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, Episode 20, Episode 21, and Episode 22.
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!
=================
The Alternates Episode #23 Recap:
“Revenge of Ghost Cop”
By Eddie Jaczerkowski
This week’s episode of The Alternates, “Revenge of Ghost Cop,” brings back the character Bouncer and puts the gang face to face with one of Baron Blade’s Vengeful Seven! Let’s dig into the Recap!
Episode Recap
The opening of the show this week takes us to the headquarters of the Vengeful Seven once again, but this time the room is darker and emptier, so it appears to be an event that happened further in the past than some of the previous week’s cold opens.
Hippocampus is sitting at a computer, typing deliberately and somewhat slowly with his massive fingers. A screen flickers next to him and turns on. A banner on the screen reads, “Incoming video call.” A window opens up on the screen and Baron Blade’s face appears in it.
“How goes the work?” the Baron asks, his voice full of static coming from the computer’s speakers.
“I’ve found a few candidates,” Hippocampus replies. “I’ll have to conduct some… interviews.”
“Of course,” the Baron says. “I have something for you, and I’m transferring it to your server now. It’s a large cache of files I want you to review for potential candidates.”
Hippocampus clicks the keyboard a few times and finds an upload in progress. He looks curiously at his screen. “What’s Operation Pipeclamp?” he asks.
“That is what I would like for you to find out,” the Baron tells him. “I would like to know the details of who is behind this project. But inside, you will also find information that could help you locate potential members of the Vengeful Seven.”
“I’m sure I can get to the bottom of it, Baron,” Hippocampus says.
“Your intelligence may be greatly enhanced, my friend,” Baron Blade says to him. “But do not become overconfident. There are things that elude even you.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t presume that I know everything, Baron,” Hippocampus tells him.
“Good,” the Baron says. “I will be in touch.” The window closes as the Baron ends the video call.
“...but I know you have no idea how much I know,” Hippocampus mumbles.
---
The episode then jumps to Alternates headquarters, where the various members of the team are hanging around the office. Jersey Devil is eating. Quasar Kid is sketching team tactics out in a notebook.
Then, in a moment that clearly references a similar moment in Episode #13 (the first episode of Season 2), Bouncer walks in through the door and throws a manila folder on the table. This time, however, it’s full of papers.
“This is all I know about Operation Pipeclamp,” Bouncer tells them.
Kid Radical perks up. “That looks like a lot more than last time!”
Bouncer tells the team that he shadowed a police detective to prepare for his role in Revenge of Ghost Cop (in which he plays the ghost cop’s former partner and sidekick), and he picked up a few investigation tips in the process. He talks at length about the Ghost Cop movie franchise - Ghost Cop, Ghost Cop 2: The Haunting, Revenge of Ghost Cop, and the final film - Ghost Cop Rides Again. Apparently, Ghost Cop Rides Again was a goofy buddy cop action comedy, and Bouncer believes it will be the last film in the franchise, despite good box office numbers.
Jersey Devil asks a few questions about the movies, like whether the “ghost cop” is a police officer for ghosts, but Kid Radical - who has picked up the manila folder and begun to read its contents interjects to get things back on topic.
Bouncer explains that Operation Pipeclamp was an effort after the death of Baron Blade to get scientists, engineers, and technology out of Mordengrad and into the United States. Sanctions were lifted, passports were issued, international warrants for arrest were cancelled, and there was a coordinated effort to bring in these engineers and scientists.
It’s not clear whether this was a government effort or a private effort, but Bouncer has found that favors were called in by members of the legislative and executive branch of the government, as well as members of the board of a variety of large companies. There’s no clear link between all those who made the moves - it seems more like someone was behind the curtain, pulling many levers to get these Mordengradians into the country legally.
Interestingly, once those scientists and engineers were in the country legally for a few years, they all disappeared. The trail of official records, addresses, and employment all dried up and those Mordengradians are nowhere to be found.
However, obviously, Operation Pipeclamp is still under operation, as the Alternates discovered when they found “Project Dawn.” Since Hippocampus and Safe Bet knew something about Operation Pipeclamp themselves, Bouncer believes it follows that all the robots that the Alternates encountered a few months ago are probably related to Operation Pipeclamp
Kid Radical adds that some of the robot parts were akin to Baron Blade’s designs, and Jersey Devil reminds them of the ex-con who stole that part and put it in the bank vault. Kid Radical also comments on Operation Pipeclamp’s similarity to Operation Paperclip, a plan by the American government to get Nazi scientists into America after World War II.
Bouncer tells them that a lot of his information was leaked to the media about fifteen years ago, but the media didn’t bite on it, looking at the whole thing as a far-fetched conspiracy theory. However, Bouncer traced some interview notes that appear in the information dump sent to some media outlets to two FBI agents - Fiona Malden and David Sullivan. However, those two FBI agents went missing on a case, coincidentally, about fifteen years ago. The person they interviewed in the notes - Kyle Monohan - is still alive and living in Philadelphia, and Bouncer thinks it’s worth talking to him.
Finally, Bouncer tells the team that he’s been working with his therapist on his post-traumatic stress disorder and he wants to get back to work. The team asks him if he’s sure, but he tells them he feels good and he wants to get back into the field. The Alternates decide to fly off to Philadelphia.
---
Then, the episode cuts to another place entirely - the Raven Rock Psychiatric Recovery Institution, a.k.a. The Rookery. That’s where we last saw Faye Diamond - Nightmist - insane and devoid of her powers. The door to the conservatory opens and one of the Rookery’s orderlies enters with a tray of food.
“Ms. Diamond!” he calls. “Dinner!” He looks around the conservatory, but there’s no one there. He calls again - “Ms. Diamond?” Finally, he shrugs, takes a scone off the tray and pops it into his mouth, and leaves the tray behind as he exits the conservatory.
The camera pans through the conservatory, past flowering shrubs and trees, to a small area hidden behind the plants. There, on the ground, we see an arcane circle has been drawn, and smoke floats upward from the center of it.
---
In Philadelphia, Bouncer drives the Alternates through a neighborhood in a rented passenger van. They pull up, exit the van, and all walk up the stoop of a nearby house, where they knock on the door. The street isn’t busy, but there are a few civilians. A few folks notice the hero team and stare a bit.
A man opens the door and furrows his brow. “Hi. How can I help youse guys?” he asks.
Kid Radical starts to introduce the team, but the man recognizes them as the Alternates. Quasar Kid hands the man a business card. The man introduces himself as Kyle Monohan and invites them inside.
Inside Kyle’s house, Kid Radical asks Kyle what he knows about Operation Pipeclamp, but Kyle’s never heard of it.
“Did you ever get in a fight with a robot?” Jersey Devil asks him.
“Does my microwave count? I’m fighting with that thing all the time,” Kyle replies jokingly, pointing to the microwave in his kitchen.
The whole team looks suspiciously at the microwave in Kyle’s kitchen.
The Alternates ask Monohan about the interview he had with agents Malden and Sullivan. Kyle explains that he had a rare form of brain cancer, and he had been enrolled in an experimental treatment. The doctors treating him, he realized, were Mordengradian. Further, even after his primary doctor confirmed his cancer was in remission, the doctors behind his experimental treatment never mentioned it, and continued experimenting on him. He became suspicious and stopped going for treatment, the doctors and staff at the experimental treatment center began to call incessantly and try to track him down.
Kyle felt threatened and moved to his sister’s house in Cleveland for a year, and the calls stopped. A year later, he came back to Philadelphia and noticed the treatment center had closed down and was replaced by a bakery. That was thirty years ago, and about fifteen years ago, those two FBI agents contacted him about the incident. He doesn’t know how the FBI agents found him, but he described the events to them, and that’s all he really knows.
It’s then that Kyle mentions that he’s a big fan of the Ghost Cop franchise, and asks Bouncer to sign his DVD copy of Revenge of Ghost Cop.
Suddenly, Jersey Devil is sniffing at the air. “Does anyone smell something burning?” he asks the team.
The whole team looks suspiciously at Kyle’s microwave.
“No, it’s coming from outside,” Jersey Devil says.
The team rushes outside, with Kyle following them, to see a young blonde-haired woman descending from the sky in an orb of fiery light. It is Atomic Dawn! The heat coming from her is incredible, with nearby cars starting to smoke and melt. The citizens of the neighborhood run away from the blazing figure as fast as they can.
Quasar Kid reacts quickly, yelling, “Jersey Devil, get Kyle outta here!”
With a poof, Jersey Devil teleports himself and Kyle away from the scene. The two of them reappear in front of a business with a big sign reading, “Pat’s Water Ice.”
Kyle frowns. “Ugh. Pat’s?” he says.
“Alright, fine,” Jersey Devil says, rolling his eyes. The two poof away and reappear on the other side of the street, in front of Gino’s Water Ice, and Jersey Devil poofs away once more.
Instantaneously, Jersey Devil is back with his team as Atomic Dawn lands on the street in front of them.
“Hello, Alternates,” she says. “You can call me Atomic Dawn. Baron Blade sends his regards.”
“What are you talking about?” Kid Radical remarks, shocked. “Baron Blade died decades ago.”
Atomic Dawn replies, “Well, he was very much alive the last time I saw him.” She puts her fists out in front of her, and a beam of blazing energy blasts past the Alternates, blowing off Kyle’s front door.
“You don’t look that old!” Jersey Devil responds as the fight begins.
The remainder of the episode is a throw-down with Atomic Dawn, who proves to be quite a powerhouse.
Bouncer starts off the fight by trying to run head-first into Atomic Dawn, but he stops suddenly when he runs into a field of powerful energy that surrounds her. “Yow!” he shouts, “We can’t keep running into each other like this!”
The Alternates realize that the energy shield around Atomic Dawn is going to be a problem, so they start to puzzle out how they can eliminate it while Bouncer keeps Atomic Dawn distracted. Kid Radical scans the shield with his custom View-Mister, and relays the readings to Dr. Comet. Jersey Devil teleports around Atomic Dawn over and over, trying to find a weak spot in the shield. Finally, Dr. Comet is able to use Kid Radical’s readings to precisely attack Atomic Dawn’s shield with ice, breaking it and exposing the villain.
From there, the Alternates take up their practiced strategies against Atomic Dawn. Cytoblast, in his plant monster form, slams her with his oversized wooden fists. Quasar Kid gets in close and pounds her with cosmic punches. Bouncer leaps into her, slamming her with his invincible shoulder check. Jersey Devil even takes Kyle’s microwave and breaks it over Atomic Dawn’s head! But Atomic Dawn has her own powers, and the fiery atomic blasts from her eyes and fists crisp the Alternates in the process.
Despite a number of blows, Atomic Dawn is still blasting as the Alternates are looking increasingly charred. However, during the course of the fight, Kid Radical has been taking tiny plastic eggs from the bottom of his Turbo Glove, and grabbing what looks like silly putty from inside. Rolling the putty into tiny balls, he’s repeatedly stuck them to the bottom of his Tech Deck skateboard.
Meanwhile, Dr. Comet directs an enormous ball of ice - her patented Hale Bomb move - into Atomic Dawn. The villain finally shows signs of wear. Kid Radical finally finishes setting up his maneuver, launching the Tech Deck into Atomic Dawn and detonating the putty, which was actually an explosive compound designed to react with the radiation that the villain emanates!
There is an enormous explosion that throws the Alternates in various directions (and does little damage to the street, considering that Atomic Dawn had melted most of the nearby cars, signs, garbage cans, et cetera), But when the smoke clears, Atomic Dawn is still standing, albeit extremely burnt and bleeding.
Scowling, she shouts, “That’s enough for now! But this is only your first visit from the Vengeful Seven!” Atomic Dawn becomes a ball of glowing light and shoots off toward the sky at unimaginable speed.
The episode ends as the credits roll and Blondie’s “Atomic” plays.
But wait! This episode treats us to our first-ever mid-credits scene (a technique straight out of the Sentinels Cinematic Universe).
In the mid-credits scene, we see Kyle come home through his busted door and into his apartment. He walks into his kitchen where he finds a note that reads, “Sorry about the microwave.” It’s signed by Jersey Devil.
Kyle sighs and turns on his television. On the screen is a broadcast of a baseball game, which Kyle settles in to watch.
Suddenly, the broadcast is interrupted, and Baron Blade’s face appears on the screen. “People of the world!” he says. “It is I, Baron Blade! The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated. And now, I come for vengeance! If the man known as Starshadow does not turn himself over to me, the people of Megalopolis will suffer greatly once again! Do not defy me, fools, or you will pay the price!”
The episode cuts back to the credits.
Final Thoughts
Finally, at the end of the eleventh episode of Season 2, the Alternates know that Baron Blade is alive! Or possibly alive, at least. There are still many fan theories.
There are a few things I want to dissect in this episode!
- Operation Pipeclamp involves Mordengradian scientists, but it seems like Baron Blade doesn’t know about it. So who’s behind Operation Pipeclamp?
- Bouncer’s story of dealing with the trauma of the Oblivaeon Crisis is an interesting note, but since he’s a secondary character, there’s not really much to it. It all sort of happens off-screen, but it’s an interesting idea for a comic book hero to develop post-traumatic stress disorder from super powered combat. The episode also plays off Bouncer’s film career and celebrity for comedic effect.
- Atomic Dawn’s exact background is still quite a mystery, but there’s obviously some connection to Citizen Dawn. Is she a clone? Kid Radical cracks a joke about Citizen Dawn while fighting her in this episode, but Atomic Dawn doesn’t really react. If she is a clone, does she even know?
That’s all for this week, but be sure to come back next week for a Recap of Episode #24, “Mordengrad, Glorious Mordengrad.”
=======================
Running the Game!
The plots all begin to unfold!
I don't really have anything exciting to talk about this week. Atomic Dawn is an Overpowered Loner, so this fight was right in her wheelhouse. She gave the Alternates quite a good blasting, but they took care of her eventually.
I got to do my Philly accent this episode. Last week I got to do my Cockney accent. I might start planning plots based on which accent I want to do that week. Hrm...
Agents Malden and Sullivan are a reference to two television FBI agents who were in one of my all-time favorite shows. They might be in future episodes, or it might be a cheesy reference that I should only do once - I haven't decided!
There's a lot of setup here, and now I'm starting to unravel the yarn ball, so stay tuned!
Thanks for reading!