Welcome everyone! Let's get started on finishing your characters!
I've got a few specific questions for each of you, that'll be spoilered below. But what I need from everyone is:
* New profile with your completed character (naturally).
* Spoilers in your profile header where so I can keep track of your Labels and Conditions.
* All the questions in your Backstory (in your Playbook) answered.
We all then get to work out:
Innocent: My future self was involved, and I tried
to stop them. It took the rest of the team
to help me succeed. How did we stymie my future
self ’s plans?
Nova: We destroyed our surroundings
in the fight. Where was it? What did we destroy?
Outsider: We didn’t trust each other at
first, but that changed. How? Why?
Joined:The connection between our two halves
was threatened by the crisis. How? By what?
Legacy: All things considered, we did well
and impressed an established hero. Who was it?
Star: We, as a team, attracted the attention
of a major media outlet within the city, thanks to
our efforts. Who are they? Why do they support us?
Protégé: We stuck together after all was
said and done. Why? How’d we keep in
contact?
Beacon: We found signs that this incident
was just the start of something bigger.
What were the signs?
When we get this mostly worked out, you should be ready to decide whom to give Influence, based on your Playbooks. You can start that early if you'd like.
Individual questions:
How do you envision you (and your sister) getting your powers?
Why was Silver Shield involved in corporate espionage?
What powers does your villain have?
Why is she so concerned with beating you? How does your sister work into her feelings? If it's mostly directed at you, why?
You didn't come up with a villain for your Joined. Maybe a nemesis of Silver Shield's?
You can peek at ElbowtotheFace's spoiler, and maybe work together to answer several of the questions I've put to him.
You called your villain the "Rouge Shard", but did you mean "Rogue Shard"?
How far away is the Iron Federation? Another galaxy? Same galaxy, different region?
I really like your concept but part of the Innocent is that there wasn't one moment where your older self just "snapped," but a long, gradual fall from grace. There's a lot of injustice over the years you could mine in order to show that -- maybe being turned away by the other heroes of the Golden Age when they go off to fight the Axis Powers... even imprisoned in a Japanese Internment Camp due to your heritage! Or, maybe being asked to star in propaganda films as the evil bad guy? I think that could be the start of a gradual disillusionment and radicalization that would lead your older self to be more of a mastermind than a one-note serial killer. Thoughts?
I'm getting a real "It's Patsy!" vibe from Mosaic -- it's not just me, right? Since Holly was sort of a child star in film, how was her powers used? Did she play a Jem/Hannah Montana character, playing a "double life" on her show? Was she also a singer?
Your villain was a former teammate. What sort of team, or did you mean co-star? Does she have powers too?
Hey everyone and congrats!
Firstly: I’m stunned an alias name of Praetoria wasn’t taken!
Second: this is not the avatar I’ll be sticking with most likely. Phone is being wonky and can’t see the whole set of images.
I’ll post more when I get off work. Look forward to interweaving our stories together!
Eight players, you are braver than I, Stalwart.
But is worked in my favour, so, awesome! I'll get to this after class.
WOOT! Really looking forward to this.
I've played (and enjoyed) a bit of Dungeon World, but this'll be my first time playing Masks.
It'll also be the biggest party I've been a part of(!!!)
More later, but I'll be reading everyone's characters in more detail and thinking about Influence & Relationships.
Meanwhile, Gallowglass and Bear (her awesome-but-not-superpowered Australian Shepherd) are ready to save Halcyon City and the world with yall!
Hey guys! Looking forward to the team!
I'll be on with Psyche's details later today (and possibly a different avatar? This one's pretty good, but we'll see)
So a couple of things to say about this character:
1. Shin Akeboro from the past has decided to take the name 'Horizon' to differentiate himself from this time's present Shin Akeboro, 'Dusk'. It makes things easier for him.
2. Being a hero flung from the past, I'm curious if Praetoria would want to work on potential entanglements with her family and the villain Dusk. Maybe Dusk permanently crippled or even killed one of her grandparents or other relatives, or they were part of a Golden age team with their predecessor.
Starting with his 'mentor' Radiant Man, who was a racist jerk but the only one with the power set closest to Dusk's to help train him. His off-color jokes, sometimes even in front of the media, were cringeworthy, but Dusk put up with that because he wanted to learn to be the best hero he could be with his powers.
The war that stripped his family of their apartment, one which they would return to and find vandalized and tagged with 'JAPS GO HOME', only worsened his mother's already frail condition. While he and his father were made exempt to aid in the war effort, Dusk was effectively forced to play act the role of a villain in USO shows for the benefit of strong white heroes to come and save the day from the 'villainous Japanese'. He tried to bear that as well. Only a couple of months after the release of the internment camps, his mother passed away, unable to get treatment for her illness in the camps and it being too late after leaving.
Dusk endured all of that bitterness, even the harassment of his siblings in school by young men who'd chosen a new target for their hate thanks to the war. He endured being called 'The good Jap' by the mayor of Halcyon, endured being a token teammate on the same team as Radiant Man, even endured the awful caricatures of him in the pages of magazines. He'd grind his way into the hearts of the world and be someone to admire.
Only then did his father's lynching happened, and his perception clarified. It wasn't just him that was enduring all of this, but so many others. Black mothers, hispanic fathers, Tribesmen struggling for justice for their murdered sons and daughters, for a system to take notice and shelter them. The only reason the police sought to take real action was because his father's son was a superhero. Even then, he could see the writing on the wall that they'd make only a few arrests, perhaps only one meaningful conviction, with the rest of these bastions of hate being allowed to continue to operate freely in his city. Dusk had endured enough of that. He could see the corruption in Halcyon clearly now, so now was the time not to endure, but take action and do the right thing.
So, that's just a general outline of the kind of crap that Dusk has had to deal with there, and his general conviction is that Halcyon cannot change without extreme action. He'll gratefully wear a villain's mantle since no one ever took him seriously as a hero. Mercenary work helps to fund his operation as he works on building up like minded people who are willing to do what's necessary to bring about true change. He's a radical fanatic, more a terrorist than a serial killer, since he kills people to make a demonstration out of them for their crimes.
Okay, so, I don't love the image I got, but the selection is being, like, super wonky, so I'll try again in a few days.
and yeah. I added some detail in my profile, but the read of "Hellcat/Hannah Montanna/(actually don't know that third one)" is pretty spot on. contractual purity and puberty in the limelight.
she started as an actor on "Behind the Mask" and became an ensemble dark-horse very quickly, moving to a spot in the core cast by the second season (think season 4 and on Spike, or Malcolm in season 2 of JJ). the actual show itself was almost as sickeningly saccharine as the Brady Bunch or it's contemporaries.
She and all her fellow main cast members had powers. it was discovered it was cheaper to just hire real supers than it was to make decent CGI powers (only in friggin' Halcyon)
And yes, Aisha Played Gestalt on the show. she does have powers (specifically, she was a power copier, and often derided as just a plot device to solve the problem of the week)
Also, for Her "audience, I'm thinking
Why does your audience love you?:
❑ You’re just like them
❑ You’re charming, well-spoken, and smart
Choose two advantages:
❑ You earn a lot of money from their interest
❑ You have a much wider audience
Choose two demands your audience makes on you:
❑ They require perfection—no mistakes
❑ They require chemistry with your allies
So, one thing I forgot to ask was for a virtual show of hands of folks who know/have played Masks.
Some I know have played Masks (looking at you, Elsine and Cwethan!), while others have already mentioned not being super familiar with the game, but familiar with other PbtA games.
Well, while we're waiting for the other three to arrive and show off their fancy new avatars, allow me to give a bit of a primer on the game.
The Labels
Your "stats" of the game are fluid, and are a reflection of how your characters see themselves. This is an important distinction, because a character who views himself as a Danger will be more effective in combat, but a later event can shift the labels and he may see himself as more of a Freak. Or something else.
Again, the labels are:
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.
A major part of the game is switching Labels. Always always always (except during Advancements), when one Label is moved up, another is moved down. Labels cannot go higher than a +3, nor can they go below a -2. Any time a shift would increase a Label to higher or lower than those numbers inflicts a condition instead. Which brings us to...
Conditions
Conditions are negative emotional states that afflict your character.
They are, Angry, Afraid, Guilty, Hopeless, Insecure.
Conditions negatively impact your moves depending on which ones you've got marked, even if you're roleplaying your character as holding your emotions in with a tight reign. Try as you might, if you're Angry, it'll still bleed through if you're trying to Comfort someone.
The Moves
Roll 2d6 and add your Label and any other bonuses/penalties. On a 7 or higher, it's a hit. On a 10 or higher, it's a big hit. Six or lower is a miss. You can never roll with a higher bonus than +4, nor with a penalty less than -3.
This is a great resource, showing your basic moves, the adult moves you can take after a lot of advancement, and the effect of Conditions on your moves. Know this sheet. You're going to come back to it a lot at the start. I still refer to it.
The important thing about Moves is, you don't need to roll for every little thing. Only roll a Move for when the outcome is in doubt!
For example, Praetoria hears about a giant robot stomping through the Financial District, when she's all the way over in the Towers at her family's home base. She looks at the Moves, and chooses Unleash Your Powers, since that can allow her to overcome an obstacle -- the distance between the two areas of Halcyon City. That works, right?
Wrong. She already can fly; that's one of her powers. She'll get there. I don't need her to roll for that.
It's different if Praetoria and Isaiah challenge each other to a race to see who's the fastest flier. I don't know. Do you? That's an appropriate Unleash. Though, if either of them wanted to race Gallowglass and powers weren't off the table? Sorry GG, no rolls necessary. The fliers will win.
A special mention needs to go out to Directly Engage a Threat versus Unleash Your Powers. Directly Engage is when you're fighting something that is a threat! A random mugger is never going to get the better of you (unless something in the story says there's a risk of that happening!). The mugger, school bully, random mook, they're not threats. Just say that you take them out in whatever fashion fits your character. But when you're dealing with a real threat, and Horizon wants to unleash one of his energy blasts at a villainous cyborg, he's Unleashing his Powers, right? Wrong. He's still Engaging a Threat. However you Engage, be it with psychic mojo, trick arrows, or icy/fiery blasts, you're Engaging a Threat.
Unleashing Your Powers is actually the last thing you use. When nothing else seems to fit.
Although most of the others are pretty self-explanatory, there's one more that bears mentioning, and that's Take a Powerful Blow. This is the reverse of all the others, where high=good. In this one, you still roll 2d6, but you only add however many conditions you have marked. On a six or less, you're fine, and get to describe how you survived the death ray/rocket fist/shockwave. On a hit, the powerful blow did something to you, and you have to react -- up to and including being removed from the scene (fleeing, being knocked out, etc.)
Team
Team is a spendable resource that allows teammates help each other succeed where otherwise they would have failed.
The rules for Team are also in this document. Really, it's very handy! Anyone can spend a Team for someone else, as long as they're realistically in the scene and can contribute. You can also spend Team selfishly, but you switch your Labels in order to do so.
At the start of a Session, there's one Team in the pool. Since this is online and there's no easy way to delineate between sessions, I'll do my best to break up chunks of story like in comic books/episodes. Whenever there's a new session, I'll try to frame it like this:
Then, whenever you guys enter into battle against a dangerous opponent as a team, we'll have to pause (hopefully) briefly to add up how much Team the, ahem, team has. Two more goes in, but more can be added, or some can be taken out, based on the group's cohesion, their leader, and their Influence on each other.
Influence
What a great segue! Influence is also found here. Remember, all adults have Influence over you, and may try to exert it over you to switch your Labels so you see yourself how they see you. You can try to reject someone's influence, if you like.
Most of you will start off with Influence over one or more other player characters. If you have Influence, you get a +1 to your rolls for all moves targeted toward that character.
Advancements
Advancements are your experience. Each time you roll a 6 or lower on a Move (generally meaning failure), you get to mark Potential. For every five Potential you accrue, you get to choose an Advancement. Your Advancements are listed in your Playbook. I can help if you have questions about what they do.
Your Moment of Truth advancement is a big one, though, and bears mentioning. It's a pivotal moment in your character's arc, where you the player get to take control of the narrative and describe how your character comes into his or her own. You still need to keep a light touch on everyone else's characters, and if you want to PM me about your ideas I'll be happy to be a sounding board, but generally, this is a moment where your character shines. But notice, you only get at most two of them. So use them sparingly, and at dramatically appropriate times. If I'm doing my job right, those moments will be out there.
Sooo.... that's about it for right now. Any questions? Thoughts?
Seriously. Check this out. This and your Playbook tells you probably 90% of the game.
Had planned to post this evening after work, but got bushwhacked with family drama immediately after work (literally hadn't even walked to my car yet). I'm too stressed to focus properly right now. Feel free to propose some connections to Praetoria, and I will reply to them either later this evening or tomorrow hopefully.
Apologies.
(Re: Avatar selection: I've found that with the current glitched out UI you need to mouse over the pictures in order to actually display the ones beneath them. Hopefully that helps some if other people are battling with it like I was.)
In When Our Team First Came Together territory:
We destroyed our surroundings in the fight. Where was it? What did we destroy? I'm thinking (just to get some tensions present right from the get-go) that we completely justifiably destroyed a major super-team's headquarters in our little coming out cotillion. Maybe not the Avengers Mansion/Hall of Justice, but like a Baxter Building or the X-Mansion, an important team, but not The Team.
Which reminds me, I see a few assorted heroes/villains in the Campaign Info tab - Are there any Super Teams we should be aware of? My profile currently makes a reference to the Heralds, but that's just a placeholder name for now.
Oh, and I didn't have a spoiler, but just checking in post-PM's - are you happy with the proposed changes to the Church of Psyche? Or should I take another crack at my Villain?
And looking a skosh ahead to influence and other choices, I'll be picking a teammate who Psyche likes to blow of steam with, and someone who she hurt when she lost control of her powers. Since she'll be presenting a happy facade rather than being locked down, three people will be starting with influence over her. One of those will almost certainly be the person she blows off steam with, and one of them will almost certainly not be the person she hurt.
It's a lot easier to tell herself it was their fault they got hurt if she doesn't put a lot of stock in their opinions after all...
Dotting... will update more later. Avatar selection is massively broken at the moment but will add one ASAP but will change it when i can.
No problem Prae, whenever you're ready.
I'm still putting together the list of NPCs, now that I need to include everyone's additions to Halcyon City. I do want to group them in teams, and I like the name Heralds. I'm also planning on using The Alliance as one of the original superhero groups that has existed in some form or fashion since WWII. So it'll have a storied history (but one with some cracks, as we'll see thanks to Horizon).
Thanks for the info, Mosaic -- looking good. Any ideas on who the rest of the TV show's team are? Their powers?
Fantastic stuff, Horizon. That's going to make this an interesting game!
And a note on the eight players thing -- believe it or not, the game that introduced me to Masks started with eight, and I didn't really think it got too out of hand. Granted, there was a lot of attrition early on, but even when there were all eight there playing, it didn't seem overly unwieldy. I think it's due to the rules-lite system of Masks. Plus, this lets the team split into manageable squads of four, if necessary.
Adding onto Psyche's suggestion, Horizon's add in for how the team formed involves attempting to stop his future self's plans. So if we're looking at doing this in a sort of public Supers Hall, kind of like how the Hall of Justice in the Young Justice series was the public face of the League, but not strategically important, maybe Dusk has orchestrated a terrorist attack there in response to recent events. He tends to get the most riled up about perceived injustices, such as heroes getting off of what would be felony charges for anyone else.
The wrench in the works being that some of us young supers are there, either for a public event, or because it also doubles as a dorm for wayward youths with powers (Such as Horizon), or for the normal ones on a school trip. Some might be there just because they want to meet some of the good guys and reveal themselves so they can integrate with hero society. None of the big names are there when the attack starts, but that's when we rally and prevent a hostage crisis! Which...kind of completely destroys the place.
I've never played Masks before, but I like the cooperative storytelling involved in this system. I'm excited that I got picked even though I submitted at the last minute.
As for Influence, he starts off with Two people having Influence over him. I think that it would make sense for Praetoria to be one, as since she's a Legacy he'll probably have admired her grandfather or great-grandfather during the Golden Age. The second to have Influence over him seems like a toss up between Isaiah (Science Loves Robots), or Holly (Both Have Image Problems).
Could the wrench in the works have even involved bringing Horizon to this point in time? Like we've got a big ol' chaotic fray going on, and when the dust victoriously clears, and we're about to do our Extraordinary Eight all-hands-in moment, it really clicks that you're decades out of time?
(Not sure if you had another reason already planned for why/how you've been temporally displaced.)
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_ MOSAIC _ is awesome, and you take every chance you get to hang out
with them.
I've watched Behind the Mask since Season One (hasn't everybody!?) and even when her friends thought Gestalt was the greatest, Ness was rooting for Mosaic. (OK, I loved Gestalt too, I won't lie, but she was never my number 1.) Oh, and I never trusted Jericho.
You've got to prove yourself to _ PRAETORIA _ before you feel like a real hero.
Ness has had many heroes, but a constant since she was nine years old was Praetorius. She's had his poster on her bedroom wall, his picture as her phone's screensaver, even his voice saying, "Never Fear, The Praetorian Is Here!" as her ringtone.
She still sees Praetoria a bit as a proxy for her dad...but what an exciting proxy!
(And yes, Ness knows she'll never actually kiss The Praetorian...but a girl gets to have her crushes, right?!)
You are so excited to be here. Give influence over you to three of your teammates:
Mosaic, Praetoria, (and TBD, as I read/hear more backstories).
Honestly didn't know if you'd want to know about the show much... I'm just gonna detail the 4 actor/actresses with powers
The Original trio
Abbey Flores AKA Titania An empath with the power to manifest butterfly wings out of psychic energy. the shows lead protagonist. Played By Ainsley Williams
David Whilton AKA Jericho A shield-generator/Audiokinetic, Titania's love interest (on camera, off camera, they were good friends, but Ainsley had no interest in Trevor) played by Trevor Mack
Joy Harthorn AKA Gestalt Titania's best friend, with the ability to copy powers (holds weakened versions, but can hold up to 3 at a time). had a much reviled subplot devoted her developing feelings for Jericho. Played By Aisha Olivier
Season 2 add-on
Stephanie Flores AKA Mosaic Titania's little sister, Unerringy enthusiastic and positive, later promoted to the Cast's "heart" Played by... well you know.
She gets on well enough with Trevor... though the revelation that he was sleeping with about half of the shows older periphery demographic led to her publicly avoiding him.
As she and Ainsley played sisters on screen, the two actually did grow quite close, particularly as they are both only children. when Ainsley left to pursue her own career, she made it clear it wasn't goodbye forever,a dn that she hoped to star alongside Holly again
I think I've established Aisha's relationship with Holly
Looking over the relationship questions, I think I've figured out Horizon's Influences.
Gallowglass is helping me understand this weirdo future. I follow their lead.
Gallowglass of everyone here seems like the best fit for normal person, and despite being flung into the future, he's only recently come into his powers. She's probably be the most suitable person to ask what these weird black mirrors are for or why are there so many coffee shops or why are so many girls with nose rings.
I saved someone important to Frostbite/Scorch, they're my biggest defender.
This one seemed pretty hard for me, but as the siblings in the game, I figure that saving one of them would ingratiate me to the other, granting influence over me. I'm leaning towards Scorch here, mostly because I like the idea of developing a rivalry with Frostbite since we're technically the only two guys on the team.
As for how Horizon ended up in the era, the idea is that a golden age villain named the Silver Saber trapped him in an experimental time chamber on the first day he got his powers. My initial idea is that this chamber was left in a dusty attic considered a failure, but maybe there's a section in this public hero's house devoted to museum pieces of early heroic artifacts that it's in, and Dusk's presence could reactivate it, dumping his younger self here.
Horizon, I think the original question about the "wrench in the works" is about how, if your original self got shoved into a time chamber by someone from that era, where did your "evil self" come from? Generally, these kind of time shenanigans involve someone disrupting the usual timeline, pulling you forward and away from your expected fate.
Now, I've got an idea for a future adventure of timey-wimey strangeness that could explain the bizarre circumstances about how you could both get shoved into a time box and also exist for the next eighty years. Or, that question could be answered here. It's up to you.
Everyone else: Good stuff so far!
Horizon, I think the original question about the "wrench in the works" is about how, if your original self got shoved into a time chamber by someone from that era, where did your "evil self" come from? Generally, these kind of time shenanigans involve someone disrupting the usual timeline, pulling you forward and away from your expected fate.
Now, I've got an idea for a future adventure of timey-wimey strangeness that could explain the bizarre circumstances about how you could both get shoved into a time box and also exist for the next eighty years. Or, that question could be answered here. It's up to you.
There's the rub, whether or not this is a closed circuit and he's already doomed to become his future self because it's already written he'll go back to the past, or if this is an alternative timeline of what could have been, or if he's killed here in the future if his future self will cease to exist, or if going back in time changes the present for the better because then Dusk becomes Horizon. There's a crazy number of possibilities that might be true, and I want to try and uncover them through the narrative rather than have it all set in stone. Part of Horizon's work is going to be figuring out how the device that brought him here works as well.
Influence:
You’re a part of this team, for better or worse, and you care what they think. Give Influence to all of your teammates.
Stalwart - Does that mean everyone in the group has Influence over me? Or does it mean that due to my background I have Influence over everyone? I'm not sure I'm reading this right given my lack of sleep and distraction from family-stupid-nonsense-crapola.
Legacy: All things considered, we did well and impressed an established hero. Who was it?
Weaving in to what the others have said regarding how our team came together, I was thinking...maybe WE were the hostages that Horizon mentioned? However, we band together in secret and manage to put the bad guy running...after leveling a sizable percentage of the place. However, in so doing, we managed to impress...Lucidity. The oracle heroine had foreseen a different turn of events, one more tragic and costly in lives. When something happens that isn't part of her visions, such as the children who were slain in the prophecy instead became the heroes, it generally signifies big things for them in the strands of Fate.
Relationships
You once got caught doing something that shames your legacy with Frostbite (If you are okay with the following, if not feel free to say so and I can adjust this to either be with someone else or different altogether). In the first few days with the team, Kayla realized she had developed a crush on Frostbite. He reminded her of the boy she had nearly dated before being pulled from private school and into homeschooling. One evening when they thought they were alone in a secluded park walkway, the two kissed. That's when the flash went off, and the paparazzi bolted to public view and managed to hide himself in the crowd, preventing the two from catching the snoop.
The next day, the major tabloids of Halcyon City were plastered with the photo. When the remaining leadership in the Taylor Family learned of this, they made their disapproval very clear and informed her how this made the family look.
__________
You trust Mosaic and told them an important secret of your legacy. -See below. If you are fine with this, I'll PM you the secret. Heh.
Horizon:
I am absolutely willing to! So let's see, there were a total of three Praetorians in the family line, Kayla's father, grandfather, and great grandfather. Maybe Dusk killed the original Praetorian?
Mosaic:
I figure Kayla probably initially became closest friends with you, seeing as you are another "celebrity" on the team. Kayla watched your show fairly regularly, and she likely identified with your character a good deal.
Gallowglass:
Kayla has grown accustomed to being treated like a celebrity, and you're more than likely exuberant obsession with her and her father likely keeps her a bit on the defensive around you. She is nice, but your fan-girlishness probably is currently keeping her from becoming too close to you.
Everyone Else:
Not leaving you all out, just not enough time at the moment to throw out more. I'll add something for ya'll ASAP.
__________
I'll continue to throw in my 2 cents at the building phase of this as I can. If anyone has any tie ins to work out with Praetoria, Infini-Corp, or whatever, feel free to post your thoughts!
I saved someone important to Frostbite/Scorch, they're my biggest defender. ... I'm leaning towards Scorch here, mostly because I like the idea of developing a rivalry with Frostbite since we're technically the only two guys on the team.
Works for me... If I keep Scorch as Frostbite's younger sister then I kinda like the inversion where Scorch is a bit over- protective of her older brother... which leads me to:
You once got caught doing something that shames your legacy with Frostbite
Scorch is jealous of the relationship between Frostbite and Praetoria and she keeps trying to interject herself.
The connection between our two halves was threatened by the crisis. How? By what?
If we were all kidnapped, maybe it was in order to somehow drain/steal our powers?
working on more....
P.S. (edit): Avatar is just a placeholder until i can get it to work properly.
When you give influence to someone, they have influence on you. When you take influence on someone, you have influence on them. The game mentions handing out tokens, which seems like a good idea at a table top to remind you if you have influence on someone, but less convenient for pbp.
So, that means, Praetoria, that everyone has influence on you. Since every adult will have influence on you, it's easier just to list who you have influence on, rather than vice-versa.
So, the other question I have to answer is:
"When you have problems with your other half you talk to _____________.
Just to get a feeling for my answer to this, Scorch is 1-2 years younger than Frostbite. So probably younger than most of the team??? How old is everyone?
Yep,.. was thinking the same villain would make the most sense. So, if Frostbite’s OK with it I’ll piggy-back on the villain… Will wait for Frostbite’s input before adding more.
@Scorch: Horizon was just about to enter high school when he got zapped into the future, so he's around 15 years old when he comes out. He's probably the second youngest member of the team.
@Praetoria: Great-Grandfather probably works best. Dusk's greatest beef was with the Golden Age heroes after all. But Dusk is also not one to kill a person without the conviction that they deserve it, so it's possible her great-grandfather has a whopper of a skeleton in his closet.
Possible relationship angles with other team mates:
Frostbite: Abrasive Rivalry, coming into conflict with each other, especially after dealing a blow to his pride saving him in their first team up. Might also quarrel about his friendship with his sister too.
Isaiah: Tech Buddies! Horizon's a science guy, so he'd love to tinker around with a robot friend and his awesome spaceship. He might suggest cool if outdated ideas for 'upgrades', like a machine gun hidden in the gluts.
Mosaic: The Only One Who Doesn't 'Know' Her. Having never seen her show (Or any TV program), Horizon has zero preconceptions with her. She can use that to try and be herself around him, or play a different role when they hang together.
Gallowglass: The Sane Ones. At the very least she appears to know enough about the common culture to be a good guide to this weird future. He can support her decision to fight without powers - he comes from the time where half the heroes were like that.
Psyche: Keeping His Distance. He's not big on the idea of someone who can hijack his brain, even if they're presenting themselves as an ally. He'll keep one eye on her and one body between them when he can.
Unless anyone is going to do anything weird, ya'll are welcome to use/put me into your back story however you see fit.
Backstory
How did you meet your mentor?
- When it turned out they had been named Rory and Mattie's guardian.
When and why did you choose to train with them?
- Shortly after we moved in, it gave us something to focus on.
Why did they agree to train you?
- She knew bad things could happen to kids with powers and no guidance.
Who else, outside the team, knows about the training?
- Nadia Elliott former pupil of the mentor, not happy about being replaced.
Why do you care about the team?
- Only family we got.
When Our Team First Came Together
We stuck together after all was said and done. Why? How did we keep in contact?
Why stop a good thing before it even gets going. We keep in contact with communication devices Rory got from his mentor.
Relationships
You and Gallowglass teamed up a few times before the rest of you came together.
You mentor is cautious; they asked you to keep an eye on Horizon
Influence
Choose your demeanor: Playful or business
If you choose playful give Influence to two team members: Scorch & Praetoria
Protégé Moves
Been Reading the Files, Captain, Fireside Chat.
Mentor's Resources
Hidden Base, Vehicle, Communicators
How do you envision you (and your sister) getting your powers? Biologically/inborn
Why was Silver Shield involved in corporate espionage? When your competitors can hire people how can turn invisible or walk through walls it helps to keep some supers of your own on staff.
What powers does your villain have?
Powerful armor and elemental control (lightning)
Why is she so concerned with beating you?
Sour grapes after getting the boot from our mentor, now she wants to prove letting her go was a mistake.
How does your sister work into her feelings? If it's mostly directed at you, why?
So here is how I envision this, Nadia is mostly focused on Frostbite and tends to mock Scorch calling her Torch, porch, little girl, ect. trying to get under her skin, because once I am down she is next, in her mind she has to take out the new proteges in order.
Okay, after seeing a few more posts establishing folk's stuff, I'll drill down on some specifics for tie-ins.
I think I'm gonna go with:
You hang out all the time with _____Mosaic___ to blow off steam.
Psyche's happy to project a bubble of "You don't recognize us," which makes heading out on the town a lot less paparazzi happy when Holly needs a break.
You once hurt ________________ when you lost control of your powers. This one I'm still not sure on. I could see her attacking Dusk and that having some sort of strange reverb effect onto Horizon, but if you'd rather keep his mistrust/wariness of Pysche theoretical that's fine too. I could also see her digging in really aggressively during first contact with Inquiry and Isaiah. Honestly, Psyche's fairly careless with her powers since she figures she can fix any damage she does, so if anyone's got a different hook for that, I'm easy.
I'm gonna go ahead and start off giving Influence to Mosaic (because they have fun together), Praetoria (because she fits Kylie's idea of what a superhero should be. The fact that Praetoria is the one who most reminds Kylie of herself is not a coincidence), and Frostbite (because she respects his work ethic, but also appreciates that he's not too grimdark about it).
And the rest:
She somewhat underestimates Gallowglass and Scorch, whether due to Gallowglass's lack of powers, or Scorch's youth (Psyche's a whopping 17 years old, and can't help but assume a certain level of hotheadedness from the Firestarter)
She finds Inquiry/Isaiah and Dusk fascinating, but doesn't really place a lot of trust in them so far.
@Psyche: I think that's fine. Maybe you realized they both had the same powers, and tried to mind jack both of them. Dusk was able to brush your efforts off, but Horizon was left open and defenseless and got hurt by the enemy because of that. It gives him a real reason to feel wary and defensive around her when he's more friendly and polite to the rest of the team.
And I just realized that Relationships are in fact different from Giving Influence to people. Welp, that's embarrassing.
Still want to give Praetoria Influence, still for the same reason, she's a Legacy and he remembers and idolizes her great-grandfather during the Golden Era. There's a real can of worms of potential in how this could go down for them both based on what happens.
I also want to give Isaiah Influence because he's an awesome robot guy that has cool technology and he could probably help him research a lot of stuff about himself. Things like how he got his powers or how to possibly get back to his own time.
Quick reply before I leave for work...
Horizon:
What if it is a misconceived theory Dusk had about this “skeleton in the closet”? Like he was falsely accusing Praetorian and couldn’t be convinced otherwise? And maybe post-fight/kill, he realized the truth which just snapped something else in him and drove him further down the path to villainy?
OK, given the similarity in age, and his saving her brother's life:...
When Mattie (Scorch) has problems with Rory (Frostbite) she talks to Shin (Horizon).
... Are you more or less trusting than your other half? If more trusting, give out one more Influence than they did. If less, then give out one less Influence than they did.
Despite coming to trust Shin so quickly, in general Mattie is less trusting than her brother... (2-1 = 1)
- Definitely goes to Shin (Horizon)
If you didn’t get Influence over your other half, then take it now. If you didn’t give Influence to your other half, then give it now.
- And one to Frostbite.
Psyche:
While you are closer to Mosaic, Praetoria would probably also quickly befriend you. Partly because of her desire to try and be friends with as many people as she can now that she is able to socialize again, but also because she can go out on the town with you two in secret like you described.
Scorched:
You being jealous of the tension/relationship between Praetoria and Frostbite is cool, especially since Praetoria’s family has basically taken a firm stance against the relationship as well.
Edit: Also, in response to this...
If we were all kidnapped, maybe it was in order to somehow drain/steal our powers?
That actually fits in well with Infini-Corp’s secret MO. Their CEO is obsessed with supers (particularly the Taylors, and is doing everything they can to become one themself, but it’s wrapped in so many layers of secrecy that their criminal activity can’t be proven, or even accused really without making yourself look like a fool. Maybe Dusk was prodded/hired by them (through multiple layers of underlings that could never be traced back to Infini-Corp) to subdue them and bring them back alive, or at the very least, their bodies.
Inquiry/Isaiah:
Would Praetoria be aware of your alien/robotic nature based on the combat we were part of initially, and/or your ship form?
DM/All Players:
Do we have a sort of team location we all reside in? Or do we go our separate ways? I think this would work better if we were assigned a dormitory/headquarters by whoever ends up initially funding/forming our team.
Mentor's Resources
You share a mentor with your other half. When they finish defining your mentor and resources, choose an additional resource...
Hidden Base, Vehicle, Communicators Security systems.
Moves:
..Take two moves from their playbook: one they have (Been reading the files) and one they don’t (Venting frustration.)
Bonds:
At character creation you start with Two of a kind, and choose one other bond:Two of a kind & Fastball Special
Labels: Your Labels start off the same as your other half ’s, but you may shift up any one Label, and shift down any one Label.
Frostbite: Da: -1 Fr: 1 Sa: 1 Su: 2 Mu: 0
Scorch: Da: 0 Fr: 1 Sa: 1 Su: 1 Mu: 0
So here is how I envision this, Nadia is mostly focused on Frostbite and tends to mock Scorch calling her Torch, porch, little girl, ect. trying to get under her skin, because once I am down she is next, in her mind she has to take out the new proteges in order.
Ok with me...
My future self was involved, and I tried to stop them. It took the rest of the team to help me succeed. How did we stymie my future self’s plans?
Dusk has orchestrated a terrorist attack there in response to recent events. He tends to get the most riled up about perceived injustices, such as heroes getting off of what would be felony charges for anyone else.
We destroyed our surroundings in the fight. Where was it? What did we destroy?
We completely justifiably destroyed a major super-team's headquarters in our little coming out cotillion. Maybe not the Avengers Mansion/Hall of Justice, but like a Baxter Building or the X-Mansion, an important team, but not The Team.
We didn’t trust each other at first, but that changed. How? Why?
TBD
The connection between our two halves was threatened by the crisis. How? By what?
If we were all kidnapped, maybe it was in order to somehow drain/steal our powers? working on more....
All things considered, we did well and impressed an established hero. Who was it?
We managed to impress...Lucidity. The oracle heroine had foreseen a different turn of events, one more tragic and costly in lives. When something happens that isn't part of her visions, such as the children who were slain in the prophecy instead became the heroes, it generally signifies big things for them in the strands of Fate.
We, as a team, attracted the attention of a major media outlet within the city, thanks to our efforts. Who are they? Why do they support us?
TBD
We stuck together after all was said and done. Why? How’d we keep in contact?
Why stop a good thing before it even gets going. We keep in contact with communication devices Rory got from his mentor.
We found signs that this incident was just the start of something bigger. What were the signs?
TBD
Re: The team's location
This is entirely up to you. Thanks to the Protege's mentor, the team gets a hidden base, which is up to Frostbite to design. Also, Isaiah has a fairly large craft that might also be able to double as a base.
However, I'm also interested in exploring your characters' lives when they're not out superheroing. We don't have a Janus, but that doesn't mean you can't try to have a regular life outside of the Team and a secret identity.
Some additional thoughts to consider:
Does your character go to school? There's several choices. Home schooling; Halcyon High (a modern high school located in the suburbs in Northside); Franklin High (a much more modest -- and crowded -- school in Old Town); and the Halcyon Preparatory Academy (an exclusive private school).
Does your character have a civilian identity that he/she wants to protect?
I personally like the idea of us having a place we use as a Team Hangout/Headquarters where we can stay if we want, but also our own personal abode (if you have one).
As far as schooling: Kayla attended the Halcyon Preparatory Academy until age 12, and has been homeschooled ever since. But with her parents recent disappearance, that has been put on hold as her superhero training/life moves more into the focus. She is a public figure so she is a rare type of hero who has no secret identity, creating all sorts of problems for her and those she is around.
Whoa, sorry for being a tad slow coming over here. I didn't realize I hadn't dotted it yet. I'll take a moment to read through everything that's been said.
Okay, in order:
Frostbite "oh my god, I'm so sorry. But you're doing the right thing, keeping moving." yeah, Holly doesn't really understand Rory, they come from completely different worlds.
Gallowglass: "It's so cool, you're just following your dreams,a and you've come so far", Mosaic is a total beacon-enabler
Horizon "You aren't him, and you don't have to be. You're a good person." she loves hanging out with him, he isn't even low-grade star-struck (or occasionally call her Stephanie instead of Holly)
Isaiah/inquiry Honestly, don't have much of a read on your character yet... We'll get back to this one.
Praetoria "Hey, Kayla" In my head, I think that Kayla and Holly have wound up at a lot of the same events, and have probably known each other for a few years, if that's coo. also, totally open to being Praetoria's secret keeper
Psyche "just remember, who they want to make you, and who you are, aren't the same". Holy is honestly pretty off-put by the cult angle, it's a lot likethe natural conclusion a good portion of the creepy fanmail she's gotten over the years, and Psyche seems to like it. Also, while she really appreciates the opportunity to just go shopping like a normal person, she is a little uncomfortable with the whole "mass mind control" thing
Scorch "yeah, I know siblings can be hard sometimes, but just remember that, no matter what, deep down you two love each other" says the girl who is an only child... I think scorch is in the same place as Rory where she just doesn't "grok" her as much as the others
also, just a humorous note, Is Mosaic one of the older ones at 17? because if so that means the one who played the "(at first) tag-along little sister" is actually older than most of the team,
Praetoria just turned 16. And us having already been acquaintances makes sense and I’m fine with it. But you’ll be aware that Kayla wasn’t ever allowed to “hang out” with other teens once she was pulled from school after developing her powers. So your interaction would have been limited to social functions and maybe, MAYBE some texting/secret social media accounts.
Ages might be important to make sure any future romantic relationships don't get icky, but I would strongly encourage everyone to be somewhat nebulous about their ages. I think the safest age range is about 16 to 18, with a little leeway for obviously younger siblings. But there's no real need to pin down the age, since I don't plan to make a huge issue of it. There'll be some time jumps, and I don't necessarily want to worry about aging anyone out of the "teenage superhero" game prematurely.
Another thing to realize: the Protege (and by extension, the Joined) is assumed to have spent a year or three under the tutelage of the mentor, and has more experience in the field than even the Legacy. So therefore, given their backgrounds, it might be appropriate to age up Frostbite and Scorch to roughly 16-17 and 14-15.
Okay
Alos, Holly has no secret Identity (unsurprisingly) and definitely went to Halcyon Prep (the only school that would accommodate her... atypical schedule)
Then you’d probably have been in the class ahead of Kayla. So we may have interacted a bit prior to Kayla being pulled from school as well.
Wow, you folks weren't joking about the avatar selection being kind of wonky.
Of course, Isaiah can always get his face remodeled if he doesn't like it anyway.
Let's see... still catching up on things a bit, but I can at least answer backstory and GM questions.
• Where do you come from?
Inquiry hails from the Iron Federation, a civilization made up of Shards of a precursor civilzation that violently collapsed millenea ago. In particualr, Inquiry hails from Shard 032 'Caestvol', local to the Milky Way galaxy. Isaiah comes from Inquiry, being a remotely piloted drone frame.
• Why did you come to Earth?
Inquiry was sent to Earth to investigate the oddly large and ongoing anomolous readings emanating from the planet. Upon arrival, it soon found that most of these readings were caused by the local 'supers', and their antics.
• Why do you want to stay here (for now at least)?
Inquiry and Isaiah is facinated by the local 'supers', their strange powers, their adventures, and the improbably circumstances that give rise to them. The still unsolved mystery of why Halcyon City is such a hotbed of strange occurances, impossible happenings, and so forth tugs at its curiosity, and Inquiry has also begun to become fond of the locals.
• Why do your people want you to come home?
Inquiry and Isaiah are walking right on the edge of how much interference in native affairs is permitted, and is operating rather too openly for its command center's tastes. The Iron Federation worries that the technology used in Inquiry's construction might be captured or studied, and end up falling into the wrong hands.
• Why do you care about the team?
Initially, it was more a matter of curiosity and fascination with the blatantly physics-defying powers, and how they didn't match any established magical methods, but with some time, Isaiah (and Inquiry) have begun to find itself growing fond of the locals, particularly the team it has been spending time with. Their ability to perservere, grow, and triumph in the face of adversity is endearing... and gives hope that, just maybe, these people might grow to be a match for the precursors one day.
Yes, I meant Rogue Shard, not Rouge Shard. As in a shard that has gone rogue, not one that is rouge colored. Though having it be both would be somewhat amusing. I might also point out that Rogue Shard is a general designation used by the Iron Federation for any piece of the origional precursor civilization that has gone 'bad', and the exact individual groups may go by their own names.
The Iron Fedration is... complicated, in distance. It consists of several differnt 'Shards' that keep in communcation with each other and maintain a portal network that allows instantaneous transportation between them. One such Shard, from which Inquiry was sent, does reside in the same galaxy, but the bulk of the Federation is elsewhere. Some pieces don't even reside in the conventional universe, instead being stations and facilities isolated in parallel realities.
Alright, some thoughts.
We didn’t trust each other at first, but that changed. How? Why?
Well, to start at least, Isaiah IS an alien robotic spy drone. Not exactly the kind of thing you trust right off the bat. Still, as it becomes gradually more clear that he's also a surprisngly friendly and generally benevolent alien robotic spy drone, things might get a bit better. Sometimes it can be awfully handy to have one on your side.
Its also hard to stay mad at a spy drone that never bothered hiding what it is, ecspecially when hes just so cheerful and friendly all the time.
Influence:
Isaiah is a cheerful outsider, meaning everyone has Influence over him. He's still trying to sort out how to best fit in amoung the natives, and is open to suggestions.
Relationships:
This is where I'll need to sort things out a bit more. Sounds like Shin is one of the more likely canidates for who hes spending time with, but plenty of other options as well.
The 'crush' part might get a bit weird with Isaiah and Inquiry, as technically its a genderless shipboard AI piloting a humanoid remote drone. Likely to be more of a curiosity or fascination, at least at the start.
I can also say that this is my first time playing a PBtA game, so I may need some reminders/pointers/etc. I have read up on the rules before, though, and I'm a veteran when it comes to PBP in general.
Profile is now mostly complete; I'm still debating some things, though, and specifics may be prone to change.
Any ideas for what those recent events might be?
I'm thinking that the recent commemoration of a brand new exhibit proudly glorifying The first members of the Alliance, memelbers like Praetorian and Radiant Man, have triggered Dusk. He knows they deserve to be forgotten to the dust of history. So given the opportunity to wreck the exhibit with hired goons seems like something he'd do just to spread his message.
What if it is a misconceived theory Dusk had about this “skeleton in the closet”? Like he was falsely accusing Praetorian and couldn’t be convinced otherwise? And maybe post-fight/kill, he realized the truth which just snapped something else in him and drove him further down the path to villainy?
I like it! It shook his convictions, and so now in more recent years he's become far less likely to kill without damning proof of someone's crimes. Which probably means his initial fight with the team has him treating them with kid gloves, since he's not about to go all out on a bunch of bratty teens, no matter his goals.
Welcome to PbtA, Inquiry/Isaiah! See my post above for a fairly in-depth explanation of the rules, and hit me with any questions you may have about something.
When Our Team First Came Together
My future self was involved, and I tried to stop them. It took the rest of the team to help me succeed. How did we stymie my future self’s plans?
Dusk has orchestrated a terrorist attack in response to .
We destroyed our surroundings in the fight. Where was it? What did we destroy?
We completely justifiably destroyed a major super-team's headquarters, in our little coming out cotillion.
We didn’t trust each other at first, but that changed. How? Why?
Well, to start at least, Isaiah IS an alien robotic spy drone. Not exactly the kind of thing you trust right off the bat.
The connection between our two halves was threatened by the crisis. How? By what?
If we were all kidnapped, maybe it was in order to somehow drain/steal our powers? working on more...
All things considered, we did well and impressed an established hero. Who was it?
We managed to impress...Lucidity. The oracle heroine had foreseen a different turn of events, one more tragic and costly in lives. When something happens that isn't part of her visions, such as the children who were slain in the prophecy instead became the heroes, it generally signifies big things for them in the strands of Fate.
We, as a team, attracted the attention of a major media outlet within the city, thanks to our efforts. Who are they? Why do they support us?
TBD
We stuck together after all was said and done. Why? How’d we keep in contact?
Why stop a good thing before it even gets going. We keep in contact with communication devices Rory got from his mentor.
We found signs that this incident was just the start of something bigger. What were the signs?
TBD
Kylie attends Halcyon Preparatory Academy, and technically rooms there as well, but if someone ever made it past her gentle nudge to skip her in any bed-checks, she'd frequently be somewhere else. Some nights everyone just dreams too loudly for her to sleep.
Hmmm...
The whole mind control angle could be interesting. It might also explain how Isaiah could gain some trust from the team; as a remotely piloted robot, he is rather immune to most forms of mind control...and as an advanced ovserver drone, he recognizes it when he sees it. Perhaps this combination let him get in a position to uravel the plot? Or just inform someone else how to do so.
On a somewhat related note, I've been debating on what to pick for Isaiah's second ability choice; while 'alien weaponry' is a shoe-in, none of the other base options really fit. Perhaps he could list his incredible sensors as an ability? Seems more appropriate.
The fine details about how you all worked together to unravel the plot and thwart Dusk will be left for you all to explore or ignore at your leisure. Needless to say, everyone got a chance to shine in some form or fashion, so everyone feels a part of the team (to varying degrees).
Isaiah, re: your other ability -- be creative. While "heliokinesis" sounds vaguely like light control and we've already got a hard light manipulator, I'd suggest staying away from that one. Same for telepathy and mind blasts. Beauty and pheromones also don't seem to work, unless you want to go with a psychotropic, chemistry-based approach "to ensure the locals are sufficiently docile during interactions". But Density Control could be a good explanation for you or especially your ship. It could explain why your ship doesn't crush a building when it lands on its roof, or even how someone can gain access to it -- it phases part of its hull. Explain it however you like: phase-warp modulator, stardrive core expansions, etc. Whatever technobabble that sounds cool. Radical shapeshifting could also be fun to explore -- you're a transformer! It would explain how Inquiry sneaks around without causing a huge stir -- it's disguised as a garbage truck! You also mentioned Isaiah could get his face "remodeled" if he chooses to. Thoughts?
@Psyche: Interesting approach!
@Holly/Mosaic: Could you do me a favor and put "Mosaic" somewhere in your Header? I understand reusing a dead avatar, but I'm having to pause every time I see her and try to remember which hero she is. I'm sure it'll become second-nature soon enough, but I think this would help. Thanks!
Praetoria volunteers as tribute to be a victim of mind control during the initial outing! Maybe the rigs were provided by...Infini-Corp. With a condition that Praetoria be a primary target.
Also, regarding my question and your comment above: Perhaps afterwards she saw a new vision, one depicting (at least a large number) of our band of teenage heroes in a pivotal battle against a planet-wide threat. In this vision, it was clear that we were the primary heroes available, but why that is the reason remains unclear. Where are the other heroes?