Neal Litherland
Bio
Neal Litherland is an author, freelance blogger, and RPG designer. A regular on the Chicago convention circuit, he works in a variety of genres.
Blog: Improved Initiative and The Literary Mercenary
Stories (338)
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Where The Red Flowers Bloom
Tanaka ran from the sounds of gunfire, his steps splashing through puddles of stagnant water and fresh blood. The broken tiles were slick beneath his boots, though, and he went down in a heap. Pain raced up his leg, and he clamped a hand over his mouth to stifle a scream. For a moment the world went gray, and the sweat running down his cheeks felt cold. The world tried to fall away from him. He gritted his teeth, and focused on his breathing. If he passed out now he was going to die… the only question was whether he would wake up before a bullet found him.
By Neal Litherland2 years ago in Fiction
Adventuring as a Mid-Life Crisis
A heavyset man in boiled leather armor dismounted from what looked like a hard-shoed plow horse, and approached the seneschal's table. The man didn't look like much at a glance. He was tall and broad-shouldered, it was true, but his wide middle looked more at-home behind the bar of a tavern, and what hair he had left was starting to go gray. The sword at his side was old, and dust still clung to the grooves of the hand guard, but he seemed familiar enough with it.
By Neal Litherland2 years ago in Gamers
Name, Rank, and Serial Number in Werewolf: The Apocalypse
The garou in Werewolf: The Apocalypse have a lot of customs and traditions, many of which go back for thousands of years, and are specific to particular tribes, camps, and so forth. While I've played a variety of chronicles in this particular game in both the tabletop and in LARP settings, though, there is one, particular tradition (a formality, really) that I feel gets overdone to the point that it becomes a rote reflex. And doing that, I think, reduces it to just another game mechanic rather than actually marking events as special, or noteworthy.
By Neal Litherland2 years ago in Gamers
Vehicular Combat is Always an Option
There are certain sayings that have become associated with me over the years as a player. While my most infamous is, "It is always better to do the thing," perhaps the most infamous line most players and Game Masters associate with me is, "Vehicular combat is always an option!"
By Neal Litherland2 years ago in Gamers
The Holy Voice
The people sheltering in this place were huddled together against the darkness outside. The wind moaned through the eaves, but even over the wind they could hear the distant, bellowed orders of warriors on the march, and battle cries being shouted. They were drawing closer. The people clutched their farming tools and old, ill-cared-for weapons, looking for strength in the steel, but finding none.
By Neal Litherland2 years ago in Gamers
The 5 Maddening Monks You Meet During Your Gaming Career
Monks are, perhaps, one of the most controversial classes in fantasy TTRPGs. Ignoring all of the arguments about theme and genre, though, the monk class has also picked up its share of frustrating character archetypes that can taint this choice in the minds of many players who've had to share a table with them.
By Neal Litherland2 years ago in Gamers
The Directed Downtime Action System
I've been planning on running a Changeling: The Lost LARP since just before the pandemic hit, so I've had a lot of time to plan things out, and to make tweaks and changes to the usual live action format for a New World of Darkness game. However, it was pointed out by some of my players that the experience point earnings for a LARP (especially one that, at time of writing, only meets once per month) was going to leave characters on a very slow growth track.
By Neal Litherland2 years ago in Gamers
The Cat Druid Viking
Ragnar sat on one of the oar benches, slowly dragging his whetstone over the blade of his spear. The full moon shone down on the ship, but he edged his weapon more with his ears and his fingertips than with his eyes. What had started as a rough growl had softened to a low purr as nicks and scrapes were worn away, leaving his weapon ready for the next battle.
By Neal Litherland3 years ago in Gamers
5 Real Underground Cities To Inspire Your TTRPG Campaign
Underground cities are one of the most common tropes of fantasy and science fiction alike. Whether it's cavernous vaults inhabited by hundreds of dwarves, or a city carved like a hive that uses the natural structure of the stone to support the mass drivers that power a cyberpunk metropolis, these places fire the imagination, and provide a truly unique setting for us to tell some of our more fantastical stories. What makes them so unique is that places like this aren't real... or are they?
By Neal Litherland3 years ago in History
Walls Work (In Pathfinder, At Least)
The grimoires of wizards and witches, the bloodlines of sorcerers, the blessings of clerics, and the curses of oracles abound with spells of all kinds. From setting your foes ablaze, to calling lightning from the sky, to teleporting halfway across the world, or even bending the mind of one's enemies, magic is a potent tool.
By Neal Litherland3 years ago in Gamers
The Cursed
The rain came down from the night sky with a sound like a shushing mother, and night fog embraced the town. Windows were shuttered, and curtains pulled, so no one saw the lone figure that came in from the black forest. It was tall, and wide beneath a ragged black cloak. A sword hilt jutted up over one shoulder, but aside from the weapon it bore no pack, or gunna of any sort. It walked on, silent in the dark night, until it came to the one place in all the town that still had a lamp on; the Green Vale Inn.
By Neal Litherland3 years ago in Gamers
Find a Reason For Your Character to Get Involved
It is every Game Master's worst nightmare. You've spent hours compiling maps and monsters, figuring out NPCs and rewards, and arranging a scheduled meeting time so that all of your players are gathered around a table, or sharing the same virtual space. You set the scene, and then the plot hook dangles. A child has been kidnapped, a merchant caravan has been attacked, a monastery has been sacked... whatever the event in question, it's something that only people with the PCs' skills can handle.
By Neal Litherland3 years ago in Gamers
