Neal Litherland
Founding member
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 (309/0)
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 Litherland2 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 Litherland2 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 Litherland2 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 Litherland2 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 Litherland2 years ago in Gamers
50 Origins For a Sorcerer's Bloodline
Sorcerers are those who have the raw power of magic flowing through their blood. They don't read arcane tomes or study ancient scrolls; the power comes to them through sheer force of will. Magic is, in many cases, their birthright.
By Neal Litherland2 years ago in Gamers
I'm Not Judging You (I Just Want To RP)
I've been playing RPGs for a pretty long time, now, and I like to think I've gotten pretty good at them. Whether it's gathered round a table with dice, or dressed up in costume and staying in-character for a LARP, I've played all kinds of systems and genres, styles and kinds. One thing every game has had in common, though, is that there's never enough time at the table or venue to really fit all the story in. As such, I like to reach out to my fellow players to put together downtime scenes where we can have conversations, work out plots, and grow the story beyond what a single session a week would allow.
By Neal Litherland2 years ago in Gamers
The Ascetic Wizard
The man was not what any of them had expected. He sat atop a stone plinth, his legs folded beneath him, his eyes closed. The breeze tugged his long hair and beard, and his skin was tanned dark by his time in the sun. He wore simple garments that were beginning to fray around the edges, and a necklace of large, carved beads.
By Neal Litherland2 years ago in Gamers
5 Tips For Playing a Better Magus
Spellswords. Eldritch warriors. Battle wizards. Combining arcane might with martial prowess is not an easy road to travel, but it is the path walked by the magus. With their flashing blades and devastating spells, these unique individuals are usually far more than the sum of their parts.
By Neal Litherland2 years ago in Gamers
50 Two-Sentence Horror Stories, Warhammer 40K Edition
The galaxy is in turmoil. There is no light among the millions of inhabited worlds other than the gleam of fanaticism, and the pyres where heretics are burned. The promises of progress and plenty have been lost, buried beneath battlefields that stretch to the horizon. The stars echo with the laughter of thirsting gods, and the only surety is that worse things lurk in the darkness than a quick, clean death.
By Neal Litherland2 years ago in Fiction