The Unique Feeling When Someone Else Contributes To Your Setting

Regular readers of this blog are probably up-to-date on most of my projects, but in case you missed it (or you're new around here) I've been slowly building up a fantasy RPG setting for the past few years. Sundara: Dawn of a New Age began with a series of fantastical cities that people could add to their own games, but it expanded into splat books for various fantasy species, discussions of the gods, and even some books covering organizations in the world like Cults of Sundara and Sellswords of Sundara.

A lot of these books also boasted fun little vignettes to bring readers into the world, and in time I convinced my publisher to let me dramatize them for the Azukail Games YouTube channel, such as The Price of Steel, a story of the Risen Legion mercenary company.

However, this has been a one-man operation when it comes to the storytelling aspects of a lot of the setting... until recently, that is. And while I'm excited about it, this is also the first time I've experienced this unique situation. As such, I thought I'd take a moment this week to talk about it.

But before we get into it this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron!

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

Castles in My Sandbox

When I first started shaping Sundara as a setting, I knew I faced certain challenges as a sole creator. After all, there's only so much word count I can put down in a day, and I have bills to pay, so I couldn't spend 6 months to a year putting together large tomes that covered huge swaths of the world all at once. Hence making smaller resources that built the world one block at a time, and allowed players and Game Masters to explore it bit by bit, while keeping my new releases flowing.

While a couple of folks noticed, the setting went largely unremarked... except by one Isaiah Burt.

The name on the cover, in case it blended with the mountain.

When I was first approached about the story that became Legacy of Flames, I had a strange cocktail of feelings regarding it. Because I've never read something by another author that took place in a world of my creation. So I was seeing the names and descriptions of things that had come out of my own imagination, but filtered through the mind and creativity of someone else. Not only that, but seeing a story that really hit the high notes of what I wanted the setting to bring across to readers, and the kinds of narratives that I felt lurked between the lines, was a great feeling.

The story itself is a solid piece of work that gives readers a different perspective on Ironfire, the City of Steel, and the dangers faced by the Red Cloaks that are the closest thing to an official force the city has. It follows Gnav, a huge razorskull cinderscale (lizardfolk from the local volcanic region) as he seeks a beast that threatens the region. A creature that could, if left unchecked, become a problem even for a place as powerful as Ironfire!

It's a fun story, and if you've ever wanted to read a sword and sorcery tale where the protagonist felt like the bastard child of Conan and Killer Croc then you're going to love Gnav. More than that, though, reading this made me feel like all the work and energy I've been pouring into Sundara as a setting hasn't just been pissing into the wind. Because if there's someone who loves the setting enough to write entire novellas of text in it, then it means I must be doing something right.

And that can be very motivating.

Check Out Sundara: Dawn of a New Age If You Haven't Yet!

If you're in the market for a good read, grab a copy of Legacy of Flames for yourself! And if you want more Stories of Sundara like the one I linked all the way in the top of this blog entry, then stop by and subscribe to the Azukail Games YouTube channel. I've even got videos discussing Sundara as a setting, if you're curious about what's going on but would like a like more information before you get in too deep.

So 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.

Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!

That's all for this week's Craft of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!

 

And to stay on top of all my latest news and releases, collected once a week, make sure you subscribe to The Literary Mercenary's mailing list. 

If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well!

"Weird Fantasy" A Genre Title We Need More Of

Have you ever had that moment when you realized there isn't a term for an idea or a concept that you're working with? Even if the story you're writing, or the world you're creating, seems simple and straightforward in your mind, you realize the language to easily describe it to other people seems to be lacking? Sometimes if you talk around the idea for a while you'll meet someone who knows the proper label to apply to it... but sometimes that label doesn't seem to exist. So you start digging, trying stuff out, and seeing what best fits.

And that is why I now have the term "weird fantasy" rolling around in my lexicon.

And that's where we get into my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age setting

Before we get into it this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron!

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

What is "Weird Fantasy"?

For folks who haven't been following my RPG work, for the past year and some odd change I've been putting out guides and splats for my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age setting for both Pathfinder and Dungeons and Dragons 5E. I recently put together an Ask Me Anything video to field the questions folks have been giving me on it over at the Azukail Games YouTube channel (which you should totally subscribe to if you haven't yet, by the by), and one of the questions I tried to answer was, "What is Sundara?"

That was how I came to use the term "weird fantasy" to describe the world I'm making, and the game that takes place in it.

What is weird fiction, though? Glad you asked!

For folks who didn't watch the video (though you should, if for no other reason than it was a bastard and a half to put together while I was in exile at a hotel), the idea stretches back to the weird fiction that was popular before and during the pulp era. The term was coined to describe stories that took the tropes and ideas from classic ghost stories and gothic horror, but then put them into stories where those things didn't seem to belong, or where they hadn't been before.

And that's more or less what I'm trying to do with Sundara, except with fantasy.

Sundra, as a setting, has all the elements one would expect from a high fantasy RPG. With elves and orcs, sorcerers and clerics, and so on and so forth, it has all the elements one might expect from any Pathfinder or DND setting. However, much like a new menu item from Taco Bell, they're placed in a different order than other offerings... and there are certain things you might expect to be present that I've decided to get rid of.

For example, Sundara has no nations or countries as we think of them. Towns are the most common center of governance, with cities and city states being the largest group that one typically finds. There is no absolute good or absolute evil, which leaves morality up to the players, and it destroys the idea that certain creatures are inherently wicked. There's no such thing as a universal racial language (elven, dwarven, orc, etc.), and communication tends to vary by region and dialect. The gods come in an infinite variety and scope, and it's very possible that churches and congregations actually have very little idea what their gods want from them. Different religious factions may war with one another, as well, not even aware they worship the same god.

The list goes on and on. In short, however, Sundara has enough of the ear marks and elements of a standard high fantasy RPG that players will be able to get stuck in, but there are also enough important differences that it feels new and unique, either eliminating certain staples of the genre, or standing tropes on their heads so that players can't just assume all their preconceptions are valid in this setting.

Is there a better name for Sundara, and what I'm trying to do with it? Possibly. But I thought I'd share this label in the hopes that others were trying to do something similar, and who were likewise struggling for an easy label to slap onto their project so they could make a quick elevator pitch to their audience, could try this one on for size.

Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!

That's all for this week's Craft of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!

 

And to stay on top of all my latest news and releases, collected once a week, make sure you subscribe to The Literary Mercenary's mailing list. 

If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well!

When Building a New World, Follow The Ripples

For those who don't know, I've been actively working on a fantasy RPG setting since the start of 2021. I'll have more details on Sundara: Dawn of a New Age below for those who are curious, but there's something important that I've learned throughout this process that I think fellow writers (whether you're a novelist, a games creator, or somewhere in between) need to keep firmly in their sights.

Namely that whenever you're designing a world you need to take every element not just at its face value, but to ask how this element could change or alter the setting going forward. Or, phrased another way, if you're throwing a rock into a pond, watch the ripples and see how far they go.

But what if we made magic super common?

Before we get into the details, you all know the drill by now. Subscribe to my weekly newsletter to stay on top of all my updates, and if you've got any dosh to spare consider tossing it my way by becoming a Patreon patron! Every little bit helps.

Every Change Can Have Implications

The fun of world building is that you get to put settings together in different configurations to see what happens. You can tinker with everything from the climate, to the social structures of your people, to what strange and fantastical species exist in your world. You decide how magic works, what technological innovations exist, what gods are or aren't in this world, everything!

However, there is a flip side to this astonishing amount of power, and it's one that occasionally gets overlooked. Because if something exists in a setting, you have to ask what the implications of that thing's presence are, and how it can alter your world as a whole.

Let's take dragons... as an example.

So, let's say your world has dragons. Awesome! Dragons are cool, and they always grab people's attention. However, every element of dragons in your setting will shape the way the world functions, and you need to ask what that means to your setting, and the stories you tell within it.

For example, are dragons sapient creatures, or are they merely large and dangerous animals? If the latter, then are dragonslayers a required profession to help deal with these territorial beasts the way you'd have game wardens or animal control officers? If dragons are intelligent creatures capable of thought and reason, though, then are there accords for negotiating with them? Do they form agreements with surrounding nations, or do they merely take what they want using their power? In either case, are dragons prized for their body parts once they're slain? Because if their blood enchants swords that are quenched in it, or their scales are impenetrable to normal steel, or their teeth can cure disease when powdered, that will make them highly prized assets to poachers looking to make a profit off a dragon's corpse.

You can keep asking questions like this (Are dragons used as mounts by elite warriors? Incorporated into armies? Do they bond with particular species?) all day long. And there's no wrong answer to these questions... but you do need to have answers, and those answers could lead to more questions as the ripples spread outward.

And you need those answers in order for your setting to have verisimilitude.

As an example, say that your setting has a kind of quartz in it that can hold a charge from magic to act as a power or light source. If such an item exists, why are people still lighting their streets and homes with candles and torches? Is it because the mineral is rare, and thus wouldn't be used for that sort of thing? Perhaps. Because if it were common then it's likely it would be used at least in towns and cities near where wizards train their apprentices, or where sorcerers tend to be born. Even if it's not universal, its presence could be a sign of a town moving up in status, showing that they can afford to have a lamp-lighter's guild made up of apprentices and journeymen wizards.

This Applies To Damn Near Everything

Almost every aspect of a world is going to have implications like this. They won't always be center stage and of import to your current plot and story, but it's important to think about them and to consider what aspects of your world might mean if extrapolated on. From whether your kingdoms use paper money, to whether they have a banking system, to whether elves and orcs can have children with partners outside their species, it's important to think through all aspects of a setting in order to make sure your world has internal consistency for the reader.

And because sometimes you'll find that an idea gets way wilder than you expected it to... and it turns out to be a far bigger and more interesting addition to your story than you expected it to be!

Incidentally, if you haven't seen it yet, you might want to check out 5 Tips For Creating Fantasy Towns and Cities. It's something I put together that has helped solidify my process, and I figured it would be of use to other creators!

As For The World I'm Building... Well...

I've been hard at work on Sundara: Dawn of a New Age for months now, and every time a new release for it drops the setting gets just a little bit stranger! So whether you want to see cities atop mountains ruled by a cooperation of dragons, massive volcanic forges making crucible steel, metropolises cared for by armies of the living dead, and more, check out some of the Cities of Sundara installments below!

Seriously, give them a look for yourself!

- 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.

Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!

That's all for this week's Craft of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my cat noir novel Marked Territory, its sequel Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!

 

And to stay on top of all my latest news and releases, collected once a week, make sure you subscribe to The Literary Mercenary's mailing list. 

If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well!

Evil is Boring (And Your Story Deserves Better)

We've all seen this story before. It's the young idealist versus the Evil Empire in their snappy uniforms and insidious weapons of mass destruction. It's the empty waste of fire and filth that births monsters that fill the ranks of the Dark Army. It's the mummified husk of an ancient sorcerer who serves the Gods of Wickedness. From the Empire, to Mordor, to Mum-Ra, some of our most popular stories have a clear good guy, and a clear bad guy. Right versus wrong, good versus evil.

This week I wanted to talk about that. Because while there's nothing wrong with having two clear sides on an issue so your readers can figure out where the lines are drawn, this is a trope I think far too many of us lean on in our work. In short, the idea that our bad guys are evil... well, because they're Evil!

Well, our holy books explode with hellfire. So that's probably a bad sign, I guess...

As always, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my shiny content sent straight to your inbox! And if you have a little spare dosh lying around, consider becoming a Patreon patron so I can keep doing what I'm doing.

Evil As a Fact Feels Lazy

I blame a lot of things on Tolkien, but honestly he feels like the tip of the iceberg on this topic. From Christian scholars slanting and re-writing pagan mythologies so there was a clear good v. evil dynamic (look no further than the changes to Loki made by Sturlson), to the explosion of knightly tales in the Romantic period, a massive amount of our stories have this dynamic in place.

And what makes it boring is that this capital-E evil is a default. It's a placeholder for actual motivation and purpose held by our villains. And the more detailed and involved our heroes become, the more bland and boring Evil may seem. Because no matter how many skulls are on the warlord's armor, or how fearsome the demons they command are, it can leave the audience scratching their head and asking, "Okay, cool aesthetic... but why?"

Seriously... what are you getting out of this?

No one is evil for the sake of being evil. Not only that, but evil is not a universal constant across all peoples and cultures. Taken on a wide enough scale, the very idea of evil as a force becomes almost meaningless... and that can really bring down the story you're trying to tell.

Take one of the most basic versions of this concept; a knight in shining armor standing against a fearsome foe. Sure, you can just say, "Well, it's a dark army of the undead ruled over by a necromancer who's going to kill everyone because they're evil," and just leave it at that. And there's definite stakes to that confrontation... but it's kind of like a burger with no condiments. You can eat it, and it might be a good experience, but you could make it so much better with a few added spices.

What does this necromancer hope to gain in their victory? Why did they join this conflict in the first place? Why have they chosen this particular method to achieve their goals instead of something else? If we don't have answers to this, then our villain is just some nebulous bad thing that our hero is opposing, and we never have to really think about their actions because hey, whatever the hero does has to be better than the army of the Horned King over here, right?

The Broader The Population, The Worse It Gets

Having an evil god, or a powerful evil enemy, is one thing. Having an entire evil nation, though, is where things can really start to fall apart. Because whether we're talking about a regime of fantasy fascists who bind devils to their service, or a nation of orcs that are seen as brutish, backward, and wicked, there will always be nuance in these populations. By not providing that nuance, though, you just have a big lump of people that are painted with a big brush, and we don't have to think about who they are, what they're doing, or what their place in the story is other than as plot-filler villains.

I'm a respected member of my community, you know.

This is something I've been tackling myself while working on my fantasy RPG setting Sundara: Dawn of a New Age, and I thought I'd offer some tips based on what's worked for me thus far.

As an example, Ironfire: City of Steel is a place that's built on forging Dragon Steel. That's the primary industry, and in the city's early days it was a target for a bandit army that wanted that valuable resource. This conflict escalated to violence, and the city employed several free companies of mercenaries to defend itself. This led to Ironfire becoming the center of the mercenary trade in the region, and it is the presence of so many freelances for hire that has kept the city safe from outward attack as it's grown.

There was no need for an evil, outside force there. No need to make the antagonists bloodthirsty cannibals dedicated to a dark god of murder. A simple economic interest (one side has a valuable resource, and the other wants to take it by violence) was more than enough to stir that conflict and cement the city into both the setting, and the reader's memory.

These are the kinds of conflicts I set up, planting the seed of the challenges unique to the different locations one might come across. In Moüd: City of Bones we have a city deep in the desert run by a guild of necromancers. The challenges are not liberating the city from the black-robed wizards who dabble in the dark arts, but finding relics buried beneath the city, and helping to keep the elements at bay so the living can still survive in this particularly harsh environment. In Silkgift: City of Sails we have a place whose primary industry is innovation and invention, but whose government provides food, shelter, and enrichment for all citizens. As such, industrial espionage, and attempts to sabotage creations that could upset the status quo beyond the city are far more common. And in Hoardreach: City of Wyrms we find a place where refugees and outcasts of every sort are taken under the wings of the Cooperation of 5 dragons. It's a place where there's friction, yes, but also where plotting and machinations of outside forces may try to sabotage this "monstrous" place before it grows too powerful.

Broad social ills can be a part of a given society. Whether it's exploitation of the lower class, human trafficking, chattel slavery, or similar awful institutions, we all know full well that these things can and do happen. Political systems based on fear and hatred, like fascist movements, are also something that can happen. However, it's important to examine the role of these elements in a society, to ask what affect these things have on the story, and to use them to put things into context. Don't just front-load a location or culture with these things so we don't question the actions of our hero who opposes these cultures. That's just cheap shock to code these cultures or nations as evil without having to use the word.

Don't Be Afraid To Ask Questions

To be clear, it's still very possible to have a conflict in a story where one side is clearly in the wrong. Whether it's a more powerful entity trying to force people off their land, one class of people exploiting another, purges over ethnic identity or religion, and so on, and so forth, these are all bad things. However, all it usually takes is a glimpse into the motivations of the antagonists to see the structure of these conflicts at play. It lets us see what our hero is fighting against, rather than just keeping the villains in the dark, as it were.

And, as always, this is your story. If you want to have light side v. dark side, there's nothing to say you can't just do that. Angels and devils, the whole nine yards, if that's the structure you want then it's your story.

All I'm suggesting is taking a moment to pause, and ask if that is the best frame for your conflict. Because if you decide to use it after careful consideration, more power to you! Just don't assume that it will automatically make your story better just because it's worked for other stories in the past.

Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!

That's all for this week's Craft of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my cat noir novel Marked Territory, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!

 

And to stay on top of all my latest news and releases, collected once a week, make sure you subscribe to The Literary Mercenary's mailing list. 

If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well!

A Cautionary Tale About Book Covers and Audience Reactions

Regular readers know that in addition to writing novels like my noir cat mystery Marked Territory, and short stories for collections like The Rejects, I also write a lot of supplements for tabletop roleplaying games. By the end of this month my name will officially be on a triple-digit number of these projects in one capacity or another, and these days I tend to have a good enough working relationship with most publishers I pen for that I can offer input and direction on projects I propose, or agree to work on.

Recently I've been developing my own fantasy RPG setting, and doing my best to get people to check it out through a series of smaller, bite-sized releases. And it has been through this that I have a piece of wisdom all authors should keep in mind. Namely that most people do not double-check a source for cover art, and if the art you have is more famous somewhere else (a common issue for those of us who use stock art for our book covers) then the conversation surrounding the cover is quickly going to eclipse the product itself... and in the worst possible way.

Before we get too deep into this issue, remember to subscribe to my weekly newsletter to stay up-to-date on all my latest releases! And for those who are interested in some of the lessons I've learned while making my own cities from the ground up, don't forget to check out 5 Tips For Creating Fantasy Towns and Cities!

The Conversation You Don't Want To Have About Your Cover

The idea behind Sundara: Dawn of a New Age is that the setting, as a whole, is about embracing progress in a world that's moving forward. Rather than a lot of fantasy that latches onto a Tolkien-esque longing for a lost, mythic time, Sundara is about finding new methods, new resources, and new solutions to the problems people are facing.

As an example, Moüd was a ruined, dead city that had been abandoned due to an unspecified cataclysm that has left the city shunned, and actively dangerous to the living. It was only through the efforts of an entire guild of necromancers that the remnants of this damage were pushed back, and contained. Despite being abandoned for so long, the City of Bones was in an advantageous location for trade, if people could cross the dead wastes of the desert. Normal beasts of burden often couldn't, but the undead beasts raised by the Silver Wraiths could. As such the necropolis has become a metropolis once more, and is a center of trade, arcane learning, and delves into the history that lies beneath, waiting to be discovered.

The guide is available in Pathfinder 1st Edition format, as well as a Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition format, and it has a pretty baller cover if I do say so.

Seriously... look at how pretty that is!

If you're not a big fan of RPGs, then you've probably never seen that gorgeous painting before. However, if you are part of that scene then you might be scratching your head and wondering, "Hey, why does your game have the cover art from Godbound on it?"

The answer to this question is because the creators of the game, Sine Nomine Publishing, put out the Godbound art pack for free, usable for anyone who needs bitching artwork for their games, books and other projects. And because my publisher is on something of a shoestring budget (and I don't have a massive fan base of thousands eager to eat up everything I release to justify paying an artist for individually-commissioned work), using these resources seemed like something of a godsend (pun very much intended).

And it worked like a charm for the first installment, Ironfire: The City of Steel (also available for Pathfinder or Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition).

It still makes me smile looking at this.

While the first cover sailed by mostly unremarked on (it's from the same art pack, but didn't feature anywhere nearly as prominently in the original game), the second one generated a constant string of throat clearing, less-than-helpful comments, subtle accusations of plagiarism and art theft, and not-so-subtle accusations of the same in a lot of groups and forums.

On the one hand, you could argue there's no such thing as bad publicity, and every comment made or accusation flung still boosted the signal. While there is some truth to that, the bigger issue I ran into was that the conversation quickly moved from, "Why is this product a good one to add to my gaming shelf?" to "Are you a thief, or an idiot?" And even when I did correct people on their misconceptions (some of whom apologized once I shared the link and showed my receipts), there was no getting the conversation back on track after that. Once I explained where the art assets had come from, and that I was using them with permission rather than stealing another, more successful game's art, the conversation just died.

A Lesson Learned

I can't say at this point whether or not the negative aspects of this decision outweighed the positive ones. Because while there was a lot of outrage from people who didn't check to make sure the art was free to use, the Godbound pack did allow my publisher to create a smooth, universal look to the series in order to make them feel connected. And while the number of comments and arguments did boost the signal, that doesn't seem to have done anything for the bottom line when it comes to sales.

However, there is something I didn't mention in Looking For Cover Art For Your Book? Try Drive Thru RPG! that I feel applies to all of us who use stock art for our projects. In short, even if you think you have the perfect image for your project, take a moment to do a reverse-image search. Consider how many other folks have used that art, and what the reaction to your use is likely to be (as well as what sort of overlap you can realistically expect from your target audience, and the audience who may be more familiar with it).

You might decide to use it anyway... but it's something to consider. Especially if you want to avoid the headache of explaining something two dozen times a day while you're just trying to do a bit of promotion.

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That's all for this week's Business of Writing! If you'd like to see more of my work, take a look at my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my noir thriller Marked Territory, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife as well as my recent collection The Rejects!

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