20 LEAGUES UNDER MY BELT - REPEAER BONES DEEP ONES

 

Not exactly a league's worth of minis but they could be if you built them on the tougher side of how Deep Ones are portrayed in literature and RPGs. These are the Deep One minis from one of the Early Reaper Bones runs. they are still done in the original soft white stuff and will really mess up your paints if you don't wash them properly - a mistake I made. 

I based coated these in black over which I did a drybrush of white. Over this I worked with Speed Paints and let them do their thing. To this I added a Strong Tone wash. This wash ended up making their bellies a bit too dark so I went in with a white and stiples it in, leaving a good amount of the wash still visible to give them that mottled, dirty but pale look. The eyes were finished with white paint to give them eerie, mily eyes inspired by Golem from the Rankin and Bass Hobbit animations.

For the basing I used a custom ground text paste, made from a combination of Mod Podge, brown paint, tea leaves and grout mix. Over this I applied some static grass - loose and not with an applicator, and a few tufts with a sprinking of tea leaves. This was seled with PVA and isopropyl alcohol. This left a pretyt natural looking, mucky, marshy ground effect. 

I really like these figures and even though there are only three poses of them in the range they are suitable generic enough in their poses to allow for them to be bought in multiples. Add to this the inconsistent way in which Deep Ones and their hybrids are supposed to appear and you could easily mix in models from other manufacturers without much issue. 

I also have a Deep One Priest from the same range, all painted up in a matching style but with Dep One gold.

WANT YOUR 5E CAMPAIGNS TO MOVE SLOWER?

One of the main complaints about modern D&D is that character zip through levels too fast. This often creates a game where the players never really have a chance to get to know their characters and their abilities or, in some extreme cases, even get to use a new ability before another is piled on, thus resetting the process. There are all manner of fixes and tricks and tips that have been suggested and created to address this but it seems to me that one of the easiest ways to do so is to take a note from another RPG, Call of Cthulhu. 

To begin with, I am not suggesting the adoption of sanity rules or even Lovecraftian horror to fix your games. Neither of these is really a fit for all campaigns and so does not really work well as a generic solution that can be applied to any campaign. Instead, what I am suggesting is that the game shift from slaughtering hordes of lesser monsters while delving endless dungeons to something more akin to the investigative style of the Call of Cthulhu RPG and increasing the threat of individual enemies so that they each become meaningful and pit your players against opponents that require more nuance and forethought to confront. For a more direct fantasy example, think The Witcher.

Because 5E, as written, only provides for X.P. for the slaying of monsters, simply reducing the number of monsters the party encounters will naturally slow their characters progression through the levels. This, however, is an overly simplistic way to approach this and must be considered only a piece of the puzzle and not the complete answer. Once we reduced the number of monstrous encounters we then need to consider the power level and complexity of the monsters the party will encounter. Of course, more potent monsters will come with greater experience rewards, but since they will also pose a greater threat to the party at any given level, the players will hopefully be encouraged to spend time role-playing and seeking out help or lore that will aid them in defeating these more potent threats. 

The goal here should never be to punish the players by denying them chances to fight for their X.P. but to make each fight become central to a plot and amount to something more than an a never-ending spree of slain humanoids, wild animals and bandits. That's not to say that these sorts of encounters can't fit into this new model, but you can now do away with the need to pad out an adventure with encounters to keep the action going and use role-playing, NPCs and mysteries to pull the players toward these, in my opinion, more rewarding encounters.

The mechanics of this shift in play style is pretty straight forward. Target your encounters to be at least dangerous or greater difficulty level in nearly every instance with the exception being those lesser encounters that push the plot along such as scuffles with NPCs, minions or the freak environmental encounter (wolves, dangerous plants, lesser undead) that build the theme and tone of the adventure. Choose your featured creatures from those that are complex and powerful, looking for those who have multiple resistances and vulnerabilities that the PCs can learn to counter and exploit. Monsters with lair, legendary and even epic actions are most suitable to this style of play. If needed, I fully encourage beefing up existing monsters to suit your needs through simple tweaks such as increased AC, additional resistances and new abilities that fit their theme. I highly suggest that you avoid adding more HP to these modified monsters as this will not add much in the way of interest to the creatures but will certainly turn fights against them into slogs. What we should always be looking for is creatures that can be defeated if only the party knew how. 

Once you have established the central encounter of the plot, you must then spin a web of motivations, secrets, lore, clues, and useful items the party can find to use against these potent foes. This is the meat of this style of play and I cannot overstate the importance of making the majority of such adventures as much, if not more, about the preparation to confront the foe as it is about the confrontation itself. Items that will aid the party in their fight can be normal magical items that one might find in other D&D games or they can be things that resemble lesser artifacts, full of risk and danger themselves. It is also easy to make these key items into single-use items.

So, you have your plot, it's main encounter and a web of investigative clues, tricks and tricks. Why would your players ever want to play this style of play? 

First of all, any use of this method is going to require buy-in by your players but it is important that your frame it to them in a way that assures them you aren't trying to rob them of X.P. or the chance to see their characters improve and truthfully, this is absolutely not the intention of this method. The real goal here is to provide the players with a chance to act less like cartoon action heroes and more like their favorite investigative, problem-solving characters in fiction, movies and TV. Police procedurals, detective stories, true crime podcasts, even YouTube lore videos are what this style of play feeds into. As mentioned earlier, The Witcher is a great source to reference what you are going for. 

You can assure your players that their characters will grow and develop but they will spend more time getting to know their characters. It is also worth noting that their accumulations of lore, secrets, tricks and items that let them combat these more powerful foes will add texture to their characters while they spend a greater span of time at any given level, much like in older editions. The end goal should always be adventure but adventure with more nourishment of the imagination and the player's abilities. Fights will be tough but rewarding and the pre-work of the players and their characters should pay off every time.

PULP ALLEY - ONE SYSTEM TO RULE THEM ALL

It is no great secret thatone of my favorite miniatures skirmish game system is Pulp Alley. With its ease of play, character building, and customizeable content it is just so easy to pick up and play. There are so many options available within the game that allow you to play nearly any setting you like that it really does beg the question of whether or not I'll ever need to buy another skirmish miniatures game system again.

If you are not familiar with Pulp Alley, it is a game in which you create a custom team of miniatures, called a league. Your league engages in various scenarios of which their are now scores, either against other players and their leagues or in solo or even co-op play. Characters are built around die codes that are expressed as a number of certain dice from D6 to D12 which coorespond to a character's skills and what ther games would call ability scores. Unlike many games, Pulp Alley doesn't get bogged down in specific skills or equipment, choosing rather to abstract these concept through broadly expressed abilities  that a player selects during the league generation. 

                                      

Leagues also get perks which are league-wide abilitis and/or variations on league structure or league resources. Through this manipulaton of perks a league may be as few as two characters up to a small army of rank and fire squads. There are even ways to play leagues without top-level characters in the field, making it possible to model up miltiary units, tribal groups or the minions of some shadowy cabal. Leagues also have off-board assets such as contacts, laboratories, specialists, etc that provide them with bonuses when playing scenarios without placing a character in the roster. So, you might have a dynamic duo that benefitted from a high tech lair full of gadgets and a faithful butler who knows things and people. 

The game play is your typical dicing back and forth with some exceptions. Almost never is there a situation in combat where only one side is acting. Attacking somebody generally means they get to fight back, if they choose. The action of the game is further enhanced through the use of cards, held in a secret hand by each player. These cards are dual use, serving as effects to be played on a players own character or against their opponent or as a sort of meta currency when resolving certain challenges in the game. There are even themed decks to add in or substitute out the standard decks for such things as Horror. 

Scenarios are abundant and easy to create once you have played just a few. They are designed to focus in on a particular moment of action, often being framed as part of a greater narrative. Each scenario is expressed with certain guidelines for set up as well as any special rules for play. Most scenarios are settled in as many as six  turns at the end of which the game is over unless otherwise stated in the scenario. Campaigns are avaialble and the game is designed with campaign play in mind. 

While the action in the game is built around characters, it does also include detailed rules for vehicles, squads of generic troopers, super science, magic, and monsters should you need any of those for a scenario.

The game lets you use any miniatures you choose for whatever genre you want to play from  pulpy scifi to prehistoric adventure. No need to feel hemmed in by editions and miniatures ranges. Create and built and colelct in whatever ways you and your players feel is appropriate for the games you want to play and the stories you want to tell. 

So, why is this the game to beat all?

Well, it's not, exactly, but it's really close. 

Pulp Alley is never going to replace games of large bodies of organized troops or games with more detailed, tactical or strategic crunch. Pulp Alley cam be almost anything but it will always be the movie version of things - fast, loose, fun and satisfying on a storytelling and character basis. You're not going to get the depth of tactical choice that you would with a more military-oriented game. But it can do a lot and so I often find myself giving pause when considering a new, easy to play skirmish game. I have to ask myself, "Is this new investment worth it when I already have Pulp Alley?"

A recent example of this came when looking at two games, "The Baron's Wars" and "Pillage", both medieval one later and one early "Dark Ages". I really want to play in this time and even have a crap ton of Victrix Norman foot to work on that I could split across two or more warbands. Both games were tempting and both providing a very similar game even though the focus of their periods of history was separated by hundreds of years. 

But did I need both? Did I need either? Neither game seems to be a cupser crunchy attempt at historical simulation, focusing on histoical flavor and solid game play. This brought me back to Pulp Alley.

Pulp Alley can easily handle the warbands aspect of either game. There are rules for heroes and lesser heroes but more importantly you have the Gang rules which account of squads of "mooks". The various character abilities would allow for a fair amount of characterful individuals to distinguish individuals and, if one wished to venture into more legendary history, there are rules for minor supernatural abilities. So, I eased off getting either of the games, until I see if I can get a satisfying play out of Pulp Alley for these periods.  If it doesn't end up feeling right, the models will be painted up and those other games will still exist. 

I've already successfully played Star Wars games using Pulp Alley, with hoards of Stormtroopers being played using the Gang and Weapon Team rules. Imperial Officers are easily represented as Level 2 or 3 characters while the true badasses can be made reasonably well with Level 4 Heroes. The same thing goes with the good guys, though they are better built using another sort of League organization that focuses more on a few good heroes.

Pulp Alley is very much a simple, one-stop solution to almost any lighter skirmish fun you may want to engage in.

 

ON THE BENEFITS OF REUSING MONSTERS

With the vast variety of monsters available to DMs, it is tempting to try to use new monsters all the time. The temptation of the next challenge or the fear of encounters becoming boring is a difficult impulse to resist, but there is merit in resisting the call toward ever-new and differing monstrous encounters. It has been said that limitless options is almost as bad as no options and this is demonstrated easily in the use of monsters in your campaigns. If every encounter is something new and unique then no encounter really means much of anything. Reusing monsters helps establish a consistency and believability to your game world. This helps establish a sense of place and thematic consistency. 

As your players learn the world, they will learn its denizens and there is a profound sense of achievement for players as they begin to learn the workings of the campaign setting. Not only does this help the players feel they are getting to know the world, this familiarity will start to take monstrous encounters in new directions. The squeaking and fluttering from a dark cave begins to take on a new meaning with your players after their third encounter with bat swarms or stirges and their recognition of this queue will send them thinking and planning how they can avoid another round of blood loss and/or disease. When they encounters orcs again and again, the will start to find out that sometimes orcs can be bribed and that some orcs maybe aren't so keen on other monsters in the party's path.

There is a strange tradition in D&D of withholding monster identities from players and their characters. This often takes the form of a somewhat tedious, cat and mouse game of selective description that seems to serve no other purpose than to gaslight the players. While I recognize that this is generally intended to instill la sense of in-world wonder and mystery I also have to wonder if it is really all that necessary or even realistic. 

D&D is ostensibly based on the model of a medieval world in which the monsters of myth, legend, and fiction actually exist. The people of those worlds live and interact with, war against, and generally fear those monsters. So, if this is the case, why would any adventurer need to stumble through some one-sides 20 questions description of every monster they encounter? 

This is not to say that there aren't monsters worthy of or where a descriptive encounter is not needed and/or proper, but there are a good number of monsters that people would know from their day to day lives. Other creatures would be known through stories, song, family histories, teachings, and other methods of conveyed knowledge. It is for this reason that I feel the creators of the game really did a great disservice to players and the Monster Manual by removing the "Frequency" (and the number appearing for that matter) entries from the monster listings.

Even when using the frequency mechanic, DM's can still free to choose "show" rather than "tell" when the party encounters a new monster. This is especially true when they are travelling a good ways away from their home territory or when they are encountering creatures that are truly mysterious and unusual. Even when encountering common creatures, the DM can still play it close to the cuff. Would a party of beginning adventurers be able to tell the difference between an ogre and a hill giant? Perhaps locally, as in Tolkien's world, terms like orc and goblin are interchangeable? Just like in real-world folklore and legends, creatures often blur together or are even treated as individuals. When the party encounters fey creatures will they be able to distinguish between a sprite, a pixie, a brownie and a leprechaun? 

In the end, there is room for both descriptive monster identification and explicitly stated identification. Character lore skills, background, and even races can also be used as a guide for determining who knows what or filling in the blanks of any description provided by the DM.

SOLO HEROES - THE THING SUPERHERO RPGS DO BETTER

I have talked a lot about superhero teams and how they facilitate TTRPGs but there is one place that these games do better and easier than most other TTRPGs is solo games. 

When it comes to solo play (one player & one GM), superhero games shine. Superhero characters are generally quite powerful and capable on their own and do not suffer from systems requiring sinergy between a number of characters to function in play. This is further surpported by a vast collection fo inspirational materials showcasing countless heroes operating primarily on their own. Solo characters are also great for GMs as they often face a revolving door of enemies they face one-on-one, allowing creative GMs to constantly cycle through ideas and inspirations. Such characters can easily adapt to small groups of villains or even mobs of henchmen without needing much adjustment or forethought. 

Logistically speaking, these sorts of characters are great for players who may be isolated by real world availability, unable to coodinate with other players. A willing GM can run a solo character on the side and when the gaming stars align, set up a team-up for that solo hero to set out with - the regular group - or even other solo heroes. 

So, if you have a single player you can still run a very satisfying and meaningful campaign in a superhero RPG.

MEGA TEAMS - THE SECRET TO FLEXIBLE GAMES

Tired of not being able to play when players don't show up? Worried that your campaign won't progress because of so much missed time? Do you have a player who's character dies all the time or who is fickle and never wants to play the same character? 

No problem, play a mega team! 

Mega teams are those teams that seem to have an endless membership. Justice League, Legion of Superheroes, Avengers, Defenders, or even The Green Lantern Corps. These teams usually have extensive memberships made up of an ever-changing, ever-growing roster of primary members, secondary and even back-up members. New members come, go and are and are not available as other missions take up their time or their own private lives keep them out of action. 

These sorts of teams allow for a nearly infinite flexibility in both individual adventures as well as campaign progression. They ccomplish this in a number of ways but it all comes down to allowing play to continue no matter who shows up. Three of the most common and useful to gamers are as follows - 

1) Guest Appearances: These are sessions where character who were not originally involved in the main campaign appear in one or more sessions. This can be done for a number of rreasons such as a new player joining the game or an occasional player being available on a given night. They are also useful for when a regular player has a character taken out of action. The popular Marvel Team-Up series is a great example of this but guest appearances are very common even in the main continuity of comics. 

2) Crossovers: Similar to guest appearances, crossovers have a bit more intent to them. These are best used when a GM know he's not going to have all of one or more of his regular players available for the game for a period of time allowing him to plan a crossover event that includes the characters that will be available. 

3) Spin-Offs: These games are most often played with completely new characters and are best used as palate-clensers, fill-in games, or ways to accomodate an influx of new players. Spin-offs can include characters from the main campaign but should not do so unless they take place at some other point in continuity or those characters are not involved in the main game anymore. They are also a good place to reintroduce returning regular players who may have been left behind by the main campaign. Good examples of this are Justice League International, The New Mutants, or West Coast Avengers. 

The main benefit to keeping campaigns going and enriching the overall campaign experience is that the game and thus the players' comic book universe is perpetually growing as each adventure and character comes with its own NPCs, settings, plots and world-building that grows the whole and creates feedback loop. It is also important to not get overly wound up on ironclad continuities. Comic book continuity has always been a bit loose at times using flawed logic, handwavium and retconning to explain things.

MORE THOUGHTS ON THEMED TEAMS

I thought it would be fun to talk, some more, about another fun way to setup and play a superhero game - theme teams.

A themed team can come in many forms. Whether is is a common origing, style, or focus the one thing they all have in common is that every member fits the theme in some way. Themes can be tight, like the Metal Men pictured along with this article, or loose like the X-Men who all adhere to the theme of "mutants" but are all over the place within that theme. Tight themes are, in my opnion, trickier to work with but ultimately mor satisfying from an artistic point of view but a looser theme can allow for much greater freedom for players to create their characters. 

Some themes are more stylistic, like the Serpent Society, which is a loosely themed team that relies far more on aesthetics and naming conventions than anything more concrete for ots theme. the Green Lantern Corps is an incredibly tight themed team where all the members share pretty much the same power set with what variation there is based on their experience and whatever species-specific traits they might have. Power Pack has the theme of "kids" and, on the surface, that is it. But Power Pack also has a common theme in terms of the origins of their powers. There are some teams, like the Avengers, has a theme that is so loose as to not really be a theme at all. "Earth's Mightiest Heroes" is about the only real theme they have and that tagline seems relatively meaningless given the wide disparity it power level between the team's members. 

In my experience it is better to start with a tight theme and then loosen it as needed. If your theme is "mutants" but one player really has his heart set on playing an Iron Man type character then maybe work with him and let his mutant ability be something like hyper-intelligence, mechanical aptitude, or even some sort machine speech which allows him to make the suit and other cool stuff like the team's transport, training room, etc..Similarly, if the players were making villain characters who were member of the Serpent Society and a character wanted to make an Iron Man type character, you just need to make sure whatever battlesuit they make for themself adhered to the theme of "snakes". Just remember, tight or loose, the important thing is that every player makes their character fit the theme. 

When conceptualizing your character it is up to you, as a player, to make your character fit the theme. While this may seem chalenging at times, it is ultimately your responsibility, in an agreed-upon theme to make your character fit. A handy trick is to look at other themed characters and try to imagine them as something other than the themed character they are. When you realize that that spider-themed, web-slingers, could just as easily have been made as a battlesuit or commando with a handy bag of tricks rather than radioactive spider powers, this reverse engineering of theme can help you to realize that theme is really not all that tricky. 

So, next time you sit down to run or play a superheroes game, consider giving the team a theme. It can be challenging, creatively rewarding and in the end just plain fun.