The Exploits System: How "Army Men" Gives Players More Meaningful Character Customization

One of my major gripes with the 5th Edition of Dungeons and Dragons when I first got my hands on it was that it had been streamlined and simplified to the point that players had relatively few choices when it came to actually customizing their characters. You got to pick your class and race, and then when you hit level 3 you got to pick your subclass... and that was about it. Feats existed, along with multiclassing, but both of them came with a rather large "optional" tag attached to them. You could pick spells, if your class got them, but even then it was a pretty truncated list compared to what previous editions had given us.

For context, I started playing back under DND's 3rd edition, did most of my early gaming in 3.5, and I stepped over to Pathfinder's first edition when it came out. For folks who weren't there, or who aren't familiar with these games, they gave you a lot of choices and options when it came to making your character. Feats were mandatory, and generous, skills got fresh points to allocate every level, and you got slews of new abilities every other level.

While my primary desire for Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic was to increase the sheer number of tactical rules available, I also wanted to give players more options for customizing their characters in order to make them more unique. Thus I created the Exploits System!

It's a bucket of nonsense, and you can do whatever you want!

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Exploits: What They Are, And How They Work

For folks who are familiar with how feats worked back in DND 3.5 and Pathfinder's first edition, then saying the Exploits work the same way as feats did in those games is probably all you need. However, if you've only played DND's 5th Edition, then I want to explain how Exploits replaced the normal feats section of the game, and how they became a core part of your character rather than an optional switch your GM may opt not to let you flip, or something you have to sacrifice other benefits in order to have on your sheet.

In short, an Exploit represents a small, unique ability that your character has, and many of these Exploits can be built up in trees that give you progressively more and more powerful abilities as they unlock. You receive 1 Exploit as part of your background at level 1, and you choose a second as part of character creation. As you advance in rank, you choose a new Exploit that you qualify for at every odd level. While some class features may also grant you Exploits, most are gained purely as part of your leveling up process.

Also, to reiterate, you do not choose between gaining increased stats and a new Exploit; you get both.

This is my trooper! There are many like him, but this one is mine!

For example, take the background Irregular. As someone who was part of an unconventional unit, you are used to a variety of strange situations and unique approaches to achieve the goals of your mission. When you take this background, in addition to its other features, you get to choose either Unarmed Combatant or Nerves of Steel as one of your starting Exploits. The former allows you to deal 1d4 + either your Strength or Dexterity modifier when making unarmed attacks, and your unarmed attacks count as light weapons for the purposes of any cast abilities. The latter grants you Proficiency in Wisdom saving throws for the purposes of making Morale checks, and if you already have Proficiency in Wisdom saving throws then you instead gain a +2 bonus on all your Morale checks.

Now, let's say you took that background, and you picked Nerves of Steel... you would have an additional Exploit you could take at level one. If your character is particularly protective of their squadmates, or they just aren't good at turning the other cheek, then you could take Vengeful as your second Exploit. Vengeful requires Nerves of Steel before one can take it, and this Exploit says that whenever you or an ally receives a critical hit, or whenever an ally is reduced to 0 hit points, then you have Advantage on your next attack against the enemy who dealt that blow.

Alternatively, if you chose to take Close Quarters Combatant because your trooper has done a lot of up-close-and-personal work (and especially if they find themselves needing to remove targets without firing a shot), then you could choose to take Strangler as your second 1st-level Exploit. Strangler grants you Proficiency in Athletics for the purposes of grappling, and if you're already proficient in that skill then you gain a +2 bonus to grapple checks. Additionally, you can select between Strength and Dexterity when initiating a grapple, and whenever you successfully grapple a creature, or successfully maintain a grapple, you may choose to automatically deal your unarmed strike damage to that target once per round.

Combinations, Or Shiny Blue Balls, Both Are Equally Viable!

I wanted to take a quick breather here to reassure potential players of Army Men of something. Because while a lot of the existing Exploits fit together like Lego pieces, it is not required for you to dig through every possibly arrangement of abilities to put together the one best combination to achieve the ultimate expression of X strategy. This game is designed so that while Exploits are helpful and useful, they are difficult to exploit too hard, pun very much intended.

For example, you could just focus on Exploits that let you use different pieces of equipment than your cast normally gives you, like High-Caliber Specialist (high-caliber rifles), Shield Bearer (shields and ballistic shields), Front-Line Medic (first aid kit), or Heavy Armor Specialist (heavy armor). Alternatively, you could take Exploits like Spotter, which lets you grant allies Advantage to hit enemies you can both see, or Suppression Fire to give enemies negatives to attack you and your allies. You can take Exploits to gain new languages, to get Proficiency in new skills, and the list goes on.

All of these strategies are viable ways to build your character that will be useful in the game. The question you have to answer is how do these abilities not just help you, but how do they help your squad?

At your 2 o'clock, Peterson!

Too often we get so concerned with what our characters can do, and whose build is "best," that we forget we're all on the same team. Army Men makes it very clear that you aren't just a ragtag group of adventurers held together by hopes of profit... you are a squad! You were trained and selected to work together, and you are expected to work as a team to achieve the goals of your mission... your Exploits are just one more tool in your box to help you accomplish what you were sent out to do.

So if you haven't gotten your copy of Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic yet, grab it while it's still on sale for GM's Day! And check out the unboxing I did for it a while back to get a look at just what's on offer.

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