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Welcome! This campaign has been going on for a few years, but is unfortunately at a low ebb of players (and GM), so we're re-recruiting!
You'll like this game if:
You delight in the blend of superpowered action and teen drama;
You enjoy delving into your character and making interesting choices - even if they aren't always the wise ones;
You're excited to bring not only your character but the world around them to life.
One thing that sets this particular game apart from others like it is that we are going to be proceeding without any one person shouldering all of the GM duties. In a high-narrative game like this, that mainly means that while someone will usually be taking the lead (especially if it's a villain or plotline they came up with), everyone should feel welcome to add their own suggested curveballs to a scene or the resolution of a Move (PMs and the Discussion thread will be our friend for making sure this doesn't get out of hand).
Masks uses the Powered by the Apocalypse system (Apocalypse World, Monsterhearts, Urban Shadows, Night Witches et al.) It’s a rules-light system where who your character is, and how the world sees them are the most important factors in how a roll will go.
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 how the world views them), and look to the move to see what the results are. In general 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 don’t have to do this. You could probably have a safe, decent, simple life. It’d be nice, but…come on. Superpowers! Aliens! Wizards! Time travel! You’re out of your depth, but who cares? This is awesome. Everybody should try it.
Good examples: Marvel: Kate Bishop, Shadowcat, Doug Ramsey
DC: Artemis, Felicity Smoak, Spoiler
The Bull
You’re big, strong, and tough. You know what fighting really is, and you’re good at it. Sure…you’ve got a soft side, too. But you only show that to the people you care about most. Everybody else? They can eat your fist.
Good examples: Marvel: Ms. America, X-23, Molly Hayes
DC: Superboy
The Delinquent
You’ve got these cool powers. But everyone keeps telling you how to use ’em. You know what they need? Someone to give them trouble, to make sure they don’t always get their way. And hey! You’re the perfect hero to do it.
Good examples: Marvel: Kid Loki, Chase Stein, Quentin Quire
DC: Arsenal,
The Doomed
Something about your powers dooms you. It’s just a matter of time before your doom comes for you. Until then, though...you’ve got a nemesis who needs fighting and a world that needs saving. After all, it’s better to burn out than fade away…
Good examples: Marvel: Veil, Phoenix
DC: Raven
The Janus
Wake up. Breakfast. School. Work. Homework. Sleep. Repeat. It burns you up, being stuck in this life, unable to make a real difference. That is...until you put on the mask. And then, you can be someone else: a hero.
Good examples: Marvel: Spider-Man, Ms. Marvel (Khan)
DC: Blue Beetle, Batgirl
The Legacy
You’re the latest in a storied heroic lineage, a family that shares a name and a cause. Now, everybody is watching and waiting to see if you’ve got what it takes to uphold that tradition. No pressure, right?
Good examples: Marvel: Bucky-Cap, Miles Morales
DC: Green Lantern, Kid Flash
The Nova
You’re a font of power. Channel it, and you can remake the world into exactly what you want. Unleash it, and you can do miracles. It’s wonderful...and terrifying. Lose control for even a second, and other people get hurt.
Good examples: Marvel: Jean Grey, Wiccan, Nico
DC: Miss Martian
The Outsider
You’re not from here. Your home is an amazing place, full of beauty and wonder. But there’s something to them, something special that you’re missing back home. Something…human. So yeah, you’ll be hanging around. At least for now.
Good examples: Marvel: Marvel Boy, Xavin, Warlock
DC: Miss Martian, Starfire
The Protege
You proved yourself to an experienced hero. They think you’ve got what it takes. They’ve been training you for a while, and now you have to decide...do you want to be them? Or will you find your own path?
Good examples: Marvel: Cyclops
DC: Robin, Batman
The Transformed
You can recall a time not too long ago when you looked...normal. When you didn’t feel their stares. When you didn’t hear their gasps. When no one thought of you as a monster. Those were the days, huh.
Good examples: Marvel: Mettle, Beast, The Thing
DC: Cyborg
Good examples: Marvel: All-New Cyclops
DC: Blue Beetle (Reyes)
The Joined - You'd be nothing without them - your partner, your sibling, your friend, your rival, your other half. You're tied to their powers and to them, through and through. The rest of the world only ever sees you two as halves of a whole - not as two separate people. And the two of you aren't sure if they're right.
Good examples: Marvel: Cloak and Dagger, The Stepford Cuckoos
DC: The Wonder Twins, Hawk and Dove
The Newborn - You're a brand new being, created through scientific inquiry, feat of engineering, or random chance. This world is all new to you, full of wonder and adventure. It's not easy, though - everyone has an opinion about who you are and what you should do. It's time to find out for yourself who you really are.
Good examples: Marvel: Vision, Viv, Victor Mancha
DC: Superboy
The Reformed - Villainy used to be a way of life for you. Then you saw just what your selfishness and hate created. The supervillain life is a hard one to quit. But you know this best: sometimes the villain needs saving too.
Good examples: Marvel: Hawkeye (Barton), Loki (Agent of Asgard)
DC: Terra, Ravager
The Star - Being a hero isn't just about doing right. It's about being seen doing right. Let them think you're shallow for loving the spotlight and the cameras, for making speeches, for smiling so much. You'll be a hero in all the ways that matter.
Good examples: Marvel: Dazzler, Striker, The entire X-Statix team
DC: Booster Gold
The Soldier - You're a part of something bigger than yourself. A real force fighting to make the world a better place. You know that when you stand with them you're standing for something important; you just hope that when push comes to shove, you're standing for the right thing.
Good examples: Marvel: Quake, Captain America, Cyclops
DC:..?
Dark Horse: Hellboy
The Brain - You've always been the smartest one in the room. Your inventions, your plans, your mind all seem to be flawless. But you know the truth, sometimes it's just not enough. None of it seems to make up for what you did... or might do.
Good examples: Marvel: Mr. Fantastic, Hank Pym, Amadeus Cho
DC..?
This campaign of Masks is set in the fictional Halcyon City, a sprawling metropolis where all sorts of heroes and villains have congregated for generations. More specifically, despite battling shadowy evil corporations, reality-hacking metahumans, and even the shadows of Dark Gods, a good chunk of the campaign is set in and around Halcyon High (Go Hornets!). So it's important to show not just what kind of superhero you'd play, but who's really underneath the mask.
How to Apply:
Here's the thing about Masks: the character creation is not done in a vacuum. Everyone at the table gets at least a little bit of input, especially when we get to the, "When Our Team First Came Together" part. So, to apply, go through the playbooks, pick the one or two that you most would like to play, then give a basic synopsis of your concept. Name, powers, look, and the start of his or her (or its) personality, and some background. You don't need to flesh everything out quite yet.
Next, you create a villain. Someone linked to your character in some way, and why that villain is a true threat to your character. If no idea for a villain's really speaking to you, come up with some other obstacle or hazard you must frequently overcome.
We'll probably leave the recruitment up for at least a week, depending on how many applicants there are.
How to Apply (TL;DR)
Choose a Playbook
Come up with a basic backstory/character concept
Create a Villain -- this doesn't have to be your hero's Eternal Nemesis, but should be someone/something linked to them
Duplicate playbooks are very unlikely to be picked (But see The Joined)
Have fun!
Basic Movies
Playbooks
Even More Playbooks
The Campaign itself if you're up for an Archive Dive
I am potentially interested (let's face it, I'm a sucker for anything superhero related and Young Justice and Teen Titans are two of my favorite comic lines). I'm a little leery of this "co-DM" thing, especially since I have no familiarity with this system and typically when I DM I run written modules rather than homebrewing it to reduce the amount of work I would need to do. How does DMing something interact with the fact that you also have a character? In the past when I've seen rotating DMs, that person's character typically has a reason to not be involved in the DM's adventure (or to play the role of an NPC). Is it actually a rotating DM thing or something else? Like, if I interact with a random NPC, who's in charge of controlling that NPC's response and what if two other players want the NPC to respond differently?
Wingblade here, the lone character who has been with the game from the start. Definitely excited to keep the game going and I hope to see some new, awesome heroes!
Anon, try not to stress too much about the co-GMing thing at first. I expect Bronwyn/Bran and myself will do most of the heavy lifting at least until the new players get a sense of the game system, the setting, and the other characters.
Imagine a "soft touch" GM who allows a lot of player-written side missions and downtime adventures apart from the main storyline. So you can bring in your character, who will no doubt have his or her own family, backstory, and personal issues (and maybe a villain or two). Then when he or she becomes embroiled in the lives of the other characters, then those issues become our issues. Especially as friendships (and more) develop and grow.
Then, when going out on a date or just hanging out or whenever, you can say a batch of rogue translator bots intent on rewriting humanity so they all speak PASCAL fly in and suddenly a nice evening is interrupted and it's time to go to work (such is the life of a superhero). We'll follow your lead.
By the way, I've got access to the other three Playbooks as well, in case someone is interested in the Harbinger (character from the future hoping to rewrite the past to avoid a horrible future -- Bishop, Rachel Summers); the Scion (offspring of an established villain -- Aqualad, others I can't think of off the top of my head); and the Nomad (taken to another world/dimension/planet as a kid, you're back but you don't feel like you belong -- Star Lord).
I've never played this game but I've heard great things. I've got a few ideas, let me narrow it down to one.
OK. My idea is for a legacy hero, which I don't think is taken yet. The character's great grandparents were American Dream (very super powered female hero) and the Jester (a non-powered hero) who loved each other as much as they loved smashing Nazis. They had two daughters: one with a congenital heart condition and the other who took up her father's mantle with limited versions of her mom's superpowers. All in all, she'd rather have been playing music. She married a civilian and retired early in a time with more superheroes than problems. She gave birth to one son, who had even MORE limited versions of his grandmother's powers, essentially a peak human. HE married Rosario Hernandez AKA Go, a Dominican American hero with powers on par with the original American Dream.
These two heroes had one son as well, Herman Kinner Hernandez Walker. He lacks the flight or eye beams of his mother, but is strong and nearly invulnerable. He's toying with the hero name Antifa Dream as a tribute to his great grandmother and while she doesn't necessarily understand his modern approach, she does love that he smashes Nazis.
Villain would be Real American, a young white supremacist who secretly has the brain of Goebbels!
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I'm thinking Antifa Dream or whatever (he's the type that would keep switching his codename every time he thought of something he liked more) he's a mixed-race skater kid and political rebel. Maybe no legit costume, just a patch of his Grandmother's iconic symbol sewn onto his jean jacket.
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I am going to submit a Newborn. I will post as my default alias for now, though, to keep my post count down on it until you guys give it a name in game. Heh.
Backstory:
Who created you, and why? "Unit constructed by Facilitators for combat and reconnaissance."
How are you different from humans? "Unit differs from local species in form, material composition, and durability. Unit capable of adapting to any environment with ease compared to local species, which is limited by need of biological organ structures to function in specific conditions."
Who, outside of the team, is your caretaker? "Operators give commands. Unit complies."
What about humanity fascinates you the most? "Local species seems to have wide range of biological traits that enable them to perform tasks at limits beyond those of their biological form. Some encounters defy logic. Further data needed to fully correlate findings."
Why do you care about the team? ...Well...this one depends on how things develop in game. The above answers would be given...if the "Unit" could remember it's central programming. I foresee this character being found in a wreck of some sort, and accidentally being activated/fought with/rescued by the team, who then...in an effort to learn what the hell it is...manage to reactivate it to a default "Memory Wiped" mode where it is much more easily programmed given command prompts, which causes it to then bond in a way with the team.
When Our Team First Came Together:
I think this would be best left to actually playing out in game. But I see it much as described above.
Relationships:
Again...depends on how things would develop in game...heh
Influence:
Noticing a trend? haha
Abilities:
Fantastic Elasticity (?) - Basically, its form is mostly composed of a strange series of interchangeable nano-parts that make up a greater whole. While 99.99% of the time, its form is completely solid and appears very robot-like, it can alter that form as needed to better fit the situation at hand or the environment it is in.
Super Durability and Strength - Alien Robot Strong and Tough!
Newborn Moves:
Regeneration
A Mind of Their Own
A Blank Slate:
I'd kinda like to let the group fill these Lessons in once the game gets going. So basically they could like, give an initial two "Commands" to my character, and then as more prompts open up, they can be filled in as usual during play.
More to come as needed!
Then, when going out on a date or just hanging out or whenever, you can say a batch of rogue translator bots intent on rewriting humanity so they all speak PASCAL fly in and suddenly a nice evening is interrupted and it's time to go to work (such is the life of a superhero). We'll follow your lead.
Everyone speaking PASCAL? You monster. I mean, if they had picked a modern language, they could have been forgiven.
I guess my main concern about DMing is that I typically have broad strokes ideas, but lack the glue/details to turn them into something usable. As demonstrated by the fact that I already have two different ideas for adventures, but they're mostly just plot hooks with a general goal in mind. But given than I was kept up last night by my brain trying to flesh out details of one of them, I think I gots ta submit my character.
I'll write up a backstory/more details after work today, but the main idea is an androgynous Japanese hacker (powers are techo-magic but also has mundane hacking skills). Leaning towards The Brain for general intelligence and being more of a support/intel hero than a brawler. The Delinquent might work for general attitude/some less than legal hacking activity. There's also an element of The Doomed in my idea for powers (basically, the more they're used, the smarter but less empathetic the user becomes). I'll write down my ideas tonight and post them.
Hmmmm,.... will be working up a proposal if I get time. I'm in the other Masks game ATM (Scorch) and am loving it. Great game and works well in pop format.
Not sure what yet, but would love to check out the new playbook and see what they're like.
Hmmmm,.... will be working up a proposal. I'm in the other Masks game ATM (Scorch) and am loving it. Great game and works well in pop format.
Not sure what yet, but would love to check out the new playbooks and see what they're like.
Glad to see we've got some interest!
Wingblade covered most of this pretty well, but yeah, especially while we're getting moving, the whole GMing aspect of playing would be pretty light, and we'll all be playing it a little by ear :-)
A lot of it can really be as simple as a Discussion post of "Man, I sure missed on that roll. Anyone got a fun idea of how exactly that went wrong?"
Thoughts on the pitches thus far:
Antifa Dream the Legacy: A young angry Legacy trying to figure out what being a hero means in the modern world certainly sounds interesting. Got any sample specifics of things he does that American Dream would be unhappy about? We know she sees a strong throughline in the whole punching Nazis thing.
Also, I gather that the name Antifa Dream isn't really a dealbreaker (since you mentioned that he might change it on a whim). Any reason he wouldn't just stick with calling himself American Dream and anyone who doesn't think he's living up to that name can piss off?
One last caveat - after posting up the recruitment thread, our current Legacy gave us a heads up that they'll be continuing forward. There's a fair bit of daylight between your different conceptions of the Playbook, so I'm not just going to come in with a hard No, but I do want to run it past them and make sure they don't feel too crowded by another Legacy.
_______ the Newborn: It seems like you've got a lot of things you're hoping to discover about this character as you play them. So instead, could you tell us more about the parts of this character you're really excited to show off, or stories you're hoping to have them grow through?
Alternatively, tell us something about the Facilitators
[Probably not PASCAL] the Brain/Delinquent/Doomed: Firstly, I'd say that The Brain and the Delinquent sound like they fit your character the most, though since as you play you might end up switching playbooks, things could certainly progress towards the Doomed if things go badly with your powers.
Hymenopterix the Possible: We'd love to see your pitch! I'll see if I can scare up a link to some of those newer Playbooks. Otherwise I'll just end up typing them up...
Well that didn't take long. Here's all the Playbooks (though sans the pretty art)
_______ the Newborn: It seems like you've got a lot of things you're hoping to discover about this character as you play them. So instead, could you tell us more about the parts of this character you're really excited to show off, or stories you're hoping to have them grow through?Alternatively, tell us something about the Facilitators.
Honestly I’m curious if the character ever really gets to feeling like an individual being, or if he will always be treated as a thing.
The Facilitators are just a term for the builders of the AI soldiers. They could be called any number of synonyms for builder, constructor, etc.
The Operators are the ones pulling the strings. They are an alien race who are incredibly intelligent, almost beyond comprehension, but are physically quite frail. As a solution, they tend to control/expand their territory by use of AI soldiers. AKA - what this robot is. Hitherto, they have never sent one to Earth, and have never been heard of or encountered before. The fact that one of their war drones is here SURELY isn’t a bad sign...right?
I've been tinkering with another PbtA system, Monster of the Week, and I've heard a couple of Masks podcasts, so I have a rough idea of what goes on. I'm certainly interested. Now I just need to check out the Playbooks and plot some ideas.
Well, this ended up taking longer than I expected to write up. I wound up writing the backstory from Kaoru's point of view, which probably obfuscated a few things like the fact that Pinky is my proposed villain (Kaoru is unaware of this fact though and thinks Pinky is her friend). I can elaborate on the villain thing if desired, but I think my backstory may already be a little on the long side.
Mundane Name: Kaoru Miyamoto
Hacker handle: Apocalypse or "Cal"
Online avatar
Personality: Kaoru doesn't care what you think of her. Or at least, that's what she'd have you believe. Really, it's just a way to keep others at arm's length; she was burned in the past by people she thought were friends and has no desire to repeat that mistake. So the best way to protect herself is to keep others from knowing who she really is. Because if they don't know her, they can't really reject her. But like most people, all she really wants deep down is to be loved and respected. As such, she typically only provokes others if confronted rather than going out of her way to get in someone's face. She'd really much rather be left alone to do her own thing or silently throw judgemental looks at people from the outskirts.
You wanna know about me? Well, my story is dumb. Like, tv trope, stereotype dumb. Your typical popular girl has an epiphany turns social outcast dumb. Or, I guess it's not quite that bad; at least I wasn't head cheerleader or anything. God, that would be embarrassing. But I was your typical top of the class, on track to get a full-ride scholarship to any Ivy league of my choosing preppy good girl. Oh, and I was dating the rising star of the JV football team Jack Liu, so there was that. But I mostly only did that because all my so-called friends kept telling me what a catch he was and what a cute couple we'd make and yadda yadda yadda. Based on some of the things they said, I'm pretty sure they didn't realize he's Chinese and I'm Japanese. Because all us asians look alike. Obvs. But I just wanted to shut them up; they had started to look at me weird. Plus me and Jack had known each other for forever even though he's a year older, and he wasn't exactly subtle about his feelings for me (though I'm sure he thought he was). I liked him well enough and he was a nice guy, so eventually I gave in and asked him out (I know, scandalous that I didn't wait for him to ask me, right?).
Things were...ok I guess. For a while. Then he started his junior year, got promoted to the varsity team, got a taste of the stardom that offered, and he started to get kinda...well...handsy. I laughed it off at first, but he didn't stop. When it became clear that that was what our relationship was going to be -- him trying to move further around the bases and me attempting to fend off his advances -- I broke it off. I mean, that's what you're supposed to do, right? It was no big deal 'cause we had never been that serious in the first place, right?
Of course, I was wrong. He took it pretty poorly. I think some of the other guys kept giving him s!$# about it or something? Well anyway, he started this rumor that I broke up with him because I had a thing for this super smart girl with the most amazing green eyes you've ever seen: Lena. But no way could a rumor like that actually take hold, right? I mean, there was no evidence or anything. Wrong again. Next thing I know, my "friends" are pretty much all yelling at me for no reason. Some are pissed that I didn't tell them. Some were convinced I was perving on them all these years. Some thought I was trying to play the minority card for college applications. None of them believed that it was all Jack trying to get back at me.
So what's a girl to do in this kind of a situation? Well, obviously hack into all of Jack's accounts, expose his embarrassing emails and pictures to the rest of the school, change all his grades, and put him on a goverment terrorist watchlist for good measure, what else (I did mention that I'm super smart, right? Especially when it comes to computers)? Nevermind the fact that the accusation maybe sorta kinda had some truth to it. Nevermind the fact that you broke the kid's heart. It was a scorched earth policy: leave no survivors.
Things only went downhill from there. There were parent-teacher conferences, yelling, and other crap. The one good thing to come out of all of this was -- and don't laugh -- Pinky. Yeah, like that dumb kid's show. S/He (They?) even had the dumb icon to go along with the name as their avatar (oh yeah, they're an internet friend). They had found the government watchlist hack and thought it was hilarious that some nobody teen from Podunk, Nowhere was on it. They started giving me tips on how I could have covered my tracks better, made it more believable, and what other things I could have done to get my revenge.
It was pretty cool. My skills were growing in leaps and bounds. I mean, I thought I was good before, but I was nothing compared to what I was becoming. It was like I was directly talking to servers, able to literally see the vulnerabilities laid out before me like missed stiches in a quilt or whatever. I could feel my anger and frustration slipping away, replaced with this resplendant view of the grand tapestry of pranks and digital minipulations I was making with Pinky. All my problems at school, at home, just didn't bother me any more.
Until some a~#&%$* calling themself "Delpi" stepped in. I don't know how they did it, but they managed to completely block all my interactions with Pinky. Said something about it being for my "own good," so obviously it's some know-it-all who really knows nothing adult. One the bright side, all this crap with my school means we're packing up and moving, so maybe that will help me get around whatever block Delpi put up. I think they're detecting my IP spoofing, so maybe if I actually have a new location I can more easily slip around their defenses. Plus Halcyon is a city, so there might be actual things to do there. I can't wait to get away from everybody here.
@Ben Beacon can absolutely be a good one to start with - I'd say any of the playbooks from the corebook (the first spoiler) should be quite suitable as well - whatever makes a character you're excited about.
@Jon Monster of the Week is a lot of fun too! Great way to check out the system. We'd love to see what you come up with.
@Thron We chatted a bit off-thread, so I'm going to toss that in here (trying to keep all the recruitment stuff consolidated)
Thron: any other questions for my newborn submission?Wingblade: Villain?
Thron: His own people.
The “Operators”Wingblade: Are they blank slates, too? What's their deal? Or what about a retriever out to collect him?
Thron: they are basically like the Prophets from Halo, minus the religious zeal
Wingblade: I've never played Halo
But if they have no religious zeal, then what are they?
What's unique about them?Thron: They are basically very physically frail aliens (think classical Grey’s)
but are extremely powerful mentalists.
And believe their intellectual superiority over, well, everything, means they rule over everything they find. And to date they have been successful.
They have crafted armies of soldier drones and other utility AI constructs to handle the physical things that are beyond them.
That is what my character is one of.Bran/Bron: How many of these drones are typically sent to a planet?
Thron: They may send a Retrieval Unit to collect either him or his remains and bring him back. Or they may access his ship’s core data remotely and determine this location and the planets conditions
typically hundreds. He went off course after an interstellar encounter.
A few dozen are enough typically to handle armies. They spread them out over the planet and pacify any resistance located there.
In the odd chance the initial force isn’t enough, they’d send a full on invasion force and win the 2nd time around.
But this the first planet they will encounter with super
people
@ Anon Looks like a fun start. Have you made any further thoughts regarding Delinquent vs. Brain? Also, and this question might eventually get familiar as recruitment goes on, what's going to make Cal 'suit up' and fight crime? We can work an inciting event into things, but make sure your character is going to want to be on a super-team. Or at least feel like it's their only option or something :-p
Hey guys, I'm the last of the confirmed returning players (I believe) though we hopefully will have 1-2 others returning.
I think Apex proved Alexandra kinda bounces well off people who are similar, so American Dream is fine by me.
Also, just going to say, as someone who made the archive dive like 6 months ago, it is worth it.
Also, just going to say, as someone who made the archive die like 6 months ago, it is worth it.
You made the archive die? How dare you!
;-P
Antifa Dream the Legacy: A young angry Legacy trying to figure out what being a hero means in the modern world certainly sounds interesting. Got any sample specifics of things he does that American Dream would be unhappy about? We know she sees a strong throughline in the whole punching Nazis thing.
The original might have trouble recognizing well-dressed alt-right speakers as legit Nazis and/or question that they're as dangerous and thus as worthy of death. The current A.D. also has a far lower opinion on law enforcement and police, more of a "all cops are bastards" type. And little stuff like "Do you have to use such language in public?"/"That's not a real costume!"/etc. Maybe he's been reluctant to be on a team and she pushes him to that.
Also, I gather that the name Antifa Dream isn't really a dealbreaker (since you mentioned that he might change it on a whim). Any reason he wouldn't just stick with calling himself American Dream and anyone who doesn't think he's living up to that name can piss off?
That's good, I like that. "Antifa Dream" might be what right wing media calls him, though the far left would embrace it. Some might call him American Dreamer as he's the son of an immigrant, not understanding his legal status. I can see various groups calling him different things to advance their own agenda, and he's not sure how to control it.
I think Apex proved Alexandra kinda bounces well off people who are similar, so American Dream is fine by me.
It would be interesting to explore the relationships of the previous mantle-bearers. I see it kind of like this for A.D.:
Great Grandparents: Golden Age/Classic Nazi-Fighting SuperheroesGrandparent: Silver Age/Sillier, less serious adventures morphing into a soap opera ala Lois Lane or Archie.
Parent: Bronze age/black leather, weapons on weapons on weapons (likely written by someone from the UK)
A.D.: Modern Comics/political, youthful, inclusive.
So at any point the Silver Shadows and the American Dreams/Jesters/DaDamericans could have been allies, rivals, etc.
Hello everyone. Jeez, been a while since I've been on here.
I'm 100% interested in playing in this game, as well as intrigued by the multi-GM system y'all are proposing. I'm usually stuck as GM for my own friend circle, so I'm curious to see how this goes.
In reference to the game itself, I've played Masks a little bit before, but I'm not crazy familiar with the system, jsyk. Also, I have a character concept for literally every Playbook released, so I am more than willing to take last pick if there's any conflict over books. As for my specific submissions here...
When he was a kid, Huff had a really hard time controlling his natural aerokinesis, to the point that he would often destroy walls accidentally or break his own bones from blowback. Thankfully, his older sister was a rising star in A.E.G.I.S. (codename Agent Night Wolf), and happened to have favor with one Penelope Vice, the director of the Research and Education Expansion Facility. The R.E.E.F. specializes in studying superhuman powers, ostensively for the development of new technologies and to help those with powers learn control. Huff was elated when he learned that his big sister had gotten him the personal help of Director Vice.
He should have known something was up when they showed him the suit.
The Power Isolation Exoskeleton was designed to be a modifiable set of "training wheels" for those still trying to master their powers. Huff's particular P.I.E. was modified to be more...extensive than most. His particular powers meant that he could cause massive damage at a moment's notice, so his suit was designed to not only be full-body and head, but to be worn 24/7. A series of water, food, and cleanliness systems in the suit would allow him to keep it on for (theoretically) indefinitely. Not exactly a good solution, but would at least give the folks at the R.E.E.F. time to fix him.
But they didn't. They only made it worse.
In truth, Vice had no interest in helping Huff. She wanted to experiment on him, figure out how his powers worked so she could replicate them in others. In secret she had an experimental drug slipped into Huff's life support systems that would enhance his abilities beyond even the incredible level they were currently at. The result was an unmitigated catastrophe.
Half the R.E.E.F. was leveled when Huff discovered that his powers had complete gone out of his control. The surrounding neighborhood was rubble before Huff realized his own power was now at risk of killing him. A full platoon of A.E.G.I.S. goons were hurled across the city before Huff escaped, disappearing into the underbelly of Halcyon with a servicing kit for his P.I.E.
Now, Huff does what he can to be a hero, all while hiding from the R.E.E.F. and Vice, watching his supplies of food and water in his suit dwindle, and fearing the day his suit cracks open and his power is truly unleashed...
There is a race of beings somewhere in the universe, living upon a rogue planet, that are dedicated to law and order. They are strange creatures, having to true form but instead living as sentient masses of semi-liquid that can meld their being into certain other objects. One of these beings, a trainee in the practices of law and order, is named Klynt.
Klynt is a very good student, and has shown great skill with their peoples' signature vehicles, the Morphcraft. However, Klynt is also a bit...aggressive. For some unknown reason, they were spawned with a fiery passion, rather unlike most of their kind. In particular, they have a passionate hatred for the criminal Sut-Lec, a serial killer of Klynt's own species.
A few years ago, Sut-Lec escaped their confinement sphere and stole a Morphcraft, departing along a trajectory that would land them on Earth. Passionate Klynt wanted to pursue, but was denied permission to by their superiors. It was then that Klynt did something that they should have known better than to do. They stole a older-model Mrophcraft and followed Sut-Lec to Earth with the intention of bringing them to justice and restoring order.
Now if only they had known just how many meld-capable things ("humans" they are called) Sut-Lec could hide in that there are on Earth...
Silas Coon, aka Red Fox, is the best thief in the world. For the right price he can steal anything from anyone. Despite not having a single superpower, he has bested those with them time and time again. And he loves it. He revels in stealing things right out from others' noses, not for the profit, but just for the undiluted thrill it gives him.
His daughter, Cassidy, is...er, was, his protégé.
Cassidy and her dad share more than just their distinctive red-and-black hair. Cass shares her father's mischievous desire to fool people, to get the better of them while they are technically her betters. Unlike her father though, she did not grow up in poverty. She grew up with her father (when he was around) and her mother, Phoebe. Mrs. Coon is very different from her ex-husband and daughter. She is a charity worker, helping those displaced by (un)natural disasters find new homes. Cassidy shares her father's thievery yes, but she was raised by her mother's kindness. As a result, when Silas asked her from time to time to help him with a robbery, she sometimes found she couldn't do it.
Now though, she wishes she had.
In the aftermath of a heist gone very wrong, Red Fox is now a wanted murderer. Thankfully he's been smart enough to stay away from his family, who have been under constant watch by the authorities. Cassidy won't stand for it however. She knows her dad, and she knows he would never kill. Someone has to have framed him.
So, with no powers, and no training beyond her skills as a thief, Cass has donned a make-shift costume and struck out to prove her father's innocence...of the murder that is. He's totally guilty of the robberies. But...c'mon, he's not a bad guy, and the escape he pulled off from Halcyon Towers was AWESOME!
@ Anon Looks like a fun start. Have you made any further thoughts regarding Delinquent vs. Brain? Also, and this question might eventually get familiar as recruitment goes on, what's going to make Cal 'suit up' and fight crime? We can work an inciting event into things, but make sure your character is going to want to be on a super-team. Or at least feel like it's their only option or something :-p
I looked over the sheets for the two. There's admittedly a lot I only kind of understand about it (what is Influence and do I want it, pierce the mask, Team, etc). I kind of wish Delinquent had more tactical moves and less "Bwaha, I'm a minor league criminal" moves, but overall, I think Delinquent fits more. I mean, it even has the power "gadgetry and hacking".
As for suiting up, initially it's probably going to be a forcing function of some sort until she eventually decides "Well, I guess this is more interesting than the alternative..." Either some kind of "There's a crisis and if you don't team up, you'll probably be killed" or Delphi basically being like "You need better influences in your life. Join a hero team or I completely block your access to the internet" (probably not actually within Delphi's powers, but Kaoru doesn't need to know that).
Don't forget, Anon, you can pick up additional moves on level ups. so you can grab a brain move or two
Don't forget, Anon, you can pick up additional moves on level ups. so you can grab a brain move or two
You can? That's really good to know! I had just assumed any new moves you picked up also had to be from your playbook. Though now that I look more closely, under advancement there is "Take a move from another playbook". I will have to more carefully look over things, especially since I now notice the earlier website link includes a link to the actual rules to explain what all the terms mean.
Okie dokie, here's my idea. A Transformed named Marcus who was deliberately infected with nanites to heal him after an accident, and then had the nanites go wrong. As his system is not stable and he may not last forever (see the Doomed advancement the Transformed can take) he’s chosen to use his inhuman durability and strength to help people as Nought. He has some...issues...as he feels like he is far less than human now, and is nothing.
His supervillain counterpart is another ‘survivor’ of the same treatment, whose nanities adapted to absorb rather than rebuild, called Dread. Since they absorb whatever gives them a better chance of survival - people or tech - they’re rather terrifying.
And yes, their names together are deliberately puntastic, in the best comic book traditions.
Name: Marcus Van Mander.
Superhero Identity: Nought
Playbook: The Transformed
Labels
Danger: +2
Freak: +3
Saviour 0
Superior: -1
Mundane: -1
Abilities
Impenetrable Armour
Inhuman Strength
Moves
I am not my Body: When taking a powerful physical blow, roll as though the character has two fewer conditions. On a +10 their powers rampage out of control.
Wish I could Be: When supporting of comforting someone, revealing something you admire or envy about them allows you to roll Freak rather than Mundane.
Coming for You: When circumstances force a condition, take a +1 Forward against the character you blame.
Appearance
- Man
- White
- Strange Eyes
- Metal Skin
- Strange Costume
Marcus is a tall, well built young man. Too tall and too well built for most teenagers, and certainly a lot larger than he once was. But there is something...off about his proportions, something doesn’t seem quite right. His limbs are a little too long, some muscles bulge too much. It’s clear in several places that there are things beneath his skin...and his skin itself has a slight bronze sheen to it.
Even more noticeable is the fact that Marcus has been cybernetically augmented. His entire left arm is a bronze construct that, if one were to see him topless, extends onto his shoulder and upper torso before merging seamlessly with his skin. His right eye is also mechanical.
In terms of clothing, he tends to wear long coats, baggy sweaters and loose jeans - things that hide as much of his build and appearance as possible.
As Nought, he somewhat leans into the bronze appearance of his biomechanical parts, and wears a Victorian-esque ensemble that’s been cut to shot them off. He also wears a helmet - not for anonymity, as he can’t hide what he is, but because his brain is theoretically the weak point that could stop him.
Backstory
Marcus was a simple student, caught with several others in an accident that left him broken and hospitalized. A simple bus crash that left several lives in danger and several more gone. It was only through the efforts of the city’s heroes that anyone made it off the vehicle alive at all, but there was a lot of damage. Marcus was one of the worst - his arm was shattered and torn, his skull fractured - and his spine was broken.
His only hope of leading any kind of life was a cutting edge nano-treatment. Being infected with tiny machines wasn’t exactly the most appealing, but Marcus’ only other choice was to live a life of almost total paralysis. And the nanomachines would be wiped by an EMP pulse if anything went wrong, or once there task of rebuilding Markus was done.
The treatment was initially a great success. It rebuilt his nervous system, giving him back motor control. But it was soon clear that the treatment was getting out of hand. The nanomachines were starting to modify anything and everything they dubbed subpar, reinforcing muscle tissue with advanced electroactive polymers and weaving carbon nanotubing into his skeletal structure.
While this was theoretically an improvement over how it was supposed to work, but was far beyond the scope of the medical trial being attempted. While some of the researchers argued to allow it to continue, they were a minority, and Marcus was hit by an EMP. Initially, it looked like that was it, and Marcus was simply left being bigger and tougher than the average teen his age. And able to walk.
But a few of the nanomachines survived and began replicating. Worse, they seemed to have been damaged by the EMP, and there ‘improvements’ began to get extreme. And painful. One of Marcus’ arms was still healing broken bones and muscle tears from his accident, and the whole arm was...converted...to an entirely mechanical version, that looked like a bronze clockwork arm by was laced with delicate wiring that simulated a nervous system.
Marcus’ metal stability also declined. He became depressed as he became less and less human. Growing subdermal armour plating is not a pleasant experience, and the pain was becoming dramatic. When it stopped the doctors realized that the nanomachines were attempting to re-write his brain and improve that as well, and there was a very real danger that the machines would start reading any negative emotion as ‘damage’ to be repaired.
In an ironic moment, one doctor realized that the treatment for the out of control nanomachines was a second batch of nanomachines designed to not affect Marcus at all, but to repair the original batch and bring them back under control. It worked...more or less. What was more difficult to do was to repair the damage caused. It would take an immense level of programming to get the machines to undo their improvements, and in many places simply didn’t seem possible.
Now bigger, stronger and more powerful than the majority of heroes, Marcus decided that while he waited to see what - if anything - could be done to ‘fix’ him, he’d make the most of it. By being a hero. He didn’t have much of a life - he could feel the stares, the pity, from the people he’d known, and he could never pretend to be anything but what he was. But maybe he could save a few others.
Marcus was not the only one to survive that accident and was not the only one who received the nanotreatment. He was not the only one whose nanites mutated out of control. He was one of two who survived. Dread is the other.
A towering, nightmarish amalgamation of human flesh and integrated machinery, Dread is terrifying and fearsome to look upon. Unlike Markus, whose nanotech began to covert his body, Dread’s nanites decided on a different method - integration. They would take whatever was nearby that might make them more efficient, grant a better chance of survival. Whether that was part of a life support machine to sustain a regular heartbeat when the bulk became too much, armour from a ballistic vest or new organs when in need, Dread havests whatever it needs to survive.
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Here's a primer on the game I wrote a while ago. This should answer your questions about Influence and Team and the other game mechanics.
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.
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, Wingblade hears about a giant robot stomping through the Financial District, when she's all the way over in the Towers at her apartment. 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. No roll necessary.
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 Blazesmith 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.
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, we'll do my best to break up chunks of story like in comic books/episodes. Whenever there's a new session, we'll try to frame it like this:
------------------------------------------------
Session 1: The Pithily-Named Title
------------------------------------------------
Then, whenever we 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.
Ok, this has piqued my interest. Time to build a Chassidic nova raised in a kibbutz and powered by his adherence to Halakha.
Keep checking for an update (an advantage, I guess, to getting sick and leaving work early), so I thought I'd post a list of characters thus far. Apologies if I missed anyone.
- Digger Chandler - Antifa Dream (Legacy)
- Thron - ? (Newborn)
- Anon A Mouse - Kaoru Miyamoto (Delinquent)
- Blue Symbiote - Various (Doomed, Outsider, Scion)
- JonGarrett - Nought (Transformed)
- Benjamin Brown - Zoe Zhao (Beacon)
- chengduguy - Friedrich Müller (Brain)
Dots
- Hymenopterix
- Havocprince (Nova)
Ok, got it all set.
Hero Name: Tzadik
Real Name: Moshe Bin Shlomo Ha'Levi
Look: A pale youth, slight of frame. Dressed in modest black suit and talit kattan. Wears the single strand of blue in his tzitzit and a white and blue kippa.
Abilities: Sorcery... by a very strict definition.
Labels
Danger +1
Freak +3
Savior 0
Superior 0
Mundane -1
When did you first use your powers?
I first used my powers to save my kibbutz during a raid.
Who was the first person you accidentally hurt with your powers?
A young woman named Dassi. A simple touch, an uncontrolled accidental breaking of shomer negiah, the laws are in place for a reason.
Who, outside the team, helps you control your powers?
Rebbe Isaac Vilna Yitchaki, the Rabbi who helps mentor me and keeps me to the path before me.
Why do you continue to use your powers?
It is within HeShem's will.
Why do you care about the team?
They are good people, doing good work. Someone has to be the spiritual center so they do not fall to the darkness.
Influence Happy Facade
Burn
Shielding, constructs, boost, overcharge
Now he lives with the good Rabbi, learning to apply himself to the path before him. Unfortunately he has previously injured the Rabbi's daughter, Dassi. The two accidentally brushed up against each other in a moment of distraction, and both were flung back into separate walls. She has forgiven him, but does not feel as if he has properly atoned for the harm he caused her.
Very much enjoying going through the submissions so far - I'm gonna go sleep now, but I'll be back on with follow-up questions tomorrow :-)
Hi guys,
Won't have time to work up a character until the weekend, but am currently considering either a Delinquent or a Scion... details TBD.
Throwing in a character here, don't mind me!
Alias: Mercy, Mercykiller (Omega designation), Alexis (Street name)
Looks: Shifting, Mediterranean, Dirty Hands, Dirty Clothing, No Costume
Abilities: High-Speed Regeneration including Instant Regeneration on death altering gender, enhanced strength from high density muscle fibers and bone structure, one decade of close quarters combat training and expertise with Krabi-krabong (Sword and Stick).
Backstory:
Who Changed You?
The organization known as Omega, who gifted me as an infant with their experimental procedures to create a unique and effective killing tool.
How did you escape from them?
After being set on my first assignment, I killed myself by throwing myself off of a high rise and ruined the mission. Once revived, I escaped into the city and intermingled with the homeless population, going off the grid.
Who, outside of the team, tries to take care of you now?
Brandt is a older guy who works at the shelter that I stay at when I'm not trying to do good. I try to show up to see him so he doesn't get worried.
Why do you try to be a hero?
Because I don't want to be the monster that I was created to be. I would rather die saving others. I wonder if I will eventually die putting myself in harm's way.
Why do you care about the team?
It gives me a place to use my skills to help people, and I'm able to find meaning in protecting them from the harsher things in life. I'll weather the worst so they can do their best.
Mercy's regenerative abilities prioritize healing for the most deadly afflictions and injuries first, meaning that should they be harmed in two different locations, the wound that would more likely cause organism death would be healed first. The speed of this healing is also relative to the amount of damage needed to be healed; a scratch, cut or bruise would heal in under a second, bullet and stab wounds several seconds, and massive traumas to organs in a minute.
Mercy's ability to regenerate from death has a major peculiarity to it. The first is being incapacitated until revived based on the severity of the damage, from two to ten minutes. The second is that on revival, Mercy's anatomical gender will have changed to the opposite (Male to Female, Female to Male). Mercy therefore refers to themselves by the gender pronouns of their current form. Currently Mercy has no other way to accomplish this change other than through fatality, though has no reason to purposefully self harm to make it happen.
- Digger Chandler - Antifa Dream (Legacy)
- Thron - ? (Newborn)
- Anon A Mouse - Kaoru Miyamoto (Delinquent)
- Blue Symbiote - Various (Doomed, Outsider, Scion)
- JonGarrett - Nought (Transformed)
- Benjamin Brown - Zoe Zhao (Beacon)
- chengduguy - Friedrich Müller (Brain)
- Havocprince - Moshe (Nova)
- Azrael Dukshi - Mercy (Bull)
Dots
- Hymenopterix (Delinquent, Scion)
Also decided to give a shot at filling out the Delinquent backstory/powers stuff.
Abilities: Gadgetry and hacking, power negation
Labels: Danger 0, Freak 0, Savior -1, Superior +3, Mundane +1 (though debating about putting my random +1 in Freak instead of Superior)
Backstory
- How did you get your powers?
Gadgetry and hacking: A combination of inherited intelligence and spending time with her parents (father [deceased] was an electrical engineer with an interest in mechanics, mother is a software engineer)
Power negation: Unbeknownst to her, when Kaoru started to befriend Pinky, they sent a robot to her house that injected her with an unknown substance while she slept. After the stunt she pulled with her ex-boyfriend, Pinky wanted to nurture her hacking ability because they thought her prank was entertaining and was eager to see what more havoc she could reap with better skills. Instead of enhancing her ability to hack computer systems, this gave Kaoru the ability to hack into people and shut down their powers. Kaoru is currently unaware of this ability.
- What do you do for fun?
Play any and all video games. Build gadgets (currently working on building a mini-gundam model with working flight). Sometimes reads, mostly manga or sci-fi/fantasy novels. Hacking into random websites to prank them or just to see if she can.
- Who, outside the team, thinks better of you than you do?
Depends on your definition of "better". Pinky sees the potential for great mischief in Kaoru. Kaoru's mom Naomi sees the wonderful girl she used to be and knows that's still inside of her (she's generally confused/sadden by this sudden drastic change both in appearance and personality. But she's also very busy and kind of out of touch with Kaoru, so there was definitely an element of seeing what she wanted to see there). Delphi thinks she's better than who Pinky is trying to turn her into, but they are likewise busy and is working more because they know Pinky isn't to be trusted than because they really know or want to protect Kaoru. Depending on how long Kaoru is supposed to have been at Halcyon High when the game starts (I picture her as being a new kid at school, having only recently moved to the area), she has probably endeared herself to the shop teacher.
- Why do you try to be a hero?
At this point, out of fear of Delphi cutting off her access to the internet/taking her life completely offline.
- Why do you care about the team?
Without knowing the team, hard to say. I imagine initially she won't. Then it'll be because it provides another way of escaping/keeping her mind occupied or a more legal way to improve her hacking skills. And eventually it'll be because she cares about the other members and wants to protect them.
Delinquent Moves
Mary Contrary: When someone tries to pierce your mask, comfort or support you, or provoke you, you can interfere. Roll + Superior. On a hit, they take a -2 on their roll. On a 10+, you also take Influence over them or clear a condition. On a 7- 9, you expose yourself to retribution, cost, or judgment. On a miss, they get a 10+ no matter what they rolled and you mark a condition of their choice.
I don't care what you think!: Whenever you reject others' influence, add +2 to your roll.
Are you watching closely?: When you mislead, distract, or trick someone, roll + Superior. On a hit, they are fooled, at least for a moment. On a 10+, choose three. On a 7- 9, choose two.
- You get an opportunity
- You expose a weakness or flaw
- You confuse them for some time
- You avoid further entanglement
On a miss, you're hopelessly embroiled in it and under pressure; mark a condition.
**whew** Lots to respond to! If my questions make assumptions that aren't quite right, please feel free to correct them – just trying to get a better look at how people are thinking.
Blue Symbiote – Since you've got so many character concepts in your back pocket, let me ask – what is it that makes you like those three the most?
JonGarrett – What are some things Nought still does to make himself feel human. What are some things he can't do that make him feel the most like he's not?
Benjamin Brown – Has Zoe seen anything yet that has made her feel out of her league? (Note – Halcyon has within the last few months been attacked by kaiju, so even if she wasn't out heroing until recently there's opportunities for her to feel very small, or feel like she could still make a difference)
Chengduguy – What motivated the shift for Friedrich between super-biology and his super-suit?
Havocprince – Since this game is frequently as much about the teen as the superhero, what are some ways you see Moshe interacting with his teammates outside of crime fighting?
Azrael – I was going to try to sneakily word this differently, but umm... Since this game is frequently as much about the teen as the superhero, what are some ways you see Alexis interacting with her teammates outside of crime fighting?
Anon – So just how slow a burn are you picturing for Pinky's villainous reveal? :-p
More seriously - talk to me about Delphi. Does she have much presence off the web, or is her role predominantly as a whitehat?
Blue Symbiote – Since you've got so many character concepts in your back pocket, let me ask – what is it that makes you like those three the most?
Well hold up now, I love all my children equally. That being said, I picked these three primarily so as to not step on any toes, i.e. pick a book somebody else had taken. That also being said, I do have aspects about each of these guys that I’m really interested to explore.
That’s where Huff’s character arc comes in. Idk how well it came across in the idea blurb for him, but I see Huff as being a young man so thoroughly let down by everyone he trusted that his first response is to push away from everyone now. But with the team, he can slowly learn to trust again, and maybe they can even get him to come out of his shell?
That being said, my motivation for putting Pulsar as a possibility is simple and very open-ended: Pulsar, and by extension most of his race, view morality very 2-dimensionally. Things are good, or things are bad. The contrast between that and his near-limitless shapechanging I think is really fun to play with, plus the simplicity of the idea and how easy that perception is to challenge means that this open GM-ing thing might have an easier time working with him.
That being said, I see Cass’s story being one of showing that not only is she not a bad person at heart, and her father isn’t either. She knows that he doesn’t kill, but everyone already thinks the worst of him so why wouldn’t they blame him for a murder? Furthermore, I kind of love the Robin Hood archetype, and if Cass sees the good she can do as a gracious thief it might just give her a revelation about this whole hero thing.
As I've been thinking further about American Dream, I was wondering if it would be OK if he chose one less power from his suite? I'd rather him not be able to fly ...just the idea of him being carried or thrown cracks me up.
Ahem... respectfully?
I am going to play him in the role of the stranger in a strange land/ fish out of water design. He comes from a culture so different from the rest of the team, so there will be plenty of misconceptions and misunderstandings on both sides. I have not nailed down the exact chassidic group he would come from, mainly because I don't expect anyone outside of me to understand the differences between them... besides, it allows me to surprise the rest of the team every time I am following a interpretation that confuses the the kids. The Pesach episode will be fun.
Pinky's villainy comes mostly from the fact that they only care about their own amusement and essentially views everyone else as toys to be played with. So the villainy reveal will come when Kaoru realizes Pinky doesn't actually care about her/have her best interests at heart. Currently Delphi is blocking all access between the two, so Kaoru can't realize that, but I can definitely see Pinky attempting to get to Kaoru through the rest of the team (since after all, Dephi's only blocking access to Kaoru, not them) and trying to break any connection between them through either turning her against them or them against her (back home, they already manipulated Kaoru to stay angry at her friends who would have otherwise reconciled with her, specifically Kaoru's best friend Chloe). Whether that reveals Pinky's true nature to Kaoru would depend on how that plays out, but it would at least put a sizable dent in her trust.
In the heroing world, Delphi is entirely a whitehat/intel gatherer/support hero, lacking the physical capabilities to really do anything outside the digital world. For this reason, her true identity (or even that fact that's she's a she) is not widely known as it would be far too easy to send a thug to just go kill her. But luckily and also as a result of her lack of meat-space presence, many villains are also completely unaware of her existence or have only heard vague rumors; it's mostly just other technologically minded villains and people they have then told who are aware of her influence.
In Kaoru's life, Delphi's presence is entirely digital (Delphi probably also does not live in Halcyon City). But I'm not opposed to her deciding to come see Kaoru in person in an attempt to connect with her (though she probably wouldn't reveal her actual name to Kaoru). It would certainly be impactful for her as it'd be the first time she really met a hacker she respected (and while she may hate Delphi, Kaoru definitely respects her abilities). It would be a bit of a risky move on Delphi's part though, so it wouldn't be done lightly/for no reason. But if Kaoru figures out the risk Delphi took in meeting with her, that would have its own impact.
JonGarrett – What are some things Nought still does to make himself feel human. What are some things he can't do that make him feel the most like he's not?
I think he does the same stuff that any teenager will do - eat junk food, read a book, play video games. Once I level him up and he starts getting Doom, those will slowly vanish - he'll stop needing to (and being able to) eat, he'll be playing games without touching a controller, he'll know the whole plot of a book because he has permanent GoogleVision. It'll be up to the bonds he's made by that point to keep him human.
If there’s one thing worse than finding out that your mother is a 3000 year-old witch, its finding out that she’s lived that long by stealing her daughter’s bodies when they turn 16,… on your 16th birthday.
Ok,... Details still to come, but basic concept is that Mystic (AKA. Cassie Helius) is the daughter of Circe - a witch from ancient Greece who has extended her life since ancient times by stealing the bodies of her daughters.
Playbook:
The Scion
What kind of villain are they?
Puppetmaster
What is your relationship with them like?
Ever-shifting / Antagonistic
They have an array of abilities, assets, and strengths; what are some of them? (up to 3)
Dark sorcery, Endless minions
What abilities do you use to fight them? (up to 2)
Magical aptitude
Danger +1; Freak 0; Savior +1; Superior +1; Mundane 0
Backstory
• Who is your supervillain parent?
Circe
• Who told you about your parent’s true nature?
She did
• Why did you turn from your lineage to be a hero?
To protect herself
• Who, outside of the team, helps you on your chosen path?
The White Witch, a present day magic user who has offered to teach Cassie to control her magical powers
• Why do you care about the team?
They are doing good in the world and accept me for who I am.
All the rest TBD.. more expansive backstory to come.
The 'Moment of truth' and 'Team moves' sections of the Scion page linked to above are blank... Anyone know what they are?
Azrael – I was going to try to sneakily word this differently, but umm... Since this game is frequently as much about the teen as the superhero, what are some ways you see Alexis interacting with her teammates outside of crime fighting?
Alexis will want to try to be as much of a normal teenager as possible. Trying to push away from their terrible upbringing in order to date, make friends, do fun activities and customs that they never had a chance to do while being a part of Omega. Alexis never had a chance to be a child, so they desperately want this chance to be a teenager. If that also means fighting the good fight alongside similarly powered individuals, that's fair enough.
Their most successful initiative comes through the Hoplite program, where young children are 'adopted' by the company, held in private training grounds and tutored to work as soldiers and wetworks specialists. The Triakosia program hoped to further expand their market by inducing enhanced abilities into elite soldiers, further specialized for specific tasks. Through genetic, cybernetic and magical means, thirteen out of the three hundred entered into the program were considered successes and now operate worldwide for Omega.
(#13, code name Mercykiller, is AWOL and requires recovery. Once other Triakosia are free from their duties, they will be implemented to recover their missing comrade.)
- Digger Chandler - Antifa Dream (Legacy)
- Thron - ? (Newborn)
- Anon A Mouse - Kaoru Miyamoto (Delinquent)
- Blue Symbiote - Various (Doomed, Outsider, Scion)
- JonGarrett - Nought (Transformed)
- Benjamin Brown - Zoe Zhao (Beacon)
- chengduguy - Friedrich Müller (Brain)
- Havocprince - Moshe (Nova)
- Azrael Dukshi - Mercy (Bull)
- Hymenopterix - Mystic (Scion)
And sorry Hymenopterix; I have no idea what the Scion's moment of truth or team moves are.
I've got those aspects of the Scion (not here on my phone, so it'll be a little later before I can post them). But No worries on that front.
Moment of Truth
People have always tried to define you by your lineage. As if from the moment you were born, you were meant to be some villain to be defeated. But...they’re right, aren’t they? That darkness is in you. So right here, right now, you’re not fighting it—you’re embracing it. Both hero and villain, and greater besides. You’re overcoming impossible odds in ways no hero would approve of, and no villain could comprehend. Of course, after seeing what you can really do when you embrace the whole of yourself, the rest of the world isn’t going to forget who you really are...When you share a triumphant celebration with someone, ask them if you have earned their respect. If you have, take Influence over them and mark potential. If you have not, give them Influence over you and mark potential.
When you share a vulnerability or weakness with someone, ask them if they would defend you against those who mistrust you. If they say yes, clear a condition and shift Savior up and any other Label down. If they say no, mark a condition and shift Danger up and any other Label down.
I clearly haven't filled out a "character sheet" yet. I was hoping, if chosen, to be kind of walked through it; especially the numeric stuff.