Wow, did that go well! I ran a game of Masks for the first time for a group who has had very limited exposure to PbtA games. Two had played a few sessions of Dungeon World, one had a lot of RPG experience but had never heard of the system, and the fourth had only ever played one session of Dresden Files, so had almost no RPG experience. It was a rousing success with many demands to play again as soon as possible.
The Players:
The Silver Phaser – A Martial Arts/Phasing Beacon.
Chaos – A flesh transmuting Transformed with hyper-senses.
Whirlwind – A Nova with elemental control
Sublimino – A psionic Doomed.
On a warm, summer afternoon, the heroes arrive at Freedom Square, soon to be the site of a concert/festival celebrating Hero’s Day. Freedom Square is a large outdoor area in the heart of Halcyon City’s downtown district, a park surrounded by gleaming skyscrapers. They arrive early because they know the Mayor is going to be making a speech and they have evidence to suggest that an unknown villain could be making a play for the Mayor or his family. They’ve already rescued the Mayor’s family from the super-assassin, Warmonger (the event that led to their formation as a team).
Just as the Mayor is about to speak from the stage, however, a flash of light draws their attention to the sky. A young hero, Molniya, a member of the prestigious Halcyon City MetroGuard, is hurtled through the sky by an unknown attacker. She slams into the side of a skyscraper and her powers trigger, sending electrical arcs up and down the building. Glass shatters and she and tons of glass shards fall into Freedom Square. People scream and run but they will be slashed to ribbons by the falling chunks of glass! The heroes spring into action! Chaos stretches his malleable flesh over a girl scout troop, shielding them. Silver Phaser leaps up and makes contact with Molniya, phasing both of them so they pass harmlessly into the ground. Whirlwind uses a gust of wind to sweep the remaining glass from the sky, diverting it away from the civilians (Here was my first mistake, I didn’t familiarize myself enough with the playbooks and forgot to have the Nova charge up her powers. Know the playbooks, especially with rookie players! Lesson learned).
The danger was just beginning, however, as a powerful being, The Supreme Soviet, hero of the Soviet Union descended from the sky into the square, demanding that Molniya be turned over to him immediately. In our version of the world, the Soviet Union never fell and the cold war has been raging for decades. The Supreme Soviet’s allies, Rasputin (a technomancer), and Molotov ( a being of liquid fire) also attacked. Rasputin, from the roof of a skyscraper, placed a force field over the square, trapping everyone in. Molotov flowed up over a Honduran food truck and assumed human form, so hot that rivulets of melted steel flowed down the sides of the food truck, baking the poor people inside.
Highlights:
Sublimino in an elevator, calmly tapping his foot to the muzak as he rises to the roof to face Rasputin.
Whirlwind failing to protect the food truck, causing it to explode and killing the people within.
Chaos bolstering his teammates through their psychic link, keeping them going and clearing conditions.
The Silver Phaser facing down Supreme Soviet and refusing to let his labels be shifted.
The battle was crazy, chaotic, violent, and so much fun. People were hurt and, through some horribly timed failed rolls, killed. But people were also saved. Influence was gained, influence was lost. The team pool was used very effectively as they helped each other out. Conditions were cleared by timely pep talks. The doom clock crept inexorably forward.
At the end, the players were delighted. The two who had never played PbtA games had no idea that a system so light could be so deep and challenging. They all commented that they felt like they were part of a story that they helped write rather than playing in just another RPG session.
Well done, Brendan Conway, you have a handful of new converts!