Here's a recap of the latest session of my Sentinels RPG campaign "The Alternates"! As per usual, there's a narrative recap (written as if it was in-metaverse) and then I go over the actual running of the game, and any lessons I learned as the GM.
If you're lost, you can catch up with the previous Game Recaps: Game 1, Game 2, Game 3, Game 4, Game 5, Game 6, Game 7, Game 8
Brief Description of the Game: In the meta-verse (where Sentinel comics is a published comic book multimedia empire), there is a premium cable computer-animated (in a style similar to “Into the Spider-Verse”) television series (which itself is based on a comic series called "The Alternates"). This RPG campaign represents that show, with each game session (ideally) representing one hour-long Episode of the show. The recap below is written in-metaverse as if it was an article on a popular website that posts recaps of episodes.
Player Characters:
- Cytoblast: Dr. Douglas Hemlocke can control plants, including transforming himself into a plant form, all thanks to his mystical knowledge and his ancient magical staff.
- Dr. Comet: Possessed by a demon that travelled to earth inside a comet, Dr. Diana Aster can magically control fire and ice, though her powers often go often out of control when her emotions flare up.
- Jersey Devil: A barely human cryptid of mysterious origins, "Mr. Leeds" is both man and monster, able to teleport by way of a parallel dimension.
- Kid Radical: A highly skilled autodidact with a strict code of behavior, Kid Radical has a superhuman ability for following trends and learning new skills, although it often seems like he can't quite connect with modern society.
- Quasar Kid: A superhero teen from the far future, Quasar Kid has a cosmic metabolism, super strength, and the power of flight, but he hasn't yet adjusted to being in "the past."
Recurring allied NPCs:
- Starshadow: A retired intergalactic adventurer, Starshadow wields mighty cosmic powers, but he is often reluctant to use them.
- Bouncer: An invulnerable action movie star, Bouncer is also super-strong and capable of mighty leaps (hence the name "Bouncer"), but he hasn't been the same since the Oblivaeon Crisis.
A Very Quick Story Synopsis: In an alternate timeline where Baron Blade was killed decades earlier (causing countless changes to the world of Sentinel Comics), the heroes of the Multiverse are almost all killed in the "Oblivaeon Crisis." The few remaining heroes, especially the Alternates, are left to deal with the villains and interstellar threats that still endanger the Earth!
For more information about the West Coast Guardians of Freedom, check out the Game 7 Recap!
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The Alternates Episode #9 Recap:
“A Word from Our Sponsor”
By Eddie Jaczerkowski
The ninth episode of “The Alternates” aired this weekend, and it was packed with action and intrigue! As always, spoilers for this episode follow! I won’t spoil what I know about the comic book series, but the animated series has already seriously diverged, so I am no longer sure that I know any spoilers for this show!
Episode Recap
The episode opens about where the last one left off - the Alternates are flying in a branded “West Coast Guardians of Freedom” hoverjet, piloted by West Coast Guardians member New Wave. The team has flown from the bank and nears their destination, as we see the jet descending near the Golden Gate Bridge.
Down near the bridge, we see a massive sea serpent - a long, snakelike body with a sharp, pointed head - attacking the bridge. Its body is still in the bay, and its neck and head stretch hundreds of feet above the water! Multiple cars are overturned and wrecked, and some are on fire. Civilians are cowering and hiding as the great serpent breathes electrical bolts from its mouth.
On the deck of the bridge, the West Coast Guardians are in bad shape. Shining Sea, their leader, floats a few feet above the bridge, firing arcane bolts at the serpent. Pumpkin Spice is trying to bend twisted metal to rescue a woman trapped under a bus. Codebase stands far from the monster, fiddling with some sort of controller for a hovering combat drone. Veritas flies around the sea serpent, firing rays of energy from his hands at the monster’s head. (Nevermind, in case you were curious, is nowhere to be seen.)
Meanwhile, the Arithmetist (who is a member of the core Guardians of Freedom) stands on the far side of the bridge, slowly weaving a “mathemagical” spell while staring at the sea monster.
New Wave lands the hoverjet on the end of the bridge, and the Alternates (who still aren’t going by that name) leap into action! As they approach the fight, the sea serpent swats Veritas out of the sky with the side of its head. The robot goes plummeting down, hitting the deck of the bridge hard.
With a loud “POOF!” and a cloud of black smoke, Jersey Devil teleports Quasar Kid to the spot where Pumpkin Spice is trying to move a bus, and Quasar Kid (almost effortlessly) lifts the bus off the woman. Pumpkin Spice starts to shoot him a dirty look, but her expression quickly changes to one of relief, and she nods to Quasar Kid in thanks.
Cytoblast assumes his “plant monster form,” but this time he’s covered in kelp and seaweed! He strides forward towards the sea monster and puts himself between the serpent and endangered civilians. Kid Radical skates up behind him and grabs a crying child from the middle of the road, carrying him off the safety. He shoots the kid a smile and a thumbs-up, but the kid tilts his head and looks at Kid Radical strangely. Kid Radical’s smile droops, and he skates back off toward danger.
As a flaming car rolls out of control towards an elderly man using a wheelchair, Dr. Comet intervenes, freezing the car and saving the man. Unfortunately, once again, her magical powers go out of her control, and she accidentally freezes the pavement in front of Kid Radical. Kid Radical wipes out as his “tech deck” skateboard hits the ice.
In the background, we see Codebase’s combat drone fly toward the sea serpent, only to be swallowed in a single bite by the giant monster.
Cytoblast waits for the sea serpent to come close, and he wallops the monster with a mighty two-handed strike. The sea serpent reels back, then opens its jaws and unleashes an electrical storm on the heroes. The storm hits Shining Sea particularly badly, and she falls to the deck of the bridge.
Jersey Devil teleports onto the sea serpent’s head, becoming a shadowy mass of tendrils and smoke. When the serpent shakes its head in anguish, Jersey Devil has torn holes in the serpent’s skin.
But beneath the skin of the sea serpent isn’t flesh - it's some sort of complex electronics! The sea serpent is, in fact, a robot!
In an instant, the sea serpent pulls its whole body beneath the water and disappears into the bay. The Alternates watch it descend, but turn back to the bridge to make sure all the civilians are safe.
With the danger over, the members of the West Coast Guardians pull themselves up off the ground. Shining Sea thanks the Alternates for their help, adding that she never expected they would be coming along with New Wave. Veritas is also thankful, while Codebase seems a bit annoyed by the arrival of our protagonists.
Moments later, news stations have arrived, and are interviewing Shining Sea. The Alternates are gathered on another part of the bridge, discussing the robotic sea serpent and wondering if it’s connected to the device they found at the bank. Two robotic crimes, across the city from each other, at the same time? It seems likely they’re related, the Alternates deduce.
Suddenly, Kid Radical’s wrist communicator beeps, and a voice begins to come from its speaker. The voice is electronically disguised, saying, “A message to Kid Radical and his allies. You might be interested to know DJ Doctor Dancefloor’s current position. He is at 355 South River Avenue in Los Angeles. If you move quickly, he might still be there when you arrive.”
The Alternates decide to pursue the tip, and they approach New Wave to ask her to give them a ride to Los Angeles. She agrees, and they also talk to Veritas and alert him to the robotic crimes occurring in San Francisco.
In the next scene, the Alternates and New Wave are landing in the hoverjet somewhere in Los Angeles. New Wave tells them she thinks this is near the right place. The Alternates disembark, and New Wave gets a call to return to San Francisco. The Alternates thank her, and she flies off in the hoverjet.
Unfortunately, the Alternates soon realize they are on the wrong side of the city. They start walking along Los Angeles’s busy streets, getting stares and funny looks from cars that slow down as they drive by. Before too long, a car pulls alongside them and stops. It’s a classic car with tall fins on the rear fenders. This car, however, is hovering a foot or two off the ground, and it’s driven by none other than the team’s buddy, Bouncer.
Bouncer says that he heard they needed a ride, and the Alternates hop in. (If you remember, Bouncer was with the Alternates at the West Coast Guardians' BBQ party. One assumes he flew from San Francisco to pick them up.) They arrive at the address, which is a warehouse near the docks. Bouncer pulls in, but immediately seems nervous. He drops them off and tells them he needs to get back to his house.
The Alternates move quietly through the lot, and approach the warehouse. Jersey Devil checks the inside of the building by teleporting inside. Inside, none other than DJ Doctor Dancefloor, still wearing his ridiculous white suit, is talking to a crew of enforcers, some in light armor, and others in plain clothes.
“All this stuff needs to be moved!” he tells them. “A truck’s coming tonight. Make sure it gets out of here with those crates,” he adds, as he points towards a pile of boxes and crates. Suddenly, the Doctor looks to the corner where Jersey Devil is hiding, but the Devil is already gone, having teleported back outside.
The Alternates decide to do a stake-out, so they wait in the shadows outside the warehouse. Late that night, a truck arrives. It pulls up to the warehouse loading gate, and two men jump out. After a brief discussion, they start loading up the truck. Kid Radical gives Jersey Devil a “tracking pog,” and the Devil teleports himself into the truck.
Soon, the truck is loaded up and the two men drive off. The team pursues, with Quasar Kid flying while carrying Cytoblast (who makes himself a small, manageable pile of plants), Dr. Comet floating high above the ground, and Kid Radical skating the streets on his tech deck.
The truck pulls up to another rather ordinary-looking warehouse where the workers unload the truck. They finish and leave, and Kid Radical tries to pick the lock on the door (Jersey Devil has already teleported inside the locked storage garage). Kid Radical doesn’t seem to be able to get the lock, so Cytoblast and Quasar Kid simply pull the doors off.
Inside, the team opens the crates and boxes. Inside, they find a variety of robot parts - legs, arms, torsos, and heads - seemingly meant to be assembled together into some sort of drones (notably, with laser gun arms).
As they pull the parts out and look at one another with puzzled expressions, the episode ends and the credits roll, while the song “Walking in LA” by Missing Persons plays.
Final Thoughts
Though this might not come across in my recap, the scene on the bridge is really designed to show how well the team works together now. They all immediately went to defend the civilians and save lives, and only turned their attention to the sea serpent once the bystanders were out of danger.
A giant sea serpent is a fairly shocking thing to see in San Francisco Bay, but a robotic sea serpent is even more shocking, especially if that robotic sea serpent shoots electrical bolts from its mouth. Pun intended.
Some nerdy notes:
- Kid Radical has had quite a few disappointments recently, and he’s been hit by Dr. Comet’s out-of-control magic more than once. Let’s hope things turn out better for him soon!
- Cytoblast’s “kelp form” was awesome.
- The episodes title is “A Word from Our Sponsor” - does that refer to the voice on Kid Radical’s wrist communicator?
That’s all for this episode. Next week, I’ll be recapping Episode #10, “Not Available in Stores.”
Eddie Jaczerkowski is a staff writer who loves comic books and writes about television.
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Running the Game!
Thanks to a global pandemic, we ran this game in "social distancing" mode, which means on Discord using some other online tools. GMNitron was down (Discord had issues that night), so I had to invent some stuff at the last minute. But it worked out! I have some tips on that that I'll make in a separate post.
One thing I tried in this game was just running "underpowered" scenes. The sea serpent scene was just a Challenge and a non-buffed Villain (so it was 2 Easy Elements for 5 players). It was pretty easy, but the team still took damage and stuff. This worked fine - it got the story parts across without us spending 2 hours (out of maybe 3 hours we have total) running a scene. I will probably do this a lot more in the future, and save "Big Fights" for special story points.
I wanted to draw more stuff for the game, but uh... well, things changed rapidly in my life between last Thursday and this Thursday! I'm fine, my family is fine, and so far all the other players in my game are fine, but obviously there'll be some struggles for all of us in coming weeks.
Thanks for reading!