You Better Kill Them, or They'll Get Stronger.

 

Source: Padnote on Tumblr

     Longtime readers know I use retro video games as inspiration for a lot of my mechanical content. My series on enhancing OSR-style characters through a process known as Investments was informed by the item or scenario-based class upgrades in the Fire Emblem, Ogre Battle &  Shining Force franchises. In a sort of feed-back loop, as table-top RPGs served as inspiration for many early video games, so can video games inspire table-top games in turn. That being said, we are going to go over the application of two common video game tropes within our table-top games: The Recurring Boss, and a sort of take on Magikarp Power.

Have fun fighting us 3-5 times

     In spite of the trope, for our purposes this does not have to be anything so formal as a boss encounter; fighting a particular faction, legendary creature, or even beings with the ability to come back or be brought back from the dead would also apply. The important aspect here is a sense of continuity between each of the encounters. The enemy has not been idle when the players aren’t around, but rather preparing for them and bolstering themselves specifically against the threat which defeated or drove them off before. Instead of being the same threat they have faced before, the players now find themselves squaring off with a committed foe, familiar with at least some of their methods. This system works on the assumption of an enemy which is ultimately as competent and driven as the players themselves, especially after suffering defeat or losses at their hands. Don't just take my word for it--after a conversation with some wonderful people on the OSR FB group, I was pointed towards this post from Gygax in 2004. While I am not designing for convention play like he was, I find it quite bolstering to have seen that.

***Spoilers for the Sweet Home Webtoon follow!***

     While I started this article speaking about video games, one of the best examples I’ve seen of these tropes in recent media is in the comic Sweet Home. To put an extremely long story short, people in the comic begin to spontaneously turn into monsters based upon their desires. While this can manifest in any number of ways depending on the set and setting of the person in question, one of the most disturbing examples is the case of the Tentacles Monster. A smiling man in a business suit with a dozen tentacles coming out of his back, the monster is constantly screaming he is, “Going to Live,” or simply, “Alive!”

     The Tentacles monster is encountered a nearly a half-dozen times, tearing apart both corpses and survivors alike before he is lit on fire and nearly expires. In the process of surviving, he evolves chitinous armor, the ability to spit acidic globules, and his limbs and tentacles harden into spiny, spider-like legs.

     This evolved version of the creature becomes one of the characters biggest recurrent threats, requiring the sacrifice of numerous lives to finally put down for good. They not only grow more ferocious in physical form, they also learn how to foil how they were defeated in the previous encounter, catching a bottle full of the fuel used to light them on fire before, and quickly trying to attack the character who burned them previously.

***Spoilers for Sweet Home have ended!***

     Though something of a long-term failure due to a nakedly exploitative DLC structure, Evolve was essentially founded on this principle. A team-based versus game, one team was in charge of a group of hunters, while the other was made up of a single player who controlled a monster. Initially weak, the player controlling the monster would stalk around the level, eating wildlife and attacking isolated Hunters until it was able to cocoon itself and...evolve...into a stronger form. The monster can do this two times, growing from a threat easily dealt with in it’s first form, to a nearly insurmountable foe in it’s third form.

    This engenders a certain mindset among the players: relentlessly hunt down the monster before it becomes a truly overwhelming threat. In my experience, most groups do not need to be guided to brutality towards their enemies. Here we assume the PCs will drive their enemies into the ground, rather than off. This isn’t to say it's a bad idea for them to do so, but for our purposes there may need to be some amount of mercy.

     Pokémon is rife with not only recurring enemies (in the form of Team Whatever-It-Is-This-Entry and any Rivals), but monsters which change and grow over the course of the game. Not only do the individual pokémon grow and adapt through the means of their Evolutions, but trainers themselves grow their teams in potency, and in the case of the rival, tailored specifically to defeat your first pokémon. This sort of slow, deliberate adaptation to the player’s tactics is perfect for our purposes.

     One of the most unique experiences Pokémon brings to the table is the sense of discovery accompanying each new game. Each new region brings new creatures to fight—who possess abilities the player may not be ready for. Unless the player has read up or spoiled themselves, they will not know what they are walking into, creating a sense of wonder.

     Instead of falling into necessarily predictable patterns, a GM can invent their own memorable monsters or villains over the course of several encounters, each corresponding to the pressures the PCs have brought to bear on them. So what is all of this leading to? Why, a couple of tables to make all of this theory into something relevant for your game, of course!

d8	How did they survive to fight another day?
1-2	They made a deal with some sort of sinister being in return for being restored to life or fighting shape.
3-4	They were resurrected by some other party. They are now undead.
5	They had been cursed or blessed before their deaths. They cannot truly expire, and in fact did not die at the hands of the party. Like a revenant, they simply got back up.
6	Another took up their mantle, gathering their equipment or followers to themselves and taking up their banner. They use similar methods to their predecessor(s).
7	Strange technologies were employed to bring them back from the ever-after. They may be somewhat worse for wear, but they are alive and still battle ready.
8	They got better. The being or organization was only on the brink of extermination, but they endured.

     While I would counsel customizing how enemies improve between encounters based upon how they were defeated, in a pinch you could use this table:

d8	How have they improved since their last encounter?
1	Hired some help. They either have minions, or substantially more forces than they did before.
2	Through training, fell research or simple overexposure, the enemy has rendered themselves resistant or even entirely immune to a particular kind of damage, spell or effect.
3	Whether through some deal they struck, intense study or other form of revelation, they now have access to magical abilities of some stripe.
4	Investing heavily in their arms and armor, they enemy has increased their AC or damage.
5	Engaging in intense training, they have grown markedly more powerful. Choose a particular aspect of the character(s), such as HP, Attack Bonus or number of Spells per day—increase it by 25-50%
6	By some horrific process, the enemy has been physically modified. Though this can manifest in myriad ways, it could take the form of Wings for flight, a Tail for balance, or Gills for breathing underwater.
7	The enemy has sought out other enemies of the PCs, and has allied themselves with them. They share knowledge and tactics with one another, making them both substantially more dangerous.
8	They have been discreetly observing the PCs, learning their tactics and habits. They will be able to easily ambush them, or attack their allies.