I have a question.
I got a chance to play Masks for the first time over the previous weekend. It was great! But when I used the word “mundane” in character the GM jumped on that and basically told me that wasn’t protocol. This is not the first time that has happened to me in a PbtA game.
So my question is, can I use the game terms in character like the words they actually are? Is there a clear rule against that?
You absolutely can, your GM was wrong and possibly even rude. The GM is supposed to couch the game in the fiction, meaning they should avoid announcing their moves by name. Players, specifically are supposed to explain what they do in the fiction — however, there is zero reason not to say “uh, hmm, so my Mundane is kind of shite… maybe I shouldn’t be Comforting and Supporting you??” or whatever. You are in the clear; GMs who get on you about name-dropping mechanics need to reel it in.
I don’t want to misrepresent anything. I used the term in character but only as a normal word. He let me use it in the way you actually are describing it.
So, wait, did your character just, like, say the word mundane? Or was your character pulling a Deadpool and talking about his Mundane score?
My character used the word mundane.
Ron Frazier as in, “that wine was soooo overhyped – the bouquet was mundane at best”? And he jumped in to say “you’re not allowed to use that word, it’s a game term. Also I thought it had a piquant element of leather sole” ?
I ask for clarification because, if so, that’s both wrong and … really wrong. I mean, so flamingly wrong that your GM might need to be walloped in the head with a wrench until all the gears stop rattling.
The context was my character was saying something about “mundane” people. Also, I guess it’s possible when the GM heard me use the word he thought I was invoking the use of the Label. Doing my best to give benefit of the doubt here.
The GM doesn’t get a say in how you talk.
With that context, I do think you were in the right. Weirdness, Ron!
In a world with supers, I could see Mundane being used as a slur, but that would be something to address in the fiction with people having negative reactions to the character using it.
I don’t tell my players how to talk. Even if they do use game terms. I guess I’m not a stickler for that stuff. I lean more towards people having fun than adhering to an arbitrary set of rules about language.
Ron Frazier So since, as everyone said, you were obviously not in the wrong as far as we can tell, I think you should try to talk with your GM and find out what happened. Even if it was a misunderstanding, which it probably was, that doesn’t give your GM the right to police your words. They could have politely asked you to try to stay “in character” (if that’s what they thought the issue was) and that could have been acceptable (although still questionable). But just forbidding you altogether is not right and there’s no ruleset that can grant that authority.
So, try to calmly talk with them, give your point of view and try to understand theirs. Hopefully things will turn out alright. Good luck!
…Buh? What a deeply weird way to interpret PbtA rules.
This isn’t that old game show I can’t remember the name of where you have to make the other person guess the secret word without saying it. If another GM gets on you about using a word which happens to be a stat name while in character, throw the dice at them and leave, because they are Playing It Wrong.
It all depends on the Narrative, but from experiences …..Some GM’s are more Equal than Others.
from personal play, ive had games were each label has been used though often not very frequently/heavy handed…..like it would be said in different ways and not the same every time…with exception.
IE Police Officer would regularly call us Capes/Masks/Freaks, Had a Hero/Villians refer to civilians ans Mundys/Mundane life etc
That’s odd.