World's Oldest Profession- Salacious Sales in The TTRPG Space?

For folks who don't keep a close eye on my releases, I recently had an impressive showing with my new supplement. World's Oldest Profession: 100 Courtesans and Concubines managed to do something that very few of my supplements have managed, which was to hit Copper status on its first day of release! Not only that, but it also hit Silver status by the end of 48 hours, which is something that's only happened a handful of times in the past for something I've made.

Oddly enough, the last time this happened was with the original supplement that led to this project, World's Oldest Profession: A Baker's Dozen of Brothels... a supplement which is now sitting at Electrum status, and still rising!

If something happens one time, it could be a fluke. Twice could be a coincidence. But three times? Well that just might be a trend...

Do you want to see more entries in this series?

As always, 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!

Does Salacious Content Generate Sales?

We've all heard the phrase sex sells, and even if we haven't heard it before we've all seen those commercials filled with bikini-clad supermodels, and voice overs from sultry performers trying to reach in through your ear to your wallet. And we've had our share of questionable covers of Dragon magazine, and occasional tables, monsters, and even asides in adventure paths, but outside of tomes like The Book of Erotic Fantasy (yes it's real, don't try to check it out if you're not of age) we don't have a lot of major examples of books predicated entirely on the selling power of adult (or at least mature) content.

Don't get me wrong, we have a lot of examples of this kind of content (such as the entire catalog of Lewd Dungeon Adventures), but it's usually been something we keep in the background, and which only bubbles to the surface from time to time.

And I'll be the first one to say that neither of my World's Oldest Profession supplements is particularly lewd. The first installment details brothels, as well as those who staff them, but there's nothing explicit in that supplement. The second installment is also more suggestive than anything else, with a lot of nodding and winking among the list of 100 prostitutes, but there's nothing in it that would prompt more than a PG-13 rating. At best.

Despite that, though, both of these supplements have sold like gangbusters!

What conclusions can I draw from this? Well, first and foremost, the price point for NPC and locations lists continues to be important for supplements I write. Secondly, cover art is also pretty important, and this particular piece by Dara Williamson is definitely eye-catching. However, the content is definitely responsible for both the initial sales, as well as the long-term viability of the supplement. And even with the age restriction on these supplements, they still outsell well over 95% of the stuff I produce.

Are the folks who buy either A Baker's Dozen of Brothels or 100 Courtesans and Concubines suddenly going to have uniquely spicy locations and NPCs in their games once they buy them? Probably not... but they at least have the opportunity, if that's what they and their players want to do!

A Final Note

As I so often say when I talk about the business side of TTRPGs, you have to follow the money. And while are all kinds of things I could work on (and things I definitely want to work on), this pattern has definitely drawn both my attention, as well as my publisher's attention.

So I wanted to ask... would folks like to see this become a longer-running series? Whether it's making sci-fi versions of these two supplements, or adding to them with other, similarly bawdy titles (things like 100 Laws Regarding Prostitution, 100 Slang Terms For Sultry Activities, A Baker's Dozen of Flesh Trade Guilds, etc.)?

I've got ideas... the question is, what would you all like to see 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 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!

Consider Using Unexpected Origins For Your Character's Skills

In the first World War, the design of grenades was altered to better fit the hand and skills of American troops. After all, they reasoned, what fit more naturally into the hand of an American than a grenade shaped like a baseball? It was the national pasttime, after all, so it would provide troops with something that felt familiar, and which they should already know how to throw with both speed and accuracy.

When designing your character, consider whether there have been instances like this in their life. Did they train for one skill or task, only to find that the muscle memory, power, etc., translated particularly well to a another skill set entirely?

After chopping trees, chopping men is easy.

As always, 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!

Sideways Training

It is often surprising how seemingly unrelated experiences, professions, and skills can synergize. For example, someone used to clearing trees with a woodcutting ax may find their skills and experience translates quite well to a battle ax; and because the woodsman's ax is heavier they can strike more quickly, and with greater force and accuracy. Someone who made their living hunting animals in the wild might find those same skills allow them to track the passage of men, making them an excellent bounty hunter, or even a detective with the city watch. Even someone who's primary training was as an actor or a performer might find that, while flashy, their skills definitely have a use in the field.

I'm just saying, I've ridden in over a hundred tourneys... facing orcs should be easy.

While there's nothing wrong with characters who are specifically trained for the roles they currently fill, whether it's career soldiers who have now become sellswords or wizards serving as ataches to their arcane institutions in the field, it can sometimes be interesting to see what other skill sets translate into useful skills and abilities that one could bring to the table.

Whether it's an illusionist who primarily used their magic to create immersive creatures and effects for stage plays before joining the Band of The Iron Hand, or a locksmith whose gone freelance to help the Green Vipers break into a secured vault, sometimes we pick up our skills unexpectedly, or even a circus knife thrower who puts their skills to deadly use against a goblin threat, these are the sorts of origin stories that can really grab people's attention around the table. So take a moment, and consider this option if you're looking for a unique twist on your next character.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Fluff post. 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!

I'm A Little Behind (Here's What's Going On)

I wanted to take a moment this week to apologize to my readers out there. The wheels haven't come off of the struggle bus, but there have been a lot of doings on my end of the screen of late. Because of this, I've missed a couple of updates, but I wanted to take this Monday's post to catch you all up on what's been going down, and to say sorry for the missed steps, and for getting some projects out a little more slowly than I'd like to.

Sadly, there just aren't enough hours in the day or gas in the tank to do absolutely everything I want to. Or even need to!

It's been... a lot of a lot.

As always, 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 Have I Missed (And What Am I Doing)?

Though it might not seem obvious to everyone, I've missed a couple of updates recently on both my gaming blog, as well as over on my writing blog. I also missed my newsletter this past Sunday... but I have a good explanation for both of these things!

The short version is, I've been busy. The longer version is detailed below!

All gas, no brake.

Well, first things first, I've been trying to keep the plates spinning on all of my major TTRPG projects. For folks who didn't see it, my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age supplements were all on sale for DND 5E earlier this month in an attempt to stir up some more attention for them. Not only that, but my TTRPG Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic was deal of the day on DTRPG earlier this month. I spent a lot of time running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to make sure those sales got all the eyes I could reach, because my hope is that I'll be able to keep expanding both of those games and settings for at least a few years to come.

In addition to those things, which ate up a great deal of my time, I'm currently working on 2 new TTRPG supplements, and I'm trying to make sure we keep getting new videos for the Azukail Games YouTube channel since we're still in need of about 1,000 hours of watched content from our viewers to get monetized. I've even got our first short up, taken from the Geist: The Sin Eaters audio drama Russian Roulette, and you should consider checking out both if you haven't yet!

As if all of that weren't enough (and it definitely was), I was also at the Chicago Steampunk Expo this past weekend. It was my first time at that particular event, and it was a lot of work. And while I sold a handful of books, it was hardly enough that I can kick up my feet and take a breather. And if you missed out on getting copies of my Hardboiled Cat novels Marked Territory and Painted Cats, I'd highly recommend stopping in to grab some copies soon. Also, if you missed out on the hardback copies of Snowhaven, I'd recommend giving this snowpunk TTRPG setting a look, since it was the second most popular thing I brought to the show (which is damning it with pretty fine praise).

There's also a thing I can't talk about right now that I'm working on, but if it goes the way I'm hoping it will (fingers crossed on that) then it should open up several new projects in the future. But while I'm focusing on Project X, I won't have as much time and energy to keep up with all of the balls I've already got in the air!

How You Can Help

Again, regular readers, your patience and interest is greatly appreciated. If you want to help keep me going so I can keep making all this lovely content for you to enjoy, then please consider leaving me a tip on my Ko-Fi, or becoming a full-on patron on my Patreon page. If you're a reader or a gamer, please grab a copy of some of my books, or just take a spin through my Vocal archive to boost my numbers. And if you're someone who prefers video content, head over to the Azukail Games YouTube channel and check out some of the stuff I make there.

I'm doing my best to catch my breath, and to get back on top of the to-do list. But I could definitely use a little extra support, if you have the power to give it right now.

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!

Does A More Unique Setting Draw More Attention To Your Game? And Is It Worth The Risk?

There is no silver bullet when it comes to getting your gaming project popular among players. Not only that, but the results of all your factors are always going to be more than the sum of their individual parts. In short, every piece of advice is just us divining meaning by looking into a darkened mirror, and doing our best to interpret the shadows we see beneath the glass. And no piece of advice is ever perfect, because there will be something that defies that advice, and goes on to be extremely successful despite going against the grain of common wisdom.

With that said, it seems like audiences definitely perk up a lot more when you present them with a completely unique setting and world, rather than a world that looks and feels familiar, but which might have a couple of unique devils in the details.

My take on this is the difference in audience reaction between Sundara: Dawn of a New Age, and Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic.

And if you haven't checked out either, you really should!

As always, 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 Projects, and Reactions To Them

Sundara: Dawn of a New Age is a fantasy TTRPG setting that has been releasing in both Pathfinder and DND 5E formats for the past 3 years or so. The original release was Cities of Sundara: Ironfire, and since that time there have been 5 city guides, 6 species guides for players, and half a dozen faction guides covering everything from mercenary companies and cults, to merchants, guilds, and gods. And while these splats come packed with unique material for players and Game Masters alike, and they take several unique steps for their games (such as completely removing alignment from the games entirely), they are still recognizably part of a high fantasy TTRPG setting.

I'd say the reaction to Sundara has been mixed. Some players have enjoyed the splats, and there's a very small, but very vocal block of folks who are always asking for more. However, it doesn't get much of a reaction overall, and it is regularly outsold by my more generic supplements like 100 Body Mods and Augmentations For a Sci Fi Game or 10 Fantasy Villages.

But what about Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic? Well, for those who haven't heard me get on my soapbox about it, it's a game where players take on the roles of resinous persons, fighting to preserve the lives of the people of the Plastos Federation against the insectoid menace of the vespoids, which have united the four nations in a single purpose. The game is crunchy, tactical, and has a great deal of bizarre and unique lore to drag players and Game Masters alike into things.

So what were the results for this book? Well, this game has sold just over 30 books on DTRPG since its release, but there were over a hundred books (digital and physical) that went out as a result of the successful Kickstarter campaign that made it a reality in the first place. That makes it more popular than all but a handful of Sundara supplements (I believe Towns of Sundara is the only one that can beat those numbers), even though it's only been around for a few months (or just over a year, if we're counting the original Kickstarter and BackerKit purchases).

 What are people saying about these projects?

Before I get into analysis, I want to point out there are lots of differences in these projects. Army Men is a much bigger book, with a much bigger price point. Sundara is more numerous, has a smaller price tag, and it's been available (overall) for much longer. Sundara has received different types of marketing than Army Men has, and Army Men was crowdfunded rather than merely published and put on the market.

With all of that said, in addition to the sales numbers, I feel like the comments left by people on the projects can tell us a lot.

Because very few of my Sundara projects have received comments, whether it's in the social media posts I make about the supplements themselves, or about the blogs and videos I've made about them over the years. The attitude seems to be, by and large, that it's just another high fantasy TTRPG setting, and while it's got some fun aspects and unique flavors, it's more or less what one would expect. So if you've played Pathfinder or Dungeons and Dragons before, this is basically ordering the same pizza you're used to, but getting it from a restaurant that uses different cooking methods and ingredients.

The comments and questions regarding Army Men have been distinctly different.

Firstly, there's generally a lot more of them, as people ask what the game is about. A lot of folks also ask if it's connected to the video games from a decade or more ago (they're not). In addition to those two questions, people ask if you can use army men toys as miniatures, if it's a Toy Story situation, or if there's something else going on, and what sorts of adventures characters have in this RPG. A lot of folks comment on the art, and they'll ask what kinds of gear and equipment players have access to regarding artillery, vehicles, weapons, etc.

I covered some of these in the AMA that came out a while ago, if you're curious!

So, at the end of the day, this might feel like a bit of an apples and oranges comparison. However, acknowleding this is not a 1-to-1 situation, it definitely appears that games that have a unique style, which present players with an uncommon setting, and which give you a different kind of premise is more likely to turn heads than giving folks another helping of the same old same, but with slightly different ingredients... though it does seem to help if they underlying mechanics are recognizable, and draw on a well-known RPG that most folks will own copies of.

Just in case folks were curious.

Lastly, as it seems appropriate, I covered a topic on design trends recently on Tabletop Mercenary. Give it a watch, and if you enjoy it, subscribe to the Azukail Games YouTube channel to help keep that show (and others) going!

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!

Sundara is On Sale (For 1 Week Only)!

As my regular readers know, I've been putting out content for my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age fantasy TTRPG setting for just over 3 years now. I've covered many of the fantastical places in the setting, along with delving into the different species that players have access to in Sundara, and I've put out dozens of factions including mercenary companies, cults, guilds, and even merchant houses. And as if all of that wasn't enough, there's also half a dozen audio dramas on the Azukail Games YouTube channel set in this place to give listeners a little taste of the kinds of stories they're going to run into when they crack the covers on one of these splat books.

And if you've been looking to get into this setting, we have a DND 5E bundle for Sundara going on 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!

What You'll Find in This Bundle!

I know this is Crunch week, but given that this is a 1-week bundle, I wanted to make sure that folks heard about it before it was gone. So, what is included in this package, and what does it do for you as a player, Game Master, or both? In a mechanical sense?

There's a LOT of nonsense in here...

Well, this bundle contains:

- All 5 Cities of Sundara Splats: These books come with maps, plot hooks, NPCs, location history, district-by-district breakdowns, and usually some extra mechanical pieces like write-ups for unique animals, new Backgrounds for players to use, air or spell-based firearms, etc.

- All 6 Species of Sundara Splats: These each offer 5 subraces for players and GMs alike to use, and it covers elves, dwarves, orcs, gnomes, halflings, and the Blooded (half-elves and half-orcs in one).

- Sellswords of Sundara: A book of mercenary companies, this one has subclasses for fighters, barbarians, monks, rangers, and more!

- Gods and Cults of Sundara: These 2 splats contain unique rules for followers of the gods, as well as magic items one will find in the hands of various cults throughout the setting.

- Guilds of Sundara: In addition to providing GMs with a collection of guilds that come with NPCs, rumors, plot hooks, history, etc., there are also a selection of fresh feats that can be used by players to tie them more closely to these organizations.

- A Dekas of Sundaran Alchemical Constructs: A handy guide full of weird equipment, this pairs particularly well with the aether weapons found in the Cities of Sundara book for Silkgift, where these air-powered guns first debuted!

So, all in all, that's 16 splat books for about $30 and change. And if you bought all of them separately, that would run you over $60... so you're currently looking at a lot of new toys to play with for 50% off this week!

And best of all, Sundara is designed to act as a kind of modular setting. So if you like the idea of these books, but you'd still rather run them in your own setting, they're kind of designed for exactly that kind of setup! So whether it's a city, a species, a guild, or a cult, you can take the parts you like and import them into your own game world with very little additional work on your part! I actually talked about it a while back, for those who are curious about this setting's modular design style.

If You Don't Play DND 5E, Stay Tuned!

Several folks have mentioned that they like the idea of Sundara, and they would get this bundle, but their table doesn't play DND 5E, so it wouldn't really be something they'd use. If that's the case, don't fret, there's more on the way!

Because while there have been talks to expand Sundara into a variety of other game systems, most of those haven't happened yet. However, it is available for Pathfinder classic, and that bundle is coming down the pipe! So if there's a particular supplement that catches your eye, or you just want to grab one to see what the fuss is about, I'd definitely urge you to do that. But if you're totally onboard, and you just want to get a version of the game you will actually use, then make sure you follow all my social media pages because when the next bundle drops I'm going to make sure everyone hears about it!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Crunch post. 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!

Supplement Sequels- What Would You Like To See?

Folks who've been following my work for a while know that the bulk of my TTRPG supplements have been described as GM Prep splats. In short, I write a lot of lists of people, places, things, random encounters, setting flavor, plot hooks, rumors, and so on, and so forth. And while I've tried to keep things fresh over the years, some ideas clearly hit (like my 100 NPCs You Might Meet at The Tavern, which was my first platinum-level supplement, or A Baker's Dozen of Brothels, which is my fastest Electrum-level seller ever), while others have missed the mark somewhat.

However, since I've had to change-up some of my content strategies recently, I wanted to run an idea past some of my readers out there. To that end, would any of you be interested in sequels to any of my existing supplements where I give you even more of a particular topic to work with at your table?

After all, I want to give folks stuff they'll actually use.

As always, 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!

Trying To Take The Audience's Temperature

I want to start off here by saying that I am far from dry on ideas. I've got stuff I'm actively working on slated to get turned in over the next 2-3 months, and a list of potential projects that goes on for a page or two in my deskside notebook once I manage to finish those off. For those who are curious, it includes a meta supplement, some more stuff for Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic, as well as some miscellaneous fantasy and sci-fi supplements I've been kicking around for a bit.

However, rather than rolling the dice and hoping that one of my new ideas is going to be something that really strikes a chord with GMs and players out there, I figured I'd see if there were any particular wells people wanted me to go back to, and expand on a little more.

Such as with this early Electrum seller.

The setup these sequels would take would be something like, "100 More Cults to Encounter," if I were to try to write a sequel to the splat book linked above, or "Another Baker's Dozen Pieces of Lore," if I wanted to write a sequel to one of my earlier books A Baker's Dozen Pieces of Lore. The general idea is, of course, that I would cover the same topic with new entries, giving GMs even more things to work with that fit this mold.

Or, if folks would like a more detailed version of a longer list, I could take an existing "100 X" list, and instead make a "Baker's Dozen" version of it where I either choose existing entries to really flesh out, or where I provide new entries with a lot more heft to them than the original book. This is not dissimilar to how I used the freelances in 100 Random Mercenary Companies as my fodder for Sellswords of Sundara, or how several of the entries in 100 Fantasy Guilds acted as inspiration for the follow-up supplement Guilds of Sundara.

This Is, Of Course, Just An Option

As with so many other things I propose here on this blog, this is just an idea. If the audience isn't really feeling this direction, I can pursue a variety of other projects. But if this is something you'd like to see from me in the coming months, here's what I need you to do for me:

- Leave a comment below, telling me whether you want more 100 lists, or Baker's Dozens

- Tell me which of my existing lists you'd like revisited (full archive here)

- Mention which RPG system, if any, you'd like to see the books made for

And, of course, if you'd rather see me break new ground on new material, rather than revisit old topics, let me know that in the comments as well! The whole goal of this update is to figure out what it is you all want to see coming out in the near future, after all!

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!

Character Trailers (A Small Sample From An Upcoming "Exalted" Project)

I like to try out new TTRPGs and new systems (both for personal reasons, as well as professional ones), and no one has ever accused me of half-assing something I've done for a table of mine. Recently a friend of mine decided to really make a pitch to get me to try out Exalted. I wasn't a huge fan of the pitches I'd heard in the past, but I was given a little extra incentive with the Green Sun Princes... characters that were given corrupted power through a pact with the deposed and mutilated Primordials who now rule in hell as the Yozi.

I've been craving something grim, dark, and dreadful, and so what was born was a man named Barabbas. A man who lost everything, and has now taken up the cleaver once more in dreadful service to new and terrible masters. Allow me to present the character trailer for Barabbas The Butcher!

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Character Trailers, And a Potential Project

Regular readers round these parts know my fondness for the art of the audio drama, and I like to think that the short little video I made introducing Barabbas above is enough to both convey the broad sweeps of his character, and to give those who see it an idea of who he is, and what he's about. I found myself thinking of it as a character trailer, and I have suggested making them for other members of the game as a way to quickly sketch out who they are, and to give them the same kind of time in the spotlight.

We've met devil Hulk... what about the rest of the team?

While roughly half the players have expressed an interest in getting their own trailers made (and I'm hoping to dump the dossiers on our Sidereal player for the final installments, since all of us are going to be his problem), I feel like this little side project opens a potential door. After all, the world of Creation is a wild setting, and it hasn't gotten as much attention as more traditional, Western fantasy ones have.

If you're a fan of my work, would you like to see me throw my hat in the ring to make more Exalted content? Whether it's to create some towns, villages, or secret societies to find in Creation itself, working on some more mechanics-based supplements, or just expanding on the tales of Barabbas and the others to make something a little heftier, like an episodic podcast telling of their adventures?

All of these are on the table! But I mostly just wanted to share this piece, and get some feedback from folks who didn't see it, or who simply hadn't heard about it. And if you enjoyed this, don't forget to subscribe to both the Azukail Games YouTube channel, as well as my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary!

As an added note, this story will be set in the 2nd Edition of Exalted, which is not the current edition of the game. If you want to follow-along with the tale, consider grabbing a copy of Exalted's 2nd Edition base book, or if you want to go whole hog, grab the full Exalted 2nd Edition bundle!

Lastly, if you're interested in other contenders for a podcast-style project from me, make sure you check out Windy City Shadows, A Chronicles of Darkness Podcast Proposal as well!

What's Next on Table Talk?

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

For more of my work, check out my Vocal archives, as well as the YouTube channel for Azukail Games. Or, to check out books like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, my hard-boiled noir series featuring the street beasts of NYC in Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, or my recent short story collection The Rejects, head over to My Amazon Author Page!

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