Masks: A New Generation of Heroes

Game Master Cwethan

I fully support genderswap episode!

I'm pretty sure that would really mess with Kaoru's head, haha. But assuming I can figure out how much she would physically change/how that would interact with her gender presentation, I'd be down for it.

Considering Shaun's got no friggin' idea what his sexuality is, a gender-swap might be an...enlightening experience for him.

Cassie was totally yanking Shaun's chain but,.... A genderswap episode could be a lot of fun!

Fun, probably, except that Wingblade's got access to sharp blades and a high pain tolerance!

That is... the least pleasant image... aaah...

Fun, probably, except that Wingblade's got access to sharp blades and a high pain tolerance!

What...?

Wasn't sure how to respond to the 'bunking' invitation - had like 3 options and am going for the one that seems to have the highest capacity for awkwardness - Cassie totally does not get what Alexis is really asking.... I have NO idea how she's going to react when it becomes clear.

Fun, probably, except that Wingblade's got access to sharp blades and a high pain tolerance!

Well that depends on how it plays out,.... I have a couple of ideas fermenting but I'm not sure how to introduce it. It'll take a little work but I'm happy to run the episode when I get a bit of time to plan it out.

Playing oblivious is fun. If Alexis hadn't used the word "date" when she first asked Kaoru out, Kaoru probably would have said yes.

Genderswap could be introduced as a spell gone wrong? Maybe something about trying to build group cohesion and getting people to "understand" each other via empathy spell (though that kind of lends itself better to a bodyswap episode. Or telepathy)

Spell gone wrong works, although i agree that the 'team building' idea would be better for a bodyswap deal... which is also a great idea! hmmmm.... And there's not enough boys to integrate them.

You could cast a spell with Bronwyn that negatively interacts with her spear thing and causes a genderswap in a bunch of people? And then be confused about why that caused a genderswap. Or I guess maybe Alexis, but that seems a bit less likely to have weird magical repercussions than Bronwyn.

Furiously maintaining obliviousness,...

I could see a spell of some type involving any of Kaoru, Alexis or Bron (or Bran) going weirdly awry - due to factors

...I don't know how I feel about the fact that Kaoru didn't come to my mind as a possible source for messing up a spell and causing a genderswap. Though if you want to go that direction, let me know, and we can see if we can amp up/prime her gender identity confusion right before the spell is cast.

Is Bronwyn and Cesar's Spanish sufficiently intelligible? Or should I include translation notes? Bran's Welsh is supposed to be untranslatable to people around him so I haven't been worried, but not all of the Pascals' is completely context clear, and it's not intended to be particularly opaque.

I speak enough French that it is usually pretty close. Also, my sister's took Spanish, so I got a lot of that anyway.

I remember enough Spanish/French from school to either understand or pick up the general gist.

I have zero Spanish but I can generally get the gist.

Same as Cassie.

I'm putting off Cassie realizing what's going on because I genuinely have no idea how she's going to react..... Decided to roll for it (and failed) - won't mark potential though.

I kinda want Alexandra to be there in the Morning when Wingblade realizes what is going on, most just to have her extort some favour in exchange for having "The Talk" with Alexis in Wingblade's stead.

For the record, Alexis is probably not going to try to sleep with the whole team. But her perception of sex is definitely warped by her upbringing, and is entirely separate from her perception of romance.

So this just occurred to me, and I felt the need to share it...

Bronwyn and Wingblade: relationship drama
Kaoru and Silver Shadow: relationship drama
Cassie and Alexis: relationship drama
Shaun: literally just screwing around with stupid team names

One of these things is not like the others...

Semi-related to moving on to Saturday, did we ever decide how we wanted to handle the SCA files? I'm guessing Kaoru and Alexandra are at least going to check out any files they have on other members of the team. Kaoru's also going to be looking for embarrassing SCA screw-ups since she found that part of the plan rather appealing (if someone wants to write a file but doesn't think their character would be in the SCA database, they could do something with that). I could (and possibly will) also make up some screw ups/random other heroes/villains that are in the files. Depending on how much you think the SCA would know, this might also be a good opportunity to throw in random details related to your background (even if it wouldn't be immediately obvious that it's related to you). So, for example, there might be a file on someone a villain from your background terrorized, even if it's unclear who the villain was or that they're related to you.

I've got a couple ideas for "screw-up" files if you're interested. Also have a handful of fun villains to introduce now if you're willing. But I definitely don't think Kilt's in any way important enough to have a file yet.

I'm personally open to whatever and in any form (high-level bullet points, summary, some completely IC report, etc). Mostly I just don't want people to feel like they're excluded from writing something just because they don't think there'd be a file on them. If people want to write something, I will totally read it. But on the flip side, if people don't want to write something, that's fine too. We could also always slip in some "hidden" files that only get discovered later if people come up with ideas later. Just keep in mind that if you write it, it means the SCA also has this information (and would need to have some reason to have this information) in addition to Alexandra/Kaoru knowing it IC.

Hmm...

I don't have a writing-voice in mind for the SCA yet...

I will say that I really loved the dossiers that Apex (a former character) had put together on the team.

This is actually probably pretty similar to the information they would have on Bran, though I don't think they'd be focusing the search on Halcyon High or Halcyon Preparatory Institutes.

"Bran the Blessed

Identity:???
Powers: Improved Strength, Superior Armor, Weapons Ability (Spear), Some mystical abilities, (Teleportation?)
Profile: Somewhat camera shy, capewatchers tie him to mythical figure from Welsh legend "Mabinogion", seems to come and go from incidents without obvious means of transport, Physical features do not match closely with students at Halcyon High or Halcyon Preparatory Institute, seems connected to his spear (Potentially Gae Dearg of legend according to capewatchers)"

looking forward to further scenes... especially one with Cassie, now that she isn't just a splat of boring (due to amulet, not that she was boring from an outside perspective)

She's still boring to you, when she's got the amulet on... You'll have to earn her trust to get made immune to the effect.

Maybe SCA files something like this?... Haven't assigned codes to PCs or other people's NPCs

SCA file #I29676MuX2SK Individual number 29676 classification (see below)
Classified

Code name: None Will be Hex
Name: Cassiphone Helious
Aliases: None
Civilian identity: Unknown
Age: 16
Current residence: Unknown
Classification: MuX2SK (Magic user (Mu), Unknown Power Level (X), Threat level 2 (2), SideKick licence (SK)
Known affiliations: Wingblade: #CODE; Bran the Blessed: #CODE); The Silver Shadow III: #CODE; The Kilt: #CODE; Unidentified individual: #CODE (Alexis); Unidentified individual: #CODE (Kaoru)
Known connections: Circe Helious (mother): #I2879Mu66Un; The Coterie: #A5789MuUn; Whippoorwill (SK mentor): #CODE
Profile: Recent emergence connected with arrest of Circe Helious (#I2879Mu66Un) in unknown circumstances by group known as 'The Coterie' (#A5789Mu4Un). Previously attended the private girl's school 'Westridge Hall' under given name. Current civilian identity unknown, probable magic obfuscation of some sort, likely provided by a member/members of The Coterie (#A5789Mu4Un). Probable high level of magical potential evidenced by parentage and witnessed use of item #O2786490Ma98 (The Caduseaus) during event #Ev398796007 without adverse effects during which she was responsible for the emergence of the individual known as 'Odysseus' (#I29689UCXXUn). Likely being given training by a member/members of The Coterie (#A5789Mu4Un). SideKick Mentor: Whippoorwill (#CODE)

Ok, first off, I want to say that I really appreciate Alexis' player trying to include Kaoru even though she's off on her own. I also want to assure people that I'm ok having Kaoru spend some time off doing her own thing by herself; I knew what I was getting into when I decided Kaoru didn't want to go to HQ where literally everybody else was despite Alexandra's player's kind opening that I definitely could have exploited to make Kaoru go. The main reason why I posted twice in relatively quick succession was not because I was bored or something; it was because Shaun's player wanted to do a scene that needed Kaoru to finish her wandering around the park.

I also want to emphasize that Kaoru is not a hero (yet). And after having things forced on her last night, she'd probably want to double down on that and go out of her way to be un-heroic. So the most IC thing for her to do would be to completely ignore Alexis' hook/just continue doing what she was doing anyway, which I feel bad about because her player clearly went out of their way to make a scene for Kaoru to interact with.

So, @Alexis: how would you feel about having Shaun pick up your hook instead of Kaoru? I've been PMing him and I believe he'd be down with it. Plus he was going running in the park anyway.

I'd personally like to stress that I had no intention of stepping on any toes here. More than that, I actually really like the description of what day-to-day Halcyon's like, I think it's super cool. And yes, I would be down for picking up the hook in Kaoru's place, if you're okay with it Alexis. If not, I'm more than willing to cancel my scene and have it later in the story.

The scene isn't about a hook. It's about making Kaoru aware that Halcyon is a city full of powered and unpowered heroes. That as long as he's here, there's a non-zero chance that he'll encounter more people like the team, and like the people they've fought. That super fights are common, that there's stores selling merchandise with the faces of heroes young and old.

Basically, it's a scene tailored for Kaoru, so it wouldn't work for Shaun, who wants to be a hero. It's a panoramic view of Halcyon to make him aware that this is a different place from where he used to live.

He's completely free to not interact with the elements presented. They are in the background. Other heroes are taking care of dangerous things happening so he doesn't have to get involved. But this is happening around him in the park, even if it doesn't affect him directly.

So I guess all I'm looking for is to see how he sees this world that's been presented to him.

Edit: It's also fine if you want Kaoru to ignore all of these elements in play. If it's not important enough for him to notice in his headspace, just background noise and music that doesn't concern him, you can play it out like that.

The more Alexis talks, the more I feel like I should brush up on my Shakespeare. Twelfth Night is not one of the plays I ever read. Maybe I should take my parents up on their suggestion to go to that Shakespeare Festival when they come visit... Or I could just read the sparknotes.

Unrelated, found a recording of some college doing the Pirates of Penzance on youtube and watched the entire thing a couple of weeks ago.

Nice

also, I call dibs on the Midsummer nights dream comparison...

Twelfth Night is my favorite Shakespeare play. It's a comedy, and I felt it was something appropriate for her to obsess about, as it would be something she'd never be exposed to in her horrible, awful upbringing.

Of course, she'll have a very different take on Shakespeare once she gets to his tragedies, but that's something to come later. For now, she's looking at this romantic triangle through rose colored lenses. It's something that's fun, as opposed to the horrors of war games. Kaoru and Alexandra may have different opinions though.

Also, Twelfth Night is probably one of the more original 'girl disguises themselves as a boy' stories.

If 'that Shakespeare Festival' happens to be up in Ashland, then I couldn't recommend it enough!

Also, as long as you're thinking about Twelfth Night, if Kaoru ever wanted to get really confused, may I recommend having her find out about the Anne Hathaway production thereof?

I read As You Like It first, so it's got a special Shakespeare-genderswapping-comedy shaped place in my heart, but I'll reluctantly concede that Twelfth Night is better :-p

Alexis' comment about Romeo and Juliet definitely reminded me of this song. Though I lean towards The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)'s comment that the tragedies are funnier (or at least seem to get parodied more often).

If Ashland is in Oregon, then yes, that's probably it. My mom said it's the biggest festival in the States or something? But...kinda not sure how I feel about driving for 5 hours (though if that is the correct place, google maps definitely says it's more of a 6-7 hour drive) for something I'm suspicious I would not really enjoy since I'm hardly a Shakespeare aficionado. :/ Though now I'm pretty curious about this Hathaway version of Twelfth Night...

That's the one! Umm, as a lover of Shakespeare since I was like... 12, I'm not the person to give you an unbiased opinion, but I'll say that they typically do a fantastic job of presenting it in what has proven for some of my fellow theatregoers to be a really accessible way, even if they're going in cold.

Also if you want some non-Elizabethan palate cleansers they have other plays ::waggles eyebrows suggestively::

Driving 6-7 hours is its own question though... Probably depends how long you'd be staying. And you know, if you like small towns with bananas theatre.

This post paid for by the OSF

Hmm, I hope the OSF paid you well because that's a good pitch. :-P I will think more on it. Though also I'm pretty sure my mom is rather fond of Shakespeare, so I might agree to it just on the off chance she'd like it.

Also, I find it interesting that our team seems to have a pretty wide spread of attitudes about sex. Woo diversity!

Okay, brushing off Shakespeare for a moment*. Quick double check - do people have an agenda for the shopping trip? I'm always up for assorted cuteness and shenanigans, but I want to make sure we're not just being slaves to chronology :-)

An agenda doesn't have to be anything super serious, just something that this specific scene/setting does to advance stuff for your character.

*Ba Dum Tss

Alexandra wants to corner and apologize to Wingblade and Bronwyn... she needs a few people on the team who don't hate her, and that ship sailed with Shaun... and the Alexis situation is just f+**in' weird.

Ha! Fair enough.

Also, I love that no Alexandra apology is complete without cornering her victim first...

I'm planning on setting up Alexis getting herself hit on by unsuspecting mallrats, and seeing how the group might react to her naively going along with them.

Also, getting a ridiculous amount of food from the food court, because she's a healthy eater.

Ha! Fair enough.

Also, I love that no Alexandra apology is complete without cornering her victim first...

Maybe we should stick to the theme and have Alexandra corner people in the changing rooms. 0:-) I mean, it's not like they can run away while half-dressed, so she can get out her full apology. It's the only logical location!

I’m fine with a shopping scene, but if one is happening then I need to come up with something for Shaun to do, since he’s not likely to end up involved with that. Maybe somebody wants to bring in some NPCs relevant to their story like I did with Duncan?

Also, while we’re scene planning, I have a question for the previously-established players: how big are the Defenders? Like, are they Fantastic Four big, Avengers big, JLU big? I ask because I’m wondering if I should have Whippoorwill be the team mission giver, or if I can just invent a new hero to be our handler.

I could maybe Entertain Shaun for a while... Scheming little sister, or bored small time villain interest Shaun more?

Ooh, let’s do the little sister idea. I’ve actually been looking forward to an encounter between those two. Question though, how old is she intended to be? Like, 12-ish?

14, so 2 years younger than the rest of us... basically

Duly noted. Looking forward to what you’ve got.