Expanding "Army Men" Into Other Genres

For folks who haven't heard, a lot of my content is currently on-sale over on Drive Thru RPG thanks to the GM's Day Sale going on right now! While 144 of my titles are on-sale right now, today I wanted to talk about Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic. Because while the first supplement Army Men: Threat Assessments is already out, and I'm hard at work on Medals of Honor (which should be ready for release this spring), I do have some longer-term goals for this game... goals that will be much easier to reach if I can get some of you fine folks all aboard the bus in order to help me keep putting together new stuff for this RPG!

I can see the next objective from here!

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Mercenaries, Gangsters, Psychics, and Spies!

While Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic is a fully functional RPG base book that one can grab and use as it stands, it was always meant to be a spring board to jump out to other genres of play. Because while the base game is meant for squad-based play where you and your fellow troopers are given missions and assigned objectives to complete, I know that isn't the game for everyone out there.

However, it was never intended to be the only style of game play supported by this RPG... I just couldn't fit all the options into the base game!

I've got plans... just need a little help to make them happen...

So what does the future hold, assuming I can find enough rope to play out for this game? Well, in addition to more gear, guns, vehicles, classes, monsters, and mission packs, I'd also like to expand the genre to some of the following areas:

- Army Men: Soldiers of Fortune- Rather than being regular members of the military, the party operates as hired guns. A more traditional "adventuring" route, this would come with new classes and subclasses, and a Reputation metric to replace the load out typically given to soldiers by the military they serve. This would, ideally, have a kind of A-Team vibe, where players could come from anywhere, and get involved in nearly anything!

- Army Men: Game of Shadows- The intelligence services of the Plastos Federation, and all of its member nations, fight their wars in alleys and backrooms, using whispers, rumors, poisons, seduction, and other tools of the espionage trade to complete their missions. Whether you want to do something wild and crazy like James Bond or Mission: Impossible, or you'd rather stay grounded and serious, taking inspiration from WWII and the Cold War, this book would expand your toolset, and likely delve deeply into the shadow warriors, paramilitary forces, and other aspects of the setting to give them even more teeth.

- Army Men: Gangsters and Gumshoes- The streets of the Federation may seem clean, but every town has its dirty business. From back alley runners to street corner dealers, everybody answers to someone. Whether your squad are an up and coming group of hoods looking to break into the big leagues with a heavy score, or you're a pack of private eyes who are out there doing what the cops can't (or just won't), this particular game would have a smaller focus than the grand wars seen in the previous two. Players would be solving cases, getting into mysteries, pulling jobs, and trying to make heads or tails of what's happening while trying to stay out of jail, and avoiding floating face down in the river.

- Army Men: Weird War- While we have a couple of very sci-fi additions in Threat Assessments, those are just an appetizer for the nonsense I'd love to add in with Weird War. This book would get into the strange implications of what the vespoids truly are, where they came from, and what some of the other forces operating behind the scenes are who may have instigated this whole conflict for their own benefit. Who built the bizarre Mekanauts that have wiped out entire regiments before finally being destroyed? What are those strange lights in the sky some airmen have reported? What kinds of experiments go on in the backrooms of government laboratories? From psychic classes and advanced weaponry, to the implications of aliens, intelligent machines, and more, this one will cover a wide variety of sci fi nonsense that would greatly expand antagonists, as well as resources for players.

What Do You Want To See Most?

If you read this far in this week's entry, I want to know from you... what do you want to see in Army Men going forward? Do you have a particular genre of the four above that really speaks to you? Or is there one I didn't mention (such as the Old West for folks who want to use those plastic cowboy toys)? Alternatively, would you rather see mission packs so you could run your players through some preplanned battles, NPC lists to fill out the roster, or just more interesting locations to beef up what's on the map?

It's still early enough in the game that we can go in all sorts of directions, but we need to hear what you want before we can pick the proper direction! So please leave your thoughts in the comments below, or reach out to us on social media. Lastly, don't forget to pick up your copy of Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic and Army Men: Threat Assessments while they're still on-sale this week!

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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!

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What Keeps Your Character Traveling?

There's a reason so many tales begin in the tavern... it's usually the one place that travelers gather to wile away the evening hours before they have to get back out on the road. And while there are some games where the party members are local to the area, those tend to be fairly few and far between. Heroes (and villains, for evil games) tend to come from afar, walking into whatever danger and adventure awaits them in the place where their adventure begins.

Before you put together another traveling adventurer with worn down bootheels and a cloak that's just getting ragged around the edges, take a moment to consider just how many reasons there are to be on the road. Because a lot of us only seem to think of the same handful to be from home when the plot thickens.

Also, road is sort of a loose term in this instance.

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Professional Reasons

The most common reasons you find PCs located far away from home when we first meet them is because they're looking for work... but that work is almost universally A) as a wandering sellsword, or B) as a traveling bard.

And there are some characters who tend to be a bit of both.

While there's nothing wrong with either of these reasons (and you can improve them by lifting some content from 100 Random Mercenary Companies as well as 100 Fantasy Bands by yours truly if you'd like), there are so many other options out there!

For example, consider the fantasy teamster. With her wagon and her mule she runs goods all over the region, and any trouble she meets out on the road gets a quarrel between the eyes from the crossbow she keeps locked up by her seat. Traveling peddlers, river boatmen, and sailors can also fall into this category. Or consider the barber surgeon, who can cut hair, stitch wounds, set bones, and pull teeth, but who tends to make rounds to a wider area in order to help as many people as possible while collecting modest fees. There's the treasure hunter who's always looking for that next big score, the forest ranger acting as a freelance guide, the cartographer who is making new, updated maps of the region, and the historian who's attempting to piece together parts of the past to provide a window onto what came before.

The key for characters who are traveling for professional reasons is that you need to give them a pressing enough reason to be on the move, but not something so pressing that they end up ignoring the adventure hook in favor of their personal travel plans. If the drunken master monk is a roadie/bodyguard for touring musicians, for example, you don't want them to be so committed to that role that they refuse to go check out the troll caves, or to stick around and help protect the town against bandit raids.

It's all about balance, and flexibility.

Personal Reasons

Much like the above section we see plenty of personal reasons for travel among PCs... but a lot of them tend to fall into the same, very broad categories. The most common examples I've seen of this are, A) Looking for revenge, B) Running from debts/commitments C) Some kind of rite of passage.

You met a man with three fingers on his left hand? Which way did he go?

Again, because I cannot stress this enough, there is nothing wrong with those reasons. They're old fall back positions, the same as the paladin that's a knight in shining armor, or the wizard that's an old gray-bearded sage. But they aren't the only options you have, and you can get a lot out of stretching your creativity in this case.

For instance, is your character having a mid-life crisis, so they decide to leave behind a steady trade or a growing business to go out and make their name as a hero? Are they hounded by visions and prophecies, driven toward certain places by the will of inscrutable gods (whether or not they're divine caster classes)? Did they want to get out of their small town to see the world before settling down to have kids? Are they looking for a long-lost friend, family member, or rightful owner of a strange ring they found that draws them on like an iron filing to a lodestone? Are they a really dedicated foodie determined to try all the strange dishes and unusual customs found in 100 Fantasy Foods?

There are hundreds of different reasons someone might find themselves on the road, far away from home. The advantage of personal reasons to travel, though, is that a good GM can take them, and weave them into the ongoing plot in order to hook a PC into said plot to satisfy the player's personal arc. Whether it's deciding to Don Quixote their way through a goblin siege on their old plow horse, or traveling to the capitol to taste the finest viands while also solving the murder of the duchess, players with personal reasons to be out and about can often be easily directed toward the plot with a dangling carrot.

Additional Resources and Inspiration

If you're going to be running a game that takes place out in the open world, and your PCs are going to be doing a great deal of traveling, then I would suggest checking out some of the following supplements for extra inspiration!

- 100 Random Taverns: One of my bestselling supplements, it's gone Electrum at time of writing. Whether you need a sports bar hung with regalia of tourney knights, a clockwork brewery, or a hole-in-the-wall run by kobolds, this supplement has you covered!

- 10 Fantasy Villages: Whether you need a place for your PC to be from, or you need unique locations for the party to stop in, this supplement has everything you need. Maps, histories, rumors, notable places, NPCs, and more can be found between these pages.

- 100 Encounters in a Fey Forest: Traveling through a fey forest is a unique kind of danger... people who are actually from such places might be seen as touched in the head by the rest of the world. For those looking for specific lists there's both a Pathfinder Classic version as well as a DND 5E version.

- 100 Encounters For on The Road or in The Wilderness: From road construction, to guard patrols, to mating wolves, and strange discoveries, there's no reason your PCs should ever have a dull moment when getting from point A to point B. And like the previous supplement this one comes in both a Pathfinder Classic version as well as a DND 5E version.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Fluff post!

For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my alley cat thriller Marked Territory, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my recent 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!

Who Are Your Mercenary Companies?

PCs come from all walks of life. Some of them have been soldiers, others were scholars, and more than a few of them were craftsmen, priests, and farmers. All too often, though, players won't give you a detailed answer on their character's work history. They simply reach for the low-hanging fruit as a way to plug the huge gap in the PC's backstory. While the most common answer by far seems to be, "I'm an adventurer!" (and I've covered that previously in Stop Using The Word "Adventurer" And See How It Changes Your Game), the second-place contender is typically that the PC is a mercenary.

Problem?

Now, that isn't to say that "mercenary" is a bad background for a PC, or that your world shouldn't have freelance troops ready for hire. However, rather than just letting a player give a general job title, dig a little deeper with them. Ask why they left the group they used to work for, what trappings they took with them, if they would be welcomed back, and most importantly, who they've served with?

And if you need help with that last one, you might enjoy 100 Random Mercenary Companies from Azukail Games (authored by yours truly). Also, if you're going into the high tech future, you might want to take a look at 100 Sci-Fi Mercenary Companies as well!

Give Them Options (And Watch Characters Grow)

Mercenary companies come in all shapes, sizes, and flavors. Some are cavalry tacticians, while others are unsurpassed foot soldiers. Some are sailors in times of war, and pirates in times of peace. Every mercenary company, though, has a reputation. Because that reputation is often what they sell themselves on, and how they attract new blood.

The 100 Ronin have won wars simply by being hired, their reputation is so fierce.

Whether you take inspiration from history by looking at groups like The Varangian Guard (viking and Anglo-Saxon mercenaries who protected the Eastern Roman emperors), or you decide to make up something out of whole cloth like the Lost Squires (a group founded by squires whose knights died, leaving them half-trained, but otherwise masterless), these groups add a lot of potential to player backstories.

Take a moment to ask what mercenary companies exist in your setting? How big are they? Who founded them? What is their reputation, and do they have any kind of uniform or badge to mark out members? Do they have a motto, or a doctrine? Do they claim to serve a higher purpose, such as being servants of a god of war?

Also, remember, free companies have all sorts of needs, and will hire all kinds of freelancers. So if you're looking for a spin on "Dark Ages PMC", here are some examples to consider.

- The Acolytes of Arannis: Founded by the evoker Arannis, the war wizards of the Acolytes specialize in ending wars with arcane might. Their commanders are made up of wizards, sorcerers, bards, magi, and even alchemists, but the company also boasts assassins and warriors trained in how to kill spellcasters should the need arise.

- The Harbingers of Sorrow: Every war has losers, and the Harbingers of Sorrow was originally formed from those who knew how to fight, but who had nothing left to fight for. Dressed in funerary black, the Harbingers fight in almost complete silence but for bellowed orders, and droning war horns. Their ranks are made up of disowned knights, exiled warriors, and veterans who lost everything but their swords when their units fell. The Harbingers never flee, it's said, because they have nowhere else to run to.

- The Jolly Company of The Black Flag: When war turns to peace, sailors often turn to piracy in order to keep food in their bellies. While there was much to be made plundering merchant ships, Captain Korgon Blood realized there was even more to be made in keeping them safe. The half-orc and his galleons hired themselves as escorts, using their knowledge of the other captains to avoid being attacked when they could. While the Jolly Company is mostly legitimate now, there are always rumors dogging them that they aren't above playing both sides of the water... or in staging attacks by phantom pirates to drive up demand for their services.

But What About Independent Operators?

With all of that said, there's still plenty of room for independent contractors. After all, sometimes a caravan just needs an extra sword, and one more pair of eyes. Maybe your employer has a very specific job he wants done, and it's a one-time gig for a professional like you. Perhaps you specifically operate in gray areas of the law, so they want someone not affiliated with any established group.

That's still an option. However, the iron trade is a booming business anywhere there's strife and conflict. So consider expanding the world a bit, and giving your players several mercenary groups they could have been affiliated with in the past... or which might recruit them in the future!

Also, speaking of mercenary companies, you may want to consider Blackguard. They hire anyone, regardless of past criminal history, alignment, race, or class. And they're particularly keen on doing outreach to groups that tend to be marginalized. Kobold survivors of warren raids, orcs whose parents were killed by wandering sellswords, and even to those serving convictions for misuse of the mystic arts. Blackguard has a place for you, if you're willing to step up!

 

That's all for this week's Fluff post. Hopefully it got some wheels turning out there, and if you have any unique mercenary companies of your own, feel free to leave a description in the comments below. If you'd like to see more content from yours truly, then check out my Vocal archive, or head over to the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio where I work with talented gamers to create things like that Blackguard video above. To keep up-to-date on all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. And, if you'd like to support my work, please head over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page, or click here to Buy Me A Coffee! Either way, I'll be happy to send you some sweet gaming swag as a thank you for your support!

The Iron Hand of Gotz von Berlichingen

Germany is a country with a reputation. Its tribes stopped the advance of the Roman legions, its swordsmiths created a two-handed rapier, and if certain schools of musical thought are to be believed, gave birth to the ancestor of heavy metal with creation of Richard Wagner. It's a nation whose mythology is bloody, whose fairy tales are terrifying, and whose warriors are legendary.

With that said, Gotz von Berlichingen is unique even among the hardcases coming out of Germany in the 1500s. He started his career around the turn of the century as a mercenary, and he was marked as a particularly tough man. Good if you were the one paying him and his company, not so good if you were on the receiving end of things. According to Atlas Obscura, in 1504 Gotz lost his hand, courtesy of a cannonball. He did not, however, let such a minor inconvenience get in the way of his continued, paid-for rampages.

So he did what any self-respecting, hard-bitten soldier of fortune would do. He stopped by the blacksmith, and told him to make an iron hand so he could keep pummeling the living hell out of his enemies.

Years later some British guy is going to write a heavy metal ballad about this shit.

The model you're looking at above is the second installment, which Gotz had made for him after he'd roused a significant number of rabbles, collected a metric butt-load of plunder, and along the way gotten himself knighted. While the initial hand was little more than a crude metal clamp holding his sword, the later model could hold a quill, his reins, and perform a range of other tasks as well.

Get your mind out of the gutter.

Anyway, in addition to smashing teeth, wielding a sword, and likely doing some awesome saluting, this iron fist became Gotz's symbol. He, and his hand, grew so popular that it was made a part of his home city's flag. Because they wanted to advertise to anyone who thought about starting trouble that they would have to bring some serious A-game to survive an encounter with the man who lived there.

And if that name sounds familiar to you as a fan of anime, then you might recognize the similarity to Guts, the protagonist of Berserk... iron hand and all. While there's no historical record of the German mercenary knight keeping a cannon in his arm, there is a character build for the animated character at How To Build Guts From (Berserk) if you'd like to see my take on it.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. 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!