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! You can find links to the first "Season" (the first 12 episodes) in the Recap for Game12, and here is the Recap for Episode 13, Episode 14, and Episode 15.
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 now 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!
Also, some important villain stuff going on - Unbeknownst to the heroes, Baron Blade has reappeared (after being presumed dead), and was secretly striking at the heroes during the last season. He has assembled a Vengeful Seven team, which is being lead by Hippocampus (the Hippo, except now he's super-smart). They are working behind the scenes on some sort of revenge plot
And now, an imaginary recap of an imaginary episode of an imaginary television show about an imaginary superhero team!
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The Alternates Episode #16 Recap:
“The Earth Is Your Home”
By Eddie Jaczerkowski
It’s time for me to recap Episode #16 of The Alternates, titled, “The Earth Is Your Home.” There’s a lot of crazy new information to digest in this episode (unless you were an avid fan of certain comic book series in the early 1980s), so let’s jump right in!
Episode Recap
The episode begins with another “Vengeful Seven” vignette. Hippocampus is talking to Baron Blade through a giant viewscreen, and the Baron is demanding that his minion fetch him a diamond. Hippocampus promises to send a team immediately.
“Send the newcomer,” says the Baron. “Let’s see how she fares.”
“With due respect, Baron, she is not ready for prime time.” Hippocampus protests. “She is as likely to melt the diamond to carbon slag as she is to carefully abscond with it.” Instead, Hippocampus suggests a team consisting of himself, Night Terror (the shadowy monster who we saw several episodes ago), Safe Bet (the blue-skinned fellow from last episode), and Highwire (someone we haven’t heard of yet).
“That should suffice,” says the Baron. “Tell Safe Bet to behave himself, and make sure Highwire keeps the theatrics to an absolute minimum.”
“It is done, Baron,” says Hippocampus.
In the next scene, we’re back at Alternates HQ, where Unity-X has been “uploaded” to the computer system inside the Alternates’ office. Their face appears on one of the monitors, and Kid Radical mentions that things have been stabilized. It’s late at night, and the Alternates are exhausted, so they say their goodnights and go to bed.
The sun rises, and the Alternates wander out of their bunks to the smell of fresh coffee. However, in the kitchenette of the office are two very strange humanoids - one is reptilian, with a stubby snout and sharpy, pointy teeth, while the other is more fish-like, with large bulbous eyes and a round mouth.
“I have made the coffees,” says the reptilian in a strange accent. “I believe I have done right.”
The duo tell the Alternates they need help rescuing “Duke Blackmoore,” who the Alternates realize must refer to Starshadow (whose alter ego is Dr. Beverly Blackmoore). The reptilian alien introduces himself as Groshhak (Sir Groshhak the Unbroken, Arms Master of House Blackmoore), and the fishy alien introduces himself as Gommesh (Doctor Halk Dor Vin Sal Bo Sal Cawnessar Gommesh, Lord Savant of House Blackmoore).
Grosshak and Gommesh explain that they are from a distant part of space called The Ascendant Empire, a place ruled by the Benedouli, an alien race who are nearly indistinguishable from human beings. Starshadow, under the guise of Duke Blackmoore, has been working to keep the planet Earth from the notice of the Ascendant Empire.
It turns out, if the Ascendant Empire finds out about planets of sentient beings, they send a big “Welcoming Committee,” introduce their technology to the planet, and offer to take anyone who wants to join them off-world to the center of the Empire. While the Benedouli see this as wholly benevolent, Starshadow believes that this would cause utter chaos on Earth, so he makes sure “House Blackmoore” keeps that region of space (called “The Bleak Reaches”) under their ownership.
But, Gommesh explains, there’s been a recent disruption to that plan. (Okay, take this part slow, because there’s a lot of names and titles getting through around.) The Thrice-Blessed Emperor, supreme leader of the Ascendant Empire, is stepping down. His apparent successor is Duke Sato Malesecretus, who has long been a nemesis of Starshadow. House Blackmoore supports the very popular Duchess Trova Mariatus, but for some reason (probably bribery and blackmail) the other houses are supporting Duke Sato.
And it turns out Duke Sato wants to take control of The Bleak Reaches (where Earth is located, remember) and collapse its stars into a variety of black holes to generate power for the Ascendant Empire. Grosshak and Gommesh assure the Alternates that such a thing would be very bad for the Earth.
Starshadow was attempting to help the Duchess win more support when he disappeared! Knowing he might get caught up in trouble, Starshadow had already told Grosshak and Gommesh, the only two individuals in the Ascendant Empire who know about Earth, to come get the Alternates if there was trouble.
So, when finally asked if they’d like to go into space and save the world, the Alternates readily agree. On the roof of the building, Grosshak and Gommesh have parked their “star galleon,” which resembles a large sailing ship with bubbled glass over the deck. Enormous sails jut out from the sides. Grosshak hurries the team along, insisting that the “starstream aperture” will be closing in a few hours.
The team walks around the star galleon a bit, and find that it is spacious and elegant. There are various alien plants potted throughout the ship, such that the main deck feels more like an arboretum than the austere interior of a typical space ship. Art adorns the walls, and every curved support beam and glass viewport is aesthetically pleasing.
The star galleon flies through the sky and into space, and once it reaches Jupiter, it transitions through a hole in space and into a tunnel of light and patterns straight out of a 1970s science fiction classic. This is a “starstream” - pathways through spacetime that are the only way to reach the region of space where the Ascendant Empire exists. Because of this, the Ascendant Empire is very isolated from (and ignorant of) the rest of space. In fact, when Jersey Devil asks Grosshak if they’ve ever been attacked by Grand Warlord Voss, Grosshak replies, “Grand Warlord Who?”
Gommesh instructs the heroes on some information about the Ascendant Empire, and he fills them in on the basic plan. Dr. Comet, Quasar Kid, and Kid Radical will be posing under cover identities as Benedouli nobles of House Blackmoore. However, any use of superpowers would attract a great deal of attention, since the Benedouli don’t have superpowers. Cytoblast (who has green skin even when in “human” form) transforms into his “plant monster” form, and will be posing as a member of a plant species (it turns out there are thousands of different kinds of aliens in the empire, but only the Benedouli look human). Jersey Devil, whose strange powers always make him seem beneath notice (except when he reveals his monstrous form), will probably appear to everyone as an unremarkable alien humanoid.
Gommesh gives the team a selection of weapons - mass blasters and photon cutlasses - for self-defense. Dr. Comet and Quasar Kid receives some nonfunctional “hover jets” so that they can fly surreptitiously, and Dr. Comet gets “wrist flamers” so she can use some of her powers without arousing suspicion. Kid Radical asks about books they can read about the Ascendant Empire, but Gommesh explains that’s not how the linguistic translators (that have thus far allowed them to understand each other) work - they translate spoken or expressed languages only.
Gommesh does show the team some sort of videos of the Empire - the audience doesn’t see much of the footage, but we’re told the Benedouli live in massive space-bound habitats, beautiful golden discs covered in glass bubbles. The theme of plant life and artistic architecture found on the star galleon carries over to these “Astral Domes,” beautiful and truly enormous habitats where millions of Benedouli and other aliens live and work. While many citizens of the Empire live on planets, the Benedouli themselves find planetary living risky and undesirable, and view those who choose to live planet-side as madcap daredevils.
As the star galleon transitions from one starstream to another, nearing the home of House Blackmoore, two starships enter the starstream in front of the star galleon. “Pirates!” Grosshak shouts from the captain’s chair, “Prepare to be boarded!”
In moments, alien pirates of a variety of apparent species rush through a hole breached in the side of House Blackmoore’s star galleon. The Alternates rush to fight them!
As Grosshak and Gommesh attempt to seal the breaches in the ship, Cytoblast rushes to their aid, using his great strength to pull at hatches and cover gaps. Despite the holes in the ship, there’s no massive pressure leak or explosive decompression, no doubt owing to some mythic technology of the Ascendant Empire.
Quasar Kid takes to the space opera theme of the episode very easily, wielding a mass blaster in one hand and a photon cutlass in the other, diving into the fray and fighting alien pirates with zeal. Kid Radical, on the other hand, approaches the fight in his own way, juggling three photon cutlasses as if they were devil sticks, somehow wielding each sword and fighting effectively with only two hands.
Meanwhile, Dr. Comet struggles desperately not to unleash her full powers on the aliens. Instead, she decides to stick to shooting her mass blaster into the enemies. Obviously, firing a space pistol is not as effective as her powers, and clearly it is very frustrating to Dr. Comet to hold back on her elemental gifts.
Jersey Devil is skulking about through the enormous alien trees and shrubs growing throughout the main deck. As a pirate approaches, Jersey Devil strikes, pulling him into the bushes. Jersey Devil emerges, and there’s no trace left of the alien pirate.
Finally, Cytoblast’s enormous tree-trunk arms pull down a hatch, sealing off the deck. With the boarding operation foiled, Gommesh produces some sort of medical instrument from his belt pouch and heals the team. The pirate ships break off, and Grosshak shouts that the remaining pirates onboard should be thrown in the brig.
As the team gathers themselves, a device on Gommesh’s belt beeps. “I’ve got it!” he shouts. “I’ve picked up Duke Blackmoore’s tracking signal!”
The episode ends, with the song “Serenade” by the Steve Miller Band playing over the credits.
Final Thoughts
Well, unless you’ve read the Starshadow solo series in the early 1980s, including the Alien Empire, Shadow Diplomacy, and Event Horizon arcs, then the whole existence of the Ascendant Empire and the Benedouli and House Blackmoore are probably news to you. Again, this series is the brainchild of a Starshadow superfan, so there’s a lot of obscure Starshadow references throughout.
Is Starshadow a Mary Sue? There are plenty of forums on the Internet where you can argue that fact, but it’s not a debate I’m going to cover here. I, myself, am a big Starshadow fan, so it’s a touchy subject.
The discussion of the Ascendant Empire visiting Earth was, to this critic, clearly a metaphor for colonialism. Starshadow is afraid of the destruction of Earth’s culture and people by another, “technologically advanced” culture that would interfere with Earth’s development.
This is also an inverse look at the “Prime Imperative” from the immensely popular Star Tracks franchise - the Ascendant Empire has no internal directive not to interfere in other cultures - in fact, it seems like the Ascendant Empire finds their intervention to be a moral good, to introduce advanced technology to other planets so that they can benefit. Clearly, the Alternates don’t see it that way, and I don’t disagree with them. Still, there's enough gray area here that it's thought-provoking - how could an advanced culture like the Ascendant Empire benefit Earth without destructively disrupting our world?
So, while this episode spends a lot of time world-building the Ascendant Empire, the Benedouli, and Starshadow’s alternate life as a space noble, it all serves the purpose of introducing an interesting conflict and some great science fiction themes into the episode (and no doubt, the next few that follow).
Now, some nerdy notes!
- The Benedouli and the Ascendant Empire are introduced in Starshadow #5, June 1981 (the beginning of the six-issue “Alien Empire” arc). Grosshak and Gommesh appear during that arc, in issue #8 (September 1981). Those characters reappear in the “Event Horizon” story, in Starshadow issues #18 through #23. The Starshadow solo series ends with issue #25, but Starshadow is brought back for a six-issue limited series “Starshadow: Shadow Diplomacy,” in July, 1987. During that run, House Blackmoore is created, and when it ends, it seems like “Duke Blackmoore” is sticking around in the Ascendant Empire to keep them away from Earth.
- Oh, hey, a new member of Baron Blade’s Vengeful Seven was casually mentioned in the opening - Highwire! Who’s that? I’m sure we’ll find out. It’s nice to know that Baron Blade and his cronies are still up to no good while the Alternates fly across the universe!
- The title of the episode, “The Earth Is Your Home,” is something Grosshak casually says during the episode, but it is also the last line of the closing song, “Serenade.” Or the last line might be “The Earth is your own.” The Internet disagrees, and I don’t own the liner notes, so it’s hard for me to say.
That’s all for this week! Be sure to come back next week to read my recap of Episode #17, entitled “Upon the Hill of Stars.”
Eddie Jaczerkowski is a staff writer who loves comic books and writes about television.
Running the Game!
Now, back to the real world (such as it is). This recap is coming late again because... uhm... I had important video games to play? Okay, I don't have any great excuses.
This game involved a lot of exposition, unfortunately, and wasn't the best for "Writer's Room" breakdowns or tons of player-generated creative time. But sometimes, that's just the way it's gotta go. My plan is for a lot more player-generated content for the next two games, as they can kind of spin the yarn they want out of their encounters with the Ascendant Empire.
"The Ascendant Empire" is definitely inspired by things like Dune and other space empires that span the "scifi/fantasy" line. I also loved the idea of having the "basically human" aliens that are indistinguishable from humans, because "humans passing as an identical alien race" is a fun trope for me. Setting it all up as a part of NPC Starshadow's comic book history is that I can just spin out this whole "established canon" for the empire, and have the PCs just kind of haplessly stumble into it and save the world. This preserves the Alternates as "The C-level heroes who are now forced to save the day, every day." Also, I love Starshadow.
I also love using the "episode cold opens" to show things developing that the PCs are unaware of, but that the players get to see. That way, the players get a hint of what stories are developing for future games. It works well with our format, and I think my players get a kick out of it.
That's all for this week!