I’ll be running Masks for the first time next week. Any suggestions or common pitfalls I should ve looking out for?
Coincidentally, the Wednesday Night Game Podcast will be airing an actual play of Masks in a few weeks, GM’d by yours truly. I’ll post links here when they start airing.
Hit the influence button hard and hit it often. The crux of Masks play is discovering who these teen superheroes are. Put them to the test and see how they come out of it.
Also, keep in mind that Masks is teen superhero drama with an emphasis on the superhero. Yeah, you can totally hit on the teen dating angst, and you should, but the crux is these kids finding out who they are going to be by taking up the iconic struggle. The juxtaposition of maths homework and a planet eating galactic entity is the bullseye target.
Ask, ask, ask. Your players secretly know what they’re interested in; ask questions, controversial ones, not just what’s on their sheets. Have them ask each EACH OTHER questions. It’s possible to get 80-90% of your session ideas during opening questions.
And ask every week! Expand the circle from team to family to school to work, friends, etc.