making sure your players get a quick, clear sense of locations and what kind of flavor and personality they have.

If you've read any Robert E. Howard (the guy who created Conan the Barbarian), you've seen this trick in action. With cities like Shadizar the Wicked or Agraphur the Crown Jewel of Turan we immediately get evocative imagery that gives us a broad, memorable idea of what these places are. Paizo did this in their Golarion setting with books like Cheliax: Empire of Devils, as well, which immediately gives you the vibe you need to know what this nation is all about. It's also a trick I used with Moüd: City of Bones, Ironfire: City of Steel, and Hoardreach: City of Wyrms as three examples of my Sundara setting, too.

Come on... you know you want to find out more about this!

Now, to be clear, you don't need to use this tactic with every, single location or important character you create. In fact, you probably shouldn't overuse it, otherwise it will create a background hum that will leave players feeling unsure of what's important and what isn't. But if you need something evocative that immediately makes a person or a place stick in your players' minds while conveying the broad thrust of what they are, then I cannot recommend this strategy highly enough!

Also, if you found this advice helpful, consider checking out my 5 Tips For Creating Fantasy Towns and Cities as well!

There's Plenty More Where This Came From!

For those who are looking for more handy pieces of GM advice, make sure you check out 100 Tips and Tricks For Being a Better Game Master!

Seriously, it's full of solid tips to save you time and energy!

Additionally, it's the third Saturday of the month, which means that my latest expansion for Sundara: Dawn of a New Age is out! If you've been following the Species of Sundara books, then you're in for a treat, because my take on orcs is now out for both Pathfinder Classic and Dungeons and Dragons 5E!

A new direction, but built on a classic foundation.

This particular series of expansions started with elves (which you can find for Pathfinder Classic and DND 5E) and moved on to dwarves (also available for Pathfinder Classic and DND 5E). Halflings are next, and then after that, we're moving onto the Blooded... so stay tuned!

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 YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my cat noir thriller Marked Territory, its sequel 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!

Rage Against Capitalism: Pentex as a Werewolf Antagonist

If you've ever played a game of Werewolf: The Apocalypse, then you're already passingly familiar with a lot of the game's central themes and antagonists. For those who haven't, you are one of the garou, shape-shifting warriors who have fought on behalf of the Earth Mother Gaia since time immemorial. Once upon a time the three major powers of the world, the Wyld (representing nature), the Weaver (representing order) and the Wyrm (representing destruction) all existed in harmony. But the Weaver attempted to control the Wyrm, and the Wyrm has gone mad, rampaging across the world in an attempt to destroy everything. As Gaia's chosen you are the one who stands against the servants of the Wyrm and attempts to bring back balance... or at least prevent the apocalypse.

It's a really unique game, and perhaps one of my favorite parts of the World of Darkness setting... but there's also no other RPG I've played that has made it clear we all need to work together if we're going to stop capitalism from destroying the world.

Maybe the Red Talons had a few good ideas after all...

Before I get too deep into this topic, wanted to remind folks that patrons are what keep the blog going, so consider becoming a Patreon patron if you can. Also, make sure you subscribe to my weekly newsletter to be sure you don't miss anything that comes off my desk in the future!

Pentex: Capitalism As Antagonist

There are a lot of themes in Werewolf, but most of them can be boiled down to restoring the balance. Werewolves fight to stop the Wyrm from destroying everything, they struggle to maintain their Rage so it can be used against their foes without harming their loved ones, and they often have to balance between the physical and the spiritual worlds. There's the balance between pride in their actions, and the horror at the things they have to do, and attempting to hang onto themselves and their principles in the face of the yawning void that waits to swallow them up.

Pretty heavy stuff for a game about turning into a giant furry death machine and rolling handfuls of plastic dice.

So where does capitalism come into this?

Since Werewolf takes place in the World of Darkness setting, which is a grim modern fantasy, it was going to have to address capitalism sooner or later. And the game doesn't mince words when it comes to this financial system, either. Because at its core capitalism is about an imbalance of power, the impossibility of infinite growth, and reaping the planet for every penny that can be made. From dumping toxic waste into drinking water, to running child labor camps, to imprisoning people on meaningless offenses and stealing years of their lives just to turn profits, there is basically no corner dark enough that capitalism hasn't tried to turn a profit off of it. And though there are some aspects of the game that let you use the tools of capital to further your goals (the Corporate Wolves camp of the Glass Walkers, spirits like Easy Credit and Almighty Dollar, etc.), even characters who use these tools would be trying to use money, investment, etc., to oppose things like child labor, human trafficking, and environmental destruction rather than profiting off of them.

The game itself personifies the danger of capitalism as Pentex, a conglomeration of corporations that all share interests, and which are connected to each other by board members, mutual profits, love of money, and lack of scruples. And in a game that perfected the Ever Present Threat that can never truly be defeated once and for all in the form of the Wyrm, Pentex is a solid runner-up in terms of a villain. Because you can't kill a single CEO, blow up a particular construction site, or expose any one network of abuses and cover-ups to get rid of what Pentex represents... someone else will just step up tomorrow to try to do it again. The logo will be different, and the stationery has changed, but it's the same empty suits trying to finish the oil pipeline, restart the coal plant, sell you the toxic product, or get you to hand over your money in exchange for a false blessing from a mega pastor.

While a lot of STs are leery about using Pentex in their games, preferring to focus on the purely supernatural threats like vampires, Black Spiral Dancers, fomori, and corrupt spirits, this corporate villain works really well when it comes to defining the shape of the battlefield. Because Pentex is often a purely mortal threat, which can allow players to really cut loose and feel powerful as werewolves... but it also presents a lot of moral challenges to them. Do you use lethal force against the security guards, most of which are just working stiffs who need a job (any job) so they don't wind up on the street? Is the loss of the economic gain to the community created by destroying a dangerous project (coal mine, natural gas pipeline, fracking operation, etc.) going to affect their spirits just as badly as the pollution would affect their bodies? Can your message of balance, community bonds, and living in harmony counter generations of propaganda about how greed is good, money makes the world go round, and it's a dog-eat-dog world?

Though Pentex can (and often does) mix with elements of the supernatural from vampire investors and company officers, to mad scientists trying to mass produce supernatural templates, etc., it often represents a very mortal antagonist that is just as hard to defeat as any monster from myth. And that can often ground your game in ways that are hard to accomplish just fighting banes and fomori all the time.

Though The Written Material Often Falls Short of Reality

For those who haven't come across it, I recently put together my own supplement for STs who want to have their players go up against corporate interests. Evil Incorporated: 10 Pentex Subsidiaries was a particularly challenging piece for me to write because of a problem that I kept running into time and time again.

Namely that any time you end up trying to make some kind of super advanced monstrous version of capitalism, you just end up making something that already exists, or which has happened in the past. And trying to add vampires or Black Spiral Dancers into the mix just feels like you're working in metaphors to soften the blow, rather than letting the villain just be what they are; a stark testament to the atrocities that a lot of humans are willing to commit in the name of profit margins and personal gain.

The introductory story, dramatized over on the Azukail Games YouTube channel, says it all, really.

According to the soft canon, the idea that would become Pentex was born in the Texas oil fields sometime in the 1800s... but for those who are students of history, and are aware of the crimes of the East India Trading Company, Pentex can seem like a Johnny-come-lately. And while Pentex is often supposed to be this cartoonishly evil collection of villains that feel like something out of Captain Planet, is it really so unbelievable that people would poison huge swaths of the population or destroy the planet for money? That's no different than how cigarette companies fought for years to suppress widespread information about their products causing cancer, or how oil companies knew about global warming for decades and kept it wrapped up so they wouldn't lose money. Companies like Tesla and Apple have been accused of using child labor in their products, and the American military has been directed by corporate interests for decades to those familiar with the banana wars.

Hell, in my research for Can Large-Scale Telecommuting Save The Environment?, I found numbers that consistently said remote work increases corporate profits and productivity, increases worker morale, lowers overhead costs, and reduces emissions by millions of tons a year. But corporations are fighting tooth-and-nail to force people to come back to work in the middle of a pandemic, spending more money to be less efficient and to put their workers at-risk while making them more miserable. Why? Because the middle managers were exposed as mostly useless positions when they didn't have tiny fiefdoms of office workers to lord over, and pretend they were an asset to the company, and that loss of face (as well as the potential to cut positions that it turned out weren't necessary) was all it took to start the meat grinder up again.

So if you're going to run Pentex as part of your games, keep all of this in mind. Because it might feel close to home, but at the same time it might provide a unique catharsis that defeating a vampire lord or overcoming a great bane spirit simply won't.

More Werewolf Stuff, Anyone?

If Evil Incorporated is enough to get your mind going, I've got other stuff for an Apocalypse game you might find particularly useful. So if you're itching for shapeshifting stories, check these out too!

- 100 Garou Kinfolk Bundle: With over 1,500 NPCs (100 for each of the base tribes, plus 100 mokole' kin on top of that!) this will ensure that you're never lacking for support characters in your game.

- 100 Stargazer Kinfolk: The encore guide that came out after the bundle was set, this is for all the players and STs alike who want to bring this enigmatic tribe into your game... especially if these mystics intend to oppose what both capital and the state are trying to do to Gaia in their part of the world.

- Deadly Country: 100 NPCs of Central Florida: While a lot of these characters can be swapped around to other parts of the country, one might argue that there are few places in America more primed to be a stronghold of Pentex than Florida.

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 YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my cat noir thriller Marked Territory, its sequel 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!

Need RPG Recommendations? Check Out "Missa Reviews"!

As a lot of folks know, I like to use some of my Monday slots to big up other people's signals to help them find a larger audience. It's bee a little while since I've done that, which is why I wanted to cast a spotlight on a friend of mine who just started a new YouTube channel with a goal I can really get behind... holding up RPG content and creators who might not otherwise get noticed by the audience at large!

And since the focus of her first episode was my horror modules The Curse of Sapphire Lake and Ghosts of Sorrow Marsh (appropriate for the Halloween season), I figured that I'd do my best to spread the word to as many of my readers as I could reach!

What Can You Expect From This Channel in The Future?

One of the main reasons Missa started this channel was because she has a lot of folks in her circle who create RPGs for a living, and had to watch all of us do our best to promote our work on social media... often to no avail. And the main frustration that so many of us have to deal with is that there are so many people out there (particularly group and forum moderators) who just don't want to see self-promotion posts... but when you're a small creator, that's kind of your only option.

It was watching so many people in her circles struggle that made her want to use her voice to lift other people up. Because as someone who loves RPGs of all sorts, Missa wanted to try to do her part to get the word out about games and supplements that don't have huge advertising budgets and massive followings behind them, but which more gamers should really check out.

Frankly, as someone who depends on his RPG output to keep his rent paid, there aren't a lot of channels like this out there (or, at least, there's far fewer of them than you'd think, given the popularity of the hobby). So help a newcomer to the YouTube scene grow her following, check out her channel Missa Reviews, and help her first video get some love! I have it on good authority that the next one will be taking a look at a fellow creator of mine who has been putting out some really interesting guides to witches, deadly plants, and more, and I'm eager to hear Missa's take on them!

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 YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my cat noir thriller Marked Territory, its sequel 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!