Power Word: Cringe & Power Word: Moist (New Spells!)

Greetings, my fellow Murkans! Happy Content Drop Wednesday (we're not changing it because I'm too stubborn)

Today I bring you a pair of new spells imbued with raw arcane power. Two words which, when spoken, evoke such a violent response, that they've become forbidden knowledge.

The Power Word spells have always been such a cool concept in Vancian magic: words which hold enough power that the mere act of speaking them is a deep and ancient magic. But there just aren't enough of them. And if the pen is mightier than the sword, it begs the question whether it is also mightier than the staff.

Adding new Power Words to the Power Word Lexicon (PWL for cool kids like me) required us to REALLY consider what words hold that kind of special power in reality, and then how do we translate that power into 5e rules. I am REALLY happy with where both of these spells wound up—and don't tell anybody, but there are even more Power Words than these.

The mechanics on Cringe especially are so fun, because we really had to figure out, like... "what does cringing look like in terms of 5e mechanics?" Also, something that drives me nuts is that there is no "drenched" type of condition. So, consider Power Word: Moist our soft pitch of a drenched condition. Oh, and remember: Don't kill the part of you that is cringe. Kill the part of you that cringes. And then kill that goblin over there.

Also, if you're one of those people that hates that word... 

Moist.

Subclass Overhaul: Conclave of the Lone Ranger (Ranger)

Way out west, there are these folks I wanna tell y’all about. These folks call themselves “Lone Rangers,” wanderin’ the red, desolate plains with the sun in their eyes and a big iron on their hip. Sometimes they’re alone. Sometimes they’ve got a gang together. And I reckon, sometimes they’re even keen on makin’ friends and helpin’ out.

Y’see, sometimes there’s a person—I won’t say “hero,” ‘cause what’s a hero?—but, sometimes, there’s a person—and I’m talkin’ about a Lone Ranger here—sometimes, there’s a person with no place. A person with no name. A person on a horse. A person with a gun. A person who... Aw, hell. I’ve introduced them enough.

Submit Your Own Murka Potion! ✨🍾

HOW TO ENTER

1. Color your potion however you’d like—markers, crayons, digital, ketchup and mustard… whatever inspires you!
2. Write a short blurb about what your potion does. Not a game designer? No problem! Something as simple as, “Jar o’ Tummies: Gives you advantage on poison saves,”  or “Potion of Spoiled Milk: Makes you stink and damages whoever drinks it,” is perfect! If your potion is selected, our Action Fiction number nerds will balance it for play.
3. Post your submission in the #Potion-Contest-Submissions channel on our Discord Server using the following template:

```
### Potion Name
- Image (if applicable)
> Description / Effects
> - Credit Info (if selected for the book)
> - Social media tags to include if we share it online (Optional)
```

CATEGORIES

• ✨ Community Vote
• 🧠 Action Fiction Favorite
  
  

• ✨ Community Vote
• 🧠 Action Fiction Favorite
  
  

PRIZES

• Your potion added to Monsters of Murka: Ratified & Radified
• Your name credited in both the item description and writer credits
• A free pledge for the physical copy of the book your item appears in!
  
  

• A free PDF bundle pledge of all three Ratified & Radified books

VOTING & TIMELINE

• Submissions open: May 5
• Deadline to enter: June 30
• Top 10 finalists selected by Action Fiction: July 4th
• Public voting on BackerKit: July 4th - 11th
• Winners announced: July 14th (on Discord & BackerKit)

RULES

• Only potions submitted during May 5 to June 30 will be accepted
• Up to three (3) submissions per person allowed
  Only one category win per person (we want to spread the love!)
• Submissions may be shared on Action Fiction’s social media with credit given
• Submissions must include at least:
  • Potion name
  • Description or effects
  • Credit info
  • Social tags (if you want)
• Server & Discord rules apply. TL;DR: Don’t be a dick. No spam. No NSFW or illegal content. Stay on topic. Don’t DM people without permission. Don’t link to other Discord servers. Mods reserve the right to remove posts that break rules.
  
  

Ash's Buzzblade + Ash's Boomstick (New Items!)

Greetings, my fellow Murkans! Happy Content Drop Wednesday (sure, it's a mouthful, but have you considered: shut up)

Today I bring you a pair of new items (technically three items, but stick with me here): a god damned chainsaw, and a god damned sawn-off shotgun. They're not just great: they're groovy.

In our reimagining of Murka, we wanted to squeeze in even more references this time around, plus include some new options that just screeched "Murka" like a freedom dragon soaring over Washtown at dawn in front of a bunch of explosions. And what could be more Murkan than dual-wielding a chainsaw and a shotgun? Paying too much for healthcare, that's what. But that's a content drop for another Wednesday.

I grew up watching all kinds of horror movies, playing games like Gears of War, and in the past year, I also got to romp around in Space Marine 2 with one of the other writers. And how has all of that impacted me? It made me want to wield a chainsaw in a fantasy setting, turning goblins into goop.

But balancing a chainsaw in a magical world is hard, even conceptually. So we really had to work at what kind of role the weapon would have. We knew we wanted to add it as a mundane weapon first and foremost, so we started there, and balanced it against a great sword, keeping the damage relatively balanced. The bonus action spin-up is expensive, but once you pay that cost, it can spin up and start to outpace the great sword in the right situation (single-monster focus with combat longer than 3 rounds, if you were wondering).

And of course, once the mundane weapon was in place, seeing the chainsaw next to the shotgun was all it took before I knew we needed to get all Evil Dead up in this. I'm really happy with how these magical weapons turned out mechanically; they each stand on their own as significant improvements over their mundane counterparts, but when combined, they REALLY shine. Both weapons are two-handed by default, but with the simple sawing-off of the end of the gun barrel and one of your hands, you, too, can wield all the power of shopping smart, shopping S-Mart, in the palms of your hands! Err—hand, I suppose.

I hope you enjoy Ash's Buzzblade and Ash's Boomstick. Scroll down to the followers-only section for the full content.

Ash's Buzzblade. Once belonging to a retail-worker-turned-prophesied-paladin, this powerful implement of home gardening magitechnology has ripped more forces of darkness limb from limb than one can shake a boomstick at.

Ash's Boomstick. This double-barrel shotgun was originally built in Meshugghan, but did not gain its legendary status until wielded by the prophesied paladin who fought an army of darkness. In his hands, it became an unbelievably potent tool of destruction. Good? Bad? He was the guy with the gun.

My fellow Murkans,

The Facts (Which, I am told, care not about my feelings):

• Tariffs are going up and down like a rollercoaster, only way less fun and probably less likely to dislodge any kidney stones.
• We are too small to absorb these costs ourselves (there’s only like 4 of us on any given project, and none of us do Action Fiction stuff full time), and don't want to screw over people looking for fun ways to deal with their real world problems like slinging fireballs (in D&D, for legal reasons).
• Our hope is that if we hold out, things might stabilize and keep production costs down for us, and shipping costs down for everyone else. We will also be spending time soliciting quotes from printers and manufacturers that won't be affected by the tariffs.
• The first week of July is a more Murkan launch date anyway—just in time for Freedom Month™, when we can all celebrate by blowing things up. And of course I’m talking exclusively about fireworks. Again, for legal reasons.

What this means for you, a Real Murkan Hero:

• More time to stockpile snacks for the campaign. You guys remember twinkies? Holy shit twinkies are still a thing
• More time to convince your friends (and more importantly, your DM) that backing this campaign is essentially their civic duty.
• More new content for Ratified & Radified from Action Fiction! It's just about everyday that we come up with some ridiculous new idea that must see the light of day and are compelled to bring it to life. More days until we launch = more days where we are posessed by the D&D muse and give you guys even more stuff!
• More weekly preview content before we launch the campaign (this week we’re bringing you new magic items!)
• More time to hang out with us in our Discord Server and throw all your ridiculous ideas at us... Speaking of, check out the Potion Design Contest we're running starting TODAY through June 5th!