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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5 Tips For Playing Better Samurai
Those who rule rarely take to the field to enforce their decrees with their own hands. There will be others who do this task for them; the hands who are trained to act in service to their lords. Warriors of resolve who will face down any odds if it means they serve their master's will, they are known by many names across different cultures and creeds.
By Neal Litherland3 years ago in Gamers
Broken Heroes
This tale first appeared at Cold Open Stories, and was written for Anthology X. The Dead Head launched itself up the tower wall, powerful front claws ripping at the stone and crumbling masonry as it tried to reach them. The thing was the size of a salvage hauler, its sides covered in the same ugly chitin as its eyeless skull, and every impact of its hammering legs shook the tower. When it was half a dozen feet away, a seam in the featureless face opened, revealing rows of razor teeth, and grasping tendrils dripping with corrosive mucous. As soon as he saw the opening Renn’s fingers tightened on the trigger, and a gleaming, steel spike arced through the air. Moonlight glistened along the shaft for just a moment before it vanished into the beast’s jaws. There was a wet, crunching sound, and for a moment the creature stopped moving. That moment was all gravity needed to curl its grip around the monstrous thing, sending it hurtling down to the shattered ground below.
By Neal Litherland3 years ago in Fiction
The Power of Martial Characters
We've all heard the stories. Tales of how wizards who could barely hold their own against a goblin grew to a level where they could call down meteor swarms, and summon bolts of lightning. Accounts of sorcerers who once fell over in a stiff breeze becoming potent enough that with a wave of their hand they could disintegrate a foe to ash, or remake reality around them. There are even stories of clerics who could barely hold their own growing until they can destroy an entire wave of enemy combatants with a prayer as they held their holy symbol aloft.
By Neal Litherland3 years ago in Gamers
The Paladin Spymaster
A figure slipped down the alleyways of Low Town, doubling back two and sometimes three times to make sure they weren't being followed before continuing on deeper into the crooked, leaning alleys. Rats scurried through midden heaps, and they passed occasional bodies sprawled in the garbage. Drunk or dead, the figure didn't pause to check as they made their way into the maze.
By Neal Litherland3 years ago in Gamers
What Secrets Does Your Character Hide?
Grendal Bloodhand glanced around, ensuring no one was watching. When he was certain there were no prying eyes, he slipped his hand up behind the moulding near the fireplace in his kitchen, and pressed up on the loose stone. The hidden door in the wall opened, revealing the stairway down to the cellar. The orc slipped into the shadows, closing the door behind him as he found his way down the worn, stone steps. The door at the base was banded with iron and bore half a dozen locks, but instead of touching the trap activating mechanisms he pressed in on five, specific stones around the frame. The lock clicked open, and he stepped inside. Drawing a sparker from his belt, Grendal lit a lamp, then turned up the flame until it shone brightly.
By Neal Litherland3 years ago in Gamers
5 Tips For Running "Changeling: The Lost" Games
You can no longer trust anything around you. The world that once seemed as solid as the earth beneath your feet is full of holes that lead to strange places that haunt your nightmares. Stories you once considered little more than distractions for children have become cautionary guidelines for how to survive one more day. Promises are more than a matter of reputation; they're a compulsion, and a trap. You are one of the Lost, and you have been changed by what you experienced in Arcadia. The person you were no longer exists, and the person you are now is intertwined with magic and madness.
By Neal Litherland4 years ago in Gamers
The Planar Expert
Durathan frowned. He touched the loose soil in the center of the clearing, bringing it to his nose and sniffing. He crumbled it between his fingers, his frown deepening. He tilted his head sideways, looking at the grass. He took a compass off his belt, looked at it, then turned his head and spat.
By Neal Litherland4 years ago in Gamers
5 Tips For Playing Neutral Characters
Roleplaying games allow us to take on the mantles of great heroes and villains, of wise wizards and noble knights, cunning sellswords and brutish barbarians. They allow us to tell stories in ways few other activities do. However, while it is easy to get caught up in discussions of Good and Evil, Law and Chaos as forces in the world, often times we forget about the fifth aspect of alignment; the Neutral option. For many of us, Neutral isn't an alignment component in and of itself, but an absence of alignment; a gray space we simply chose not to mark.
By Neal Litherland4 years ago in Gamers
5 Tips For Running Better World of Darkness Games
The world is a terrible place. Pollution coats the streets, and beggars line the alleys like ghosts, their spirits broken by the grinding gears of society. Money stained with blood and edged with drugs changes hands for services best not thought about, and people look the other way when they hear cries for help. The cops take their cut, using their fists and truncheons to keep the status quo balanced while the rich, the entitled, and the politically connected play in the ruins of what was once a promising tomorrow.
By Neal Litherland4 years ago in Gamers
The Tale of The Bonsai, And The Fall of The Five Storms
The forest seemed to stretch on forever, a sea of green in every direction with game trails and tiny paths glimpsed one moment, and then gone. The sun barely penetrated the dense canopy, and the only sound for miles had been the whisper of the wind through the branches, and the occasional scurry of small animals in the undergrowth.
By Neal Litherland4 years ago in Gamers
