Question – When writing a backstory, could I have my character have some relation to the supernatural, like a demon parent or something like that? Because I asked my friend who is going to be GMing and she said I should probably change it because this is a superhero themed game.
Question – When writing a backstory, could I have my character have some relation to the supernatural, like a demon…
Question – When writing a backstory, could I have my character have some relation to the supernatural, like a demon…
If your GM doesn’t want the supernatural in her game then it might be best to leave it out. Otherwise there are plenty of supernatural things in superhero stories. For a demon parent just look at Raven from Teen Titans.
So, in general, depends on your group! The limits of what is “acceptable” and what is “off key” depend on what works for the people you’re working with. The best thing is, probably, to have a conversation with all the players, tell them about your idea and what you find exciting about it, and see how they react. Note that in general I think it’s something to be decided together, as a conversation, rather than something that the GM approves or rejects. I tend to err on the side of tolerance, generally, and accept all inputs as long as things clearly don’t break the atmosphere and the fun for others.
As a note on superheroes and magic… Well, there’s plenty of magic superheroes, and of situations in which magic superheroes and superheroes with Sci-fi inspired powers come together. The most historical example of “teen supers” group, the one that sort of launched the subgenre that Masks is inspired by, was the 1980s Teen Titans, and in that group you had an alien, an acrobat, a part-human/part-cyborg guy, a speedster whose powers came from a science experiment gone wrong, but also an Amazon and a girl with strange mystical powers whose father was a demon. So yeah, sometimes it was a bit weird, but that weirdness is not new in the genre.
But asides from comic book history, I really think the best bet in these cases is to talk things out like adults and try to center the fact that you’re all at the table to have fun together.
Another piece of advice I feel like giving you: don’t come to the game with a fully-formed character already. While it’s easy to get super excited about stuff beforehand and plan it all in your head, it’s even better when you come to the table with an open mind, and everyone creates characters together, exchanging ideas and bouncing off each other.
Raven is a super with a demon parent, Magik is a mutant who is demon-queen of Limbo, Nightcrawler’s dad is basically a demon, Hellboy is the apocalypse… plenty of room for demons in supers. Talk to your GM, but have concrete ideas. Your GM is saying no because of their feelings about demons and how they plug into comic books; see if you’re on the same page, or if your demon ideas work with what they’re thinking. Maybe they don’t want, I dunno, slathering slackjawed demons crawling around bleeding on everything… but you’re thinking of something nowhere near so offtone. So, talk it out.
It depends on the kind of supers that the person running wants. There are repeats of the same one magic in a team of supers example above, but if they are planning an Xmen style game then magic doesn’t really fit (ignoring Nightcrawler). Of course I’m also in a mystic themed game of masks and am the only full human on the team (assuming wizards are human). The important bit isn’t “Supers”, it is the style your editor is planning for.
I second what +Alberto Muti said. Talk it out. But try to keep your mind open to lots of possibilities. Every time I make a new character for a Masks game, they almost always end up completely different from my initial ideas.
As for the GM, if they have a specific reason for not wanting to include the supernatural, find out what it is. Maybe you save that idea for another game with a GM who is more comfortable with that stuff, or maybe you’ll find out what their hesitation is and work out an solution that you both can dive into.
Remember, Masks is a cooperative conversation. It’s better when everyone gets a say in what happens.
The Doomed pretty much treats this as the default for it; it seems like a strange objection on the GM’s part.
Alexander Permann Maybe the person isn’t playing the Doomed?
I think Demon parent is absolutely fine. You only have to look at teen superheroes like the Runaways (which are specifically referenced in the rule book) for examples of characters that both fit a core playbook AND clearly have a backstory of having an evil or otherwise supernatural and “bad” parent.