"Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic" is Now on BackerKit!

This week I wanted to provide readers with something of an update on an ongoing campaign of mine. As a lot of folks probably know (because I wouldn't shut up about it for a month or so), my first RPG "Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic" was on Kickstarter for the month of May. And while we did reach our minimum goals, we didn't exactly blast our way into the stratosphere like some games have in the past.

So, even though myself and the team behind the game are still hard at work on adding all the spit and polish to the book itself, Army Men is currently on BackerKit for preorder as well! So if you missed out on the Kickstarter campaign (or just didn't have the funds at the time), you still have a chance to help us make a bigger splash with this unique RPG!

EDIT: Army Men is now available on DTRPG!

Ready... Aim... Fire!

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Also, since it keeps getting lost in the shuffle, check out my Vocal archive for more articles about RPGs, character conversions, character concepts, weird history, nerdy topics, and more!

What All is Going On?

Readers who are familiar with crowdfunding campaigns likely have all the information they need up there in the introduction, but for those who (like me) weren't familiar with this process, I figured I'd lay things out so there's a clear timeline for what's happening, and so everyone has context for what I'm talking about here.

As I alluded to earlier, Army Men went up on Kickstarter in May so that we could get all the funds we need to complete the game, and bring it to market. It was a hard-fought campaign, and though we fell short of our stretch goals, we did get it funded. That means that, end of the day, this RPG is going to exist... and I think it's going to be a pretty shiny piece of work, if I do say so myself.

If Kickstarter was the opening salvo, then BackerKit is the follow-up charge into the trenches. This gives folks a chance to pre-order the book, and to take advantage of several other options to help fund the project further so we can ensure there's plenty of room in the budget for extras, as well as showing there's additional interest in the game over and above the folks who already pledged in KS. This helps pad the war chest a bit, and it makes it more likely that supplemental material (such as mission packs, GM tools, extra casts, and full game books) will come out more quickly.

So if you missed the initial campaign for Army Men, but you're still interested in getting a copy and participating in the game, don't hesitate now. Pre-order your copy, and help us keep that forward momentum going!

And if you didn't catch the previous articles about this game, and what things I'd like to do with it going forward, please check out the following blog entries and the AMA I did for additional context:

- Under The Hood With "Army Men": A 5E Game With a Lot of Tactical Add-Ons

- What's Next For "Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic" After The Kickstarter?

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. 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 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!

We Want You! "Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic" is Now Live on Kickstarter!

Over the years various people have asked me why I only make content for existing games instead of making my own game. Well, about 5 years ago I started doing that very thing. Though there have been some ups and downs, today marks the final straightaway of this particular journey, because my TTRPG Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic is currently live on Kickstarter!

EDIT: The game funded, and Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic is now available on DTRPG!

While I'm trying to spread the word to help it get funded, I also wanted to give my readers a peek behind the scenes to see how the sausage is made, and to talk about the journey that led to this place a little bit. And, of course, to talk about the aspects of the game I think folks will enjoy, should they choose to help make it a reality!

Art by Anonymous Katsudon, found in the Army Men book!

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my bi-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!

Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

What Is Army Men?

Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic is an RPG where you take on the roles of soldiers within the Plastos Federation. You choose your resin (green, gray, blue, red, or tan), your cast (medic, grunt, ordinance, tactician, or scout), customize your backgrounds and abilities, and then you are all formed into a squad sent off into the field. Whether you're exploring the wilderness and seeking deposits of much-needed resources for your home nations, you've been sent to reinforce a battle line, or you're on patrol to deal with the threat of the Vespoids (colossal, insectoid creatures that have put the Federation into a state of constant, military readiness), there's no shortage of threats for your squad to contend with!

Or, put another way, you're all living plastic people in a living plastic world, just trying to survive against the various threats that come knocking on your doorstep.

And to get out in front of several of the questions folks have asked, this is not a Toy Story style situation. The resinous peoples in the game are all human-sized, and the world they live in is written from the perspective of these characters. However, there is definitely a streak of the absurd running through the game that I feel makes it similar to Pugmire in its tone. This gives you a lot of flexibility, allowing you to do big, silly, bombastic stories that just feel like toys fighting each other (and which could just be the story a bunch of kids are making up around their games of plastic, backyard warfare), but you can also run tense survival-horror scenarios, stories about the scars of war, or anything else that your table can think of!

What About The Mechanics?

Army Men's engine uses the parts of Dungeons and Dragons that went into the Creative Commons recently, with a lot of tweaks and changes to help make it into a more tactical game. For example, there are additional options one can take during combat regarding cover, laying down distracting fire, and even shaking their comrades out of shock and fear so they can keep fighting. There's also 5 resins to choose from for your character, 5 casts (classes), along with 3 separate paths for each cast. There's also a bunch of fresh backgrounds, as well as the Exploits System, which replaces feats, but gives everyone a wider choice of abilities, and characters gain 1 exploit every odd-numbered level regardless of which casts they're choosing.

But wait, there's more!

Not everything in Army Men is about added complexity, though. In fact, there are a lot of mechanics in it that have been streamlined, simplified, or outright chucked out the window so that GMs and players don't have to deal with them anymore.

As a for-instance, this game has no XP; players simply level up after completing a certain number of missions. There's also no treasure to balance for the GM, because characters are all members of the armed forces; you requisition your equipment before you're sent into the field. That means you have the ability to give them as much (or as little) as you want to directly affect the challenge of the mission. There's also simplified rules for ammunition tracking, including the Hollywood Guns feature for folks who want to run a game that feels more like The Expendables or one of the later Rambo films.

Is There More Coming?

The Kickstarter for this game is set at $6k, but we do have some fun stretch goals in place. As Josh Heath said on the Dads With Nerdy Ambitions podcast (Steve Plays With Army Men is the episode), at $10k we're going to offer a d20 set of dice in the traditional, army green with gold numbers to ensure you've got your standard-issue polyhedrals by your side. And if that wasn't enough, at $15k the stretch goals will include an option for an ammo can to keep your materials in so that you're ready to rock whenever it's time to go on your next mission.

But what's coming down the pipe?

While the core rulebook for Army Men gives you everything you need to play the game, including a starting mission module, my hope is that this is merely the first step into a much larger world. I currently have ideas for a lot of extra content, ranging from missions Game Masters can run their players through, additional antagonists for the setting, expanded weapons, gear, and even advancing the meta story beyond the initial Vespoid conflict.

However, a lot of that is going to depend on you, the folks reading this right now.

The game is an all-or-nothing Kickstarter, meaning we need to at least hit the initial goal to make it happen. However, the more funding it generates, the bigger a message it sends to High Level Games that this is a good investment, and the more time it will buy me to put out additional content going forward.

The initial game took me roughly 2 years to write all the content for, because I had to squeeze it in between all the other TTRPG projects that were actually paying my bills. But if I could dedicate a lot of time and energy to expanding the setting, and adding new elements, folks would see follow-up projects coming to market a great deal more quickly. And, of course, if we had a bigger budget that would mean we could reach out to other creators, and put teams to work on future installments rather than keeping things small and controlled as we did with this initial game.

So, if you made it this far and Army Men sounds like a game you'd love to play, go back the Kickstarter today! Additionally, consider sharing the campaign on your social media pages, in your groups, or just telling your table about us... any and all help is greatly appreciated!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. 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 Daily Motion channel!. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like 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!