OFF THE BEATEN PATH - BREAKING FROM YOUR CAMPAIGN'S NORM

Modern comics have created a perception of intense planning and forethought with their interconnected crossovers and prescriptive metaplots. This, however, is not, nor has it ever been the way for the majority of comic book history. Even heavily themed, more focused books, like X-Men, have had their disconnected, seemingly random encounters. Comics often had to insert filler stories between major events, to keep books going or while they were trying to find their legs. This was, of course a purely business-based decision as many comics literally struggled to stay in print, often getting cancelled and restarted before they finally found their voice. 

As gamemasters, this gives us a lot of wiggle room with what you can plot for your campaigns. As mentioned in previous posts, seeming;y random things often happen in any given title but this randomness can be controlled and planned for and not quite as odd and slapstick as some of the previous examples. Where that post was written to give permission to have simple, dumb fun happen in your games, here I am talking about being more intentional with side quests outside the normal theme of your game. 

Taking your players outside of their usual themed plots and stories is a great way to allow them a break from their usual. In addition, such adventures often introduce the characters to new obstacles and situations that put their powers to the test and provide opportunities for them to expand upon those powers. As a GM, these side adventures will let you expand you storytelling and character design. Spider-Man may spend most of his time duking it out with a constant run of quirky villains but he occasionally gets chucked into another dimension, to another planet or finds himself tangling with enemies outside his usual rogue's gallery.

Side adventures are great ways to introduce new elements for your story as well. While they don't need to carry over beyond the initial adventure, they can certain provide a lasting element to your campaign. Just as the X-Men discovered a supply of Vibranium in the Savage Land, along with introducing heroes like Ka-Zar or villain such as Sauron, a side quest into a new space provides seeds and questions to later exploit in your games. The Ihumans and their expansive story were introduced through an encounter with the Fantastic Four. In these cases, the comic book universe and the setting of the particular titles were broadened beyond their normal focus, making for a more interesting story and ultimately providing elements that could be called upon later just asv GMs can in their games. 

As a GM, it is important to consider what you hope to accomplish with these side adventures. Consider tying them into your players desires - things they may have mentioned in passing along the way or even specifically asked for. If you have a player who is hoping to expand their powerrs in a new direction, perhaps consider how one of these side adventures might help with that? You may have an upcoming eneemy planned for your players that might present them with a challenge that they normally have no means to deal with and a side adventure to a new place or with a new character could allow them that means, if tey are crafty enough to make the connection. Side adventures are also great ways to foreshadow upcoming events in your campaign. A seemingly random encounter with an alien species could just be the tip of the iceberg of a massive event in your universe. 

Whatever you do with side adventures, make sure that, while they seem outside the norm for your heroes, they still do something to enrich the game and story of those heroes. Too many totally random "What The..?!" moments will leave your players feeling there isn't any sort of direction to the game and while this may be okay for more casual campaigns or with certain kinds of characters, mostp layers are going want a little more meaning in their campaigns. 

STUFF HAPPENS - RANDOM ENCOUNTERS

Comics are full of deep plots, interweaving plots, metaplots and ongoing stories but there are also a massive number of seemingly random, short-term, or even one-off encounters that occur in nearly every title. While this tends to be the province of solo heroes like Spider Man or the Incredible Hulk, just about every hero and team of heroes has had encounters with enemies outside their usual cast of characters. 

To a great degree, these sorts of randomly encountered characters serve to allow comics creators to experiment with new ideas play around, and have fun. They are often less defined, sometimes less well thought out and sometimes very silly. Quite often these character are introduced with the intention of having them become recurring characters should they prove popular enough but in many cases, they come, go and are never heard of again, that is until another creator decides they want a crack at the character.

This is one of the greatest benefits of these characters for GMs. GMs are notoriously creative, constantly coming up wth new NPCs and characters. With many games it can be tricky to find a believable, useful place for all this creativity but superheroes games have it written int othe very fabric of the genre. Leaning into this will only serve to make your games feel more like the comics they are based on. If you have an idea, jot it down, scribble together some quick stats and file it away in you folder of random encounters to use when you and/or your players need a break. That woodchuck-themed villain may only show up for one ill-fated fight with your players' heroes but he will be remembered. 

Random encounters need not stay random though. As I have pointed out in several previous posts, these characters are right for creating questions, rectonning, seeeding. A seemingly random hero may develop over time, returning as a lost relative, an alternate self, connected to a character's origins. Random encounters can spin off into new player characters even much in the same way that Peter Parker's styslistc costume change in Secret Wars became the pehenomenon that is Venom and then all the symbiote maness that came out of that. the key is that they never have to though, allowing  GM to create and use them freely. 

PRODUCTION DELAYS

 

Apologies for there being no From The Folder Friday this week. I got behind on posts and wasn't able to have it ready for today. Will get it posted next Friday. 

ALIEN SPECIES - ANOTHER CLASSIC RECURRING ENEMY

 

Last time, I wrote about recurring enemies and how they are a great way to world-build and allow yourself, as a GM, some easy filler or convenient opponents to slip into your campaign, from time to time. This time, I'd look to look at another sort of recurring enemy that is also not a named team or villain - alien species. 

Whether it is the Skrulls, Kree, or Badoon, comic book universes are filled with nearly endless examples of alien empires, all with their own agendas, special powers, equipment and often even named characters. Many of these alien empire are framed as distant, warring factions who occasionally appear on Earth to cause trouble while others are shown to have machinations on Earth itself or, even better for the GM and your players, the PC heroes. they can come, go, stay or disappear as your cmpaign needs as well, only as present a you want them to be but often able to appear out of nowhere, despite seemingly gone.

When choosing which alien species to use, spend a little time considering what it is that you want them to do. Larger alien empires will have greater resources to bring to the fight, sometimes even having their own sperpowered operatives, like the Super Skrull or Captain Mar-Vell. While any race can be sneaky or warlike, different species are goign to play into this better than others. The Skrulls ae definitely a better fit for a secret invasion than say the Kree or Brood, even though any of them have shown an ability to hide among humans. 

One of the nice things about using alien species in your games is that they afford your the same scaleability as organizations, even more so in many cases. Additionally, their alien nature and often unimaginable technolgy can allow them to come and go freely and appear from nowhere, much like ninjas or secret organizatons can. When doing any of these, you needn't worry too much about the specifics of how they are doing what they are doing as comic book aliens are often given great leeway when it comes to the exact nature of their abilities and technologies, often coming up with previously unrevealed weapons and even powers as their presence progresses in the stories. 

Alien species, much like organizations are not confined to the role of enemy either. You can have them be as monolithis or complex as you like. Comic books are full of turncoats, traitors, subversives and subfactions among alien species and their empires. These anomalies add depth to the recurring aliens, allowing the players' characters to make friends and allies even while fighting the majority of the alien menace. the exact motivations and reasons for these anmalous characters can be as simple as differing opinions, politics, or even a person agenda that goes against the overall motivations of the species such as love, revenge, honor, or any other personal expression of emotion or intelligence. 

One last consideration with using aliens is that the universe is massive and comic book aliens often travel not just between planetary systems or even within the same galaxy but often from entire other galaxies or dimensions. Because of this, you can invent new alien as freely as you like without ever feeling like you have explain their existence. Even if they are from an area of "known space" such as the Shi-ar empire, you can explain them with just a few waves of your world-building wand. An alien may be from the farthest reaches of space or just around the cosmic bend and just simply never discovered or even kept hidden from detection. They might have simply blipped into existence or awakened after eons of slumber, or slipped into this universe through the fabric of time and space.

Aliens provide a rich tapestry of options for a GM to come up with endless encounters fo their players. They will provide characterful opponents that the players can love, hate, or love to hate. They can even provide the spark for new characters to be played by your players. The next character at your table may be a rogue member of a species or an advanced scout sent to prepare the world for a coming threat. 

What are some of your favorite comic book aliens?

How have you used aliens in your games?

Have you ever had any players make character from alien species you have brought into your games?