Okay, just as a reminder, Defenders HQ is where Mercy and Wingblade go to see the therapist as well, correct? I just want to make sure that it's someplace that they're familiar with.
I've always assumed that the therapist has her own office somewhere downtown. And while she's connected to the Defenders, she doesn't work out of the HQ.
But the Defenders HQ is a prominent building downtown. It's been around for a long time. I think we can safely say that some time off-panel Alexis was told about the building's location, if not even given a tour at some point.
I'm still around, but between leading a project that keeps having last minute changes at work and the various games I'm DMing taking more creative energy and/or prep work than I had anticipated, I don't really have the energy to be more proactive in writing things for Kaoru.
An Android walks into the room, its soft silver body distinctly features feminine features. She's most likley the AI that runs the Defender's network and provides support from base, Matrix.
I'm not really sure as a player what y'all want me to do with this. Like, I get the impression this is an attempt to involve me except that it's not clear to me how as a player you want me to be involved. Am I just supposed to make something up? Am I being a mouthpiece for information? I basically have no idea what I'm supposed to write other than something like, "I do what you already did and see if I come up with anything new." I don't think I have anything I can roll and the description of how Matrix got the data was "I did some digging." I could come up with more tech-y ways to say that but asking for me to come up with something Kaoru could find that Matrix couldn't or didn't feels like a pretty narrow target to hit.
Alexis is "running" this adventure, so they may have more ideas for what they were expecting Kaoru to do, but at the very least you could try a Move, like Assess the Situation or maybe even Unleash Your Powers.
Trying out a Move is definitely something Kaoru should do here. It plays on him strengths of analysis. What happens will depend on the results. Matrix found the most obvious leads, but further efforts by the tech savvy Kaoru could find another hint.
Kaoru - seeing as you're trying to get Sidney to back down with your words, that's a Provoke move, so please roll for that to advance the scene.
As I was trying to imply with Kaoru's thoughts, there isn't really something Kaoru wants him to do. Or at least, he's of two minds about it. He's simply laying out what he thinks Sidney's options are and is planning on judging him based on his decision. Kaoru wants to know what kind of a person this guy is and he doesn't get that information if he's manipulating that through a roll.
"You're the one who rushed in here acting all threatening. I wouldn't have had to take action to get you to stop hurting Mrs. Lemmons if you hadn't, y'know, hurt her. Now the way I see it, either you can continue acting like a thug, beat the crap out of me, and then get arrested for assault. Or you could start acting like a reasonable human being and try actually having a conversation."
Regardless of Kaoru's thoughts behind the words, this is definitely a provocation towards Sidney to think about what he's doing. So I'm calling it a Provoke move for Kaoru. If you'd like, you can roll in the discussion thread and I can work from there.
Since K's using this conversation to try to get a sense of what kind of person Sid is, perhaps a Pierce the Mask? With a success meaning that he's able to appropriately respond to Sid's intentions without being surprised?
Since K's using this conversation to try to get a sense of what kind of person Sid is, perhaps a Pierce the Mask? With a success meaning that he's able to appropriately respond to Sid's intentions without being surprised?
That could work an an interpretation of his move. I'd accept a Pierce the Mask instead if Kaoru wants to lean in that way. I could even see an Assess Move if he's looking for any advantage to leverage in the situation.
On a side note, I left an open vue for Bronwyn in the post before last. Hope that it didn't get lost in the shuffle.
Alexis, I hope that was okay with me doing the Killzone that way. I'm not sure if that was the optimal solution for her challenge, or if you had a plan for Wrath to try to intercept her, or if I completely threw you for a loop. I'm kind of ready to go back to Halcyon at this point so I'm keen to wrap the Killzone side mission up. Unless you want to showcase your other villains you introduced, I'll have Shayera bow out after this, even if she was considered to have won against the Triakosia. (I don't care if Selene says she technically lost, hopefully enough in the audience will be impressed.)
Regardless of Kaoru's thoughts behind the words, this is definitely a provocation towards Sidney to think about what he's doing. So I'm calling it a Provoke move for Kaoru. If you'd like, you can roll in the discussion thread and I can work from there.
It's really not. From Kaoru's perspective, Sidney came in overly aggressively for really no good reason. Sidney also clearly wants information. Kaoru is playing those two against each other to see what wins; he's given what he sees as the options as well as warned him about some potential consequences. If Sidney chooses not to think about his options and just reacts, that's fine because that's his choice. It demonstrates that Sidney operates on base instincts and can't take a mental step back even when it's (in Kaoru's opinion) in his own best interests. The problem with Provoke is that it's actively influencing Sidney's reaction, so by the nature of rolling it, it's ruining whatever information Kaoru gets. If Sidney's choice means Kaoru gets beaten up, then so be it; Kaoru is just as happy trying to file a police report as he is for the situation to de-escalate (and the spiteful part of him would be happier even). As far as he's concerned, both options are a win and all a Provoke is really doing is forcing me to choose if Kaoru's spiteful side wins over his "better half" as it were. Because if his spiteful side wins, that Provoke is probably going to be to escalate the situation to make Sidney's crimes look more egregious.
I'm not really sure what questions I would ask for a Pierce. Kaoru isn't trying to get any sort of advantage. At best, he finds out about Sidney's intentions and then what? Sure, he may know what Sidney will choose but the point is for Sidney to take an action because it's the action that he's judging, not the intent behind it. I suppose I could roll Provoke to get Sidney to take an action/any action, but what's the alternative there? That they just stand around in this woman's living room all day?
If a Provoke is going to be insisted upon, I'd honestly rather just rewrite my post to something that's more likely to be interpreted in line with my how I mean for it to be interpreted.
I'll concede that it's not a Provoke move from your explanation. But from the gist of it, you're trying to get Kaoru to judge his character from his actions, which I would consider a Pierce the Mask move as he's looking for information - specifically, what are they planning, what do they want me to do, and what do you intend to do?
Also remember that Sidney's inflicted the Insecure condition on Kaoru because he's seen through his bluff as a intern. I'll proceed with the scene along with Wingblade's, and finish up this side adventure within the next couple of posts.
Not sure if you're back from vacation yet Kaoru, but as for your involvement in this next part, I wanted to see what you think would best get Kaoru involved (since he's distancing himself from the team).
My initial thought is that Ellen Lemmons calls him in desperation, trying to figure out where her grandson's gone and the police aren't helping at all. We could also have a message come from one of her mystery patrons on the net to get them into action.
I am back from vacation, though I'm still fighting off jetlag and catching up at work. As a result, it might be good just to keep Kaoru in the periphery for now. If you have something concrete you want him to do or something you want to use him as a mouthpiece for, I could probably manage that.
Since it's about time for Bronwyn's official Janus -> Legacy change and normally the 'what do you keep, what do you drop' thing is a conversation between player and GM, I figured I'd toss up my thoughts on what stays and see if anyone disagrees :-)
The Mask (aka, swapping Mundane for Freak). This one's gone. Even though Bron's gonna keep fighting incognito, the split between her goals isn't the center of her story anymore.
Mild-Mannered (slip past people using Mundane). More debatable, but gone. It's not her story any more, and she's a lot less concerned about never being seen caping in her civvies.
Dangerous Web (trap people). Gone. it was hard to use in PbP and didn't sync with her powerset as much as I'd envisioned.
I Am Not My Body. Gone. Being downgraded from bodyswapping to enhanced healing means she can't take a mortal wound and walk away in the same way as before.
Game Face. Sticking around. Bronwyn's sheer determination and focus are still very present.
There When It Matters. Sticking around. Bronwyn's still got her protective instincts backed up by her Guardian's Vigil.
I think that we may have been out of Team to spend, but I'll admit that it's been a while since I've actively tracked it. I'll say that Wingblade can boost the result as if using Team, and Mercy will take away his sword, if Wingblade spends her Influence on Mercy. Which I think has a similar effect as well?
Sometimes, you choose this to change the actual situation so your teammate has a chance to do something they couldn’t otherwise do. Other times, you’re just giving your teammate a boost. If it’s the former, then choosing this option gives your teammate that chance. If it’s the latter, though, then you should add a Team to the pool.
Spending an influence affects a roll targeting the one with influence, sadly. So I don't know if that can work. But as for if we have any Team, it all depends on if the opportunity I created literally gave Mercy an opportunity to do something they couldn't before, or if the assist just added a Team to give them a boost.
I could see it going either way, but it's up to you.
Of course, there's still the question of whether we entered battle against a dangerous foe as a team. Our opponents are dangerous, of course, but I don't know if we're really much of a team.
If we are, there's at least one Team in the pool, and as many as three if Wingblade's the leader and everyone trusts her.
Of course, there's still the question of whether we entered battle against a dangerous foe as a team. Our opponents are dangerous, of course, but I don't know if we're really much of a team.
That's something I've been hung up on too - they certainly got there as more or less a team, but Wingblade was specifically warding everyone away. Mercy disobeyed those orders and Bronwyn's been left not knowing what to do. I can't say that Mercy trusts Wingblade in the moment because they disregarded her instructions, so I think that's one Team that we won't get.
You did say that you gave Mercy an opportunity with your previous post, so I'll rule it that it gave an added +1 to the roll to ensure that it took something away from Wrath - he'll be surprised to find out his sword breaks on the next hit thanks to Mercy cracking the blade with their super-strength. ^^
Okay, so for Bronwyn's terrible loss of control - well, seeing as she's Angry, and Mercy is the one right there, I feel that she must attempt to clear angry by hurting them, spending Influence to inflict a condition on them or to give them -2 to their last roll.
Mercy's been wearing her face, strutting around like a better version of her, failed to follow orders and Bronwyn's gotten caught up in their foolishness. Let her spit the venom brewing up in her at Mercy.
Do note that with Wingblade's Team, Mercy's last roll would have been a success. So your options also determine whether it continues to succeed but Mercy hits five conditions, or it fails and Bronwyn is still pinned under the steel beam.
Greetings! Who wants to be part of a relaxed superhero RPG that's more about character development than optimization and "winning"?
....
Just me?
Uhhh well, if you're interested, I invite you to sign up for this game of Masks: A New Generation of Heroes!
Short Overview of Masks:
Masks is a tabletop roleplaying game in which you play young superheroes who are growing up in a city several generations into its superheroic age. Halcyon City has had more than its fair share of superheroes, superteams, supervillains, and everything in between. Over the course of three different generations of super-people, Halcyon City has seen it all.
You play members of the fourth generation, young adults trying to figure out who they are and what kind of heroes they want to be. The rest of the world is telling them what to do, but they’ll find their own path amidst the noise. And kick some butt along the way. After all, what’s the point of being a hero if you can’t fight for the things you believe in?
Masks is based on the award-winning Powered by the Apocalypse system developed by Vincent Baker and used in Apocalypse World, Monsterhearts,Urban Shadows, and more. It’s a rules-light system that fuels some of the best innovations in gaming in the last ten years, and Masks has been built from the ground up to incorporate everything I’ve learned about Powered by the Apocalypse games.
When you take an action that would trigger a move, you roll two six-sided dice, add them together with one of your Labels (a stat that describes your hero), and look to the move to see what the results are. On a 10+, you get what you want, and maybe a little extra. On a 7-9, you get what you want, but at some kind of cost or with a complication. On a 6 or less—a miss—the GM says what happens next, and chances are things get complicated for our young heroes.
Masks produces stories like those found in Young Justice, Teen Titans,Young Avengers, X-Men, and more, using the Powered by the Apocalypse rules to provide an easy but useful skeleton for awesome storytelling!
You'll be choosing a "playbook" to start building your hero off. Remember, your hero is still a teen-late teens at most, so it's fine if his powerset isn't the most complete. Plenty of room for development. The options are below.
Mask Playbooks Bios:
The Bull – You’re tough, gruff, and powerful on the outside, and caring on the inside—oh, and you were made by an evil organization that’d love to get you back: can you learn to rely on the team enough to save you from yourself?
The Nova – You’re amazingly, egregiously, horrifyingly powerful, and keeping control is a struggle: can you come to terms with your power before it destroys you? Or someone you care about?
The Outsider – You’re not from here, and you don’t quite understand this place, but you find it fascinating: can you find a way to belong? Or will you always be different?
The Legacy – You’re carrying on a long tradition of heroism and nobility: how can you balance that legacy with your own identity?
The Protege – You’re tied to a mentor who trained you: do you want to be them? Or someone else entirely?
The Janus – You put on the mask, become someone different, escape your mundane life, but you know your responsibilities are always waiting for you: who are you really? The mask or the mundane?
The Delinquent – You’re a rabble-rouser, a rules-breaker, and an incorrigible prankster, someone who pushes people away while secretly wishing they would stay close: can you stop being a little shit for long enough to let them know you actually care?
The Doomed – Your powers are killing you; they come with some awful, nightmarish fate. But until that end comes, you’re going to work to change the world: how much are you willing to give up for your cause before your doom comes?
The Transformed – You don’t look human anymore and the world won’t let you forget it: can you learn to accept yourself? Can you deal with their looks, stares, and fear without becoming the monster they see?
The Beacon – You’re here because this is awesome, and you may not quite fit in, but screw it, you’re going to do this anyway: can you prove that you actually deserve to be here? Or are you just a wannabe?
If you're wondering about some of the more important mechanics before you decide to sign up or pass, I invite you to read the following two sections. Interaction is the basis of this game, and how you percieve your place in the world and influencing people into changing are core mechanics.
Rules for Labels:
Characters in Masks each have five mechanical attributes called “Labels.” Labels represent how your character views their identity. Are you a Danger or a Savior? A Freak or Superior? Or are you just Mundane?
Each Label ranges from -2 to +3; the higher the rating is, the more the character sees their self by that light. If you have Danger +3, you see yourself as a threatening, violent figure. If you have Mundane -2, you see yourself as anything but a normal person.
The Labels include:
Freak, which is all about being strange, unusual, unknown, different, unique, powerful, weird, and special.
Danger, which is all about being strong, threatening, violent, destructive, badass, frightening, reckless, and mighty.
Savior, which is all about being defensive, protective, overbearing, moralistic, guarding, patronizing, and classically heroic.
Superior, which is all about being clever, faster, better, arrogant, dismissive, commanding, egotistical, and smart
Mundane, which is all about being normal, empathetic, understanding, kind, boring, simple, uninteresting, and human.
The Labels shift and change over the course of the game as your self-image changes, most often due to the influence of others. As these Labels shift, so does your position in the story: a hero who sees their self as a Danger is better at directly engaging villains and threats, but their low Mundane means they might struggle to connect with ordinary people after a fight.
Rules for Influence:
Influence is a mechanic used to keep track of whose words matter to you. When you have Influence over someone else, it means they care about what you say. When someone else has Influence over you, it means that you’re affected by their words.
Much of Masks involves giving, taking, and losing Influence over others. After all, you can’t convince your teammate to stop being a Danger if you don’t have Influence over them. When you do have Influence over them, and you tell them how they endangered civilians, your words might lead their Labels to shift. They might be chagrined at your words, and shift their Danger up, and their Savior down—they see themselves as more of a Danger, because of what you said. Or, they might resist, argue with you, and wind up shifting their Savior up and their Danger down—they don’t care what you say because they define who they are, and they choose to be a Savior.
Influence allows for a quick and easy way to understand whose words can cause your Labels to shift. You care about what they say, so your self-image is tied up in how they view you, what they say about you, and what you accept about their perspective on the world.
Of course, you are just a young superhero, trying to find your way. And that means in Masks, all the adults have influence over you by default. But you can resist what they say to free yourselves of their words. You just have to stand up to them, and tell them that you make your own path…easy, right?
So....if I haven't scared you off yet, and you're eager to play, Great! I hope to have a team of at least 4 but wasn't sure how many players would be interested.
Unfortunately, part of the character creation process involves the other chosen players, so creating a character won't really work for an application here.
That said, if you're a proactive roleplayer who doesn't mind learning a relatively simple system, I'd love for you to write "I officially want to be part of this game." in your comment somewhere along with the playbook you wish to use. Sadly, we can't have two people playing the same playbook, so any arguments over a certain one will end with neither player having access to that option.
Moves will give you the framework of when you have to make an effort to do accomplish something that has a chance of failure. This isn't for normal use of powers or things you can do with ease, rather, its when there are going to be consequences.
This is an example of a "scene" during play which isn't combat. Conversation is an important developmental tool between player characters.
Abilities:
Memory Manipulation, Psychic Constructs, Superhuman Strength and Speed
Nemesis: My nemesis is my future self, the being that I am prophesied (or destined, depending on your point of view) to become. A psychic ruler of minds and master of the entire world, who controls all he sees (and what he can't see as well).
Team Moves: When you share a triumphant celebration with someone, give them influence over you and spend 1 team from the ppol to clear one box on your doom track.
When you share a vulnerability or weakness with someone, give them influence over you and ask them if they honestly think there's hope for you. If they say yes, mark potential or clear one box of your doom track. If they say no, mark a condition or mark your doom track.
Potential: _ _ _ _ _
*every time you miss a roll on a move, mark potential.
Advancement:
_ Take a move from another playbook.
_ Take a move from another playbook.
_ Take a move from another playbook.
_Someone permanently loses influence over you; add +1 to a label.
_Rearrange your Labels as you choose, and add +1 to a label.
_Unlock your Moment of Truth.
_Clear a doomsign; you lose access to tht move for now.
_Get burn and three flares (from the Nova's playbook).
When you've taken five advances from the top list, you can take advances from the list below.
_Unlock your moment of truth after you've used it once.
_Confront your doom on your own terms; if you survive, change playbooks.
_Take an adult move.
_Take an adult move.
_Lock a label, and add +1 to a label of your choice.
_Become a paragon of the city for however long you have left.
Conditions:
_Afraid: (-2 to engage a threat)
_Angry: (-2 to comfort or support or pierce the mask)
_Guilty (-2 to provoke someone or assess the situation)
_Hopeless (-2 to unleash your powers)
_Insecure (-2 to defend someone or reject others' influence)
Backstory:
*When did you first learn of your doom: as a child, the cult that raised me told me it was my sacred duty to rule mankind.
*When I was rescued by (insert Dr. Fate/Strange character here) found me, she knew that I would need a place to learn to use my powers safely, so she guided my power to allow me to form a demiplane.
*I oppose my nemesis because I don't want to be the authoritarian dictator of a future world where I control everyone's minds and will. I think it's the worst thing that you could do. And because it would be so easy to become that person.
*The hero that raised me has been training me to harness my power safely, so definitely her.
*(assuming that we are starting as a team) they are the first real friends I have ever had.
Doom:
What brings your doom closer:
Overexerting yourself, facing danger alone
Doom Track: _ _ _ _ _
Doom Signs:
X Portal: Mark your doom drack to appear in a scene with anyone you want.
Sanctuary:
Features: A meditation space; art, music, and food; a library of valuable tomes (really my memories of my future self).
Downsides: I will need to mark one box on my doomtrack; The best I can do is a lesser version, unreliable and limited.
I'm interested. I have several super hero characters, so right now I'm brainstorming to see who would fit in these categories, or if I'll create someone brand new.
But at the outset, I think I've got one character who may work as a Protégé.
I've got three officially interested as per the rules in the primary post. I'll open up the discussion thread soon so we can begin more in-depth character creation for those that need help or have questions.
@ Vrog
Looks pretty good. We'll flesh it out more through discussion. But make sure you read through all of the primary post.
Masks Hero Alias Template:
___________________
Hero
___________________
Hero Name:
Real Name (if different):
Abilities:
Look:
___________________
*Any Other Abilites Unique to your Playbook
___________________
Yep.
In-game, we'll be using the copy-paste strategy at the beginning of each of our posts as conditions, potential, and honestly, even labels change a lot. As I know some people post on mobile or find it a pain to edit their stats at every change, the copy-paste method should help make things easier.
Heh heh. Oops. I suppose you wanted me to literally say "I officially want to be part of this game."
Well, if you're willing to overlook that gaffe, I officially want to be part of this game.
But as I said earlier, I have a stable of characters I've created over the years and I'm working to figure out which one will best transition to this new system. Most of my characters were built using the old Marvel Superhero system (FASERIP).
Since I'm new to the ruleset, I actually think I'd like to put together a character using the Beacon. I think I've got a couple ideas of how to work with it that would work.
if you're confused about why you aren't on the list, please read the first post thoroughly. If you're just expressing interest, the above-listed playbooks have been officially called "dibs."
I know that it's a group character creation process (similar to the Dresden files rpg) but I left those parts out of my build, since they would need to be done separately anyway.
Okee doke, a lot more than I anticipated but never fear.
Due to the nature of the game, we'll hit a cap off players or interest will die out. If you are still interested in playing, the available playbooks are left.
