7 thoughts on “Any suggestions on how to run Masks for super villains? Any experience with this?”

  1. Have not tried it, but I don’t see a reason why it should not work. Much of the action in Necessary Evil in Savage Worlds really exists because of the social difficulties between the characters, and that is where Masks shines. Probably want to be way less railroady though.

    All that being said, I think in a villain game it is doubly important to have a reason for the characters to want to work together. It could be money, a common enemy, or some kind of personal connection, but without that reason the game will fall apart pretty quickly.

  2. Somebody posted a play report from a villains game here a few weeks back. That was more like Suicide Squad, though; bad people protecting the city from worse people.

    If you want to run a game with actually villainous youths, I can think of a few points to consider:

    1. The villains need to be able to work together. Teamwork and mutual support is deeply baked into the system, so characters who will throw one another under the bus when things get tough will break down in play. Drama is cool, compulsory villainous backstabbing should be off the table. I’ll go a step farther and say it’ll work best if there’s more than self-interest holding them together, given the Teamwork moves, Comfort and Support and all that other friendly stuff.

    2. Villains tend to be more proactive, while heroes (especially inexperienced ones like Masks characters) tend to be more reactive. I feel like some tools for supporting player driven schemes are already there (the Team pool for going into a job, Assess for casing an area), but you might look into something like The Immortal from Urban Shadows, who basically creates their own mini-fronts that advance over time. You could also have the characters be under a more experienced adult villain, at least at the start of the game; that way, you bring in the adult-youth dichotomy, and the characters stay in the reactive mode the rules assume, at least until you all find your footing.

    3) Related to the above, heroes pretty much always have a villain to fight, while villains usually only fight heroes when something goes wrong. So, oddly, I would expect a villain game to have more social moments than action moments. So maybe be prepared for a different kind of pace.

  3. Another example of a young villain team would be DV8, a group basically intended to be Gen-13’s evil counterparts. One of Warren Ellis’ early Wildstorm books, the comic followed a group of Gen-Active teenagers smuggled out of the project that mutated them and turned into a team of superpowered mercenaries. Extremely dysfunctional, forcing a bunch of characters that otherwise would be second or third-string supervillains to live and work together eventually teaches them about bonds of loyalty and family. Over time, they start to develop consciences and come to recognize the abusive cycles they’re trapped in and have the power to escape. (It’s worth noting that this is a comic that gets really dark really fast, and might be very triggering to some folks. But it’s worth a read.)

  4. I was thinking of setting it in AEGIS Reform School, basically Suicide Squad for kids, making it really clear that they can go either way from there, ending up as blackhearted villains, fully reformed heroes, or something in between.  That seems like the most dramatic thing anyway, especially if they have torn loyalties with a superhero boyfriend and a villainous mentor or vice versa.

    By the way, my favorite trick for running villainous games (which I love to do) is to put the bad guys up against some even BADDER guys who want the same thing but are nastier about it.  That is functionally the same as the heroic game, except that when the PCs kick butt and take back the stolen goods, they keep them instead of returning them to the bank or laboratory. 

    I’m not so worried about the fiction, since players are really good at rationalizing whatever absurd settings I dream up, I was wondering more about mechanics and whether any Moves need to be edited.

  5. Hey there, I am running the Villains Hack of MASKS and have been having a great time. Here are a few hacks I have done for the game and I will answer any questions you have.

    Villainous Teamwork Rolls and Bonuses:

    +1 Pool: Threaten a hostage before a hero.

    Leave a calling card.

    Spend one turn setting up a distracting or elaborate prank.

    Leave an innocent in a precarious but non-lethal position.

    +2 Pool/Add +1 to next Teamwork roll: Tell part of the plan to the hero.

    Injure a hostage before a hero.

    Spend two turns setting up a cruel or dangerous prank.

    Leave an innocent in a painful but non-lethal position.

    +3 Pool/Add +2 to next Teamwork roll: Spend five turns setting up a lethal or horrendous prank.

    Leave an innocent in a lethal position.

    Add +3 to next Teamwork roll: Threaten a hero’s loved one with death.

    Monologue your or your team’s plan for the first time.

    Expose your identity and leave a hero to die.

    New Moves

    Janus – Replaces “I’ll Save You!”

    0: It Was Me All Along!: When you reveal your identity to an NPC or a PC you have been misleading roll +Mundane. On a 10+ choose 2. On a 7-9 choose 1.

    -The person gives you a piece of emotional blackmail.

    -You gain influence over the person.

    -You are given a piece of social blackmail over the person or someone they have Influence over.

    -You both Mark Potential.

    Legacy – Replaces “Fight the Good Fight”

    0: Open the Gates of Abaddon!: When engaging a mob or group of mooks you may roll +Savior instead of +Danger to directly engage a threat. On a 10+ disable the leader of the mob/mooks and most of them. On a 7-9 get the same result by exposing yourself to retaliation, drain 1 from the Team Pool, or damaging the scene.

    Transformed – Replaces “I am Not My Body”

    0: Lilith’s Delights: When you see an NPC is repulsed by you or a PC tries to change your self image, you may reinforce your monstrosity to them. Roll +Freak and on a 10+ Clear a Condition or reinforce your self image without consequences. On a 7-9 there are also unforeseen consequences or you infuriate a bystander of means.

    Outsider – Replaces “The best of them”

    0: On My Homeworld: When you use change self image you may tell someone how in your society they would be dredges, unimportant, or otherwise useless and are lucky to be on Earth to roll with +Freak instead of +Mundane.

    Beacon – Replaces “Won’t Let You Down”

    0: Better Than Normal: When you ignore an NPC or innocent in favor of helping a Teammate add 1 to the Team Pool before you roll to interfere with that teammate.

    THE BULL: Replacing There When It Matters:

    YOU OWE ME: When you defend someone, roll +Danger. Instead of gaining influence, you may choose to remove their influence over you.

    PROTEGE: (Additional Skill)

    MANY CLAWS, ONE BODY:

    When you bring an innocent under the control of your Mentor, mark potential. If this later suits YOUR needs, take +1 forward when you reveal your plot.

    THE BEACON:

    Replace C’mon, Lucky!:

    BOUGHT MY WAY HERE:

    When you drop loads of cash, roll +Superior. On a 10+, hold 3, on a 7-9, hold 2: on a miss, hold one but you’re tapped out for the adventure and have to handle your money issues.

    Spend Hold 1-for-1 to:

    –Get the temporary obedience of someone greedy;

    –Get access to somewhere off limits

    –Gain something that doesn’t require clearance. (Spend another hold to grease the right palms).

    So, there’s some crunch. Fluff wise I have the players under the thumb of either rejecting heroic parents or embracing villainous ones, a lot like switcharoo Runaways.

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