What Mechanics-Based Supplements Would You Like To See For "Army Men"?

As regular readers know, my first RPG Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic was released earlier this year after a successful Kickstarter campaign. In this game players take on the role of a squad of soldiers fighting for one of the nations of the Plastos Federation as they attempt to defend their home from the incursions of the vespoids; gigantic, insectile creatures that have placed all the resinous persons under serious threat. In addition to that very hot war there are also Cold War tensions between many of the nations, there are terrorist organizations and criminal syndicates to deal with, as well as pieces of strange, alien technology that may be more than they seem at first glance, as well as plastic dinosaurs roaming the wilderness beyond the Federation's borders.

What I'd like to ask folks this week, since we're in our Crunch update, is what sort of mechanical supplements you'd like to see for this game in the coming months?

What do you need for resupply?

As always, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

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Exploits, Gear, And Creatures To Fear

Since Army Men initially dropped, three separate supplements have been released. The first, Army Men: Threat Assessments, is a collection of extra threats, creatures, and things that your troopers are going to have to deal with in the field. The second, Army Men: Medals of Honor, introduced the medals system as a way for you to recognize your troopers' accomplishments while on campaign, and to give your players things to strive for. And the most recent supplement, Ungentlemanly Warfare: A Baker's Dozen of Booby Traps, is full of deadly traps for Game Masters to put into the field for their troopers (or their enemies) to deal with. And if you keep your eyes peeled, the first of the Army Men missions should be coming out soon, with a short adventure set in United Polymeria!

However, because I wanted to focus this game on strategy, equipment, and abilities, I wanted to take a moment to ask folks in the audience... what would you actually like to see more of?

There's several options on the board!

So, I've had a lot of ideas for some things I'd like to expand for the mechanical side of Army Men for folks who want to see even more resources for the game. At the moment, though, the things I'm currently looking at are:

- Additional Missions: Though A Night At Breckon's Beacon isn't out at time of writing, my plan was to get at least 4 more mission guides written and going through editorial in the near future. However, if there's more demand for missions than there is for other options, they're going to get bumped to the top of the list!

- Army Men: Weapons Locker: While not a finalized title, the basic idea behind this series would be, as the title suggests, to be to put more weapons, armor, and general equipment into the hands of your troopers. There might even be some items with the Experimental tag attached to them, in the event folks want a little more of the sci-fi nonsense I've hinted at with this game.

- Army Men: Enhanced Exploits: The exploits system is the main way players pick up and add abilities to their troopers. While there's a variety of them in the base book, this supplement would give you new trees to draw from, and provide additional paths you could use to develop your character in your coming campaign.

- Army Men: Soldiers of Fortune: While originally the title I was going to use for a larger softcover release (which this might still be, if there's enough enthusiasm), the idea behind this supplement was to add something of an A-Team vibe to the game by including the option to play as mercenaries. This would provide players with new classes to choose from, new exploits, fresh backgrounds, as well as a slew of additional items, and likely a Reputation system for acquiring new gear in the field, or before a mission (since mercenaries may not have access to the armories of a nation's standing army).

These aren't the only ideas I've had for supplements to expand the game world, but at time of writing these are the four directions I've narrowed likely expansion to. So if you're a fan of Army Men, then make sure you make your voice heard so I know what sort of content you'd like to see from me going forward!

And if you'd like to know more about the game and setting, make sure to check out the new series Tactical Plastic Report over on the Azukail Games YouTube channel. I just got it off the ground, so now is the perfect time to make your voice heard on what subjects you'd like to see covered!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Crunch post! To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

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!

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

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.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Crunch post. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!