The Brain
The Harbinger
The Soldier
I finally got a chance to take a look at the supplemental Playbooks through my Backer-kit.
I have to say that I LOVE these three way more than the previous supplemental Playbooks that have been published. I’m having a little trouble putting my finger on why but I think it’s because these three much better represent the characters I thought I might see represented in the others. Also, these character archetypes resonate with me much better.
The Brain is great at representing Tony Stark or Hank Pym, but I also think it does a 100% better job at representing Lex /Lena Luthor than the Reformed Playbook does.
The Soldier is a Playbook I can identify with because one of the Masks characters I’ve created, a Bull, would actually be much more aligned with the Soldier than with the Bull. You can also very clearly see the parallels between this Playbook and the cinematic Captain America, who is probably my favorite MCU character. This Playbook is also great for playing a character who is more like Colossus than Wolverine. It’s amazing how a shift in attitude and perspective can totally distinguish Playbooks that could be virtually identical in other types of games.
The Harbinger sings to me merely because Bishop is one of my top five favorite X-Men. And the parallels to Bishop and Cable is obvious, as is the inspiration from DCs Impulse and Booster Gold.
I also like the new Labels they have for the Soldier and the Harbinger. The Harbinger can choose whether or not they come from a dark future they want to avert or a bright future they want to preserve and their actions force the Future to move in either direction. That’s awesome! It’s a great way to distinguish The Harbinger from the Doomed. It could have been a really easy fix to give the Harbinger an analogous “Doom Track” to represent their actions shaping and re-shaping the future. But they went with this Label instead. Very cool, very elegant solution and really makes you feel like you’re playing someone who is impacting future imperfect history.
The Solider has a label called Soldier. It represents your loyalty to, the resources of, and the training by AEGIS. You can use this Label instead of any other for your actions by spending a point from the Team Pool as long as you are acting on orders or relying on your training. The theme of this Label echoes some of the moves the Outsider has access to, representing their loyalty to their people and being on Earth for a specific mission, but once again, making it a Label instead of a bunch of moves really distinguishes who the Soldier is.
And just so I don’t leave out The Brain. They have their Shame… something they are responsible for that threatens something they care about. Also, part of the playing the Brain is a little bit of an attitude or haughtiness because you KNOW you’re better than everyone else. This is what makes me think they are great representations for character that might otherwise be Reformed. Lex Luthor for example. But even someone like Emma Frost of the X-Men could be perfectly emulated with the Brain Playbook.
On the flip side, the Brain is also THE Playbook for playing young Tony Stark, Brainiac 5 and (my favorite) Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur! This is why the Brain wins for me over the Joined playbook. Instead of powers or abilities, you chose something you are known for. The list includes things that immediately remind you of Otto Octavius, Tony Stark, Hank Pym and the like. Then they had in the list “Robot Sidekick” and my mind just edited to “Dinosaur Sidekick” and BAM! Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur can finally be played in a Masks game with no fuss, no muss!
Beautiful.
So, yeah, these new Playbooks are winning me over and I would always choose or recommend The Soldier, the Brain, or the Harbinger over the Reformed, the Star, the Joined, or the Newborn.
Yeah, these have been some of my favorites, too. Gonna have one of my players switch playbooks from the Outsider to the Harbinger because it is exactly how he was trying to play his character.
Oh, and the Brain can also be Reed Richards as opposed to Otto Octavious… same powers sans “artificial.” Or Gizmo from Teen Titans… again better representation than the Reformed.
Really excited for these, and I hope us non-backers get it soon!
I literally just made a Reformed that I negotiated the DM into allowing me to take their old Genius Intellect power instead of the choices the final version gets.
Wellp, guess I’m gonna race for that playbook change as soon as us puny non-backers can get our hands on these playbooks.
Kai Seemayer Right on. That’s been one of my hangups with the Reformed because I can’t recognize any of the archetypical powers they are trying to go for. If I were going to use the Reformed Playbook, I would have the player choose one set among a group that looked like this:
Unparalleled intellect and impossible wealth — Luthor types
Telepathy and mind control — Emma Frost types)
Power and vitality absorption — Rogue types
Fantastic Elasticity and Shapeshifting — Plastic Man types
Elemental Manipulation (chose one) — Magneto and Terra types
Unstoppable Martial Expertise — Deadpool and Big Barda types.
And the theme of the Reformed would be about “Bad People” struggling to do good things for a change… That’s what I like about those characters.
The difference between Emma Frost and Logan of the X-Men: Emma Frost… superbad person trying to do good…
Logan… a good man who has done terrible things…
There’s a difference.
Could you tell me a little more about The Soldier? Is there any sort of tension in their moves and extras about belonging to a higher power, or is it pretty standard? How hard would it be to refluff?
Oh, and what are the new Labels for The Harbringer?
Magpie Games What are the official names of the new characters?
Lex Permann The Soldier is designed to work for the game’s setting in Halcyon City. So, she works for AEGIS. Her moves are all about her training and her convictions. They are almost all named after what you see occur in the Marvel Studios Captain America movies.
Now, there is an additional label called “Soldier” and that directly represents your training and your allegiance to a higher power. It’s just like your other labels. When you are acting on orders or training, you can spend 1 Team from the pool and use Soldier in lieu of any other label for any type of roll. Between sessions is where it gets interesting because your superiors talk to you and you roll Soldier… and sometimes you get what you want, and sometimes you find out your superiors are lying to you and sometimes you get sent on a dangerous mission.
How easy is it to refluff? Refluff as what?
And The Harbinger sees herself as a Savior first and foremost. You are either preserving a bright future or working to avert a dark one. So that makes sense. You also have a Light of the Future sort of thing… a label I think… Or a gauge… that goes from negative two to positive two. You chose if your character comes from a bright or dark future. Your choice determines where your Future label begins. As you work to shape or reshape the future, you use this Label and it shifts up and down and your learn of people who can help or hinder your efforts and they can gain influence over you and all sorts of neat stuff.
Does that answer your questions?
Adam Goldberg We’re working on it. 😉
I realized after reading this in the morning that Hiro from Big Hero 6 totally maps to the Brain too. His shame being not only that the thing he made was stolen to be used in crimes, but also that the theft resulted in the death of his brother.