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 Game 12. "Season 2" will encompass Episodes #13 through #30. Here is the Recap for Episode 13, Episode 14, Episode 15, Episode 16, Episode 17, Episode 18, Episode 19, and Episode 20.
Brief Description of the Game: In the meta-verse (where Sentinel comics is a published comic book multimedia empire), there is a premium cable animated television series (in a style similar to “Into the Spider-Verse”), 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/Protagonists:
- 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/Supporting characters:
- 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.
- Night Knight: A costumed, armored vigilante who has taken over the protection of Rook City, despite the country legislating against super vigilantism. With a gravelly voice and endless gadgets, Night Knight has sort of picked up where the Wraith left off.
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.
I've also done some very amateur sketches for the game! You can see them in this Google Photos album.
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 #21 Recap:
“Do You Believe in Magic?”
By Eddie Jaczerkowski
This week, the Alternates fix a long-running problem with one of their teammates - specifically that she’s been possessed by a space demon. Obviously, that’s not as easy as it sounds. Let’s talk about how it went as we recap Episode #21!
Episode Recap
Once again, we’re treated to a vignette about Baron Blade’s Vengeful Seven. (And while the Alternates have faced off against a few of them, they still have no idea that Baron Blade is back from the dead with a team of villains!)
This time, we join the hulking and hippopotamus-suited super-genius Hippocampus, the mysterious high-tech armored villain Recursor, and the extremely lucky blue-skinned gambler Safe Bet as they fly in an advanced “hover copter” vehicle (it looks like a helicopter, but instead of blades, it has a glowing circle of light above it). Safe Bet is in the driver’s seat, casually sitting with one hand on a steering yoke. Hippocampus and Recursor are in the passenger section behind him, which has enormous open sides (for troop deployment, no doubt).
Hippocampus and the rest of his team are in communication with Baron Blade via headsets, and we hear Baron Blade tell them that they must recover what’s rightfully his. Hippocampus promises to “bring it back intact” as he looks out of the hovercopter. Outside the vehicle, we see the young woman in red who bears a resemblance to Citizen Dawn. She is flying at high speed alongside the hovercopter, emanating bright yellow light as she goes.
“Atomic Dawn!” shouts Hippocampus into his headset. “We’re coming up on it now. Remember, this is a recovery mission. We want to do as little damage as possible to the Baron’s property.” The young woman ignores him.
Through the clouds, we see a mobile defense platform (a massive flying vehicle commonly used by Baron Blade) which is clearly flying the flag of the Citizens of the Sun. We don’t see anyone on the deck of the platform, but the defense turrets start to turn in the direction of the three members of the Vengeful Five we do see.
“We have a visual on the mobile defense platform,” Hippocampus says into the headset.
“Excellent! Take back what is mine, my minions!” we hear Baron Blade say through the electronic static of their communication system.
“You heard him, people!” Hippocampus says. Recursor steps over to the side of the hovercopter and jumps out into the sky. Jets fire from the suit’s armored boots, and Recursor flies toward the mobile defense platform.
The turrets on the defense platform come to life, and energy bolts fire towards the hovercopter. Safe Bet casually pulls the stick left, then right, and the hovercopter deftly dodges all the shots. One bolt of energy strikes Atomic Dawn, sizzling as it passes through her. She flies onward, grimacing, as smoke trails off her body. She is mostly unharmed, but very, very angry.
A worried expression crosses Hippocampus’s face as he watches Atomic Dawn power up, light glowing brightly from her eyes and fists. Broad and burning bolts of light fire from her eyes, cutting through the turret and turning a portion of the mobile defense platform to smoking slag.
“Recovery mission, Dawn! We want to capture that thing!” Hippocampus shouts over the comms. “Leave it in as close to one piece as possible!”
Atomic Dawn shoots an angry glance at the hippopotamus costume-clad leader of the Vengeful Seven, then flies at incredible speed toward the defense platform, leaving behind a blaze of fiery light as she does so.
“Hey, maybe the Baron will be able to recycle whatever she leaves smoking on the ground after all this,” Safe Bet yells back to Hippocampus. Hippocampus scowls as Safe Bet laughs, and the scene ends.
The episode then rejoins the Alternates, who are now floating in the Realm of Discord. At the end of the last episode, they all disappeared from Nightmist’s haven. Now, we see where they ended up - floating on a giant rock under a dark red sky. The top of the rock is nice and flat, and the bottom comes to a craggy point. Hundreds of feet below them, the ground is covered in writhing purple plants that look like alien cabbage.
Noticeably, Jersey Devil no longer looks like a nondescript man in a trenchcoat. Instead, he looks like a goat-legged, long-snouted monster with claws and sharp teeth. We have seen glimpses of this form before, but it seems something about the Realm of Discord has fully revealed the monster or transformed the man (depending on your perspective). For the most part, the team doesn’t really react to his changed form - no doubt, by this point in their friendship, all of them know that Jersey Devil is both a monster and a person.
The heroes take stock of their environment. Quasar Kid in particular seems perturbed by a few floating disembodied eyeballs that have hovered over to their rock platform. He walks over and punches one in the eye(?), and it goes tumbling off towards the ground.
Cytoblast, still in his green-skinned human form, tells the group, “Just so you all know, there’s currently not a plan on how to get back.” The team nods in understanding, acknowledging that no one had really thought about how to leave the Realm of Discord.
Cytoblast starts to explain the ritual he’s about to perform to Dr. Comet. “There’s an infernal influence inside of you, so first I need to cast a spell of-” He is abruptly interrupted by Kid Radical elbowing him insistently. Cytoblast turns his head to see Kid Radical, wide-eyed and tight-lipped, shaking his head “No.” He looks back to see Dr. Comet is mid-eyeroll.
Starting again, Cytoblast takes a different tack. “Alright. First, I’m going to isolate the infection. We need to draw it out of your body, and then we can properly terminate the foreign organism that’s causing the issues.” Dr. Comet seems more comfortable, nodding.
Cytoblast has also drawn an arcane circle on the surface of the floating rock, and he indicates to the Alternates that the demon will need to be inside the circle when he is destroyed.
In addition to Cytoblast’s clinical explanation of the magic, Kid Radical tries to assure the “patient” that everything is under control. He calmly assures her that her teammates are there to help her, and that Cytoblast’s expertise will carry the day. Kid Radical asks Dr. Comet to be calm and collect herself as best as possible, and they’ll start as soon as she’s ready.
Dr. Comet nods calmly and takes a deep breath. “Okay, I’m ready,” she says. Suddenly, Jersey Devil, who has been standing idly by as Cytoblast started the ritual, bites Dr. Comet on the arm. She screams in surprise and pain, and Jersey Devil’s eyes glow green as he attempts to drain the demon out of Dr. Comet.
While Jersey Devil’s bite does not pull Asteraxxal from Dr. Comet’s body, it certainly distracts the demon. Dr. Comet’s howl of pain turns quickly into a demonic voice, shouting out in agony. Kid Radical holds Dr. Comet down as Cytoblast continues chanting and gesturing, and Jersey Devil, down on his hands and knees (such as they are), continues trying to drain the essence of Asteraxxal.
The ritual soon has its desired effect, and a ten-foot tall black space demon erupts from Dr. Comet, coming into material form above her. Asteraxxal is chitonous and lanky, with digitigrade legs and six arms, each ending in wicked claws. His head is tall and thin, with a large mouth full of sharp teeth, and four horns - two situated on either side of his forehead, and two where his ears would otherwise have been.
“I am free once more!” Asteraxxal shouts in a demonic voice, and the Alternates jump to action.
The giant demon leaps forward to attack Cytoblast, but the magician has already shifted into his plant form, and this time his plant monster shape resembles the native purple cabbage plants that we saw on the ground of the Realm of Discord earlier. The demon’s claws shred leaves, but do little harm to Cytoblast’s plant form.
Quasar Kid comes in from the far end of the rock with a flying punch, socking the demon in the jaw. Asteraxxal, barely harmed, shouts, “Behold the horror of nothingness!” as he summons swirling green energy that saps the strength of the heroes.
The fight goes on for a while with Asteraxxal taking hits left and right, but showing no sign of slowing down. Cytoblast reminds the heroes that they still have to complete a ritual of banishment, which will allow them to find and exploit Asteraxxal’s weaknesses. While they mostly don’t understand the magic, the Alternates take the cue to create openings that allow Cytoblast to continue to perform his magic.
The rocky platform shifts suddenly mid-fight, and throws both heroes and villain off balance. Kid Radical uses the opportunity to gain momentum on his “Tech Deck” skateboard and performs a handstand while kicking Asteraxxal in the face.
Jersey Devil follows up by grasping the demon’s claw mid-swing and teleporting. Asteraxxal fights against Jersey Devil’s extra-dimensional teleportation, but the Devil redoubles his efforts. Asteraxxal is pulled, along with Jersey Devil, through a strange dimension of green light, and both of them appear inside the magic circle drawn on the rock’s surface.
Quasar Kid steps into the circle and assumes a boxing stance. Treating the circle like a boxing ring, his footwork keeps the demon occupied and inside the circle while his allies continue the ritual.
Dr. Comet, who has spent much of the fight just trying to get to her feet, is now floating a few feet above the platform. She looks down, seemingly surprised that she can still use her powers. She looks at her hands and sees ice start to form over them, and her mouth turns up into a smile.
“I shall not be denied!” Asteraxxal shouts as he turns to face the revived Dr. Comet. “Your body was a prison, Diana Aster! But now it shall be my first meal after incarceration!” Asteraxxal shrugs off Quasar Kid’s punches and prepares to leap at Dr. Comet.
“Whatever you are,” Dr. Comet tells Asteraxxal, “I see you now. I see that you’re feeding off of entropy itself. You take little bites of energy out of heat transfers. I don’t understand it, but I see what you’re doing.” Asteraxxal hisses and rears back.
“And now I understand that my powers don’t violate the laws of thermodynamics - they create statistical impossibilities. Yes, it’s incredibly unlikely to create a system where the microstates of energy distribution cause the temperature to drop drastically where you’re standing, but it’s not entirely impossible. As you’re about to find out.”
Dr. Comet raises her hands above her head and creates an enormous swirling ball of ice. “I call this one a Hale Bomb,” Dr. Comet says, launching the ball of ice at high speed at the demon. Asteraxxal reels back as the ball of ice strikes him.
“That’s it!” shouts Cytoblast. “He’s weakened - hit him with all you’ve got!”
Swiping downward with his claws, Jersey Devil cuts a hole into reality itself, and several small, green, “New Jersey Devils” slide through, launching themselves, biting and scratching, at the tall demon.
Quasar Kid pulls his fist back, charging himself with so much energy that his forearm glows, and smashes Asteraxxal squarely in the face. The demon screeches and cries out as his body breaks down into small bursts of green light that explode outward like fireworks. The tiny green lights dim away to nothing, and Asteraxxal is no more.
The Alternates stand around the rocky platform in the Realm of Discord as quiet descends on the scene. The credits roll and Dwight Yoakam’s song, “A Thousand Miles from Nowhere” plays over them.
Final Thoughts
This episode closes out the story arc for Dr. Comet and her space demon, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We’ve always been given to assume that Dr. Comet’s powers were tied inexorably to the demon she carried inside her. Late in this episode, it seems like that is, in fact, not the case. In fact, by exorcising the demon, Dr. Comet has started to understand her powers.
Is this a metaphor for the inner demons we all carry? Is it the case that, were we all to exorcise our own inner demons, we would come to know ourselves better, and to better understand our own power and the control we can have over our own lives? Well… probably?
Now, let’s go over my nerdy notes!
- We now know the names of all the Vengeful Seven - Hippocampus, DJ Doctor Dancefloor, Night Terror, Safe Bet, Highwire, Recursor, and Atomic Dawn.
- The Vengeful Seven are apparently attempting to take back one of Baron Blade’s mobile defense platforms. The Citizens of the Sun control the platform (which actually happened in the Sentinel Comics timeline), although it’s not clear how they got it. There’s probably some irony here in Atomic Dawn attacking Citizen Dawn’s minions - we’re definitely being led by the nose to conclude that there’s a connection between Atomic Dawn and Citizen Dawn. We don’t know the fate of Citizen Dawn in the Alternates’ timeline, but she didn’t appear during the Oblivaeon Crisis, so it’s anyone’s guess.
- Cytoblast’s comment that “There currently is not a plan on how to get back” is wonderfully passive and understated.
- One of the best parts of the Alternates is seeing this band of second-rate misfits become a family. There was a lot of great content leading up to the fight that showed how the Alternates care for Dr. Comet, even though she has often been a danger to her teammates. They set aside all the collateral damage she’s done, knowing it’s due to her “affliction,” and plow ahead to save her.
- Asteraxxal is some sort of space demon, but during the fight with the Alternates, he mostly uses his claws, and occasionally shows displays of magic with green light. He never uses any fire or ice powers. This is our first clue that Dr. Comet’s powers aren’t exactly connected to the demon’s own powers.
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Jersey Devil can summon little baby devils! (It’s worth noting that these creatures very much match the New Jersey Devils that are seen in the Final Wasteland in some of Chrono-Rangers comics. One wonders if Chrono-Ranger in this timeline can still come back from a possible future and hunt Jersey Devil. That could be a fun story, if only for fan fiction.)
- I’m not familiar with Dwight Yoakam, in general, but “A Thousand Miles from Nowhere” is a pretty good description of the Realm of Discord.
That’s it for this week. The showrunners say that Season 2 is a real rollercoaster ride from here, with lots of twists and turns left to go. Be sure to come back next week for my Recap of Episode #22, “Ice in Your Veins.”
Eddie Jaczerkowski is a staff writer who loves comic books and writes about television.
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Running the Game!
Firstly, I am a Dwight Yoakam fan, and I'm not an avid country music fan. It's very important to note that "A Thousand Miles from Nowhere" came out in 1993, which is technically after March 23, 1992, "The Day That Country Music Died." Truthfully, the last country song before country music died is probably "Neon Moon" by Brooks & Dunn, but really, if you listen to that song, you can kind of hear country music starting to die - not that it's a bad song, it's just starting to lose a few steps. I have a lot of really strong opinions about country music, especially for "not an avid fan." Of course, I also don't think there's much country music created on or after March 23, 1992, "The Day That Country Music Died." But one of the country songs created after that date is "A Thousand Miles from Nowhere," because Dwight Yoakam was immune to the plague that killed country music. I have opinions.
Uhm... the game! Sentinels RPG! Right? Right!
Asteraxxal was a big badass monster with lots of d12s, and he put a proper hurting on the Alternates. The Realm of Discord was the environment for this fight, and there was a Challenge to "finish the ritual." In the midst of the fight, the environment started to speed up the pace, checking two boxes every time the Scene Tracker went, and the fight actually came down to, "If Asteraxxal gets another turn, the Alternates lose."
But the players played it strategically and smartly. Jersey Devil summoned those lil' devils as minions which all Hindered the space demon. Then Quasar Kid followed up with his punch that does the Min die in damage for each penalty on the target. It boiled down to something like seven total penalties and an 8 on the Min die (thanks to a Collection, I think), which racked up over 60 damage on Asteraxxal in one hit. That did the job spectacularly, because he only had about 6 Health left.
I worked with the player of Dr. Comet to workshop some ideas for her monologue at the end. I hit the old internet to refresh what I remembered about thermodynamics, and then I bounced some ideas off the player, and I think I like where it landed. It's "comic book science" enough while still satisfying the physics nerd that lives somewhere inside of me.
The remaining Episodes in Season 2 (which goes up to Episode #30) are going to be a real crazy fun time. I have a lot of twists to reveal, and I know "saving them for later" is not going to work any longer - I have to get these reveals all out there before I change gears for Season 3!
I've plotted out how I see the remaining nine episodes going, but player agency can always change that. Still, while nine episodes sounds like a lot, I am having a hard time squeezing all the reveals in there! It's chock full of content!
And if you're thinking, "Season 3? How many Seasons is this guy planning?" the answer is that I don't know... but I'm pretty sure I have enough content written down to go through at least Season 5, and that's only counting my "fully formed" ideas. So this might go on for a while. Which is going to get interesting when it comes to handling "player advancement" and Collections and stuff. I have ideas for alternate advancement schemes, but they are not complete yet.
I hope you're enjoying the ride! Thanks for reading!
