RPG-a-Day #12: Loss

 What tragic loss and circumstance put the character on the path to being a PC adventurer? Roll 1d20 gainst the table below during character creation. (See the end of the post for additional guidance.)

20 Tragic Backstory Events

Roll a d20 to determine a tragic event from your character's past.

1: The Plague - A mysterious plague swept through your hometown, killing your entire family while you were away. You returned to find empty houses and mass graves. 

Motivation: Find a cure for similar diseases, seek revenge on those who caused it, or carry survivor's guilt. 

Hook: Medical knowledge, fear of illness, protective of communities.

2: Branded Heretic - The religious order or organization you served branded you as a heretic and burned your lifetime of work. You were cast out and marked for death. 

Motivation: Prove your innocence, expose corruption, or find a new purpose. 

Hook: Distrust of institutions, hidden identity, theological knowledge.

3: Enslaved After War - Your village was conquered in war and you were sold into slavery. You spent years in chains before managing to escape. 

Motivation: Free other slaves, seek revenge on captors, or rebuild what was lost. 

Hook: Physical scars, combat skills, knowledge of criminal networks.

4: Cursed Bloodline - Your family is cursed to slowly wither and die—a magical hex placed by a powerful enemy generations ago. You're the last survivor. 

Motivation: Break the curse, find the one who cast it, or ensure your family is remembered. 

Hook: Magical research, time pressure, fear of attachment.

5: Witnessed Assassination - You witnessed the assassination of someone you loved deeply. The killers got away, and nobody believes your account of what happened. 

Motivation: Hunt down the killers, uncover the conspiracy, or protect others from similar fates. 

Hook: Investigative skills, paranoia, political knowledge.

6: Accidental Death - A spell, trap, or accident you caused killed your closest friend. Nobody holds you responsible, but you'll never forgive yourself. 

Motivation: Seek redemption, master your abilities to prevent future accidents, or punish yourself through dangerous quests. 

Hook: Extreme caution, self-destructive tendencies, technical expertise.

7: Planar Rifting - A planar rift opened in your hometown, swallowing half the city and everyone you knew. You were somehow spared, though you don't know why. 

Motivation: Understand why you survived, prevent future rifts, or find a way to reach those lost. 

Hook: Planar knowledge, survivor's guilt, strange magical affinity.

8: Falsely Imprisoned - You were framed for a crime you didn't commit. You spent years in a brutal prison before escaping or being exonerated. 

Motivation: Clear your name, find who framed you, or reform the justice system. 

Hook: Prison contacts, survival skills, distrust of authority.

9: Bound Servitude - Through debt, magic, or blackmail, you were bound into servitude to a tyrant or dark master for many years. 

Motivation: Ensure others don't suffer the same fate, seek revenge, or break free from lingering control.

 Hook: Insider knowledge of villain's operations, magical binding scars, loyalty issues.

10: Hometown Destroyed - Invaders, a natural disaster, or a cataclysm destroyed your hometown entirely. You were one of few survivors and had to flee with nothing. 

Motivation: Rebuild elsewhere, prevent similar destruction, or find other survivors. 

Hook: Refugee status, survival skills, knowledge of the disaster.

11: Disfiguring Magic - A magical accident or curse left you physically disfigured and marked. You're shunned by former friends and community. 

Motivation: Find a cure, prove your worth despite appearance, or embrace your new identity. 

Hook: Magical scarring, social outcast status, empathy for the marginalized.

12: Betrayed by Love - Someone you trusted completely—a partner, sibling, or mentor—betrayed you for power, money, or revenge, destroying your life in the process. 

Motivation: Confront the betrayer, rebuild trust in others, or never be vulnerable again. 

Hook: Trust issues, knowledge of betrayer's plans, emotional walls.

13: Forced to Kill - You were forced to kill an innocent person or someone you loved to save yourself or others. The moral weight never left you. 

Motivation: Atone for the act, ensure it wasn't in vain, or find peace with impossible choices. 

Hook: Moral complexity, combat trauma, protective instincts.

14: Family Torn Apart - Your family was torn apart—separated by slavery, war, or abduction. You've spent years searching for them with no success. 

Motivation: Reunite your family, help others find lost loved ones, or accept they're gone. 

Hook: Investigation skills, wide travel experience, hope against odds.

15: Dragon's Devastation - A dragon or other great beast attacked and destroyed your community. You watched it burn and were powerless to stop it. 

Motivation: Slay the beast, become strong enough to face such threats, or warn others. 

Hook: Knowledge of monsters, feelings of powerlessness, drive to become stronger.

16: Possessed by Darkness - You were possessed by a demon, spirit, or dark god. While you managed to expel it, the experience left psychological and physical scars. 

Motivation: Prevent others from possession, hunt the entity that took you, or understand what happened. 

Hook: Occult knowledge, lingering dark urges, exorcism experience.

17: Hunted Fugitive - You were falsely accused of a heinous crime and hunted as a criminal. You've been fleeing from authorities for years. 

Motivation: Clear your name, find the real culprit, or start a new life in hiding. 

Hook: Evasion skills, false identities, knowledge of law enforcement.

18: Cult Survivor - You were born and raised in a dangerous cult. After years of indoctrination and abuse, you managed to escape and break free. 

Motivation: Dismantle the cult, deprogram others, or simply live freely for the first time. 

Hook: Cult secrets, psychological trauma, difficulty with normal social interactions.

19: Shattered Faith - A tragedy shattered your faith in your god, order, or ideology. You witnessed something so contradictory to your beliefs that you can never unsee it. 

Motivation: Find new meaning, expose the truth about your former faith, or fill the spiritual void. 

Hook: Religious knowledge, existential questions, crisis of purpose.

20: Apocalyptic Omen - You were the sole survivor of a prophetic vision or apocalyptic event. You've been marked or changed by the experience in ways you're still discovering. 

Motivation: Prevent the prophecy, understand your role, or prepare others for what's coming. 

Hook: Prophetic dreams, strange powers, sense of destiny or doom.


Using This Table:

Roll during character creation or work with your DM to choose an appropriate tragedy

Modify details to fit your character's race, class, and campaign setting

Consider how much time has passed since the event


Discuss with your DM how this tragedy might connect to the campaign's story

RPG-a-Day #11: Tact

"You've heard the joke 'Always be tactful with dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup'? There's more truth there than most people realize, especially those who discover a shapeshifted dragon's true nature r name and try to leverage them in some fashion. If you try this, you will die. Period. But if you show proper deference and otherwise demonstrate how you aren't a threat to the dragon or its agenda, you might live and be brought into a very limited inner circle. Some of my best human friends have turned out to be the ones who stumbled on my true nature. One of them even encouraged me to write a handbook to help humans who end up knowing an awkward and deadly truth."

--Brigid the Red, a dragon living secretly among humanity

DEALING WITH DRAGONS:

A Practical Guide to Approaching 

Draconic Entities in Humanoid Form

(Part One)

An Instructive Text for Adventurers of All Experience Levels, By Brigid the Red

Introduction: The Hidden Threat

You've heard the stories. Dragons hoarding treasure in mountain lairs, terrorizing villages, demanding tribute from terrified kingdoms. What the bards don't tell you is that some of the most powerful dragons you'll ever encounter won't be in their lairs at all. They'll be sitting across from you at a negotiating table. Serving you wine at a noble's banquet. Signing trade contracts in a merchant's office. Adjudicating disputes as a magistrate.
   Red, white, blue, green, silver, and gold dragons—the most commonly encountered true dragons—possess innate shapeshifting abilities that allow them to assume humanoid form with perfect ease. Many choose to live among humans, elves, and other civilized races for decades or even centuries, pursuing agendas that range from accumulating wealth and political power to protecting the innocent from evil. The dragon you meet in human form is no less dangerous than one in its true shape; in fact, it may be more so, because you won't see it coming.
   Most adventurers never realize they've encountered a dragon in disguise. Those who do recognize the signs face a critical decision: how do you behave once you know what you're dealing with? This manual provides tactical guidance for that exact situation. Your life may depend on getting it right.
Recognizing Dragons in Humanoid Form
   Identifying a dragon in humanoid form requires keen observation, magical awareness, and experience. Dragons are masters of disguise, but they cannot completely suppress their true nature.
   Physical Tells (Spot Check, DC 20-25): Look for subtle inconsistencies. Eyes that reflect light like a cat's. Fingernails that seem unusually thick or slightly translucent, like claws filed down. Skin that's too perfect, too smooth, or has an almost imperceptible scaled texture in certain light. Hair color that matches their draconic hue—a "human" with metallic silver hair and pale skin might be a silver dragon; someone with unusual reddish or coppery tones could be a red. Dragons often unconsciously mirror their true coloration.
   Body language provides clues. Dragons move with predatory grace that seems slightly wrong for a humanoid frame. They may unconsciously position themselves to dominate a room, taking the highest seat or standing where they can observe all exits. White dragons, being the least socially oriented, often struggle most with humanoid mannerisms and may seem crude or socially awkward.
   Magical Signatures (Detect Magic, Arcane Sight): A dragon in humanoid form radiates a powerful magical aura. Detect magic reveals an overwhelming aura of transmutation magic (from their shapechanging). Arcane sight or true seeing penetrates the disguise entirely, revealing their true form. However, casting divination magic at someone in polite society is considered deeply offensive—equivalent to drawing a weapon. If you must verify, do so subtly or from a distance.
   Behavioral Signs (Sense Motive, DC 18-22): Dragons cannot fully suppress their personalities. A red dragon in human form still exhibits arrogance and expects deference. A gold dragon radiates authority and righteousness. Green dragons are manipulative conversationalists who steer discussions with unnatural skill. Blues are militaristically precise. Silvers show unusual concern for justice and the welfare of common folk.
   Knowledge Checks (Knowledge [arcana] or [nature], DC 20): If you suspect you're dealing with a dragon, a successful check recalls information about that dragon type's behavior, alignment, and typical motivations. This knowledge is critical for determining your approach.
   Beware: If a dragon realizes you've identified them, their reaction depends on their alignment and current agenda. Good dragons may be relieved or concerned. Evil dragons may see you as a threat to be eliminated. Never let your recognition show on your face. Master your body language. A failed Bluff check (opposed by their Sense Motive, which carries substantial bonuses) could be fatal.

Can you spot the dragon?

 

Universal Draconic Protocol and Etiquette

Certain protocols apply to all dragons regardless of type or alignment. Violating these principles can turn even a neutral encounter deadly.
   Never Lie to a Dragon: Dragons have centuries of experience reading humanoids. Their Sense Motive bonuses are extraordinary, and many have magical abilities that detect deception. Even if you succeed in lying, the attempt itself is often more offensive than the truth would have been. Dragons value honesty—even evil dragons prefer honest enemies to dishonest allies.
   Honor All Agreements Absolutely: Dragons remember everything. If you make a promise to a dragon, fulfill it exactly as stated. If circumstances make that impossible, approach the dragon immediately to renegotiate. Breaking your word to a dragon marks you as untrustworthy, and that reputation will follow you. Dragons talk to each other, and they never forget.
   Respect Their Intelligence: Dragons are among the most intelligent creatures in existence. Don't attempt to manipulate them with obvious tricks or treat them as if they're stupid. Even white dragons, the least intelligent, are still smarter than most humans. Assume the dragon is aware of more than they're revealing.
   Never Threaten a Dragon: This should be obvious, but adventurers sometimes forget themselves. Even if you're powerful, even if you have allies, never threaten a dragon unless you're prepared to fight to the death immediately. Dragons respond to threats with overwhelming force. If you must establish boundaries, do so respectfully: "I cannot agree to that term" rather than "If you try that, you'll regret it."
   The Moment of Revelation: If you decide to reveal that you know what they are, choose your moment carefully. Approach privately, not in front of others who don't know. Begin with respect: "I believe I understand who you truly are, and I want to assure you that your secret is safe with me." Then clearly state your intentions. This moment determines whether you become an ally, a neutral party, or a target.
   Professional Courtesy: Treat dragons with the same tactful courtesy you'd show any powerful noble or official—because that's what they are. Use appropriate titles, maintain respectful body language, and avoid casual familiarity unless they explicitly invite it. Dragons appreciate proper etiquette.
   Exit Strategies: Always have a plan for leaving the encounter. Know where the exits are. Have escape magic prepared (teleportation, invisibility, dimension door). If you're meeting a dragon deliberately, tell allies where you're going and establish a check-in time. Dragons respect caution—it shows intelligence.

--To Be Continued and Concluded in a Future Post

RPG-a-Day #10: Secrets

 Why is the player character the weirdo that he is? Why is he driven to do the heroic (or just destructive) things that he does? If the player doesn't have an answer to that question, the following random tables can be used with 1d8 to determine what dark secret the character is harboring that has shaped his life.

The GM can also use these tables to add color and background to NPCs. Just like PCs can be shaped by secrets, so can NPCs--perhaps even more so.

Regardless, the GM can use the secrets of NPCs and PCs alike to fuel adventures.

1-2. PERSONAL SECRETS

1. The Stolen Life - You assumed the identity of someone who died years ago, and their family still believes you are their lost loved one. Every day you live their life is another day of elaborate deception.

2. The Coward's Mark - You fled from battle while your comrades died, and the medal of valor you wear was taken from a corpse. The nightmares never stop, and you see their faces in every crowd.

3. The Forbidden Appetite - You suffer from an unnatural hunger that can only be satisfied by consuming something deeply taboo. You've managed to hide it so far, but the cravings are getting stronger.

4. The Lost Years - There's a five-year gap in your memory that you cannot account for, and sometimes you find scars, tattoos, or skills you don't remember acquiring. People occasionally recognize you from places you've never been.

5. The Noble Bastard - You are the illegitimate child of royalty or high nobility, and your existence could destabilize an entire kingdom. Your mother made you swear never to reveal the truth, even as you watch your half-siblings inherit what should be partly yours.

6. The Mercy Killing - You ended the life of someone you loved to spare them from unbearable suffering. It was an act of compassion, but the law would call it murder, and you're not sure they would be wrong.

7. The Changed Face - Your current appearance is the result of powerful magic or surgery, and you're hiding from someone who knew your original face. The transformation cost you more than just your appearance—you left behind everyone who ever loved you.

8. The Inherited Madness - A hereditary insanity runs in your bloodline, and you've begun experiencing the early symptoms. You've seen what the final stages look like, and you're terrified of becoming that.

 

3-4. SUPERNATURAL & MAGICAL SECRETS

1. The Demon's Bargain - You made a pact with a dark entity, and you're paying the price in installments. The final payment is coming due soon, and it's going to cost you something irreplaceable.

2. The Curse Bearer - You're cursed, and the curse spreads to those who get close to you. Everyone you've ever loved has suffered because of it, which is why you keep everyone at arm's length now.

3. The Stolen Magic - Your magical powers aren't truly yours—you stole them from someone else, siphoning their abilities through a forbidden ritual. They're still alive somewhere, powerless because of what you did.

4. The Possessed - You share your body with another consciousness—a spirit, demon, or fragment of someone else's soul. Sometimes it takes control, and you wake up with no memory of what you've done.

5. The Lich's Phylactery - You're unknowingly carrying or protecting the phylactery of a powerful lich. The object is precious to you for sentimental reasons, and you have no idea it's keeping an ancient evil alive.

6. The Fae-Touched - You were stolen by the fae as a child and only recently escaped back to the mortal world. Time moved differently there—you've been gone for decades, but you've barely aged, and everyone you knew is dead or elderly.

7. The Necromantic Secret - Someone close to you died, and you brought them back through necromancy. They seem normal, but you're not sure how much of the original person remains, and the magic requires regular maintenance.

8. The Divine Abandonment - You were once chosen by a god, but they've withdrawn their favor, and you're hiding the loss of your powers. You're faking miracles and divine connection, terrified that your followers will discover the truth.

5-6. CRIMINAL SECRETS

1. The Perfect Crime - You committed a crime so perfectly that someone else was convicted and executed for it. You've tried to confess anonymously, but no one believes the real culprit would come forward.

2. The Smuggler's Route - You know secret passages and routes used by smugglers, and you've been taking bribes to keep quiet. The contraband flowing through includes things far worse than you initially agreed to ignore.

3. The Embezzler - You've been stealing from your organization, temple, or guild for years through clever accounting. The amount is now so large that discovery would mean execution, but you can't stop without raising suspicion.

4. The Slaver's Shame - You were involved in the slave trade, either as a trader, catcher, or facilitator. You've left that life behind, but you know where the secret slave markets are, and some of your victims might still be alive.

5. The Arsonist's Match - You burned down a building, and people died in the fire. It might have been an accident, or revenge, or covering up another crime, but you've never told anyone the truth.

6. The Forger's Art - You're a master forger, and half the "authentic" documents, artworks, or relics in circulation are your creations. Some of them have changed the course of history or law.

7. The Assassin's Ledger - You've killed for money, and you keep a secret record of every contract. The ledger contains names that would shock the world—nobles, heroes, and leaders whose deaths were never suspected as murder.

8. The Fence's Network - You're connected to the criminal underworld as a fence or information broker. You know where stolen goods end up, who's planning what crime, and you profit from staying neutral while evil flourishes.

7-8. SCANDALS & SHAME

1. The Plagiarist - Your famous work—book, invention, spell, or discovery—was actually stolen from someone else's research. You're celebrated as a genius, but you're a fraud who can't replicate your own "achievement."

2. The Addiction - You're addicted to a substance, activity, or magical effect that would horrify those who respect you. You've done increasingly degrading things to feed the addiction, and you're losing control.

3. The Coward's Reputation - You're famous for a heroic act you didn't actually perform. You were there, but someone else did the brave thing, and circumstances made everyone believe it was you.

4. The Sexual Scandal - You've engaged in a sexual relationship or activity that violates the moral codes of your society, religion, or organization. Discovery would mean exile, execution, or complete social destruction.

5. The Failed Vows - You took sacred vows—of celibacy, poverty, honesty, or service—and you've broken every single one. You still wear the robes and accept the reverence, but you're a hypocrite.

6. The Bought Degree - Your credentials, rank, or title were purchased rather than earned. You don't actually have the knowledge or skills your position requires, and you're constantly afraid of being exposed as incompetent.

7. The Bastard's Secret - You're not actually the biological child of your supposed parents, and your entire inheritance, title, or position is based on a lie. Someone knows the truth and could destroy you with a single revelation.

8. The Humiliating Past - Before your current respectable life, you did something deeply humiliating for survival—degrading work, shameful performances, or selling yourself. Someone from that past has recognized you.

RPG-a-Day #9: Privilege

This material was cut from Deception, a just-released OGL Modern release from NUELOW Games. It was cut because the editor felt it explained the self-evident. Here's hoping you'll find it interesting enough to check out the product it was cut from.

Basically, Deception contains feats and talent trees for characters belonging to the privileged elite in our society--or those with the skills and daring to pass themselves off as belonging among them. 

Feat Synergies

The true power of this supplement emerges when you combine feats and talents strategically. Individual feats provide solid mechanical benefits, but layering them creates exponential advantages—and exponential risk. Below are the most potent synergies, along with guidance on how they function mechanically.


Synergy 1: False Credentials +Web of Lies
The Combination: False Credentials lets you create forged documents and maintain a false identity. Web of Lies prevents you from contradicting yourself across multiple narratives. Together, they create an identity so seamless that even intensive investigation struggles to find inconsistencies.

How It Works: When you establish a false identity using False Credentials, you gain mechanical protection against Sense Motive checks and investigation attempts targeting inconsistencies in your cover story. Web of Lies ensures that every detail you've established—your background, your motivations, your connections—remains internally consistent across all interactions. If someone cross-references your story with a third party, the details align perfectly.

Mechanical Effect: Gain a +4 bonus to all Bluff checks made to maintain your false identity. Additionally, investigators must succeed on a Gather Information check (DC 20 + your ranks in Bluff) to find any contradictions in your cover story, even if they interview multiple people who've interacted with your false identity.

In Practice: A character creates a false identity as a mid-level insurance adjuster. They forge credentials, establish a work history, and create a believable personal background. When a rival becomes suspicious and begins investigating, they interview the character's "former colleagues" and "previous employers"—all of whom are either fabricated contacts or people the character has already briefed. Every detail aligns. The investigation hits a wall because there's nothing to find. The false identity is airtight.



Synergy 2: Blackmail Material + Puppet Master Talent
The Combination: Blackmail Material gives you leverage over individuals. Puppet Master allows you to remotely manipulate institutions through layers of control. Combined, you can use blackmailed individuals as nodes in a larger network of institutional influence.

How It Works: When you possess blackmail material on someone with institutional access or authority, you can activate them as an asset within your Puppet Master network. They become a remote control point for institutional decisions. Unlike normal Puppet Master assets (which require ongoing relationship maintenance), blackmailed assets remain loyal through coercion rather than favor. They cannot refuse your requests without risking exposure.

Mechanical Effect: Blackmailed individuals can be used as Puppet Master assets without consuming your daily asset activation limit. Additionally, when you activate a blackmailed asset to perform an institutional action, you gain a +2 bonus to the relevant check, and the asset cannot fail or refuse the request (though they may perform it poorly if they're actively hostile).

In Practice: A character has blackmail material on a city councilman—evidence of embezzlement. They activate him as a Puppet Master asset to redirect a zoning investigation away from a warehouse the character controls. The councilman, terrified of exposure, uses his institutional authority to bury the investigation. When another city official becomes suspicious, the character activates a second blackmailed asset—a police captain with a gambling problem—to misdirect the inquiry. Within weeks, the character has built a cascading network of coerced institutional control, each node reinforcing the others.

Synergy 3: Untouchable + Any Deception Feat
The Combination: Untouchable provides mechanical protection from investigation and evidence. When layered with any other deception feat, it becomes insurance that protects your other schemes from unraveling.

How It Works: Untouchable's core benefit is that you gain a +4 bonus to all checks made to avoid investigation and a +2 bonus to all checks made to misdirect blame. When you combine this with other deception feats, you're essentially creating redundant layers of protection. If your False Credentials are discovered, Untouchable helps you misdirect blame. If your Blackmail Material is exposed, Untouchable protects you from the fallout.

Mechanical Effect: When you use Untouchable in conjunction with another deception feat, you can apply Untouchable's bonuses to checks made to protect that feat's benefits. For example, if someone discovers your false credentials, you can use Untouchable to misdirect blame or create plausible deniability. Additionally, once per session, you can retroactively apply Untouchable's protection to a deception scheme that's beginning to unravel, gaining a second chance to avoid investigation.

In Practice: A character's Web of Lies begins to crack when someone notices a contradiction in their cover story. Normally, this would trigger an investigation. But the character activates Untouchable, using its misdirection benefits to suggest that the person who noticed the contradiction is mistaken or deliberately spreading false information. The investigation never materializes. The character's scheme remains intact.



Synergy 4: Silver Tongue + Information Broker Talent
The Combination: Silver Tongue provides bonuses to Bluff and Diplomacy checks. Information Broker allows you to gather, trade, and weaponize intelligence. Together, they make you exceptionally skilled at extracting information from targets.

How It Works: When you use Silver Tongue to build rapport with a target, you gain a +3 bonus to Bluff and Diplomacy checks. Information Broker's core benefit is that you can use Diplomacy checks to extract information that would normally require Gather Information or Investigation checks. Combined, you can charm information out of people who would normally refuse to talk.

Mechanical Effect: When using Silver Tongue in conjunction with Information Broker, you gain a +5 bonus to Diplomacy checks made to extract information. Additionally, targets must succeed on a Will save (DC 15 + your Charisma modifier) to resist sharing information with you, even if they're suspicious of your motives. If they fail, they provide the information you're seeking, though they may realize afterward that they've been manipulated.

In Practice: A character needs to know about a rival's financial situation. They use Silver Tongue to build rapport with the rival's accountant at a social event, then smoothly transition into asking about the rival's recent business dealings. The accountant, charmed and relaxed, shares details they normally wouldn't discuss. By the end of the conversation, the character has extracted sensitive financial information without the accountant realizing they've been manipulated.



Synergy 5: Misdirection + Information Broker Talent
The Combination: Misdirection lets you redirect attention away from suspicious details and toward false leads. Information Broker allows you to gather and weaponize intelligence. Together, they let you steer investigations in directions that benefit you.

How It Works: When you use Misdirection to redirect scrutiny, you're essentially creating a false lead for investigators to follow. Information Broker allows you to plant that false lead strategically, ensuring that investigators waste time chasing information you've deliberately seeded. This creates a feedback loop where the investigation moves further away from the truth with each step.

Mechanical Effect: When using Misdirection in conjunction with Information Broker, you can plant false information into your Information Broker network, ensuring that investigators who tap into that network receive misleading leads. Investigators must succeed on a Sense Motive check (DC 18 + your ranks in Bluff) to recognize that the information is deliberately planted. Additionally, each false lead you plant adds +1 to the DC of future investigation checks targeting your actual schemes (maximum +5).

In Practice: A character's scheme is beginning to attract investigative attention. They use Misdirection to create a false lead suggesting that a rival is responsible for the scheme. They then use their Information Broker network to seed this false lead into the investigation—a journalist contact publishes a speculative article, a police informant mentions the rival's involvement, a data analyst "discovers" financial connections between the rival and the scheme. The investigation pivots toward the rival. By the time anyone realizes the lead was false, the character has had weeks to cover their tracks.

 

RPG-a-Day #8: Resolve

According to at least one online source "if AI is used, [the product] is completely shunned by a vast proportion of gamers."

At NUELOW Games, we've been using AI to generate illustrations in our releases for approaching two years, Yet, somehow, a "vast proportion" of our audience hasn't "completely shunned" us. In fact, one of our most-heavily AI-illustrated products, Chainmail Bikinis, was an immediate best-seller. Either NUELOW's core audience are less prone to hysterical fits than a "vast proportion of gamers", or they are a cut above that alleged mass of silly people... or maybe products featuring AI aren't "shunned" as is claimed.

"But, but, Miller," I imagine someone out there saying, "you're dishonest and you've not told your audience about the AI Slop in your products! If you had, you BET they'd shun you!"

 

No, it seems that they wouldn't.

The fact is that we've been very open about the use of AI in our products. It's right there on the credits page of every release for the past year or two (well, except for the ones that didn't feature any AI illustrations--and the recent release where the editor left out the main credit line entirely). Whether it's just the cover and all interior illustrations are from the vast clipart archive we're sitting on, or it's all AI, the credits page have contained some from of this statement: "Illustrations by Karl M. (using tools at OpenArt.ai and Photoshop)." We've been open and transparent about our AI use since it graduated from being my favorite new toy to another tool in the kit.

Although I have to wonder: Did we miss the outrage that this same "vast proportion of gamers" must have shown when I was using Photoshop extensively to make covers and interior illustrations for releases in the ROLF! line? Where's the difference, if not? Weren't artists behind "harmed" in both cases? (The answer is, no, they were/art not.)

Right before I went all-in using AI in NUELOW Games releases, I was ghosted by two different artists who had initially agreed to draw covers for some releases. I can't fault them, as the pay offered by us is really low--when I jokingly say that our sales number in the dozens, I'm also being truthful. NUELOW Games is a passion project with every release happening because one or both of us think the idea behind is fun and/or interesting, or the subject is one that deserves more attention that we think it's gotten. That's been the motivation behind this endevour since it began 15 years ago, and it will continue to be just that. I am resolved to keep going as long as I can.

Do we like it when our releases sell well? Of course, since it puts gas in the cars and buys cat food and most of the time, all we have to go by to measure the success of a release are those sales numbers. We get very little feedback from our audience, so all we can look at is what's selling and what's not to determine if anyone likes a release as much as we do. 

So far, in 2025/2026 the only disappointment we've had sales-wise was the Last Laugh and Other Stories; it's a flop that stung because I am really fond of both Detective Sarai Chen and Stripper Magician Angie Hale, the stars of that anthology. Wouldn't everything be failing to even sell one dozen copies if we were being "completely shunned by a vast proportion of gamers"?

I am full aware that NUELOW Games operates in a tiny niche within a niche in the marketplace. Maybe that is protecting us from the outrage (OUTRAGE!) of that vast mob out here? We're too small to warrant their attention, and our audience is too smart to fall for group-think nonsense?

I am resolved to continue publishing what I (and my audience) find worthwhile. So far, so good, AI-generated illustrations or not... or maybe BECAUSE of AI-generated illustrations? It's a lot simpler to get what I need for a product when I can pick a "model" and type out and refine a "prompt" until I get what I'm looking for than to comb through the hundreds of thousands of stock photos and artwork in the NUELOW archives. And frankly, the generated illustrations can be spot-on instead of just generally applicable to the subject at hand.

RPG-a-Day #7: Mercy

Mercy

Minor Goddess

Domains: Mercy

As her name implies, Mercy is the personification of mercy, and she roams battlefields and areas of strife and disaster, either bestowing merciful deaths upon mortals who are beyond help but suffering from wounds or illness, or rewarding those heroes who show mercy to their foes by allowing them to surrender or otherwise quit the field of battle. She also bestows her blessing on heroes who help the helpless and defenseless during times of crisis.

   Mercy is worshipped in border territories and in areas prone to natural disasters. Shrines devoted to her are few and far between, as she numbers her followers in the tens of thousands. A secondary shrine devoted to her can be found in temples devoted to gods of Healing or Peace. She is also honored in connection with few gods of Death.

 

Gaining the Attention of Mercy

When the character shows mercy to a foe, the DM should roll 1d100. If the character is a worshipper of Mercy, on a roll of 1-20 the goddess rewards him or her with a +1 bonus to d20 rolls until the next sunrise. If the character is a non-worshipper, the bonus is gained on a roll of 1-5.

   If the being to whom mercy was granted chooses to attack instead of retreating, all attacks are against the merciful character suffer a -4 penalty to hit and damage, while the character who extended the mercy gains a +2 bonus to hit and damage against the attacker.

   If the merciful character attacks, unprovoked, the being upon whom mercy was bestowed, the character is immediately subjected to the goddess' curse, which inflicts a -4 penalty to all d20 rolls until he or she finds a way to appease the angered goddess.

Mercy's Clergy

Mercy's followers number around 30,000 worldwide, so her clergy is very small. They are either highly mobile--and often found as part of adventuring groups--or they tend the isolated shrines devoted in her honor.

   Her priests are expected to assist those in need, espcially those who have been injured in battle or displaced by natural disasters. Sometimes that assistance requires the merciful end to someone whose injuries or illness put them beyond the priest's ability to ease their pain and save their lives. This is why shrines to her are often found in temples devoted to Death gods, tucked away in side chamber.

   Her priests are granted all the standard class benefits outlined in the core rules, but as a minor goddess she is only able to grant one domain when it comes to the selection of bonus spells, the Mercy domain which is specific to her clergy. Another difference is that her clerics may choose between an orison or a spell of the appropriate level. The selected orison always fills the bonus 1st-level spell slot. The open bonus spot can then be filled with any domain spell of a lower level.

  

Mercy Clerical Spell Domain

Bonus Spells

1st Purify Food and Drink, Deathwatch 

2nd Virtue, Death Knell

3rd Detect Poison, Cure Serious Wounds

4th Cure Minor Wounds, Neutralize Poison

5th Create Water, Mark of Justice

6th Mending, Heal

7th Detect Magic, Destruction

8th Light, Mass Cure Critical Wounds

9th Resistance, Mass Heal

RPG-a-Day #6: Reach

Over the past many years, a d20 Superpowers System has been developing, beginning with this post, continuing in other posts and published NUELOW Games releases, and with the feat below being the latest installment.

Art by Martin Filchock

ELONGATE [Minor Power]
You can elongate your body and/or limbs to extend your reach. You can extend your limbs to make any attack within 15 feet a melee attack. “Snapping back” to your normal shape is a free action.
   Once elongated, you can make melee attacks within your new reach as a standard action. If you can’t accurately sense your target (you’re elongating around a corner, for example), apply the rules for concealment. In addition, Elongation allows you to wrap up and entangle an opponent within the elongation range (+2 to grappling checks).

ELONGATE TALENTS

Unlike most Superpower talents, not just any Minor Power feat is required to access this tree. The character must have the Elongate feat first.

   Elongate I: You can now stretch your limbs up to 45ft, making melee strikes up to that distance. You can also stretch your entire body to increase your size by +1 category.

   Prerequisite: Elongate feat

   Elongate II: You can now stretch your limbs up to 70ft, making melee strikes up to that distance. You can also stretch your entire body to increase your size by +1 category.

   Prerequisite: Elongate I talent

   Elongate III: You can now stretch your limbs up to 100ft, making melee strikes up to that distance. You can also stretch your entire body to increase your size by +1 category.

   Prerequisite: Elongate II talent

   Elongate IV: You can now stretch your limbs up to 150ft, making melee strikes up to that distance. You can also stretch your entire body to increase your size by +1 category.

   Prerequisite: Elongate III talent