I was watching some Luke Cage earlier today, and I was having some thoughts as to how the Netflix Marvel shows could be modeled in Masks. Cage is pretty clearly a Bull. I think Jessica is a Delinquent, where “psychic weapons” equates to her strength, and Patsy is a Beacon. Daredevil is pretty clearly one of the biggest Januses to ever Janus.
But one of the things I love about that show is how important the unpowered people are, how integral they are to the communities that are depicted. Foggy is clearly the better lawyer, as well as the better friend, in his partnership. Karen handles way more than she should, and she does it in a heroic style without ever trying to be a hero. Claire is amazing, any way you look at her. They are not Beacons, because they do not want what the heroes have, but neither are they really NPCs as we normally think of them in games.
Thoughts?
They’re Smallville characters probably
Maybe, but Smallville organizes itself along power levels in a way that I think reads differently than the social roles of Masks do. Some kind of mash up maybe, but I think it would take some love to overcome the difference in assumptions.
For sure.
Somehow a link to “the.difference” ended up in my last comment. I edited it out. It doesn’t exist as a site, though I kind of wish it did.
Luke Cage did a pretty great job of showing outside forces imposing label shifts too, and modeling labels in general. Pop convinced Luke to be a Savior to Harlem and stop trying to be so Mundane, Cottonmouth used his influence to paint Luke as a Danger, Method Man helped them view him as a Freak instead, and Mariah is textbook Superior the whole way through. Hooks all over the place.
Yeah, come to think of it, the shows all do certain things really well, which makes them good GM resources. Look to Daredevil for advice on complicating the heroes’ civilian lives, look to Jessica Jones for advice on creating vile and masterful villains, and look to Luke Cage for advice on how to bring the city and its reactions to the heroes’ exploits to life.
I think Karen Page is very much a beacon. She may not wear a mask, but she’s actively diving into the world of superheroes in a very beacon way–and it’s her actions, more than Matt’s that drive the plot of the show. I’ve talked before about how I feel the beacon playbook can support the Lois Lane/Jimmy Olsen archetype, and I think Karen is another example of that.
I fully expect next year’s Iron Fist to be The Legacy.
Edit: Maybe with a side order of The Outsider, given that he spent the past 10 years away in K’un-Lun so is probably out of touch with life in New York
IDK don’t think the NPCs fit into Masks because they’re not teens
Neither are the main characters.
They might not be teens, but many of them are still trying to figure out their place in the world, who they want to be, and what they should do with their powers, particularly during their respective first seasons.
I also don’t think the supporting cast characters act like NPCs. More like PCs from different factions, like in Urban Shadows.