Welcome to Guidance, Private Sanctuary’s source for tips and techniques for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, written by Everyman Gamer Alexander Augunas. Today, we’re going to be talking about the webcomic FindChaos.

Most of the webcomics that I’ve looked at on the Algalon Paradigm so far have had an emphasis on comedy. They’ve all had wonderful stories, but comedy has been the driving force behind their character interactions.

Well, its high-time that I do something different. Today’s webcomic is called FindChaos, and if you’ve been craving something significantly darker, you’ve come to the right place!

Find Insanity

FindChaos’s basic concept is reminiscent of Men in Black / Cabin in the Woods. Essentially, every terrible monster that has ever been told as a fairy tale is real and normal people can’t perceive them. To most, horrifying monsters take the form of ordinary humans – the human mind simply can’t fathom their existence so they take a form that they can understand. That said, there are people that can “see” the world for what it really is. They’re the “heroes” of this story. There’s just one problem.

They’re all mentally insane.

The level of insanity for these characters differs from person to person. Some are sociopaths. Others hear voices in their heads. At least one was the victim of psyche-damaging abuse as a child. As a result, none of the main characters are normal, healthy people and the story takes great pains to emphasize this.

Find Sin

The basic plot of FindChaos follows the escapades of two particular characters, Arthur and Gaki, who are partners in the destruction of evil entities. Despite his relative youth, Arthur is the muscle and Gaki is the “cleaner,” and he prefers to “clean” things with fire. Lots and lots of fire.

There are several other characters and a few major revelations about where some of the character’s “abilities” come from. I won’t spoil any of that here, but I will say that characters who are very clearly brawlers and oracles are involved. If you’re looking for wizards, however, you won’t find any in FindChaos. The setting is more like d20 Modern than a fantasy setting.

But yeah, I’m not going to spoil a lot about this one because not only is it very dark, but it is VERY good. Worth checking out even if you’re not looking for GM lessons. But if you ARE looking for GM lessons….

FindLessons

Here are some quick lessons that GMs can learn from the creators of FindChaos.

• Heroes are Often Scarred: One of my favorite aspects of FindChaos is how horrendously scarred everyone is, especially the people you’re supposed to like. Everyone is fighting demons in FindChaos, sometimes inner, sometimes literal.
• Life Isn’t Always Fund: The story of FindChaos LOVES to punch its characters in the gut as much as possible. Horrible things happen to these characters, but what makes FindChaos interesting is how the heroes combat the scenarios they find themselves in.
• Choices Have Consequences: One of the very real criticisms that some have about the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game is that player choices often don’t have long-reaching consequences even though those consequences are often the most interesting parts of the story. FindChaos is very, very good about making sure its characters pay for their stupid mistakes. It is a story where walking into the wrong place at the wrong time has huge, possibly life-changing consequences for the character.
• Anti-Heroes: Pretty much everyone in FindChaos is an anti-hero. One of the characters is even a devoutly religious individual, but that doesn’t stop him from biting off someone’s ear in a fight. Twice. The story of FindChaos could be compared to Way of the Wicked to an extent, but FindChaos is about wicked people trying to make the world a better place. This is a type of evil campaign that GMs (and players) often overlook, the people who do terrible things because they think that it is the only way to stop something even worse from happening.

Sorry if this Algalon Paradigm feels a bit empty, but that’s mostly because A) FindChaos is a relatively new webcomic and B) the story is really tough to talk about. FindChaos is one of those webcomics where everything that happens needs context, so I could talk about Vampire PCs and eldritch horrors, of Xanatos Gambits and characters with non-binary gender all day if I wanted to, but it wouldn’t mean a thing unless you knew about a zillion other little details, so if anything I’ve talked about interests you, you should really check out the webcomic, like, now. Please.

Alexander “Alex” Augunas has been playing roleplaying games since 2007, which isn’t nearly as long as 90% of his colleagues. Alexander is an active freelancer for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and is best known as the author of the Pact Magic Unbound series by Radiance House. Alex is the owner of Everyman Gaming, LLC and is often stylized as the Everyman Gamer in honor of Guidance’s original home. Alex’s favorite color is blue, his favorite Pathfinder Race/Class combination is kitsune brawler with a troubled past.

P.S. Got a webcomic, movie, book, or a similar piece of media that was insanely inspiring to you as a GM? Drop me a line in the comments so I can take a peak at it. I’m always looking for more Algalon Paradigm material.